Perryapsis's recent activity
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Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
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Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
Perryapsis LinkWhich movies in the Hunger Games series would you recommend to someone before watching the new one that is about to come out? I'd assume the first one in order to establish the world and...Which movies in the Hunger Games series would you recommend to someone before watching the new one that is about to come out? I'd assume the first one in order to establish the world and characters, the second one due to its high ratings, and then the fifth one because it's a reboot/prequel. It seems like 3 and 4 are skippable, or at least not critical. Or am I off-base?
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Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
Perryapsis LinkOctober in review: Relatively active month; 16 watches of 15 films (Wildwood x2). I also finished my Marvel catch-up, so now I can match trailers etc. for Doomsday without feeling like I'm risking...October in review: Relatively active month; 16 watches of 15 films (Wildwood x2). I also finished my Marvel catch-up, so now I can match trailers etc. for Doomsday without feeling like I'm risking spoilers. Does anyone want to talk about any of:
Highlights:
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Wildwood (2026) (2x in October)
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Jurassic Park (1993)
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Gone With the Wind (1934) (rewatch)
Disappointments (not necessarily bad, can also be "meh" to highly-rated films):
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Coraline (2009)
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The Prestige (2006)
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American Pie (1999)
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The Last Picture Show (1971)
Also ran:
Collapsed to keep this comment from being super long
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Digger (2026)
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Prime Time (2026)
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The Social Reckoning (2026)
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You Can See Everything (2026)
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Fantastic Four First Steps (2025)
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Civil War (2024)
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Americana (2023/5)
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Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
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Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
Perryapsis LinkI was going to wait until the end of the month to post in these threads, but I want to strike while the iron is hot on: Wildwood (2026): ★★★ (of 3) I had watched Coraline (2009) recently and...I was going to wait until the end of the month to post in these threads, but I want to strike while the iron is hot on:
Wildwood (2026): ★★★ (of 3)
I had watched Coraline (2009) recently and thought it was just a rung or two above "meh", which was disappointing compared to its reputation. Wildwood is significantly better. The movie has a lot of minor characters who don't end up being that interesting or important, but that doesn't drag the movie down too much. The story is good, although I was expecting a twist that never happened and would have been better (but no details b/c spoilers). It doesn't pull its punches like you might expect in an animated movie and earns its PG-13 rating in the first 90 seconds.
The main character is named Prue. Is that a common name in the Pacific Northwest that I'm just too midwestern to understand? I kept mishearing it as Pearl or Ruth because I'd never heard that name before. It threw me for a loop for a bit in the same way as the princess in Princess Mononoke (1997) not being named Mononoke.
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Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
Perryapsis (edited )LinkI just wanted to mention that the Criterion Collection is having their biannual 24-hour half-off sale today. If you are interesting in getting any of their movies, you have about 21½ hours left,...I just wanted to mention that the Criterion Collection is having their biannual 24-hour half-off sale today. If you are interesting in getting any of their movies, you have about 21½ hours left, and their prices won't be this low again until March.
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Comment on Amazon uses its tracking data to guess whether shoppers have a flat butt and no friends in ~tech
Perryapsis LinkI typically only go to Amazon when I can't find an item anywhere else, and it's interesting to see how that gives them a distorted view of who I am. Only one line item really surprised me, and...I typically only go to Amazon when I can't find an item anywhere else, and it's interesting to see how that gives them a distorted view of who I am. Only one line item really surprised me, and about half of them were incredibly mundane like "owns a car" and "lives in [town where I have things delivered]," etc.
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Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
Perryapsis Link ParentI guess I need a spoiler tag then, whoops It must be a completely different movie if you don't know what it's about ahead of time. That makes me think about the Hitchcock quote about a hidden bomb...I guess I need a spoiler tag then, whoops
It must be a completely different movie if you don't know what it's about ahead of time. That makes me think about the Hitchcock quote about a hidden bomb underneath a table. If you don't show the bomb to the audience, then they are more surprised when it blows up, but the rest of the scene is boring. If you show the audience the bomb at the start, then the characters can do absolutely anything and there will automatically be tension and a looming sense of dread for the entire scene. So if you didn't know the story of flight 93, I'd imagine that a significant portion of the first half would be boring.
Did you understand the ending right away? The movie just cuts straight to black when the plane crashes, and the final shot before it is just the ground getting slowly closer, slowly, wait, it's speeding up, uh oh, aaaaaah! There's no stereotypical hollywood fireball or excessive visual flair; it's very matter-of-fact about it. If you didn't go into the movie knowing that the plane crashed (and didn't reach its target), I could see that possibly being confusing because it's so sudden.
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Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
Perryapsis LinkI had a relatively slow month in September and only watched 10 movies, half of which were rewatches of things I had seen before ¯\(ツ)/¯. Buy anyway, the highlights were: United 93 (2006) - I like...I had a relatively slow month in September and only watched 10 movies, half of which were rewatches of things I had seen before ¯\(ツ)/¯. Buy anyway, the highlights were:
United 93 (2006) - I like the fly-on-the-wall style storytelling when you already know what's going to happen.
Coyote vs. ACME (2026) - Maybe I'm too juvenile, but most of the humor worked here. The plot is silly, but you don't watch a Looney Tunes movie for the plot.
Guardians of the Galaxy 3 (2023) - This is my second-to-last Marvel catch-up movie. It brings the Guardians trilogy to a satisfying conclusion, even if it runs a little long and the villain is a bit over the top at times. It makes me wonder why James Gunn's more recent work has been less well-received.
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Comment on Comerica Park will be renamed to Fifth Third Park starting in 2027 in ~sports.baseball
Perryapsis Link ParentI wish that more teams would name their venues after team legends, like how the Cincinnati Bengals played in Paul Brown Stadium for the longest time, the P*ckers play at Lambeau Field, etc. I...[Team Name] Stadium is horribly unimaginative.
I wish that more teams would name their venues after team legends, like how the Cincinnati Bengals played in Paul Brown Stadium for the longest time, the P*ckers play at Lambeau Field, etc. I don't know my baseball nearly as well as football, but the Tigers have several hall-of-famers they could have chosen from. Ty Cobb is definitely the most famous of the bunch, but probably not the guy you want to name your stadium after nowadays.
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Comment on What are the genuinely worst films of all time? in ~movies
Perryapsis Link ParentYeah, there is a second cut of the movie. I'm not sure which one I watched, so I can't comment on the differences. There are a handful of good jokes (the kids trapped in the fax machine is another...Yeah, there is a second cut of the movie. I'm not sure which one I watched, so I can't comment on the differences. There are a handful of good jokes (the kids trapped in the fax machine is another one), but they wear out their welcome over the course of an entire movie.
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Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
Perryapsis LinkI finally got out to see Spider Man: Brand New Day (2026). It was all well and good, but I don't particularly see why it is rated consistently a bit higher than Homecoming, Far From Home, and No...I finally got out to see Spider Man: Brand New Day (2026). It was all well and good, but I don't particularly see why it is rated consistently a bit higher than Homecoming, Far From Home, and No Way Home. It has also had more box office success than its predecessors, but it felt about the same as the other movies in the series to me. I don't have any strong feelings about the film, but there is one joke (with a spoiler) that I have the urge to make:
**Spoiler Warning!**
Jesse FadenJean Gray will return in Control: Resonant -
Comment on What are the genuinely worst films of all time? in ~movies
Perryapsis Link ParentI can speak to this one. I found the blu-ray cheap and decided to get it out of curiosity about its reputation. The entire movie is a series of comedy sketches tied together with a framing story...I can speak to this one. I found the blu-ray cheap and decided to get it out of curiosity about its reputation.
The entire movie is a series of comedy sketches tied together with a framing story of a man pitching them to a film executive. The comedy ranges from bad to meh (although I'm sure some will say that "skit XYZ was actually funny") and spans everything from slapstick to cringe/taboo. All the sequences were written and directed by different people, so there is no coherent throughline and no returning characters except in the framing story, which the movie itself kneecaps halfway through. It really feels like a bunch of 10-minute YouTube videos stitched together.
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Comment on LG smart TVs caught logging audio with screen off and snooping on local devices in ~tech
Perryapsis Link ParentGamers NexusGamers Nexus
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Comment on LG smart TVs caught logging audio with screen off and snooping on local devices in ~tech
Perryapsis Link/noise This article summarizes a long YouTube video./noise
This article summarizes a long YouTube video.
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Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
Perryapsis Link ParentI've really been striking out on full-on comedies, so Planes et al. was kinda just the next in that line. Arsenic and Old Lace is the only one to really buck the trend. How do you distinguish...I've really been striking out on full-on comedies, so Planes et al. was kinda just the next in that line. Arsenic and Old Lace is the only one to really buck the trend.
How do you distinguish "Oscar bait"? Midsommar was also more of an artsy, less crowd-pleasing type of movie, but you didn't include it as Oscar bait.
Having played The Last of Us, it was really interesting to see all the parallels/influence from Children of Men.
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Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
Perryapsis LinkMy August in summary: Exceeded expectations: Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) Witness for the Prosecution (1957) Following (1998) Disappointing (not necessarily bad, can also be "meh" to...My August in summary:
Exceeded expectations:
- Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
- Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
- Following (1998)
Disappointing (not necessarily bad, can also be "meh" to highly-reviewed films):
- Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987)
- Princess Mononoke (1997)
- Midsommar (2019)
- Inside Out 2 (2024)
Other notables watched:
- Leave Her to Heaven (1945)
- Castle in the Sky (1986)
- Children of Men (2006)
- Atonement (2007)
- Your Name. (2016)
- Avengers Endgame (2019)
Want to watch soon:
- Spiderman Brand New Day
- Guardians of the Galaxy 3 (and more MCU catch-up)
- Passion of the Christ, Endgame, and Princess Mononoke theatrical re-releases
- Coyote vs. ACME (maybe?)
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Comment on Ahead of an all-digital future for PlayStation, Sony needs to prove in courts that players know they don't own digitally purchased games in ~games
Perryapsis Link ParentI mean, they were if you go back far enough.On consoles, games were physical objects. On PC, they never really were.
I mean, they were if you go back far enough.
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Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
Perryapsis Link ParentSpoilers Infinity War was pretty good. It was surprising to see the villain actually win, since Marvel doesn't do that. It manages to handle the huge number of characters well. Endgame was still...Spoilers
Infinity War was pretty good. It was surprising to see the villain actually win, since Marvel doesn't do that. It manages to handle the huge number of characters well. Endgame was still good, but a step down from Infinity War. I'll probably take the chance to watch it again in theaters in September. But it doesn't manage the large number of characters as well; by splitting the party three ways, it runs a bit too long. I also hadn't seen the Thor movie that they went back to, so I bad to pick up that backstory as they went along, whoops. My biggest issue is that if we're going to use time travel to change the outcome of a past movie, then how can any of the movies going forward have any real stakes?
I thought that all the Marvel Spiderman movies have been just okay. Not bad by any means, but generic super hero fare. I don't have significant attachment to Spiderman as an IP (although I have seen the Raimi movies), so maybe that's part of it. But I've also seen that Brand New Day is reviewing better than all of them, so that's encouraging. Far From Home is unmemorable besides the cliffhanger. No Way Home is a little too fanservicey with the three Spider Men. It's cool to see them initially meet each other and fight together, but all the "ooh, you fought the guy with three arms? I fought a guy made of dust" in-between really dragged on for a while. It's also kinda like Endgame in the sense that, if we're going to use
time travelportal magic to fix things that happened in past movies, how can the future movies have stakes? -
Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
Perryapsis LinkI just watched Spider Man - No Way Home (2021) as a part of my Marvel catch-up. Do I need to watch any of the other Marvel movies of the past five years in order to understand Brand New Day? I've...I just watched Spider Man - No Way Home (2021) as a part of my Marvel catch-up. Do I need to watch any of the other Marvel movies of the past five years in order to understand Brand New Day? I've been doing my catch-up in release order, but I would break that rule to catch Brand New Day since it's still in theaters. However, I also want to avoid "oh yeah, character X died in the interim" or something like that to leave me confused or spoil another one of the movies in-between.
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Comment on What are your current pain points with Linux? in ~tech
Perryapsis LinkAs a noob (I switched to Mint in the spring of 2024), my only current concern is a lack of experience migrating to a new computer. My current one is "it was slightly above mid-range at Best Buy in...As a noob (I switched to Mint in the spring of 2024), my only current concern is a lack of experience migrating to a new computer. My current one is "it was slightly above mid-range at Best Buy in 2019"-grade and really showing its age. I'd like to replace it, but I'm not sure what hardware would (a) even be an upgrade over what I have now at a cost I can afford, and (b) be easy to set up for someone who specifically looked for the best drop-in replacement for Windows when I initially switched.
I had issues when I first installed Mint and echo chocobean's point:
The guides make it painfully easy --- except when it doesn't work like the guide says. Then it's sheer panic and I feel so stupid and I don't have any of the background to even begin to problem solve.
I don't want to buy a new PC, get halfway through installing Mint (since it will always come with Windows straight from the store), screw it up, not be able to fix it, not be able to return it to the store either at that point because I opened/modified it, and end up with a $1500 paper weight. I've avoided dealing with it for a while just due to the cost of a computer these days, but I installed Mint on a separate partition on a detachable spinning-rust HDD that isn't getting any younger, so it's going to come to a head at some point.
Spoilers
(Adding filler text here so that the spoiler tag isn't ruined when you collapse the comment)
I watched it with my dad, and we were both confused by the ending. We both didn't quite get it during Christian Bale's closing monologue and had to talk it through as the credits rolled. That scene should be the satisfying/cathartic bit at the end, but we both got nothing out of it in the moment. So the entire premise of the film is that every trick needs the pledge, the turn and the prestige, but we both got nothing out of the "prestige" part of The Prestige.
I bet I would enjoy it more if I watched it again knowing everything going in, but it was a bit of a dud compared to its reputation. And the rest of the movie was good enough to almost elevate it into the middle tier, so it's right on the edge of the "disappointing" category.