winther's recent activity
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Comment on What are we in a golden age of? in ~talk
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Comment on Are others finding themselves spending less and less time online? in ~tech
winther LinkProbably not in the strictest sense, as I am still plenty online, but definitely leaning more into "old school" web use. I read blogs, RSS feeds, my newspaper subscriptions and forums like Tildes....Probably not in the strictest sense, as I am still plenty online, but definitely leaning more into "old school" web use. I read blogs, RSS feeds, my newspaper subscriptions and forums like Tildes. The only "social media" would be Letterboxd. I think there is still plenty of good stuff to engage with online, it never left, just a bit out of sight from the big platforms.
But in general I can relate to the "ick"-factor. It is hard to find genuine passion that isn't just a front for selling something. But I also think we should acknowledge that we can't expect everything for free. Good journalism still exists, and it is worth paying for. That online news sites have paywalls is not inherently a bad thing, but they should of course also earn that price they are selling for.
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Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
winther LinkI watched Wild at Heart and it is a movie that feels like a battle between Nicolas Cage and David Lynch. For most of the runtime it is almost two parallel films. Nicolas Cage and Laura on an...I watched Wild at Heart and it is a movie that feels like a battle between Nicolas Cage and David Lynch. For most of the runtime it is almost two parallel films. Nicolas Cage and Laura on an absolute wild road trip, Cage being Cage turned to 11. Literally sex and rocknroll all the way. Then there is a separate narrative that is all Lynch. A grotesque Twin Peaks-like Wizard of Oz inspired crime plot. For me, Cage won. Whenever the movie turned to the Lynch-ian world, I mostly just wanted to get back to Cage and Dern. Of course the two narratives need each other and it does sort of come together in the end, though of course in the acid tripping kind of way you would expect from Lynch. This confirmed that I like Cage more than Lynch at least.
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Comment on What lesser-known sci-fi reads do you recommend? in ~books
winther LinkI was hesitant to answer this at first, because I probably took the "lesser known" a bit too strict. I scrolled through my old Goodreads list of novels and selected some I think are worth...I was hesitant to answer this at first, because I probably took the "lesser known" a bit too strict. I scrolled through my old Goodreads list of novels and selected some I think are worth mentioning in addition to all the great recommendations already mentioned here.
Contact by Carl Sagan. Not only is it a great film, but the original novel is fantastic as well. That Sagan was a scientist and known for bringing interest for the cosmos to the masses with his tv series, also shows in his writing. It is filled with passion and love for the field, and it is all around a very positive feeling novel.
Spin by Robert Charles Wilson won the Hugo in 2005, so hardly lesser known, but in my opinion it is one of the greatest examples of a good hook of a premise. Starts with all the stars in the night sky disappears from one moment to the next. Makes for a perfect intriguing mystery and the fantastic story rolls from there.
Everything by Alastair Reynolds really. His Revelation Space series is his magnum opus. Really hard sf with slower than light space travel, making for a very atmospheric dark space opera. For good standalne novels I can recommend Pushing Ice and House of Suns.
Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars-trilogy is often mentioned with good reason, but I want to highlight two probably slightly overlooked novels. The Years of Rice and Salt is an alternate history set in a world where the black death in Europe was somewhat more effective, leading to a world without any European influence. Should be noted it is also builds its narrative around reincarnation, which might put some people off. I would also highly recommend Aurora, which is a generation ship type of story, but without spoiling too much - it takes an unexpected approach from the usual in that subgenre. It is also a novel that seems to divide readers for that reason. I personally think it comes with a very important message.
For something older, I need to mention Clifford D. Simak and Way Station. Simak has a very unique style of what could be called cozy science fiction. His stories a almost calm and serene, but still with a great sense of wonder for the big universe.
Now I mostly read short stories though, I can recommend looking out for short story collections by Ted Chiang, Robert Sheckley, Sean McMullen, Greg Egan and John Varley.
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Comment on Danish authorities tracked and killed a wolf after a string of close encounters with residents – reignites a bitter debate over how a small, densely populated country should live with wolves in ~enviro
winther LinkOh wow, this is international news now. It is really weird how divided this topic has come. I think one of the source of conflict is that many like the idea of having more wildlife in Denmark, but...Oh wow, this is international news now. It is really weird how divided this topic has come. I think one of the source of conflict is that many like the idea of having more wildlife in Denmark, but those living close to it are less enthusiastic. Problem is that Denmark really has very little wild nature. Most of our land is either farm land or cities. So any wildlife here really don’t have a whole lot of area to live in without becoming next door neighbors to humans. And that we don’t really have any experience for generations with actual dangerous wildlife isn’t helping either.
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Comment on I'm not ready to let this place go in ~tildes
winther Link ParentI think it really just comes down to being swarmed by LLM requests from spammers according to this comment. I highly doubt us using our own invites to invite people we can reasonably vet as not...I think it really just comes down to being swarmed by LLM requests from spammers according to this comment. I highly doubt us using our own invites to invite people we can reasonably vet as not spammers will be seen as problematic.
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Comment on What did you do this week (and weekend)? in ~talk
winther LinkThis was the first week back to normal as the kids started school again after 6 weeks of vacation. We have been back to work for a couple of weeks, but it still felt a bit like vacation as we...This was the first week back to normal as the kids started school again after 6 weeks of vacation. We have been back to work for a couple of weeks, but it still felt a bit like vacation as we didn't have to think of getting up early for school, make their lunchboxes and so forth. On Wednesday there was a partial solar eclipse here in Denmark, and we all ventured outside too see it along with practically the rest of the city in the green area where the low sun was visible. It was fun, but admittedly also somewhat anticlimactic as the eclipse was about 85%, so the effect could only be observed through our solar filter glasses. The sun is so bright that even with 85% covered, it didn't really get noticeably darker and I am sure that if you didn't know about it, you wouldn't have noticed anything being off. Hoping to see a full eclipse some day, though that will require some travel as the next one in Denmark is in several hundred years.
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Comment on What lesser-known sci-fi reads do you recommend? in ~books
winther Link ParentYes with Dichronauts Egan definitely started to dive into the very deep end of high concept, and he also lost me along the way, but thankfully he still writes short stories for the various...Yes with Dichronauts Egan definitely started to dive into the very deep end of high concept, and he also lost me along the way, but thankfully he still writes short stories for the various magazines and they are always worth reading. And easier to understand. For example Understudies published in Clarkesworld is very on point the current complications of AI in education.
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Comment on What lesser-known sci-fi reads do you recommend? in ~books
winther Link ParentI second all three. Of course lesser known is relative, but any chance to recommend Greg Egan to more readers is one I take. He is definitely an acquired taste with how integral math is to his...I second all three. Of course lesser known is relative, but any chance to recommend Greg Egan to more readers is one I take. He is definitely an acquired taste with how integral math is to his writing. Though I personally think his stories can enjoyed even though most of the math and science is above my understanding. His stories still convey the excitement of science and discovery. My favorite is Orthogonal trilogy, though his short stories might be a better introduction to his writing in general.
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Comment on Olsen Banden - Elverhøj in ~movies
winther (edited )LinkSimply wanted to share this short clip from the Danish national movie treasure. Olsen Banden was a long running franchise of comedy heist movies running from the 60s through the 80s, and I think...Simply wanted to share this short clip from the Danish national movie treasure. Olsen Banden was a long running franchise of comedy heist movies running from the 60s through the 80s, and I think most Danes of almost all ages have some sort of relationship to these characters. This clip stands perfectly on its own, as it is almost dialogue free, and it is probably the most well loved single scene in the series.
I would be curious if anyone from other countries have something similar from the film culture that comes to mind - something almost everyone knows but doesn't reach much outside the borders. I would love to see it.
Edit: This is actually a longer more complete clip of that scene
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Olsen Banden - Elverhøj
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Comment on Why normal people aren’t using AI agents in ~tech
winther LinkIt sounds like a solution trying desperately to find a problem. I am genuinely struggling to find any good usecase for where AI agent could be really useful in my personal life. The examples we...It sounds like a solution trying desperately to find a problem. I am genuinely struggling to find any good usecase for where AI agent could be really useful in my personal life. The examples we see from the tech gurus are always bonkers, like Altman creating a podcast of his kids’ interests. Instead of talking to them ?
Compared to just a few decades ago, our lives are already heavily optimized by digital solutions. Do we really need more ?
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Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
winther LinkHaven't been to the cinema by myself in a very long time, only for seeing things with the kids like Toy Story and Super Mario Galaxy, but yesterday I caught a special event showing of Teenage Sex...Haven't been to the cinema by myself in a very long time, only for seeing things with the kids like Toy Story and Super Mario Galaxy, but yesterday I caught a special event showing of Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma and will be the highlight of the year for me. With that title and starring Gillian Anderson, it is tailormade for me personally. Sort of thematic/interpretive(?) spoilers below.
This film is made with so much love for the 80s slasher films like Halloween and Friday the 13th, but the good thing is that offers so much more than mere fanservice and references (though it has plenty of those too). You don't get a slasher pastiche, but a wild satirical sexual awakening story wrapped in a double meta-narrative reaching directly to the viewers (or me at least) own relationship with these type of movies. Katie Welsh writes in a review:
... a sharp, playful, sexy and surprisingly warm Hollywood satire about repressed millennials who have outsourced their sexual desire to the movies. The film is a loving send-up of film nerds who’d rather intellectualize and compartmentalize than truly feel in any sort of sensual or embodied way.
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The message here is to get out of our heads and into our bodies, and it’s OK if we need movies to do that.(hangs my head in shame)
The film is screaming its metaphors from the rooftop. The killer in this fictional franchise is literally called Little Death, acknowledging the established interpretation of slasher films connection between death and sex, and the le petite mort concept of orgasm being a little death. Part of the main idea in the film is the two female characters that can only find their own true sexual desire and get an orgasm through the killer, called Little Death, as they get stabbed to a bloody death by an enormous fishing spear.
There is enough self awareness in the film to make it genuinely ambiguous whether the over analyzing is really just an excuse to find an artistic reason to like seeing skampy clad teenagers screaming while they are "penetrated" by big sharp phallic objects. It really hits a personal nerve, as my wife is often looking at the tv and puzzled asking what the hell I am watching (I am not making it easy by being a fan of Italian giallo and Verhoeven), and there is undeniably elements of eroticism in these films. The screaming in terror and final breath as death occurs are eerily close to the sounds of pleasure, making these films sit in a conflicting place in your body when you watch them. What makes the film brilliant in my mind is that it refuses to give a definitive resolution to these of questions. There is a core message about going back to basics, "flesh and body fluids" and stop overthinking, but there is also enough self aware mocking satire of its own discourse, pulling the rug on the whole analysis, that fans or slashers are not given a completely free pass.
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Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
winther Link ParentRun of the mill Hollywood are probably not good examples of many things, but what I am advocating a bit against is the notion of whether sex in movies is "necessary". Necessary for what? Plenty of...Run of the mill Hollywood are probably not good examples of many things, but what I am advocating a bit against is the notion of whether sex in movies is "necessary". Necessary for what? Plenty of things in movies can be deemed unnecessary on some parameters, but movies are a visual medium that convey more than just plot. You can communicate two people having sex by having a long explicit sex scene, or do it like they did in the 1930s by showing the couple embracing, panning the camera to the window and cut to breakfast the next morning. Or everything in between. I would say the movie landscape would somewhat boring if every depiction of people having sex would be reduced the 30s version. Same could be applied to many other aspects of movies. Like you can show someone getting shot completely offscreen or with full on blood brain splatter. Cut to the core, it communicates the same thing, someone is shot dead, but in general we accept that - "unnecessary" - violence at various levels of explicitness, is one element among many that makes a complete movie. The same can be said about depiction of eroticism in general.
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Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
winther Link ParentDepends on the director of course, but it does seem like the concept of eroticism in film is becoming a lost form. Eroticism is different from porn, and maybe because hardcore porn has become so...Most movie sex scenes are just gratuitous with no chemistry. I'm not sure not wanting to see it is puritanical.
Depends on the director of course, but it does seem like the concept of eroticism in film is becoming a lost form. Eroticism is different from porn, and maybe because hardcore porn has become so easily accessible, the concept of proper erotic sexuality on screen is becoming harder to even accept as a possibility for viewers these days. Or filmmakers don't know how to do it anymore.
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Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
winther Link ParentAdding Obsession to my list :) The code had weird priorities back then. Spoilers According to its Wikipedia article they were apparently more concerned with hints at infidelity and the self...Adding Obsession to my list :) The code had weird priorities back then.
Spoilers
According to its Wikipedia article they were apparently more concerned with hints at infidelity and the self inflicted miscarriage (abortion) than straight up child murder. -
Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
winther LinkThe Criterion Channel has put together a great selection of Murderous Melodramas and I have been having so much fun with it. Does what it says on the tin - stylish excess, lovely Technicolor,...The Criterion Channel has put together a great selection of Murderous Melodramas and I have been having so much fun with it. Does what it says on the tin - stylish excess, lovely Technicolor, ridiculous melodrama combined with various scheming murder plots.
The highlight so far has been Written on the Wind (1956). The plot is full on soap opera, with rich oil barons and their mess of a private life. Not the least thanks to the performances, with Lauren Bacal's unimpressed demeanor and Robert Stack's desperation. Gorgeous environments and sets, a loud score screaming the emotional beats in capital letters and every character acting utterly self-destructive, yet it never tips over into ridiculousness or camp.
With Niagara (1953) we get Niagara Falls and Marilyn Monroe, a great combo. Fantastic setting with plenty of use of the beautiful location, delivering more than just scenery as it falls naturally into the narrative. Admittedly Monroe is more looks than acting capability here, but then Jean Peters makes up for it as she was the most interesting and fully fledged character. And arguably the true main character along with Joseph Cotten who plays Monroe's husband. Interestingly to see how Monroe is clearly depicted as the ultimate sex symbol, and when Max Showalter - playing the husband to Peters - tries to (literally) picture Peters like that, she isn't willingly playing along. Mirroring Peters' real acting career choices as well, at least according to her Wikipedia saying she did try to fight the Hollywood push to make her sex symbol. Monroe may get top billing and the immediate eye catching look, but I end up falling for Peters and her down to earth persona, her intelligence and genuine empathy where others were too occupied.
Leave Her To Heaven (1945) is somewhat like a prototype for this type of film. Lovely Technicolor texture everywhere. It is somewhat slower going and less bombastic than the movies from the 50s in this vein, but what it does have - is Gene Tierney as the ultimate archetype of a scheming psychopathic woman. Her jealousy is all consuming, her manipulation goes above and beyond - ending in a wild finale. I was quite surprised with how far it goes, especially with one quiet drawn out horrible scene, as it didn't expect that kind of display of calculated calm cruelty from Hollywood in the 40s. I admit it was a bit boring at times, but all worth it for where it ends up.
Also watched Desert Fury (1947) and Violent Saturday (1955), both a bit more crime noir feeling, with an added element of domestic soap opera drama. And jealousy galore of course.
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Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
winther LinkAnyone wanna talk Dark City? With some caveats it went straight among my top 5 best science fiction. Spoilers The set design and overall look of this fantasy-ish Metropolis inspired city is...Anyone wanna talk Dark City? With some caveats it went straight among my top 5 best science fiction.
Spoilers
The set design and overall look of this fantasy-ish Metropolis inspired city is amazing, and we are just thrown into it without much explanation - keeping the feeling of "what the hell is going on" for quite some time. The theatrical release of this apparently ruined it by starting with a voiceover explaining the whole mystery, which thankfully was fixed in the director's cut.The comparison to The Matrix is hard to look past, as it really follows many of the same beats, look, themes and to an extent scenes as well. The Matrix has to reveal its premise earlier, or else Neo's training arc wouldn't make sense. Dark City can keep the confusion of the world going for much longer, making that gradual reveal much more satisfying. The downside however for me was the ending, which is just one big deus ex solution. The Matrix does the same thing basically, but that was more earned from the story, whereas here it comes almost out of nowhere.
I understand The Matrix ended up being the more popular film of the two, and had I seen Dark City at the same time I likely wouldn't have appreciated it for what it does. So not a bad thing finding out about this overlooked film years later.
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Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
winther Link ParentNot sure I see why that would make the movie better. I see the whole film as sort of an anti-romance, as what the two people are sharing are not romantic love in the traditional sense of a romance...I liked Rental Family (2025) better. I have the same issue with this as I do with Brief Encounter (1945): this could be a really good movie if the main characters weren't already married to other people.
Not sure I see why that would make the movie better. I see the whole film as sort of an anti-romance, as what the two people are sharing are not romantic love in the traditional sense of a romance movie, but something entirely different. It is more like two half broken people finding some deep connection in a different country, but they are not falling in love - at least not in the way we usually see it depicted in movies. Which of course is the whole films "thing" so to speak, what has been discussed about it endlessly, the ambiguity of their relationship and how to interpret the final scene. Anyways, that whole non clear ambiguity and non-traditional romance that is hard to read is what I like about it.
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Comment on Atari makes Universal movie deal for ten iconic game properties in ~movies
winther LinkIf they treat like Futurama did, then it might work.If they treat like Futurama did, then it might work.
For my own primary pastime timesink, I would say film restorations and availability. Don't have to go back that many years where massive parts of cinematic history was out of reach for the regular consumer, and what existed outside the big titles, was old poor quality transfers. Now we are constantly getting new 2K and 4K restorations of obscure genre films, releasing on smaller labels such as Arrow, Powerhouse and 88 Films. Not a surprise that Ben Hur recently got a big 4K restoration release, but when niche genre films like Lucio Fulci’s Murder Rock or Aldo Lado’s Short Night Of Glass Dolls are getting full restorations from original negatives, then that is a sign that the process has become cheap enough to warrant future proofing a much wider range of film history.