morafim's recent activity
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Comment on Superman (2025) - Discussion thread in ~movies
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Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
morafim Link ParentThat is uncanny how reminiscent the two films are for technique; Coogler is consistent, for sure. The shot I was thinking of from Wright was the Shaun of the Dead walk to the corner store and what...the same floaty long-take camera movement that Coogler uses in Sinners, specifically in the big music scene, and even in the scene you mentioned
That is uncanny how reminiscent the two films are for technique; Coogler is consistent, for sure.
The shot I was thinking of from Wright was the Shaun of the Dead walk to the corner store and what it does (for me, at least); it builds a lot of context for the world and it's a long (unbroken?) shot. It's a cool shot in both films that is a "show, don't tell" moment, but Coogler uses it to build the world whereas Wright uses it to build the world, then re-uses it to build the story.
I think that's what I'm getting at with "not useful"; Coogler has a visual language, but I don't really want to compare him to himself because I see other filmmakers doing similar things with different impacts, and if I find his technique lacking I'd want to move outside of his visual language for...contrast, now that I think of it, rather than strict comparison.
this proves that the themes aren't very distinct
My *incredibly subjective* thought on theme...
...is that Black Panther is about familial secrets and the consequence of secrecy and "apartness". The supernatural/superhero aspect of the main character is passed down from father to son, and it takes an outsider to reveal the truth to the main character.
Sinners interrogates the concept of "sin", generally; wine, women, and song. There are references to the imposition of a moral order/controlling authority (Christianity, Jim Crow, vampirism) that takes free will away. The main character has the power to connect people to each other and their ancestors, and at the end has to choose between the moral order and some other path.
Both films talk about the impact of racism/colonialism in different contexts, using different mechanisms (superhero, supernatural) and for me the contexts are distinct enough that I have trouble comparing them (in a way that is useful to me).
Reviews talk about how hyped up his two films about Black Americans were and how disappointingly average they are. I referenced it in the original post because I found both films did not live up to the hype, but that's as far as I thought about it, and the comparisons to other works are more compelling to me.
I'm also not sure why a film would have to be from the same time period to make a good comparison either.
100% agree; in the case of time though I couldn't compare how well Black Panther represents the '30s vs how accurately Sinners represents the '30s, but it's fun to think how cinema represents that time period and how we think of it as "accurate" and whether that helps us to believe the world we're viewing.
Off topic:
This has actually kicked off a question for me about technique generally; I am somewhat offended when I can tell that something is fake in a movie, but is that even relevant? I love when a movie is technically competent, especially when it elevates story elements, but that's probably an elitist position to take. -
Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
morafim Link ParentI would be interested to hear what comparisons to Black Panther you find the most compelling; I should also say that everything I write about movies is opinion, rather than fact, and I should...I would be interested to hear what comparisons to Black Panther you find the most compelling; I should also say that everything I write about movies is opinion, rather than fact, and I should probably clarify "not a useful comparison".
For Sinners and Black Panther the obvious overlap is Ryan Coogler and "centering (his work) on often overlooked cultures and characters—most notably African Americans" (from Wikipedia), but I find the overall structure, time period, and theme of the movies are very distinct (though both focus on the connection with ancestors and culture they do it in very different ways). I think it's more accurate to say that there are other movies that I'm more interested in comparing Sinners to that are more technically competent and thematically similar.
One of the scenes/shots I keep thinking about is a really great, understated sequence that (thankfully) the director doesn't use a voiceover to explain to the audience: early on the daughter that works in the general store crosses the street...to the other general store in town, both run by the Chow family. It's a great bit of world-building that actually reminds me more of an Edgar Wright sequence than anything from Black Panther.
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Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
morafim LinkNow that it's out on streaming...Sinners had a lot of hype and I bounced right off it at about the halfway mark; there were a lot of strange decisions as far as technique and execution that really...Now that it's out on streaming...Sinners had a lot of hype and I bounced right off it at about the halfway mark; there were a lot of strange decisions as far as technique and execution that really took me out of it: accents, compositing the twins, transitions, the sound design for moments when characters had dialogue, the sheer number of things the twins had done in their lifetime. I was never sold on a feeling of verisimilitude as a whole; though there are some great character moments that feel real the connective tissue between scenes is not enough.
I think I'd compare it to O Brother, Where Art Thou for time period, mythology, racism as a theme, and filmmaking technique (the reviews I've seen compare the hype/reward to Black Panther, but...I don't think that's a very useful comparison). I'm still working through this comparison but the themes of music as transformative, magical realism, punishment, sin, religion, "the South" generally, compositing and editing technique, racism and its opposite (inclusion)...maybe not every movie needs to be an O Brother, Where Art Thou but I wouldn't mind if it was.
Spoilers: the sawmill music mythology scene
The attempt/intent was interesting, but the result was...not good. Maybe this is an issue of streaming vs theatre, but this felt like someone trying to translate a beautifully written poem or passage into film literally and it just fell so flat. This is also the scene that I've seen praised as one of the best parts about the film. It's probably just that the "enjoys musicals" part of my brain is missing, but this stood out as the moment the director just *could not* trust his audience to understand the message and he *had to tell us*.On compositing: I can't tell if the first scene where the twins share a cigarette is intentionally badly done, but there's a big pause where they each grab the cigarette from the other. Is this supposed to be a big wink at the audience? It feels like the early scenes are calling attention to the fact that it's the same guy rather than trying to have it blend into the film.
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Comment on MTG - Building a collection in ~games.tabletop
morafim LinkI wanted to thank everyone for their feedback, I got a lot of good stuff for more research (cube was particularly interesting, I didn't realize what it was). Thanks all!I wanted to thank everyone for their feedback, I got a lot of good stuff for more research (cube was particularly interesting, I didn't realize what it was). Thanks all!
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Comment on MTG - Building a collection in ~games.tabletop
morafim Link ParentI think I've capped out what I can comfortably learn in Arena's digital space; the decks make sense, I can understand how to play them and what they're trying to do, but trying to pull them apart...Magic Arena's tutorial and color challenges are a great onboarding tool, and having a computer "help" with the rules is a godsend. You'll get exposure to playing different strategies and colors this way.
I think I've capped out what I can comfortably learn in Arena's digital space; the decks make sense, I can understand how to play them and what they're trying to do, but trying to pull them apart in the app...it just feels very disconnected, like I can't build the spatial connections that I want to build. It might be a personal/moral failing but I find the haptic feedback and physical space a lot more helpful for building understanding (kind of like reading a book vs an ebook).
JumpStart seems to be fairly common as a recommendation, so I might try that.
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Comment on MTG - Building a collection in ~games.tabletop
morafim Link ParentThe out-of-printness of beginner/boxed magic sets is consistently fascinating to me; the Game Night set is appealing in the same way as the Foundations Starter Collection (also out of print)....The out-of-printness of beginner/boxed magic sets is consistently fascinating to me; the Game Night set is appealing in the same way as the Foundations Starter Collection (also out of print). Maybe the market just isn't there for that sort of thing? I might wait to see if they reprint or come out with something similar.
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Comment on MTG - Building a collection in ~games.tabletop
morafim Link ParentI might end up doing something like this just to learn the cards in grayscale (like flash cards); I wonder where the cutoff is for when that's more cost-effective to print vs buy. 50 cent cards?...Have you tried proxying?
I might end up doing something like this just to learn the cards in grayscale (like flash cards); I wonder where the cutoff is for when that's more cost-effective to print vs buy. 50 cent cards? $1 cards? I'm not a huge fan of color inkjets, but that's a different rant about a different kind of corporate bullshit.
Checkout the Pauper Cube.
Someone else mentioned cubes and I think pauper cube is a great idea, I'll just have to see where to source them.
Like what if you get 50% blue cards?
Out of 1000 cards? as long as they're not all the same blue card I guess I'm going to learn about blue :)
Consider that there are over 20,000 modern legal cards.
Heh, yeah. I'm glad there's no push to "collect them all" from WotC or my own brain, because that's a nightmarishly large set to know anything about, let alone everything.
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Comment on MTG - Building a collection in ~games.tabletop
morafim Link ParentHmm, I'll take a look at cube lists, I don't think I've heard the term. Ty for the keyword!build a cube...You can look at cubes that people have built online and just buy the contained cards.
Hmm, I'll take a look at cube lists, I don't think I've heard the term. Ty for the keyword!
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Comment on MTG - Building a collection in ~games.tabletop
morafim Link ParentGreen cat/walls deck with probably a perfect draw (3 walls into a towering titan at turn...5?). Friends have a bunch more knowledge, experience, and cards at their disposal, but we play mostly...Well, what did you win with one time? Also, probably as importantly - what do your friends play?
Green cat/walls deck with probably a perfect draw (3 walls into a towering titan at turn...5?). Friends have a bunch more knowledge, experience, and cards at their disposal, but we play mostly online because post-college/high school nobody lives in the same state so they play...whatever they feel like that day.
Don't buy bulk, unless you're doing draft/sealed.
Sorry, this might be a terminology mistake on my part; I think I mean "bulk lots" like on eBay, 1k cards and such.
I think the thing I've noticed most is that even people that play this game a lot are surprised by cards, but they can immediately relate it to other classic/staple cards ("that's just 'Sol Ring' At Home"); I have no illusions that I'll be able to learn/memorize everything about the game, but I've noticed that the game has repeated themes and elements that I'm trying to get a handle on, and I'm not picking it up in the digital space in a very useful way.
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MTG - Building a collection
TL; DR: how do I start building a collection cheaply with versatile/staple cards? A couple of friends have started playing Magic: The Gathering with a virtual tabletop, and while I have learned a...
TL; DR: how do I start building a collection cheaply with versatile/staple cards?
A couple of friends have started playing Magic: The Gathering with a virtual tabletop, and while I have learned a lot from playing Arena and reading cards (and watching the Prof) there's just something not working for me in the digital space; Archidekt is tough for me to read through, and even something like Tabletop Simulator doesn't work for me for learning the game (or rather...it's not sticking). I know that I do pretty well with physical objects, so I wanted to get some physical cards to get the hang of the game but immediately ran up against the cost.
I don't know if you guys know this, but Magic: The Gathering is expensive. Way more expensive than I can justify for a hobby I've just started and haven't really gotten the hang of. My question is: how do I start building a collection without breaking the bank?The things I know, but might need to be corrected on:
"Don't buy bulk"; apparently most boxes of bulk have a bunch of repeats and are generally the cards left over when the good ones have been extracted. I would love to be wrong about this, because even getting common/uncommon cards in enough volume to play in a physical space would be neat.
"Buy singles"; it seems like this is a good way to spend $50-$1000 blindly in the dark if you don't know what you're doing.
"Play what you enjoy"; I've played some jump-start decks and those are neat, but I haven't played enough to know what I like, making this difficult. I also haven't played enough to know the difference between what I enjoy because it's neat and what I enjoy because I won with it one time.
"Buy a precon deck"; from what I've read the commander precons would be a good way to get a lot of single cards, but I've read/heard mixed things about them: reviewers discussing how to "fix" them to be good.
"Buy jump start packs"; I would love to grab a bunch of the jump start decks to mess around with and find synergies, but how do you avoid getting repeats of the packs?
"Buy the Foundations Starter Collection"; Foundations Starter Collection is apparently sold out (or only being sold used/resold at a higher price?), but seems exactly what I'm looking for: a decent collection of classic/useful cards that you can build with and supplement as you learn the game.
"Look for garage sales or ebay for collections"; I'm pretty sure my chances of edging out an experienced card hunter on a good deal is slim to none, especially in my area.I would, in an ideal world, like to have a small collection with 300-500 of the cards that "everybody knows" for kitchen table Magic (fake draft/jump start, casual commander, casual...modern?), but this seems out of reach. Any guidance would be appreciated!
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Comment on TikTok is being flooded with racist AI videos generated by Google’s Veo 3 in ~tech
morafim LinkThe comments on YouTube gave me a very Principal Skinner moment; I thought I would see at least one "where's the funny?" comment, but the commenters seem to have reached the consensus that these...The comments on YouTube gave me a very Principal Skinner moment; I thought I would see at least one "where's the funny?" comment, but the commenters seem to have reached the consensus that these videos are "objectively hilarious". Maybe because it is familiar as "comedy"? It has the structure of a joke?
Does it have the structure of a joke? (I think it's there; they do generally set up a premise then "subvert" it. I just don't fund the subversion interesting, funny, or well-delivered.) Comedy is subjective, I suppose, but it seems like most of the comedy in these videos comes from "here's a funny thing" rather than a subversion...but the "funny thing" is just "the Holocaust", which strikes me as weird. Even if a joke structure is there I don't think that's the point, it just masks a thing you have to already believe is "objectively hilarious".
On a meta level the existence of this video is a form of absurdist comedy: it was too much effort to be cartoon-character racist, so we fully automated it.
The film coming out has made me think a lot about Superman's character and what it means to people, and I'm curious what your favorite characterization is (or what you see as the "truest" version of him).