Super Mario Bros movie (2023). Fun. Not much depth in the plot, but let’s be real, that’s not why anybody came, is it? The visuals are fantastic and the mash of three video games is brilliantly executed. Also, can we talk about the music? Because the track is on point and lovely (see example below). What it’s lacking in plot, it makes up for just about everywhere else. Fun watch.
Puss In Boots: The Last Wish. So, I adored Shrek and Shrek 2, but after that it felt like the franchise let us down a bit and never quite reached those same heights. I heard there were spin-offs for Puss in Boots but I also heard mixed reviews on the first one. However, a friend poked me hard about this one, and when I followed up I was not disappointed. The art style changed quite a bit for the action sequences, some mix of CG and animation that looks gorgeous. The ideas are inventive, the characters are fun, and the story it gut-punchingly good. This is a worthy addition to the “Good Shrek” collection, even if Shrek isn’t in this one at all.
Mad Max: Fury Road. This is one of those always-heard-about-it-never-saw-it movies. Character interplay is fantastic. Setting is post-apocalyptic and pretty grim but highly imaginative. A whole lot of inference work and not everything is explained, which leads to interesting theorizing. I feel like I want to hunt down some analysis of this one… (later) ah, this is like number four in a series, why does nobody tell me these things...
Books
Inside American Education by Thomas Sowell. Sowell takes on his new favorite topic, the American education establishment. He talks about how K-12 has been experiencing brainwashing for decades in the classical sense, then turns to tackle the corruption of the major universities and the myths they hand out about themselves. I remember reading--in his more autobiographical work--about the frustration he dealt with while trying to be a university professor, and I’m guessing this book is partly born of his own experience. I’m not 100% sold on the K-12 argument. I respect Sowell a lot but I’d need to hear more about this. The university chapters, however, were highly data driven and made a world of sense.
The Circle series (Black, Red, White, Green) by Ted Dekker. An old favorite by someone who, I’m pretty sure, broke the mold and pushed every boundary Christian Fiction publishers had, for the better. Black, Red, and White are stunning pieces of fiction portraying parallel crisis in two worlds (or the same world at two different times?) bridged by one man able to travel back and forth whenever he dreams. The original three are deeply impactful. The fourth book, I think, was an overreach. It is the culmination not only of this series, but also of The Paradise Trilogy, The Lost Books series, and weaves in information from Immanuel’s Veins (all of these by Ted Dekker) and its own spin on the Biblical book of Revelations. It feels like it tried to tie together too many things and because of that, it came off as very bizarre. I feel like if the proper amount of time were spent on all these things, they would not have come off that way, but this book relies heavily on you having read the other series. I will give it that the depictions of evil in Green are more intense than at any other point in the series. I am also glad that, at least in the edition I have, that Dekker rewrote the ending. Originally, Green looped the protagonist right back to the beginning of Black, which Dekker said was “intellectually satisfying.” I intensely disliked this decision when I first read it, and when I heard it has a re-written ending in its omnibus edition, it was glad tidings indeed. Having read the new ending… I still think that Green is very weird and tried to encompass too much.
Showdown by Ted Dekker. I'd forgotten just how intense Dekker's depictions of evil can get. This book could easily be classified Christian Horror if such a genre overtly existed. Still, Dekker pursues his theme of God the Father's passionate pursuit of fallen man at any cost to Himself in the name of love. And it is stellar.
Fabricating Jesus by Craig A. Evans. This was not as easy of a read as I hoped. This book takes on various re-interpretations of Jesus, mostly based on non-canonical gospels (such as the Gospel of Thomas, Secret Mark, etc), and pokes holes in them. Some chapters are clear enough for a layman, others were harder to get a handle on. The main thing I walked away with was that the canonical gospels are the earliest dated material and that attempting to date other gospels earlier is founded on, at best, shaky supposition.
Storm Watch by C.J. Box. Courtesy of my 2-person introvert book club, a murder mystery in the frozen wilds of Wyoming. A bit grim, but a good modern ranger tale.
Loyalty by Lisa Scottline. Courtesy of my introvert book club, I LIKE THIS ONE. There’s, like, six different peoples’ storylines to keep straight, but if you can, they all intersect toward the end of the book. A historical fiction kidnapping mystery set in olden day Sicily, around the time of the birth of the Mafia. Tragedy. Romance. Triumph. The theme of jealous brothers. What more could you ask of a book? Well, okay, you could ask for dragons, but short of that!
Games
Outer Wilds. A time-loop game. In it, you are an alien pilot who sets out to unravel the journey of a different sentient race that died out before your species evolved to its current level. Outer Wilds is beautiful and, once you get the hang of how it works, a lot of fun. It was very satisfying to solve the puzzles when I could get it myself. There were only a few situations where I couldn’t connect the dots enough to figure out the answer, but as long as you explore everywhere and read all the text left behind for you, you should be able to get to the end. Navigating the ship through space was also a challenge because, as my husband explained, the physics of navigating space are closer to actual physics instead of the game hand-waving its way through space travel. This made it difficult for me until I discovered the autopilot function (WOOT). This game has several inventive planet concepts and a fascinating story that unfolds the more you explore, capped off by a beautiful ending. Definitely a worthwhile game to play and replay in the future.
Bioshock. Knock another classic off the Dusty-is-twenty-years-late-to-this-party list. I’ve heard about Bioshock as long as it’s been around, but again, “I could never possibly play a video game like that.” Played it. Beat the boss in two tries. The story is gruesome and disturbing, a tale of libertarianism turned corrupt taken to its darkest extremes, with people genetically modifying themselves at will until they go murderously mad from it. You enter a city built under the sea and it's a wasteland of bloodthirsty citizen-gangs who don't even know who they are anymore. Oddly enough, with such a dark and hellish premise, I still find this game ends with more hope than the Dishonored series. The hope is in your option to save the little girls of this city and bring them out of this hell hole… if you make the right choice.
Braid. I do not usually enjoy platformers, but this was beautiful. Very artistic puzzle platformer with unique mechanics. It often plays with time and perception, and all the while it tells a story of a man with a single-minded focus to find his princess… though is the situation only what it seems?