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sammythorne
Reviews
Black Mirror: Beyond the Sea (2023)
Heartbreaking
Absolutely fantastic episode that really captured the old essence of what made Black Mirror so good to begin with.
The opening being a really obvious homage to the Manson family murders made my skin crawl, Rory Culkin does a fantastic job at playing a delusional and dangerous monster despite only being on screen for a very short amount of time.
The psychological horror that manifests from the base concept plot alone is enough to unnerve anyone, and the way the writing causes that to swell and become worse and worse as time goes on was masterful. Even the discomfort that comes from the existential horror that is outer space is wonderfully implemented into the feeling of isolation throughout the entire episode.
I like to say that I'm not an easily disturbed person when it comes to fictional storytelling. The only other black mirror episode that impacted me as hard as this one was "Shut Up and Dance" for its own horrific ending twist.
Even the music score fit the episode perfectly. The rendition of "La Mer" becoming more passionate as the song continues on, swelling to an emotional climax, was a perfect accompaniment to the beats of the episodes plot.
I also didn't find the episode to be too predictable. Yes, there were moments where I had my own predictions, but most of them were subverted beautifully.
Bushworld Adventures (2018)
ME GREEN CUUUBE
Ignore all the reviews that say this sucks, they've totally missed the point of the spin-off. It's not supposed to be deep, it's not supposed to make sense, it's just a funny little collaboration that's oozing with Aussie humor and references.
Considering how deep some episodes of the original RNM show can get and how clever some of the jokes are, this is a total reversal of expectations which makes it absolutely hilarious. It's a very unique experience and I love rewatching this special every now and then just for the sheer insanity of it.
You're Next (2011)
Home Alone, but Evil
Genuinely enjoyed this movie! I put off watching it for ages because I guess I just thought it was going to be similar to "The Purge", a movie I didn't really like, but just like the original "Scream" movie it does a great job at subverting expectations.
Without giving away any spoilers, I really do recommend giving this a watch. A very tense movie that doesn't rely on jump scares to freak you out (though there are a few well placed ones!) and the gore is creative! Probably one of my favourite horror home invasion movies ever!
The Blue Shell Incident (2019)
Stop what you're doing and watch this NOW!!!!
This movie is insanely good. The animation quality was absolutely superb all the way through, unlike anything I've ever seen before. While watching the movie, I found myself forgetting this was computer animation, it was that flawless.
Please, if you love animation, watch this movie. It'll change your life. You'll look at Pixar and think to yourself "ugh, so ugly!" due to how pristine the animation is. The voice acting is also absolutely fantastic. The pure talent shown to us, the humble audience, was out of this world. I genuinely loved every single second of this movie. If I die, I want this film to be played during my wake. Hopefully due to how gripping it is, how stunning the visuals are, it'll take away some of the grief that my friends and family would be feeling due to me being dead forever.
This movie will make you laugh, cry, scream and fall in love. The sheer amount of emotions I had flowing through my gay veins as I sat, glued to my screen overwhelmed me so much that I blacked out. Never has a movie been so disturbingly beautiful. Watching this movie was like peering into the fountain of life. Our own mortality is shown to us unapologetically. Just writing this review has me crying really hard.
Thank you Joel. The year it took to make this was worth it, worth every single second. Thank you so much, I love you.
Ryû ga gotoku Zero: Chikai no basho (2015)
One of the BEST games I've ever played.
This game is honestly insanely good. When I first played Zero, I was really new to the Yakuza franchise and was still getting to grips with the lore. Thankfully, due to this game being a prequel of some sorts, if you're interested in playing the Yakuza series but don't know where to start, this game is your answer.
The storytelling and the pace of this game is beyond fantastic. It has everything, intense highs and devastating lows, great comedic timing and the silly charm that the Yakuza series is well known for. It really is a game that you can just boot up and goof around in. I'll do my best to avoid spoilers for the game in this short review since I truly believe that everyone interested in the game should play it for themselves.
Beautifully crafted and insanely fun. Yakuza 0 is one of, if not my favourite game of all time. This is the first game to ever render me a sobbing, wailing mess.
10/10, fantastic and beautiful.