Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay Paul Tremblay wrote The Cabin at the End of the World (Movie: Knock at the Cabin), which I liked and this kept popping up on my Amazon feed, and it seemed like it would hit all my buttons. I’m impressed with his style. He doesn’t use any metaphors or similes like I do. The result of that, though, is that the book comes off as pretentious. It feels like a book the author wanted to be IMPORTANT. Like he wanted it to be taught in schools and have study guides written about it. And that means reading this is like deciphering a puzzle. There are…
-
-
Analyzing the Marvel Cinematic Universe Villains: Sebastian Shaw (X-Men: First Class)
Sebastian Shaw X-Men: First Class (2011) Characteristics and Powers: Sebastian Shaw has a mutant power that lets him absorb energy (mostly explosives and such). This keeps him young and expands his lifespan. I don’t know how old he is, but he can speak several languages and gained influence to get meetings with top-tier politicians and military officers. Reminds me of a Bond villain, especially with a submarine and ship. Usually you don’t see masterminds last this long, but I attribute it to having good henchmen (his “Hellfire Club”). He’s got one person who’s both telepathic and invulnerable, another who can teleport, and another who… blows really hard. Well, they can’t…
-
Things I Think About
According to the game Lordle, the word “boner” is somewhere in the Lord of the Rings books. Could Taylor Swift be a real-life Dazzler from X-Men? My wife told me, compared to Our Flag Means Death, I look masculine. So I’ve got that going for me, which is nice. No one believes they are evil because every side thinks they are the good guy. That’s fine. But a plan to help people shouldn’t mean having to hurt others. A plan like that is not a good plan. That’s how you tell if you’re evil or not. Wicked is a movie based on a musical based on a book based on…
-
More Thoughts About AI (and Its Inevitability)
Been thinking more about AI. There was an incident a few weeks ago about a video game “caught” using AI. The developers left some placeholder text and translations in, consisting of 0.3% of the game’s content. And everyone lost their freakin’ monkey minds. Which left me wondering, “does it really matter”? The editorialist thought it did, because A) AI is built on theft B) there were easy substitutes like lorem ipsum. Translations may take time and money, but it’s the right professional thing to do. But when has a company ever been concerned about “the right thing”? They are always going to pick the thing that costs the least time…
-
Men’s Issues: What Are They?
I can’t remember what triggered this issue, so I’m just going to get into it. I watched a documentary called The Red Pill. The documentary was not good. It was propaganda, which is why I don’t like documentaries. They only give one side of the issue–the one the producer wants to promote. A filmmaker can manipulate a film so much to give you what they want you to see and feel (e.g. Super Size Me, White Wilderness, Tiger King, Dinesh D’Souza stuff, Bill Maher stuff, Michael Moore stuff, anything involving haunted places). They’re entirely biased and often lie. And if they’re not lying, they’re omitting or misrepresenting. They ignore questions…
-
Analyzing the Marvel Cinematic Universe Villains: Loki (Thor)
Loki Thor (2011) Characteristics and Powers: These people are legendary and mythical gods, so the things they can do tend to be ambiguous. It also means their weaknesses are ambiguous (like when Odin has to fall into the Odinsleep, then wakes up with no apparent reason for either). All I can go on is what is demonstrated in the movies, and their limitations seem to be absent. We know Loki was born as a Jotun a.k.a. frost giant. But Odin can and has disguised him as an Asgardian. We know he can make illusions/doppelgangers of himself. How tangible they are, I don’t know, but I figure it’s related to how…
-
Where Are the Romances for Men?
So I was going through some favorites I marked on Imgur that I’d forgotten about. Recipes, useful information, quotes. One of them was this sequence of posts. To sum up, someone asks the question “Why aren’t there romance stories for men? Why is the romance genre is exclusively targeted at women?” And the provided answer (short version) is that, for women, love is something that “happens” to them. But men are the ones who have to work to make that happen. And this rings true to me. Here are some most loved romances by women to prove it. In Pride & Prejudice, Darcy pursues Lizzy. Lizzy just kinda sits back…
-
Analyzing the Marvel Cinematic Universe Villains: Whiplash (Iron Man 2)
Whiplash Real Identity: Ivan Vanko Iron Man 2 (2010) Characteristics and Powers: Whiplash is named for his eponymous electric whips, powered by a knock-off arc reactor. He doesn’t have much for armor (unlike Iron Man) so he has to keep his distance and attack. Fortunately, whips are the perfect weapon for this. Plus it shows his brutality, like Kratos in God of War. Clearly, Ivan isn’t afraid to get hurt. He’s got plenty of scars and metal teeth, which indicates the state of Russian healthcare. And don’t forget his bird. Relationship to the Hero(es): Iron Man 2 starts a common thread in his movies that is “sins of the father”.…
-
The Books I Read: March – April 2025
The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t With Her Mind by Jackson Ford On a Facebook post for my library, they offered a challenge saying “Give me any book and I’ll recommend something based on it.” For a lark, I gave it “I’m Worried About This Black Box of Doom“, since I’d love to find anyone that matches Pargin’s unique style. This book was the response. It did not hit the mark. The narrative is snarky enough, but it’s not wise or conventionally intelligent or containing hard truths. It’s a basic action chase story about a girl with telekinesis who’s part of a BlackOps team. They’re searching for a killer who…
-
Could We Be Done With James Bond Already?
So my wife was telling me the other day that, since the rights to James Bond were sold to Amazon, she’s worried about what’s going to happen to the franchise. And all I can think is “See ya, wouldn’t want to be ya!” Because I don’t know if I mentioned this before, but I don’t care for James Bond. All the 007 movies could be erased from the planet tomorrow and I wouldn’t give a fig. He’s narcissistic, misogynistic, quippy, arrogant, flamboyant, a know-it-all, and above ever getting injured. Come on, he’s a Mary Sue. And it’s hypocritical not to point it out when others only dump on women protagonists…
