Horror movies are going through a bit of a renaissance actually, there has been plenty of great stuff recently: It Follows, The Witch, Hereditary, Midsommar, Get Out, and so much more.
It Comes At Night (which hits a little close to home in 2020)
Parasite (by Bong Joon-ho of The Host fame)
Resolution & The Endless (same writer/director team behind these two)
It's not "new" new (2007), and it's not a traditional horror movie but a sci-fi thriller with horror elements (especially in the third act), but it is directed by 28 Days Later director Danny Boyle. I'm never going to pass up a chance to push one of my favorite, most underrated films: Sunshine. The cinematography is tremendous, the effects hold up splendidly, it explores interesting themes, and the cast is stellar (this is a film that has Chris Evans, Rose Byrne and Benedict Wong, but being released before any of them were known quantities, the featured lead was Cillian Murphy. Michelle Yeoh and Hiroyuki Sanada are also in it).
I feel like Ready Player # gives reference and nostalgia a bad name. I think it's just because Ready Player Whatever is bad, not because nostalgia is bad. Stranger Things is a nostalgia fest, and yet it didn't forget to include likable characters and a compelling story. The Simpsons (seasons 3-10 for the purposes of my argument) is full of references but it is also hilarious, quotable, and has characters and story. Neil Gaiman's work is beloved by nerds everywhere, but is quite allusive (when you are classy, it's called "alluding" and not "referencing"). Reference and nostalgia are tools to be used in making a story. It's like Kline built a house out of hammers instead of using hammers to build a house.
Another thing. I learned people consume nostalgic media as a way to make themselves feel better. Reminding themselves of happier times. It makes me feel no small amount of empathy for Ernst Kline. I mean, not as much as the actually good writers who didn't get deals because he did, but I can't help but picture him as guy desperately trying to recreate the 80s as a way to avoid living today (which was going on well before 2020).
I wonder if Kline would have been more successful with this book in a pre-internet world. Without the internet, Ready Player Or Not, Here I Come would have been able to shovel nostalgia out into a void. But with the internet (and all the ancillaries, like online video streaming), players can wallow in an unlimited amount of nostalgia. Instead, it not only came out after the internet, but six years after youtube. You can find reams of fanfic, videos, reviews, lists, whatever about just about any period in for people who are 15-50 years old. The 80s are an especially frequently tapped vein.
(And even before the internet, you had shows like VH1's I Love the 80s that were strip-mining the decade. But I digress.)
I avoided the movie because the trailers struck me as an insincere pandering cash-grab, but man, excerpts like this one from that tweet @YoungFrey linked above just read like the worst sort of "gamer" fanfic (or basically every 'jumpchain' fic I've seen), where a (usually self-insert, but not always acknowledged as such) character crosses over multiple worlds to munchkin their way to godhood, often behaving in a sociopathic manner along the way, in some narcissistic pursuit of gratification or catharsis.
You can't parody that. It's already hit peak absurdity.
Wait, if the flux capacitor is non-functioning, how can he describe the abomination as time-traveling?
+2
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OctoberRavenPlays fighting games for the storySkyeline Hotel Apartment 4ARegistered Userregular
I avoided the movie because the trailers struck me as an insincere pandering cash-grab, but man, excerpts like this one from that tweet @YoungFrey linked above just read like the worst sort of "gamer" fanfic (or basically every 'jumpchain' fic I've seen), where a (usually self-insert, but not always acknowledged as such) character crosses over multiple worlds to munchkin their way to godhood, often behaving in a sociopathic manner along the way, in some narcissistic pursuit of gratification or catharsis.
You can't parody that. It's already hit peak absurdity.
Wait, if the flux capacitor is non-functioning, how can he describe the abomination as time-traveling?
I mean, the movie has the evil corp's plan to get rich basically amount to Captain Planet Villain levels of pointless, non-profitable evilness when they could just make all the money with a 1% transaction fee from all purchases.
Currently Most Hype For: VTMB2, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, Alan Wake 2 (Wake Harder)Currently Playin: Guilty Gear XX AC+R, Gat Out Of Hell
I avoided the movie because the trailers struck me as an insincere pandering cash-grab, but man, excerpts like this one from that tweet @YoungFrey linked above just read like the worst sort of "gamer" fanfic (or basically every 'jumpchain' fic I've seen), where a (usually self-insert, but not always acknowledged as such) character crosses over multiple worlds to munchkin their way to godhood, often behaving in a sociopathic manner along the way, in some narcissistic pursuit of gratification or catharsis.
You can't parody that. It's already hit peak absurdity.
Wait, if the flux capacitor is non-functioning, how can he describe the abomination as time-traveling?
I mean, the movie has the evil corp's plan to get rich basically amount to Captain Planet Villain levels of pointless, non-profitable evilness when they could just make all the money with a 1% transaction fee from all purchases.
I avoided the movie because the trailers struck me as an insincere pandering cash-grab, but man, excerpts like this one from that tweet @YoungFrey linked above just read like the worst sort of "gamer" fanfic (or basically every 'jumpchain' fic I've seen), where a (usually self-insert, but not always acknowledged as such) character crosses over multiple worlds to munchkin their way to godhood, often behaving in a sociopathic manner along the way, in some narcissistic pursuit of gratification or catharsis.
You can't parody that. It's already hit peak absurdity.
Wait, if the flux capacitor is non-functioning, how can he describe the abomination as time-traveling?
I mean, the movie has the evil corp's plan to get rich basically amount to Captain Planet Villain levels of pointless, non-profitable evilness when they could just make all the money with a 1% transaction fee from all purchases.
1%? Try 30%.
Think Different.
Start at 30%, then back it down to 20% so you look like the good guy.
+6
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OctoberRavenPlays fighting games for the storySkyeline Hotel Apartment 4ARegistered Userregular
I avoided the movie because the trailers struck me as an insincere pandering cash-grab, but man, excerpts like this one from that tweet @YoungFrey linked above just read like the worst sort of "gamer" fanfic (or basically every 'jumpchain' fic I've seen), where a (usually self-insert, but not always acknowledged as such) character crosses over multiple worlds to munchkin their way to godhood, often behaving in a sociopathic manner along the way, in some narcissistic pursuit of gratification or catharsis.
You can't parody that. It's already hit peak absurdity.
Wait, if the flux capacitor is non-functioning, how can he describe the abomination as time-traveling?
I mean, the movie has the evil corp's plan to get rich basically amount to Captain Planet Villain levels of pointless, non-profitable evilness when they could just make all the money with a 1% transaction fee from all purchases.
1%? Try 30%.
Think Different.
Point is, their plan was so pointlessly anti-consumer that even EA wouldn't entertain it, and everyone would just use an adblocker that someone came up with in like five minutes anyway.
Currently Most Hype For: VTMB2, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, Alan Wake 2 (Wake Harder)Currently Playin: Guilty Gear XX AC+R, Gat Out Of Hell
I avoided the movie because the trailers struck me as an insincere pandering cash-grab, but man, excerpts like this one from that tweet @YoungFrey linked above just read like the worst sort of "gamer" fanfic (or basically every 'jumpchain' fic I've seen), where a (usually self-insert, but not always acknowledged as such) character crosses over multiple worlds to munchkin their way to godhood, often behaving in a sociopathic manner along the way, in some narcissistic pursuit of gratification or catharsis.
You can't parody that. It's already hit peak absurdity.
Wait, if the flux capacitor is non-functioning, how can he describe the abomination as time-traveling?
I mean, the movie has the evil corp's plan to get rich basically amount to Captain Planet Villain levels of pointless, non-profitable evilness when they could just make all the money with a 1% transaction fee from all purchases.
1%? Try 30%.
Think Different.
Point is, their plan was so pointlessly anti-consumer that even EA wouldn't entertain it, and everyone would just use an adblocker that someone came up with in like five minutes anyway.
I'm sure something that terrible would be quickly stopped by president Cory Doctorow and his VP Wil Wheaton.
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I wonder if Kline would have been more successful with this book in a pre-internet world. Without the internet, Ready Player Or Not, Here I Come would have been able to shovel nostalgia out into a void. But with the internet (and all the ancillaries, like online video streaming), players can wallow in an unlimited amount of nostalgia. Instead, it not only came out after the internet, but six years after youtube. You can find reams of fanfic, videos, reviews, lists, whatever about just about any period in for people who are 15-50 years old. The 80s are an especially frequently tapped vein.
(And even before the internet, you had shows like VH1's I Love the 80s that were strip-mining the decade. But I digress.)
Wait, if the flux capacitor is non-functioning, how can he describe the abomination as time-traveling?
I mean, the movie has the evil corp's plan to get rich basically amount to Captain Planet Villain levels of pointless, non-profitable evilness when they could just make all the money with a 1% transaction fee from all purchases.
1%? Try 30%.
Think Different.
Start at 30%, then back it down to 20% so you look like the good guy.
Point is, their plan was so pointlessly anti-consumer that even EA wouldn't entertain it, and everyone would just use an adblocker that someone came up with in like five minutes anyway.
I'm sure something that terrible would be quickly stopped by president Cory Doctorow and his VP Wil Wheaton.