PixlBit

October came and went and Halloween along with it. I worked during that day as usual. Someone that I follow on twitter posted a week ago that Halloween should take place on the last Friday of the month instead of the last day. The last day usually falls on a day during the week, when the likeliest participants are either dealing with school or work or both. I'm in agreement with this. Instead, I watched how friends celebrated through social media and that'll have to be enough. 

Its usually work and shitty weather and I'd rather stay home but in this past month I haven't been all that productive on the homefront. I didn't put out any episodes of my podcast and I've fallen behind on watching some tv and films on the services that I pay for. I'm hoping to make better use of my time this month and going forward. 

Recently, I hooked up my SNES Classic to start another playthrough of Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past. I started Sunday night and have already cleared out the 2nd dungeon of the Dark World. I love this game. It's comfort food and always dependable. I'm still playing Destiny 2: New Light but have given up on The Division 2. I only have enough time for one MMO looter-shooter. I also return to Gears 5 and Red Dead 2 Online on a weekly basis. 

I saw IT Chapter Two and Joker during October. IT 2 was messy and overlong but still entertaining and affecting. It really nailed the aspect of the book which is that Pennywise's true power as a monster in the 2nd half is how it psychologically reduces the grownup versions of The Losers to their childhood states/selves. The fear is sustenance for it and toying with his victims is as nourishing as the ones it actually kills. 

Joker is beautifully shot and features a stunning performance by Joaquin Phoenix but the direction and the script fail the performers involved. It truly wanted to evoke 70s movies like The King of Comedy and Network but it truly wanted to be Taxi Driver so bad that it could taste it. The problem is, the script isn't smart enough to avoid a trap that baffles me in how the filmmakers missed it. If you've seen Taxi Driver, you'll have noticed that at no point in the film is the main character - Travis Bickle - robbed of his accountability in terms of his decisions or actions or conclusions. In Joker, Arthur Fleck isn't given the same treatment. The whole world was against him, even his mother, so there's no room for ambiguity or doubt. The plot is rigged to make him fall and honestly, I found that decision to be not only stupid but cowardly. And the whole film falls apart because of it. It's just an unpleasant experience through and through. 

Another unpleasant experience was Terminator: Dark Fate. 

I had a bit of a grudge going into this movie and it mostly had to do with what happens in the opening scene (if you've seen the film, you know what I'm talking about). Like Alien 3, it's a slap in the face for anyone who's invested in the story and characters of the previous two films. Also, like Alien 3, in its own what-if-scenario is actually well made. The action scenes are okay but they're reliant on too much CGI so some of them feel toothless (Jim Cameron's films used as much practical f/x and the stunts looked dangerous).