Mini reviews (end of 2024 - april 2025)

Hello!

Once again it has been a minute, tbh the reason I've been absent is that I missed a bunch of stuff to review, and it felt overwhelming to review all of them in length, so! I'm making this post covering a bunch of stuff that I have read/watched/enjoyed all in one post rapidfire style!


High Conflict (Book) by Amanda Ripley:

This book honestly deserves a full review, and multiple reads. It has been on my mind ever since I read it.

For a little bit of a synopses, this book is primarily about how conflict can be addicting and all consuming, yet often unproductive. Discerning between "high" (unproductive) conflict and regular (productive) conflict can be hard but will also make a huge difference in your life. it tells the real life stories of people caught up in high conflict and how they escaped, really cool book all around.

In my life it has very much made me think  harder about the arguments I start, particularly this concept of "productive arguing". Great example, just the other day I had left a blunt on the kitchen table, I knew it was there and I knew my dad would be upset to see it left out. I was already priming myself for an argument before realizing "this will be unfun AND unproductive, why am I priming myself for a pointless fight" and simply moved it instead of trying to make a point about the hypocrisy of weed vs alcohol even if there is one!

The book also made me think about how important it is to think about your ideas AS you do them, not years down the line. Active retrospection on bad interactions is critical as much as active enjoyment of good ones!

Again, this book deserves a full review, its a fantastic read, but for now all I can say is that it shifted my thinking at least a little in a very positive way.

Nosphorotu (Movie) 2024:

This movie is one I don't mind writing a pretty short review about, because while it was very good, it didn't really stick with me all that much. I am in general not big on monster movies, so that defo contributes. I think this was a very solid watch all around though. the acting was good, costuming was probably a highlight I really liked nosphorotu's costuming and general aura especially during the first half. The set was as good as anything else, yeah! It was a very decent movie. In terms of specifics, I preferred the first half to the second, once nosphorotu was in the city things started moving pretty quick and so it was a little hard to get attached to the characters. I dont think thats inherently negative though since the movie is more or less supposed to be written like a monster musical or classical movie. I think it got its message across.

Brazil (Movie) 1985:

This movie is another one that really should get a full review even for just how insane it is, but I'm not the man to do that... I simply didn't understand it in a lot of ways. From what I did get its a criticism of government bureaucracy and the... stalling of society? (thats why its always Christmas perhaps).

This is one of the craziest films I've ever seen, shit is just.. going on? its a trippy experience, things feel disjointed and insane while also surprisingly coherent. I think I would appreciate it more if I would have had to deal with more govt bureaucracy in my life. Come back in 10 years and I'm sure I'll appreciate it a lot more.

But as for my current thoughts on the film: the cinematography is actually nuts, some very cool shots and stunts that really elevated the experience. The characters were certainly something, even if they weren't really the focus of the film. I could never tell if it was trying to be a comedy or serious or what with how some of the characters acted.

SO did I enjoyyyy the movie? yeah I think so, even if I had a hard time wrapping my head around it.

Pitch Black (Movie) 2000:

I feel like I should introduce this movie based on its most prominent cultural impact: Giving vin diesel a career as an A-list actor.

This movie, in my opinion, was emblematic of the 2000's action slop genre. A badass jacked dude does badass things with one liners. There is very little conflict in the film beyond some surface level stuff but that hardly mattered because it was all about riddick being a badass... and to be honest I loved it!

I was very surprised to see how low the ratings were for this movie for how much I personally got out of it, but I can imagine that due to how similar it was to other movies of the era (this was kind of like the super-hero movie craze of 2020-2023) people were likely pretty tired of it. Never the less, this movie was super fun. Not a whole lot to think about, just fluffy and fun to watch happen.

I would say the second half is better than the first, which is when riddick is being hunted again by the cop-character, and a lot of the B-plots were a little pointless, aside from the captain's personal growth.


Thats all my thoughts for recent stuff!!

Next up is warhammer boltgun, and then the minecraft movie.