The Mystical Man

What a strange movie. It's like a bizarre dream. By Darren Aronofsky, the director who brought us "Requiem for a Dream" and "The Fountain". The movie is very well-directed.

These two beautiful beings:

It's been almost three months since I finished Moby-Dick: I missed Melville's beautiful prose, so I was happy to find out that Billy Budd is beautifully written as well. It was a joy to read aloud. I love this scene from The Sopranos:

https://youtu.be/p5b4qafA440 "The realization of the illusory self and then the cessation of the imagination of the illusory self. Freedom and non-freedom hinges on this: whether the imaginary self is still creating itself or not. Because if it is, then it keeps constructing; all experiences revolve around it." "Reality presents itself to itself. If it presents itself to a me, then it's just another dream." "Speaking to a dream is a loser's game. Actually, it's not; there's a lot of money in it." "'Yes,' to whatever's arising, whatever's happening, whatever's thought, whatever's felt. Not 'yes' in the sense that it's true; 'yes' in the sense that it's here." "At each moment, there are certain choices being made. The choices are proving what is valued most. You have what you want. You may not like what you have. If we don't have lives that feel rich and satisfying, it's because we're getting something out of the life we're living. It may be the illusion of security. It may be the avoidance of fear. It may be many other things. It doesn't mean that you like it. It doesn't mean 'want' in that sense. It means 'want' in the sense of action. Actions are always proving what we value. It totally gets rid of victimhood. Security, comfort, certainty are emotionally high values, and we frequently choose those values above and beyond happiness, love, harmony, peace, enjoyment, contentment, fulfillment. Security doesn't get you those things." "There is something that is totally natural, and is spontaneous, and really is about surrender, and there is a respect for that: it moves in its way and has its timing and knows what it's doing."

My second favorite movie, after Star Wars.

The first game had a profound impact on me when I played it back in 2013. I did dream of working for Naughty Dog. But my plans have changed.

Neil Druckmann often talks about leveraging the medium: After I finished the game, I felt the need to write an essay to make sense of this profound experience that Naughty Dog crafted. I needed two years to realize that Part II is better than Part I. That's obvious to me now, but at the time I struggled with it, because I had waited for Part II for seven years. I had certain expectations which weren't met. But now I'm glad that I didn't get what I wanted. I'm glad that Druckmann had the courage to execute his vision. He created the perfect sequel. ?

I like Ari Aster's unique style of filmmaking, so I was in the mood for another one of his movies: This is another slow descent into madness. Great performances. I'm looking forward to Aster's upcoming movie: Disappointment Blvd.

I thought this movie would be a three-hour bore, but it entertained me well enough. The cinematography is great; however, beautiful imagery is never enough. It's the slow descent into madness that makes this movie worth watching.

I'm chill

One of the most fascinating serial killer interviews I've watched. He's a great speaker:

That would be very helpful. @Leo Gura Can you add this function, please?

My appreciation of Star Wars didn't begin until my late teens. That's when I became obsessed with Lucas, Campbell, and mythology. When I was a kid, Miyazaki had a big effect on me, especially Spirited Away.

Orange. No. Stomachache. Yes. No.

"A psychotherapist who recently lost his wife, finds himself held prisoner by a serial killer with an unusual request to curb his homicidal urges." That's an interesting premise, and the show has its moments, but, unfortunately, it doesn't fulfill its potential. The writing, acting, and directing aren't consistently good. I'd like to see HBO's execution of that premise, but maybe the premise isn't as good as it seems. I've noticed that interesting-sounding premises tend not to lead to the most interesting stories. Some of the greatest movies have seemingly boring premises. When I read the premise for 12 Angry Men, I thought that it must be one of the most boring movies ever made, but, as it turns out, it's one of the greatest movies ever made. Nailing the premise is important. But the best premises have a controlling idea, and I think the writers of The Patient didn't find their controlling idea. The writers also don't always manage to progress and turn scenes. And they also fail to create progressive complications. I can't say that this show is worth five hours of your life.

This game keeps blowing my mind: I don't think I've ever seen that animation before. I love Abby. I didn't play like that on my playthrough.

The other cult documentary:

"One of the myths of Jonestown was that it was a mass suicide, whereas, in fact, it was a mass murder."

I have fond memories of playing this game: It had quite the impact on me. Brilliant game. Too bad they never made the sequel: