I got a delivery today, good food for the holidays! Though they delivered just two boxes, there were supposed to be three, and it seems I am missing seven bags of lentil chips on my order... hope they haven't lost that third box. I thought it'd deliver today too. What do. No chips. Cold brew.

Anyway I am free for the moment! We're taking a break from the design gig. For four days. I plan to spend this time scheduling movie reviews till the end of the year, and going through the ones I've already posted albeit with very rapid and non-impeccable revision the last month or so, get some much-required rest and refreshment and maybe celebrate some Christmas!!! We got snow. In droves. I plowed some this morning. In gloves. It's bright. It glows. Guest room? This shows:

Also here's a pretty cool alternative Christmas decoration idea. If you still have analog shizzle in da house fo rizzle. Want to bet all my pretzel?

In other news I realized I just got my hundredth paycheck from my current employer before Christmas this year! That's pretty cool innit. Individual amounts may not be great but it all amounts. That's what counts. The Dracula's. That's what it's all about.

Also got a review of the games I've played this year on Steam - they're not many but apparently you can share that review. So there.

Here's last year.

I vowed to play more Venetica after I got back from summer but that's not happening is it. What happened to the time. What happened to the summer!

I have been playing some Advance Wars instead. Post PC. It's portable.

Ran through the first game in two nights, and so far the second one's proving both longer (with a bit unnecessarily much dialog and introduction on the campaign now comparing - the first one was moderate with all - both intros and endings) and more entertaining! And easy. And balanced.

It gets progressively more challenging as you go, and I just realized whilst typing this that I think I forgot you could opt for a more difficult campaign mode when you start a new campaign too, just need to hit the Select button. That feature wasn't only available in the DS one was it...

The second game's great anyhow.

The levels are memorable, and unique. The title's witty. The characters are charming - but also admirable and real when situations gets serious. The innovations are plentiful. The Neotanks are such a great addition - and that's the one addition.

It's enough. The levels provide the variation. Innovation gets a bit much in further games, compared to this one. It was so good. So balanced. So much text yeah but apart from that... such a great game. Still.

The UI's maybe the best part. Creative. Clean. Still in that design mind.

I'll be packing presents pretty much all day tomorrow but I do plan to play some more Advance Wars tonight! And then...

Vampire movies, it seems they're back for real now! And I found another good one!

It's not just because the ever-so-talented Jamie Foxx is in it - which is always a plus, but they have a twist. And they have good action scenes. And they get the vampire mannerisms down to the finest detail, and play around with all the clichés we know of. Mirrors, yupp. Fight scene with missing reflection, yupp. Sunlight, yupp. Modern stake varieties, yupp. Red eyes. Fangs - very intricate this bit. Bloodlust. Sensuality. Age.

From the shotgun to the kind to everything inbetween, and that bangin' beautiful wife of his, it's all awesome. Jamie may not have shit covered but he has character, and charisma, and the tenacity required to truly hunt the beasts of moonlight.

The thing about it being a day job instead of a night one, that's a big twist too, and witticism. And they play on it beyond what they'd need to for it to be the title.

Also check out Night Teeth if you haven't. Another good movie. Another creative and so very stylish new take on the vampire genre.

They show the Hollywood sign in the intro too here - as another movie I watched recently did. I thought there were copyright issues with doing that! No longer? Or they pay a hefty fee to feature it?

JJ Pierce btw, Karla Souza, Meagan Good, Dave Franco, Snoop The One And Only D O Double GG - and don't miss the Steve Howey and Scott Adkins sequence! They've got a lot of good names in this. Peter Stormare too. And Oliver Masucci fits his role just perfect.

I love this. Maybe ought give it a full five after all...

 rated 4.5/5: almost awesome

(more…)

Tom Cruise is back. Top Gun is back. And it's a blockbuster, like you haven't seen in a long time.

Wholesome. Quality. Feelgood. Tension. So great. So great. Patriotic yes. Some cliché yes. But I love it all, it feels like it's almost a movie outside the movie. Like Tom's dedication makes it real. Like they break the fourth wall with the authenticity - and not just with his two sideway glances at the initial bar scene.

Authenticity really does take a movie to the next level, but some of these scenes are so authentic that the set seems to slip up at the seams. Like with that guard booth. You see through the cracks.

Some might consider that a flaw in filming but... it's just so cool to see.
To know they hadn't actually planned on that roof blowing off, but that the force of that plane was just that strong. Couldn't help it.

And the major (played by Ed Harris) comes across all the more a bad-ass for legitimately standing his ground.

The flight scenes, and the fight scenes... god damn man. Sometimes feels like this isn't long enough, like they skipped some things they could've added in... but it's so wholesome. Best movie 2022? Just might be.

I need to watch this one again soon... on the big screen preferably. Oughta be all the more special there.

 rated 5/5: friggin awesome

Got a newfound appreciation for cheerleading after this! And a feeling like maybe scary movies that are also FUN are finally coming back in style.

Is it inspired by Scream? Or is it just the right time for a movie like this, in parallel with the one originator of old and ancient; the greatest nation (I mean Scream just rebooted, too)?

Whatever the reason they made this I love it. The blood and gore and all is barely there - could've maybe had a bit bigger budget with that bit, but on the other hand maybe the gruesome is just a distraction, and non-essential for a story like this, which is really all about the dance. And about proving yourself. It's about self-actualization and... motion. The art of.

A bit like Step Up meets scary movies!

Thought it'd be more like John Tucker Must Die. I'm positively surprised.

Kerri Medders sure has a nice smile too. Solid choice for the main girl.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

Had dinner with my main office colleges today, for our ninth year straight. Restaurant Göteborg this time. Hammarby Sjöstad.

We've been shrinking the last few years. Not individually - I'm involuntarily still growing on, but as a group. For a while we were gaining numbers too. Then came the pandemic. Financially uncertain times.

Though our budget isn't at it's best the food was good this year.

Seared queen scallops, salsa on cucumber, trout roe, lemon. Fish & seafood casserole with mussels and shrimps, fennel, carrots & croutons. Dulce de Leche Fondant with coconut ice cream, roasted peanuts, caramel flakes, chai tea and a carbonated lemon and ginger drink. Lime wedge and a blade of grass in it, and some homemade toffee and sweets by the exit.

535 SEK + drinks. Per person. That's like five meals in one if you go by my usual restaurant budget. Excluding drink.

It's nice to eat a quality meal occasionally. And to have a three course one where you can relax between the meals. Socialize too. Last year was a vegetarian buffet, and though also good it wasn't quite like this. Not as refreshing. Too satiating. I feel content now. Relaxed. Almost rested, somehow... even though I slept badly last night.

I'd planned to make more progress with the site I'm working with my nephew on, but didn't. I took a shower and went to bed instead. Tried to wind down. Hoped I'd have more energy to spare today. Instead I tossed and turned, went down and got a glass of water some time after 1 AM, probably did get some sleep after that... I don't know how much. I don't feel like I did.

Today's been good, though I fear for tonight. Night's an angst amplifier - or maybe it's just the lack of momentum that is - at whatever time you slow down and have to rest, so you can start anew the next day, and we need to make some conclusive progress soon.

Hope to make a bit more visible design advancements before I go to sleep tonight...

But Gothenburg was greeaaat. Wish I didn't have to lose that sensation and semblance of relaxation.

Good day.