Journal of Longsword & Flashbang

Random thoughts about videogames, films, and books; new and old

[longswordflashbang]

Is God Is (2026, Aleshea Harris)

It's not everyday that I find a film whose first scene is thumbnail-worthy.

Discovery circumstance: Patrick Williem mentioned this in passing in his episode about streaming films. No one I followed on Letterboxd logged this.

This is straight-up the best film of the year material right here, the kind that I'd put next to Sinners.

There is a lot to unpack in this in this film, more than I think I have been able to comprehend, and I'll need a second viewing one of these days.

Recommended for: anyone who enjoys a good film; people who enjoyed things Sinners, which are probably most of you.

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The Matrix (1999, dir. The Wachowski Sisters)

It was kind of hard picking a thumbnail for this, because this has been meme'd to death. My partner, who was watching this for the first time, was practically watching a series of meme, one after another, put coherently into a plot.

The plot point about AI hit so much harder and differently in 2026. "When we started thinking for you, it became our civilisation". The fact that this civilisation peaked in 1999 was also on-point and sad at the same time.

I somehow have never realised that, but the first hour of this film was unevenly paced and pretty weak. Most of the fight scenes were backloaded into the second half, leaving the first with a lot of mildly dry and slow setup. I think extracting Neo from the matrix could have been a heist with some action thrown. I also I wish I had seen more of Thomas Anderson's ordinary life.

That being said, those were nitpicks. This is about as timeless as films can get and will hold up as a classic in many years to come.

Verdict: I have nothing new to say. If you haven't seen this, what the hell are you doing here?

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To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995, dir. Beeban Kidron)

I had never heard of this prior to a couple of days ago. My partner just asked me to watch it together. And boy, isn't this some of the most mind-blowing shit I've seen in this lifetime.

Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes, and John Leguizamo are some names that you associate with peak masculine attractiveness; the kind that most average men (me included) want to look like, and most straight women would like to date. If you had told me that there was a film with them showing up with wigs, make ups, and over-the-top drag queen outfits, I would have called you bullshit in half a heartbeat. Alas, I couldn't have been more wrong.

This isn't some stunt casting just to show. At some point of time, I forgot that I was looking at some of the sexiest men ever alive on screen, and absorbed them as genuinely woman characters. These were much more than just men in makeup and costumes, and truly great performances.

This is the kind of important film that I wish had been repeatedly remade every 30 years (A Star is Born style), not because it's a great film (though not without lots of redeeming qualities), but because its heart and its messages would remain relevant and important in many years to come.

Verdict: obviously a pride month film; anyone who would like to see artist embracing their craft beyond type-casting.

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The Drama (2026, dir. Kristoffer Borgli)

First thing to get out of the way: this is such a wonderfully edited and paced film. There is no wasted moment and all scenes are engaging, one after another. I was surprised to see that it ended, because it felt much shorter than it actually was.

This film is a lot of things: a depiction of judgementalness and standards; an awareness call for a less-discussed social issue; a normal and average relationship; and a very compelling and relatable drama (pun not intended). But most of all, it's a very well-made film.

Whoever you are, you are bound to get something out of it.

Verdict: awesome date movie (which is not something I give out frequently); people who study editing; anyone just looking for a good film.

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Flash review: The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999, dir. Anthony Minghella)

This film somehow flew under my radar for the most part, and showed up only as "OG Saltburn" a couple of years back.

Comparing this film to Saltburn is way over-complimentary to Saltburn, which it does not deserve at all.

Verdict: everyone, really. It's just an overall a great package and a great film.

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Flash review: North by Northwest (1959, dir. Alfred Hitchcock)

I felt mixed about the revelation at about quarter into the film, because I obviously preferred to share the knowledge and perception of the POV character. Kind of a Bourne situation.

The rest of the film is quite what I expected of terms quality, but not how it plot goes, which is a great thing.

Verdict: if you know who the heck Alfred Hitchcock is, you know what you're in for.

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Flash review: Crime 101 (2026, dir. Bart Layton)

Monica Barbaro's character's relationship is questionably the most distracting part of the film. My lady, you slept with a dude with the sole reason that he was hot, in spite of the fact that he had no past, no interest, and no discernable job. That should not take a few dates to process.

It's sleekly shot and competent, and beyond that, let's get out of the way and this should surprise no one: this is not Heat. I was looking forward to more memorable setpieces, but neither the opening nor the final heist did it for me.

Verdict: not your worst life choice if you want something to pass your weekend afternoon; also people who are welcoming towards inferior Heat-wannabe iterations (such as Den of Thieves).

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Flash review: Tiny Terry's Turbo Trip (2024, snekflat)

Tiny Terry's Turbo Trip is the exactly the kind of games that I would jump on in a heartbeat: a 3-4 hours in length; low-stake and personal story; and a heavy dose of quirkiness from the developer's creativity. Some of my favourite games ever belong to this category, such as A Short Hike and TOEM.

That being said, while it doesn't often happen, the execution doesn't quite stick the landing. Don't get me wrong: there a lot of things to like about this: the premise is very genre-worthy; the characters are out of this world and whimsical; the pets are cute (despite not very interactive); and exploration is good for the most part. It just happens to strike my nerve on two particular spots:

The 3000 collectible items. If there is anything I dislike about Assassin's Creed the last I played one (probably around 2015 or so), this is one of it. To be fair, Turbo Junks are sometimes grouped in large chunks together, but the number is nothing but off-putting.

The extreme grindiness of money. At some point, I expected the quests to also grant me extra money to make fulfilling the remaining quests less tedious. They did not. I never found out a sane way to make money, outside of digging spots for $5 per piece (and committing robberies, more on that later).

Mechanics and gameplay aside, TTTT is a visually cutesy game, undoubtedly. Maybe my expectation of a TOEM-like got the better of me, but TTTT does not align with my expectation in a way I'm not sure how to feel about. It touches on a lot of adult themes, from dysfunctional families, to nationalism-adjacent government, and youth crimes. As insane as it sounds, this is the closest game to a GTA-clone I've played in a long time, where the player is told to steal cars and rob innocent by-standing NPCs for money. I haven't decided whether this is genius subversive social commentary, or an amateurish fumble in handling tones.

I did complete it, saw the credits roll, and had my share of fun, despite not enjoying the last hour (I didn't get all the achievements, obviously). I have a hunch this game will haunt many of my nights.

Recommended for: cutesy game enjoyers; and .... goddamn I have no idea.

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Introspection: to a T (2025, uvula LLC) (and Singapore)

I have spent pretty much the entirety of my adulthood in Singapore, a tiny city-state in Southeast Asia. For most people from the west, this is their idea of "utopia". While there are plenty of things in Singapore to appreciate and praise for, freedom for diversity isn't one of them. For pretty much most of its history, Singapore government has been doing everything they can within their power to hammer its people, citizens or not, into their predefined molds of model citizens. If you are "different" in any conceivable category, you won't have a good time fitting in in this country.

Which brings me to To a T, a game about a genderfluid secondary schooler who is "different", presented by their titular T-shaped posture, though this is a obvious stand-in for anything in real-life. Despite the suffering the main character went through in the game: performing daily tasks and being bullied, the game is not angry, at least not overtly. I won't spoil the game in this post, but it should not be surprised to you that this is a happy game with a happy ending.

For all the whimsical and creative parts that it got right, To A T isn't a ground-breaking game. Traversing is clunky and disorientating, some parts of it is frustrating and tedious, and I didn't feel spending more time than I should. But for all of its shortcoming, I appreciate how it forms my thoughts about a matter that has been bothering for such a long time in my life.

Recommended for: residents of Singapore; anyone who grew up feeling different; people who need a heart-warming hopecore piece.

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Flash Review: Diabolique (1955, Henri-Georges Clouzot)

I, too, watch Friendly Space Ninja, and watched this out of his recommendation. I was mildly annoyed that half of the film was spoilt in the video, and I do think my enjoyment was more or less diminished in the first half of the film.

That being said, it didn't take away my appreciation for the masterful craft of suspension. I didn't quite get the horror categorisation (am I being too numbed and desensitised?), but I can see so much of Hitchcock's DNA all over this film. A very happy watch for me, after all.

Verdict: anyone and everyone who enjoys cinema.

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Flash review: Tactical Breach Wizards (2024, Suspicious Development)

Within the first five minutes of gameplay, in the tutorial, Breach Wizards did something I highly appreciate that I wish more games would do: using its gameplay mechanic as a mean to reason out character's train of thought and progress the plot. I was extremely happy to see that this wasn't a one-time occurrence. The characters' abilities continued being the plans and solutions to the problems, both in the story and gameplay goals.

There are plenty of things to compliment this game about: the wonderfully written dialogues, the remarkable effort for worldbuilding, the attempt to explore and develop characters' inner psyche. Regardless of medium, these are all the points you'd like to achieve in a story, and I'm happy to see a videogame tackling on this thoroughly.

Even more things to like about this game: reminding for the player that optional confidence goals are actually "optinal", highly customisable difficulty settings, extremely tight level design that borderline turns some of the objectives the game into a puzzle game (for better or worse).

I'm not exactly a turn-based enthusiast, but this is the most fun I've had in a turn-based game since Clair Obscur.

Verdict: for anyone who enjoys great writing; casual folks who would like to dip their toes into turn-based games.

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Flash review: Nuclear War: A Scenario (2024, Annie Jacobsen)

I never forget the first time I halfway comprehended the threat of nuclear weapons to mankind, as a teenager, which was duly imparted to me as chilling non-fun facts in the end credits of Metal Gear Solid. This has since become kind of a morbid interest, the same way David Fincher thinks a lot of about serial killers.

I, too, don't read as much as I would like to, (and am also a relatively slow reader) but this particular book of almost 300 pages (citations and bibliography excluded) , I finished in two sittings.

In a multiple POV format, Nuclear War: A Scenario is extremely chronologically driven. That means jumping across characters and locations extremely frequently, one minute to another, a technique that is excellently employed, to depict how the entire civilisation ends in mere hours. Intertwined between events is "history lessons", extra information that compliments some newly unfolded event. It's a page-turner, densely packed with well-researched information and insight, yet never loses its pacing.

Verdict: recommended to anyone who enjoys a well-written and informative book; people who enjoyed Metal Gear Solid and/or Kathryn Bigelow's A House of Dynamite (which is another post for another day).

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Flash review: Mixtape (2026, Beethoven and Dinosaur)

I really liked The Artful Escape. I had a hunch that their next work would go pretty hard, but I didn't expect this.

Mixtape is peak cinema. It understands cinematography and the language of cinema. It would be excellent animated feature film, but it understands videogames, too, and use the bits of interactivity to elevate it.

Hideo Kojima could probably learn one thing or two from this.

Verdict: unmissable for appreciators of artsy videogames and/or film buffs (especially if your name is Patrick H. Williem, this is only three hours long).