My profile on Letterboxd https://boxd.it/2Tntz
RickRakon uses Letterboxd to share film reviews and lists. 172 films watched. Favorites: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003
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trying on a metaphor
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@rickrakon
My profile on Letterboxd https://boxd.it/2Tntz
RickRakon uses Letterboxd to share film reviews and lists. 172 films watched. Favorites: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003
Photos taken less than an hour apart btw
They're back!
I think its ok to share my Rocky popcorn bucket now 😅 (gf wanted to get it immediately after the preview screening on Monday)
Rocky didn't quite look like how I imagined from reading the book, but this design is still charming
ANDOR 1.05 | The Axe Forgets
Hi, Im Kasper and My aunt Cryssy is preparing for a medica… Kasper May needs your support for Support Cryssy's Journey to St
Project Hail Mary (2026)
8.5/10
A solid and faithful adaptation of the book. Ryan Gosling is great, and the emotional core of the story works thanks to the wonderful practical effects to bring his space companion (no spoilers! ifykyk) to life. Almost 3 hrs but it zips by.
Drew Goddard did a great job adapting the book's flashback structure, main beats, and key character moments, while distilling Andy Weir's detailed scientific explanations into something easily digestible (even if the science and problem solving stuff took a backseat to the character interactions). Some of the scenes on Earth could have used a bit more focus to flesh out some of the other characters, but its understandable stuff will get cut due to the long runtime.
Greg Fraser's cinematography looks beautiful, with a few standout sequences that inspire a bit of awe. At times it does feel the visuals are derivative of other contemporary science fiction films like Interstellar or The Martian.
(The preview screening we attended gave out a free pin. "Amaze! Amaze! Amaze!"). I also bought the Rocky popcorn bucket 😬.
Mermay 2025 (11-20) by Christophe Young
Some silly photo mode shots I took from "Death Stranding 2". Just beat the main story last night. What an experience. Wishing I took some more action-y shots.
Cats getting caught doing crimes
it takes quite a bit of social intelligence for a creature to understand:
I know what I am doing is wrong
I know there is an activity that looks similar that is not wrong
If I am quick I can plausibly pass one off as the other
these cats are displaying remarkable theory of mind skills by not only registering that the humans can perceive them but actively trying to manipulate that perception! that requires one to be aware that other individuals have complicated interior thoughts of their own, to know that those thoughts are not always based on truth, and to quickly decide on the best possible “lie” for the situation. this is why I despise animal intelligence tasks based on obedience— some of the most clever moments stem from intelligent disobedience.
"Andor" might have become my favorite piece of Star Wars live-action media. I think it's deserved the near unanimous praise it's received.
It just hits differently compared to other entries in the franchise, perhaps due to the politically tumultuous period we live in making its themes feel all too close to reality. It's the Star Wars we need right now.
The writing is mature without being edgy, the characters are complex and interesting and relatable, the visuals mix the grounded lived-in aesthetic with the fantastical in a believable way that the other shows have failed at.
Everything about it feels so deliberately designed and full of passion and purpose.
It’s five miles south of the Canadian border, twelve miles west of the state line. I’ve never seen so many trees in my life. As W.C. Fields would say, “I’d rather be here than Philadelphia.”
TWIN PEAKS: Pilot (1990) dir. David Lynch
Happy Twin Peaks Day to all those who celebrate.
Nostalgic memory loss and cherry picking annoy me to the core.
2006 features other CGI-laden flims such as...
Son of the Mask
And Ultraviolet
While 2024 featured...
Dune 2
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
This shot was literally impossible to create in 2006.
Good CGI is made by good artists who have the proper funding, time, and resources. The year doesn't matter.
There has always been bad CGI. There has always been good CGI.
Current CGI is much more advanced and allows for much bigger stories to be told. Most of it is so good, people do not even realize they are looking at CGI. Yes, Top Gun 2 shot a lot of amazing practical footage. But they still had 2400 VFX shots.
And no one could tell the difference.
But also, movies with 2000+ CG shots usually have a quality delta. They run short on time and budget and they have to prioritize which shots get the most love. If there is one valid complaint about modern CGI, it is the lack of consistency.
You might have a weird looking floating head in one scene...
And that is very easy to cherry pick and say "look at how bad CGI is these days!"
But then later in the movie you have the shadow realm moon.
A gorgeous scene that used a groundbreaking lighting effect. Using a strobe technique and a high speed camera, every frame in the scene had six different angles of lighting.
They were able to show a fast revolving sun circling around the characters without having to rig up some crazy light that flies around the room.
Again, not possible in 2006.
When artists have proper resources they will blow your mind.
CGI isn't worse. It is better than ever. It's just that the artists making Davy Jones were amazing. They had the time and money to realize their vision. They had 1400 fewer shots to make than Top Gun Maverick. (Jurassic Park only had 63.)
They also understood their limitations and didn't try to force the CG to do something it wasn't ready for yet.
Reminder that this rhetoric is causing real harm to VFX artists.
They are struggling to unionize and studio marketing is trying to hide their contributions. They turn BTS footage of green screens to gray screens. They boast "all practical" movies that have 2000 VFX shots. They keep many artists out of the credits.
The anti-CGI hate gives real artists a weak hand to bargain with.
Criticize the system and the working conditions, not the art.
People get so upset about AI taking artists' jobs but then they complain that 2 shots in a Marvel movie aren't photorealistic and ignore the 1000 that were and devalue the work of those same artists.
I love practical effects too. And I think the best VFX I've seen have been when practical and CG team up. But there are so many stories I love that could not have been created without the amazing work of VFX artists. I mean, I watch Dune and forget CGI even exists. I feel like I'm just watching real shit the entire movie even though it has giant worms and whatnot.
Change the conversation.
Instead of "Ugh, this CGI sucks."
Why not try, "Ugh, why didn't Disney give their artists enough time to make this look cool?"
I didn't put these in my original posts because it is really hard to get folks on Tumblr to watch videos. But now that this post is doing decently I'll add them for reference.
This wonderful essay from Freddie Wong is still relevant 9 years later.
And these videos from VFX supervisor Jonas Ussing are a modern masterclass on this subject.
If you give these videos a chance I think you will gain a huge appreciation for what VFX artists actually do and why they are so amazing and worth protecting.
And you might discover that if you love practical effects then you love VFX as well. Even the best practical effects need VFX to sell them as 100% real. Removing wires, rotoscoping, advanced compositing, and CG augmentation are almost always used to make sure the finished effect shines.
“The balance must be respected.”
cackling at this, can NOT believe it's a real, actual quote. it reads so much like one of those clickhole pieces
He also said this about the snake.
All of this is hilarious, but a gorgeous quote from the same interview:
“In all seriousness, this discovery is humbling. It’s a reminder that there’s still so much to learn about our wild world — and that humans are one small part of an impossibly vast biosphere. On this planet, all fates are intertwined, and right now, one million species are teetering on the edge of oblivion. We have an existential mandate to mend our broken relationship with nature and protect the places that sustain life.”
'White people without empathy' are sustained by right-wing media and conservative religion.