#boyd reviews

[boyd-speaks]

I watched Nimona last night, and it got me thinking.

This isn’t really a review.

Nimona is really good and you should watch it.

There that’s your review.

Instead this is where my mind went after watching it.

Spoilers ahead.

When the movie closed and the credits rolled, I initially found myself wishing we got to see how Nimona truly wanted to be seen.

Whenever I see a shapeshifter in fiction I wonder what their “true form” is. And that’s kind of silly.

It makes a certain amount of sense that a shapeshifter needs a “default state” but, l maybe they don’t.

Nimona can be an allegory for whatever you want it to be. It’s race, it’s, trans, it’s neurodivergent, it’s anyone who hides who they are to fit in, so they don’t feel alone.

I think it’s common for generally accepting people to still struggle with non binaries though.

My instinct was to wonder, “if Nimona could be anything what would she be?” But that’s not who Nimona is. She doesn’t hate pretending to be human. She hates staying the same. No matter what that is.

Being ever changing is what’s important. And the fact that my instinct was to define her as one thing, feels very telling.

I mean, I got there, but the idea that she needs a “true form” feels like such an ingrained concept.

For her, change is who she is, and it’s the changing that people don’t accept, not what she changes into.

[boyd-speaks]

I just finished watching the 2019 Nancy Drew tv series. Finished meaning up to the last episode of Season 3.

I really liked this show. A lot. I know I have things I want to say, I know that I want to talk about it, and yet I find myself coming up blank.

I expect it isn’t revolutionary. I expect any number of cw shows have the same feel, and that they might be effectively interchangeable.

But this is the one I watched, so I might as well share my thoughts.

The first thing that stands out is that, clearly, it is utilizing the Nancy Drew franchise. From the beginning what stood out is that, while it is very different from the original stories, or even other modern interpretations, it does feel like it benefits from the license.

This is because Nancy Drew isn’t depicted as any detective, she is the former child detective Nancy Drew. She is depicted as having solved all the mysteries from the books. This makes her both a local legend, that gives her sway with people, and access to places she probably shouldn’t, but also individual past mysteries she was involved in occasionally make an appears, to influence her present.

The structure of the show is based around trying to solve 1 specific mystery, but the storytelling tends to be more episodic. This is accomplished by having smaller mysteries either be discovered, related to the first, or be necessary to discover clues connected to the bigger picture.

The supporting cast of characters is very strong, all likable, all interesting, all with more going on than immediately obvious.

I’m struggling to find the words to discuss this, without spoiling too much, and i do think you’ll appreciate not being spoiled.

It is a mystery after all.

As the series continues and mysteries get wrapped up, the show follows very organically, with each new mystery, not feeling like happenstance, but either related to something that came before, or brought to our hero’s attention because of it.

This flow felt great. It’s a show that flows from one episode to the next really well, while also leaving each episode feeling distinct.

There’s one last, weird point I want to end on, I watched all of it while multitasking other work.

I can often get hung up on watching a show, because I feel like I need to set time aside to just watch it, with no distractions. I think that often gets in the way of something great, even though the intention is noble.

Could you set the time aside to give Nancy Drew your undivided attention? Sure, i think you;’d enjoy it. but don’t let that limit you. It’s a great show, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t light enough to enjoy more idly.

It’s an odd caveat to give, because I don’t want you to think it’s a silly throw away show that’s not worth your time.

Watch it however you want. It will work for you, in whatever way that is.

[boyd-speaks]

Just finished the Crystal Tower arc in FFXIV for the first time. This arc is an entire final fantasy game in, like, 8 hours. It's got a series of fetch quests. It's got excavating ancient technology. It's got killing god. And it's got entering into a purple darkness dimension.

[boyd-speaks]

I just rewatched the old live-action Super Marios Bros. movie.

As much as people like to make fun of it, if you distance it from the video game franchise, it's not actually that bad.

It even has parts that are really really good from a film-making standpoint. Some of the cinematography is great, in the initial introduction to our protagonists they proceed through a conversation that takes place over a few separate scenes cut together beautifully, to move the story forward while telling us what we need to know.

One of my favourite parts of this though, is how it leans into the premise of two plumbers saving the world. This seems to be the main influence that Mario has on the movie, despite not actually being relevant to the games.

But this movie is actually entirely about these two guys who have no right saving the world, but are constantly in situations that plumbing knowledge is exactly what they need.It's a fantasy of weird specialized skills being useful. Of heroes who can find a way to make their skill-set work, no matter the situation.

I think that's a fantasy a lot of people can get behind. Regardless of what your skills are.

Super Mario Bros, isn't a movie about the actual Mario games, but a movie about the superficial premise, then made it’s own.

[boyd-speaks]

Just finished watching Onward.

I feel like it’s been awhile since I’ve watched an animated movie like this. The thought that I missed a lot of recent kids movies is what made me go out of the way to turn this on.

I’m actually not sure I’d even call this a kids movie since it skews so old in it’s protagonists. I think a lot of people don’t like the term Family Film, since it gets used for things that really have a narrow children’s audience, but a real family film has something for everyone, and it has a big heart. Onward really hit those notes for me.

Purely as a movie, Onward is charming and emotional, with strong pacing and visuals. It heavily utilizes a film making trick I adore, which is establishing concepts early as throw-away gags, which then get reincorporated as major plot points.

Sometimes you’ll see filmmakers force a shot that feels exclusively included for this purpose, but when that shot is instead played as a joke, it doesn’t feel contrived. Most jokes are just meant to be funny, so the ones that will be reincorporated later can hide among the rest.

Now as a world-building exercise Onward is fascinating. The idea of mixing fantasy with modern has been done a ton, but I’ve never seen it quite like this.

There’s maybe three ways it usually goes. Either it’s the cyberpunk future and things are gritty, where we have modern technology in addition to magic. It’s modern day but there’s a secret world of magic and fantasy. Or it’s played as a traditional medieval fantasy, but there are inexplicably cars and phones and stuff.

Onward makes it modern by extrapolating a medieval fantasy setting, but stripping away the fantastical elements and making them a concept of history. When the magical elements start being incorporated it feel mostly like traditional fantasy, just with a pastiche of aesthetics. The modern cars and architecture are a backdrop, and the focus is on the remnants of this ancient culture that still feels medieval.

I wonder how well the movie would land without having a DnD background, because they lean heavily into it. Sure no rpg system has the same style of magic presented here, though I would like to see it happen, but a lot of fantasy tropes never got much further than tabletop games and as such they might be hard to grok.

I’ll have to watch it again with my Mom and find out.

On that note, I’ll leave you with this snippet from the credits that caught my eye.

[boyd-speaks]

I finally got around to watching Solo.

It’s the best thing that came out of the Disney Takeover.

This movie was actually amazing. Great pacing, cinematography, character building, and the most egregious SW fanservice possible while still coming across as charming.

[boyd-speaks]

I watched the Dofus Movie.

..It’s really good guys. Like..  like it’s really good.

I’ve been meaning to watch some french animation for a very long time, and I don’t think any of the lists of recommendations I’ve seen have featured this one, yet somehow this was the first movie I got around to watching. Holy trashstorm.

I just want to go on a rant about this movie but I’m really worried about spoiling it. There are so many good things to talk about that hinge on discussing the latter end of the film.

All I’m going to say is that this movie gets how to establish and reintegrate. This technique is so strong when it’s done right, yet so many films miss out on it.

Everything comes back. You just have to see it to get what I’m saying.

And the team understood how to pump emotional impact into a scene. Maybe it was just the music, or the pacing but I felt those tears.

Oh and speaking of pacing! How long do you spend on an action scene? How much of a lull between them? How do you make each one distinct and impactful in it’s own way? This movie knows how to answer every one of those questions.

[boyd-speaks]

Black Closet just keeps on going.

Every play-through has thrown a curve-ball I didn’t expect. I always think that this will be the time that nothing unexpected happens, and then some crazy interaction between the character’s in play creates a chain reaction I never would have expected.

There’s so much more here than just which girl you romantically pursue and it is amazing! I am so nowhere near the point where I’m following a guide to tick off the last few scenes that I need to see to 100% this game, I can leave what happens to chance and see something new every time.

Holy crap this game guys. Holy crap.