So Tori Amos always posts her setlists online, and 50% of the time the encore is Cornflake Girl or Precious Things, and the other 50% it's Tombigbee or Big Wheel, and I want to know what the Tombigbee/Big Wheel audiences did to her to make her want to hurt them like that.

It gets tiring saying "I told you so". www.westernsydney.edu.au/news-centre/...

This is a field with many great contenders and no clear winners, but I'd say Harmony Korine's "Spring Breakers" (2012) had the strongest disconnect between its (lack of) basic filmmaking competence and narrative coherency vs. its (bafflingly positive) critical reception.

They should have done whatever it took to have it crossover with Mario, and Silent Hill, ideally simultaneously. Mario: It's-a me, Mario! *sees Pyramid Head* Uh-oh! Goofy: Gawrsh, the little fella shaw does talk funny! Donald: *unintelligible panic-stricken duck noises*

The seventh entry in the Bring It On franchise unexpectedly veers into horror, and it's so bad, but it's *so good*. There are some decent jokes, and the cheerleading is essential to surviving the horror. Oh, and it's set in A Town That Banned Cheerleading. Currently 11% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Okay, I'd heard the hype, and that's a hell of a trailer. I guess I'm playing Mixtape next. ( @mixtapegame.bsky.social ) youtu.be/aQoEd5rnxiQ

Finished Forbidden Solitaire by @nightsignalentertainment.com and @greyalien.bsky.social. I enjoyed it and recommend it! I thought the solitaire gameplay was a lot stronger than the spooky metaplot that surrounds it - this isn't Inscryption, the spooks don't really affect the game - but still good.

Film #94 for 2026 is Project Hail Mary (2026). Pretty much as good as everyone said it was - both the humour and humanity you'd expect from a Lord & Miller venture, leaning much more heavily on the humanity, to powerful effect.

We finished Witch From Mercury the other day. The first half felt genuinely special and exciting. The second half was fine, but it was Just Another Gundam Show. Separating Suletta and Miorine for most of the arc, and focusing on Suletta x Prospera as the key relationship, were its key faults.

I finished Unavowed (by @wadjeteyegames.bsky.social). A wonderful experience, beautifully written, filled with characters that feel real enough to hang out with. Its choice-driven structure offers replayability but I don't feel the need for a second playthrough just yet. (I took female bartender.)

Film #93 for 2026 is They Cloned Tyrone (2023). John Boyega's presence and the pulpy style would make this hoods-vs-conspiracy flick a great double-bill with Attack the Block - but They Cloned Tyrone is better made, better acted, and its political underpinnings are sharper. Recommended.

2009 was a time when you could just put Eliza Dushkhu in a game and call it "Wet" and expect people to buy it. Despite the title innuendo, the actual game is an entirely non-skeezy stylish gun/swords action title that was thoroughly entertaining without ever being great.

Just now realising that Elizabeth Bear and Elizabeth Moon are two different people.

The difficulty of genuinely appreciating Labor's changes to negative gearing in the context of a budget that is otherwise cruel, cowardly and corrupt:

It's not gentrification, it's fascism, and I don't mean that as hyperbole, or even at the (very true) level that fascism and control of expression and sexuality are ideologically linked. I mean literally it's literal fascists pushing the campaigns that are causing this to happen, to advance fascism.

The pilot of Widow's Bay was exactly my kind of thing. Horror/comedy that doesn't sacrifice either the horror or the comedy. The pitch is basically "what if the mayor in Jaws, heroically trying to keep tourism running in the face of shark alarmism, was actually the hero", except with Lovecraft.

My copy of Ringworld is signed, "Good luck and hope you enjoy the book! - Larry Niven". Spoilers: I did not. Sorry, Larry.

My fairly marginal interest in the film "The Drama" decreased significantly when I realised it was by the director of "Dream Scenario".

I cannot overstate how good it would be for my mental health if the news every day started with an article about how a member of the Trump administration had taken a bad fall down a flight of stairs. Would be a real pick-me-up, definitely.

Last four watched, for Letterboxd Friday (on an Australian Friday). Henry Sugar was easily the most interesting of these, if not necessarily the most fun. #lastfourwatched #letterboxdfriday #letterboxd #filmsky #films #movies Read my thoughts on Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/GregT314/

Film #92 for 2026 is The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More (2024). As a formal experiment, Wes Anderson's second Dahl adaptation is fascinating - every choice could be the subject of an essay. There is so much here to learn from. As a film, though, it's queasy and upsetting.

Film #91 for 2026 is Intolerable Cruelty (2003). George Clooney holds up this film single-handedly, and despite a valiant effort it's too much for them. The Coens deliver their typical distaste for "narrative arcs" and "endings", and Zeta-Jones, admittedly gorgeous, can't keep up with Clooney.

Film #90 for 2026 is Slumberland (2022). Look, to be fair, the back half of Slumberland is an improvement, but as in the movie, the path to get there will make you overwhelmingly drowsy. Chris O'Dowd gives 150%, but everyone else is sleepwalking.

I am once again begging everyone to remember that this year's Narnia movie is directed by GRETA GERWIG and it is very unlikely to be a straight adaptation without any level of deconstruction or meta-commentary. (And if it is then frankly I'll be disappointed.)

Anyone know if there's a setting somewhere in Spotify for "never show me podcasts or audiobooks"? Or just to set the default search to "Songs, Playlists, Albums and Artists" without me having to click away from "All" manually every time? @spotify.com

Not sure if this is a fishing expedition, the delusions of a crazy person, or a request based on information that such a claim has in fact been made, but it's interesting. www.righttoknow.org.au/request/work...

I am a little chuffed that I got to a certain point in Skyfall and went "that was supposed to be Sean Connery" and then looked at Wikipedia and it was, indeed, supposed to be Sean Connery.

Film #89 for 2026 is Skyfall (2012). After Quantum of Solace, anything with competently directed action and a bit of energy would look good, and Skyfall easily clears that low bar. The opening scene in particular is terrific, laced with humour that sadly evaporates once the film properly starts.

Letterboxd Friday, actually on Australian Friday this week. Some good stuff here. The Bride! is a new favourite, and it's always satisfying to love something that's so divisive. #lastfourwatched #letterboxdfriday #letterboxd #filmsky #films #movies

Film #88 for 2026 is School Daze (1988). Spike Lee's weird college shenanigans/musical hybrid might have worked better if the songs weren't absolute dogshit, but it would be still be stuck with an odious treatment of rape and an exhausted shrug of an ending. When it works, it's electric, though.

Bluesky appear to have re-enabled Trending Topics for people who had it turned off AGAIN. In the interests of your mental health, I strongly encourage disabling it. The disable option (on desktop) is now in the meatballs menu (three dots) on Trending Topics itself.

I laughed hard at the end of The Bride!, because the song that plays over the end credits was the subject of a running joke between Elinor and I. (She hates it, I love it.)

how's this for an unintended consequence: some research suggests that teens perceive peers who comply with Australia's teen social media ban as less popular. i.e. banning social media for teens made it cool again

Hoyo casually dropping Ponytail Femme Diluc was not something I expected to see on my feed today, but here we are.

Australia has certainly had worse Prime Ministers but I'm not sure it's ever had one quite as *cowardly*.

Film #87 for 2026 is The Bride! (2026). The audacity is staggering. Many will hate it. The Bride! doesn't care; it anticipates the criticism. It's here for those who love it deeply, not those who bounce off. It's as much manifesto as movie, deliberately and necessarily monstrous. I adored it.

I will never get over the way that Yu-Gi-Oh cards look like they're made in MS Paint. (Not the art image, the UI elements.) The way the descender on the J intersects the bevel for the title box. The tiny "oops not enough room" font for the game text. The absolutely insane kerning throughout.

Film #86 for 2026 is The Little Mermaid (1989), a re-watch. It's a classic for a reason - every Ashman & Menken song is a hit, the whole thing's staged like the best of Broadway, and Ariel is maybe the most expressive and adorable heroine Disney have created.

Finally getting around to Unavowed by @wadjeteyegames.bsky.social - and it definitely makes a strong first impression! This is point-and-click adventuring from a narrative-first perspective - and the storytelling is so far more than strong enough to justify that.

Nothing we have seen from the Trump administration has suggested they are competent to organise a birthday party, let alone a conspiracy, and in the event they actually did, Trump will inevitably blab it within weeks. Don't make up nonsense.

I am so tired of these headlines where it's like "This forgotten console" and its a Game Gear or "this unknown gaming series" and it's Gabriel Knight or "this niche Japanese game you've never heard of" and it's Puyo Pop.

Film #85 for 2026 is 8 Mile (2002). It's 110 minutes of build-up to the final rap battle, followed almost immediately after by "Lose Yourself", and those final scenes really are that good. It won me over - even if I'm not sure we learn anything about Rabbit that makes him actually deserve his shot.

#lastfourwatched #letterboxdfriday #letterboxd #filmsky #films #movies Letterboxd Friday / Australian Saturday. Hedda is clearly the best-crafted of this bunch but I'll always love Wild Things.

Film #84 for 2026 is V/H/S (2012). Most of the individual directors of this low-budget horror anthology have subsequently proved their talent, but this is far from their best work. Audiences seemed to think Bruckner's "Amateur Night" was the highpoint but I preferred Radio Silence's "10/31/98".

Film #83 for 2026 is Wild Things (1998), a re-watch. Rarely has a movie been so stupid and so clever. The dialogue is a vacuous lullaby that leaves you deeply unprepared when the film serves up more twists than your body physically has room for. Plus Denise Richards and Neve Campbell have sex.

Many such cases. You know who you are. <3

Film #82 for 2026 is Quantum of Solace (2008), a rewatch. When it's character-focused, it's pretty watchable, but when the shooting starts it all goes to shit. Marc Forster is stunningly incompetent at directing stuntwork, constantly jumping the line of action for no clear reason. Bafflingly bad.

Film #81 for 2026 is Hedda (2025). Nia DaCosta's queer reinvention of Hedda Gabler is woozy and claustrophobic. Tessa Thompson, venomously thirsty, swings through scenes like a wrecking ball, destroying happiness in every arc, with Nina Hoss as a talented foil / enabler. It was good.

#lastfourwatched #letterboxdfriday #letterboxd #filmsky #films #movies (It's Saturday here in Australia, but whatever.)