If you own your home, it’s a matter of public record in most states. Hell, I once used to resolve a disagreement my wife and I were having over our neighbor’s name. Just looked up the property address on your county assessors website… They list the owners, when the property was last sold, the appraised value and taxes, and a bunch of other stuff.
Last year’s DnD movie is the best film of the last ten or so years. It succeeded on every level, except in the box office.
My hypothesis is that Hasbro insisted on branding it “Dungeons & Dragons” to push the brand, and non-gamers figured it wasn’t for them. If they’d have made the main title “Honor among Thieves”, all the game nerds would have seen the DnD logo, and others wouldn’t have been turned off *. As it stands, people will find it and it’ll become the new “Starship Troopers” that bombed but shines forever in retrospect.
I wouldn’t give it that high of praise, but I went into Honor Among Thieves not expecting anything and thought that it was a lot of fun. It doesn’t do anything exciting but it’s just a fun little flick. I’m not a DnD person, but I also enjoyed the references that I did get (which purely come from being a casual Magic: The Gathering player, so I knew some things from the DnD set that came out the other year).
This wasn’t an art film… but it had an original plot, was genuinely unpredictable throughout, awesome, imaginative action sequences, epic high fantasy, great comedy (I laughed my ass off), and real emotional tenderness (well, I cried). Often weaving these together in the same scene. I think you have to judge a movie based on what it’s meant to be, and for a fun high fantasy jaunt, this was a monumental achievement. IMHO.
I think it deserved to do better at the box office but I disagree calling it that good, primarily by counterexample (which I’ll get to). It had an entertaining cast, an entertaining plot and some good twists but it wasn’t unpredictable and the audience it was best for was the audience who recognised the constant homages to the experience of playing DnD - my primary example is the scene of the main character breaking out of prison completely unnecessarily.
The movie was made by Hasbro to sell dungeons and dragons (which, to be fair, you do mention) and I think as a fan of the ttrpg it did a great job of capturing that experience as a movie. I can’t call it the film of the year though, let alone the decade.
What makes you say it’s better than, for example, Blade Runner 2049 or Avengers Endgame, both being movies similarly sprouting from established brands? I would argue Dune is significantly better (talking about movies with a brand) also.
Outside the established brand space, you see movies like JoJo Rabbit, Marriage Story and Power of the Dog. All of my examples have been off arbitrary top 10/top 50 lists of the last 5 or last 10 years and I’m honestly curious about why you think the DnD movie beats all of them?
Edit: in saying that, upvoting because this is almost certainly an unpopular opinion
Bladerunner was pretentious film school drivel. It’s a montage of poetic, symbolic imagery that makes no sense as an actual narrative. Dune was far, far superior because the mythic reality is tied together into a classic hero story, and the whole thing is fantastical enough for Villaneuve’s whole thing to work. I can’t wait for the second one.
Avengers Endgame was just more of the same MCU formula, trotting out the usual tropes on an ever-increasing scale. Pretty good, as far as all that goes, but really devoid of any tension or depth, IMHO. Guardians 1 is a far better film.
As for those others, I haven’t seen them, though they’re all on my list. I’m open to any of them being better… of course my opinion will be limited to movies I’ve actually seen. But aside from glib hot takes, there’s not much meaning in comparing completely different films. My essential point is that DnD is an utterly superb movie, and I’ll maintain that in its freshness, surprising depth, and comedic sparkle, it’s at least the best movie of its kind in a long time.
Completely agree with your last two sentences, mostly. I can’t personally call it the best movie of its kind just because I don’t watch a lot of movies in the same vein. But you’re right that it’s hard to compare across genres, and the movie was definitely far better than I expected. I think the last couple of years have generally had some great releases.
I only watched DnD recently, mostly just accidentally at a friend’s place. Also thought it was really good, well made, funny, a really pleasant surprise all around. For me, it reminded me of what I felt about some 90s movies - a movie made to be fun, not to make you feel deep feels, think deep thoughts, or shock in the shockingest way of all. Just fun. That is not a bad thing…
I work in IT support, and I have for longer than I’d like to admit. I’m on the very early edge of millennial. I was born a few years after the generation “started”. My older brother was on the transition between millennial and gen X and my oldest sibling was very gen X. My parents were part of the prior two generations (boomers etc), and I tend to work along side and for all sorts of people from all of these generations.
Earlier than gen X, eg boomers and older, are usually technology adverse, they don’t like change. I find many are kind of “set in their ways”. Of course there are exceptions to the rule, but they seem to be fairly rare. They like to do things using methods that are tried and true, but often reluctantly agree to use computers instead of paper because that’s what others are doing. Even so, they’re fairly adverse to updates and changes that modify how things get done. They have money, and you can’t have any of it. Often, they have little understanding of the problems faced with current generations, likely because they did not have the same challenges, and despite their stories of “back in my day” about how hard things were for them, they actually had it rather easy in terms of cashflow and buying power. They made less, sure, but when they were able to buy a mid sized, single family, fully detached home for the same dollar value as a “cheap” car costs now, their money went much farther (around $20k).
Gen X is kind of lost. What I mean is that they don’t really have too many traits that stand out. As far as I can see, they’re hyper independent, mostly riding the coat tails of the bombers economically, so, while they didn’t have it quite as easy as boomers did (despite what boomers might think/say), it also wasn’t significantly harder for them. They were mostly able to follow a fairly typical life path, get an education (HS/college/uni), get a career, buy a house, have a family (if desired). Politically, from what I’ve seen, gen X is the most diverse group and they’re usually following along with whatever is regionally popular. Not because it’s popular, but because they’re surrounded by it. From what I’ve seen this group is the most adaptable to their neighboring community, mostly just trying to fit in and not be bothered. Right now they’re a large part of working professionals.
Millennials are usually post college, debt laden individuals that are just tired. They were trying to kick-start their lives in some of the craziest times imaginable. Many early millennials who were able to quickly move through the education system, and immediately get into a career and the housing market follow more along the lines of gen X. If you were held back for any reason or you were caught up in a situation that held you back, you shared fate with many of the later millennials. The majority of millennials were caught up in every economic crisis short of a complete collapse of the money system during the years that they should have been starting their careers. Homes rose in price swiftly and vehicles didn’t lag far behind. Driven by sheer determination to succeed, many accrued significant debt that they just want to balance out. This group is the most technically malleable and can adapt to most technology changes in the shortest time. Growing up on landlines and home PC’s/consoles/electronics that all significantly changed their designs, capabilities and interfaces every 4-5 years. Many seem to be problem solvers and want to be helpful/useful. Many have, and some still do, hold onto the ideal that their contribution should be impactful. Most just want to be acknowledged and told they’re doing well, while making enough to pay their bills and debts. For many the dream of owning a home is dying or dead. Renters, car owners, debt holders. They’re growing rather jaded about it as they get older.
Gen Z have their own language. Millennials did too but mostly in cultural memes, with the zoomers, it’s less cultural reference and more of a short hand derived from cultural references. Things that on their own, don’t make any sense and are not even full sentences in any way shape or form. They follow in the aftermath of the economic crisises of millennials and have many of the same economic challenges. Many of those challenges are simply more severe. Prices are higher than ever, buying power is at an all time low. Surrounded by toxic “hustle” culture and many seem to want nothing to do with that. Many find humor in randomness and unexpected happenstance rather than traditional subversion of expectation as humor. They’re quickly becoming the most socially aware and active generation, and want change. Technologically growing up on iPhones and Androids rather than home PC’s, many are not very adaptable to changes in technology though zoomers are one of the highest use groups for the technology. They use it, they don’t really understand it very well, so when things break, even if they’re only non fictional in their current state, things are replaced rather than fixed. Eg, if their iPhone is too slow, rather than trying to find out why or trying to fix the issue, better to simply upgrade to whatever apple is currently pushing. Due to this, they needlessly spend more money than their older generation counterparts. This is by design by the actions of corporations, fostering a single use, replace, not repair mentality. They’re not lazy or lacking in motivation at all, despite appearances that may show a lack of success, instead the lack of success is driven by an inability to find adequate employment that will pay enough to allow them to prosper. The majority will be “held back” from the “typical” life path of education > career > home ownership > family, because of their inability to prosper due to high prices and low wages.
Overall, through the generations there has been a decline in community as a function of geography, and an increase in community as a function of shared interest, mainly due to the growing and universal access to the internet. The internet has allowed both good and bad to be accessible at a moment’s notice. This has shortened the tolerance to delays and given a sense of urgency to even the most trivial and mundane of requests. With the immediate response available from growing internet connectivity, demand for more frequent, more detailed updates from everything has grown significantly, eroding confidence in others to fulfill their obligations unless they communicate that “we’re doing things” (so to speak). Even something as simple as ordering take out or having things shipped, if there is no tracking and reporting, then it might as well not be happening.
Over all, IMO, the problems faced by the current generations tend to be more centered around artificial issues created by corporations. They want to pay less, earn more, and overall turn a larger and larger profit. This is neither surprising, nor helpful to most. It does however explain the single use, replace rather than fix, nature of things that has been growing. The rise in rental vs ownership has increased the cost of living and is on track to build a service-based lifestyle where personal ownership doesn’t happen. Everything is provided for a “low” recurring fee, which has so significantly outpaced any rise in wage that most will be unable to accrue any amount of savings.
For me, all of this has made it very clear what future we’re in store for, and bluntly, it’s not very pleasant. Perpetual home rental, no personal ownership of vehicles (you simply tap a button on your phone and if one is available, it will arrive for you to use, little more than a taxi service), video, audio and other media will be rental only, streaming over the internet, which is a monthly service fee. This leads to near zero ability for customization of your lifestyle. You have no choice in terms of the appliances and devices you use, the car you drive, your home’s design… The list goes on. So if you want or need something different, you’re completely out of luck. Conform or die.
I tend to agree with your summary of the generations, but my experience in life sounds largely similar to yours, so some obvious bias there. The future you paint feels almost inevitable, and I hate every bit of it. Yet I can’t find any reasonably effective way to change it.
I’m an early gen Z, I’m 25 right now, and have been on the job market for 8 years so far.
I’m tired, I’m overworked, I’m stressed, I’m looking for upward mobility in my domain but every company is making cutbacks, withholding bonuses and holding pay increases.
I’m a software developer. I’m working a main job and freelancing on the side to make ends meet, and it’s still not enough.
I invest in my future with things like RRSP and FHSAs, I have some luxuries (small car, a dog because what is life if it’s completely miserable?), and it hurts every time I get a necessity because everything goes to rent, food, clothing, etc. and grocery bills are always close to $200 for 2 people, even at the cheaper grocery stores.
Everything’s down on quality, nothing lasts, so we either have to buy things over and over, or save up a ton of money to pay luxury prices for a decent product that won’t break the very fucking second the warranty expires.
We’re getting gouged as much as possible. My group is particular because we started our careers slightly before or during the 2020 pandemic, where companies learned that they could gouge the fuck out of everyone on necessities, and people starting out fresh are hit the hardest as they don’t have savings or mature investments.
I promise you, I have no savings nor investments, mature or otherwise.
I completely understand where you’re coming from. I’ve long considered that the next generation is going to be royalty screwed. Millennials are not doing great. I know many that are struggling, but gen z didn’t even get a chance.
Give your dog some pets for me and I hope things get better soon… Or the government collapses under the insurmountable weight of all the bribery that’s going on.
Dude I cannot understand the love that movie gets. Even the “scientifically accurate” go-to gets under my skin. I don’t know what it was going for, but it bristles my skin when I see discussion about how great it is.
I think Interstellar has some of the best scenes in film, but it’s definitely not one of the best films overall. If you could somehow package the part about Matt Damon’s character into a 20 minute short film it would be fantastic.
Interstellar is one of my favourite movies, yet I can definitely say it’s not perfect. Hell, it’s got a few massive plot holes and the ending leaves a lot to be desired. Saying that, I still enjoyed it. I love the visuals, the BTS stuff is interesting, but most of all it made me feel. That’s what I value in media. Other people may value a coherent plot, historical accuracy, or a myriad of other things. We all like/dislike things for different reasons, and that’s okay.
Nolan is my favorite director. The Prestige and Memento are absolute genius movies, I cannot rewatch then enough times. Inception is great too. But Interstellar is so boring and pointless, I stopped it after 2 hours of nothing happening on the screen. It’s hard to believe all those movies were made by the same person
I thought Oppenheimer was a mess of half fleshed out ideas and characters you were not invested in…very underwhelming. And I saw it at the proper IMAX.
It’s a movie made for space nerds, and if you aren’t a space nerd I can understand not enjoying it. Part of what made it so amazing is just the black hole simulation, no one had ever rendered one that accurately with such high fidelity.
I’m a huge space nerd. I did also appreciate the visuals and realistic portrayal of time dilation, and should have noted that (though it may have diluted my opinion a bit?). I just didn’t like the actual movie itself.
Lmao, no it isn’t. At best, it’s made for people who are lightly into space/science and also lightly into cinema, so please don’t trot out the “you need a high IQ to enjoy this movie” stuff. If it were made for space nerds, two scientists selected for deep space flight wouldn’t need to stop and explain what E=MC² is to one another.
That’s kind of always been Nolan’s schtick, though, and I guess it’s working out for him because he’s got the a huge, quite passionate fan base. I’ll never understand the hype and find his movies quite mid as cinema, but eh.
That’s not quite right. They hired a theoretical physicist to provide them equations for simulating a black hole. Then, the SFX studio used their Nolan Movie Money to generate it extremely accurately to the extent that it helped spawn further research. It’s not that the studio happened to get it right from research. They were given all the pieces they needed and were able to do something these physicists had a hard time doing likely because they never had that kind of money/equipment: make an exceptional, high-fidelity, cinematic simulation.
Fast fashion isn’t even considered clothing for some peaple. XD Just put your jeans, your t-shirt and your sneakers and go to work, the modern slave outfit.
True. And while I try to, I’m not gonna stop watching twitch because amazon owns it. I won’t however donate through bits but only through direct donations.
Full boycott is difficult for a lot of shitty companies. But I limit it as mich as possible.
I try as much as I can but I find it hard to avoid any car manufacturer and Amazon. I’m trying my best to not go to Amazon and rather to Ebay or microcenter if I can though. As for fast fashion, I am planning to go thrifting or to goodwill.
But I enjoy those mobile-only games 😅 How would I play them otherwise? And I think touch interfaces allow for some gameplay you wouldn’t ever get anywhere else, like swipe actions and multi-finger gestures, which you can see in games like Infinity Blade or Fruit Ninja (or even True Skate, which seems to have quite a following, not my fave personally but I can’t imagine that on any other device)
I also have some Sim City game on my phone. It’s great for when you have a couple of minutes to waste waiting on a train or something. I have nothing against mobile games itself, but I wouldn’t consider that gaming.
As someone that used to be a somewhat competitive gamer back in the days, I don’t like being lumped in with people playing mobile games. We are not the same. Call me a gatekeeper, but my aunt playing candy crush just isn’t a “gamer” in my book.
Well, I guess it’s time for my biannual reinstallation of true skate!
Mobile games get a lot of shit for some very valid reasons, but so many have written them off entirely because of the microtransactions and/or touchscreen controls when there are some very good games that don’t suffer from either of these issues.
You’re absolutely right though, it allows for things like true skate to exist which is brilliant. And if you can be bothered to hunt out the good paid games you can avoid microtransactions entirely. Bloons Td6 is arguably the best value game I’ve ever paid for given the hours I’ve sunk into it over a year or so. Cost me £6 once and has never asked for another penny.
Also the room series is fantastic, as is monument valley. The good ones are out there, but people will download a few free games, get bombarded by ads and microtransaction “deals” and write off the whole genre.
Those touch mechanics are things you don’t need on any other platform as opposed to literally the only option via mobile. Games as shallow as Fruit Ninja, seriously? You ever pay a Nintendo Wii? Or any of the Xbox Kinect type motion tracking games (i dont remember the Playstation variant)? That’s a hell of a lot more immersive than twitching your finger on your phone. Lets not even get into the world of VR gaming that’s been around for years now.
Multi finger gestures- like an entire PC keyboard…while moving your mouse? Can you use 10 fingers on your phone at the same time? Or multi button/direction combos on a controller? Plus the fact you can program multi-function macros on a PC.
Pinch zoom- mouse wheel: faster, more control, & way more range.
Swipe- like move your mouse? Or a controller joystick? Or the arrow keys? RTS or any top-down games have been using “swipe” variants to move around maps basically as long as the game genre has existed. Most mice come standard these days with thumb buttons that are pre-programmed as literally Forward and Backwards buttons (think page turn, or swipe left/right). Even the mechanic of hotkeys that most games have.
Add in the ability to right-click, or hold any button and click and you open literally endless opportunities for any sort of “finger” or “swipe” type control. A PC mouse is literally your hand with a LOT more fingers.
But lets go deeper…there ARE touch interfaces for other platforms. Not used much for gaming, but how do you think digital artists draw and paint?
Basically, these touch gestures you’re so hung up on are literally all you have- and it ain’t much. Anything else i could add has been said multiple times from all the other comments….
None of the examples you listed would be a good version of true skate, you swipe with two fingers simultaneously in different directions and at different speeds to get the tricks you’re looking for, the idea being that each finger is a foot on a skateboard. It is pretty unique and one of the better mobile games out there.
A PC mouse is your hand with one finger and lots of buttons… How would I use the multiple fingers you refer to to simultaneously move up with one and down with the other?
I don’t think anyone is arguing that mobile does everything better… Obviously a keyboard can make more use of multiple buttons than a touchscreen, that’s also true vs a controller but that exists too. Simplicity is sometimes what people want or need, I like being able to play games on a train journey so finding the decent mobile ones is very worth doing for me.
Also why does this comment read so angrily? We’re talking about casual gaming, just chill.
The default control scheme for the game Sessions is using a controller with 1 foot per analog stick, so that’s covered. I think Skate XL has a control scheme like this too.
But that doesn’t replicate feet on a board. In true skate you literally position your fingers on the screen so they mimic feet on a board, and the movements required for your fingers are moreorless that of your feet in real life skating.
I’m definitely not saying there isn’t a way to control the game, or that games don’t exist with similar play styles, but taking away the actual placement of fingers on the board onscreen would take away an awful lot of the reason people enjoy it, and it wouldn’t be the same game.
the movements required for your fingers are moreorless that of your feet in real life skating.
Have you played Sessions? This is how it works in that game too, literally the only difference is your fingers are on analog sticks rather than on the sheet of glass that is your phone screen. The developers ended up including an alternative control scheme more similar to EA’s Skate series because of how intense the learning curve on their control scheme is.
but taking away the actual placement of fingers on the board onscreen would take away an awful lot of the reason people enjoy it
I guess this is where we just have to agree to disagree. I can’t think of any reason I’d find blocking part of my field of view as an enhancement to the experience.
I haven’t no, I would argue you’re not blocking the screen though, you’re part of it. And using analogue joysticks doesn’t sound even slightly intuitive in the way true skate is. I’m sure it’s fun but doesn’t sound like the same experience at all. When I say they’re moreorless what your feet would need to do that’d because it’s based on where you place them on the board and how you move them in relation to that.
Perfectly happy to disagree though as that’s kinda my point in this thread, everyone likes what they like but a lot of people in here stating things as if their preference is just a fact.
Mobile games have a place and don’t need to be the cash grabby advertising hangers that a lot of people think of when you say mobile game. You just need to hunt them down a bit more to find the good ones.
I like games of almost all genres and will happily sink 100 hours into a console/PC game too, but it feels like an oversimplification to write off mobile games as a whole.
(I know this is probably impossible, but it would be so funny)
Tell a knock knock joke, but only the first part. Don’t reveal the punchline, just pass out. So they work extra hard to keep you alive, because only then will they hear the punchline.
My take on it is that the Republicans will do their best to drag this out until the election. No compromising or middle ground. Just make it out to be the crazy Democrats fault. This stuff gets to be very predictable after all these years.
Of course, they will drag it out until the elections. It is only being done because of the elections. It is all a performance to rally their base and get them to vote. Too many Republicans are tired of, or at least too embarrassed by, Trump and the other crazy fuckers, like the Freedom Caucus. While nothing is great, nothing is also so bad that they can really shit on Biden, at least not enough to rally around. Even his support of Israel isn’t something they can use against him since they are 120% pro Israel too. They also seriously need a smoke screen for the shit show that is the impending government shut down.
It’s all for show, a way to get the very poor but very racist core to take time off of their jobs to go vote for a states right to murder brown children while at the same time diverting attention from the fact that the reason that those poor racists aren’t getting their social security and other government support is due to the Republicans massive incompetence.
I worked as a transplant coordinator, and that job was soul crushing every day.
One of the worst moments was being on the intake phones. It a phone number every hospital in the area calls whenever anyone dies. They report the details of the death, and we determine if there’s any possibility for donation.
I knew my uncle had been sick, but nobody told me they put him in hospice care and had withdrawn treatment. I took hundreds of calls, maybe thousands, but I still remember the feel of the receiver in my hand when the voice on the line said his name.
There were many sad stories, many sad days, so much that you become numb to it. It was horrible, but it made my job easier because when the numbness sets in, you can think of the trauma and empathize.
Huh, well it’s definitely got some of the nutritional values added (fat, salt, carbs, protein, etc.), but vitamins appear to be absent. In the US, if they weren’t listed, I would assume they were not present but TBF, I have no idea how (if at all) labeling is regulated in the UK.
The standard US “Nutrition Facts” label is very limited and typically doesn’t include much information on micro nutrients. I don’t know how it compares to other regions, but it certainly leaves a lot to be desired.
Yeah it would be nice to have mandatory micronutrient labeling. Some labels have them, others don’t. I think it might be up to the producer to decide which micronutrients they can list.
Nah, the US has “per serving” on the label instead of “per 100 gr.”. And since “per serving” is mostly an arbitrarily term (the legislation which defines it basically admits so much even), it means food producers can grossly mislead consumers about the contents of their food.
Interestingly, UK foods destined for import in the US market use the US label and do include that information. Heinz Beans have 50mb calcium, 1.5mg Iron, and 370mg potassium per 130g serving, for example.
So, maybe 20 years ago when I was in middle school I had a dream that I was being chased by a long, giant, weasel with hundreds of legs like a millipede. This happened at an overnight LAN party at a friend’s house. I sometimes talk in my sleep and my friends overheard me muttering about the “chainweasel” in my dreams and I never lived it down.
More strict sanitation laws often. It doesn’t matter how non-food related the system (like the box crushing machine) if it is going in a US food plant it will follow IP69K.
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