Those poor souls have suffered enough, don’t you think?

Oh, never you fear pal, I’m certain that Hasbro has no intention of leaving the cashcow alone. Larian might be moving on to other things, but those ghouls certainly aren’t.

Vogel’s GDC talk about his career is well worth the time, if anyone hasn’t watched it. While it’s obviously aimed at the conference’s developer audience, there’s a whole lot in there that is applicable to lay people.

Hey I just wanted to say thank you for the breakdown. The intricacies of translation are interesting.

Writing from my desk at the VA right now. You wouldn’t believe the number of folks that no show their appointments in spite of all the texts, calls, and letters. Sure, some folks aren’t going to be helped no matter what you do, but, considering our patient population and some of their difficulties, we find that there’s no kill quite like overkill.

Only if you want to be hyper efficient. If you want to roleplay a lowly jobber space captain, it’s unnecessary.

I recall Becky Chambers’ “A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet” emphasizing the found family theme pretty heavily over the course of the story, especially non-traditional relationships. In fact, the ship crew’s relationships with one another forms the crux of the drama. Even though there are big “Important” events happening in the background, the narrative is focused on what those events mean for the characters on the ship, rather than what they mean for the galaxy as a whole.

Oh yeah, don’t get me wrong, I’ve got nothing against the guy, it’s just that his character arc was half baked. In theory, the secondary antagonist being a snivelly little weasel who falls for Dracula’s power as a mirror of Renfield is a fine enough concept, but, much like the other interesting ideas they had, it’s just tossed off without much of a care for exploring it.

I just think the whole script should have gone through a streamlining process. First, ditch the cop love interest It really muddies the waters on what the film is trying to say about co-dependency when the main character is rescued from their codependent relationship by, let me check my notes, getting into a relationship. Second, make the bad guys actually threatening. They tried by giving them a 3rd act level up, but it still felt like no one was challenged in the slightest. Finally, show me more of Dracula and Renfield interacting! Their relationship is the entire crux of this movie, but they only have a handful of scenes together. Which is a damn shame, because I think Hoult and Cage actually lean into the manipulative dynamic there really really well. The idea just needed to be driven home.

Between The Last Voyage of the Demeter and this, it’s been a disappointing year for Dracula movies.

Lmao, okay I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who kept seeing evil timeline Jean Ralphio. Made it very difficult to view the gang as a threat.

Watched Renfield (2023) last night. Found it to be a bit of fun, but felt like it under delivered.

I love the premise of a disillusioned Renfield trying to take his life back from Dracula. Unfortunately, that core struggle gets lost amid a world domination plot, an absurdly well armed criminal empire, corrupt cops, a dead dad sibling justice vengeance tale, and a romance that is basically microwaved Warm Bodies (which was lukewarm on arrival to begin with!).

Idk. The more I think about it, the more disappointed I am. Some of the action set pieces are fun, and occasionally there’s a bit of effects work that grabs your attention. 2/4 stars.

I just want to second what the other poster said. If you enjoyed From Beyond, you’ll likely love Society.

Whivh movie in the series do y’all have the most fun with? I unabashedly love Jason X for the schlocky drivel that it is. I’m glad the series didn’t continue in that vein, but I am supremely pleased it exists.

I disagree with your assessment that far right and populist descriptors are opposites. Admittedly, there’s a degree of subjectivity in definitions here, but my understanding is that conventional scholarship has coalesced around a definition of Populism that is agnostic of the left/right spectrum.

For example, this journal article from 2012 defines it as “a thin-centered ideology that considers society to be ultimately separated into two homogeneous and antagonistic groups, the ‘pure people’ versus the ‘corrupt elite’, and which argues that politics should be an expression of the general will of the people”.

If you care to read a little more, the authors break down their definition into it’s constituent pieces and provide context, but the important piece is that you can see how populism can come from both the left and the right.

As examples, we can look at, say, the Occupy Wall Street movement from a while back. Very much spawned from left leaning ideology, but it’s defining feature was casting the “corrupt elite” (in this case, the fabulously wealthy) against the general people (i.e. the 99%). On the other side of the coin we can look at Donald Trump’s MAGA movement. The image he wants to cultivate is that of an outsider, someone not tainted by the corruption of the Washington elite. That resonates with a sunset of the population.

Both of these movements have radically different goals and politics, but the framework of those arguments follows the same general template.

I apologize for the US-centric examples, but that’s what I know. As consolation, the article I linked to is specifically a comparative study of European vs Latin American populism.