it290 wrote:I don't know if you've ever been in a relationship like that, but I have, and if you think about it, there is a certain level of performance that goes into any argument where both parties are intentionally raising the stakes because the other person has just made a gambit that has to be reacted to. I think this movie nails that dynamic perfectly and is brilliant for that alone.
i have been in a relationship like that (as have the other two people i watched it with - complete with abusive parents, too), and i completely agree with this. when i say "deliberate overacting," i'm talking about how they completely let themselves go. rolling around on the walls, shrieking on the floor, deliberately avoiding eye contact or verbal response as an act of hostility, etc. it is over-the-top in a way another director would consider overkill - so extreme i don't think it could have been pushed any further - but honest to the point of it being unnerving. the director absolutely understands some of the worst depths of the human condition and i have no doubt was living through them before making the film (and probably
during it).
maybe i've been through enough trauma in my life (csa survivor, suicide attempt survivor, been beaten and once told to tell class i 'fell down the stairs', been stalked, had a partner calmly offer to murder me when suicidal and nearly took them up on it, been intimate with someone who probably committed 2nd-degree murder, i could go on lol) to be a bit brain-damaged in my perception of the film, but i frankly suspect the director has, too. i really do think he intended a great deal of the movie to be morbidly comical. something my friend said during the movie was "boy, this is making me feel really good about my life, right now." we've gained enough distance and emotional security to have a laugh at how horrible it is, and i feel the film's director was getting to that point, himself, and using the movie to hit that point of catharsis. whether you read it is as horror or comedy, i think it's a damned honest movie.
i hate to recommend it again immediately after having just brought it up and only recently having watched it for the first time, but i really stress giving eros + massacre a go if you're into movies exploring the extremes of dysfunctional relationships. i would sincerely call it the most honest and truthful movie i have ever watched - though if you've never explored polyamory, you might not fully relate. it examines a historical figure from the 20's through the lens of the 60's (both notable times in japanese history that prevalent leftist movements were being snuffed by the powers that be) and feels smarter than anything from today. it really, really makes you feel infinitesimal to see everything you've been through having already played out unsuccessfully again and again throughout history. the filmmaker was marxist, himself, but the anti-humanist vibe and general feeling of erasure of 'self' in eros + massacre is so strong that i wouldn't fault someone for mistaking it as being anti-marxist.
it290 wrote:That said, I think the hyper-elitist attitude of many forum members is probably as or more offputting to a lot of potential users, and I don't even mean that as a bad thing—I've always considered this a place for people with extensive knowledge and refined taste in games, and although I'm sure the elitism is offputting to many I also think that those inclined will eventually find their way here. It's part of the culture, for better or worse.
i think the purported elitism here is a bit exaggerated at times, tbh, at least in the last year or two. i don't actively read the shmups section (not for lack of interest, i just have trouble focusing on broad areas) and already talked about
this thread, elsewhere, but i think it's a good barometer. it took a
while for that thread to devolve into the comedy did, and it only did so after a couple of pages of people giving really genuine suggestions, talking about how the new person's taste might not mesh with the forum, etc. i feel like a person getting bounced from a thread like that is the forum's natural immune system at work. you just lose some people to that and there's nothing you can do, but that's fine.
BIL wrote:kitten wrote:
That is rad, stealing if ok.
edit: actually, goddamn, this inspires me to cut out the middleman and just photoshop my bloodening VGspeak directly onto the page.
hell yeah, go for it. after i saw how well it translated i figured i might do it more often if particular phrases actually pop to mind.
Three actually, if you count the bumbling outrage at the root of the fiasco, one Dean Takahashi. But nobody could ever own him as comprehensively as 
)
IDGAF about Star Wars but I'm glad for The Mandalorian apparently being alright! You poor fuckers deserve something good amidst all these Mystery Boxes ("Mystery Box" is my new pet name for "Dog Shit Bin").
