Capital Reviews

 You Feel It Just Below the Ribs [book, audiobook] I HAVE SUCH MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT THIS NOW! I *LOVED* THIS BOOK, FOR 90% OF IT THIS WAS MY FAVORITE BOOK I'VE READ IN YEARS. IT'S A FICTIONAL NOVEL OF AN 80 YEAR OLD WOMAN IN THE 1990S WRITING HER LIFE STORY IN A WORLD WHERE WORLD WAR I STRETCHED ON FOR DECADES. SO IT'S GOT THIS UNRELIABLE NARRATOR THING OF BEING SOMEONE'S MEMORIES, BUT THEN THE FICTIONAL CONCEPT IS THE BOOK WE ARE ACTUALLY READING IS ACTUALLY A BOOK RELEASED SOMETIME YEARS AFTER THAT IS HEAVILY ANNOTATED BUT NOT CENSORED BY AN AMBIGUOUSLY EVIL ORGANIZATION CONNECTED TO THE EVENTS.  THIS IS AN AMAZING STRUCTURE FOR A BOOK! IT'S VERY WELL WRITTEN AND IT'S NOT SO AMBIGUOUS YOU EVER FULLY DOUBT THE NARRATOR BUT THEY DO SUCH A GOOD JOB MAKING IT JUST AMBIGUOUS ENOUGH FOR MOST OF IT YOU DO KINDA WONDER ESPECIALLY ABOUT THE MORALITY AND NECESSITY OF THINGS.   BUT HERE IS THE THING. THIS IS WRITTEN BY THE AUTHORS OF "WITHIN THE WIRES",  A PODC

Blue Girl [book] I GUESS THE LITERAL READING OF THIS IS A GHOST STORY? THREE FAMILIES FIND A DROWNED GIRL AT A LAKE DEAD AND BLUE AND KEEP HER IN THE WOODS, KEEPING HER ALIVE BY FEEDING HER MOON PIES, WHICH THEY WHISPER THEIR SECRETS INTO SO SHE CAN EAT THEIR SECRETS/SINS/REGRETS. BUT IT'S A PRETTY NON-LITERAL BOOK, IT'S ABOUT THE REGRETS MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS HAVE. IT'S A PRETTY ROUGH BOOK. IT DOESN'T REALLY SEEM TO HAVE ANY SOLUTIONS TO ANYTHING, MAYBE "JUST DIE".  PS. I BOUGHT A COPY OF THIS BOOK LIKE 4 YEARS AGO AND COULDN'T FINISH IT, THEN I BOUGHT THE AUDIOBOOK AND COULDN'T FINISH THAT EITHER AND ENDED UP HAVING TO LISTEN TO THE AUDIO BOOK WHILE READING IT TO ACTUALLY GET THROUGH IT. IT'S THE MIXTURE OF BEING EXTREMELY ABSTRACT BUT ALSO PRETTY BRUTAL THAT MAKES IT VERY HARD TO READ. (IT SEEMS LIKE IT WOULD MAKE A GOOD PLAY THOUGH)

  Chicory: A Colorful Tale [game] AH, THIS GAME IS REALLY GOOD. IT'S CLEARLY A GAME THAT IS EXTREMELY PERSONAL IN THE WAY NIGHT IN THE WOODS IS. I DON'T KNOW, AS THINGS GO, I DON'T FEEL LIKE I DO FEEL A LOT OF IMPOSTER SYNDROME. SO A LOT OF THIS GAME FELT SORT OF REVERSED FOR ME. I DON'T KNOW HOW TO PHRASE IT TO PUT IT IN A LIGHT GAME REVIEW, BUT I GUESS I MOSTLY KNOW I COULD DO BETTER IF I TRIED HARDER AND JUST AM UNABLE TO DO THAT, RATHER THAN EVER FEELING OVER MY HEAD OR FAKE. I DON'T KNOW, IT'S NOT THAT THE GAME DOESN'T HIT WITH ME, BUT IT GOT ME THINKING A LOT ABOUT IMPOSTER SYNDROME AND FOR ALL THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF SELF DOUBT I DO HAVE I MOSTLY JUST DON'T HAVE THAT ONE.  PS. IT'S WEIRD THIS GAME EVEN HAS BOSS FIGHTS. THEY ARE ALL OKAY, BUT THEY ARE MOSTLY A LITTLE HARD TO CONTROL BUT STILL EASY BECAUSE YOU CAN'T DIE. IT FEELS LIKE THE ONE FIGHT WITH ACTUAL CHICORY IS THE ONLY GOOD FIGHT. LIKE MAYBE THAT WAS THE LAST BOSS IN SOME OTHER VER

 Riot Baby [book] EH, I GET WHAT THIS BOOK IS GOING FOR. IT'S A LITTLE GIRL BORN DURING THE RODNEY KING RIOT WHO GROWS UP WITH ALL THE RAGE AND PAIN AND ANGER SO SHE HAS SOME SORT OF INFINITE POWER PSYCHIC THING THAT COULD DO ANYTHING, INCLUDING DESTROY THE WHOLE WORLD LIKE THE WILL OF GOD. CONTRASTED WITH HER BROTHER IN JAIL SEEING ALL THE INJUSTICES AGAINST THE BLACK COMMUNITY FROM AMERICAN HISTORY. THIS IS A GOOD TIGHT STORY WHEN IT'S JUST THAT. I EVEN GET THE REASONING OF MOVING TO A SCI-FI FUTURE PRISON THAT SEEMS NICER AT FIRST BUT IS JUST ANOTHER INJUSTICE IN A NEW GETUP.  BUT WHEN IT GETS TO THE FUTURE PRISON STUFF IT JUST FEELS LIKE IT GRINDS TO A STOP AS A STORY. LIKE CLEARLY THE STORY IS REALLY ABOUT THE BROTHER AND THE SISTER SCI-FI STUFF IS A METAPHOR, BUT SHE JUST DROPS OUT OF THE STORY FOR A LONG TIME TO TALK ABOUT THUMB COMPUTERS AND COP BONE PROTECTORS AND STUFF. I FEEL LIKE THE FUTURE STUFF SHOULD HAVE JUST BEEN ANOTHER VISION FROM THE SISTER LIKE THE SLAVERY

 Saturday Morning All Star Hits! [television] MAN, I REALLY WANTED TO LIKE THIS, I FEEL LIKE I AM THE EXACT TARGET AUDIENCE, BUT LIKE... MEH? IT JUST NEVER FELT LIKE IT GOT ANYWHERE. LIKE MAKING A PARODY OF DENVER THE LAST DINOSAUR OR BOBBY'S WORLD OR THE WEIRD PILOT OF THE POGS SHOW IS SUPER DEEP CUT HUMOR BUT THEY JUST NEVER DID ANYTHING WITH IT. LIKE IT KEPT GOING TOWARDS THE TEDIOUS '80S CARTOON BUT WITH DRUGS AND VIOLENCE" BUT IT NEVER REALLY EVEN BOTHERED TO DO THAT. I KEPT THINKING IT WAS BUILDING A STORY ADULT SWIM INFOMERCIALS STYLE, BUT IT WASN'T THAT EITHER  PS. I REALLY WANT TO LIKE THIS MORE!

 Encanto [movie] I FEEL LIKE THIS WAS A GOOD MOVIE THAT WAS WAY TOO UNFOCUSED TO BE A GREAT MOVIE. LIKE THE WHOLE OPENING SONG WAS A JOKE THAT THEY WERE INTRODUCING TOO MANY CHARACTERS THEN IT FELT LIKE ALL THE ISSUES EVERYONE WAS HAVING WAS SUPER LIGHT BECAUSE THERE WAS TOO MANY CHARACTERS. LIKE THE WHOLE "I HATE MY SISTER/OH I'M SO MAD I MAD A CACTUS/ACTUALLY I'M HAPPY NOW" ARC IS LIKE A MINUTE OF SCREEN TIME FOR NO REASON.  PS. I FEEL LIKE REWRITING IT SO ANIMAL KID WAS HIDING UNDER THE BED MORE SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE GRANDMA WOULD HATE HIM IF HE DIDN'T HAVE A GOOD POWER WOULD HAVE MADE THE CONFLICT SEEM LESS PULLED OUT OF NO WHERE. LIKE A GRANDMA HAVING TOO HIGH EXPECTATIONS IS REASONABLE BUT IT'S NEVER REALLY ESTABLISHED AS A PROBLEM UNTIL IT'S A PROBLEM. 

 Shin Megami Tensei V [game] THIS IS ONE OF THOSE SERIES I HAVE PLAYED A BUNCH (MOSTLY THOUGH EMULATORS) BUT KINDA ALWAYS BOUNCED OFF OF. THIS IS THE MOST I'VE GOTTEN INTO ONE BUT I STILL DO LIKE PERSONA A LOT MORE. (MY ORIGINAL REVIEW OF THIS WAS GOING TO BE "DO I LIKE THIS GAME? YES. IS THIS GAME ANY FUN AT ALL? NO.") PS. I KNOW IT'S KINDA HOW THESE GAMES ARE BUT I LOVE HOW EXPANSIVE THE STORY IS IN THEORY COMPARED TO HOW LITTLE THE GAME CARED AT ALL ABOUT IT. LIKE IT'S THIS WHOLE HUGE STORY ABOUT CHRISTIAN GOD HAVING DIED AND THE BREAKDOWN OF THE WORLD AS THE ANGELS OTHER RELIGION'S GODS COMPETE FOR HEAVEN AND IN GAME IT'S LIKE "HERE IS A CHARACTER THAT SHOWS UP FOR ONE CUT SCENE, WHO CARES, NONE OF THIS MATTERS"

 Don't Look Up [movie] THE BEST AND WORST THING ABOUT THIS MOVIE IS THAT IT WAS WRITTEN IN 2019 AND WAS SUPPOSED TO COME OUT WAY EARLIER. SO IT'S THIS WEIRD MIX OF EXTREMELY STALE TOOTHLESS WAY TOO ON THE NOSE PARODIES AND SUPER PRECENTIENT PREDICTIONS. LIKE, IT'S A PRETTY GOOD MOVIE BUT I FEEL ALREADY LIKE I'M GOING TO BE SUPER TIRED OF PEOPLE MENTIONING IT A MILLION TIMES IN DUMB CONTEXTS LIKE HAPPENED TO IDIOCRACY. PS. THE DUMB THING WITH THE GENERAL AND THE GENERAL BEING NAMED "GENERAL THEMES" WAS LEGITIMATELY FUNNY. A BUNCH OF STAND ALONE JOKES WERE REALLY FUNNY.

Against Nature [book] A BOOK ABOUT THE LAST OF A NOBLE HOUSE OF FRANCE WHO DECIDES HE HATES MODERN SOCIETY BUT THAT ALSO HUMANKIND HAS DEFEATED NATURE AND SO HE BUYS A HOUSE AND JUST SORT OF WANDERS AROUND ALONE DOING STUFF THAT DOESN'T WORK AND MAKING SOCIAL COMMENTARY. IT'S A VERY GOOD BOOK, ALTHOUGH I AM NOT NEARLY SMART ENOUGH TO KNOW ABOUT ALL THE VARIOUS CONTEMPORARY 1800S FRENCH SOCIAL ISSUES HE IS ROASTING. LIKE HE JUST BUYS A TURTLE THEN GLUES A BUNCH OF GEMS TO IT THEN IT DIES AND THAT IS JUST A CHAPTER. HE DECIDES HE ONLY WANTS TO EAT VIA ENEMA, OR THAT INSTEAD OF GOING TO VISIT THE SEA HE CAN SIT IN A TUB OF SALT WATER AND LOOK AT SOME ROPES TO GET THE EQUIVALENT EXPERIENCE. IT'S NOT EVEN DIRECTLY WRITTEN AS MUCH OF A COMEDY, JUST HIM ERNESTLY TRYING OUT HIS VARIOUS IDEAS, THEM ALL FAILING AND HIM MOVING ON TO THE NEXT ONE. ALL HE REALLY WANTS IS TO DATE A WOMAN AS STRONG AS HERCULES SO SHE COULD CRUSH HIM TO JELLY, AND HONESTLY, SAME.  PS. HAVE YOU EVER READ TH

 Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan [anime] THIS IS A JOJO SPINOFF JUST TELLING SOME RANDOM FAIRLY INCOHERENT GHOST STORIES. PS. GOD THERE IS ONLY 4 STORIES ANIMATED HOW DID FRIGGIN 2 ENTIRE CLIMAXES END WITH A GHOST DEMANDING THE PERSON EAT CORN A SPECIFIC WAY? WHY IS THIS SO CORN FOCUSED!?