Patrick R

It's the best. And it's on Netflix now.

When I figured out how to work a PS1 emulator, I spent months in dozens of second-hand media and thrift stores searching for a Wild 9 disc. I had to settle for Shadowman, which was way less playable than I had imagined it would be when I was 14. Classic "I am so lost, I have no idea what to do" level 1 quit on that one.

There's a whole flock of console games from 1998 - 2003 that are permanently burned into my imagination because I would re-read issues of EGM a hundred times and had to extrapolate the gameplay experience from 3 tiny screenshots. Like WILD 9! I bet Wild 9 is so awesome!

It's been maybe over a decade since I've seen it but I think Sixth Sense holds up when you know the twist. Maybe there's weird levels of spoiler for first time viewings of movies with twist endings. Like, You don't know a twist ending is coming, so your first time viewing is as intended. You know a twist ending is coming, but you don't know what it is, so you spend the movie focusing more on clues than the characters or plot. You know what the twist ending is, so you watch the movie as a story, appreciating the added subtext is building to a surprise conclusion, which is how the filmmakers intended the second time viewing to play out. Where the 2nd example is actually a worse way to see a movie than the 1st or 3rd. Psycho actually eschews the second example, because the most obvious spoiler* is not the twist ending. Memento is another movie that works on every front. Because of the structure and genre a twist ending is basically promised to anyone watching, so whether or not you go in knowing there's a twist ending, you'll probably assume as much pretty early on. The fun of the first time viewing is getting fed all these bits and pieces and trying to put them together. BUT once you know how it goes, it becomes an incredibly moving character piece about the power of denial. *As a side note I think history has blown the shock of Janet Leigh's death in Psycho way out of proportion. Not saying that it wouldn't have surprised anyone, but that idea of killing off the main character at the midpoint has become a larger part of the film's identity than I think it should. For one, Psycho was a popular novel before it was ever a movie, so that plot point was already floating out there for anyone who cared to know. And also the scene is heavily implied by the trailer itself. I think savvy audiences probably didn't guess her death would come so sudden and early on, but the second she starts to run the shower anyone who's seen the trailer will know what's about to happen.

I would like to hear why it frustrates you. I found nothing offensive about it, though I wasn't aware that non-monogamous hetero cis couples not checking their non-monogamy privilege was a problem that needed addressing. But it might be? I dunno.

So judging by the actual way everyone consumes that kind of content, I guess the G in GOTY actually stands for Games.

But even the feet in his movies are usually limited to a single moment in a film, and actually have narrative meaning. The brief shot of Uma Thurman's bare feet in Pulp Fiction, Melanie's bare feet in Jackie Brown, the "wiggle those piggies" moment in Kill Bill Vol. 1, these are all interesting character defining moments. Death Proof is more gratuitous, but that movie is a very specific simulation of movies that are more gratuitously sexualized, so I still think it qualifies as a more valid choice than anything Kojima does in the MGS games. Even in scenes where things could totally be sexualized without question, like the comically framed sex scene between De Niro and Fonda in Jackie Brown or Uma's shirt being ripped open to reveal a tasteful camisole in Pulp Fiction, Tarantino tends to shy away from anything explicit. Compare that to any Russ Meyer or Abel Ferrara or Brian De Palma film, and I still think Tarantino is very demure when it comes to sexuality in his films, even when it comes to his own fetishes.

I read your post and didn't ignore it, but it's a little hard for me to respond. I feel like the main disconnect I have with you is that I do not care in the least what is termed a "GOTY" and what isn't. Probably because I don't read any games sites, or even listen to any games podcasts other than Idle Thumbs. I think the entire concept of "GOTY", and the sort of trumped up culture around it (which is probably comparable to the trumped up culture around most annual awards given to art) is mostly based on marketing decisions, because a top 10 list is going to drive a lot of hits. It seems like, in a world without any GOTY, the reaction most sites have had to MGS V would sit okay with you. Because, as you've pointed out, the gross sexism of the game has been registered by many. And while making lists can be fun, I'd imagine most journalists would not mind if there was less emphasis on November and December being this mad scramble to rank subjective experiences they had with works of art the previous ten months*. And then, once you think of GOTYs as an economic necessity, the way they're determined are usually defined by the same thing. It's political, it all has to do with serving the GOTY machine, and what your audience will think. I don't think video games are at the same point that film is, where companies are basically running multi-million dollar election campaigns for their prestige films, but you know that anyone writing for a major game site will second guess picking, say, Undertale for their GOTY more than they will MGS V or Mario Maker or whatever else. Because they know their audience is going to second guess Undertale more than MGS V or Mario Maker or whatever else. They know waaaaaaay less people have played Undertale than MGS V or Mario Maker or whatever else, so it'll get way less clicks and garner way less ad-revenue-generating debate, in the comments section and elsewhere. I look at the Academy Awards giving best picture to Birdman and all I can think is "Huh, ok, that's weird." and then I move on because I ultimately don't think it matters that much. I think the same applies to GOTYs. But I am one who tend to think that canon defines itself, and anyone trying to declare anything an "instant classic" is just reading tea leaves. I don't think as many people watch All The Kings Men as The Third Man, even though the former won an Academy Award for Best Picture and the latter wasn't even nominated. Canon defines itself. I think whether MGS V gets all that sweet GOTY love or every games site takes a stand and refuses to give it anything, it won't really change anything. Maybe MGS V will be a foundational work that is quite embarrassing, like Birth of a Nation. Maybe it will be a politically regressive financial success that doesn't stand the test of time, like Dirty Harry. Maybe it will be an established beloved commercial and critical classic that just happens to have a fair amount of fucked up shit in it, like Pulp Fiction. Only time will tell. I think now I'm the one who's rambling like a lunatic. But I wanted you to get at least one reply! * This is probably being generous, because I know for a fact there are a lot of film critics who LOVE the competitive air of awards season, and would revel in it even if it weren't paying their rent.

My partner had a more lucid series of thoughts on the subject than I'd be able to produce. I like the "What do you mean you're not vegan, you always get salad!" analogy. Bjorn: Having that curiosity is totally cool and exploring it is too, even if the decision you come to is "Yeah, not for me." Just make sure it's a situation where you're very comfortable with the other person and aware of their needs and feelings, so they never feel that you're just using them for an experiment. Don't feel bad about it being scary. Going into something like that without knowing your reaction can be scary, because there's so much potential for social awkwardness. I was scared the first time I made out with a girl, I was equally scared four years later the first time I made out with a guy.

It was! I played the shit out of that game. The tracks were so unique and fun, and it felt really cool with an amazing sense of speed. Actually, the feeling of being in that world, upgrading your pod with junkyard parts, trying to meek by some winnings to buy new parts, it all had a really satisfying hard-nosed kind of reality that the prequels totally lacked.

It's bisexual visibility day! Hello there!

I've been playing Binding of Isaac. I feel like I sullied my Spelunky experience by looking up too many things on the internet instead of just figuring out the way the world works organically. I don't want to do the same thing with Binding of Isaac, but I feel like I'm having a lot harder time figuring out what items do what in this game. For example, I've picked up the Ace of Spades maybe a dozen times and I've never once observed it's effects. Should I just keep playing and hope I'll figure it out, or are there a lot of items that only provide very small passive bonuses that would be hard to suss out?

Considering his primary influences, I always found Tarantino really restrained as far as sex goes. You have a movie like Death Proof that goes farther with the objectification, but for what that movie is trying to do it's entirely appropriate and you could even say necessary. But compared to pretty much everyone else in Tarantino's lane (exploitation and those influenced by exploitation), he's downright prudish. I think he's a good analog to Kojima, but more for his indulgences and the odd shapes his ostensible genre films take than for any kind of leering eye.

I really liked the demo for this. It made me feel like the protagonist in Spirited Away or something.

Due to the order that those photos loaded for me, I assumed the birds were astrophysicists.

I don't know where else to post this.

The second best Peter Lorre horror film ever (because what can top M?) is Mad Love. Fast-paced and stylish "the killer's hands transplanted onto an unsuspecting innocent" story (maybe the first film version of that story?), with Lorre playing an incredibly perverse surgeon who is sexually aroused by death. Way more kinky and grotesque than you'd ever expect from a 30's film.

Or

Film Crit Hulk also works in the industry, so there's usually a limit on how negative he goes.

Yeah, there was a good comment on the article that speculated that was one of the main problems.

I have been obsessed with the song "Pop It" by Herman Brood and His Wild Romance for about 4 months now. It sounds like some amazing lost Lou Reed song, except I don't think he ever got quite this lively. Sadly the only place on the entire internet you can listen to the studio version is by streaming this archived episode of a WFMU radio show from 2009. Thankfully it's the very first song you hear.

I must just be in the minority then, and since (to be absolutely clear) I'm not trying to defend Kojima's sexist choices (especially in more recent games, which I haven't actually played) I'm not going to continue trying to convince anyone of my position that MGS' sexism is less gross than GoW's.

Your example is rather broad (what does it mean for an artist to "artistically like strip clubs"?), and I wouldn't use the word better. More compelling, sure. More interesting, sure.

Because one is a capitalist choice and one an artistic choice. One adds to the artistic intent and one adds to the capitalist intent. I have waaaaaaaaaaaaaay more sympathy towards one than the other, even if I don't condone of either. EDIT: I should rephrase that: I find one way more compelling than the other. It's a common thing in the world of exploitation films. There are the Jim Wynorskis of the world, who are only interested in packing their films with as many busty blondes as possible, and there are the Russ Meyers of the world who genuinely seem to be working out some kind of deeply personal deviant sexual philosophy in their films*. Both are exploitative and sexist, but I only find one compelling**. *Not that I find the sexuality in Kojima's work to be that interesting or deviant (his taste tends to run pretty mainstream anime babe-y), just that the deviancy seems to be part of a larger whole. EDIT EDIT: **And also completely understand anyone who does not want to engage with either.