SecretAsianMan

Personally I really liked this aspect of it. If they were one group all the time I feel like it would have been too much a rehash of season 1. I'll admit that thought did occur to me.

This accurately describes me as well but the core gameplay of Spelunky was so satisfying that even without the discovery aspect I still loved playing it over and over and over and over and over and over...

There's nothing especially revelatory in it. They do say some stuff that backs up what I said about the ending though, namely that

I tie my shoes like this I also loved the Hammacher Schlemmer/Sharper Image/Brookstone/Sky Mall catalogs as a kid. I always imagined each product there started as a failed pitch to another company but some executive at one of the catalogs saw it and figured they could make bank by jazzing it up and selling it for ridiculous amounts of money. I've wanted an Instant Pot for the longest time.

SPELUNKY 2!

I feel pretty much the same way as argobot about El. As for Max though, Did anyone watch Beyond Stranger Things, the round table discussion with the cast and crew? It's also on Netflix and gives a bit of insight into what some of their intentions were. Also I want to note that the mobile game was updated as promised with some additional quests, a new dungeon, and a new character. I won't even bother to spoil that but I can't help but wonder if the way said character is portrayed in the game has significance.

I agree with your words if not exactly your sentiment. I didn't find the nostalgia detracting in Season 1, in fact I felt it added to the show in clever ways. Season 2 has even less but I feel like it was utilized better as well. And none of it felt especially fan servicy to me, rather it seemed to be very appropriate given the setting. Once again I found the kids to be the highlights of the season, except for possibly Overall I thought it was a great improvement over the already good first season. Looking forward to more.

Plot is probably the least interesting part but since I'm such a stickler for it, is there an issue seeing Ragnarok if I didn't see the previous Thor?

Anyone remember an early episode (within the first 50) where Chris's computer made some sort of death rattle and induced a panic attack in Nick? Jake joked that pyramid head was coming out of the computer to get him.

I remember liking that in the first Mass Effect game and disliking the change in the following games. Even the narrative reason bugged me. The idea was that ammunition was tiny fragments shaved off a block of metal and fired out at extremely high velocity (using the mass effect), thus ammo was effectively infinite. In ME1 the cooldown was literally the weapon cooling down from the friction buildup and you had to wait for the heat to dissipate. This got changed in the subsequent games to requiring disposable heatsinks that functioned as ammo.

The difference is back then you thought you knew everything but you didn't know that you know nothing. Now you know that you know nothing even though you know more now then when you knew everything. You know?

I had never played a Deus Ex prior to HR but was really excited to try one out given the praise I kept hearing about the series. I ended up bouncing off HR so hard. Everything about it seemed very clunky and awkward to me. I felt similarly to cordeos about how to approach a given situation. I kept getting the impression I was making the wrong choice at any given time even though this was never technically true. I'm glad other people liked it but that game did absolutely nothing for me.

Basically this for me as well. I'm entertained by the action in the MCU as much as I am in any other generic summer action movie. Of all the MCU stuff I've seen thus far, I find Captain America to be the most interesting when it comes to fights. The close up hand to hand fights he engages in I find much more interesting, especially coupled with the use of a shield as both a defensive and offensive weapon. Lasers and lighting are cool and all but also so very generic and easily forgotten. I also like the Ant-Man and Spider-man scenes in Civil War because of the banter as well as their relatively unique fighting styles.

That Curb moment was so great I've gone back and listened to it probably a dozen times now.

The wife and kid are visiting the in-laws this weekend so I have a couple days free if anyone wants to play.

I can rename the Netflix Marvel thread if the discussion wants to branch out to all non-film stuff. It might be prudent since they're spreading their shows out in so many places (Netflix, network TV, and soon Hulu). I've seen X-Men thru First Class and I don't care for any of them. I never found any of it compelling or entertaining. First Class in particular I have issues with (they go out of their way to kill the black mutant who's mutant power is literally survival). I admit to having some interest in Logan though. I loved Deadpool. I've always been a fan of the character and to see it done so right after seeing it done horribly wrong was great. I like the main MCU movies for the most part. The Thor ones don't really do it for me and I'm not a fan of Iron Man 3 but the rest I found at least entertaining popcorn flicks. I haven't seen either Guardians movie and I really want to. I also haven't seen Spider-man yet. I echo what Tycho said in the SW Ep. 8 thread about not really getting tired of the movies, though I'm coming at it from a different angle. I'm not really a big movie person, only seeing a handful of films a year. Most of the time when I do watch something I'm only seeking a good time. I appreciate thoughtful and intelligent film but these days I just don't have the time or energy to give them the proper due and instead would rather watch something easily consumed and disposed of, which the MCU movies have done a great job of for me.

Regular kitkats are best eaten frozen. I don't know if that would work for a big kitkat. If I were to send big kitkats to the Thumbs, would they think I'm calling them assholes?

I think episode 7 was fun. It's fan servicy as shit, has a paper thin plot, and lacks any of the same excitement from the originals, but nonetheless I enjoyed watching it. I had no expectations going in so I got exactly what I wanted, which was some goofy glowing space nonsense. In a way it made me feel somewhat like I did the first time I saw A New Hope. I more or less have the same expectations for 8. If this new trilogy ends up being a remake of the original trilogy, I think I'd be ok with that.

According to my save file, it took 5:16:01 on classic mode. That includes me running around getting all the collectables which probably added an hour or so. If anyone is looking to start the game new, I actually recommend normal mode. Classic mode is "harder" but only because dying puts you back at the start of an area making you retrace your steps. Otherwise I think the two modes are the same. The game isn't particularly difficult but since it's a touch screen game I found it rather fiddly and had a lot of deaths due to misplaced taps.

I also didn't find anything about the plot surprising, but it still didn't detract from my enjoyment of the show. In another time and place (like the actual 80s) I might have been disappointed but here and now I liked it. I finished up the mobile game. It's very evocative of Link to the Past. There's an overworld with dungeons, areas that require specific equipment to access (in the form of the various characters who each have their own abilities), heart pieces, even a Zelda item jingle. It's a touch game so the control isn't great but apart from that I actually liked it. There's some season 2 teasers in there as well. Characters/places are mentioned, one of the playable characters unlocks after season 2 is released, and there's a trailer you can unlock if you collect 8 VHS tapes. For a free tie-in mobile game I was pleasantly surprised.

I finally got around to watching this, just in time for season 2. Overall I really liked it. It's surprisingly well acted, especially the kids. My main complaints are the story is a bit weak in places and the pacing seems really odd since they're trying to stretch out what is essentially a 2 hour film into 8 hour long episodes. But those are minor and easily overlooked. I appreciate the subtly in most of it. Looking forward to season 2. On a side note, I've also been playing the Stranger Things game on my phone. It's styled as an NES-type game and is probably a far better game than equivalent games based on movies of that era were.

And just for the sake of comparison, if one were to watch every episode of Star Trek (not counting the animated series, Discovery, or any of the films) then it would take 30,782 minutes or about 3 straight weeks.

Total minutes for all episodes of SG-1, Atlantis, and Universe: 15,222 (source) Total minutes for the original film, Ark of Truth, and Continuum: 321 (based on running times listed in Wikipedia) Total for everything Stargate to date (not counting the animated series): 15,543 minutes = 259.05 hours = 10.8 days There are 354 episodes in total across all three shows so if you watched one a day it would take nearly a year. If you did one a week so that you could record a rewatch podcast, then it would take 6.8 years. Seems doable.

My interest in the Orville is as a spectacle. I have no expectations of it being good. The whole thing seems like a very highly produced SNL skit rather than a proper show.