After the decades-long Macross legal dispute was finally resolved in 2021, the various installments of the iconic anime franchise could finally — and legally — be licensed outside of Japan. Most obviously, that meant official physical releases like AnimEigo’s upcoming Macross II edition.
But it also meant that streaming rights were up for grabs, which led to today’s impressive announcement that almost all of the Macross titles will begin streaming worldwide in 2024. (Here’s the official announcement via the Macross Twitter account.)
According to Anime News Network, this likely includes:
Notably missing from this line-up are the original Super Dimension Fortress Macross series from 1982 (which served as the basis for Robotech) and 1984’s Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? movie. It is cool, however, to see the Macross Zero prequel on the list, since it likely won’t receive a physical release anytime soon. (For more about the various Macross titles, check out my “Macross 101″ guide.)
Finally, one point of clarification… The announcements may say “Disney+ worldwide” but this likely means that Macross titles will actually be streaming on Hulu for American viewers and Star for everyone else (for some reason that probably only makes sense to the C-suite and their lawyers).
Snark aside, this is a really cool announcement, particularly for those of us who’ve wanted to catch up on Macross without resorting to torrents and fansubs. No actual date has been announced other than “some time in 2024.” But rest assured, as soon as any release dates are announced, I’ll include them in my streaming title previews.
]]>When I was making my first forays into the world of dark ambient music back in the late ’90s, one label essentially dominated the scene: Sweden’s Cold Meat Industry. And of all of the artists on CMI’s roster at the time, one was held up as the pre-eminent dark ambient artist: Peter Andersson’s Raison d’être.
Subsequently, Raison d’être’s Enthralled by the Wind of Loneliness was the very first dark ambient release I ever purchased. Its blend of ominous-yet-sacral atmospherics, monastic chants, and abandoned cemetery ambience set the template in my mind for what dark ambient music should sound like. That was nearly 30 years ago, and Andersson has remained quite prolific since then, releasing new Raison d’être material (e.g., 2021’s Daemonum) as well as music under additional monikers like Atomine Elektrine and Necrophorus.
Last month, Andersson marked Enthralled by the Wind of Loneliness’ 30th anniversary with a new “Sublime” edition. Spanning three discs, the edition features two versions of the album (a remastered version of the original release alongside a re-recorded and re-mixed version), demo tracks, and previously unreleased material. This follows similar releases for Raison d’être’s first two albums, 1992’s Aprés Nous Le Dèluge and 1993’s Prospectus I.
]]>Every year, I compile a list of my favorite songs from the previous twelve months, a sort of year-end mix-tape. (For instance, here’s my 2023 year-end mix.) But inevitably, some songs get left off the mix. This month’s playlist, titled “Catching Up with 2023,” highlights some of my favorite songs from 2023 that didn’t end up on my year-end mix. Regardless, they’re still great songs that I still want to promote and share with subscribers.
Accompanying the playlist is the latest episode of my“Playlist Breakdown” podcast, in which I spotlight one of the playlist’s songs and why it’s so special, interesting, and/or meaningful. This month’s episode focuses on Pure Bathing Culture’s “The Chalice,” an immaculate tune from one of my long-time favorite dream pop acts.
All of these are little bonuses for subscribers who support Opus financially. If you’d like to get access to them (and more), subscribe to Opus for just $5/month or $50/year. (You can also subscribe for free and get my weekend newsletter.)
]]>When I reviewed The Foreign Resort’s Outnumbered back in 2020, I described the Danish trio’s music as “a bracing blend of razor-sharp post-punk and chilly synth-pop that — most important of all — is supremely catchy.” In the ensuing years, the trio has released a slew of singles, covers (including one of Corey Hart’s “Sunglasses at Night”), and EPs. Their latest single, “Resound,” is more of the same — which is a very good thing in my book.
“Resound” is packed with throbbing rhythms, wiry guitar riffs, and gloomy synths galore, but would you believe that it’s actually a love song? “You changed my decay,” sings Mikkel Borbjerg Jakobsen; “Made my demons go away… Let’s take control and resound/Let’s make this our best one.” But such sentiments make sense in light of Jakobsen’s comments in a recent interview with AlterNation, where he talks about being “in a good place now, having gone through a rough time over the past couple of years.”
In the same interview, Jakobsen hints at an upcoming album to be released on or around the new year: “It will however take a little while before we are able to release the album, so we’re doing the next best thing, which is to release singles throughout 2024 and then hopefully we can present a full album on one or the other side of new year.” And if “Resound” is any indication, then The Foreign Resort’s new album will be a banger, indeed.
]]>In recent years, Poland’s Zoharum label has made a name for itself by reissuing classic ambient and experimental music, including titles from the likes of vidnaObmana, Rapoon, and Desiderii Marginis. Their latest reissue, however, is a new edition of Ambient Dreams by Germany’s Maeror Tri.
Originally released on cassette in 1990 by ZNS Tapes and then reissued by Beta-lactam Ring Records in 2007, Ambient Dreams found the enigmatic trio of Helge Siehl, Martin Gitschel, and Stefan Knappe working with natural sounds sans any electronic sources, as opposed to their usual brand of guitar-generated drones and soundscapes. (See Ultimate Time or Hypnobasia, which were previously reissued by Zoharum.)
“Voices on My Skin” is certainly abstract, bringing to mind Flying Saucer Attack or lovesliescrushing distilled to their barest essence. Are we listening to giant slabs of granite being dragged over each other? The rush of a waterfall? The hum of a distant factory? In any case, the sounds are so heavily processed that it’s really quite pointless trying to identify the original sources — which is all part of the intrigue.
The Ambient Dreams reissue will be released on April 4, 2024.
]]>Just hours before I learned of Michael Knott’s death, a friend and I had been discussing Shaded Pain, the album that Knott released in 1987 with L.S. Underground, one of the many bands that he’d fronted since the early ’80s. Upon its release, Shaded Pain caused no small amount of controversy with its gothic rock sound and Knott’s raw lyrics, which tackled doubt, spiritual abuse, mortality, and lust — all topics that are often anathema in Church circles.
Shaded Pain was a dark, turbulent album that helped establish Knott’s reputation as the ultimate outsider artist, especially for the Christian music industry. It was a reputation that proved to be more than justified over the years. Knott was certainly flawed, mercurial, and unpredictable, prone to controversy, wild antics, and releasing albums of varying quality. He was also fearless and honest, a truly talented artist who sought out signs of grace in the seamier sides of life while confronting his own personal demons, including his long struggle with alcoholism.
A quick perusal of Knott’s Discogs profile reveals the sheer breadth and depth of the man’s work and influence. There are the numerous albums released under the various Lifesavers/L.S. Underground/L.S.U. monikers, including The Grape Prophet (a concept album inspired by the true story of a self-styled prophet taking over Knott’s Bible study), This Is the Healing, Cash In Chaos World Tour, and of course, Shaded Pain.
Knott released several solo albums (e.g., Screaming Brittle Siren, Rocket and a Bomb, Strip Cycle), performed in a couple of supergroups (Cush and Aunt Bettys), and collaborated with a veritable who’s who of indie/alternative Christian artists, including Terry Taylor, Gene Eugene, Brian Healy, The Choir’s Derri Daugherty and Steve Hindalong, and Starflyer 59. Whatever the project or album, though, Knott’s voice — which was equal parts rasp and croon but also capable of haunted wails and tortured screams — was unmistakeable, as were his incisive lyrics.
And if that weren’t enough, Knott was also the driving force behind Blonde Vinyl Records, one of the very first Christian indie labels. Although it only lasted a few years in the late ’80s and early ’90s — Knott was forced to shut down after his distributor went bankrupt in 1993 — Blonde Vinyl released a truly impressive slew of recordings from the likes of Breakfast With Amy, Dance House Children, Dead Artist Syndrome, Deitiphobia, Fluffy, Steve Scott, and Writ on Water, to name a few.
Despite its short lifespan, Blonde Vinyl’s diverse catalog remains unrivaled in the annals of indie-dom and paved the way for other labels like Tooth & Nail Records and Velvet Blue Music. (Ronnie Martin, who released several albums with his brother Jason as Dance House Children, posted some really beautiful Blonde Vinyl-related memories on Instagram.)
Reading through the many tributes that have appeared on social media, one thing becomes clear. For all of its darkness and eccentricity — or more likely, because of those things — Michael Knott’s music helped people. His willingness to explore the darker sides of life and faith while being transparent with his own flaws and struggles was both an inspiration and comfort to many who often found themselves at odds with the conservative evangelical Christian subculture. As one person wrote on Facebook:
I never knew you personally and, aside from the occasional mutual online conversation, we never spoke. But I knew your art. Your music. You wore your struggles out in public and so I knew those, too.
There were too many days to count, through high school, through college, and into adulthood, in which your music kept me sane. Kept me filled with hope. Reminded me that Grace and Mercy and Love were still in the world and still worthwhile.
That’s a sentiment undoubtedly shared by many, myself included.
If you’re unfamiliar with the world of indie/alternative Christian music, then the name Michael Gerard Knott probably doesn’t mean all that much to you. If you ever delved into that world, however, then you know his death leaves behind both a massive artistic void that can never be filled and a truly unparalleled body of work that speaks deeply to anyone who’s ever felt like an outsider themselves.
Update (Mar 14): Lars Gotrich has written an excellent obituary for NPR and a GoFundMe campaign has been launched to cover funeral expenses. Finally, members of The Prayer Chain and others have planned a tribute to Knott on April 6 which will hopefully be streamed for those of us unable to travel to Costa Mesa, California.
]]>Although the pandemic proper might be over, Bandcamp is continuing their program throughout 2024:
We’re happy to announce five more Bandcamp Fridays in 2024. The next Bandcamp Friday is April 5, 2024, followed by our 40th Bandcamp Friday on May 3. After that, Bandcamp Fridays will continue on September 6, October 4, and December 6.
Always remember: Streaming may be more convenient but actually buying their music (and maybe even some merch) remains the very best way to support your favorite musicians.
]]>Back in 2001, director Tetsuro Takeuchi teamed up with Japanese garage rock legends Guitar Wolf to make Wild Zero, a low-budget horror movie for which the term “over the top” is an understatement. Filled with zombies, gore, UFOs, guitar katanas, and, of course, rock ‘n’ roll, Wild Zero feels like an attempt to create the ultimate cult movie, for better or worse. Or, as I wrote in my review:
Tetsuro Takeuchi [culls] elements from zombie movies (Night of the Living Dead), 50s B-grade sci-fi movies (Plan 9 from Outer Space), and rock n’ roll movies (Rock N’ Roll High Forever). And it might be that his little formula worked a little too well for the film’s own good. In the end, Wild Zero is filled with lots of ambition, excess, and energy that gets a little ahead of itself at times.
Jump ahead to 2024, and apparently, the world — and rock ‘n’ roll — still need saving, because Takeuchi and Guitar Wolf have returned with a Kickstarter campaign for Wild Zero 2: The Strongest Blood of Humanity. And get a load of the sequel’s premise:
In a world where chaos reigns supreme, the last rocker on Earth, Guitar Wolf, finds himself frozen by the hands of evil during a live performance. Subsequently, Earth faces three major catastrophes: nuclear warfare, the clash between AI and humanity, and a catastrophic meteorite impact, leading to the loss of much of civilization. The world devolves into a dystopian landscape, overrun by UFOs and swarming with zombies.
Fast forward a century into the future, where society has lost both rock ‘n’ roll and civilization. A young girl, descendant of the Wolf Ninjas, finds herself hunted by a tyrant who covets her immortal blood, a gift inherited from her ancestors. Desperate, she resurrects Guitar Wolf from his frozen slumber by blowing the dog whistle passed down from her mother, connecting them as fellow members of the Wolf clan.
Can Guitar Wolf’s blade, concealed within his guitar and fueled by love and belief, save the girl from the clutches of greedy adults? Will humanity reclaim a world where love and rock ‘n’ roll once again echo? As the strings of destiny are strummed, the stage is set for a showdown where the power of music and the spirit of rebellion may be humanity’s last hope.
I don’t know about you, but that’s precisely the sort of crazy stuff I’d expect from a Wild Zero sequel. And to make it all a reality, the Wild Zero 2 Kickstarter campaign is seeking to raise nearly $400,000. Tier rewards include advance access to the film when it’s done, a copy of the script including manga by Guitar Wolf bassist Bass Wolf, and even executive producer credits.
Wild Zero 2’s filmmakers are also making it possible for backers to appear in the film by submitting photos of their faces and bodies. These photos will be used to create digital zombies, which will no doubt be slain in suitably gory fashion, maybe even by Guitar Wolf’s guitar katana. (Given the concerns over how such imagery can be used to create AI actors in perpetuity, I hope the filmmakers will clarify the extent to which these photos will be used.)
No dates for Wild Zero 2’s production or release have been announced but the Kickstarter campaign runs until May 8, 2024. In the meantime, since you can never have too much Guitar Wolf in your life, here’s a blistering performance that the leather-clad trio recorded for PBS last April. The band has also announced a short North American tour in May and June.
Nearly five years have passed since Alcest’s last album, 2019’s Spiritual Instinct. Like many others, the French artist — widely considered the godfather of “blackgaze” — found himself challenged by the COVID pandemic. In a recent interview with Kerrang, Alcest’s Neige talks about experiencing a dearth of musical ideas (“I think I spent a whole year without finding one riff”), and instead, spending time reconnecting with loved ones.
Jump ahead to the present, and Alcest is poised to release a new album titled Les Chants de l’Aurore (trans. The Songs of Dawn), an album that’s markedly brighter and more uplifting. As Neige puts it:
[A]fter having done two albums that were quite inspired by the darkness of the times we live in, I saw that — especially in these dark times — to make an album that has a lot of harmony and beauty and positivity could really stick out. I thought maybe people would really enjoy it, because it feels almost like a healing.
More:
I think this album will have a little bit of this effect again, because a lot of the music I hear these days is very dark. A lot of people are actually inspired by our reality now, which I completely understand, but we decided to go the complete opposite way. We wanted people to feel some serenity and some love, and to bring them to a more beautiful place.
The album’s first single, “L’Envol,” is certainly in-line with that. It has fiery riffs and pummeling rhythms a-plenty, but also lots of shoegaze-y ambience and Neige’s clean vocals, and ends with an extended ambient denouement. At times, I’m reminded of Denmark’s Mew, another band that flouts the lines of metal in an idiosyncratic way — which is a good thing.
Les Chants de l’Aurore will be released on June 21, 2024 by Nuclear Blast Records.
]]>Few folks in cinema have had as strange a career arc as Takashi Miike. After making his name with such infamous films as Audition, Ichi the Killer, and Visitor Q — films well-known for their graphic violence, sexual content, and copious amounts of bodily fluids — Miike expanded his filmography to include arthouse titles (The Bird People in China), samurai fare (13 Assassins, Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai), superheroes (the Zebraman films), westerns (Sukiyaki Western Django), and even some family-friendly movies (Ninja Kids!!!, The Great Yokai War).
I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise, then, that the cult director recently teamed up with Apple, as reported by The Verge. Shot entirely on Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro, Miike’s latest is a live-action short based on Midnight, a 1987 manga by the legendary Osamu Tezuka. Compared to the likes of Astro Boy, Black Jack, Kimba the White Lion, and Phoenix, Midnight may be one of Tezuka’s lesser known titles, and follows the late night adventures of the titular taxi driver.
In Miike’s iPhone-shot Midnight, the enigmatic driver — who happens to be psychic and drives a souped up cab — helps a young woman being chased by gangsters who want her family’s trucking route. Midnight contains flashes of Miike’s trademark absurdism (e.g., the teddy bear-wielding hitman) as well as a glimpse into Japan’s “Dekotora” subculture, in which trucks are covered in neon lighting, murals, and other flashy decoration.
For a film shot on a smartphone, Midnight looks pretty great. You’d never guess it was shot on a mobile device given its colorful cinematography and stylized visuals, which even includes some drone footage for good measure. It’s certainly an impressive technical showcase for the iPhone as well as a fun little short from one of cinema’s most maverick filmmakers.
]]>Contrasting that, DRY programming states that “every piece of knowledge must have a single, unambiguous, authoritative representation within a system.” Of course, that’s easier said than done in the real world, especially when working on larger systems and applications. If you’ve written any amount of CSS over a period of time, then you’ve undoubtedly ended up with the same styles popping up time and again in your stylesheet.
I write these declarations time and again when I need to center elements, such as links in a menu:
display: flex;
justify-content: center;
align-items: center;
Or if I want to reset list styles, then I’ll often write this:
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
list-style: none;
In any case, the result is a lot of duplicate code floating around in my site’s stylesheet. There are several ways to address this, though. I can create helper classes for the above declarations, with names like .flex-center
and .list0
, and just add them to the relevant HTML elements. I can rewrite and optimize my CSS to abstract any duplicate styles. I can use a framework like Tailwind, and write HTML like this:
<div class="flex justify-center items-center></div>
<ul class="m-0 p-0 list-none"></ul>
I can even use a combination of all three. And if I’m using a tool like Sass to manage and compile my CSS, then I have a couple more options, specifically the @mixin
and @extend
rules. There are some subtle differences between how these two rules work, and each has their pros and cons, but essentially, they let you reuse the same bits of CSS throughout your stylesheet.
While these approaches can help you avoid the complexity of duplicate code, they unfortunately introduce other complexities. For instance, using helper classes and/or Tailwind can result in messy, complicated HTML. Meanwhile, using Sass means adding another tool to your workflow or build process that needs managing. Plus, the DRY-ness might only apply to your Sass code; the actual compiled CSS could be just as repetitive as it’d be sans Sass.
It sure would be nice, then, if CSS had its own native solution for this. The good news is that one might be on the way.
Once the sole domain of tools like Sass, features like custom properties and nested styles have made CSS more robust and efficient. And now there’s the possibility of CSS supporting native mixins.
To be clear, CSS mixins are still very much in the conceptual phase, with lots of debate and discussion surrounding them. It could be awhile (i.e., years) before browsers actually support them. Still, we can consider the possibilities right now — and they’re pretty exciting.
The aforelinked article by Miriam Suzanne goes into super-exhaustive detail about native CSS mixins. But here’s a simple example of what a CSS mixin could look like, using one of my earlier examples of non-DRY code:
@mixin --flex-center {
display: flex;
justify-content: center;
align-items: center;
}
.menu {
@apply --flex-center;
}
The beauty of this approach is that everything is done within CSS in a clear manner. I don’t need to sprinkle helper classes throughout my HTML, thus complicating my markup and blurring the lines between content and presentation, nor do I need to unnecessarily abstract my CSS or use a separate tool. Instead, I declare the --flex-center
mixin, add the relevant declarations, and use the @apply
rule to apply it to any selectors as needed.
CSS mixins could also include parameters for more customizable results. Consider this mixin for handling button styles, which can be very repetitive, especially in a large CSS framework:
@mixin --button-styles(
--color-background,
--color-hover,
--color-active,
--color-focus,
--color-text
) {
display: inline-flex;
border-radius: 4px;
background-color: var(--color-background);
font-family: sans-serif;
color: var(--color-text);
&:hover {
background-color: var(--color-hover);
}
&:active {
background-color: var(--color-active);
}
&:focus {
background-color: var(--color-focus);
}
}
.btn-a {
@apply --button-styles(red, blue, purple, green, white);
}
.btn-b {
@apply --button-styles(yellow, pink, orange, brown, black);
}
The above CSS would be equivalent to this “normal” CSS:
.btn-a {
display: inline-flex;
border-radius: 4px;
background-color: red;
font-family: sans-serif;
color: white;
}
.btn-a:hover { background-color: blue; }
.btn-a:active { background-color: purple; }
.btn-a:focus { background-color: green; }
.btn-b {
display: inline-flex;
border-radius: 4px;
background-color: yellow;
font-family: sans-serif;
color: black;
}
.btn-b:hover { background-color: pink; }
.btn-b:active { background-color: orange; }
.btn-b:focus { background-color: brown; }
By moving duplicate declarations, like border-radius
and font-family
, into the --button-styles
mixin, I can make my CSS DRY-er and more consolidated. This also means that if I want to make a global change to my buttons, like adding a transition
for the background color, I can simply add it to the mixin and voila: all of my buttons now have it.
Using the above parameterized approach, I can expand the functionality of my earlier --flex-center
mixin by making it more generic and flexible:
@mixin --flex-item(
--justify-content,
--align-items
) {
display: flex;
justify-content: var(--justify-content);
align-items: var(--align-items);
}
.foo {
@apply --flex-item(center, center);
}
.bar {
@apply --flex-item(space-between, end);
}
The above CSS would be equivalent to this “normal” CSS:
.foo {
display: flex;
justify-content: center;
align-items: center;
}
.bar {
display: flex;
justify-content: space-between;
align-items: end;
}
Finally, Suzanne even makes the case for CSS mixins having conditional logic using the proposed @when
and @else
rules:
@mixin --card-styles(
--color-background
) {
background-color: var(--color-background);
@when arg(--color-background: black) {
color: white;
} @else {
color: black;
}
}
.card-a {
@apply --button-styles(white);
}
.card-b {
@apply --button-styles(black);
}
The above CSS would be equivalent to this “normal” CSS:
.card-a {
background-color: white;
color: black;
}
.card-b {
background-color: black;
color: white;
}
This is a really simple example, but it’s easy to see how this technique could be used for elements like buttons and form inputs, which often have lots of contingent styles.
Using a mixin with parameters and conditional statements, you could set different styles based solely on whether a button’s style is “outline” or its shape is “pill” (sample code). Or for an <input>
element, you could set different heights, padding values, and font sizes based on whether its size is “large,” “normal,” “small,” etc.
Currently, you’d probably create different classes for each of those variations, like .button-outline
, .button-pill
, .input-large
, and .input-small
, and apply them to the HTML elements that you want to style accordingly. In theory, however, mixins would allow most, if not all, of that to be handled entirely within your site’s stylesheet.
As cool as CSS mixins would be, there’ll certainly be the temptation to use them in unnecessary ways. That is, to write mixins that might be technically OK but don’t actually improve your CSS at all. Consider this example:
@mixin --text-bold {
font-weight: 700;
}
.text {
@apply --text-bold;
}
Syntactically, there’s nothing wrong with this mixin. But it doesn’t really make sense or add any benefit if all you want to do is bold some text.
For starters, if bolding the text is intended to emphasize it somehow, then that’s what the <strong>
tag is for. (Hint: Always make your HTML as semantically rich as possible.) Otherwise, you’re better off just adding font-weight: 700;
to your selectors. Writing single-purpose “atomic” mixins really just defeats the purpose of mixins in the first place.
The above examples are really just the tip of the iceberg. If they’ve piqued your curiosity, then I strongly recommend reading Suzanne’s original post for more detail on CSS mixins as well as native custom functions.
It might be awhile before we can actually use native CSS mixins. Even so, I still find it heartening that the feature’s even being considered. If nothing else, it’s proof that CSS is far from done. As was the case with custom properties, nesting, container queries, grid, and flexbox (to name a few), it’s great to see CSS continue to advance in ways that enable us web developers to work more efficiently and build even better websites.
]]>I was introduced to Steve Scott’s spoken word poetry when a youth group friend lent me her cassette copy of 1992’s The Butterfly Effect, which would become deeply influential and even a source of comfort during my tumultuous senior year. After a series of albums in the ’90s, including 1994’s We Dreamed That We Were Strangers and 1998’s Crossing the Boundaries, Scott took an extended hiatus before returning in 2017 with Cross My Heat.
His latest album, 2023’s The Way of the Sevenfold Secret, takes its title from a 1926 booklet written by British missionary Lilias Trotter to explain Christianity to Sufi mystics. The album’s four tracks feature Scott’s own form of mystical imagery intoned over haunting ambient soundscapes and field recordings. However, “Sixty-Five Roses (for Dylan Mortimer)” is inspired by something more personal: the death of a friend.
In his lightly accented voice, Scott speaks of a star-filled river flowing across the land, of all tangled things being loosened and all broken things remade. It’s a lovely poem, one that — despite the evenness of Scott’s voice — is filled with an emotional yearning for reunion and restoration.
The Way of the Sevenfold Secret is currently available on Harding Street Assembly Lab, which also released Cross My Heat.
]]>In order to better track my various cultural experiences (e.g., movies, TV shows, books, restaurants), I’ve created the Cultural Diet. Think of it as my own personal Goodreads, Letterboxd, and Yelp, all rolled into one (more info here). Every month, I recap everything that I watched, read, etc., in the previous month.
2/28: Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Quite a few years have passed since my last viewing of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, so when my daughter suggested it for our movie date night, I naturally agreed. It’s still a classic in every way, thanks to the delightful songs, Charlie Bucket’s wide-eyed sense of wonder, and of course, Gene Wilder’s perfect performance as the titular Wonka. This time around, though, I was struck by the movie’s inherently tragic nature as it depicts a child’s final moments of innocence before he becomes the ward of the world’s greatest candy maker, yes, but also a madman. (In my headcanon, the tunnel boat ride is actually a journey through the dark side of Wonka’s mind, a manifestation of all of the repressed darkness that makes his confectionary genius possible.) The film’s most chilling line comes at the very end when Wonka reveals that he picked a child to take over his candy empire because “a grown up would want to do everything his own way, not mine.” So now, poor sweet, innocent Charlie is doomed to hear all of Wonka’s “most precious candy making secrets,” thus ensuring that the cycle of madness will continue. So yeah, a classic film in every way.
★★★★½
2/26: A Quantum Love Story by Mike Chen
As with Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, I can absolutely understand why people might love this novel. It’s got an intriguing premise (two people try to figure out how to escape a bizarre time loop), a pair of very likable protagonists, a hint of romance (as per the title), and some fun pseudo-science involving quantum physics and temporal paradoxes. I also enjoyed the novel’s overall bright tone, which feels very solarpunk-adjacent à la Becky Chambers’ Monk & Robot novellas. Alas, though I enjoyed A Quantum Love Story, I wish I had loved it more than I did. It felt like two different novels smashed together, especially once the time travel hijinks began in earnest. The actual romance felt very one-sided, which made it hard to fully buy into it. Finally, I understand why Chen glossed over some of time travel’s ethical conundrums, which would’ve bogged down his novel’s breezy story. Even so, the handwaving was occasionally irksome.
★★★½
2/23: Winners & Sinners
Although Jackie Chan pops up throughout the film as a bumbling cop whose zeal for justice (and roller skating) always results in hilarious havoc, Winners & Sinners is primarily a showcase for Sammo Hung (who also directed), Richard Ng, John Shum, and the rest of the Lucky Stars crew. The fellas play a group of former criminals trying to stay on the straight and narrow by starting a cleaning company, only to get mixed up in a gangster’s counterfeiting operation. The film’s broad, juvenile comedy and episodic nature wears a bit thin at times (e.g., the scene where Richard Ng’s character believes he’s invisible, with predictable results), but it’s so good-natured that you can’t really hold a grudge against it. Several scenes elicited hearty chuckles and though it’s primarily a comedy, Winners & Sinners also boasts some pretty impressive — and amusing — action and stunts. Watching a big dude like Sammo Hung throw hands (or his belly, as the case may be) is never not entertaining.
★★★½
2/18: Onibi by Atelier Sentô
Earlier this month, I read — and thoroughly enjoyed — Atelier Sentô’s Festival of Shadows, which inspired me to track down this earlier work of theirs. Onibi follows a couple of Europeans as they travel to remote corners of Japan in search of yōkai spirits, which they hope to capture with the help of a supposedly magical camera. I didn’t enjoy Onibi as much as Festival of Shadows, but it’s still a delightful work that very much reads like a love letter to Japan and some of its more colorful inhabitants. As such, it made me want to return to Japan and explore some of those same remote corners, as well.
★★★½
2/14: The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan
For better or worse, most fantasy is fairly British in nature. (Blame it on Tolkien.) What initially interested me in The Justice of Kings was that its fantasy seemed more Germanic in nature, if only in the names of people and places. But what’s most noteworthy about the novel is that, although it has some of the usual fantasy trappings (e.g., magic), it’s actually a detective story crossed with a healthy dose of legal drama. (Author Richard Swan is a lawyer in real life, which adds to the verisimilitude.) It’s well-written and engaging, particularly since it’s narrated by a young woman who serves as a scribe for an imperial agent tasked with investigating rumored cult activities, which eventually reveal a far bigger conspiracy that threatens the whole empire. The Justice of Kings is the first in a trilogy — does anyone publish one-off genre novels any more? — and though I enjoyed it, I’m not sure I enjoyed it enough to make me rush out and read the remaining books.
★★★½
2/12: Triple Threat
Given that it stars a veritable “Who’s Who” of modern action stars — e.g., Tony Jaa, Tiger Chen, Iko Uwais, Scott Adkins, Michael Jai White — it should go without saying that Jesse V. Johnson’s Triple Threat boasts some pretty impressive fights. I pressed “Rewind” on several occasions so that I could watch certain bad-ass moves again, particularly from Chen and Adkins, and I winced more than once at scenes of particularly brutal carnage. As an added bonus, Triple Threat possesses a certain gritty, DIY feel that adds to its intensity. I just wish the storyline had been a wee bit stronger. It’s promising at points, with a pair of mercenaries on the run from some other mercenaries while protecting a Chinese heiress, but got muddled whenever it tried to inject some humor or backstory into the proceedings.
★★★½
2/10: Festival of Shadows by Atelier Sentô
Every year, residents in a remote Japanese village are tasked with helping the recently deceased come to terms with their death and move on to the afterlife. It’s a fraught and difficult job, and it becomes all the more so for Naoko — who’s already questioning her rural existence — when she develops feelings for her latest charge. At first blush, Festival of Shadows feels like a typical “girl meets ghost” paranormal romance, but it develops some intriguing twists as Naoko makes some startling discoveries about her charge — and herself. Atelier Sentô — the creative duo of Cecile Brun and Olivier Pichard — have conjured up a delightful ghost story characterized by painterly artwork and wonderfully detailed illustrations. I look forward to their next title.
★★★★
2/10: The Mysteries by Bill Watterson and John Kascht
I daresay that the vast majority of those who read The Mysteries, myself included, will do so because it was written by Bill Watterson, of Calvin and Hobbes fame. Indeed, if it were written by anyone else, this slight fantasy fable would probably fly under the radar. That’s not to say that it’s bad, just that it’s a very far cry from Calvin and Hobbes… sort of. If one were inclined, one could draw some parallels with those strips where Calvin and/or Hobbes critiqued modern society’s dismissal of wonder and imagination — themes that are very present in The Mysteries’ seventy pages or so. As for the artwork, which Watterson created in collaboration with caricaturist John Kascht, it’s an interesting and darkly beautiful blend of paintings, models, collage work, and whatnot that has a very tangible and physical quality to it.
★★★½
2/9: The Marvels
To its credit, The Marvels felt like director Nia DaCosta was trying to do something different with the MCU formula. Much of that’s due to the inclusion of young Kamala Khan, aka, Ms. Marvel, who was a delight in her own series back in 2022. Khan brought some much-needed levity to the movie, which had me laughing out loud on several occasions. But at the end of the day, The Marvels is still an MCU title, which means that it’s still plagued by the franchise’s apparent lack of direction. As with most recent MCU titles, I can’t shake the feeling that the movie’s events don’t actually mean anything or are leading up to anything meaningful. And the obligatory mid-credits scene only adds to the sense that at this point, Kevin Feige et al. are just throwing random ideas at the wall to see what, if anything, sticks.
★★★
2/9: East of West by Jonathan Hickman and Nick Dragotta
The American Civil War raged on for nearly fifty years, leading to a divided nation that lives under the shadow of a terrible prophecy. Meanwhile, three of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse have returned and now wander the wartorn land, searching for Death in order to kill him and raise his son as the Beast of the Apocalypse, which is set to happen any day now. With that as a premise, it’s safe to say that East of West is far from upbeat. Jonathan Hickman (Secret Wars, House of X, Fantastic Four) spins an elaborate apocalyptic tale filled with corrupt leaders and politicans jockeying for power, no matter the cost, and Nick Dragotta’s (Fantastic Four, X-Men, The Amazing Spider-Man) detailed artwork is suitably vivid and bloody. As a work of world building, East of West is impressive, but like The Fellspyre Chronicles, the unrelenting grim-ness is just that: unrelenting. So much so that the ending feels a bit perfunctory and hollow.
★★★
2/8: Big Trouble in Little China
John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China never fails to put a huge smile on my face, starting with Kurt Russell’s iconic performance as trucker Jack Burton, who finds himself in over his head while battling sorcerers, monsters, and kung fu masters straight out of Chinese myth and legend. I love how the movie is an obvious homage to kung fu and wuxia movies, and even stars a couple of martial arts movie legends like Carter Wong and Jeff Imada. I love how it plays with an Americanized (i.e., overly exoticized) version of Chinese culture even as it subverts that by making Russell’s swaggering, tough-talking, John Wayne-esque hero perpetually confused and out of his depth. (As Carpenter put it in his DVD commentary, Burton is a sidekick who thinks he’s the main character.) I love James Hong and Victor Wong’s performances as Lo Pan and Egg Shen, respectively. Basically, I love everything about this movie, from its beginning to its surprisingly bittersweet ending. May the wings of liberty never lose a feather, indeed.
★★★★★
2/8: Megazone 23: Part Two
Set six months after the events of Megazone 23: Part One — which ends on a cliffhanger — Part Two feels like it’s from a different franchise altogether. Much of that’s due to Yasuomi Umetsu taking over as character designer; as a result, Shogo Yahagi and the other characters are nigh-unrecognizable from their Part One versions. And though the same studios were involved in the production of both parts, Part Two’s animation and artwork are just so different, not to mention wildly inconsistent. Sometimes Part Two looks fantastic, particularly the mecha and vehicle designs, but much of the time, it’s a mess filled with some glaring continuity errors. (I did enjoy the SilverHawks reference, though.) As for the actual storyline, it’s tacitly connected to the events of Part One even as it feels completely separate and chaotic, as well as far more graphic, sex and violence-wise. (It’s also hard to take Yahagi seriously as a hero given that he has a mullet and wears a “Sex Wax” jacket for much of the movie.) There does happen to be a Megazone 23: Part Three, but based on what I’ve seen and read about it, I have little desire to actually watch it.
★★
2/8: Megazone 23: Part One
Noboru Ishiguro’s Megazone 23 is one of those anime titles that I’ve always heard about but had never actually seen, a long-time classic that was used to create aspects of the American Robotech franchise. A massive hit upon its release in 1985, Megazone 23 is certainly dated. Nevertheless, I found its storyline pretty ambitious. After young Shogo Yahagi chances upon an advanced motorcycle, he lands squarely in the military’s crosshairs and inadvertently makes an earth-shattering discovery that completely changes his understanding of the world around him. Megazone 23 suffers from some wild tonal shifts, shifting between goofy fan service and shocking violence with nary a pause, and it occasionally glosses over the ramifications of Yahagi’s discovery for goofy shenanigans. But it also possesses an anti-authoritarian, cyberpunk-influenced spirit that feels rather refreshing compared to a lot of modern anime, as does the hand-drawn animation, flaws and inconsistencies notwithstanding.
★★★
2/7: Reservation Dogs, Season Three
On the one hand, Reservation Dogs’ third and final season felt more directionless and less cohesive than its first two, with episodes meandering around the reservation and focusing on a wider array of characters, both in the present and the past. Which sometimes made for a frustrating experience, particularly when compared to the previous seasons’ more defined arcs. On the other hand, I just love spending time with every single one of these characters: the titular foursome, their aunties, uncles, and grandparents, and even the various spirits who interact with them all and offer (occasionally) helpful advice. Furthermore, Reservation Dogs’ focus on the necessity of maintaining and respecting one’s community, exploration of life’s cyclical nature, and depiction of the “thinness” between the physical and spiritual worlds have given me much to think — and laugh — about. A truly special and unique series.
★★★½
2/7: The Killer
On paper, watching a nameless hitman methodically clean up all of the loose ends after a hit goes sideways sounds like a pretty boring way to spend two hours. And it is… until it’s not. Those expecting the sort of stylized wall-to-wall action that’s usually associated with “hitman” movies will likely be disappointed here. But kudos to director David Fincher and star Michael Fassbender for creating a film that becomes increasingly engrossing as the titular assassin goes about his bloody business with cool detachment, determination, and inspirational aphorisms like “Anticipate, don’t improvise” and “Fight only the battle you’re paid to fight.” (All delivered via internal monologue, natch.) At times, it almost feels like a heist film as you try and figure out how he’s going to overcome each new dilemma. It doesn’t hurt that The Killer has some occasional flashes of dark humor, such as the hitman’s reliance on Amazon and the gig economy to do his job. A lesser director might try and beat audiences over the head with that as social commentary — as in: modern society requires us to live like an amoral, yoga-practicing, Smiths-loving hitman in order to survive — but thankfully, Fincher avoids that pitfall.
★★★½
2/7: Enter the Ninja
Along with Chuck Norris’ The Octagon, Enter the Ninja kicked off the “ninja craze” that swept through American pop culture in the early-to-mid ’80s. Franco Nero (of Django fame, and dubbed here because of his thick Italian accent) plays a former mercenary-turned-ninja who travels to the Philippines to visit an old war buddy — and soon finds himself squaring off against thugs, greedy tycoons, and even a former fellow ninjutsu trainee. Make no mistake, Enter the Ninja is not a good film if evaluated objectively. (For starters, I’m pretty sure I could be way more stealthy just sitting on my couch than the assassins depicted here.) But when watched through the goggles of nostalgia — and specifically, the nostalgia of what it was like to be a ninja-obsessed grade schooler — it’s still not a good film. But it is fun to watch, if only because it offers you the opportunity to visit the exotic and strange alternate reality that exists only in ’80s ninja flicks.
★★★
2/6: Kong: Skull Island
Shamelessly aping (npi) Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now for a monster movie might be a little on the nose, but in the case of Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ Kong: Skull Island, it turns to be a pretty decent idea. And when you throw in some impressive-looking visuals, lots of intense (read: gory) monster brawls, and best of all, some delightful John C. Reilly kookiness, then you have a movie that’s way more than the sum of its parts. In other words, Kong: Skull Island possesses a sense of fun and zaniness — be it Reilly’s unhinged performance, Samuel L. Jackson’s scenery-chewing, or the elaborate monster designs — that’s sorely lacking from the rest of Legendary Pictures’ MonsterVerse titles.
★★★½
2/6: This Was Our Pact by Ryan Andrews
I’m not exactly sure how I learned about This Was Our Pact, but I’m glad I did. Written and illustrated by Ryan Andrews, it’s a delightful tale of friendship and fantasy as a group of kids go on a night-time bike ride through an increasingly strange countryside — a ride that will change some of them forever. There are some moments in This Was Our Pact — specifically, the friends’ encounters with a talking bear in search of his family’s fishing hole and a kooky witch named Madam Majestic — that feel like something out of a Miyazaki film. Which is just about the highest praise I can give. Andrews’ artwork, which is predominantly cast in shades of blue, as befitting his nocturnally set tale, are beautiful and evocative, and lead up to a final scene that perfectly encapsulates the sense of fun, wonder, and adventure that ought to define childhood friendships.
★★★★
2/6: The Assassin
It threw me for a loop back in 2015 when Hou Hsiao-hsien, who is now retired, announced that he was making a wuxia film, and I doubt I was alone in that. But this is Hou Hsiao-hsien we’re talking about, so The Assassin isn’t exactly Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero, or House of Flying Daggers — for better or worse. Like those films, The Assassin is absolutely gorgeous, from the rich costumes and production design to the unbelievable Chinese landscapes and scenery. But the storyline — a skilled assassin must prove her loyalty by killing the man to whom she’d one been betrothed — is more of a mixed bag. Hou is extremely fond of “pillow moments” (to use Roger Ebert’s term) and pregnant silences. Which means that The Assassin’s story is often as obtuse as it is engaging, if not more so. Sometimes this stylistic choice works and draws you into the film and the characters’ inner lives and sometimes, it’s just frustrating, particularly when political conspiracies emerge and immediately feel anticlimactic.
★★★½
2/3: The Beekeeper
I should’ve known we were in for a rough time when Jason Statham’s bad-ass one-liner to a villain was about estate planning, but at that moment, I still thought The Beekeeper would be one of those “so bad it’s good” films. But no, it’s just bad. Like mind-numbingly, eye-rollingly bad. Like “How many people starred in this because they needed to pay their mortgage?” bad. There is, of course, the awful dialog, which requires the likes of Jeremy Irons and Minnie Driver to slum it. But there’s also the grim tone that’s not really grim but rather, desperately wants you to think it’s grim and a storyline that requires characters to suddenly know things they couldn’t possibly know in order to keep things moving towards a hollow conclusion. I have a pretty low bar for Jason Statham movies: I just want to see him punch cartoonishly bad guys in the faces and look cool while doing so. I gave The Beekeeper an extra half-star because the bad guys being punched are slimy tech bros but still, it makes you long for the cinematic brilliance of the second Transporter movie.
★½
2/2: The Equalizer 2
The first Equalizer movie only worked as well as it did because of Denzel Washington. In the case of The Equalizer 2, though, not even he’s enough to save it. Washington is still the same ol’ former government agent/assassin who now helps people in need, mainly by inflicting grievous bodily harm on thugs and abusers. But this time, after a close friend is killed in an apparent robbery, it’s personal. But there are also storylines about a Holocaust survivor and a young kid who needs saving from gangs, so it gets a bit muddled and directionless before culminating in an over-long showdown in the middle of a hurricane. But because you know that Washington’s character isn’t really in any danger of getting killed or even seriously injured — which, by the way, was actually a plus in the previous film — and the bad guys will make stupid mistakes despite supposedly being highly trained government operatives, it just grows increasingly tedious by the minute as you wait for the foregone conclusion of an ending.
★★
2/2: Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace
If I were to describe Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace as a Hammer horror parody set in a cursed hospital where Dr. Rick Dagless, M.D. must battle occult forces, I’d only be telling you half the story. Because it’s also a show-within-a-show about noted horror author (or “dreamweaver,” as he prefers) Garth Marenghi (played by Matthew Holness), who finally has a chance to unleash his show — aka, the most significant televisual event since Quantum Leap — on the unsuspecting public. Filled with hammy acting, stilted dialog, gloriously ’80s hairstyles, and special effects that make classic Doctor Who episodes look positively cutting edge, Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace is the Platonic ideal of a cult classic, the kind of show you either get completely or hate absolutely. I fall into the first category. Be it Marenghi’s arrogant assessment of his writing skills, Richard Ayoade and Matt Berry’s performances, or the outlandish storylines involving psychic doctors, eyeball children, and alien broccoli, all six episodes had me consistently cracking up.
★★★★
Like so many other dark ambient titles, Empty World’s cover artwork — which depicts an old industrial town nestled deep in some forgotten valley enveloped by thick, impenetrable mist — proves an apt visual metaphor for the music contained therein. But whereas many of his dark ambient peers envision eldritch horrors, abyssal gloom, and slaughterhouse nightmares with their ominous soundscapes, Zaplatkin Fedor Pavlovich — aka The Void Wanderer — opts for a more subdued and elegiac approach that proves just as affecting, if not more so.
This becomes immediately apparent within the first seconds of “In My Restless Dreams,” which opens Empty World with slowly unfurling clouds of drones and pure sonic drift that recall Poemme’s Soft Ice (one of my favorite ambient albums of all time). On any other dark ambient album, songs with titles like “The Fog Here Will Never Disappear” and “Road to Nowhere” would undoubtedly evoke existential dread and/or the sense of helplessness that comes with being trapped in a decaying town beset by otherworldly horrors lurking in the mist. But instead, Pavlovich’s atmopherics evoke a sense of mystery and wonder.
Listening to these seven songs reminds me of those rare mornings when I wake up to my city wreathed in dense fog. No doubt some of my fellow citizens find such mornings bleak and gloomy. But for me, it feels like my city has been transformed. Once familiar streets become uncharted routes and the neighborhoods that I’ve walked through countless times are now unfamiliar terrain. While my rational brain knows what actually lies beneath the mist, my imagination sees an alien territory that I yearn to explore.
I feel that same yearning deep down inside every time I listen to Empty World, which means that The Void Wanderer has already released one of my favorite ambient albums of 2024. And with it, Oregon’s Cryo Chamber continues to maintain their status as one of today’s pre-eminent dark ambient labels
]]>As Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, et al. add more content, it can be difficult to know what to look for amidst all of the new titles. Every month, I compile a list of particularly noteworthy and interesting movies and TV shows to add to your streaming queues.
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Although Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy could be considered the gold standard of live action Batman adaptations, Tim Burton’s take on the Caped Crusader is not without its merits. It’s gaudy, gothic, and hyper-stylized; boasts some scenery chewing of the finest sort courtesy of Jack Nicholson’s Joker; and has a funky Prince soundtrack to boot.
In this harrowing neo-noir, the city of Boston is galvanized when a young girl is abducted. At the center of it is small-time private investigator Patrick Kenzie, whose quest to find the girl takes him from the city’s seediest neighborhoods to its loftiest halls of power. With its taut pacing, ominous atmosphere, and solid performances from Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Ed Harris, and Amy Ryan (who received an Oscar nomination for her performance as the young girl’s unstable mom), you’d never tell that Gone Baby Gone was Ben Affleck’s directorial debut.
I know I seemed a bit harsh on J. J. Abrams in my review of The Rise of Skywalker, but if you want an example of where his nostalgia-driven approach to filmmaking does work, then check out Super 8. An obvious love letter to classic Spielberg films — it was even produced by Spielberg and Amblin Entertainment — Super 8 is nevertheless a fun sci-fi action romp as a group of teenage filmmakers find themselves caught between an alien life form and the military trying to capture it.
After they’re falsely accused of murdering the leader of the city’s most powerful gang, the Warriors must make the long journey back to their home base while fending off the rest of New York’s gangs. This simple premise makes for one of the great cult movies, as the Warriors make their way through a nightmarish, dystopic New York as imagined by director Walter Hill (The Driver, Streets of Fire).
Waterworld is famous for being one of the huge Hollywood debacles. Released in 1995, it was the most expensive movie ever made — its budget ballooned to $175 million due to production costs and damage from a hurricane — and its domestic run was just a fraction of that. But Waterworld was nothing if not ambitious in its depiction of a post-apocalyptic Earth where the polar ice caps have melted and humanity has been reduced to floating communes.
The original Road House, starring Patrick Swayze, is an undisputed ’80s classic. The upcoming remake, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Jessica Williams, and Conor McGregor, sticks to the original’s concept, but moves it into the world of MMA. Gyllenhaal plays a down-on-his-luck UFC fighter who’s hired to work at a Florida roadhouse, only to become embroiled in scheme involving shady land developers.
In a dystopic future, the totalitarian Japanese government takes a drastic step to end juvenile delinquency. Each year, a random middle school class is taken to a remote island and forced to hunt each other down until one survivor remains. Based on Koushun Takami’s novel, Kinji Fukasaku’s Battle Royale was immediately controversial upon release and even banned in several countries. But the film also became a cult classic thanks to its powerful performances, shocking violence, dark humor, and brutal indictment of adult tyranny (read my review).
Here’s everything arriving on Amazon Prime Video in March 2024.
The world’s biggest pop star, with the highest grossing concert tour of all time, brings the biggest concert film of all time to Disney+. Featuring several songs that weren’t in the theatrical release, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour captures Swift and her entourage as they perform at California’s SoFi Stadium over the course of three nights. Disney reportedly paid more than $75 million for the streaming rights, beating out Netflix and Universal.
Running for five seasons during the early-to-mid ’90s, X-Men: The Animated Series was a massive success and a highlight of Saturday mornings. Mixing original storylines with X-Men classics, like “Days of Future Past” and “The Phoenix Saga,” the series boasted some surprisingly thought-provoking episodes along with plenty of mutant action. X-Men ’97 picks up where the original series left off, with Cyclops, Wolverine, Jean Grey, and the rest of X-Men must battle new enemies while still mourning the loss of Professor X.
Here’s everything arriving on Disney+ in March 2024.
Before Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale came along, the Caped Crusader hadn’t fared too well on the silver screen. True, Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman was enjoyable in a campy way, thanks to an ultra-gothic aesthetic, Jack Nicholson’s over-the-top Joker, and a funky Prince soundtrack. But it wasn’t until Nolan’s Batman Begins that the world’s greatest detective truly came into his own.
Over the years, news of a Blade Runner sequel has always been met with trepidation and skepticism. However, Blade Runner 2049 was about as perfect a sequel as fans could’ve hoped for. Directed by Denis Villeneuve, Blade Runner 2049 may not reach the original’s mythic-ness, but it’s certainly of a piece thanks to its contemplative pacing, gorgeous effects and world-building, and a storyline that builds on the original’s themes.
Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s iconic sci-fi novel — or at least, his adaptation of the novel’s first half — is a triumph on nearly every level. Filled with awe-inspiring visuals and solid performances from its impressive cast, Dune chronicles the efforts of the Atreides family as they settle on the desert planet of Arrakis, and must survive not only the planet’s brutal climate but also treacherous political conspiracies. One of the best sci-fi films in recent memory, Dune was also one of 2021’s biggest commercial and critical successes.
Martin Scorsese’s gangster epic is based on the true story of Henry Hill (played by Ray Liotta), a mob associate who eventually became an FBI informant. The film follows Hill’s introduction to the mob life, and his rise and fall in the gang through the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. The film was nominated for multiple Oscars, eventually winning “Best Supporting Actor” for Joe Pesci’s performance as the unhinged Tommy DeVito.
In Jonathan Glazer’s acclaimed gangster film, a retired criminal is compelled to perform one last job. Filled with solid performances — especially Ben Kingsley as the sociopathic, obscenity-spitting Don Logan — and Glazer’s assured direction, not to mention a pitch-perfect streak of dark humor, Sexy Beast is widely regarded as one of the best films of the early ’00s.
Directed by the enigmatic Terrence Malick and starring Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, and Jessica Chastain, The Tree of Life is a luminous and visually stunning treatise on God, mortality, heaven, grace, and the power of fathers to shape their childrens’ lives for better or worse. Jumping between the 1960s and 2010 — with a notable segue that depicts the creation of the universe and the age of the dinosaurs — The Tree of Life is about as ambitious and transcendent as cinema gets.
Here’s everything arriving on Hulu in March 2024.
After mercenary Wade Wilson volunteers for an experimental treatment, he’s left horribly disfigured but also with the ability to instantly heal any injuries that he receives, no matter how awful. Donning a red costume, Wilson becomes the anti-hero Deadpool, intent on getting revenge on those who ruined his life. With its never-ending snark and R-rated violence, Deadpool is the role that Ryan Reynolds was born to play.
In the final days of the Vietnam War, a group of Army soldiers are recruited for a top secret mission to explore a mysterious island. As you might expect from the movie title, they soon discover far more than they bargained for. Obviously inspired by Apocalypse Now, Kong: Skull Island turns out to be a pretty fun movie thanks to some crazy monster action, some inspired visuals, and a solid cast highlighted by some delightful John C. Reilly kookiness (read my review).
Ocean’s Eleven is about as slick as heist movies come, as Danny Ocean (George Clooney at his most charming) assembles a team to knock over three Las Vegas casinos in one night. Directed with all assurance by Steven Soderbergh, Ocean’s Eleven is just a joy to watch, as the twists keep coming and the stakes keep getting higher.
HBO’s latest prestige title stars Kate Winslet as the chancellor of a fictional European country on the verge of collapse. And as she sinks further into paranoia, her regime threatens to unravel around her. The Regime also stars Matthias Schoenaerts, Andrea Riseborough, Martha Plimpton, and Hugh Grant.
Here’s everything arriving on Max in March 2024.
Gareth Edwards’ take on the venerable Big G seems less focused on big monster smackdowns and more on building suspense and atmosphere. When I first saw it, I was a bit underwhelmed, because the whole reason you watch a Godzilla movie is for the kaiju battles. But I found the film much better and more engrossing than I remembered on a recent viewing. If nothing else, it might help erase any lingering memories of Roland Emmerich’s 1998 film.
Adam Sandler is best known for his wild comedies, including such classics as Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, and The Wedding Singer. But he’s also starred in a number of more serious and dramatic films, such as Punch-Drunk Love, Uncut Gems, and Hustle. Based on Jaroslav Kalfař’s novel Spaceman of Bohemia, Spaceman looks to be more of the former, with Sandler playing an astronaut stranded in space desperate to save his failing marriage. Which might be possible after he meets a strange alien creature.
In this spin-off from Guy Ritchie’s 2019 film of the same name, a young man inherits a vast estate from his father only to learn that it’s connected to a vast drug operation. The Gentlemen stars Theo James, Giancarlo Esposito, Peter Serafinowicz, Vinnie Jones, and Ray Winstone.
Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown stars in this Netflix original that puts a spin on the classic “damsel in distress” trope. Brown stars as a young woman who is sacrificed by her Prince Charming to the dragon that’s terrorizing the kingdom. However, she has no intention of accepting her fate. Damsel also stars Shohreh Aghdashloo, Angela Bassett, Ray Winstone, and Robin Wright.
Netflix’s adaptation of Liu Cixin’s acclaimed novel is shaping up to be one of 2024’s most anticipated titles. When the world’s scientists start getting mysteriously killed, the subsequent investigation uncovers a conspiracy that reaches all the way back to China’s Cultural Revolution in the ’60s, and could have massive ramifications for humanity. The series stars Rosalind Chao, Benedict Wong, Liam Cunningham, and Jonathan Pryce.
As an ode to classic kung fu and ’70s exploitation movies, Kill Bill is arguably Quentin Tarantino’s most stylized and fantastical movie to date. If you’re in the mood for a blood-soaked, rip-roarin’ tale of revenge, then you’ve got your evening all lined up.
Here’s everything arriving on Netflix in March 2024.
]]>Hashtags have become the de facto way to organize your social media posts and see what others are saying about a specific topic. Bluesky’s lack of hashtag support was therefore pretty glaring, especially since Threads launched its own take on hashtags back in December. As is their wont, though, Bluesky’s developers were taking their time in order to address some of the concerns with hashtags.
With its most recent release, though, Bluesky now supports hashtags. When you see a post with hashtags, clicking on one will present three options:
You can also mute hashtags (along with keywords) in Bluesky’s content moderation settings.
I’m glad to see Bluesky add hashtags, but to be honest, it’s unclear how this implementation addresses some of the aforementioned concerns, particularly with regards to presentation and accessibility. For instance, hashtags can’t include spaces, which was a proposed accessibility solution. (Hashtags with spaces are easier for screen readers to handle.)
Perhaps, however, Bluesky’s developers simply realized that they needed hashtag support now and chose to implement something that would be “good enough” for the time being while continuing work on a more comprehensive solution. In any case, support for hashtags — however incomplete it may be — is a welcome addition, and one less reason to keep using X/Twitter.
]]>With its stunning visuals, rich production design, and stellar cast, Denis Villeneuve’s Dune (2021) was an epic sci-fi tale par excellence. And even better, it was just the first part of the story; there’s even more to come, as Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), still reeling from his father’s death and his family’s destruction, grows closer to the Fremen freedom fighters, and in particular, a woman named Chani (Zendaya). Meanwhile, the brutal House Harkonnen are planning to ravage the planet Arrakis and, with the blessing of the galaxy’s emperor, finish off Paul once and for all.
The original Dune was one of 2021’s most acclaimed films, winning six Oscars (including best original score, best cinematography, and best visual effects), five British Academy Film Awards, and three Critics’ Choice Movie Awards — to name just a few accolades. It was also a box office hit, earning over $400 million. So… does the second Dune live up to the promise of its predecessor’s grandiose and epic scale? Is there a good chance that there could be a third Dune movie? Or does Dune: Part Two fail to deliver?
Read on to see what critics are saying.
👍 Kaitlyn Booth, “Yet another one of those movie miracles”
Dune: Part Two only stumbles in ways that hardly count, but with Villeneuve expertly guiding a truly talented ensemble cast, it all ultimately comes together. There is no denying the pacing and structure issues that come with this being half a movie, but it also feels massive because Villeneuve was given two films to adapt this massive book. There were so many places all of this could have gone wrong, and the fact that it mostly went right is yet another one of those movie miracles. Villeneuve and his two Dune films join the ranks of Peter Jackson and the Lord of the Rings as one of those adaptations where, somehow, source material older than most people who are seeing the film still feels new.
👍 Hoai-Tran Bui, “The best sci-fi epic of the century”
Dune: Part One was, in many ways, the antiblockbuster. It’s a movie that began at the end — at the end of a centuries-long secret battle between noble houses we only see glimpses of and amid a sea of change that we can’t even begin to understand. There was no emotional anchor because most of the characters were doomed from the moment we met them and no catharsis because the story wasn’t really over. It’s an incredibly ballsy way to start a sci-fi franchise, and Dune: Part Two, Denis Villeneuve’s electrifying, stupendously action-packed sequel, is no less bold. But while it would be easy (and cliche) to say that Dune: Part Two delivers on everything the first film built up — and more! — the film is more than the sum of its jaw-dropping spectacle and rousing battle scenes.
👍 Walter Chaw, “Gorgeously filmed and prodigiously imagined”
It is an epically-scaled tentpole from a major studio spending millions of dollars to tell the story of a messianic leader with vengeance on his lips who pulls his power from fundamentalists manipulated by his mother’s cult to bring about genocide, famine, death, and war.
👍 David Crow, “A bleak and brilliant masterpiece”
That such an uncompromising vision could be made as a modern blockbuster, and that something so ultimately chilling (even with all that sun) will be embraced by a global audience, is fascinating. This is the kind of monumental moviemaking that has beguiled audiences since the dawn of cinema, but Villeneuve has spiced his vintage with a madness befitting Paul, the voice from the outer world.
👎 David Ehrlich, “Staggering to look at but agonizing to watch”
Once again, the biblical solemnity of Villeneuve’s approach — along with the tactile brutalism of his design — have combined into a Timothée Chalamet movie that shimmers with the patina of an epic myth. And once again, the awesome spectacle that Villeneuve mines from all that scenery is betrayed by the smallness of the human drama he stages against it, with the majesty of the movie’s first hour desiccating into the stuff of pure tedium as Paul Atreides struggles to find his voice amid the visions that compel him forward. It’s a struggle that Dune: Part Two continues to embody all too well.
👍 Austen Goslin, “A fantastic, surprisingly complex blockbuster”
The first movie, publicly billed as Dune and revealed as Dune: Part One only in the credits, handled the world-building and all the expositional heavy lifting. It all came with the understanding that the conclusion could be an all-killer, no-filler science fiction epic. And that’s exactly what Dune: Part Two delivers.
👍 Clarisse Loughrey, “Like no other blockbuster in existence”
There are moments in Dune: Part Two that feel so audacious, they play out as if they were already etched onto the cinematic canon. A lone figure stands astride a mountainous worm as it pummels through the sand like Moses parting the Red Sea. A man is trapped by a psychic seduction, its effects splintering across the screen in what could only be described as an indoor thunderstorm. Gladiatorial combat takes place on a planet with an environment so inhospitable, its colours so drained, that it looks almost like a photographic negative.
👍 Germain Lussier, “Blows away your sandworm-sized expectations”
Dune: Part Two is more than a mere sequel. It’s a continuation, culmination, and ultimately a fantastic elevation of everything you already loved about director Denis Villeneuve’s 2021 film Dune: Part One. That film ended with Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) embracing a new way of life after almost everyone he loved was massacred. Here, after a brief interlude, things pick up right where they left off and weave a sweeping, cautionary tale of a young man burdened by destiny and how he’ll act to fulfill it. The film is dense and complex but also majestic and engaging on a level the first film merely touched upon.
👍 Liz Shannon Miller, “Weirder, wilder, and crying out for a sequel”
The true hero of the Dune films, though, is costume designer Jacqueline West, whose work here features some breathtaking pieces of craftsmanship (like, as one example, literally everything worn by Florence Pugh’s space princess). More importantly, West’s attention to detail gives a grounded feel to everything worn on screen, especially the various types of suits worn to survive on Arrakis, hard-selling the audience on the idea that everything is real. Dune could easily feel like over-the-top costume drama, but the costumes being so damn good is somehow, paradoxically, why it doesn’t.
👎 Nick Newman, “Sands down the strangeness of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi epic”
This is less a movie that feels incomplete than one that has achieved its questionable goals – – a diligent follow to a diligent adaptation, a brilliant build upon a brilliant physical manifestation. By my count, though, that makes two projects – – maybe, possibly a bit hack to lean on this point, but just for the sake of context: about $300 million – – spent in debt to another’s work or promise of some other film. A strange instinct for notoriously burdensome material. Myriad allusions to Dune Messiah, Villeneuve’s promised adaptation of Herbert’s far smaller follow-up, are promising: flashforward images are stark, and Part Two’s climax finds its actors already selling the pieces set in motion. I can’t pretend I don’t want to see it, that it won’t look and sound great. But enthusiasm’s turning a tad dry.
👍 Rodrigo Perez, “A darker, devastating blockbuster”
Villeneuve’s escalating sense of scale and emotional stakes are enormous, his craft impeccable, and the film’s visceral intensity radiates and growls like a raging supernova star about to implode; imagine if one were to mash Lawrence of Arabia and LOTR’s Twin Towers together into an unholy mystical sci-fi alliance. Verging on overwrought at times, Villeneuve manages to ride the sandworm lightning beyond the thundering abyss that always seems to be on each side of his stunning creations (and those sandworm scenes are jaw-dropping and gargantuan). Reminiscent of the way Zack Snyder always goes maximum-effort operatic, but with a sense of discerning taste, Villeneuve’s film is ultimately awe-inspiring and an immersive cinematic spectacle that is often breathtaking.
👍 Brian Tallerico, “A robust piece of filmmaking”
Dune: Part Two has been compared to The Empire Strikes Back in the run-up to its release, and that’s not quite right. The better comparison is The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, another film that built on what we knew about the characters from the first film, added a few new ones, and really amplified a sense of continuous battle and danger. Like both films, a third chapter feels inevitable. Critics will have to come up with a new synonym for massive.
Dune: Part Two arrives in theaters on March 1, 2024. Watch the trailer below.
Nick Heer’s recent post about finding a replacement for his 2017 27-inch iMac was yet another painful reminder that Apple has officially discontinued the larger iMac. Like Heer, I have a 2017 27-inch model with Retina 5K screen, and I love it. It’s not maxed out to the gills, spec-wise, but it easily handles everything I throw at it when it comes to web development, graphic design, blogging, etc. That, and it just looks really cool, and the 5K screen is a joy to stare at.
Unfortunately, Apple’s latest version of macOS, Sonoma, dropped support for all pre-2019 iMacs, so I’m stuck with Ventura. Which still receives updates and will (presumably) continue to do so into 2025. Of course, my iMac will still function just fine even after Ventura stops getting updated, and that 5K screen will continue to look great, so I’m not in any immediate need of upgrading.
Still, reading Heer’s article has got me thinking about my next Mac. If I were going to upgrade today, my options are basically the Mac Studio, a Mac Mini, or a MacBook, all of which would require an external display. (As nice as Apple’s current line of iMacs may be, I just can’t go back to a 24-inch display. As for the Mac Pro, it’s way too much, both price-wise and spec-wise.)
All three options have their pros and cons, and I go back and forth between them. Fortunately, I don’t need to make a decision any time soon. But every time I think about it, I get a little bummed that the 27-inch iMac is no longer an option, because it really was the best of all worlds for me in terms of performance, features, and “cool” factor.
It’s currently possible to buy a post-2019 27-inch iMac on the refurbished market, but there’s no assuming any will still be available when it comes time for me to actually upgrade. Of course, if Apple releases their long-rumored 32-inch iMac in 2025, that could change things entirely, depending on its pricing, specs, etc. — but I’m not exactly holding my breath, regardless of what Ming-Chi Kuo says.
]]>Liverpool’s Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus have just announced their sixth studio album. Titled The Dream We Carry, it follows 2020’s Songs of Yearning and Nocturnes, and will be the experimental folk outfit’s first album in four years.
Not too many details (like a tracklist) have been announced, but The Dream We Carry will be released in several editions: black vinyl, marble vinyl, CD, and a deluxe box set that includes the album on marble vinyl, CD, and cassette as well as artwork and other printed materials.
The Dream We Carry will be released on June 29, 2024 by Liverpool’s 9x9 Records; preorder here. To celebrate The Dream We Carry’s release, the RAIJ will also perform a rare concert at the Liverpool Philharmonic with Trappist Afterland and Charlie McKeon as the supporting acts.
]]>For nearly two decades, Natasha Khan — aka, Bat for Lashes — has released album after acclaimed album of art pop in the vein of Kate Bush and Björk. Her latest album is titled The Dream of Delphi, and according to Khan’s announcement, it was deeply influenced by the birth of her first child in 2020:
It’s about what happens when you’re stretched physically, mentally, even vaginally! I think it’s just humbled me, becoming a mother. It’s made me feel more vulnerable than I’ve ever felt before. But I feel more human, more embodied. I can’t escape life by making beautiful things as much as I did. But there’s sort of a beauty to my mortality now.
The title track is a showcase for Khan’s vocals, which are eventually joined by crunchy beats, sweeping strings, natural sounds, and even the chatter of a young child. It’s the sort of beguiling music that we’ve all come to expect and love from Bat for Lashes.
The Dream of Delphi will be released by Mercury KX on May 31, 2024.
]]>I’ve seen plenty of commenters dismiss Melbourne’s Glass Beams as Khruangbin wannabes. Which, on the one hand, I can sort of understand. Both bands are instrumental trios who play music that’s as funky as it is psychedelic while maintaining a semblance of mystery around their identities. (Khruangbin with their ridiculous wigs and Glass Beams behind some elaborately beaded masks.)
On the other hand, I don’t really care one way or the other, not when the music is this slick and enjoyable. And at the risk of being pedantic, Khruangbin owes a debt to Thai funk music while Glass Beams draws inspiration from the traditional and classical Indian music of founding member Rajan Silva’s youth. In any case, the resulting sound is an undeniably hypnotic and otherworldly blend that gets your head nodding, your feet tapping, and your body swaying.
“Mahal” is the lead single from the band’s upcoming EP of the same name, which will be released by Ninja Tune on March 22, 2024. (Glass Beams previously released the Mirage EP in 2021 on Melbourne’s Research Records.)
]]>Last November, Portishead released an updated 25th anniversary edition of their 1998 Roseland NYC Live album onto streaming platforms, with a physical release to follow. The trio has now announced that the 25th anniversary edition will be released on double vinyl and CD and, like the streaming version, will feature previously unreleased material:
Newly remastered, the tracklist has been expanded to include “Undenied” and “Numb” from the concert film, as well as the full length performance of “Western Eyes,” which played in part over the credits of the film.
“Sour Times” and “Roads” are also now the original Roseland versions (previously substituted on the album release with recordings from other performances). All 5 of these tracks will be on CD and vinyl for the first time.
The vinyl release will be pressed on red vinyl and will include a “double-sided fold out poster” while the CD release will include a 12-page booklet. Both editions will also include a recreation of the backstage “sticky pass” that was used at the concert. Both of these will be released on April 26, 2024.
Portishead is also releasing a limited-edition 10″ that includes recordings of “Sour Times” and “Roads” that are not on the 25th anniversary release. These are the versions that appeared on the original 1998 release of Roseland NYC Live. This will be released on May 31, 2024.
All of these releases can now be pre-ordered from Portishead’s online store alongside a bunch of other merch, including shirts and hoodies.
]]>Even if you’re social media-savvy, you could be forgiven for forgetting about Bluesky given that (A) Meta launched Threads and (B) Bluesky was invite-only for the longest time. Notice that I said “was,” though. Earlier this month, Bluesky announced that it’s now open to the public, meaning you no longer need an invite code to sign up.
I joined Bluesky back in July 2023 — I’m @opus.ing, by the way, if you want to follow me — and have been using it pretty regularly ever since. At first blush, Bluesky is very X/Twitter-esque, especially when compared to Threads. Which isn’t too surprising since Bluesky was originally a Twitter initiative announced by former CEO Jack Dorsey back in 2019. (Bluesky has been officially independent of X/Twitter since 2022, however.)
On the one hand, that makes switching from X/Twitter pretty easy and painless. If you know how to use X/Twitter, then using Bluesky will feel like second nature. On the other hand, that similarity can highlight some of Bluesky’s deficiencies. More on that in a moment.
If you’re a brand new user, or even if you’ve been using it for awhile now, Bluesky boasts some features that can dramatically improve your experience.
For starters, Bluesky gives you a lot of control over the content you see. Although X/Twitter lets you pick whether or not you see “sensitive” content, Bluesky gives you more granular control over stuff like explicit sexual images, violent content, and even hate group iconography.
Like X/Twitter, you can mute and block accounts. (Muting an account means you won’t see any notifications or top-level posts from it while blocking prevents any interaction whatsoever between you and the account.) You can also fine-tune your home feed, including whether or not you see reposts and quote posts, and even when replies appear in your feed.
Regarding content moderation, Bluesky has also announced something called “stackable moderation services,” which will allow “organizations and people to run their own moderation services that can account for industry-specific knowledge or specific cultural norms.” More:
One potential use case for labeling is fact-checking. For example, a fact-checking organization can run a labeling service and mark posts as “partially false,” “misleading,” or other categories. Then, users who trust this organization can subscribe to their labels. As the user scrolls through posts in the app, any labels that the fact-checking organization publishes will be visible on the post itself. This helps in the effective distribution of the fact-check and keeps users better informed.
If you’re frustrated with X/Twitter’s increasing lack of content moderation (community notes notwithstanding), then this could look very promising. It’s certainly in-line with Bluesky’s emphasis on decentralization, that is, the idea that Bluesky won’t be just a single social network, but rather, a “network of networks” that users are free to join and leave at will. It doesn’t, however, absolve Bluesky of their own content moderation duties, be it dealing with harassment or taking down and reporting child sexual abuse material. (Back in April 2023, Sol Messing highlighted some potential difficulties presented by Bluesky’s decentralized approach to content moderation.)
One of Bluesky’s biggest features is the ability to subscribe to and switch between multiple custom feeds, which “allows you to pick the algorithm that powers your social media experience.” It’s somewhat analogous to X/Twitter’s topics and interests, but whereas X/Twitter determines the list of selectable topics, Bluesky allows feed creators themselves to specify the criteria that determines which posts appear in a feed. A custom feed might only display posts that contain a certain keyword or even emoji, or come from a manually curated list of accounts.
Users can browse Bluesky’s feed directory and subscribe to any that pique their curiosity. While subscribing to feeds is just a click, creating feeds is far less user-friendly. You currently have to use a special feed generator tool, though Bluesky claims that non-developers will eventually be able to create custom feeds, as well. (You can supposedly create custom feeds with a third-party tool called SkyFeed, though I haven’t tried it myself.)
Which brings me to my first criticism. Although it’s now open to everyone, there’s a lingering sense that Bluesky’s most powerful features — like custom feeds and self-hosted Bluesky servers — are still the domain of developers.
Consider Bluesky’s goal of decentralization. It’s a cool idea that opens up some interesting possibilities for moderating content and creating online communities. The truth, however, is that most people probably won’t care. Indeed, I suspect that even explaining decentralization to many “non-developer” users might actually make them want to use Bluesky less simply because it sounds more complicated than X/Twitter, Threads, et al.
Most people join social networks because they want to connect with their friends and other interesting people, share their thoughts, and read interesting/entertaining content. They don’t want to figure out protocols or sort through federated networks to find “the right one.” As Bluesky moves forward with decentralization, one challenge will be communicating to non-developers why they should care about it while at the same time, making it easy to use effectively.
Bluesky’s “developer-ness” also carries through to its web UI. Although certainly serviceable and usable, it looks like it was designed by developers who were directed to copy X/Twitter. As such, it lacks some refinement. For example, the web UI’s CSS letter-spacing is inconsistent, if not unnecessary. Such letter-spacing might’ve been intended to make the web UI more readable. Instead, it looks awkward and ungainly. As for the web UI’s overly-convoluted HTML, I’ve already written at length about that.
As I wrote earlier, Bluesky’s similarity to X/Twitter makes it familiar and inviting but also highlights its deficiencies. Specifically, Bluesky currently lacks some features that still make X/Twitter relatively useful and fun. Specifically, Bluesky currently lacks hashtags, native GIF/video support, bookmarks, and scheduling.
To be fair, hashtags and native GIF/video support are in the works and to their credit, Bluesky is seeking to address some of the problems that currently plague hashtags. I appreciate such thoughtfulness, especially with regards to accessibility and moderation. Still, the fact remains that without hashtags, it can be hard to find the sort of content you want to read and follow on Bluesky. I certainly don’t miss irrelevant trending topics, but sometimes I do want to quickly see what people are saying about a particular movie, TV show, or other topic — which hashtags make possible.
Bookmarking posts is one of those features that I don’t really think about until it’s gone. I use it when collecting links for my weekend newsletter or simply because a post caught my eye but I don’t yet have the time to read it or look into it further. I could like or repost it so that it’s “saved” on my timeline, but that’s not always appropriate. I want to be intentional about what I share on social media; bookmarking posts allows me to revisit them at a later time and decide then if they’re worth sharing and promoting.
As for scheduling posts, selecting the date and time when a post is published might be considered a “power user” feature, but it’s one I frequently use on X/Twitter. It’s surprisingly handy, especially if you have a bunch of links that you want to sprinkle throughout the next few days. (For example, I often schedule posts on Christ and Pop Culture’s X/Twitter account.) I’d love to see something similar on Bluesky.
Finally, since I’m now moving into “wishlist” territory, minimal text formatting à la Micro.blog or GitHub would be really cool. There would be some technical issues to sort through (e.g., Do the characters used to add formatting count against a post’s 300-character limit?) and formatting options would need to be extremely limited (e.g., bold, italics, lists, blockquotes) to maintain consistency and limit potential abuse.
X/Twitter allows text formatting, but only for Premium subscribers. Making it available to all Bluesky users could engender good will and positive buzz with (relatively) minimal effort.
I’m a firm believer that users should have more platform options, not less. In light of X/Twitter’s self-immolation and Facebook’s history of privacy issues, Bluesky’s appeal is pretty obvious. I’d like to see it succeed and flourish, even as I fear that being invite-only for so long may have robbed it of some much-needed momentum. (As of this writing, Bluesky has 4.9 million users while Threads has 130 million users and X/Twitter has 368 – 550 million users, depending on who you ask.)
That said, I respect Bluesky for being thoughtful and methodical in its development, which is a refreshing change of pace from the “move fast and break things” ethos and “disruptor” mindset that are so often associated with modern tech development. It still remains to be seen if Bluesky will be able to achieve their lofty goals and maintain their commitment to openness, but so far, they appear to be heading (however slowly) in the right direction.
]]>The music on this month’s playlist, titled “The Beat Goes On,” might technically fall under “hip-hop,” but it’s of a considerably more atmospheric and vibe-heavy variety. Eschewing flashy MCs slinging rhymes about wealth, women, and their own prowess, the world of lo-fi “chillhop” is the domain of producers blending hip-hop beats and scratches with ambient interludes, muted samples, and a lo-fi aesthetic that’s more intimate and relaxing.
Accompanying the playlist is the latest episode of my“Playlist Breakdown” podcast, in which I spotlight one of the playlist’s songs and why it’s so special, interesting, and/or meaningful. This month’s episode focuses on City Girl’s “Slipping Into Ash-Filled Streets,” a somber song that feels like it leaked into our world from a Wong Kar-wai movie.
All of these are little bonuses for subscribers who support Opus financially. If you’d like to get access to them (and more), subscribe to Opus during the month of February for just $2.50/month or $25/year. (You can also subscribe for free and get my weekend newsletter.)
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