Charlie Chaplin, Star Trek references, Vanessa Kirby blockbusters, a Portal clone, and more!
Nov 29, 2025
WATCHED
THE GOLD RUSH (1925)
Not only is this the Charlie Chaplin film the foundational film comedian himself was proudest of, but it’s also one of the films that planted my love of the Silent Era! (My thoughts on Safety Last! and The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari.) The protagonistic Little Tramp pretending to be frozen stiff so he could be taken into a warm house for a hot meal is one of my all-time favorite film gags! The one real flaw is the romance; after the dishonest ways love interest Georgia treats the Tramp, I don’t feel their climactic union is really earned. One of my favorite love musical pieces is associated with her, though.
PLEASE STAND BY (2017)
Both a largely wholesome coming of age dramedy and the best movie about Star Trek fans I’ve seen next to Galaxy Quest! It even features Star TrekInto Darkness’s Alice Eve in a much more dignified role for her! Its depiction of autism has gotten mixed reception, especially given the neurotypical Dakota Fanning in the lead, but I’ll side with the autistic viewers who’ve found it respectful. It’s also one of two films I’ve recently watched where a Fanning sister recovers way too quickly from a concussion, now that I personally know how that actually works—the other being the far less recommended I Think We’re Alone Now.
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT (2018)
After seeing this year’s Mission: Impossible -The Final Reckoning, my suspicions that it wouldn’t top Fallout as a finale are confirmed. This one moves at a propulsive pace, has memorable villains, ties the franchise together with subtlety, and gives Ethan Hunt a poignant arc of proving how his value for even the one life pays off. It does try to a bit too hard to be Christopher Nolan for its own good, from the gritty tone to the booming score to the convoluted plot. Heck, I remember all of this being so much to take in on first viewing that I walked out of the theater feeling like I’d been through a war zone! But the years since have turned this into one of my top highlights of the past decade.
AJ GOES TO THE DOG PARK (2024)
As indie as they come—essentially a feature-length YouTube skit about a guy aiming to become mayor so he can re-open a local dog park. It’s too stupid even for me at times, including one of the most out-of-left-field endings I’ve ever seen! And yet, there’s little about it that’s truly distasteful (most questionable are a vulgar term, a brief pentagonal image, mild irreverence, and a bizarre montage about elbows), so generally, it’s just my kind of randomness!
THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS (2025)
The other Vanessa Kirby blockbuster here besides Fallout is the first purely standalone Marvel film I’ve seen in a long time! It has gotten a lot of middling user reviews, and to be fair, I am a bit tired of the kinds of apocalyptic stakes it offers. What I do find remarkable is how it uses these stakes to explore the value of life with a depth rarely seen from Hollywood! Heck, it’s the latest entry in The “Pedro Pascal Protects a Child” Cinematic Universe! I’m also amused by how one plot point reminded me of a Spongebob episode, and I want a whole movie about the Fantastic Four battling the Red Ghost and his Super Apes.
PLAYED
HYDROPHOBIA PROPHECY (2011)
While I can see why this isn’t beloved, its combination of light platforming, light puzzle solving, and strategic cover shooting really hit the spot for me—all at a breezy length! What I most enjoyed was the dynamic between protagonist Kate—whose design I really like—and her earpiece sidekick Scoot. Although I didn’t catch the story’s overpopulation theme until I researched the game, and said story ends on a “Wait, that’s it?” note. Nonetheless, I found it a lot better than what most reviewers are saying.
THE ENTROPY CENTRE(2022)
I’ve seen few games borrow from others much as this borrows from Portal, from its female first-person perspective to its dilapidated science facility to its comical AI companion to its puzzle-solving gun that moves puzzle-solving cubes. Except this gun reverses an object’s trajectory through time, which is really cool! It also made me realize how much I prefer puzzle games to be short, for I almost gave up on this one several times… And yet, I ended up looking at walkthroughs only thrice. The ending also leaves us with more disturbing implications than I would have liked… And yet, I’m glad I stuck with it.
OTHER
I really wanted to beat Raji: An Ancient Epic (2020) before the end of the month so I could review it here, but then I ran into a game-breaking bug whose every solution I could find wouldn’t work for me, so I’ll have to play through the whole game again... But, I was really liking it, so I want to mention it anyways.
