#2,048: Psychos

Presented today Memento-style, in the reverse of the order viewed.

The Mist (Black & White Director's Cut) - ★★★★☆
My first time seeing the B/W version. It's been a while since I've seen any version, and happily I'd forgotten a lot of the middle of the movie. Got to watch it this time through the lens of the lovecrafty stuff I've been reading / playing more of lately, which also made it fun.

Psycho II - ★★★☆☆
I wasn't sure what to make of this one. The premise is almost like a comedy, with so many knowing nods and nudges and things to set Norman off, but it comes together as a pretty solid 80s horror. It feels neat to see what's become of the house and the motel and everything, even though of course it's all freshly built to make a movie. I have a little trouble squaring the events of this movie as things that "really happened" in the world of the original.

Psycho - ★★★★☆
I like watching a well-known classic like this (or maybe The Godfather) by trying to see it the way an audience did before it became a pop culture touchstone. You hear about the shower, not the seemingly conventional but still intriguing plot with the money. To a first-time viewer, Norman is lying because he's covering for his terrifying mother, not to stay out of jail himself. Maybe you even feel for him.

Psychos - ★★★☆☆
Seemed to me like this was really speeding along faster than I remembered. I assumed it was because of the intercutting capturing my attention, but no, it's actually shorter. The Hitchcocks I've seen lately, a lot of them could stand to lose 15 minutes, but somehow I don't think I'd have quite the same audience if I did it.

Definitely makes me want to go watch the original again, not just for the fun of seeing how this cut works. Probably not as excited to give the remake another chance.

Songs are Sad in May 2014

I’ve got another confession to make.

That’s right readers, I’ve found a song that I kind of like. It’s a dumb song, and I know that, so this is the one and only time it’s going to be okay to laugh at me instead of with me. Ready?

This is the month that might have just sent me screaming from the trees to the hills, as I try to contemplate modern pop music. We examine "Pompeii," "Happy," "Birthday," and more, all at The Higgs Weldon

Next month, we'll take on whatever songs you suggest at songsaresad@thehiggsweldon.com. Or, maybe we'll just quit.

#2,046: The Trouble With Harry

How to Steal a Million - ★★★½☆
A fun little romantic comedy caper. The romance is in the style of the time, which is to say, two people who fall in love almost immediately and because the script says so. The heist was also in the style of the time, which is to say, pretty good! For some of my friends, this is the first Audrey Hepburn movie they've enjoyed. To them, I say five words: "Three words: Wait Until Dark!"

The Pink Panther - ★★☆☆☆
This one was a let down. Started strong, but becomes convoluted, confusing, and boring. I did like how Clouseau seems to be at least somewhat aware of how he's bad at everything, and the timing and staging on the scene with 6 people in the bedroom made me smile. Surprising ending.

Shadow of a Doubt - ★★★☆☆
2 for 2 on slow moving Hitchcocks with characters that fall in love instantaneously and delightful supporting casts. All the scenes with Herb are great. Ann too. Somehow, Santa Rosa doesn't look very 'small town' to me, which makes the fact that everyone recognizes Charlie kind of fun. I guess maybe I'm deciding that I liked the world of the movie more than the plot.

The Trouble with Harry - ★★½☆☆
I've known that the trouble with Harry is mostly, y'know, how he's kind of, well, dead, but the trouble with The Trouble With Harry is that it's not very good. I wasn't expecting it to be a comedy. There's some good lines in there, and it's pretty silly, but it's also too long, and hasn't aged especially well. It's not that it's topical, it's the attempts at bawdiness that would barely merit a PG rating today.

I feel fond of it now, now that's it's over, because the good parts were good, but there was also our disbelief that the movie could keep going and how often it did. I bet we could get 15 minutes out of it. The shared and accepted surreality of the world is something I think more movies could use.

Passive-Aggressive Math Teacher

The Higgs Weldon needed a fill-in today, so they ran another classic Better Radio monologue, Passive Aggressive Math Teacher.

You can read it here, or listen to it performed by Erin McGathy in episode 5: Chili Cook-Off or Tim Greer in our Live Pilot episode.

Media Monday: Monument Valley Not a Monumental Value!

And also browser-based "idling" games!

- Choppin' Wood - ★★☆☆☆
I'm really into this kind of game lately. The balance of attending and then ignoring fits in just right with the jobs I've been working recently. There's not much to this one though. More theme but maybe less interesting than...

- DerivClicker - ★★☆☆☆
I collected all the things in this game. I don't think there's anything else to do. It's not as fancy as Cookie Clicking or Candy Box or Clicking Bad from last year, which it occurs to me now I never even logged. I guess I never got every last thing in Cookie Clicker though.

- A Dark Room - ★★★☆☆
The best of today's bunch. It was intriguing as I unlocked new things, and surprising as I kept forgetting I was playing and returned days later to find I had tons of supplies. Combat becomes a chore towards the end, but I finished this one twice.

- Monument Valley - ★★☆☆☆
It was a really shrewd move for the developers of this game to target the Apple and graphic design / tech nerd segment of the web, either instead of or in addition to the gaming press. I liked the one level that was a box that opens because I miss The Room, but I ended up disappointed in this one.

As far as I know, I don't mind the "non-game" game genre. These are games that are generally more of a walking tour of a (usually) lovely thing the developer has made to show you, different from a book or video in that there is usually some clicking or tapping involved to keep you engaged, but there are no real obstacles present to keep you from seeing all of the carefully crafted content. My blunder was not considering the non-gamer sources of the reviews and blurbs I was reading that promised 4+ hours of gameplay. After the first 45 minutes, when I thought we were just about done with the tutorial and intro levels and it turned out the game was over, I think I felt a little cheated over the relatively high price and small amount of content.