Yearly Archive:: 2021
Aug 27 2021
The Green Knight Is a Refreshing, Enigmatic Take on Arthurian Legend
Arthurian legends, like most centuries-old stories, notoriously have multiple versions, which easily lends them to a wide variety of adaptation types. We’ve seen them as romance, comedy, action movie, musical, and more. In The Green Knight, it’s Arthurian legend as fairy tale—light on the Arthur.…
Aug 23 2021
Free Guy Finds Some Philosophy in Its Fun
Free Guy is that rare achievement of a picture that not only manages to be astute about gamer culture but has enough guts and insight to satirize it. Thanks to a script cowritten by the geek-friendly Zak Penn (X2, The Incredible Hulk) and direction by the VFX-competent Shawn Levy (Real Steel), something…
Aug 22 2021
This Week in Geek (8/23/21–8/29/21)
Welcome to This Week in Geek, your guide to events of interest to the Minnesota geek community for the week of Monday, August 23, to Sunday, August 29.
Please note: Due to risks from the global COVID-19 pandemic, and in following current health guidelines recommending both social distancing and indoor…
Aug 20 2021
Bocchi Hitori’s OO Lifestyle Is a Genuinely Cute Middle School Comedy
For many of us, starting middle school marks the beginning of the transition from childhood to adulthood; you have to start taking your studies more seriously, your body begins to become more developed, and it’s harder to make and keep friends. Most of the time in elementary school, all you really…
Aug 18 2021
How Did This Get Played? Takes On the Bad and the Weird of Video Games
First there were podcasts. Now podcasts have spin-offs.
Many people are familiar with podcast How Did This Get Made?, which reviews the worst-ever movies. It’s filled with riffs and just all around poking fun. How Did This Get Played? is the same concept, but with video games—Heather Anne Campbell…
Aug 17 2021
Monster Hunter Stories 2 Is Yet Another Great Game in the Series
First things first: if you’re already a fan of the Monster Hunter series, and you don’t despise turn-based games, you should check this out.
If you’re new to this wonderful series, Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin is the second game in Capcom’s spinoff of its popular Monster Hunter series. While…
Aug 16 2021
Ashes of Aether Is a Lackluster Fantasy Debut
Teenagers make for some of the most polarizing protagonists in literature, I’ve come to learn during my time reading young adult fiction. They can be irrational and make bad decisions, but it’s important for adult readers to remember that these characters are still kids, and it’s…
Aug 15 2021
This Week in Geek (8/16/21–8/22/21)
Welcome to This Week in Geek, your guide to events of interest to the Minnesota geek community for the week of Monday, August 16, to Sunday, August 22.
Please note: Due to risks from the global COVID-19 pandemic, and in following current health guidelines recommending both social distancing and indoor…
Aug 14 2021
How to Make Your Own Circular Gallifreyan Art
Gallifreyan, for those not familiar, is the fictional language used by the Time Lords in the TV show Doctor Who. While I have to admit I’m not the most avid Doctor Who fan, I do like the aesthetics of the written language, and I have many friends who are definitely Whovians (fans of Doctor Who). Translating…
Aug 09 2021
Romance and Humor Strike the Perfect Notes in Curses
As has been the norm for the past year and a half, I’ve often found myself “doomscrolling” on Twitter and feeling overwhelmed by everything that’s going on in the world. For many of us, books have been an escape during the pandemic, offering a safe place to immerse ourselves and take our minds off of negative…