Backrooms (2026)

    The thing about horror is that it gets stale. I watched a lot of slasher films in my teen years, but they don't do much for me anymore. Scream reinvigorated the genre, and kicked off a bunch of self-referential horror films. But that's stale too. Heck, the newest Scream pretty much abandoned the concept and just made another straight slasher movie.
    In the early 2000s a lot of Japanese horror films started making their way over here. I loved The Grudge and The Ring, because they weren't the same story over and over. Until they were. I've grown indifferent to a lot of themes.
    A few years ago I started reading Creepypasta. There's some real gems in there. No End House and Candle Cove were a couple of my favorites. There were a few recycled ideas, but overall horror felt fresh again.
    To me, the key to modern horror is to be unsettling. Anybody can film jumpscares and graphic gore, but it takes a real artist to make your skin crawl just by making things feel... a little off. Stanley Kubrick managed it in The Shining. The shots of Danny riding around the Overlook on his Big Wheel, you always had the feeling that something was Not Right, but you didn't know what. Say what you will about The Shining - No, it's not a good adaptation of the book, but the movie really nails the unsettling vibe.
    The fear of Liminal Spaces feels like a modern invention, but it's always been there, it just has a name now. People have always been creeped out by large empty rooms and mazelike hallways. Places that look like they should be occupied, but aren't.
    For me, they trigger false memories. I think I might be remembering dreams I've had, but it's been so long I can't tell them from actual memories. I distinctly remember going to a convention with my wife, getting off on the wrong floor, and finding ourselves on an entire floor of empty hallways. But I don't think it ever actually happened. The most lasting part of the memory is the feeling that You Should Not Be Here.
    A few year ago I wrote a short story about an office worker who returns to the office after hours, only to find it occupied by strange people who only appear in rooms that are supposed to be empty. The whole story is built around the "You Shouldn't Be Here" trope, and it's one of the creepier things I've written, IMO. If you're interested, the story is called "Third Shift" and it's in the collection "Rainbow Nightmares." All my books will be on sale for the month of June, on itch.io. Shameless plug over.
    Anyway, concepts like Liminal Spaces and Analog Horror either resonate with you or they don't. If you don't find the Backrooms trailer at least a little unsettling, you're not going to like the movie. The movie does a decent job of making you feel on edge, but only if you let yourself get into it. "Fear of the Unknown" does a lot of heavy lifting, so if you decide to see it, do as little research as possible. That's why I'm not going into a lot of detail in this blog.
    (Mild Spoilers) The movie is weird, like Vivarium weird. And like Vivarium, Backrooms doesn't really stick the landing at the end. But that's the problem with weird horror. The stranger you make the movie, the harder it is to write a satisfying payoff.
    Anyway, it's a pretty good time if you like weird. But no matter how much you let yourself get into it, you will find parts of it to be disappointing.

The Mandalorian and Grogu

    I know it's not a popular opinion, but for the most part, I liked the sequel trilogy. Still, even I'll admit it doesn't completely capture the feel of the original Star Wars movies. The Mandalorian, however, nailed it from the very first episode. I remember watching it and thinking, "Man, this guy actually gets Star Wars."
    The first two seasons told a really good story. Passing the baby off to Luke felt like the perfect end to the series. But money being money, they quickly undid that decision. Season three felt like a different series altogether, and it no longer felt like Din Djarin's story. The vibe was starting to feel more like the sequel trilogy than the original movies. Some viewers were turned off, but I still enjoyed it.
    When they announced the Mandalorian and Grogu movie, I wondered if it would feel like a classic Star Wars film, or if it would be more like a really long episode of the show. I got my answer.
    For me, it felt like binge watching a short season of the series. But that's not a bad thing. As seasons go, this was probably one of the better ones.
    There's nothing particularly cinematic about the feel. There's no traditional Star Wars music, just the music from the show. No slanted opening crawl, just a quick paragraph of text to establish the setting. There is a bigger budget, but there's also places I wish they'd spent more.

INT-4

    It's got some nostalgic references that made me squeal. In the first fifteen minutes we see one of my favorite toys from my childhood, the INT-4. Later we see full-sized versions of the monsters in that holographic chess game.
    A good deal of the film takes place on Nal Hutta, the Hutt homeworld. I'd always wanted to see that planet in live action, and the movie doesn't disappoint. We finally get to see some Hutts fight each other, and it's just as silly-looking as I'd imagined. Rotta the Hutt has a much bigger role than I'd expected.
    It has one part where it really lags. There's a great climax about halfway through the movie, and it looks like it's going to end soon... but then it has another hour left. Again, it feels kind of like watching the series, and that's just the mid-season climax. Mando fails and has to take a little downtime to recover. In fact, if you don't feel like watching it in the theater, that's a good place to take a break when you watch it at home.
    Some of the special effects are amazing. (Minor spoilers) There's this giant white snake that looks like it came out of a Frazetta painting. There's an arena fight between multiple monsters that looks fantastic. But there's also a few CGI failures. Early on there's a scene where an AT-AT falls off a cliff, and it looks like a video game. The Hutts themselves... well, they're hit or miss. Sometimes they don't look any better than Jabba in the Star Wars Special Edition, but other times they look pretty good. It mostly depends on the lighting.
    Overall, M&G doesn't have the oomph of an actual Star Wars movie. But for fans of the show (especially the first two seasons), it's a great ride.

Super Mario Bros Movies

Picture it, Cookeville, 1993. I open up the latest issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly and learn that they're making a Super Mario Bros movie. I'm both excited and wary. Movies based on video games were almost unheard of. There were a few game-adjacent movies, like Tron, Cloak & Dagger, and The Wizard. But as far as I know (and Wikipedia agrees), there hadn't been a theatrical film directly based on an existing video game.

It sounded like a bad idea. It wasn't like the SMB games had very deep plots. But if it did well, it would open the door for better game-based movies. Like Legend of Zelda, or dare I hope... Metroid?

The movie came out in May of 1993, and it was seven kinds of awful. Arguably it was "so bad it's good," but that kind of thing varies from person to person. It was very goofy. Half the time it tried way too hard to include elements from the games, like giving them jumping shoes. But it also changed too much from the games, like making the goombas lizards.

Anyway, some people my age have fuzzy nostalgic feelings for the 1993 movie, but objectively it's pretty bad. It's not faithful enough to the games to appeal to gamers, and non-gamers would just find it a confusing waste of film. But given the source material, if you'd asked me at the time, I would have thought it was impossible to make a good SMB movie.

In 2023 they released an animated SMB movie. I thought it was okay. Harmless and forgettable, but there were a few good laughs in there. There was some controversy at the time about casting Chris Pratt as Mario, but I thought he did an okay job. Overall I'm glad I saw it, but it didn't rock my world.

Today I saw The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. It was really fun. It had lots - I mean lots- of references and Easter eggs, some pretty obscure. I don't think there's a single Mario game that doesn't get some sort of nod. There's direct references to SMB2, Super Mario Odyssey, Yoshi's Island, even Super Mario Maker. And then there's peripherals like R.O.B. and the Super Scope 6. And there's references to other games like StarFox and Metroid. With all these references, it's almost like a Nintendo version of Ready Player One.

The movie is getting its share of hate, but I'm not sure why. Sure it's kind of shallow, but the last thing I want is a deep Mario movie. Some are complaining that it messes up the canon by (spoiler alert) making Peach and Rosalina sisters. But Nintendo has declared numerous times that the Mario games don't have a canon. Mario and company are merely digital actors, which explains why Bowser's trying to kill Mario one week, then playing tennis with him the next. If you're looking for continuity in Mario games, you're paying too much attention.

Bottom line is, Super Mario Galaxy is a great time if you're a Nintendo fan. It's fun for kids, with lots of nostalgia points for video game geezers like me.

Scream 7

God, this doesn't even feel like a Scream movie. They've lost sight of everything the series was about. 

There's hardly any humor or movie references. There's one scene where one of the characters starts to talk about horror movies, and another character literally cuts them off by saying, "We don't do that anymore." I'm sure that was a nod to the fourth wall, but I have to ask: If Scream is no longer a self-referential horror snarkfest, then what sets it apart from other horror movies?

Mild spoilers ahead. So Ghostface starts killing again, what a shock. But then Sydney gets a video call from Stu Macher, taunting her and promising to come after her daughter. There are questions as to whether Stu actually survived the original film, or if it's an AI deepfake. I won't spoil that here.

It's a serviceable mystery/horror with some very explicit gore, but it lacks humor and clever dialogue. The twists aren't particularly notable, and the end reveal is underwhelming. It's also annoying how often people survive insane injuries. 

Sydney keeps telling her daughter, "Always shoot them in the head" as if Ghostface is a zombie. But she's right. People keep getting up minutes after getting shot repeatedly in the chest, while wearing clothing too tight to hide a bulletproof vest.

And for all the "rules of horror" they used to talk about, people make ridiculous decisions in this one. They've basically turned the series into a straightforward horror story, complete with all the tropes they used to reference ironically.

I don't know what this is, but it isn't Scream.

Mortal Kombat II (2026 Film)

"Best Mortal Kombat movie" isn't a very high bar, but this was just fantastic. I liked the 1995 movie at the time, but in retrospect it was mostly the novelty of it all. There weren't a lot of video game-based movies back then, and MK was one of the better ones. The sequel, MK Annihilation, was so bad it's good, or so bad it's terrible, depending on your mood.

2021's reboot was a solid film, but it wasn't very memorable. It did a serviceable job of reintroducing the characters and had some decent action, but it didn't make much of an impact on me. The best thing I can say about it is that it's "good for a Mortal Kombat movie."

I don't have to make that sort of excuse for 2026's Mortal Kombat II. It's just a fantastic movie. It's just so pretty. The fights are beautiful, with backgrounds right out of the games, but presented in the hi-def glory only Hollywood can produce. 

The plot? Look, if you're not into video game movies, this isn't going to change your mind. It's pretty goofy. But it's the best possible telling of a Mortal Kombat plot. 

Feel free to skip the 2021 film and jump straight to this one. MKII does assume you've seen the former, but it's not hard to catch up. Introducing Johnny Cage helps, since the other characters have to explain the situation to him.

Thoughts on the characters:
Kung Lao - Excellent adaptation. The special effects on his hat are great.
Johnny Cage - Since Karl Urban is the biggest name in the cast, they use him as much as possible. I like how they address his age. Urban was a bit old to play Johnny Cage, so they framed him as an aging action hero who mostly makes money from conventions now. This was a good choice.
Kitana - She was my favorite character in the movie. Her relationship with Shao Khan reminded me of Gamora and Thanos. Kitana looks and acts spot-on for the character.
Shao Khan - Perfect. His helmet looks awesome. He's truly scary, even when doing the silly moves straight out of the video game.
Baraka - I really liked him, but he was probably one of the few special effects in the movie that didn't stick the landing. His CGI mouth wasn't bad, just sort of distracting.
Jade - She looked great, and her subplot really worked for me.
Scorpion and Bi-Han - Continuing their story from the first movie, it's more of the same. It kind of feels like they were written into the movie as an afterthought, an excuse to include two of MK's most popular characters. Still, it was nice to see them again.
Shang Tsung, Sonya, Jax, Raiden, and Liu Kang - Kind of bland, but not bad. They do the job.
Quan-Chi - I've always hated him in the games, but at least he moves the plot forward here.
Cole Young - Who? They spent the entire first movie telling his story, but he barely feels like more than an extra in this one. Considering the fan backlash against him in the first movie, this may have been the best decision.

Overall, it's a decent movie, with lots of fun action, and terrific VFX. People who haven't played the games might not find much to like, but it's a wonderful treat for fans of the games.

Life is Strange: Reunion - Final Thoughts

Spoilers ahead.

That was a fitting end to Max & Chloe's story. I'm glad this is going to be the last game with these characters, but I hope the series continues with new characters.

As I suspected, this is very much an apology game. This is totally a "fans complained, so let's give them what they want" game. And if you love these characters, it's a blast.

As a one-off game, it's not great. The story is very much "Double Exposure Part 2," as well as the end of the story started by the original Life is Strange. Playing this one by itself would be like watching "Return of the Jedi" as your first Star Wars movie.

It fixes the mistakes created by the last game. But it also undoes the tragic choice you have to make in the very first game. It weaves everything back together in a way that leads to a happy - if bittersweet - ending. I don't know if I really approve of this... the original game made an impact for a reason, you had to choose between two equally tragic endings. But Reunion merges the timelines into a universe that's the best of both worlds.

The characters deserve this happy ending, finally, but it does mean that the original game loses a little of its bite. Kind of like how Spock's sacrifice in Star Trek II feels less meaningful after Star Trek III.

My biggest fear was that I'd have to choose between Max and Chloe surviving. Well, my fears were groundless. The final choice really isn't that tough. I'd say it's on par with the final choice in Before the Storm.

I think this game's most interesting mechanic is just how much extra material they had to write based on your previous choices. At the beginning of Reunion, when it asks you what you picked in the original game, I told it I sacrificed Chloe. In my playthrough of Reunion, Chloe mentions that she's supposed to be dead approximately 6,000 times. I'll have to watch a YouTube walkthrough to see the alternate dialogue. I swear it had to be like programming two entire games' worth of dialogue.

There are a lot of possible outcomes in the end. Different characters can die in the fire, and different buildings can burn down. As usual, when I looked at my post-credits stats, I saw options I never noticed when playing the through the story. Like I said, I'm going to have to watch some YouTube playthroughs.

In my ending, two main characters died - Vinh and Owen. I didn't manage to stop any of the fires, and the buildings burned down. When presented with the final choice, I lied to Max. None of these are happy events.

And yet, this game left me with warm fuzzy feelings. That feels wrong, somehow, but at this point in my life, I'll take happiness where I can find it.

Ranking the Life is Strange Games:

1. Life is Strange

2. Life is Strange: Before the Storm

3. Life is Strange: True Colors

4. Life is Strange: Reunion

5. The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit

6. Life is Strange 2

7: Life is Strange: Double Exposure

Life is Strange: Reunion - First Impressions

So, I'm about six hours into the newest Life is Strange game. So far it's a vast improvement over Double Exposure. 

An awful lot of it feels like an apology to the fans. Which can be bad. I mean, The Rise of Skywalker spent so much time trying to apologize for The Last Jedi, that it felt like it was written by a  PR committee (FTR I still loved it, but a lot of people didn't).

And Reunion does make some very obvious attempts to placate fans. It also makes a lot of "comfort references," like familiar music and legacy jokes (such as Max forgetting to water a plant).

Chloe is back. Regardless of what choices you made in the first game and Double Exposure, Chloe reappears and gets about as much screen time as Max. The writing is practically genius in the way it manages to honor all your major choices from previous games.

Like the last few games, Reunion asks upfront what choices you made in the earlier games. I've  played through LiS multiple times, so I've picked both endings. I had trouble deciding which one to tell Reunion I picked. Finally I chose "Sacrifice Chloe" because I felt it would make it that much more dramatic when Chloe showed up in Reunion.

And I was right. In fact, there's so much "You're supposed to be dead" dialogue that I'm wondering just how different the story is if you tell Reunion that you sacrificed Arcadia Bay.

Max no longer switches timelines at will like in DE. She's back to rewinding time like in the first game. And Chloe still has her backtalk from Before the Storm, though I've only gotten to use it twice so far.

There's a lot of foreshadowing, and it feels like the ending is going to be a real tearjerker. I don't know what to expect, but I know what I'm going to do if certain "Final Choices" are given.

Sacrifice Chloe vs Sacrifice Caledon University - Definitely save Chloe. It was a tough choice picking Chloe or Arcadia Bay, as it was a beautiful, charming town full of interesting people. But Caledon? Honestly I'd sacrifice Caledon for a grilled cheese sandwich.

Sacrifice Chloe vs Sacrifice Safi - Chloe wins. Safi is an annoying prankster, and even if she has good intentions (which is hard to say at this point in the game), she hasn't won my heart like Chloe.

Sacrifice Chloe vs Sacrifice Moses - Chloe wins again. Moses is a great guy, and I enjoy talking to him, but he's no Chloe.

Sacrifice Chloe vs Sacrifice Max - This is a real possibility. There are a lot of hints that Chloe is doomed, and it could turn out that the only way to save her is to eliminate the person who keeps screwing up time - that being Max herself. If it comes down to that, it's going to be a tough choice. I like Max better, but she had a good run. Chloe's never even really had a chance at life. I'll cross that road when I get to it.

Sacrifice Belgian Waffle vs Sacrifice Bacon Omelette - Oh, I don't know if my heart could handle it.

I'll write more when I finish the game. I'm trying not to play too much in one day, as I'm old and gaming hurts my back. But I'm also trying to get through this game before I start seeing spoilers. I doubt I'll finish the game today, but I should have it done by the end of the week.