A supposedly great thing that I'll never watch again- Great media that left you cold

[Retreater]

Yeah she has the DVD. Mentioned it last night.

Nooooooooloo

Retrogaming time I've dug out the PSP and GBA to play Megadrive/Genesis RPGs.

Mine will want to watch it, but then spend most of the time on her phone watching dog videos ... which is what happened last night during "Christmas with the Kranks."
I don't particularly like this time of year. I don't feel festive. I don't want to hang out with my family or decorate. Just let it pass.

 

[Zardnaar]

This is going to hard to explain, but it's top-of-the-mind awareness for me right now ----

Tomb Raider


But maybe not in the way you think.

So, I'm just finishing the 2013 reboot of Tomb Raider . . . . Yeah, I know, it's been 7 years, so sue me. I'm a mid-40s family man with a career in financial technology, it's not like I have all the time in the world to game these days.

And there's just so much wrong with this game --- the completely out-of-context, over-the-top violence of the protagonist. The rampant misogyny evidenced in the deplorable plot. The entire lack of enough actual, you know, tombs to explore.

Despite my age, I never got into the "original" Tomb Raider games (basically, TR:1 through TR:6) back in the late '90s, mostly because I never owned a PlayStation and the PC versions were kind of crap.


But I completely fell in love with the "minor reboot" versions that came out in the mid-2000s --- Tomb Raider: Legend, Tomb Raider: Anniversary, and Tomb Raider: Underworld (though Underworld was a total rush job with a million things to nitpick).


However, my enjoyment was never really about the character of Lara Croft as protagonist. I liked the games because they strongly emphasized exploration as their primary function. The fighting/violence, while still present, was de-emphasized and mostly in the background.

So it's one of those things where if someone were to ask me, "Do you like Tomb Raider?" I kind of have to respond with lots of caveats and provisos.

"Well, yes, but really only this one, small, niche part of the entire franchise, basically 2 (or 2.5) of the video games that came along in the middle of its run. The first two movies were amusingly forgettable at best and laughable at worst. The third movie (2018) was a little better, but still wasted most of its initial promise with an absolutely horrible last 1/3 of the film. I don't really care about any of the games prior to 2006, and don't really care about any of them after 2013. But, yeah, I guess I still sort of like Tomb Raider?"

I liked the new Tomb Raiders but not the old ones so go figure.

Lara's over the top death scenes a bit brutal though.

 

[Dave Goff]

Sin City - I recognize it for an excellently crafted piece of art... that I just find ugly.

This is a thing for me- I often can recognize the hows and whys of something being great, and yet it still holds no interest to me whatsoever. Sin City is a great example.

And the other side applies as well- I recognize Supernatural is terrible, and yet I watched the whole damn thing. I know it's bad but that means I don't have much in the way of expectations while watching it.

 

[Retreater]

So it's one of those things where if someone were to ask me, "Do you like Tomb Raider?" I kind of have to respond with lots of caveats and provisos.

"Well, yes, but really only this one, small, niche part of the entire franchise, basically 2 (or 2.5) of the video games that came along in the middle of its run. The first two movies were amusingly forgettable at best and laughable at worst. The third movie (2018) was a little better, but still wasted most of its initial promise with an absolutely horrible last 1/3 of the film. I don't really care about any of the games prior to 2006, and don't really care about any of them after 2013. But, yeah, I guess I still sort of like Tomb Raider?"

This is how I feel about being a fan of Star Wars. I end up loving a few movies while disliking much of the rest. It's hard to be a fan of something and ... well, being discerning about what you like and not loving EVERYTHING about the franchise.

 

[Morrus]

I liked it but it didn't grab me enough to go further.

There’s no book called Discworld. What did you read?

I mean, I didn’t get on with the Clone Wars cartoon, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like Star Wars. It’s all different.

 

[Zardnaar]

There’s no book called Discworld. What did you read?

I mean, I didn’t get on with the Clone Wars cartoon, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like Star Wars. It’s all different.

I think it was his first one. Read it circa 1993 maybe 94.

 

[Morrus]

I think it was his first one. Read it circa 1993 maybe 94.

The Colour of Magic? Yeah, same story. That book isn’t good. Try a different one. There’s 40 of them!

 

[innerdude]

This is how I feel about being a fan of Star Wars. I end up loving a few movies while disliking much of the rest. It's hard to be a fan of something and ... well, being discerning about what you like and not loving EVERYTHING about the franchise.

I need my Slack icons --- :1000%: :truestory:

Completely, totally relate. I'm much the same with Star Wars. Like . . . I think I've finally come to the conclusion, that I just really don't care about Anakin Skywalker. Like, at all. His whole story of how he "became" Darth Vader is the least interesting elements of the entire franchise. I simply do . . . not . . . care.

So that immediately removes Episodes 1-3, and all of Clone Wars from "Star Wars stuff Innerdude cares about."

Original trilogy, obviously still a big thumbs up.

At first watch, the "Disney" trilogy was mildly entertaining, but they don't hold up at all under the scrutiny of a 2nd or 3rd viewing. Force Awakens is still kind of a fun romp, if utterly derivative, but I've rapidly soured on Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker. Considering the history, lore, and available material they had to work with, Last Jedi and RoS represent the worst sci-fi filmmaking per dollar spent in cinematic history.

I don't really care about most of the "Old Republic" era stuff. When did the first KOTOR come out, 2002? 2003? Yep, started it three times, never finished it.

I couldn't care less about any of the Star Wars MMORPGs.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Thrawn novel trilogy. I enjoyed some of the "extended universe" novels --- the Jedi Academy trilogy and the Black Fleet Crisis were decent. The Coruscant Nights trilogy is my favorite Star Wars novel series, and it only involves a single original trilogy character, and even that only tagentially.

The Mandalorian and Rebels are both awesome. My 3 oldest daughters love both shows.

Any and all of the Kyle Katarn video games (Dark Forces / Jedi Knight / Jedi Outcast / Jedi Academy) are awesome.

And other than Rogue One, Jedi: Fallen Order is the best thing to happen to the Star Wars universe since the Empire Strikes Back.

 

[Zardnaar]

I need my Slack icons --- :1000%: :truestory:

Completely, totally relate. I'm much the same with Star Wars. Like . . . I think I've finally come to the conclusion, that I just really don't care about Anakin Skywalker. Like, at all. His whole story of how he "became" Darth Vader is the least interesting elements of the entire franchise. I simply do . . . not . . . care.

So that immediately removes Episodes 1-3, and all of Clone Wars from "Star Wars stuff Innerdude cares about."

Original trilogy, obviously still a big thumbs up.

I don't really care about most of the "Old Republic" era stuff. When did the first KOTOR come out, 2002? 2003? Yep, started it three times, never finished it.

I couldn't care less about any of the Star Wars MMORPGs.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Thrawn novel trilogy. I enjoyed some of the "extended universe" novels --- the Jedi Academy trilogy and the Black Fleet Crisis were decent. The Coruscant Nights trilogy is my favorite Star Wars novel series, and it only involves a single original trilogy character, and even that only tagentially.

The Mandalorian and Rebels are both awesome. My 3 oldest daughters love both shows.

Any and all of the Kyle Katarn video games (Dark Forces / Jedi Knight / Jedi Outcast / Jedi Academy) are awesome.

And other than Rogue One, Jedi: Fallen Order is the best thing to happen to the Star Wars universe since the Empire Strikes Back.

Jedi Academy and Black Fleet crisis aren't that well regarded they're OK there's a lot worse. Enjoyed them at the time.

Thrawn trilogy is really popular amount legends crowd.

It's much like anything legends or the new cannon is a mixed bag. Most of the good EU stuff doesn't revolve around the Skywalker's the Thrawn Trilogy/Duplogy the odd one out.

I think I like Rebels better than The Mandalorian because season 1 was spotty. Rebels is consistent right through out. If Mandalorian keeps up it's quality though it will displace Rebels.

Might be biased though did Rebels and Mando rewatch liked Rebels even more.

 

[Morrus]

Jedi Academy and Black Fleet crisis aren't that well regarded they're OK there's a lot worse. Enjoyed them at the time.

Thrawn trilogy is really popular amount legends crowd.

It's much like anything legends or the new cannon is a mixed bag. Most of the good EU stuff doesn't revolve around the Skywalker's the Thrawn Trilogy/Duplogy the odd one out.

I think I like Rebels better than The Mandalorian because season 1 was spotty. Rebels is consistent right through out. If Mandalorian keeps up it's quality though it will displace Rebels.

Might be biased though did Rebels and Mando rewatch liked Rebels even more.

Eh. Rebels is pretty dire. Lots of bouncy people.