It's 2025 and we're blogging again. There is where you'll get the updates to the store, to the podcast, and whatever Francis is reading/watching this week. So lets dive in
WATCHING
Boy Kills World (2023)
A deaf/mute boy is raised in the woods by a mysterious Shaman to topple the totalitarian regime which controls everyone's lives.
Bill Skarsgard has the misfortune of having a much more popular older brother actor, but manages to carve his own way through media, focusing on horror and action movies. You may have first seen him in the 2017 version of Stephen King's It, playing Pennywise the clown. You'll also see him in John Wick 4, Nosferatu, and the very unnecessary reboot of The Crow.
Boy Kills world has a lot of elements you would expect from a movie about dystopia and ultra violence. Close up action scenes, lots of blood, and plenty of body horror, all narrated by H. Jon Benjamin (the voice of Archer and Bob from Bob's Burgers)
One thing I will point out is this movie is going against the action film "everything in sepia" color tones you'll see in bigger movies. The color, the music, and the fighting are all wrapped up very well in a movie that doesn't overstay it's welcome. I would also recommend Guns Akimbo for the same reasons, except you have Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) as the lead.
READING
Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens)
I've seen numerous version of this story, the Muppet one being a favorite of course. But I've never read the book itself. I have wanted to read Dickens since I was never forced to in school, but the man wrote tomes and I have to say it was a bit intimidating. I don't mind a large book, but being written in the 1800s is almost like a different language. Terms like "Like a bad lobster in a dark cellar" both confused and intrigued me. (lobsters would give off a phosperous glow when spoiling in a cellar)
If you're Dickens curious, A Christmas Carol is a story you already know and it's not very long. You aren't missing any of the story by not reading it, but you do miss the prose and composure. No one writes like Dickens now, and that has it's ups and downs, but the story is now a part of the zietgeist and you should read it. If only to say that yes, the Muppets did it best but I have read the book because I am an adult!
Death Note (2003)
I am still deciding if my subscription to Shonen Jump was a good idea or not. Originally I got it to catch up with Chainsaw man, but I've mostly lost the plot there. I've dipped my toe into Dandandan and One Punch Man, but Death Note is the one I'm plowing through right now. Not because I think it's great, but just the desire to see what they're gonna do with it next. I haven't finished it yet, so no spoilers.
Death Note leans heavily on internal dialog of the main characters. Part of me want's to call this a mystery, but the reader isn't given any clues to mull over for a few weeks before it comes back around to being important. Maybe this is because these are released as a serial once a week and it's harder to carry those clues over a month. Maybe it's just not what the authors wanted to do with it.
Once I've finished the series I'll do my usual deep dive into the author interviews/Subreddit posts. I watched the first couple episodes of the Anime and I wasn't hooked. I see there's a live action version as well that I might try.
Manga is weird and different which is why I like it