The Monthly Review, March and April '24
It's still monthly, it just took more months than usual this time
30 Apr 2024
Like a bolt from the blue, it’s time for The Monthly Review! I’ve been in a bit of a writer’s slump lately so I didn’t do one last month, so instead we’re just going to treat March and April as one big month. We can call it Marpril or Aprich, whichever sounds most appealing to you. Some of the reviews are longer this time around, which I hope makes up for brief hiatus.
Midnight Grand Orchestra - Starpeggio 🎧
Release Year: 2023, Genre: J-Pop
Midnight Grand Orchestra is the joint project between Vtuber and J-Pop singer Hoshimachi Suisei and composer TAKU INOUE, and Starpeggio is their second and latest album. The last couple music reviews I feel like I spent more time waxing poetic about the artist or the context I’m viewing the album in. There’s going to be none of that shit here, I just want to tell you about how good this album is.
The debut Midnight Grand Orchestra album Overture was good but it never really clicked for me in the same way that Suisei’s solo stuff did. Her first solo album Still Still Stellar is one of my favourite albums of all time, so it’s a hard bar to live up to, but Overture just felt like it lacked something - that instant connection, a special spark, just wasn’t there. I’m happy to say that Starpeggio has that spark and then some.
The visual aesthetics of the album are so good, I bought the physical disc and it just looks so cool dude
Nearly every song on this is an absolute banger. There’s fantastic maximalist production across the album from TAKU which I absolutely adore. There’s all these big sound effects and overlapping instrumentals that remind me of the mid 2010s Asian pop bangers that you can’t help but want to dance to. Suisei’s vocals match that maximalism so well, like despite all the cool shit going on in the background she still stands out.
My only complaint about the album is that it’s only 25 minutes long but with something this well crafted, that feels like a fake complaint tbh. If you want high quality J-Pop bangers, please check this album out.
Dark Souls Remastered 🎮
Release Year: 2018, Genre: Action RPG/Souls-like, Platform: PC
I did it, I finally beat a Souls game. I’m a capital G Gamer now. Despite their widespread popularity in both the wider world and my friend groups, I’d never tried any Souls type games before. I’m not really too sure why - the reputation of being these mega hard games was kinda off-putting but also I’ve played hard games before. I think I just had to be in the right mood and mindset before I delved in. That finally hit this year, and boy am I kicking myself for not playing this sooner.
I absolutely adored my time with Dark Souls. It clicked with me on so many different levels it’s hard to write about it in a meaningful way without it feeling like me going “oh my god what a game tho right”, but I’ll give it a shot anyway. One of my favourite things about the game was the atmosphere it creates. It has such a strong identity, from the visual aesthetics to the soundtrack which is used sparingly but still nails the mood for every location and fight perfectly. It’s hard to not get immersed in everything despite the aging graphics (which I think still look good but I’m also someone who plays Oblivion and goes “this is peak visuals”). One particular moment that comes to mind was arriving in Anor Londo and seeing the cathedrals for the first time. That shit just looked gorgeous god damn.
The reveal of Anor Londo is pretty up there for my most memorable moments in gaming I reckon.
Another thing I really enjoyed was the combat, which is good because otherwise I would have been in for a bad time. I love the weight behind everything and how you have to commit to each attack, or at least you have to while you’re using a two handed sword or a big hammer. It forced me to slow down and think about how I was going to approach a fight because I couldn’t just go in and wing it, I’d be out of stamina in no time and then I’d be dead. I also love that despite the fact that I had to commit to my hits, it didn’t stop me from being able to take risks and being greedy during fights. It all just felt so well balanced and I never felt like I was forced to play one particular way to win.
I mentioned before that the game has a reputation for being a super difficult game, but after playing it, I think it’s been exaggerated quite a lot. It’s by no means easy, but it’s not some crazy hardcore experience either. As soon as you realise that dying is the expected state for most of your first encounters, and that the game is built around that, things make a lot of sense and flows well. There are some difficulty spikes for a first timer, usually centred around the bosses, but you just gotta try and try again. I will say though, Sen’s Fortress was a very mean area of the game and just felt fucked up to go through. If you think it’s hard well then I’m right there with you.
Civil War 🎬
Release Year: 2024, Genre: War Drama(?)
I think Civil War is a totally fine movie. It’s bang on average, 3 stars, it’s a passing grade - whatever euphemism you want to use to describe totally fine, it’s that. It’s got a really solid main cast, especially with Kirsten Dunst as Lee Smith, the jaded expert photographer. It does a great job with creating tense scenes where you feel like everyone is one wrong word from getting a bullet in them and the movie being over. I also like the unexpected premise of it actually being a road trip movie and I’m surprised I hadn’t seen the concept of “journalists go on a road trip to get their big story” before.
That being said, as much as I like the concept, I think the way it was being used was detrimental to the movie. By far, the highlight of the movie are all the interactions with random Americans they meet along the way. They offer these short insights into what’s actually going on in the world and you get to see how the war’s affected the people in it. That feels like a cool angle to have, especially considering the group are all journalists and you’d think they might want to document a bit more than just a couple of photos, but they move on so quickly that you don’t get a lot of depth to the scenes.
Jesse Plemons’ scene in the movie is probably the best one. I love when this guy show up in anything, he just always nails it.
I understand though, the focus of the movie is more on the journalists’ journey to Washington which also serves as the rookie photographer Jessie’s journey into becoming a full fledged photojournalist, as well as Lee becoming more disillusioned with her career and it’s impact. The intimate moments shared between them where they’re able to reflect on what’s happened to them and their country are just as important (but not as good) as the interactions with their fellow Americans along the way. I think the movie does a good enough job of that and I appreciate that it’s the intention of the movie. The world at large does not matter too much, the Civil War is more of a backdrop than it is point of the movie.
Given that, imagine my surprise when the final act of the film goes full military action movie and focuses on the siege of Washington and the White House. Everything that defined what the movie was gets put aside, and we’re left with bunch of soldiers yelling and shooting, big explosions (that don’t look very good tbh) and helicopters flying everywhere. Sure, the main cast is there alongside the action, and there’s sparks of character moments like Jessie now being so brazen with her photography that she has to get told multiple times to stay back by soldiers. But it just feels so out of place and such a let down.
🚨 SPOILER WARNING 🚨
I’m about to talk about the actual ending, so if you don’t want to get completely spoiled, skip the next paragraph!
I think I’d rather the ending be either a bad interview with the President which isn’t newsworthy at all, or even that they get told they’re too late and that the siege has happened, the President’s dead and it’s all been for nothing. That way you can actually have the cast reflect on if the cost of their journey (and by extension their careers) was worth it. I think that would at least feel like something you can think about you know? I guess the actual ending can be read as the cycle begins anew with Jessie taking Lee’s place after her self sacrifice, and maybe that she’s going to go through the exact same thing that Lee went through, but I think that’s probably reading into something that isn’t really in the text.
Overall, I’d say Civil War lacks a lot of substance. It’s not like it’s got no meat on the bones, I just feel like there’s so much more that could be done with the premise and the world that it feels like what they did do just isn’t enough for me. The core of the movie isn’t bad, and I think it’s enjoyable, but to me it just feels like a missed opportunity.