I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (PC)

Back in 1995, developers Cyberdreams and The Dreamers Guild released a video game adaptation of one of Harlan Ellison’s most famous short stories, I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (IHNMAIMS), cited as one of the ten most reprinted stories in the English language. This adaptation, written and designed in collaboration with Ellison himself, would receive positive reviews and develop enough of a cult following over time that Nightdive Studios would later remaster the game for modern systems in 2013, followed by a console port in 2025. Admittedly, although I had known about the short story for the longest time, I finally checked it out after learning that a series that I like, The Amazing Digital Circus, took inspiration from it. Naturally, this also led me to playing the video game, which, for the sake of this review, I’ll mention was through the Nightdive release on Steam with all patches up to this point applied. There is some jank in the game’s design, especially one originally intended to have no win state, but it’s still worth checking out for how well it builds on the original story.

Second Opinion - Toy Story

Note: This review contains spoilers for Toy Story.

Back in 1995, years before the studio tied the knot with Disney, Pixar made history with Toy Story, the first ever completely CGI animated film. Its impact on the animation industry, for better or worse, cannot be understated, as it revolutionized the medium and opened up more of its potential. The most impressive thing about the film, however, isn’t that it spawned an ongoing multimedia franchise or made a lasting mark on pop culture through iconic characters and moments, but that even over 30 years later, despite the animation showing its age, it still holds up as one of the studio’s best films and among the best that the medium has to offer.

Stubs - A Farewell to Arms (1932)

A Farewell to Arms (1932) Starring Helen Hayes, Gary Cooper, Adolphe Menjou. Director Frank Borzage. Screenplay by Benjamin Glazer, Oliver H. P. Garrett. Based on the novel A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway (New York, 1929) and the play of the same name by Laurence Stallings (New York, 22 Sep 1930). Produced by Benjamin Glazer (Associated Producer) Run time: 90 minutes. Black and White. USA Drama

As a writer, you’re often advised to write what you know, and the novel A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, may be a good example. Responding to an International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement recruitment effort, an 18-year-old Hemingway signed to be an ambulance driver with the American Red Cross Motor Corps in Italy. Within two months of landing in Italy, Hemingway was badly wounded in mortar fire and would spend six months recovering in the Red Cross hospital in Milan, where he fell in love with a nurse, Agnes von Kurowsky, seven years his senior. The two would become engaged but she would break off the engagement after Hemingway came back to the States. That experience would be the basis for his third novel, A Farewell to Arms first serialized in Scribner's Magazine (May-Oct, 1929).

Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)

Sequels seem inevitable after a successful game release, especially for a series as popular as Super Mario. What makes Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Galaxy 2) stand out, however, is that it was originally intended as an updated version of the original Super Mario Galaxy (Galaxy) called Super Mario Galaxy More, but there was enough new content that the development team turned it into a full sequel. When Galaxy 2 released for the Nintendo Wii in 2010, it garnered instant acclaim, with many considering it on par with or even better than the original and became one of the best-selling titles for the system (though it would still fall a few million units short of the original). Since I played the original Galaxy in anticipation of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, I continued my journey with Galaxy 2, this time through the original Wii release via the Wii U’s backwards compatibility. While it did deserve the praise it had received, I felt more mixed about the presentation overall compared with its predecessor.

Stubs - The Sheep Detectives

The Sheep Detectives (2026) starring Hugh Jackman, Nicholas Braun, Nicholas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, Hong Chau, Emma Thompson; voices: Brett Goldstein, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Chris O’Dowd, Regina Hall, Patrick Stewart. Directed by Kyle Balda. Screenplay by Craig Mazin. Based on Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann. Produced by Lindsay Doran, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner. Run Time: 109 minutes. Color. USA/UK Comedy, Mystery.

I’m a big fan of mysteries, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of one in which a flock of sheep help solve a murder. But that’s the plot of The Sheep Detectives, a new film that’s currently in release. And, while it may sound far-fetched, the film is very much worth watching, and in fact, I’m looking forward to seeing it again.

The Devil Wears Prada 2

In a more risk-averse post-pandemic Hollywood climate, decades-long gaps between movie sequels are more common. This is especially true for films under the Disney umbrella, with The Devil Wears Prada 2 (distributed by 20th Century Studios) strutting down the runway 20 years after the original The Devil Wears Prada from 2006. Despite the passage of time between productions affecting both the returning cast and the world that their characters inhabit, this is one case where the using the same passionate crew results in a follow-up that manages to stand with the original as a natural next step rather than fall painfully short.

Stubs - The Devil Wears Prada

The Devil Wears Prada (2006) starring Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci, Emily Blunt, Simon Baker. Directed by David Frankel. Screenplay by Aline Brosh McKenna. Based on The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger.  Produced by Wendy Finerman. Run time: 109 minutes. Color. USA. Comedy, Drama

Lauren Weisberger was 26 when she turned her experience as an assistant to Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour into a book. The best-selling novel, The Devil Wears Prada, spent six months on New York Times's bestseller list. Fox bought the rights to the novel even before it was finished. Carla Hacken, then the studio's executive vice president, had only seen the first hundred pages of the manuscript and an outline for the rest of the plot.

As is common practice in Hollywood, four screenwriters worked on the property. Peter Hedges wrote the first draft; another writer passed. Paul Rudnick did some work on Miranda's scenes, followed by a Don Roos rewrite. Aline Brosh McKenna produced a draft that struck a balance for Finerman and Frankel, whose notes were incorporated into a final version, rearranging the plot significantly, and focusing the story on the conflict between Andy and Miranda.

Meryl Streep was not the first choice for Miranda. She was initially not considered because no one knew she could be funny. Before her, Michelle Pfeiffer, Glenn Close, and Catherine Zeta-Jones were considered before her. Signing Streep allowed Fox to greenlight the project.