River City Girls 2 (PS5)

Three years after the release of River City Girls (RCG), a game that I really enjoyed once I finally tried it out, WayForward released a direct sequel, simply titled River City Girls 2 (RCG2). The lead-up to it felt exciting, with some hype centered around the six playable characters and, later, the ability to play as Jimmy and Billy Lee from the Double Dragon series. There was even a Gallery Nucleus event that I attended where some of the people involved, including artist REM, talked about some of the choices they made for the game. However, my own enthusiasm waned as I had made the mistake of ordering the game from Limited Run (the version with the soundtrack), so I didn’t get around to finally playing it until recently due to other game releases and events coming up in the meantime. Now that I finally have, it feels bad for me to say that, in spite of the general improvements and positive reception the game received overall, it still felt like a letdown compared to the original in the places where it mattered.

The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act

Note: This review contains spoilers for The Amazing Digital Circus Episodes 1-8.

When Glitch Productions released the pilot episode for The Amazing Digital Circus (TADC), created by Gooseworx, back in 2023, no one could have predicted its viral popularity. As someone who had watched the series since day one, it was interesting seeing that popularity grow in real time to the point that it had a very packed panel at San Diego Comic-Con and the series finale would receive a limited theatrical release via Fathom Events starting two weeks before the official YouTube premiere. Naturally, I secured tickets to the opening weekend as soon as I found out about it so that I could witness a historical event in indie animation for myself. Although this finale did get leaked onto the internet ahead of the screening, I went in spoiler-free following a series rewatch and, as per Glitch’s instructions, I will not spoil the finale in return. However, I am allowed to share my thoughts on it, so here’s why I felt that The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act (The Last Act) felt fitting, but imperfect.

Mortal Kombat II (Film)

Note: This review contains spoilers for Mortal Kombat (2021).

Back in 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Warner Bros. released their first film in a rebooted Mortal Kombat film series, simply titled Mortal Kombat (MK). As this release occurred as part of a day-and-date theatrical and streaming film slate for that year, I watched it through HBO Max and liked it enough (with a much more positive view on a rewatch), though I was unsure if it would ever materialize. Sure enough, this year saw the release of Mortal Kombat II (MKII), which received a better critical response (64% on Rotten Tomatoes vs 55% for the original), though with a shaky box office return that may put the prospect of a third film in jeopardy. Nevertheless, I actually watched this one in a theater, albeit a few weeks late, and walked away wishing for the potential third film.

Second Look - Toy Story 2

Note: This review contains spoilers for Toy Story 1 and 2.

Following the success of the original Toy Story film, Disney desired to capitalize on it with a sequel, developing one themselves for the direct-to-video market. When the project, Toy Story 2, was upgraded to a theatrical release, Pixar were unsatisfied with what had been made and were given permission to overhaul it themselves, but they only had nine months to do the whole thing due to Disney not wanting to budge on the 1999 release date. While I was too young to see the original Toy Story when it first came out in a theater, I was old enough to see Toy Story 2 this way, and many of its themes and contributions to Toy Story canon stuck with me well into adulthood. Looking back on it, where the original Toy Story has held up as a timeless classic, Toy Story 2 has managed to solidify itself as another classic in its own right thanks to its strong writing and well-handled themes.

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).