The first Pacific Rim? It was ok, but nothing spectacular. Basically lots of giant robot bashing, but with a rather dull main character.

Eh, sounds like a hard pass.

I watched the first episode of Hollywood Weapons: Fact or Fiction on Netflix. It was cool. I like Terry Schappert from his other shows, like Warriors. He is always cool. This show takes things from movies and tv and sees if they would really work or not.

The episode I watched was about shooting a Glock underwater to break through a car windshield, and then double tap someone inside. It was neat. They got into the physics of fluids, and not only how that would slow down a bullet underwater, but also the hammer striking the primer. Then they went and tried it out for real.

The Glock did fire three times underwater. But it could not penetrate the windshield. It was just slowed down too much by the water. Then they tried a .357 Magnum. It wouldn't fire in double action mode. The hammer made a light strike every time, and did not ignite the primer in the bullets. It did fire single action (with the hammer manually cocked back). But it still did not make it through the windshield.

Then they tried with a .454 Casull. As you might expect, it did penetrate the windshield. But the shock waves caused by just one shot were so crushing that Terry wouldn't try it a second time. I don't blame him.

I see there are other episodes about movies like Die Hard, Jaws, The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, etc... There is even a Terry vs. The Gorn episode, which I imagine is about him trying to make an adhoc gun.

Terry Schappert hosted Deadliest Warrior, yeah?

*edit* nope nevermind. Khajiit knows this name but can’t remember what show.

It was just called Warriors. Every episode explored the warrior society of a different culture. It was very cool.

Ok yeah, Khajiit vaguely remembers this. Seems like he actually went to their villages and took part in customs their warriors do.

Back to the Future. Now Khajiit has an itch to play some Fallout.

To get inspiration for Ylenno and his backstory, I’m watching/watched several Japanese movies today, dealing with several themes. After them, I’m going to hit up a couple of western crime films, probably The Departed and/or Scarface.

1. パッチギ！ / Break Thought. A 2004 masterpiece set in the 1960s, dealing with a Japanese high schooler falling in love with a Korean flutist when he visits her school, who just so happens to be the little sister of her high school’s most notorious and violent gang leader. It’s ridiculously brave for the themes it tackled; not only does it deal with young romance with a side dose of comedy, it also incorporates War, commentaries on World Politics (Cold War etc), the idea of Peace and most of all Race. I heartily recommend you guys to watch it; it’s a must watch. It doesn’t pull any punches. I’m on my second watch.

2. Outrage 1, Outrage 2. I’m kinda meh on this duo. Sure, it’s a well made gangster film starring Beat Takeshi but at the end of the day, there’s really no firm messages it can convey beyond the usual Loyalty, Bravery, the nature of Revenge and Greed etc. Really I’m just watching it for Takeshi lol

Can’t really help you with Japanese films, but as for western ones there are several that may contain something you can use. You already mentioned two good ones, and Khajiit thinks Goodfellas deserves another watch. Also maybe try Blow, Sicario (Khajiit hasn’t seen this one but has heard good things), and maybe even the Godfather films. Ooh Training Day too. You mentioned race above, so maybe also check out American History X.

BWAHAHA! Apart from Blow and Sicario, I’ve watched all of what you’ve mentioned! But thank you though, for reminding me; now the list has several things added to it and this is going to be a fuuuuuuuun watch. Thinking of adding in Denzel’s American Gangster and di Caprio’s Gangs of New York to the mix as well.

Khajiit really likes Gangs of New York. Mainly because DDL was so frickin’ good as Bill. Haven’t seen American Gangster.

And just for fun, throw in Boondock Saints. Movie is awesome though it’s not about being a gangster, it does deal with some of those elements.

Gah!! You could also add Tarantino classics Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, and the Kill Bill films. Ok, Khajiit will stop now.

MY GOD! DDL as The Butcher legit scared me senseless when I watched it as a kid; the way he just absolutely mauled that Irish guy with his own mallet and the easygoing manner with which he could cut someone up ... AMAZING! I’m definitely adding some layers of his character into one of mine that I’ve been cooking up. And yet another series of new additions join the list! Can never go too wrong with Crazy Tarantino!



Anyway, after hours upon hours of watching several movies, I find myself watching Zatoichi. Somebody was kind enough to post several of them in YouTube. NOICE

Oh hey, thought of another one that is a bit different but still might have some value for your research: A Clockwork Orange.

I'm watching the classic Sci-Fi movie Dune on the Playstation One S .

The one with Sting? That was cool.

Yep as well as Al from Quantum Leap, Picard from Star Trek and Agent Cooper from Twin Peaks...oh and a Pug.

I have been watching the new season of Luke Cage. One thing I really like about this show is how they use music. Every episode usually gives a spotlight to a really talented musician. Most of it is hip hop, which does nothing for me. But I still like how they work it into the series. There has been some really awesome blues lately though (as those haunting the Music thread may have noticed). I don't think I have seen a tv series featuring so many real musical acts since Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Dagestani Basketball, which isn’t really basketball so much as a hybrid between rugby, basketball, football and goddamned wrestling. They don’t dribble, they pass the ball like it’s handball, they don’t have any boundaries and grappling matches happen in the middle of the goddamned court, takedowns and submissions and all.

I love it.

So if it’s just a big melee, why bother with ball?

To shoot it through the basket lol

It’s actually pretty fun, I think I’m going to incorporate it to my stories hahah

Ooh like a variation of the Mayan ballgame! That would be cool! It’s like a mash up of soccer and basketball with the added fun of ritual sacrifice at the end!

Watched about the middle to the end of 30 Days of Night last night. Easily one of Khajiit’s favorite vampire fliks. No mopey vampires pondering their cursed existence or trying to date high school girls, just straight up monstrous killers. This one prefers the way the graphic novel told the story as some of the details were changed in the screen adaptation, but still, a definite repair to the damage done to the vampire’s image by the likes of Twilight.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit on Vice!

She's not bad, she just drawn that way!

That is the only line I remember from that movie,

Me too!

The book which the film is based on is completely different.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit What's the Difference .

Bone snapping mishaps on the grappling mats.

I can’t help it, I’m sickened but curious.

Just finished the second season of Luke Cage. It was good, but not as good as the first season. The ending is kind of disappointing. Though I was glad to see Mariah and Shades finally get what was coming to them.

I also finally saw the new Jumanji movie. It was good. It was not just a rehash or even continuation of the original with Robin Williams. It was entirely its own story, though there was one nod to Robin William's character. I liked that it was a video game this time, and that it followed video game conventions, like NPCs, player lives, etc...

I am watching the American Pie movies again. Still a ton of fun, lots of wacky shenanigans, and a heart of gold underneath.

I watched about half of the Doom movie. Wow, The Rock was really baby-faced back then. He looked smaller too.

Hey I remember that movie! The part where it cuts to a FPS was dope!

A stream of gifs in which people are doing dumb [censored] and get hurt in the process!

Khajiit can be mean spirited, not gonna lie.

As a mother = really hard to watch some of these! My sons were always doing wild stuff with skateboards and bikes; I had to keep 911 on speed-dial.

The guy at the end who tried to jump in the river but landed on the bar...ouch!!!

The worst ones for Khajiit are when animals are involved. This one admits he did lol when the dog ran in front of the inflatable going down the water slide.

YouTube has a lot of this sort of thing, but I've not seen these particular clips before.

Some of them are priceless. Like the one where that kid Liu Kang kicks that other kid in the face! And the lady in the background can only sit there with her hands over her mouth in horror! Hilarious!!

Watching an interesting series on Netflix called Dark Tourist. It’s a docuseries about the travels of a New Zealandish journalist as he explores “dark tourist” locations. These places include serial killer tours, exploring irradiated areas from nuclear disasters or weapons testing, and abandoned cities.

I just saw a vid of "Repercussions of Killing Father in Fallout 4" = has anyone else noticed that baby Sean being held in that glass pen looks exactly like Todd Howard? I think they are even the same size!

Has he tried coming to Detroit yet?


I spent the last 3 days watching Seven Samurai again. It is so long, that I find it best to watch in pieces over several days. I still love it. In fact, I think I enjoyed it more than the last time I watched it, about 4 years ago.

What really struck me this time was the fight scenes. They are not at all glamorous or made to look wild or cool like modern action films (especially Asian action films, with all the people flying around though the air). Instead it is ugly, dirty, and messy. Crawling through the mud while be chased by a pack of angry peasants, until one of them sinks a bamboo spear in your back. Being dragged down from a horse and likewise set upon by a horde of farmers with shovels, rakes, sickles, and the like. There is nothing at all cool about being a bandit here, or a samurai.

One of Khajiit’s all time favorite films.

Just watched a faux documentary called What We Do in the Shadows on Amazon Prime Video. It follows a group of vampires as they deal with some of the problems of living in a modern day city. Really funny stuff!

The second gif of that girl in the beach is actually intentional. She’s the same girl who makes videos of herself publicly tripping over herself in ridiculous and realistic fashion.

Stumbled on Pompeii Virtual Walk in 4k at YouTube yesterday, of which I'll link part one. Very impressive. Super video quality even at "lowly" 1080p. (It can be viewed as high as 2160p.) Just a fellow walking the streets of Pompeii, entering many of its individual buildings. As with my TpF episodes commentary is confined to text narrative. No music other than briefly at the beginning. Doesn't need those bells and whistles in my opinion. I'm on episode five. Not sure how many more there are. At least one. You can bet I'll watch 'em all however many there are.

I'm no traveler at all. Yet had I the resources and inclination to travel Pompeii would easily make my Top-10 list of places to see.

The "Virtual" part made me expect the walk to be through a simulation of the original, rather than a real walk through the current ruins. Still a decent job done, even if the hype failed.

I wish he would have paused when he was writing something across the screen so I wouldn't miss seeing something to read what he had written. I also wish he had gone just a bit slower and taken a closer look at the architecture and materials these buildings were built with. I also wish he had made this vid at mid-day when the lighting wouldn't have been so bad for filming. The shadows covered a lot of the viewing in darkness.

Pompeii has always fascinated me; even as a child the story of it and pictures of the excavations. Like you, it was always a place I wanted to see if the opportunity arose (which unfortunately, it never did). How I would have loved to have been an archeologist on that dig when they unearthed that city!

Those streets are amazing; just so perfectly made and preserved! And to think how long it has been and how much these structures have withstood and are still standing = amazing!