This post won’t be about how President Donald Trump is in the process of grabbing the enemies and friends of the USA by the p*ssy. Iran is just the latest country that Trump has grabbed by the p*ssy. Trump’s p*ssy-grabbing has been rather epic in his second term as president. Of course, Canada is just one of the countries that Trump grabbed by p*ssy recently. Since Trump is an American business man, he has knowledge of how to deal with people and how to get what he wants. I don’t remember when was the last time when I made a post about the films that I got to see recently. It was probably about two years ago. Well, since there are some films that are worth mentioning now, I’ll make a post about them at this time. A new release that I enjoyed watching the most recently is Avatar: Fire And Ash (2025). When Avatar: The Way Of Water (2022) was released in theaters, I wasn’t in the mood to go and see films in theaters. Therefore, I got to see few new films in that year and probably in the two years before that year and in the two years after that year too. I wasn’t even in the mood to go and see Creed III (2023) when it was released in theaters. I think that I had a reluctance to see new films in theaters because I wanted to spend more time instead on doing other things, such as seeing as many older films and TV shows as I could. I finally got to see Creed III in 2025. But, in 2025, I got to see 28 new films in theaters. For some reason, my zest for going to theaters kind of returned at some time in 2024. Still, 28 films in one year isn’t a big number. This amounts to only 2.3 films per month. I didn’t see a single new film in 2025 that I disliked, but it’s not like I tried to go and see seemingly bad new films. Anyway, when I got to see Avatar: The Way Of Water for the first time, on home video, I liked the film, but I didn’t think much of it. In 2025, however, when it was being shown in theaters again for one week, I went to see it in an IMAX auditorium. In addition, I read some reviews of the film by ordinary people on the internet at that time. After seeing Avatar: The Way Of Water again, my affection for it grew. But it grew even more after I got to see Avatar: Fire And Ash. I think that it’s worth mentioning that James Cameron isn’t just another filmmaker. He gets to make films that he wants to make, and he writes the screenplays for his films. Moreover, he puts a lot of work into making his films. His former wife Linda Hamilton said that his dedication to his work was the reason (or one of the reasons) why they divorced. Almost all of Cameron’s films can be called marvels. He’s one of those older filmmakers who are still capable of making good films. Another such filmmaker is Martin Scorsese. These older filmmakers have something that the younger filmmakers don’t have. Cameron doesn’t make a film every year or every two years, but, when he does make a film, he makes a film that can be called a marvel. This time, 13 years after the first Avatar film, he made a marvel that’s almost 8 hours long. That’s almost 8 hours of goodness that can rarely be found in other films. I mean, this time you even get to see Jake Sully escape from Bridgehead City while wearing an orange jumpsuit and Miles Quaritch enter Varang’s weird-looking hut for some one on one time with Varang. Avatar: Fire And Ash does not lack entertainment value, that’s for sure. I prefer to think of Avatar: The Way Of Water and Avatar: Fire And Ash as one film, and Cameron himself said that he thinks of the two film as one. It’s clear to me why he wanted people to go and see these films in theaters. A lot of work went into making them. So, Avatar: The Way Of Water works even better if you think of it as simply the first half of a greater and longer film. This became clear to me after I got to see Avatar: Fire And Ash. Because the two films are so well made, I’ve already seen Avatar: Fire And Ash in theaters several times, and I watched Avatar: The Way Of Water again several times at home. For me, Avatar: Fire And Ash became an experience, and not just another film, when I watched it in a theater. In other words, the music, the visuals, the acting, and the quality of the filmmaking produced an effect on me that can be described as good and comforting. This rarely happens when I see a film in a theater nowadays. Perhaps the last time when this happened was when I got to see Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness (2022) and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) in theaters. Because of this, I went to see these two films more than once. The same thing happened when I got to see The Dark Knight Rises (2012) in a theater. I got to see this film in theaters several times too because watching it became an experience for me. And I can say that The Dark Knight Rises is my favorite Batman film made by Christopher Nolan. Batman Begins (2005) is in second place. The Dark Knight (2008) is in third place. Hans Zimmer’s music score has a lot to do with making The Dark Knight Rises as good as it is, in my opinion. Are there any standout performances in the two Avatar sequels? Well, for me, the standout performances are by Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, and Stephen Lang, although every performance is good, thanks to James Cameron’s direction. The music score by Simon Franglen, although not very memorable, still works well in the film. So, for me, the two Avatar sequels are even more appealing than Avatar (2009), although I consider the first Avatar film to be a marvel too. Nowadays, I rarely get excited about something. If I do something, it’s almost always out of routine or curiosity. Therefore, seeing a new film that can be called engrossing is uncommon for me. Were there any other films that appealed to me significantly in the last two years? I do like Small Things Like These (2024) because of the performances in the film. This film kind of stood out for me from the rest in 2024. Another film that left an impression on me is the South Korean film Exhuma (2024). I’m glad that I decided to take a chance with this foreign film because it succeeds in creating a creepy and frightening atmosphere. I don’t like this film a lot, but it still stands out from most of the other news films that I got to see. The last film that I will mention is Dune: Part Two (2024). Although Denis Villeneuve is one of the best directors working today, I don’t like everything about his films. His films appeal to me about as much as the films of Christopher Nolan, perhaps more so. He managed to make Blade Runner 2049 (2017) into an impressive visual spectacle despite its disappointing screenplay. Prisoners (2013) may be the least faulty film of his films that I’ve seen so far. I enjoyed watching Dune (2021) more than its sequel because it has more memorable scenes, in my opinion. Dune was released in theaters when I wasn’t really in the mood to go to theaters. Therefore, I watched it for the first time in 2024 at home. It’s a good thing that I decided to watch it on my big screen television set because it has a number of visually impressive scenes, especially the one in which Leto, Paul, and Kynes rescue a stranded spice-harvesting crew from a sandworm and in which Paul’s exposure to the spice triggers intense premonitions. This scene is magnificent, thanks in part to Hans Zimmer’s music score. None of the scenes in Dune: Part Two made as much of an impression on me, and, because of this, Dune: Part Two is a less enjoyable film for me. Well, Villeneuve isn’t just good at creating impressive visuals in his films. I think that he’s better than Nolan in getting good performances from actors. Therefore, the performances in the two Dune films are another reason why they appeal to me, though I don’t think of them as perfect films. I will also mention Surrounded (2023) and Out Of Darkness (2022), which are small budget films that I enjoyed watching more than almost all of the big budget films that got released in 2023 and 2024, though big budget films like Bad Boys: Ride Or Die (2024), Transformers One (2024), and Black Phone 2 (2025) are still some of the most solid and enjoyable films that I got to see in theaters in the last two years. Needless to say, I very much enjoyed watching almost all of the older films that I got to see in the last two years. Heaven Help Us (1985) is one of the films that I got to see for the second time, and I now like this film considerably more than I did before. I think that I should have included it on my list of the best teen movies of the 1980s. This is a well-made film with lovely cinematography, a good cast, and some effective humor. Three O’Clock High (1987) is another teen movie that I like more now than I did before, though I liked it when I saw it for the first time. Harry Tracy, Desperado (1982) is one of the Westerns that I enjoyed watching recently. I already pointed out in an earlier post that I’ve grown to like watching Westerns in the last several years. Unfortunately, this is one of those old films that aren’t easy to purchase or to watch on some streaming service. As far as I know, it’s not available on any streaming service. One thing that I should mention is that I enjoy watching films from the 1970s to the 1990s that got made for television. The problem with these films, many of which are just as enjoyable to watch as theatrical releases, is that they usually can’t be bought physically or on the internet.
When it comes to video games, I finally got to finish playing Vagrant Story (2000) for the first time recently. I began playing this game, which is one of Yasumi Matsuno’s masterpieces, a few years ago on my PlayStation Portable, since it’s one of the dozens so-called PSOne Classics that I purchased before Sony seriously hampered the PlayStation Store for the PlayStation 3. Playing this game for the first time on my PSP-3000 may have been a mistake, however, because Vagrant Story is one of the hardest PlayStation games in existence. Vagrant Story includes some difficult puzzles, some difficult platforming, some difficult combat, and not many save points. Its combat system may be the most complex of any video game. It’s not surprising that Vagrant Story has been called by some people as the Dark Souls of the PS1. It would have been much easier to play this game by using an emulator. If you want to finish this game without cheating, you will have to become very familiar with its combat system. Since Vagrant Story is a unique, expertly-made game, if you do master it and finish it, it will become just as memorable and enjoyable to play as Dark Souls (2011) or Resident Evil 4 (2005). The game developers admitted that Vagrant Story wasn’t made for the average player but for players who like challenges and immersive gameplay. The designs were inspired by a number of locations in France, particularly in Saint-Emilion. This town and its surrounding vineyards was made a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1999. The 3D Romanesque designs in Vagrant Story are impressive for a PS1 game. The camera can be rotated and switched to first-person view. If you add to this the fact that the game features a memorable music score by Hitoshi Sakimoto and excellent sound effects, Vagrant Story turns out to be a surprisingly immersive game despite its lack of pre-rendered backgrounds. But challenging, enjoyable gameplay is not all that this masterwork has to offer. It also offers fantastic designs by Hiroshi Minagawa and Akihiko Yoshida and a typically complex story by Matsuno. Again, this is not an easy game. I had to stop playing it a number of times because of its difficulty and return to it later. But I managed to complete such notoriously difficult games as Dark Souls and Guacamelee! (2013). Therefore, I completed Vagrant Story too, after a few years of playing it on and off. It’s now one of my favorite video games. At least I got to complete Vagrant Story recently because I haven’t been able to complete a number of other games that I’ve been playing for some time. This has mostly to do with the fact that I usually spend little time on playing video games. The impressive and surprisingly popular Elden Ring (2022) is one of the games that I’ve been playing. I’ve completed most of it but not all of it so far. Therefore, I don’t want to talk about it yet. I think that I bought my PS4 in used condition some years ago at a rather small store because I wanted to play Bloodborne (2015), but I haven’t even begun playing this game yet. I could have completed a bunch of PS4 games by now, and I bought a number of PS4 games right after I purchased the console, but I have a tendency to usually play so-called old games, games that got made for the PS1, for example. Therefore, the games that I almost always play are games that can be played on a smarthphone or on a tablet. I’ve been slowly playing Dark Souls II (2014), which is one of my favorite video games, again. In this game, I haven’t even finished the beginning section yet. I’ve gotten farther along in Demon’s Souls (2009), but I’m still far from finishing it. After I completed playing Final Fantasy XIII-2 (2011) for the second time two years ago, I decided to play Final Fantasy XIII (2009) for the second time. This is the most recent game that I managed to complete, after about a year of playing it on and off. When I played it again, I was struck by its impressive visuals, which are even more impressive than the ones in the sequel, I must admit. The visuals that I’m talking about are on Cocoon. The sights of Academia in Final Fantasy XIII-2 are perhaps my most favorite sights of any video game, but the Cocoon in the first game is even more awe-inspiring. Despite this, I have to say that it’s a somewhat disappointing game. It’s very linear and very much in the service of its rather confusing and complicated story. The combat isn’t very enjoyable, despite the fact that the developers tried to make it quicker and less tedious than in previous Final Fantasy games. If the game’s characters hadn’t had more development in the sequels, I wouldn’t have liked the characters either. Still, because of the game’s stunning environments, I’m glad that I played it again, although I like the sequels considerably more. Final Fantasy XIII is a somewhat flawed game, but it still got released in the PS3 era, and how can I dislike anything from the PS3 era? Only in the PS4 era did video games begin to become truly disappointing and unoriginal. And it’s not just the video games that got worse. The consoles got worse too. In 2012, Sony Computer Entertainment finally released the anti-consumer device known as the PlayStation Vita, which is famous for offering almost no great video games and even a small number of mediocre games. It also can’t be connected to a television set, while its fantastic predecessor, the PSP, can be connected to a television set. The Vita is bad at playing music and videos too. No wonder that it failed commercially. The Vita isn’t a complete turd because it’s fine at playing its games, but its inability to do much else and its expensive proprietary memory cards make it one of the most inconvenient handhelds to own. That’s too bad because the Vita is the first handheld console that I bought. Because I’ve used it a lot, I know its flaws and how it functions very well. One of its problems is that it sometimes freezes when it’s turned on for more than a few hours. Nothing can be done about this. You have to wait for the battery to drain completely and then charge the console in order to use it again. Sony admittedly managed to become number one again in the industry thanks to the PlayStation 4, which is supposedly a fine home console, but, for me, the failure of the Vita is just another sign of the fact that Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo began to slouch in 2012.
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