1.25.26 of big blue aliens and tasty burgers

Happy 2026 everyone! It's been kind of a slow month in terms of media that I've been interfacing with, but I still have a decent variety of stuff to bring up in this post. Here we go!

I didn't listen to a lot of new albums this month, so here's one that I originally heard in December that I forgot to log that month. While I do like Yawning Portal's typical ambient pop output, this album often leans a bit too much into ambience for my liking. There are a few cool melodies and buildups here, though I feel like it kinda drifts off too much for me to want to revisit as a full project.

Fav Tracks: Eternity Sunrise, Magical Girl, In Iowa

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After dabbling a little with a more danceable sound in Sonderlust more than ten years ago, Kishi Bashi goes into full disco jam band mode on this release. I can get down with the first half of the record just fine, but the energy really shifts into high gear when "Icarus IV" comes on. From then on, every track on this thing becomes propelled by the breathtaking and anthemic vibes of that track, making for a pretty fun listen.

Fav Tracks: Escape from Knossos, Icarus IV, Lilliputian Chop, Analogico Brasil, Call It Off

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I feel like this film wants to be about stardom just as much as it wants to be about the romance between the two leads, but when it gets to pointing out what Lady Gaga's character has to sacrifice in order to propel her fame, the film seems to only glance at that part of her arc as it feels somewhat disconnected from her romance with Bradley Cooper's character. I don't agree with the notion that the film was trying to portray Cooper's suicide as a good thing for Gaga's career, but at the same time, I feel like the film should've at least been more melancholic about it at the end.

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I liked how character-driven this film is in how it shows the nuances of why people choose to live lives of crime and the ways in which family dynamics either encourage or are armed against said lives. While I'm generally not a fan of the true crime genre and how it often shamelessly exploits wrongdoing purely for shock and profit, the nuance and care that this film puts into making the titular duo seem believable while trying to find themselves amidst the economic decline of the time feels very potent and fascinating. It makes me wish more true crime stories were adapted the same way if possible.

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Very surprisingly groovy soundtrack for a dystopian sci-fi film! It very much adds a sense of wonder and whimsy to a story that is otherwise intense and surreal in its depiction of extraterrestrial class division. While I do think the main conflict is wrapped up a little too neatly towards the end, I think the world at the center of the film is fascinating enough to warrant further discussion on class dynamics as well as the ways in which leaders typically overlook the lower classes while pursuing their ideas of utopia.

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I've heard from many that Spielberg's typical sentimentality doesn't match with the darker story that the film is trying to tell and in a lot of ways, I agree with that assessment. While his approach makes it so that Celie and Shug's friendship feels impactful, I feel like it brushes off the more traumatic parts of Celie's life in favor of making the viewer feel joyful about her more positive experiences. I'm glad the Spielberg was able to diversify his emotional palette later down the line, but even then, I feel like this story's specific focus on African-American life leads him to handle material that is beyond his own depth and experience.

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Despite its excessive vulgarity, I actually enjoyed this way more than I expected to! My experience with this film was probably enhanced the most by finding the humor in the contradictions present in each character as they flip back and forth between personalities and mannerisms depending on the situation they are in. From Jules and Vincent's desensitization to murder being contrasted by their knack for casual conversation to Butch's father's special family heirloom being stored up his ass during the war, those moments of exaggerated tonal whiplash were what kept the film a pretty consistently interesting watch during its long runtime.

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I wasn't expecting this to be as much of an action movie as it is, nor was I expecting it to include Hell as a major part of its space movie plot, but it was definitely a welcome surprise to me nonetheless. I was actually hoping for the villain to be a little more fleshed-out beyond just embracing Pure Evil, though I loved how intentionally goofy a lot of it felt without feeling forced or overbearing. A lot of action and horror films these days have trouble doing that when they want to be silly, so I respect this film for honoring a more balanced tone.

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I finally finished Earthbound this month! It was often kind of frustrating to get though partially because of its age and my lack of familiarity with grindier RPGs as a whole, though I'm happy the final few sections (from Magicant onward) at least allowed me to try out different strategies with the combat than just leveling up until I'm strong enough to beat the harder bosses. Despite its difficulty, I had a great time enjoying its light humor, vibrant settings and cinematic ending, but I figure that the next RPG I would want to play would probably be a little more story-heavy than this.

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I have also recently started watching the new season of Primal, though I would rather wait until the season finishes airing before I talk about it here. There are also some big albums and movies coming out next month, so catch me in my next log sharing thoughts on those!