Woah, April is over. It was a very productive month, I had a job and everything. Had my birthday and turned 27! That's pretty cool. There was still a bunch of shit I didn't get done, the usual, but it feels like less of a dead weight this month. A little more economic stability also doesn't hurt.
Goals
1. A-Z Blogging
Total fail... I got so busy this month it took a toll on me. RIP.
2. Go to all my meetings
Done, went to a lot of meetings.
3. Kiwi planting work
Also done.
4. Draft 2 of Marmoris comic
Didn't have time, moving it to May.
5. Pen! Pen! Pen!
Yeah, it's here! Best day ever!
6. FINALLY mail letter
Er, literally almost! I'll be mailing first week of May.
7. Turn 27, don't die
Didn't die.
Best Of: March
Movies
There was a theme to the movies this month: Al Pacino. Yes, I made what was a pretty good decision early in April to get through a bunch of his filmography because I realized I hadn't actually seen his best work at all. Embarrassing, anyway, from the movies that I did see this month, here they are ranked:
7. Glengarry Glen Ross
Pacino's performance in this is great, his whole scene at the end with his panicked client is tense, claustrophobic, and antsy. Over all I found moments where either he, Alan Arkin, or Ed Harris were not on screen to drag. I also just hate Kevin Spacey, he's not bad in this or anything, but I just hate him.
6. Cruising
A dark and sleazy tale of specific subculture of gay culture in New York that has the shadow of murders hanging over it. Police abusing random queer men is honest and brutal, I hate movies that steer away from being true about this. There are some pacing and editing moments that are... interesting. Let's say for example the scene where Burns (played by Pacino) and Skip Lee are arrested and then slapped around out of nowhere by a huge dude in only a jockstrap and a cowboy hat. I don't dislike it, I'm just wondering about the process which led to the scene is all. At the time it was boycotted by many gay activists as in their eyes it associated gay culture with violence which can easily lead to even more hate crimes. I can see this point, but also in my mind this is really a distinct world from everyday gay culture: it's the world of S&M within the gay community. I don't know, it just feels like a look into a very specific and vulnerable group of people who nobody really gave a shit about and for that I guess I appreciate it.
5. The Godfather
I have little to say. It's obviously an exceptional movie, one of a kind with a million copycats. Pacino in it is intentionally off-putting and while his performance is undeniably excellent, I was actually so impressed with Robert Duvall. I watched this as a kid and obviously didn't care at all so it's good to watch it with new eyes.
4. Serpico
I really don't like cops. I also like stories, both fiction and reality, where cops and soldiers and who ever else works in the industry of fear and oppression wakes up from it and takes a stand at last. So Serpico is great, it's a story about this guy who wants to be a cop, a detective, so bad that he does it anyway he can. He's got a whole new approach, plainclothes, fitting in with the crowd and all. But when the corruption and how high it goes becomes obvious and when he fights it, he ultimately fails are every turn. He's sabotaged at every turn until it gets so far he catches a bullet. It's got all the cliches that everyone thinks work: internal investigations, just giving it time, and going to other branches of the government for help only to get denied. I think if it was made now it would pussy out of such a wide-spectrum criticisms. I'm sure Pacino would catch a few bad apples and everyone would happily go back to beating up suspects, be they guilty or not.
3. Scarecrow
After I sat with it for a few days, it grew on me more and more. Pacino is so funny in this. It's always funny until it isn't. In the same movie he goes from some kind of proto-manic pixie dream girl to someone who's been traumatized into collapse by a set of events no one can ever brace for. Gene Hackman's no slouch either, he's so serious, you think he'll crack at some point but he doesn't.
2. ...And Justice For All
Okay. Okay, I know rating this movie above Scarecrow, Serpico, AND The Godfather looks a bit insane, I get it. But this is my list! If you want a 'correct' list, go elsewhere. I just love this movie. It's funny but I don't find it to be a comedy. It's a tragedy but it's not a soap. It's got Al Pacino as a deeply cynical but emotionally invested DA that tries his best to get the most poorly treated defendants some damn justice. In his pain he breaks into tears that hurt to look at. It's an exceptional performance and many people highlight only the last scene as being memorable, but to me it's the whole movie.
1. Dog Day Afternoon
Yeah, it's probably his best performance paired with excellent acting from everyone around him and deceptively simple but blistering and concise cinematography. Like most of the movies Pacino stars in, this one ends tragically and I think the tragedy is preordained the moment things start to go wrong during the bank robbery: so, straight away. It's also got incredible sensitivity towards it's queer character's in the year 1975! I know a lot of people may argue that since both Sonny and Leon are flawed people (deeply flawed in Sonny's case) that the work is transphobic/biphobic. And I won't invalidate those opinions but I do have my own take. I don't like the idea that queer characters always have to be good, or unmarred, characters and people. It strips them entirely of their humanity. I love Sonny as a character, even though he's a shitty guy. I never steer away from bisexual rep that's about imperfect people so long as it respects their humanity, even if it doesn't respect everything about their actions. This kind of empathy is the most important thing about a movie. What makes a work queerphobic to me is erasing the queer character's point of view or their reality. To make them bland and unrecognizable as real people, and Dog Day Afternoon does not do that at all.
TV Shows
I actually didn't watch any TV this month... well, with the exception of Storage Wars: Texas. It's goofy, it's silly, it's low-stakes.
Games
Together with Tom and Mo, we've being trying to finish the competition side of Deathrow. It's going pretty good. I've also been trying to get further along with Apollo Justice as I've left it on hold for a while. However, the most important event of the month was surely the Expanse: Osiris Reborn beta. I've talked about it a lot in other blog posts but the rundown is this: excellent visuals and gameplay, awful and disjointed dialogue and voice acting. Huge issues with tone! Still, I'm hoping for the best and for Owlcat to get on that ASAP. And add Belter creole!
Books
Bad book month for me, didn't have much time to read. Still in the first half of Westing Game.
Music
Lots of great albums this month but my top pick has to be Lo-Pro's self-titled as it ahs no bad songs at all. But my fave is the total sci-fi-ish and spacey Oblivion. It's so beautiful and desolate.
Animation
Also slow! Watched the first episode of Witch Hat, it's looking good but I fear it may be a bit of what happened with Sakamoto days for me where I just prefer the manga no matter what.
Full Log: April 2026
