Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. This week has seen my house munching through Hades 2, which I am sorry to report we are frankly not enjoying. Compared to the satisfying weapons and copious synergies of its predecessor, Hades 2 just feels immensely clumsy; its magic system doesn’t seem compatible with its combat design, and most of the time it feels like I’m choosing between upgrade options that are all varying degrees of convoluted and disappointing. When you combine that with the game’s limited movement options and serious problems with visual clarity, it adds up to an experience where I rarely feel in control of the outcome; it feels like aggravating work, to be honest, and I doubt I’ll be playing through the narrative’s conclusion. But hey, that just leaves more time for movies, so let’s see what the week had on offer!
Tag Archives: Film
Fall 2025 – Week 1 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. While my house is still looking for our next anime project, this week saw us burning through the first season of Andor. The show feels like a genuine miracle – not just a novel, compelling take on Star Wars, but simply the best thing the prestige TV era has produced. The script is graceful and boiling over with taut, ferocious insights, the cast is phenomenal, and the production’s fury is palpable, its drama facilitating thoughtful, anthemic commentary on our modern world. I frankly had heard indications of all this before watching, but ended up being further impressed by how well the whole thing hangs together, as well as how effectively it contorts itself into various genre molds (the heist arc, the prison break) that end up both facilitating the overall narrative and demonstrating the greatest pleasures of their own hooks in the bargain. It’s one of the best things I’ve seen in years, and I’d suggest giving it a try even if you’re understandably fatigued by Disney’s relentless exploitation of the brand. In the meantime, let’s break down some films!
Summer 2025 – Week 13 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we stand on the cusp of a new anime season, an occasion which always prompts a grateful “thank fuck I’m not writing for the preview guide anymore.” Instead, I can calmly peruse the seasonal selections, cheerfully note that Spy x Family is returning, and otherwise pay no attention whatsoever to the absurd glut of productions currently overworking the industry. That said, it’s likely also time to start munching through the year’s overall top prospects, which in 2025’s case means… CITY, The Summer Hikaru Died, Shoushimin Series, and I’m frankly not sure what else. Folks seemed somewhat down on both GQux and Lazarus by their conclusions, but their directors are so accomplished that I’ll have to check them out for myself regardless. Plus there are obviously some films and shorts to get to… anyway, busy times ahead, but for now let’s run down some fresh cinematic selections. On to the Week in Review!
Summer 2025 – Week 11 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. This week has been entirely consumed by Silksong, and friends, the Silksong is good. Hollow Knight’s sequel picks up close to where the original left off in terms of platforming and combat complexity, assuming swift mastery and rewarding those who adapt to Hornet’s powers with one of the most precise, satisfying, and fundamentally elegant move sets in the genre. Every boss fight here is hard won, and as a result they each require adapting and evolving, ensuring you gain the skills to challenge ever greater foes. And of course, Team Cherry’s storytelling and artistry are as compelling as ever, with Silksong offering a sprawling, beautiful world full of endearing characters and forbidding mysteries.
It feels preposterous that a game carrying such lofty expectations could actually surpass them, but that’s where I’m currently at: bound by my consummate professionalism to write this article, longing to return to Silksong and divine the secrets of its imposing citadel. If you’ve no Hollow Knight experience, I’d strongly suggest playing that one before engaging with Silksong’s terrors – not only is Hollow Knight necessary preparation for the sequel, it’s also just a perfect game in its own right. But for now, let’s burn down the week in film!
Summer 2025 – Week 10 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am lamenting the death of the summer, and prepping for another eight month New England winter here in the frigid, unforgiving northern reaches. But hey, at least we’ve got Silksong coming on Thursday, which I imagine will be consuming my life altogether for the ensuing weeks. I doubt you need my recommendation, but Hollow Knight really is that good – by far the best Metroidvania game I’ve played, with an inventive world that constantly rewards exploration, delightful art design, and an incredibly responsive, tightly tuned combat system. In contrast with 3D Souls-likes’ increasing reliance on pure reaction time, Hollow Knight consistently rewards spacing, forethought, and genuine mastery; it’s basically the perfect marriage of platforming and Castlevania (or even Smash Bros) combat. You can tell I’m already salivating, but I’ll try to contain myself for the moment, as we burn through another week in films!
Summer 2025 – Week 9 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. With The Owl House nearly completed, my house has been casting about for some reliable replacement binging, and ultimately settled on another attempt at Jujutsu Kaisen. This has sadly been as disappointing as the first; Jujutsu Kaisen is a hodgepodge of ideas stolen from Naruto, Bleach, and Hunter x Hunter, with no understanding of what made any of those ideas work in the first place. The characters are one-note, the world has no substance, and the fights are preposterous Calvinball nonsense, with combatants inventing new aspects of their abilities constantly, meaning there is never anything resembling tension or a coherent contrast of powers. Gojo is likely the worst offender – his power is basically “I can do anything so long as I use the word ‘infinite’ while describing it,” and I’m thus frankly relieved that he’s found himself stuck in a box for our current arc. Anyway, we’ve fortunately had better luck with our recent film selections, so let’s break that shit down in the Week in Review!
Summer 2025 – Week 8 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. This week I concluded my journey through Slayers’ first three seasons, which I am led to understand is basically the conclusion of the “classic series,” barring some scattered film and OVA appearances. I’ll likely check out the film next (it was quite a surprise to learn the amply chested lady everyone loves doesn’t even appear in the main series), but in the meantime have since been munching through The Owl House, Dana Terrace’s entry in the post-Adventure Time western cartoon renaissance. The show is unsurprisingly delightful; I don’t know how Terrace got Disney to greenlight “lesbians hang out in the dreamscapes of Hieronymus Bosch,” but I am absolutely here for it. Anyway, films!
Summer 2025 – Week 7 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today the thermostat is inching its way towards one hundred degrees, a balmy temperature for the infernal planes, but clearly unacceptable for us soft-skinned, hydration-fueled mortals. The heat is almost making summer’s encroaching end seem less miserable, but damnit, I am a summer season diehard, and if that means dying of heatstroke for my beliefs then so be it. Anyway, these unlivable temperatures have unsurprisingly facilitated plenty of film and show screenings – I’m actually just a half-dozen episodes off finishing Slayers TRY, and have munched through as many movies in the past week. Let’s break down a few of ‘em in the Week in Review!
Summer 2025 – Week 6 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. This week I’ve continued to munch through the original Slayers series, though my progress has been admittedly slow of late. There’s a good reason for that, though – after initially setting a new year’s resolution of spending one day writing personal fiction per week, I’ve lately been upping my output dramatically, spending my evenings banging away at what is increasingly appearing to be some kind of actual book. It has been immensely fulfilling to get back into consistent creative writing, and I imagine I’ll have some updates on that front soon, but for now, we’ve got some films to explore. Let us conclude our journey through the Chuckyverse!
Summer 2025 – Week 5 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. With my housemate still away visiting family, I have continued to make rigorous use of my screen monopoly, munching through a bunch of Slayers and whatever horror films I know would normally get vetoed. That generally means “films about dolls or spiders,” and thus this week has seen me mowing down the greater Child’s Play franchise, munching through as many of its far-flung features as possible. The franchise has undergone a couple of major transformations over the years, but has actually maintained its core team and general quality through all of it, making it perhaps the most consistent of all the major slashers. Let’s break it down!