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!
Tag Archives: Film
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!
Summer 2025 – Week 4 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. This week I have finally finished up Death Stranding 2, after spending far too many of my precious, fleeting hours trudging through snow and putting materials in boxes and receiving different materials to put in different boxes. I jest, but to be honest Kojima has got this gameplay loop down at this point, and has successfully merged Death Stranding’s mechanical fundamentals with a functional, Metal Gear-reminiscent combat system. The game is nowhere near as finicky or austere as its predecessor, which frankly left me with mixed feelings – Death Stranding 2 is a much more consistently dopamine-depositing game than its predecessor, but far less of an emotionally challenging, potentially transformative art experience. And considering the gaming industry is full of column A and sorely lacking in column B, it feels a little sad that one of our few reliable auteurs “just” made a solid videogame.
Anyway, I still quite enjoyed it, and will undoubtedly be returning to the roads of Australia for one of my final segments of these games: enjoying the fruits of my infrastructure work, riding the highways that now extend all the way across the continent. In the meantime, let’s break down the week in films!
Summer 2025 – Week 3 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. This week has seen me burning through a diverse grab bag of anime selections, as with my housemate away, I am once again free to watch whatever the fuck I feel like. I had the clear goal of “consume the entirety of Sailor Moon” in mind for last time, but I have yet to find such an obvious guiding objective for my current rampage, and thus my picks have been a touch more eclectic. I caught up on the first season of Dandadan (reasonable, not my thing), munched through the Ruin Explorers OVA, and have most recently been dabbling in the various adaptations of Masamune Shirow’s manga, including the ‘80s Appleseed adaptation and Dominion Tank Police. Let me know if you’ve got any recommendations I might like below, but for now, let’s burn down the week in films!