Reviews





Obsession



What can I really say about this movie? It's brilliant, it's violent, it's honest, it's uncomfortable. You need to go see it.



In Obsession, quiet and awkward Bear has a crush on his cool friend Nikki. He's too shy to talk to her about how he feels and he doesn't know if she likes him back. But fear not!. One day, he gets an opportunity to make a wish for anything he wants. Casually (and maybe haphazardly), he wishes that Nikki loved him more than anyone else in the world. Chaos ensues.



What this movie does really well is to take something familiar in romantic relationships (isolation, obsession, jealousy) and just keeps stretching it. What happens if you are really only focused on your partner? Who do you become? What parts of yourself do you lose? What does it mean to love someone?



I also think it's a strong exploration of incel ideology- do you really like someone, or do you only like what they represent? How might your own insecurity be a pathway to violence? What would you do to finally have a partner? I don't know if this was something intentional, but this film made a stronger impact on me than something like Adolescence.



I'm so impressed with the current direction of horror! Please keep it coming!



This movie is for you if you want to be UNCOMFORTABLE.



This movie is not for you if you don't like feeling disturbed.









Of Cattle and Men



I love writers who have a clear tone to their writing. Tone is even more difficult to translate, so I'm always impressed when a writing style make an impression across language. When I saw that Of Cattle and Men is a translated horror written by a Black Brazilian woman, I almost ran to the book store.



Of Cattle and Men is a book about Edgar Wilson, an employee of a slaughterhouse. Each day he makes a small prayer for the cows that he must slaughter and tries to do his work in the least painful way possible. The book follows the chain of consumption (slaughterhouse, meat packing facility, consumer) of a cow, and the different ways these jobs are constructed. It also look at the men who are working in the slaughterhouse- how they engage in the violence and how they find company with each other.



I love how the author explores ideas of work, obligation, and death. How do you bring dignity to the murder of a creature? What effect does it have on a land and a person to be so heavily tied to death? What work is made invisible, and how is invisible work moralized by those who will never have to do it?



It's a book that is sad, haunting, but somehow strangely hopeful. A lot of honor was found in this bloody situation.



This book is for you if you love horror, a bit of gore, and conversations about class and who does the "dirty work."



This book is not for you if you're squeamish, or maybe a vegan/vegetarian?









Empire of AI



This book is not for the weak. Get your notepads ready divas, there are a ton of names and a surprising amount of history for a period of less than 15 years.



I can't say I'm enjoying reading this book because it's a document of the development of OpenAI and the culture around it. However, I do feel that I can have more informed conversations about companies like OpenAI, so the pleasure in being about to have good conversation outweighs the headache of actually reading the book. It's not light reading! Be warned!



This book is for you if you want to learn about big AI corporations like OpenAI and Anthropic. It can also help you understand some of the design choices made by the companies. And it gives you a look into the (weird) work culture of Silicone Valley, and how these very small group impacts how we engage with online spaces.



This book is not for you if are not willing to sit through 400 pages of names, meeting notes, and corporate drama.



If you don't feel like plowing through the 400+ pages of this book, there are lots of interviews where the author keeps it short and sweet. It's good to know about the systems we're operating in ;)







Margos' Got Money Troubles



I was a little hesitant going in, but I love it so far! Margo's Got Money Troubles is a show about... Margo, who well... has money troubles. Just kidding. I'll keep in short and sweet: Margo sleeps with her professor, and becomes pregnant. She keeps the baby. She needs money. She does Only Fans.



What could be a series made to shock is instead a series about the messiness of life. There are no happy endings, just action and consequence, which makes the show feel honest.