DAYS GONE REMASTERED (2025)
Finished it the other night and found it to be a - sometimes by turn, sometimes simultaneously - heartfelt, involving, repetitive, enraging, buggy, fun, cacophony of more-than-occasional brilliance that delivered that unicorn of my gaming tastes: an open world that, thanks in no small part to traversing the wilds of Oregon on a customizable motorcycle (though the inability to carry a spare fuel can was, by far, the most mystifying part of the experience) and its SOA-meets-RED DEAD-meets-LAST OF US pedigree, was a distinct pleasure to explore and/or seek out growlers, polystyrene, kerosene, and cultists that needed dispatching. Thinking: while it lacked the narrative heft and clear direction of THE LAST OF US, it's that very lack of heft and direction mixed with even more interesting characters that would've – should've – made it the obvious candidate for series adaptation. Far easier to surprise and take in different directions. Alas.
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READING :: BLINDNESS, by José Saramago
LISTENING :: I'm woefully out of the loop; need to dig for new stuff – though I've been listening to a lot of Sonic Youth and The Pixies.
WATCHING :: DUSTER, s1 (Max)... SEVERANCE, s2... a low dose of narrative series as it's the end of the school year and our brains can rarely handle more than a true crime doc which we've watched all the good ones.
PLAYING :: Wrapped up a replay of SUPERHOT last night and I'm riding 'round a post-apocalyptic Oregon killing zombies and marauders in DAYS GONE REMASTERED which is quite good save for a bug that's prevented me from clearing up one of the infestations LOOK I CAN ONLY BURN IT WHEN IT'S THERE EVEN THOUGH YOU SAY IT'S THERE BUT IT'S NOT BECAUSE I ALREADY FUCKING BURNED IT.
Figured out why Eggers's take on NOSFERATU left me wanting: the story was already told so perfectly in Murnau's version – sans dialogue and fleshing out / expansion of the story – that nothing Eggers brought to it wasn't already there, lurking below the surface and captured by Murnau and the original players. Don't get me wrong: still loved Eggers's interpretation – though I was felt that I was watching more an effective homage than a bold new take; had I not seen Murnau's film so many times – indeed, been raised on it –, I might hold a different opinion.
