Book Review: Spy x Family Vol. 13 by Tatsuya Endo

Spy x Family Volume 13 story and art by Tatsuya Endo

Twilight, aka Loid Forger, is in the middle of a tough fight in enemy territory to protect secrets for his side of the cold war between Ostania and Westalis. Fellow spy Nightfall (who has the hots for Twilight but it is not reciprocated) is there to help out and she goes overboard in the fight, severely injuring herself to save Twilight. They manage to get away with an enemy spy in tow, though Twilight has left Yuri Briar a pummeled mess. The complication--Yuri is the brother of Yor, the woman pretending to be Loid's wife. A further complication from the last issue, her office mates told her every marriage has quarreling in it so she been trying to come up with reasons to fight with Loid. That issue gets resolved while Loid and Yuri have a cat-and-mouse game of Yuri discovering Loid's secret identity. Meanwhile, daughter Anya is trying to get in good with the target at her prestigious school, and trying to study hard to pass exams coming soon. Good thing an ex-college professor has moved in next door!

This is another entertaining run through the lives of the Forger family and the wild antics that surround them. I really enjoy this series and so do my kids.

Recommended.

Movie Review: The Electric State (2025)

The Electric State (2025) directed by Anthony and Joe Russo

Back in an alternate 1990s, the world's population was served by a variety of service robots. These robots became frustrated with being used as slave labor and rose up against the humans. A war broke out that humans were losing until Sentre (run by Ethan Skate (Stanley Tucci)) made a VR technology to enable humans to interface in real time with drone versions of themselves. This discovery created mechanically equal warriors who were able to outfight the robots, resulting in a peace treaty in 1994. The robots (lead by Mr. Peanut (voiced by Woody Harrelson)) were exiled to a walled-off wasteland in the middle of the United States. Humans continue to use the VR tech as a way to detach from reality and get things done with stronger drone bodies than they could ever have or visit places without actually going there. Lots of people stay in Sentre's VR tech practically full time.

Michelle (Millie Bobby Brown) lost her family (two parents and her genius younger brother) during the war and has been living in foster homes. Her latest home is run-down with a foster-parent who is exploiting her for money, making her go to school and insisting on after-school activities that he will get paid for. She finds a robot has wandered into the house, something completely illegal. She realizes it is housing her brother's consciousness. They escape the home and head west to find his body.

The story moves along in a haphazard fashion as she travels to the wasteland which is off limits for humans. She gets inside with the help of a smuggler (Chris Pratt) and his robot pal (voiced by Anthony Mackie). The plot gets more intriguing from there as they learn more about the robots and about the larger situation. The resolution deals with the robot threat and the VR threat.

The movie has a lot of interesting issues but never delves into any of them in interesting ways. There's the "robots are humans/have rights" bit that should feel more compelling. VR addiction is depicted as bad but doesn't get explored too much and by the end it seems like plenty of people (employees of Sentre) are perfectly able to manage their VR use. The actors are good but they don't have a lot to work with plotwise. The characters change motivations with little cause and sometimes their behavior just doesn't fit. The visual effects are amazing and fun to watch. The fight scenes are perfunctory with little stakes as robots fight drones. It reminded me, not in a good way, of the Gungans versus the Battle Droids in Star Wars Episode I.  With all the talent involved (the Russos directed a lot of top-notch Marvel films), I expected more.

Barely recommended. I'm not sorry I watched it but I have no desire to rewatch it.

Cute Kid Pix March 2025

More photos that didn't make their own post...

We went on another hike in Wincopin Park, not far from the house (see other trips here and here). The Patuxent River flows through here, though the hike down is a bit steep.

Patuxent Pose

Mom lagging behind

Earlier on that day, our youngest had his final Pinewood Derby with his Scout Pack. He came in first in his den and seventh in the finals.

Scout faster than a car

Watching the finals

The den

My daughter's high school robotics team had their competition in March. We went to two different schools on two different weekends where the Ursa Majors showed their prowess.

The "Pit" area to fix problems between matches

Getting ready to drive

The arena

Refs in place

She drives

Leaders wear tutus!

Negotiating with other teams

Spring has sprung at our house, even before the equinox!

The flowers that bloom in the spring, tra-la!

We did some exploring in Baltimore and found a fun playground.

Pretending not to have fun

Avoiding the crab!

Fun slides

Hang on!

Book Review: The Dialogue by Catherine of Siena

The Dialogue by Catherine of Siena

Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) was a lay person following Dominican spirituality who was a mystic and also involved in secular and papal politics. She is most famous for convincing Pope Pius XI to return to Rome from Avignon in 1376. She also wrote many letters and some prayers, though her major work is The Dialogue of Divine Providence. It's written as a conversation between God and a soul and was dictated by Catherine while in an ecstatic state.

The dialogue works through several questions that the soul (presumably Catherine's) has for God that He lovingly answers. The main focus is on achieving spiritual perfection through a holy life. God describes the path to Heaven He has laid out for us, describing it as a bridge between Earth and Heaven. That bridge is Christ and has three primary stages that match the progress in virtue and grace. In the first stage, motivated by the fear of punishments like eternal damnation, a person seeks a virtuous life without much love in their heart for the Lord. They just want to avoid suffering. This stage is identified with being at the feet of the Lord. In the second stage, a person is virtuous for the consolations of doing good. The focus is still on the self, on one's own wellbeing, the happy feelings one gets when doing a good deed. Here, the soul approaches the heart of Jesus on the cross. The final stage is full perfection, where one is virtuous because it pleases the Lord and conforms to the Divine Will, regardless of personal consolation or discomfort. This stage is at the mouth of Christ and represents a full union with God. 

The soul also asks about for the world with all its problems and challenges. God discusses the respect that is owed to those with religious vocations (especially bishops and the pope), even if they commit grave sins and provide scandal to the world. He will judge such people; it is not our role to condemn them. He will provide what is needed for people to make it to Heaven. The many people that make up the Mystical Body of Christ all have different roles to play and are given different gifts and abilities to use for His greater glory and the sanctification of themselves and others. The importance of obedience in the spiritual life is discussed at length.

The book is very well written. While she has deep insights into human and divine relationships, they are presented in a very concrete way that is easy to understand. She is occasionally repetitive, re-emphasizing themes and ideas that are important. I found the book very helpful and inspiring. The mystical insights are not shrouded in a fog of technical terms or unfamiliar situations. We've all dealt with good and bad bosses (in family or work or politics or society), we've all felt the inadequacy of efforts or the frustration of unfruitful exertions. Her advice is timely and easy to take. It is easy to see why she was declared a Doctor of the Church. 

Highly recommended.

Sample Quote: 

Why we have individual charisms: "These and many other virtues I give differently to different souls, and the soul is most at ease with that virtue which has been made primary for her. But through her love of that virtue she attracts all the other virtues to herself, since they are all bound together in loving charity." [pp.37-38]

An entirely Dominican metaphor: "Just as a dog stationed at the gate barks when it sees enemies, and by its barking wakes up the guards, so this dog of conscience would wake up the guard of reason, and reason together with free choice would discern by the light of understanding who was a friend and who an enemy. To friends, that is, the virtues and holy thoughts of the heart, they would give warm affectionate love by exercising them with great care. To enemies, that is, vice and perverse thoughts, they would deal out hatred and contempt, striking them down with the sword of hatred and love by reason's light and free choice's hand. So at the moment of death their conscience does not gnaw but rests peacefully because it has been a good watchdog." [p. 263]

Some Bits of DC March 2025

We did a quick visit to The Catholic University of America. The campus has quite a lot of history. Founded in the 1880s, the first building, Caldwell Hall, clearly has had some add-ons in the century and a half since its inception. 

The ever growing Caldwell Hall

Two added, uneven wings

At McMahon Hall (which we couldn't get inside of, I guess some building require card keys!), a statue of Pope Leo XIII honors his establishing of the university in 1889.

Leo XIII

I was surprised to see a solar farm on campus! It is across a street, so the students and visitors don't have access to that either.

Juicing up!

Marist Hall is on the north edge of the campus. Just past it is the location of Fort Slemmer, one of the ring of forts built to protect Washington during the American Civil War. 

Marist Hall

Nothing left of the fort but woods

A new student building, the Pryz, is named after Edward J. Pryzbyla, a benefactor of the University. 

Student hall

An art studio is nearby, a lone building not bigger than a small lecture hall. It looks like it is being renovated. And it might be a temporary addition--see the lack of foundation!

Fixer-upper?

The architecture on campus is a hodge-podge of styles. I guess slowly expanding over 100+ years let's all sorts of fashions come. It's hard to make such fashions go when they are made of concrete.

School of Nursing, pretty classy

Pangborn Hall, generic 1960s look

School of Law, trying to look regal

Cybertruck blowing the "regal" vibe

Some weeks later, I did some geocaching in Washington, D.C.

The Masonic Scottish Rite Temple in the middle of the city is yet another classical construction, invoking Ancient Greece. The temple is flanked by two sphinxes, so invoking Ancient Egypt too!

Scottish Rite Temple, DC

Guardian

A small garden in the back features a statue of George Washington, first President of the United States and a Freemason.

Honoring the man

Nearby is Saint Augustine Catholic Church with architecture more recent, i.e. medieval. I wasn't able to go inside but the exterior looks exquisite.

St. Augustine Church

Just up the hill is Meridian Hill Park. A large statue of James Buchanan, fifteenth president of the United States, is on display at the south end of the park. His niece made a bequest in her will that the memorial be built. She died in 1903; the memorial was finished in 1930. Typical government efficiency!

Buchanan Memorial

A statue of Joan of Arc was donated by the women of France. The pedestal is written in French and it is the only equestrian statue of a woman in the District of Columbia!

Jeanne D'Arc

Serenity is a statue tucked away in a corner of the park. Unfortunately, that did not protect it from vandals (she's lost her nose and one of her hands!) and natural weathering. The sculptor's signature is still visible.

Serenity has seen better days

Signed in stone by Jose Clara

Book Review: Superman by Mark Millar

Superman by Mark Millar written by Mark Millar, art by Aluir Amancio, Georges Jeanty, Jackson Guice, Mike Manley, Sean Phillips, and Mike Wieringo

Before Mark Millar became a star in comic writing with hits like Superman: Red Son, Marvel Civil War, and Old Man Logan, he wrote a variety of Superman stories in the late 1990s and early 2000s. They are collected in this volume. The stories are a lot of one-offs. Some of them are really odd and not satisfying, like an Elseworlds-ish story of Harvey Dent as a cop who turns into "Superman" by an intelligence-boosting accident. Another story has Superman blasted into an alternate universe where survivors of Krypton are coming to turn Earth into their new home world by force. In other stories, Superman faces off against Lex Luthor with more or less interesting results. This is a mixed bag that I only found occasionally entertaining.

Not recommended unless you are a Superman completist or a Millar completist.

Movie Reviews: Nosferatwo More

In the past two years, two remakes (or perhaps reimaginings) of F. W. Murnau's class Nosferatu have been made. I reviewed Murnau's version and Werner Herzog's 1970s remake. I found out about the first remake thanks to Hypnogoria Podcast #280. Here's reviews of the 2020s remakes...

Nosferatu - A Symphony of Horror (2023) directed by David Lee Fisher

This movie follows the same plot as Murnau's original, with Hutter (Emrhys Cooper) being sent to Transylvania to get the paperwork in order with Count Orlok (Doug Jones) to buy the abandoned building across from Hutter's Wisborn home. The movie retains the characters, plot beats, and even most of the backgrounds. The movie digitally copies sets from the 1922 version and places the actors onto them via green-screen. Some scenes are added or expanded to include more information and characterizations.

The visual style is a bit odd. It reminded me of Sin City, with the fake-looking backgrounds as if the characters did not really inhabit the world being presented. This use, which could have amped up the surreality of the story, only looks cheap. Just as I would get used to it, a scene would look poorly done, throwing me back into mild disrespect. Sure, the original movie's effects are antiquated but they still give an odd aura to the proceedings that works with the performances and the overall style, part of German Expressionism. 

Also, this new version has almost no scenes with more than two to four characters in them, which becomes very obvious in the tavern scene before Hutter goes to Orlok's castle. It's another instance where the film seems extremely low budget. Jones is good as Orlok but Cooper as Hutter can't quite strike the right balance with his character. His crazy employer Knock (Eddie Allen) is so over the top he feels like he's supposed to be in a different version of the film, not this one. 

The added scenes and dialogue don't help a lot either. Too much stuff is explained rather than shown, or a character explains what he or she just did. The filmmakers spend a lot on the unfulfilled nature of Hutter's marriage to Ellen (Sarah Carter), who has a mystical link to what is going on. That link is unexplained in the 1922 version but here everything is laid out for the viewer, making it less spooky and threatening. Hutter's dubious choices come off as really dumb, especially when he sleeps with the tavern maid. He comes around to the sincerity of the first film by the end, when it is too late for their marriage. The scripting could have been stronger. Also, Cooper and Carter don't have the chemistry needed and do not give convincing performances (though she is better than he is).

This movie does not have a lot to recommend it. Doug Jones is good in the Orlok role and his makeup is excellent. The marital tension is interesting but not well developed enough. The style is so eclectic, a viewer needs to be very sympathetic to buy into it. I ran out of sympathy (I didn't really like Sin City either, though that was more about the content than the style).

Not recommended.

Nosferatu (2024) written and directed by Robert Eggers

This movie also follows the same plot as Murnau's original, with Hutter (Nicholas Hoult) being sent to Transylvania to get the paperwork in order with Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgard) to buy an abandoned building in Wisborn. Eggers' previous films show a lot of attention to detail along with interesting, period dialogue that feels authentic to the time of the film's action. He generally gets great performances from his cast. 

The movie diverges in the introduction, showing Hutter's wife Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) having a seizure while communicating with a disembodied voice that's not speaking English. The scene sets the tone for the horror to come. Ellen has a much deeper and longer connection to Orlok in this film. She's also found some relief from that connection in meeting and marrying Hutter. She has more control over herself and nightmares are less. When he says he has to leave town for his career and their happiness, she does not want him to go. He insists, putting her in the care of their friend Friedrich (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who is married with two daughters and another child on the way. Ellen has her usual trouble at the friends' place while Hutter is tormented by Orlok. Hutter's pre-castle visit to an inn is dominated by a gypsy group outside the inn, with its strange performances and odd behavior. He has a dream (or did it really happen?) of the locals offering a naked woman to a vampire's grave, though they dig up the coffin and impale the corpse. When asking Orlok about it, the count dismisses it as superstitious nonsense, though confirming in a way that it did happen. 

When the action returns to Wisborn, the plague breaks out and Knock is blamed, though Ellen and Hutter blame Orlok. Orlok threatens to kill all of Ellen's beloved if she does not consent to be with him in the next three days. Three days of agony and death ensue. On the third day, Hutter is finally able to convince some guys to go to Orlok's abandoned building to destroy the vampire while Ellen invites Orlok to their home so she can trick him into staying until after "cock crows."

The movie is very stylized in a different way from the original's German Expressionism. Eggers delves into the grittiness of early 1800s Germany, with a lot of bleakness and hardship. Night scenes often look black and white, a nod to the original. Eggers is also a lot more graphic, with some very bloody moments and more nudity and sex than in other Nosferatus. Skarsgard is great vocally as the vampire. Visually, he is mostly in shadows and hard to see till the end of the film. He's ugly but doesn't have the stark appearance of Shreck or other Orlok performances. His mustache is an odd choice that makes him less believable. 

Eggers is good at crafting an uncomfortable tone but the movie does not horrify enough. The relationship between Ellen and Orlok is underdeveloped and not quite convincing, even though it is central to the plot for this film. Eggers throws in some blood and mayhem to compensate. Those scenes feel more like add-ons than necessary to the story. I anitcipated a lot of the deaths in Wisborn before they came so they were less traumatizing. Overall, the movie was not satisfying enough for me.

Barely recommended.

So, if I had to rewatch one of these, I guess I'd go with Eggers, though I would rather re-watch the earlier movies.