I watched Smile 2 for the first time last night. I enjoyed the first installment, it was a unique and original horror film. But, boy was I not ready for the shock of Smile 2, not from the frights or gore, but from the revelation that is actress Naomi Scott, who plays the main character Skye. This is a powerhouse acting performance and the first time in a long time where I literally sat up and was like HOT DAMN she's GOOD. Looking forward to seeing her in more roles!
#horror #film #movies #acting

I'm back in the Mastodon world. Been away from socials for a bit. Busy busy work, busy busy burn out, busy resetting with a missus only (no kids) holiday in Italy and Switzerland... Still jetlagged to buggery but hooray!

Back with some more Atari ST retro goodness, is I believe one of my most played titles was James Pond 2: Codename RoboCod. A colourful and brisk platform game, with music that just drilled deep into your brain tissue and would stay with you for decades. I hadn't loaded this up for like 29 years and I can still hum certain level's music.

What got me about this game was the absolute tonne of secrets you could find. Every level has some weird and wonderful trick you could pull to find many hidden items / levels or God modes. Again, I turned this on recently and all the secrets just came flooding back. But boy, RoboCod IS hard to control!

@Philsan (check my other Atari posts!)

#Atari #atari1040ste #Robocod #platformers #retrogaming #retrocomputing #retrogames #gaming

Fully underappreciated movies abound! One being this Tom Cruise sci-fi masterpiece (albeit a bit simplistic), Oblivion. A great core concept, based I believe, on a graphic novel. Really amazing electric score by m83music that sets the atmosphere perfectly. Quite an emotional story too... But spoilers, if for some weird reason you've not watched it yet, the AI destroying our world in such a manner doesn't seem as far fetched as it did then...

The concept of an AGI that builds itself autonomous drones, uses cloning to it's advantage to inflict mass conflict on humanity without having to expend any of it's own tech resources could be a reality for us one day... Sounds morbid, but holds some weight...

#FilmMastodon #Film #TomCruise #scifi #ai #apocalypse

@DavidBHimself I'm planning a complete rewatch again. Still working through a rewatch of The Walking Dead atm.

@drrimmer pity the article is behind a paywall! But yes, I'd be interested in reading why the author believes this. Is it algorithm based? Is it just no highlighting of Aussie music?

Went to The Ballarat Wildlife Park last week. Still a wonderful day out with the family. Well kept, happy animals, lots to see and do, free presentations throughout the day.

https://wildlifepark.com.au/

#koala #kangaroo #wildlife #park #victoria #melbourne #australia

I passed through another op shop and expanded the collection... But for anyone wondering, it's like a challenge. The movies have to be DVD, from an op shop, and special editions if possible.

@verge incredibly sad news. To celebrate his life, I shall binge watch his entire collection of visual artistry over the next week.

https://variety.com/2025/film/news/david-lynch-dead-director-blue-velvet-twin-peaks-1236276106/#

Very sad news about the passing of David Lynch. I was a genuine fan of his work, since I first saw Blue Velvet on VHS back in 1994 when I was 12. It disturbed me greatly, and thus a fan was born. Rest in peace master director... #davidlynch #FilmMastodon

Here is a copy of the Atari ST game, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Curse Of The Azure Bonds. It's one of the few titles I picked up cheap after my Atari STe had been packed away. This was the first time I tested it, it loads for a bit, with a game font, but then says disk error and heads back to the TOS desktop, which displays in a funky red and black look. Not sure what's going on? Any retro gaming nerds know? Not sure if the title doesn't like 1mb of ram...
#dungeonsanddragons #retrogaming #retrocomputing #atari

#Melbourne night time at the Shrine Of Remembrance. Beautiful at night. Solemn place...

After dinner walk in our little town of Eynesbury... #Victoria #Melbourne

@DianeBruce I have a 13" AMD in my checkout bag, sitting at $2500 AUD.... I also so want to pull the trigger...

UK Bosses Try To Turn Back Clock On Hybrid Working https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/01/03/2149243/uk-bosses-try-to-turn-back-clock-on-hybrid-working?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon

@slashdot yeah, hybrid is here to stay, it's probably the only blessing from the pandemic, was this system. Especially in my industry, no one ever thought it would work. But it did, and it's been great, especially for those with families. Human interaction though, is essential for productivity, and interacting in person with your team really boosts overall engagement and mental health...

@phocks I still use other platforms, but Mastodon is hands down the only platform I feel in control of, where you actually engage with real people, and your followers, although much lower in number, are actually REAL people and not bots.

@_elena I would also love a Framework 13. I do the classic, building an AMD model, adding it to my cart and dreaming about clicking buy now...

@nickpeers I have a feeling your loft might be an Atari / retro computing fans dream come true.

Another Atari STe game, a brilliant title called 'Stardust.' Based on the mechanics of the classic game Asteroids, Stardust pushed the limits of the STe hardware, great graphics & music too. Notable as one of the very last commercially released Atari ST games, by the talented dev team at Bloodhouse. Happy I've got the big box version! @nickpeers did you clock this title?
#retrogaming #atari #atariste #stardust #gaming #retrocomputing