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Balatro, a poker-themed deck-building game I wrote about last month, has really gotten a hold of me. It left me with very little time to watch TV or movies, but I still managed to see a few things. Let's get to it!

🎮 Games

Balatro

Box art for Balatro

I've taken Balatro's 0.1% completion rate for its platinum trophy as a personal challenge. Most recently I beat the game's hardest challenge, the Jokerless challenge, leaving just two more trophies until I get the platinum. I also had a lot of fun coaching my friend Dave through a round of Balatro. There's a massive patch incoming that will hopefully make the higher stakes a bit easier. [PS5/Xbox/Switch/PC/Mac]

Helldivers 2

Box art for Helldivers 2

The team behind Helldivers 2 keeps banging out new content, including new weapons and enemy types, seemingly on a weekly basis. Even though they nerfed my beloved Rail Gun, I still love diving in with friends for some adrenaline-packed action. I feel like Al Pacino in Godfather Part 3: just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in. And thanks to Dave, Mike, and Jose I finally got the platinum trophy, which only 1.6% of players have earned! [PS5/PC]

Stellar Blade

Box art for Stellar Blade

Stellar Blade is yet another 2024 game that seemly came out of nowhere that hooked me immediately. I had been playing some Elden Ring and Sekiro to get my reflexes back in time for June's Elden Ring DLC, so when I heard positive reviews of this Sekiro-like, I decided to give it a shot. Despite its "jiggle physics" and impractical armor, the gameplay is extraordinary and the game feels a lot more accessible than Sekiro. For example, when you unlock a new move, you can immediately go into a Tekken-like training arena to practice it. A lot of the different counter-attacks are color-coded as well, making it easy to know which move you need to do at any given time. I'm really digging it so far. If you enjoyed Sekiro, you'll probably love Stellar Blade. [PS5]

Finally, Mega Crit announced a sequel to Slay the Spire, coming to early access in 2025. I had no idea this was even in the works so, needless to say, I'm excited!

Other games I enjoyed

Call of Duty's latest season brought back a remastered Rebirth Island map, which is a lot of fun. Destiny 2 also released some new content, which I played for a hot minute before going back to Balatro. Sekiro is finally clicking for me after struggling with it when it first came out. And Elden Ring is still just amazing. Can't wait for the DLC. I also dipped into Dave the Diver, whose quirky style I enjoyed, but there's just too much to play right now. Hoping to dive deeper into it next month. (See what I did there?)

🎬 Movies

It was a slow month for movies — both the quality and quantity of movies I watched was below average. Here's a few I did enjoy.

Challengers

Poster for Challengers

An early contender for my favorite movie of the year. Challengers slaps. Luca Guadagnino (Call Me by Your Name, Bones and All) is a modern master of horny cinema. This time-jumping, love triangle, tennis drama is literally dripping with sexual tension. Zendaya is electric. I would risk everything if she even looked at me out of the corner of her eye. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is one of their best. The most ironic thing of all is that the movie is written by the husband of Celine Song, who wrote and directed the best love triangle movie of 2023. What's going on in that relationship? Definitely worth checking out Challengers in theaters on the biggest screen with the best sound. [In theaters]

Late Night with the Devil

Poster for Late Night with the Devil

I found this wildly entertaining. Loved the whole setup and 70s talk-show aesthetic. Character actor David Dastmalchian is great as an ambitious late night host who takes things too far in his quest for ratings. The found footage angle really strains credulity near the end but it has some really clever twists. [VOD]

The Nice Guys

Poster for The Nice Guys

If ever a movie was ripe for a sequel it's 2016's private eye comedy, The Nice Guys. Writer/Director Shane Black, one of the masters of blending sharp, comedic dialogue and action is firing on all cylinders with this one. Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling have such great chemistry. Gosling shows off his range with some excellent physical comedy and Crowe plays off him as the strong, silent straight man. This movie gets funnier every time I see it. According to Gosling, we have The Angry Birds Movie to thank for the lack of a sequel, opening the same weekend as The Nice Guys, which went on to gross just $36M at the US box office. [VOD]

Other movies I enjoyed

Monkey Man is a solid directorial debut for Dev Patel, who also stars at the titular character. Great action and incredible visual style. Alex Garland's Civil War has some incredibly memorable scenes, in particular a brief appearance from Jesse Plemons, which is just absolutely chilling. I revisited Drive on 4k blu-ray and it's still a great, tense crime film with an excellent cast and catchy synth soundtrack.

📺 TV

Tokyo Vice

Poster for Tokyo Vice

For some reason I thought season two of Tokyo Vice was only eight episodes (S1 had eight). After finishing what I thought was the last episode, it was pretty unsatisfying and anticlimactic. So when I realized when queuing up The Sympathizer that two more episodes had been released since I last logged into Max, I was pleasantly surprised. And let me tell you, A LOT happens in those last two episodes. The conclusion left it open for more seasons but everything felt resolved and they could just as easily have ended the series and it would have been satisfying. Overall a pretty compelling season with lots of Yakuza/police/journalist intrigue. [Max, the one to watch for HBO]

Fallout

Poster for Fallout

I was blown away with how well Amazon's new Fallout series was able to capture the look and tone of the video game series. The cold open of the first episode with Walton Goggins is just incredible. This adaptation by the team behind Westworld (Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy) is unique in that it doesn't adapt its story from the game so much as build a narrative within the world set up by the Fallout series. Fortunately, Fallout doesn't rely as heavily on its mysteries as Westworld. Overall a pretty satisfying season filled with action and humor (guest stars Matt Berry, Chris Parnell and Jon Daly particularly tickled me). It was just renewed for a second season and I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes. [Prime Video]

📱 Videos

Thanks for reading!

I hope you enjoyed this issue of Peruvian Idle. I send this out on the first of every month. You can subscribe at peruvianidle.mikeaparicio.com or via RSS.

The summer movie season is almost upon us. What movies are you looking forward to? Let me know!

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