Peruvian Idle

With the Euros and Copa America wrapping up and the Olympics getting underway, I spent a lot of time playing sports games. There were also a lot of remakes/sequels of 90s movies, including Twisters, Presumed Innocent, and Ripley.

🎮 Games

Elden Ring

I finally got into enough of a groove with Elden Ring that I felt comfortable taking my character into the DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree. My character is a dexterity build, so I was thrilled to find a weapon called Backhand Blade early on. The Backhand Blade becomes a pair of blades when you two-hand them and they have a really cool looking move set. The DLC itself is pretty challenging but there's a ton of new stuff to explore in an already dense game. If you enjoyed Elden Ring when it first came out, the DLC is well worth dipping back in for. [PS5/PC/Xbox]

College Football 25

EA Sports' NCAA Football series was one of my favorite sports games until a lawsuit filed against the NCAA by a former player led to its cancellation in 2013. With the NCAA's new Name Image and Likeness (NIL) rules, EA was able to bring the series back as College Football 25 by giving some 11,000 players $600 each. The game is everything I remembered and more, taking advantage of 10 years of advancements in technology to bring an authentic college experience, complete with mascots, fight songs and pre-game rituals unique to each Division I school.

My favorite mode is Dynasty, where you take control of a school's program as head coach. Not only do you play the games, but you're also responsible for recruiting players from high school and other colleges for the next season. The recruiting mini-game is really deep, allocating hours to scouting a pool of thousands of players, figuring out their priorities (things like draft potential, championship potential, proximity to home and more than a dozen other options) and trying to convince them that your school is a perfect fit. The higher caliber players you can get to commit to your school, the more competitive your program becomes. You can also level up your coach and buy new abilities that give you an edge in gameplay and recruiting.

There's also a mode where you can create a player, pick your school and play your entire college career, leveling up your skills and unlocking new abilities along the way. I started playing quarterback at Northwestern, where we went 8-4, losing in a bowl game to Eastern Michigan. I ended up transferring to Illinois since their QB graduated and I'm currently 1-0 in my sophomore season.

College Football 25 is a ton of fun. I didn't think it would ever come back but I'm so glad that it did! [PS5/Xbox]

MLB The Show 24

My stepson spent the first half of the summer pitching for the Burlington Bees in the Prospect League. So when I spotted MLB the Show 24 on sale, I was quick to pull the trigger. Much like College Football 25, MLB the Show has a mode where you can create a player and play their entire career.

I created a closing pitcher — the pitching interface is fun but I'm terrible at batting and fielding — got drafted by the Tigers and was immediately sent to their AA team, the Erie SeaWolves. After a few months of strong performances I got promoted to the AAA Toledo MudHens. After a short stint there, the Tigers realized they were already set for closers and traded me to the Red Sox, where I got sent back to AA to start the climb all over again. Just when I finally got the call up to the majors, College Football 25 came out and I haven't been back since. I was having a lot of fun with it and plan on going back at some point. [PS5/Xbox/Switch]

Other games I enjoyed

This month I checked off 33 more joker gold stickers in Balatro. 60 to go! I also played a little bit of Destiny's new act and got my soccer fix with FC24 (formerly FIFA).

🎬 Movies

Thelma

Absolutely loved this funny and sweet movie about a woman who tracks down the phone scammer that duped her out of $10,000 by impersonating her grandson. June Squibb and Richard Roundtree make a great team. An absolute delight. [VOD]

Only the Brave

What a gut punch. Great cast and cinematography. Does an utterly convincing job of selling the danger these firefighters put themselves in. I'm kind of shocked I didn’t hear of this until Top Gun: Maverick (by the same director) came out. Glad I finally got around to watching it. [VOD]

Risky Business

I first saw a screening of this 10 years after it came out, as a freshman at U of I. When Joel says, “looks like University of Illinois!” and flashes that famous shit-eating grin, the place exploded. It’s lived rent-free in my head ever since. Maybe the horniest coming of age movie of all time. The chemistry between Cruise and DeMornay is undeniable. An underrated Chicago movie, too. The Criterion 4K is great. [4k Blu-Ray]

Other movies I enjoyed

I re-watched Twister in anticipation of the sequel that came out this month. It was a lot more entertaining than I remembered and filled with notable character actors. The effects held up surprisingly well. I also re-watched David Fincher's Panic Room, another movie that I enjoyed much more on second viewing, especially now that I'm a parent. Ryan and I went to see Despicable Me 4, which was not particularly good, but I enjoyed watching Ryan have fun at his first 3D movie. Finally, I didn't re-watch it yet but Skywalkers: A Love Story, which I mentioned in Issue #1 is now available on Netflix. I highly recommend checking it out!

📺 TV

Presumed Innocent

Legal dramas are like sports movies. There are rules and a back and forth that results in a winner and a loser. The best ones feature an underdog overcoming their opponents against all odds. There's drama in the unexpected. I love them. Presumed Innocent, based on the Scott Turow novel which also inspired the 1990 movie, is a limited series starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a prosecutor on trial for the murder of his colleague/lover. As a show, it takes its time and adds a lot more red herrings than the movie, which I watched after finishing the series. Some great acting on display and it really had me guessing until the end. The show is supposed to take place in Chicago but, aside from a few arial shots, it was so clearly not filmed anywhere near Chicago. [Apple TV+]

Dark Matter

A really wild sci-fi premise in which Joel Edgerton plays a college physics professor who gets abducted into an alternate universe. He spends the rest of the series trying to figure out how to get back to his family. Nearly every episode ends with a big WTF moment. Dark Matter also takes place in Chicago but makes good use of actual Chicago locations and provides us with glimpses both dreadful and hopeful about Chicagos that might have been, including one where Trump apparently never put his name in absurdly large letters on one of Chicago's most iconic buildings. The end goes a little off the rails but I had a great time with it. [Apple TV+]

Other shows I enjoyed

I realized I never actually finished the last season of Atlanta, so I've been slowly chipping away at the last few episodes. I just love how the show got progressively more surreal over time. I also finally had a chance to check out Ripley, Netflix's limited series adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley. Andrew Scott is excellent as Tom Ripley, and the show is stunningly filmed in black and white. Every single frame looks incredible. I've only watched the first three episodes but I'm digging it so far.

📱 Videos

• Ryan recently became interested in Rubik's Cubes, so I got him one at Target and learned how to Solve a Rubik's Cube in 10 minutes. I can finally do it without referring to the video.
• Mike Judge and some of the cast look back at 25 years of Office Space. Fun fact: I went to high school with Ajay Naidu, who played Samir.
• Oobah's Great Amazon Heist opens with Oobah getting a job at an Amazon warehouse only to be quickly discovered. From there it gets crazy.
• Here's Flava Flav playing piano at the Olympics in France. He's sponsoring the US Women's Water Polo team. Respect!

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.

What are you looking forward to in August? Let me know!