Peruvian Idle

This issue snuck up on me after attending TWO Thanksgiving dinners! I hope you all had a restful and happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate, or a happy Thursday to everyone else. Let's get into it.

🎮 Games

After about a month of using the PS5 Pro, I can honestly say I can't really tell the difference on most games. I think the difference will be more apparent as yet-to-be-released games take full advantage of the Pro's hardware, but I can't recommend getting one for $700 unless you play games a lot and have money to burn.

One benefit of having the Pro (for me anyway) is that now my five-year-old, Ryan, can enjoy playing on PS5 on the TV in my office while I play on the other one at my desk. I've accumulated a bunch of free, age-appropriate games through PlayStation Plus over the years, and downloaded a bunch of them for Ryan to try. I spent this month mostly playing old favorites and playing various co-op games with Ryan.

No Man's Sky

Ryan is recently obsessed with space, so I figured No Man's Sky would be right up his alley, and I was right. I hadn't really played it since it came out several years ago and the small team at Hello Games has continued to add an impressive amount of new features and content, so in addition to playing with Ryan, I've also been playing on my own. It's extremely meditative. A refreshing escape from being murdered in Call of Duty by guys with names like [TRUMP]EffUrFeelings420.

I've enjoyed spending hours going from planet to planet, harvesting resources, upgrading my ship and my exosuit, and learning the languages of the game's different aliens. You can now build bases and vehicles, helm massive freighters, and engage in all sorts of shenanigans that weren't in the original release. If you gave up on this years ago or have never played it, I'd recommend checking it out. [PS5, PC]

Human Fall Flat

Ryan and I had a ton of fun playing through this odd puzzle game where you play a doughy human stumbling around with weird, drunken physics. The only things you can really do are jump and grab things with your hands. The levels increase in difficulty and you build on the skills and puzzle solving techniques you learned in earlier levels. It does offer split-screen co-op, but I found it was easier to just have Ryan hand off the controller when he got frustrated. Otherwise I'd find myself re-doing the same section twice and then we'd both be frustrated. Together we made it through the base game and a couple of the DLC levels before moving onto other games. [PS5, PC]

Other games I enjoyed

I didn't play much Balatro on PS5 this month, so I only picked up two more jokers on my way to getting gold stickers on all 150 to complete the platinum trophy. I'm still hopping in from time to time, but with just 15 jokers to go, it's really getting tedious. I've been playing a lot of Black Ops 6 multiplayer — mostly just grinding levels and weapon camos. It's not super satisfying but it certainly kills a lot of time. Similarly I've gotten back into NBA 2k25's MyTeam mode, where you field a team made up of cards you collect. I got an absolutely bananas 98-rated Anthony Davis the other day out of a random reward pack. It was honestly kind of a thrill. But much like COD, playing just seems like I'm killing time. Speaking of revisiting games that have evolved since launch, I decided to hop back into Cyberpunk 2077, and it still hasn't quite grabbed me. The aesthetic is similar to Deus Ex, one of my favorite series, but doesn't quite measure up. I'll keep at it for a bit because I've heard a lot of people dig it. Finally, I also hopped back into Stellar Blade in hopes of finishing the plat because a friend started playing it and I read that it gets a lot of benefit from the PS5 Pro. The final few trophies mostly involve maxing out the skill trees and other tedious stuff, I'm not sure I have the patience for even though I really enjoyed the game the first time around.

🎬 Movies

It's getting close to awards season and the selection of movies is getting a lot more varied and interesting. I watched some absolute bangers this month.

Anora

Despite finding nearly every character in this movie unlikable and entitled, I was captivated the whole time. I would describe Anora as Pretty Woman meets Uncut Gems. Mikey Madison gives a really brave performance. Sean Baker again shows he’s a unique and incredibly talented filmmaker. I was surprised how funny this movie was. Also, it’s clear the actor that plays Vanya never played a video game in his life. [In theaters]

Gladiator II

I’m growing weary of all these “lega-sequels” but I was, in fact, entertained! Paul Mescal takes up the mantle for Russell Crowe’s Maximus, whose presence looms large over the movie, and does a serviceable job. Denzel Washington is just having a blast here. He’s bringing Training Day energy, which would otherwise seem out of place if it weren’t for the comically over-the-top twin emperors of Rome. The set pieces are solid and the whole affair leads up to a rousing and satisfying conclusion. Love that Ridley Scott is still banging out movies, even if they don’t all hit as hard as this one. [In theaters]

Conclave

More like MEN TALKING, amirite? In all seriousness, as an atheist, I didn't expect to be so riveted by this movie. Gorgeously shot and almost plays like a murder mystery. So many twists and turns culminating in such a fantastic and timely reveal. Gave me hope that maybe good can ultimately prevail in the face of a bunch of shitty men. [VOD]

A Different Man

Sebastian Stan plays a disfigured actor who undergoes a procedure in hopes of improving his career and things go downhill from there. It's darkly funny, which I was not at all expecting. Part Charlie Kaufman, part David Cronenberg. Adam Pearson is so outrageously confident and Renate Reinsve is delightful. This would make a great double feature with The Substance. [VOD]

Other movies I enjoyed

Birth stars Nicole Kidman as a widow who is convinced that a 10-year-old boy is her reincarnated husband. I had no idea where this was going and loved it. I revisited Speed, which is just peak 90s action cinema. I also revisited the original Gladiator after watching its sequel, which only elevated its greatness for me. This is just an epic, big budget B-movie that's wildly entertaining and still holds up almost 25(!) years later. I Like Movies is a really sweet coming-of-age movie about an awkward film geek that gets a job at his local video store in late 90s/early 00s Canada. I also watched another coming-of-age movie called My Old Ass, about a teenager who hallucinates her older self (played by Aubrey Plaza) while on a mushroom trip. I was surprised how little they leaned on this premise, instead opting to let it inform the main character's choices. The ending was surprisingly emotional and really landed for me, reminding me of one of my favorite movies, but mentioning the name would spoil them both!

📺 TV

I ended up watching a fair amount of TV this month. There were quite a few shows returning as well as some great new shows.

Day of the Jackal

This is one of the most dadcore shows ever made. Eddie Redmayne plays the titular hit man and although he's tall and thin like me, he convincingly portrays a sociopathic killer. Lashana Lynch plays the British intelligence agent obsessed with taking him down before he can strike again. Some great cat-and-mouse action, gorgeous locations and cinematography, and excellent needle drops (opening with a Radiohead song is the surefire way to my heart). If you love the Bourne films you'll probably dig this as much as me. [Peacock]

A Man on the Inside

I adored this show from Mike Schur, creator of The Good Place, who reunites with Ted Danson as a man who is hired by a private investigator to infiltrate an assisted living facility to solve the mystery of a stolen necklace. It's very wholesome and Danson is great. The supporting cast includes a lot of familiar faces (Sally Struthers!). You don't often see older people depicted in television and film, and this show does it in a really sweet and heartfelt way. A great companion piece to this is the movie Thelma, which was released earlier this year. [Netflix]

The Diplomat

I loved the first season of The Diplomat, in which Keri Russell plays a foreign service officer who becomes the ambassador to the UK. It's a fun political thriller with sharp writing and a great cast. Season 2 is a lot more serious than the first and gets deeper into the thriller aspect. The season finale ends on such a shocker that I gasped out loud. Allison Janney plays the Vice President and she's just terrific. Looking forward to the third season. [Netflix]

It's in the Game: Madden NFL

I've been playing the Madden NFL Football series on and off for some 30+ years now. I didn't know much about football at all until I started playing the first Madden in high school. So this 4-part documentary was right up my alley. It covers the remarkable and unlikely start of the series and how it became a fixture in our culture and made sports video games wildly popular. I found it fascinating and learned a few things I never knew (Joe Montana Football was actually a stripped down version of Madden made by Electronic Arts for Sega, for example). The doc shows the Madden series in a pretty favorable light and barely addresses anything negative about the series, such as its heavy use of microtransactions. I still really enjoyed it and it was an insightful look at the development of one of my all-time favorite games. [Amazon Prime Video]

Other shows I enjoyed

The Disclaimer finale was pretty wild and put the earlier episodes in a whole new context. I'm not sure how I felt about the series as a whole but it was definitely worth watching. The second season of Silo is three episodes in and it's not been nearly as interesting. I'm hoping things get good but it feels like the show is suffering after killing off so many interesting characters its first season before we even got a chance to get to know them. It's a show that tries to be like Lost but relies too heavily on its puzzle box rather than its characters.

📱 Videos

• Here's Weird Al Yankovic and Will Forte (of all people) performing a cover of Chappell Roan's Hot to Go.
• Thanksgiving always reminds me of the food fight from Cheers.
• This video about getting rid of your kids' toys really struck a nerve with me. We definitely need to address the mounting pile of toys before Santa pays us another visit.
• An interesting history of Roosevelt Island in New York, which I knew existed but knew very little about.
• Demi Moore runs the gauntlet on Hot Ones without so much as breaking a sweat. A true Hollywood icon.
• Hank Green discusses how the internet played a part in our current moment.
• The cake sketches on SNL always crack me up. Shoutout to the props department for some amazing cakes.
• I also love a good game show sketch and John Mulaney is great here.

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 December? Let me know!