The Suggestion Box #100: Cyborgs, and Dungeons, and Supervamps, Oh My!

Posted on by Lauren

Starting 2024 off right with our 100th Suggestion Box post! I told Ben that to celebrate maybe I’d go crazy and have more than one thing to contribute, but I’m nothing if not a liar. Just like I am likely lying when I say that my New Year’s goal to get back to posting these every other week regularly is totally gonna happen. Anyway…

Back to our usual intro: wondering what to do with your upcoming free time? Good thing we have some suggestions for what you should be watching, playing, reading, listening to, etc.

Lauren’s Comic Book Pick: DC vs. Vampires – With a need to finish off my Goodreads goal of 30 books in 2023 in a day — I really was on a roll to blow that total out of the water til I got dragged under by all the Supercorp fanfiction — I finally sat down with something that was seemingly written just for me: DC vs. Vampires. Just like with the other short lived, horror leaning DC series DCeased (DC + zombies!), things quickly moved from the good versus undead war for survival I was expecting, as the bloodsuckers increases their numbers with some of the best (and worst) the world has to offer of masked vigilantes, caped crusaders, and villainous rogues, leading to some exhilarating moments of triumph, as well as some shockingly dispiriting moments of tragedy — including one of the most inventive uses I’ve ever seen of Green Lantern’s power constructs (admittedly most of my experience comes from Ryan Reynolds’ film, so that’s not saying much), an explanation of why the Flash would make a horrible vampire, and just a lot of bittersweet familial ribbing amongst the Bat Family (bittersweet cuz there’s no way this antagonistically loving unit will be allowed to survive this intact, right?). Oh, and a whole lot of blood, obviously. Be forewarned that the second of the two volumes ends on quite a cliffhanger, one that would be incredibly infuriating if that’s where the series of 12 issues remained following its initial dusting back in 2022. Fortunately, a quick Google search suggests we’ll actually be getting a follow up series sometime this year. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Ben’s Movie Pick: The Last Samurai – Hollywood hero Tom Cruise delivers his second-best performance (his turn in Tropic Thunder is untouchable) in this tale of a man finding honor and hope in the last place he expected: with the samurai warriors he was supposed to help annihilate. Cruise perfectly portrays the transformation of Nathan Algren, a tormented, disillusioned soldier who is captured by the leader of his opposition — an equally brilliant Ken Watanabe — and slowly begins to embrace the samurai code of honor and lifestyle. Hans Zimmer’s emotional score further compliments the film’s beautiful scenery, dramatic reveals, powerhouse performances, and harrowing battles, culminating in a movie that stands shoulder to shoulder with classic historical epics like Braveheart as an unforgettable movie experience. Hell, I’m of the mind that The Last Samurai’s ending is even more poignant than the legendary finale of Braveheart. I’m almost tearing up just thinking about it!

Ben’s Movie Pick: Robocop – Paul Verhoeven’s seminal 80’s sci-fi police movie is a cold stone classic for good reason. The film’s interesting themes — like a cyborg struggling to balance his new state of being and his humanity, as well as corporate greed — are arguably even more impactful today than they were back in ’87. And the action… Well, it kicks all kinds of metallic ass. Sure, some of the visual effects haven’t aged all that well, but the few moments that Robocop is actually in danger still feel tense; and the scenes where the eponymous hero has his enemies on the back foot are extremely entertaining to boot. Throw in a stoic but endearingly weird performance from Peter Weller as the eponymous hero, along with more than a few legendary one-liners, and you’ve got a film that has more than withstood the test of time for action and sci-fi film fans.

Oh, and on a personal note, the scene involving toxic waste is one of the most horrifying things I’ve ever seen. Legitimately traumatizing.

Ben’s TV Pick: Severance – Severance takes a premise that also would’ve worked wonderfully as an episode of Black Mirror — it follows a group of people who work for a company that alters their brains to completely separate the memories of their personal lives from their professional ones — and runs with it for a whole season. Adam Scott delivers an astounding performance as the series lead, a man who signed up for the job to avoid grieving the loss of a loved one; and the rest of the cast is stellar as well. Britt Lower, John Tuturro, Zach Cherry, and Patricia Marquette are all on top form. Like I said earlier, though, the biggest strength of Severance is how it takes a genuinely brilliant idea, and continues to evolve it throughout the season with incredible world-building and storytelling. I found myself further and further on the edge of my seat as the story built to a genuinely heart-stopping finale that left me shouting at my TV and desperate to see what lies ahead for these characters I now love in Severance’s next season.

Ben’s Video Game Pick: Destiny 2: Warlord’s Ruin – Bungie has hit another home run with their newest dungeon, Warlord’s Ruin. In this immaculate adventure your fireteam ascends a run-down castle that’s filled with Taken (possessed) and Scorn (zombified) enemies who endlessly spawn and surround you during its main encounters. The mob density is perfectly balanced, as you must remain on the move almost constantly but the odds never feeling unfairly stacked against you. This is something many of Destiny‘s raids and dungeons don’t get quite right, but the tension it creates in Warlord’s Ruin is insane. Not only that, but the puzzles throughout the dungeon are great too (my favorite being a jailbreak that starts with your loot sitting in plain view just out of your reach). Oh, and the final boss is the twisted soul of an ahamkara — basically wish-granting space dragon — that you chase across floating debris at the castle’s peak. It’s easily my favorite encounter in anything Bungie has made so far, and the perfect ending to an absolute masterclass of endgame content.

So what do you think about these picks? What content did we miss over the past two weeks while we were spending time with these? Be sure to leave a comment below letting us know about everything (both current and simply new to you) you’ve been consuming lately!

And while you’re here, be sure to check some of the site’s other recent content:

Have Something to Say?