Where did it all go wrong in Russia? Maria Pevchikh explains how liberal “reformers” and oligarchs looted the Russian state, and then appointed a corrupt, nondescript Chekist to power to guarantee their own immunity and ill-gotten gains.
Oppenheimer (2023) ★★★
Although Oppenheimer is a solid and historically accurate film, it is overly long – making its missed opportunities all the more glaring – and the key dramatic tension rests on speculation that was considered entirely fictional long before 1945.
Barbie (2023) ★★★★★
This might be a “Woke” film, but it is Wokeness with a human cafe.
Wheel of Time: Season 1 (2022) ★
Rafe’s adaptation of Robert Jordan’s world of eternal return keeps your eyes glued to the screen just on account of how utterly bad and cringe it is.
Michel Houellebecq – SUBMISSION (2015) Rating: 4/5 You can access all of my latest book, film, and video game reviews at this link, as well as an ordered, categorized list of all my book reviews and ratings here: https://akarlin.com/books Finally read Houellebecq’s Submission a few weeks ago, filling in a major and hitherto embarrassing lacuna. He is a master
LEVIATHAN (2014) Rating: 2/5 Finally watched this major Cannes hit, and understood why it was so popular with the “professional” critics, if not quite as much with normies (Metacritic: 92% vs. 73%; Rotten Tomatoes: 98% vs. 80%). No redeeming characters. Main “hero” is a boorish, highly unlikable, impulsive, and violent alcoholic. His wife is a whore
CUTIES (2020) Rating: 3/5 You can access all of my latest book, film, and video game reviews at this link, as well as an ordered, categorized list of all my film reviews and ratings here: https://akarlin.com/films The creepy conservative obsession with pedophilia is just bizarre. It reminds me of the feminist obsession with rape.
CONTAGION (2011) Rating: 4/5 You can access all of my latest book, film, and video game reviews at this link, as well as an ordered, categorized list of all my book reviews and ratings here: https://akarlin.com/films Contagion (2011), which I watched in February – my only film so far this year – chronicles the spread of an
Richard Lynn – RACE DIFFERENCES IN PSYCHOPATHIC PERSONALITY (2019) Rating: 5/5 TLDR: Global survey of racial differences in psychopathic personality confirms the standard Rushtonian pattern of Negroids < Caucasoids < Mongoloids on the r/K life history scale. You can access all of my latest book, film, and video game reviews at this link, as well as
THE JOKER (2019) Rating: 5/5 You can access all of my latest book, film, and video game reviews at this link, as well as an ordered, categorized list of all my film reviews and ratings here: https://akarlin.com/films The Joker seems to be all things to all people. Tyler Cowen believes it is “the most anti-Leftist
UNDERRAIL (2015) Rating: 5/5 You can access all of my latest book, film, and video game reviews at this link, as well as an ordered, categorized list of all my video game reviews and ratings here: https://akarlin.com/games WARNING: SPOILERS. UnderRail is an isometric turn-based RPG set in the deep future, long after an unspecified disaster has
Arthur K. Kroeber – CHINA’S ECONOMY (2016) Rating: 4/5 TLDR: Comprehensive and very readable overview of Chinese economy from a China expert, with especially useful discussions on Chinese SOE’s, financial system, and the validity of Chinese economic statistics (spoiler: They’re fine). Learned some interesting new things from it, despite having already read a considerable amount on
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD RATING: 3/5. You can access all of my latest book, film, and video game reviews at this link, as well as an ordered, categorized list of all my book reviews and ratings here: https://akarlin.com/films/ *** I am interested in China. I am not so much interested in films. But I am very interested
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD RATING: 5/5. So all you losers whining about the Battle of Winterfell, or: The Charge of the Dothraki Brigade. You’re approaching this as you would a real medieval battle, criticizing show writers D&D for giving Winterfell such an absurd order of battle (cavalry go first; trebuchets out in front; palisades right behind the infantry;
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD RATING: 3/5. I largely lost interest in Game of Thrones by the end of Season 5 (the only TV series I follow through the excellent cable alternative qBittorrent). So much so that it was not until just a week ago that I realized Season 8 had already started. As I explained in