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The Ugly Monster (Oscar)

@theuglymonster.bsky.social
802 followers 1.3K following 3.3K posts

A Frankenstein of movies, games, anime, and other propaganda

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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 6h
"Despite the film being a propaganda piece, it’s still one of the most profoundly poetic works of a generation." #movies #NoPaywall medium.com/theuglymonst...
medium.com
Soy Cuba: Profoundly Poetic Propaganda
Beyond the political surface, Soy Cuba is first and foremost a cultural film, highlighting the unending beauty of the country it portrays.
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Brandon Lennan @lennfilm.bsky.social · 8h
Finally a film that validates watching #SleepawayCamp at 2 AM while bingeing your 7-Eleven stash, rooting for Angela and feeling thirsty and guilty at once. Check out my review of ‘Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma’ on @theuglymonster.bsky.social below. #Mubi #HorrorSky #FilmSky
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Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma — Love Letter to 80s Slashers and Queer Freedom
KFC, Counting Crows and Friday the 13th will never be the same
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Arcade Academia @arcadeacademia.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Video game preservation efforts are constantly shifting, so we’ve rounded up the latest examples to keep you in the loop! 📰🎮 #videogames #gamespreservation #playstation
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Wins and Losses in the World of Video Game Preservation
How has the approach to preservation changed since our first episode?
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 16h
"A (mostly) smooth cinematic experience awaits! It’s a basic minimum threshold for most movies, but for video game adaptations, it’s nothing short of a miracle." #ResidentEvilㅤ medium.com/theuglymonst...
medium.com
‘Resident Evil’ Boasts Small-Scale, Surface-level Thrills
Zach Cregger’s latest film takes an intriguingly anti-mythological approach to the revered video game it is adapted from, with mixed results
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 21h
"Embrace the danger, the subgenre whispers to us secretly." #horror #Medium medium.com/theuglymonst...
medium.com
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma — Love Letter to 80s Slashers and Queer Freedom
KFC, Counting Crows and Friday the 13th will never be the same
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 22h
"Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, written over 200 years ago, tackled the theme of Artificial Intelligence before there was even a word for it." #horror #movie #NoPaywall medium.com/theuglymonst...
medium.com
Romance and Revolution in the Age of AI
According to movies, 2025 is the year of AI uprisings, but how true can they be?
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Worldbuilding Wednesday @worldbuildingwed.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
30 more #worldbuilding questions to distract you from finishing your first draft ✍️✨ #writing #booksky #fantasy #scifi
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
"Murderbot has mixed feelings about humans, having witnessed both the heights of altruism and the depths of depravity that human beings are capable of." #SciFi #fantasy #GiftArticle medium.com/theuglymonst...
medium.com
Starships and Dragons Will Keep Us As Pets
If it loves us, it won’t kill us.
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
"...Bryan’s rambling monologues are so bereft of seriousness that they make the film turn in on itself, until its grand joke feels less like a horror-comedy and more like a feature-length sketch." #Medium #ResidentEvilㅤ #horror medium.com/theuglymonst...
medium.com
‘Resident Evil’ Boasts Small-Scale, Surface-level Thrills
Zach Cregger’s latest film takes an intriguingly anti-mythological approach to the revered video game it is adapted from, with mixed results
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
"The bodybuilding narrative dissolves, revealing a horror story about isolation, untreated trauma, and the way society teaches men to replace vulnerability with performance theatre." #movies #NoPaywall medium.com/theuglymonst...
medium.com
Magazine Dreams: The Gym Can’t Save You
You cannot out‑lift trauma
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
"How are the bourgeoisie able to free themselves?" #movies medium.com/theuglymonst...
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The Violence of the Ruling Class in ‘The Exterminating Angel’
The wealthy would rather slaughter a lamb than face the horrors they create
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
"If this long overview of Rockstar Games development history has taught us anything, it’s that the shady development practices and the comical microtransactions-fueled greed of their owners aren’t the only symptoms of the growing crisis in AAA development." #GTA6 medium.com/theuglymonst...
medium.com
Rockstar Games’ Development Saga is Odyssean
And a case for AAA companies to give us different experiences
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
"...because this isn’t a fairytale, Lara and Mari have the liberty to walk towards their own goals separately and come back to each other as better versions of themselves later." #NoPaywall #anime #Medium medium.com/theuglymonst...
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‘Goodbye Lara’ and Dissecting True Love
Or whatever everyone says true love is
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
"It’s worth noting that not all “harem fiction” stories are explicitly sexual or explicitly romantic. A lot of times it is a power fantasy protagonist being surrounded by his admirers." #anime medium.com/theuglymonst...
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Let’s Talk About Harem Fiction
It’s popular, problematic, and you're only allowed to have one guy in the mix
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Chris Bratt @chrisbratt.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
In recent years, the media has quietly begun to change the way in which it writes about Bobby Kotick, the former CEO of Activision Blizzard. PMG investigates how Kotick used the threat of defamation to reshape his legacy in the games business, one article at a time. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKwp...
youtube.com
Inside Bobby Kotick's Campaign Against the Press
YouTube video by People Make Games
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
"According to New York Times writer William Safire, the phrase "boots on the ground" originated during the Iran Hostage Crisis..." #NoPaywall #music medium.com/theuglymonst...
medium.com
“Boots on the Ground” — Tom Waits, Massive Attack, and Negative Ontology
“We trim your hedges, we fight your wars”
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susan @susandixon.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
...werewolves of London again
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
"...nobody wanted this." #NationalComicBookDay medium.com/theuglymonst...
medium.com
It’s time to talk about the Harley Quinn fart comic…
DC came up with this stinky comic book a year ago and has made it our problem.
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Worldbuilding Wednesday @worldbuildingwed.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
"Would The Hobbit have been as compelling if Gandalf was the main character instead of Bilbo?" #worldbuilding #writing #booksky #fantasy #writingcommunity
medium.com
A plea for the prevention of over-powered characters
There has been a recent trend of creating all-powerful characters who border on being Mary Sues and Gary Stus. What’s the antidote?
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
"A comic might have been the best way to explore the unhinged nature of these games." #NationalComicBookDay medium.com/theuglymonst...
medium.com
‘DIE’ Maps the Madness of Roleplaying Games
A comic about the unhinged nature of TTRPGs
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Tim Worthington @outonbluesix.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Just been to see Avengers: Endgame Encore and I don't mind admitting that I welled up a bit when Chadwick Boseman made his entrance. He wasn't with us for long enough but we got the best of him.
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
"There is a limit to how many times you can kill a protagonist and resurrect him with an editorial shrug. The superhero genre is the only cathedral where resurrection isn’t a miracle but an operating model." #NationalComicBookDay medium.com/theuglymonst...
medium.com
The Punisher #1: Trauma as Texture
When a brain injury becomes a mood ring, Frank Castle stops being a tragic icon and starts being a tired act.
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
"Hickman’s decade-defining Krakoa era finally let Cyclops’ revolutionary idea loose, giving the mutants a chance to experience real change in their living conditions." #NationalComicBookDay medium.com/theuglymonst...
medium.com
Expiring Utopia: Why Disney Fails the X-Men
The status quo keeps getting a lifetime X-tension
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
"In a time where art is desperately trying to be separated from the artist, we must remind ourselves of who art is really for." #GiftArticle medium.com/theuglymonst...
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WTF is Art?
Art, Propaganda and the curious definition superposition
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Dark Aether @thegrimaether.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
[Retrospective] After more than 25 years of transmedia storytelling, Ankama's Dofus anime is still the gold standard for video game adaptations. My latest on Dofus: Kerub's Bazaar and Book 1 - Julith! medium.com/theuglymonst...
medium.com
‘Dofus’ — The Transcendent Anime Ahead of Its Time
Over a decade later, Ankama’s ‘Dofus: Kerub’s Bazaar’ and ‘Book 1 — Julith’ stand out as two of the best video game adaptations ever
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Daley @daleyday.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Come obsess over werewolves and dragons and #LitRPG with me ✨
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
"Rhythm games are the culmination of everything important about music in video games. The music here forces you to adapt to the tone and structure of the game, rather than the music helping the tone adapt to immerse you." #GiftArticle #IndieGames medium.com/theuglymonst...
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The Golden Age of Rhythm Games is Happening Right Now
Modern music-based indie titles are quietly revolutionizing gaming as a whole
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
"I loved the game like it was back then, as it was originally intended as a casual pastime. It was much simpler and easier to learn and play. And it didn’t have any Spider-Man in it." #MagicTheGathering medium.com/theuglymonst...
medium.com
Selling Off My Magic: The Gathering Card Collection One Memory At A Time
Peek Inside the most warped game culture on Earth!
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Dark Aether @thegrimaether.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Enjoying The Elusive Samurai? Need a little more Tokiyuki in your life? Check out my original piece on the first season. And for those currently watching the second season, stay tuned. The fun is only getting started...
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
"When Yorishige approaches the distraught young lord who was prepared to die “a warrior’s death,” he indirectly challenges Tokiyuki by tossing him off a cliff." #anime #NoPaywall medium.com/theuglymonst...
medium.com
The Heroic Destiny of ‘The Elusive Samurai’
“You are a monster of life who has yet to free his full strength.”
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
"...I could name a hundred fantasy games that are more skillfully crafted, more worthy of praise, and more artistically impactful than D&D." #IndieGames medium.com/theuglymonst...
medium.com
‘Dragon Slayers’ — What if D&D was Fun?
Escapism shouldn’t be a hassle
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Worldbuilding Wednesday @worldbuildingwed.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
"Students are returning to classrooms, coffees are steaming in the brisk morning fog, and the leaves are slowly smoldering into reds and oranges." #worldbuilding #booksky #darkacademia #writing
medium.com
5 dark academia reads to start autumn off right
Cobbled streets, historic schools, shadowed studies, and secretive scholars.
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Arcade Academia @arcadeacademia.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Amid worries that physical discs are being driven to extinction, the gaming community has one guarantee of a physical release in the future: The Witcher 4. 💿 Well...kind of. 😵‍💫 #videogames #witcher #gaming #sony #physicalmedia #witcher4
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
"...was Anakin evil to begin with, or did circumstances make him evil?" #StarWars #NoPaywall medium.com/theuglymonst...
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Star Wars is About Betrayal
Why does our society link evil and betrayal?
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
"AAA game development has hit a snag and it has been stuck on it for the last decade." #gaming #Medium #GTA6 medium.com/theuglymonst...
medium.com
The Development Saga of Rockstar Games
And a case for AAA companies to give us different experiences
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Rise Up Comus @riseupcomus.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Perennial reminder that the big corporation does not care about you and there are better alternatives.
Chick tract saying that D&D is Mid
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
If Trump wanted to score points with older D&D players, he'd ban CBS News too. #GiftArticle medium.com/theuglymonst...
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Tom Hanks, the Satanic Panic, 60 Minutes, and D&D
CBS was a moral panic profiteer
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
"If you’re nostalgic for the Gameboy-era style of games with a modern flair, this is the game for you." #IndieGames #Medium medium.com/theuglymonst...
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‘Mina the Hollower’ Wants to Challenge You
A perfect mix of classic game look and feel with modern innovation that wants to challenge you
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
"No characters from the games make an appearance. It is an entirely unique, standalone experience using the plot of RE2, and the enemies and major antagonistic force of the series as a loose framework for an entirely different narrative." #ResidentEvilㅤ medium.com/theuglymonst...
medium.com
RESIDENT EVIL is the Best Video Game Movie Adaptation Of All Time
A modern horror comedy tour de force that can boldly stand on its own two feet
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
"Pinterest has updated its global Terms of Service and Privacy Policy to give itself explicit permission to use uploaded Pins, board collections, and user descriptions to train proprietary machine learning and generative AI models." #TTRPGs
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
"The problem we’re running into now isn’t that this AI-generated work exists, or even that it exists alongside human-made work, it’s that it’s taking up so much space." #TTRPGs
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
"It is not news that the Empire in Star Wars is fascist. George Lucas modeled the empire after the Nazis, not only in its design and terminology but also in its ideology and function." #Andor #GiftArticle medium.com/theuglymonst...
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‘Andor’ and Fighting Fascism
The fight against fascism is never-ending
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
"We have so removed, and detached, sex from any semblance of the natural in our media that it has now become common to talk about the “unnecessary sex scene”." #movies medium.com/theuglymonst...
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‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ and the Denaturalization of Sex
Did you know that Deadpool and Wolverine had sex in ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’?
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Elle Cordova @ellecordova.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Rough Draft vs Final Draft
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
"So often when I escape the “horrors” of real life, I wind up here. Amongst the ash and the rubble. Hollowing, Turning, Feathering, Maddening." #gaming #NoPaywall medium.com/theuglymonst...
medium.com
‘Wuchang’ and the Numbness of the Soulslike Veteran
They’re all the same
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
"...there are eleven ad pages advertising other Marvel books or products. Eleven! And most of them appear towards the end, which chops up the climax of the story!" #comics #GiftArticle medium.com/theuglymonst...
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The Punisher is Back, Baby!
But what’s with all the ads?
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
"I like Wolverine well enough, and I love me some dark s***, so this comic seemed perfect for me." medium.com/theuglymonst...
medium.com
I Finally Read ‘Wolverine: Weapon X’
A gruesome, insightful origin story
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
"Austin Abrams absolutely steals the show as Bryan. Without a doubt, he is the greatest part of the movie, and the best horror movie protagonist I could’ve asked for." #ResidentEvilㅤ #Medium medium.com/theuglymonst...
medium.com
RESIDENT EVIL is the Best Video Game Movie Adaptation Of All Time
A modern horror comedy tour de force that can boldly stand on its own two feet
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Worldbuilding Wednesday @worldbuildingwed.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
"After all, if vampires are now primarily love interests in fiction, why can’t vampires themselves become a symbol of love?" #writing #worldbuilding #vampires #anime #fantasy #callofthenight
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Call Of The Night Remains A Romance-First Vampire Romance
How a paranormal romance introduced a terrifying villain without falling face first into the conventional horror genre
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The Ugly Monster (Oscar) @theuglymonster.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
"Leon has always been a favorite from the franchise, but his popularity has reached unprecedented levels as of late." #ResidentEvil #GiftArticle medium.com/theuglymonst...
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‘Resident Evil’ and the Sexualization of Leon S. Kennedy
Is it okay to make crop top mods and thirst traps?
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