MultiversalMusings

Would you guys ever be interested in seeing me tackle video games in the same way I cover films and TV?

Not necessarily traditional game reviews, more the usual nonsense. Characters, philosophy, themes, storytelling, far too much overanalysis and terrible jokes.

Because there are a few games I've got a LOT to say about…

18 hours ago | [YT] | 2

MultiversalMusings

TW: SUICIDE / MENTAL HEALTH

September is Suicide Prevention Month, and I just wanted to check in with you guys.

I know from my analytics that around 93% of the people watching this channel are men, many of you around my age. And while I am unbelievably grateful for the insane growth this little channel has experienced recently, there's something much more important I want to say to you.

You matter. You are enough. And I'm glad you're still here.

I've struggled with suicidal thoughts myself for a long time. I've struggled with depression, with feeling invisible, with shutting myself away in my bedroom and feeling ashamed to even show my face to the world. I grew up with undiagnosed ADHD and depression and often felt like the people around me simply didn't understand what was happening inside my head.

Maybe that's part of why I've always cared so deeply about making other people feel seen.

A huge number of you have recently found me through The Sopranos, Peacemaker and The Batman, and I don't think it's entirely a coincidence that these stories resonate so deeply with so many of us. They're stories about damaged, lonely, frightened people trying to understand themselves. About depression, trauma, self-loathing, identity and, sometimes, simply trying to find a reason to keep going.

We come here to yap about Batman, Tony Soprano, Peacemaker and whatever else means something to me. But underneath all of that, I want this little corner of the internet to be somewhere you know you are welcome.

I know what it's like when somebody asks what you've been up to and you don't know how to explain that you've been healing. Recovering from burnout. Learning how to live outside survival mode. Slowly trying to find yourself again. So you just say, "Not much."

And nobody sees the enormous battle hidden inside those two words.

I've also just set up a Discord. It's still a work in progress, but I want to make sure it becomes a kind and supportive community where nobody has to feel completely alone. I wish I'd had something like that somewhere I felt understood when I was like 16.

The world can be incredibly dark and difficult. And sometimes people have absolutely no idea how much somebody they speak to every day is quietly struggling.

So please, check on your mates. Tell the people you love that you love them. And if you're the person who's struggling right now, please tell somebody. A friend. A family member. A doctor. A crisis service. Anybody. You do not have to carry everything silently.

And to every single one of you who watches my ridiculous videos, leaves a comment, becomes a member, sends me something, or simply quietly watches from somewhere in the world:

I'm glad you're here, not just on my channel, but here in the world. Please stay.

5 days ago | [YT] | 6

MultiversalMusings

My pal Sparrow has done a wonderful documentary celebrating 60 years of this incredible franchise and even asked for some of my thoughts, which made it into the video! Please do check it out, she spent so much time and effort onto this, she deserves the support. Live long and prosper.

6 days ago | [YT] | 3

MultiversalMusings

All this hype and its just a card game...

1 week ago | [YT] | 2

MultiversalMusings

I know I yap about Lawrence of Arabia on this channel a lot, but I’ve just rewatched it and… fucking hell. Even on a small computer screen, it is breathtaking. Genuinely one of my top five films ever made.

There’s just a scale to this movie that you don't see in modern films. Fifty men crossing the Nefud reduced to tiny specks against these enormous rock formations. Auda’s camp stretching as far as the eye can see, tents wrapping around the landscape. And the insane thing is it was all there. Those people were there. Those camels were there. Those tents were there. David Lean just shoved a camera at it.

And there genuinely isn’t a bad frame. The deep navy-blue nights against the yellow desert, Peter O’Toole’s almost impossibly yellow blond hair and white robes, Maurice Jarre’s score, the mirages… Even the editing is ridiculous. Everyone talks about the famous match cut, but there’s a tiny transition after Ali kills Lawrence’s guide where the camera pans across the desert and, almost invisibly, we’ve moved forward in time. The landscape barely changes, but Lawrence has.

And what a character Lawrence is. This meek, eccentric outsider who doesn’t belong among the British officers, yet almost seems comfortable being an outsider among the Arabs because alienation is nothing new to him. He goes back for Gasim because he refuses to accept that his death is “written”, earns Ali’s respect, helps take Aqaba… and then has to personally execute the very man he rode into the desert to save.

Talk about morally grey... That contradiction runs through the entire film. Lawrence is compassionate yet vain, hates violence yet discovers that he’s capable of enjoying it, genuinely believes in Arab independence yet slowly becomes intoxicated by his own legend. He spends the film insisting “Nothing is written”, seemingly proving it again and again, only to discover that even he isn’t powerful enough to overcome empires, politics and history. He conquers the desert yet loses to a conference room.

And then that ending. After four hours of watching this man become larger than life, he’s simply driven away from Damascus, watching the Arabs disappear behind him, before a motorcyclist passes the car quietly reminding us of the death we saw at the very beginning.

Christ. What a movie.

Four hours and somehow it never feels four hours. I would kill to see this thing in a cinema one day. Lawrence of Arabia is cinematic perfection. Masterpiece in every sense of the word. 10/10.

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1 week ago | [YT] | 6

MultiversalMusings

Got two scripts all good to go, so what review would you want to see first?

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 3

MultiversalMusings

I am genuinely in disbelief.

My little choppy video of me yapping about my favourite movie, The Batman, has somehow resonated with and been watched by over 100,000 people.

That number is so utterly unfathomable to me.

I made this video from my battered old desk in my living room. I stayed up writing the script on Proton Docs, sat at that same desk editing all the clips together in Premiere Pro, and eventually hit upload hoping that maybe a few hundred people at most out there would enjoy listening to me talk about a movie I love.

And now, somehow, 100,000 separate human beings have watched it.

People all over the world, from the US to the UK, Canada, India, Australia and beyond, have sat down and watched something I made at my desk in my living room.

I genuinely cannot wrap my head around that.

Thank you so much to everyone who has watched, commented, subscribed, shared a video, or supported me on this little creative journey of mine. The fact that I now get to make even a little bit of money talking about the things I love is something I never want to take for granted.

It genuinely, genuinely means more to me than I can put into words.

100,000 people. Utterly unbelievable. Thank you. - Muse.

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 8

MultiversalMusings

Just finished my Supergirl script, and man, I genuinely think it's some of my best work yet.

Ever since my The Batman review, I've really been taking your feedback on board, especially when it comes to pacing these reviews and making each point naturally flow into the next. I've also been bringing in more source material; tie-in comics, original stories, tiny background details that absolutely nobody asked me to zoom in and read... you know, the usual overanalysing you guys expect from me. And that's here in full force with Supergirl, as well as my upcoming Star Trek reviews.

I'm really proud of where the channel is heading creatively. I know I'm taking my sweet time, but I genuinely think the next few reviews are going to be some of my most ambitious yet, and I can't wait for you guys to see what I've been working on.

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 4

MultiversalMusings

50 years ago today, the very first shot of Star Wars was filmed in Tunisia.

Made me a little emotional, even if my love for this franchise has diminished over the years lately.

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 5

MultiversalMusings

Happy birthday to the king of comics himself, Jack Kirby.

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 6