Ask HN: What is your favorite piece of entertainment of the last three years?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29464801

by bakuninsbart • 5 years ago

33 81 5 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

The darkest time of the year is upon us, at least in the northern hemisphere, and this usually means consuming a lot more art and entertainment, while cozying up at home or going to meet family. What are your strongest recently published recommendations when it comes to books, movies, games etc.?

natded• 5 years ago

Twitter by far. You get a real time feed of the collapse.

runjake• 5 years ago

Conversely, if you ignore social media, you get some pretty entertaining conversation starters from everyone else who spend all day on it.

And the collapse looks very different, and perhaps more peaceful, albeit brutal.

Alekhine• 5 years ago

I'm guessing you mean the collapse of society. Do you really think the social order is breaking down? Is what's happening now any worse than the 60s?

omosubi• 5 years ago

Algorithmic reinforcement

muzani5• 5 years ago

I wonder if someone has drawn a graph for the collapse based on tweets.

PaulHoule• 5 years ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kingdoms_(TV_series)

rkk32• 5 years ago

You might like

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King%27s_War

Same director, lots of cast overlap

bellyfullofbac• 5 years ago

Get 5 comedians, give them silly tasks with a mock authoritarian 1-man judge and 10 episodes of competition: Taskmaster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4YhsooE5xY (they've done 12 seasons, and there are versions from other nations, although as usual the US version stunk)

The Amazon series The Expanse.

Auto-complete just suggested the novel "A Gentleman in Moscow".

datenhorst• 5 years ago

although as usual the US version stunk

I haven't watched the US version but I am reminded of Stephen Fry's explanation of the differences between US and UK comedians[0]. Taskmaster needs contestants willing to embarrass themselves.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k2AbqTBxao

clouddrover• 5 years ago

Taskmaster is skill, comedy, and tragedy all in one. It's the perfect sport:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtayE1NLe1w

kadoban2• 5 years ago

Came here to mention Taskmaster, thanks for doing it first. In my opinion, light entertainment does not get _any_ better than Taskmaster, it's perfect.

Just started The Expanse too. Too early to say much, but it seems cool as hell.

stevedekorte• 5 years ago

The OA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_OA, Tales from the Loop https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_from_the_Loop, Maniac https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maniac_(miniseries), Utopia (2014 British TV series) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8Vu3Hyv_Vk&list=PL_jIDr2tZi...

linkdd3• 5 years ago

It's a shame The OA was cancelled, it could have sprouted to be a new genre of Sci-Fi. I loved the season 1, and the season 2 had so much fun ideas.

more_corn3• 5 years ago

OA lost me when she used the cultish emotional manipulation technique. “Leave your front door open when you come” meh.

tra3• 5 years ago

- "Tales from the Loop" was underrated. A real melancholy hard sci-fi series [0].

- "Ted Lasso" on the other hand is funny and well done! [1]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_from_the_Loop

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Lasso

MivLives• 5 years ago

Agreed on Tales from the Loop. I don't think anyone I know has seen this, as it's not very flashy and it's relegated to Amazon Prime video. But I enjoyed it and encourage others who like the "Living with the technology genre"

more_corn3• 5 years ago

Tales from the loop had so much promise. If only it had a narrative thread.

mtsr2• 5 years ago

It does? If you missed it, watch it again. There’s a subtle but important story thread that develops over every single episode.

mtsr2• 5 years ago

Interestingly, Tales from the Loop first saw the light as this amazingly produced Tabletop Roleplaying Game. It was then picked up and turned into the show.

So if you like it, consider picking up the game and getting a few friends around the (virtual?) table to make your own Tales from the Loop.

meristohm• 5 years ago

I thought I was done with single-player games, and then a friend gave me Disco Elysium, an art project/interactive book/detective story/mortality reminder that introduced me to British Sea Power (music). I’m particularly impressed with the skill tree and the term “Inland Empire” for one of the detective’s inner voices, and that many failed actions can be retried after increasing the relevant skill.

For books, Finding the Mother Tree, by Suzanne Simard, for reinforcing how important soil-health is to the growth of trees. I wish more of the old trees and not just Douglas Fir had been left around here, since they help the next crop of trees come up healthier, due to the mycorrhizal fungus that links the roots (and benefits from the sugars in what seems to be a mutualism). After a clearcut, the parasitic fungi are more likely to take over as they digest the lopped trees, making it harder for new trees to establish. Thanks to this book, Anna Octavia Butler and Robin Wall Kimmerer, I practice taking a longer view.

Rodeoclash• 5 years ago

I'll second Disco Elysium. For a long time I wondered what a computer game would look like if it had competent writing. That game is Disco Elysium.

aasasd3• 5 years ago

I mean, there are some games from back in the day that are said to be pretty good, e.g. ‘Myst’ (still haven't gotten around to it).

Text adventures seem to attract authors with some ability: for example, ‘The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy’ and Adams' ‘Bureaucracy’. Plus more-modern games by e.g. Emily Short.

flatiron2• 5 years ago

Wish it had a Linux port. I did see it was on stadia so I may check it out.

randcraw• 5 years ago

Probably the recordings were made more than 3 years ago, but I was laughing my ass off at episodes of the British show QI hosted by Stephen Fry. I saw it on BritBox but it's available from several sources.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QI

barbarbar• 5 years ago

Yes - I agree it is awesome. Though long time since I have seen it but remember that Jo Brand was extremely funny.

aasasd3• 5 years ago

There's also the podcast ‘No Such Thing as a Fish’, by four of the writers of QI. It's a mix of trivia and buffoonery—pretty much like the TV show, just with a more small-room feel.

kadoban2• 5 years ago

Sandi Toksvig is an impressively good replacement as well, which for me is surprising because I'm a huge Stephen Fry fan and expected the show to go to hell without him.

linkdd3• 5 years ago

  - Kingdom Reborns https://store.steampowered.com/app/1307890/Kingdoms_Reborn/
  - Arcane League of Legends Netflix series (never played the game, loved the series)

Also, yes it's not made in the last three years, but a good old annual LOTR marathon is always planned at the end of the year for me.

Finally, still not made in the last three years, but chess. I want to get to 2000 ELO in bullet games, but I'm stagnating at around 1850 at the moment :/

gaws5• 5 years ago

Kingdom Reborns https://store.steampowered.com/app/1307890/Kingdoms_Reborn/

I've never heard of this game until this thread. How do you like it? How does it compare to Banished, Cities: Skylines, and other city-builder games?

linkdd3• 5 years ago

It's closer to Banished than Cities Skylines, the multiplayer is fun, the map is huge and it works flawlessly on my potato computer. I've spent many hours on this game and enjoyed every second.

rurban• 5 years ago

https://letterboxd.com/rurban/film/a-story-of-yonosuke/

I saw a few better movies, but did not write about them yet. Gunda eg

ecf• 5 years ago

Noita - https://noitagame.com

Over 200 hours in and I still haven’t discovered everything. In my opinion, no game in recent memory has had such an amazing core gameplay loop where you can spend either 40 minutes or 17 hours on a run.

flatiron2• 5 years ago

Windows only! :(

CodeGlitch6• 5 years ago

I played it in Linux just fine

CodeGlitch6• 5 years ago

This game is simply amazing. I usually don't enjoy Rogue-likes, but you usually die in such an entertaining way in Noita that I don't mind.

SenHeng• 5 years ago

Snowboarding and Final Fantasy XIV.

Almost every weekend over the past 5 winters, I would drive 4 hours from my big city home to spend two days sliding and crashing in snow down a mountain. It's amazingly fun. This year, I moved to the mountain.

Last year, I picked FFXIV back up again after a 6 year hiatus and I probably spend a good 2 to 3 hours each day. Even when I'm not playing, I may be spending time creating task list or looking for blogs. There's a lot of content to do in FFXIV, especially if you're just starting. It's a bit too addictive and I'm worried about it, good thing winter has come.

pjc50• 5 years ago

Recently published? No. Recently watched? Well, we've been having a "bad/unusual" film season all pandemic, and one of my faves is https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0213322/ "Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVBPNfKfgNo

Time travel and twin swap: hilarity ensues. Bill and Ted if it were made under Czechslovakian communism.

Full "ridiculous films of yesteryear" playlist which will keep you busy for a while: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxtZMqA9k8-JIy6CBRbkq...

kss238• 5 years ago

CS:GO 3200hrs in game over the past 3 years

muzani5• 5 years ago

I occasionally pop it up for 15 mins and see how many I can hit with the weapon of the week, but in a full game, it turns out reflexes are not the bottleneck. I've got under a hundred hours over 5 years or so. Can't imagine it being entertaining for 1000 hours a year.

torstenvl2• 5 years ago

These are all things I've experienced in the past three years, though some started or came out earlier.

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (even better if you liked Children of Time)

Ted Lasso on Apple TV+

Star Trek: Discovery on CBS/Paramount (especially Season 2)

Letterkenny on Hulu

Cobra Kai on Netflix

The Country Things album by Granger Smith

Bellend• 5 years ago

Thanks for the books, added them to my wishlist for later in the month :)

Quiza12• 5 years ago

Absolutely agree with The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. Re-read it a few times now.

spoiler• 5 years ago

The books by Will Wight (Cradle series, and Elder Empire dual trilogy). I enjoyed his Traveller's Gate trilogy too, but not as much as the other two.

Expanse (the TV Show, books are on my to-do list).

Licanius Trilogy books are great too.

GRIS is a really beautiful story telling game about loss and grief. The story telling, art, and music are all beautiful. The gameplay is really fun too, even if it's not usually my kinda game.

MerelyMortal4• 5 years ago

The last book of the Expanse series was just released (#9), so if anyone was procrastinating, now is a good time to start the series.

gaws5• 5 years ago

The books by Will Wight (Cradle series) I've seen a lot of recent hype for this series. Is it any good? The YA tag is a red flag for me because I'm not really interested to read about children.

cm2012• 5 years ago

Two incredible tv series:

Arcane

Better Call Saul

wetpaws• 5 years ago

DND with friends

drks91• 5 years ago

HBO's Chernobyl.

the_lonely_road• 5 years ago

On Hulu the tv shows “12 monkeys” and “Future Man” if you like time travel fantasies. Despite sharing a source with the movie 12 monkeys, the show has its own legs and is much more serious and enjoyable with a satisfying wrap up. Future Man is the exact opposite, a comedy from Seth Rogan. If you liked Pineapple Express you are likely going to love this, and if you didn’t you should skip it.

MerelyMortal4• 5 years ago

Future Man is very rated "R" and very hilarious, I highly recommend it.

CodeGlitch6• 5 years ago

The first episode is a bit of a hurdle, but once you get the tone of the show it's highly entertaining.

stolenmerch• 5 years ago

New Long Leg by Dry Cleaning

Designer by Aldous Harding

Infinity of Now by The Heliocentrics

House of Sugar by (Sandy) Alex G

Sex and Food by Unknown Mortal Orchestra

FMTI by Dirty Art Club

Freedom's Goblin by Ty Segall

Sound Ancestors by Madlib

Dowwie• 5 years ago

Have you watched a season of "Alone", produced by the History Channel? They've done 8 seasons already. So many elements play a role in who wins a season. It's really interesting to see how contestants compete.

wellthisisgreat• 5 years ago

TV Shows:

The Great

Succession

Snowfall

Best storytelling since Sopranos in those 3 I think.

Games:

Warzone

Hell Let Loose

Best social FPS (need friends for Warzone though)

Books:

Denis Johnson (all of his books)

Algorithms We Live By

Behave (best book of the decade imo)

torstenvl2• 5 years ago

Behave: The Biology of Humans at our Best and Worst by Robert Sapolsky is definitely one of the best books of the decade, though I'm not sure I'd call it entertainment. Regardless, I'll enthusiastically second your recommendation of it.

rkk32• 5 years ago

"Prestige" TV about unhappy families

Succession (2018 - present) Drama, Dark Comedy

Fleabag (2016-2019) British Dark Comedy

Undone (2019) Psychological Thriller, Drama

Other TV

The Expanse (2015 - present) Space Opera

Made in Abyss (2017 - present) anime

Mob Psycho 100 (2016- present) anime

Nirvana in Fire (2015) c-drama

Games

Through the Ages new story of Civilization, Board Game/Online

Divinity-2, Computer RPG

aasasd3• 5 years ago

Meta: kinda weird and funny that HN discussions on entertainment fall apart so quickly. It seems, though, that people are so excited by having a thread on it at all, that they brain-dump the first thing that comes to mind, even if it's from the past generation in terms of electronic media time.

My personal overwhelmingly favorite thing from these years is the album ‘Come and See’ by the band Mamaleek: https://mamaleek.bandcamp.com/album/come-and-see It's not a movie, of course, but I played it on repeat for about three days straight, then did the same with the rest of the band's discography. It's the first genuinely great-sounding thing that I encountered in over five years. However, one probably has to already like heavy music to appreciate it (though earlier ‘Out of Time’ and ‘Via Dolorosa’ sorta lean on lighter electronic side). Ah, and my favorite way to listen to the band is on long late-night walks through the city—same as with e.g. ‘Homotopy to Marie’.

ArtWomb• 5 years ago

Okko's Inn. The Greatest Miyazaki Film, that Miyazaki never made ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIXc0S3t3LY

Also looking forward to Mamoru Hosoda's Belle out Jan 2022

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChneY1MSVFw

matthewmcg• 5 years ago

I like to follow a thematic thread with books and movies. Here are a few recent ones that might interest the HN crowd:

* water issues/climate change in the Southwest:

  - *Chinatown* (film)
 
  - *The Water Knife* by Paolo Bacigalupi (sci-fi novel, described as "*Chinatown* meets *Mad Max*)

  - *The Cadillac Desert* by Marc Reisser (nonfiction, part of a plot element in *The Water Knife*

  - *Cadillac Desert* PBS documentary[1]

* Dark espionage thrillers:

  - *The Night Manager* by John LeCarre (novel, honestly not one of his best)

  - *The Night Manager* (TV miniseries--much better than the book!)

  - *The Ghost Writer* by Robert Harris (novel)

  - *The Ghost Writer* (movie)

  - *An Officer and a Spy* by Robert Harris (excellent and extensively researched historical novel, based on the Dreyfus Affair in Paris circa 1900)

  - *J'Accuse (An Officer and a Spy)* (movie)

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkbebOhnCjA

MerelyMortal4• 5 years ago

Recommendation: Nintendo Switch

My last gaming device was a Gameboy Advance, until I bought a Switch.

What convinced me to get it was a discussion in HN about Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I bought the Switch just to play that one game, and it was worth it.

I think for cost versus hours entertained, the Switch and its popular games are worth it. It also takes a lot longer to "run out" versus an 90-120 minute movie, or a book that might take your 4 or 5 hours to read. I probably put in maybe 60 to 80 hours (very rough estimate) into BOTW, and it cost something like $60. $1/hour of entertainment is very good.

gaws5• 5 years ago

Have you found another time-sink of a game that's just as good as BOTW?

MerelyMortal4• 5 years ago

I bought several games to try, but the only other game I've played so far was Everspace. I just recently finished it. It was decent for killing time, but not that rewarding, and very repetitive.

There will be a sequel to BOTW coming out next year which I'm looking forward to. There is a prequel called Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, but at first glance, it doesn't look like my cup of tea. I should probably look into it a little more though.

ithinkso• 5 years ago

Critical Role - bunch of voice actor friends sit at the table and play DnD. Campaing 3 just started, Campaing 1&2 have 250+ episodes combined approx. 4h each. A lot of content but definitely worth it. Also, animated series based on the show comes up in Feb 2022.

Highly recommend if you looking for something to listen to

muzani5• 5 years ago

I listened to it about 3 mins in the past and that put me off listening to all D&D podcasts forever. Maybe I should give it another shot and listen for a full episode.

I don't know, it feels like the D&D movie (2000) where it's pandering to nerds. When I'd prefer something closer to Order of the Stick, in that it tells a great story first but still keeps the D&D humor.

CodeGlitch6• 5 years ago

For a UK twist, I've been listening to Roll Brittania. They are noobs to D&D but once they get their legs it's very listenable.

sien2• 5 years ago

The Champions League and The Premier League.

It's the end of the Ronaldo and Messi era, each league is won by a new team each year. Different strategies are rolled out against each other. It's a golden age for football.

muzani5• 5 years ago

Hmm I stopped watching football because it was only the rich teams winning everything. I'm not sure if it's great entertainment though. Watching 2 hours to see your team lose (or worse, get 0-0) is not a good feeling. I normally only watch the German national team because they win big and lose big.

sien2• 5 years ago

What about how well Freiburg and Union are doing ?

mapster• 5 years ago

Precisely why I’ve let go my allegiance to teams and focus enjoyment solely on the game - let the best team win.

daneyh• 5 years ago

It's funny because a 0-0 can be an incredibly entertaining tussle whilst a goal-fest can be a shambolic thing to watch.

magarnicle• 5 years ago

Bluey: https://www.bluey.tv/

The Charl Saga by Patrick Willems. He puts so much effort into such silly videos: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjKiJCq7WXD49XdeQ9h9hqAiX...

ohiovr• 5 years ago

Discussion forums. I'm your Diogenes.

gaws5• 5 years ago

Discussion forums.

Such as?

lfpeb8b45ez• 5 years ago

Auralnauts for consistently great Star Wars reimaginings: come for the humor, stay for the brilliant commentary and artistic skill.

Joe Pera if you’re willing to invest in slow-paced, deeply rewarding meditations on Americana, existence, and pancakes.

softwaredoug• 5 years ago

Industry (TV Show - HBO)

It's a but over the top at times, but I enjoyed the drama of the interns joining the finance industry. Reminded me of what it's like to be in your twenties and not really know how life will turn out for you... Like Ted Lasso, it made me think of when I visited London for work.

muzani5• 5 years ago

I personally like music videos. It's a celebration of the human spirit. A lot of music is the retelling of poetry, and videos add another angle to it, even if it's something goofy like Blink182's What's My Age Again.

Aristotle used to say that music and spectacle were a major part of drama, but music videos invert that and make the plot support the music.

Metallica really enjoy their storytelling, especially in live performances. You can tell they still haven't fully grasped Master of Puppets, so it's explored from different angles, from drug abuse to authoritarianism, from alternative metal to punk style rhythm. Metallica's One is more straightforward. There's a machine gun part that originally just emerged from the riff, but it's increasingly played up and synced with pyrotechnics.

Or if you don't want the showmanship, sometimes it's nice to just watch and listen to Avril or IU singing acoustic. Contrast the pop with their raw version. Take On Me is also a big inversion between their cheerful radio version to the sadder acoustic version.

matt_the_bass• 5 years ago

You should consider watching some live NIN concerts. Even if the music is not your favorite, the stage show is amazing.

more_corn3• 5 years ago

I just finished the last book in The Expanse. That was probably tops for me.

Foundation was pretty amazing.

CodeGlitch6• 5 years ago

I read the dune books years ago and didn't appreciate them. After watching the recent film it inspired me to re-read the books and I must say I'm having a far more enjoyable time, to the point I look forward to going to bed to read :)

gaws5• 5 years ago

The books are way better the second, third, fourth time around.

CodeGlitch6• 5 years ago

Tabletop Simulator

Then link up with friends over video chat and try out all sorts of board games.

Ask HN: What is your favorite piece of entertainment of the last three years?

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