After Knives Out (set in an opulent mansion) and Glass Onion (set on a tech billionaire’s private island), director Rian Johnson sought a very different setting for Benoit Blanc’s third mystery. He found it in a rural parish in upstate New York, to which we are introduced by a likeable protagonist with the unlikely name Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor).

Father Jud is a young priest and former boxer who has been sent to the parish after an altercation. In the film’s first act, he gradually introduces us to the community around Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude: the combative Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin); his devout right-hand woman Martha Delacroix (Glenn Close); assorted churchgoers. The act ends with a seemingly impossible murder being committed.

This, of course, is what summons private detective Blanc (Daniel Craig). While he makes it very clear that he is not a man of faith, he nevertheless takes Father Jud under his wing and relies on him to help investigate the murder.

What follows is a romp every bit as delightful and convoluted as the other entrants in the Knives Out series. What’s different this time is that Rian Johnson has a bit more to say — on how faith can be abused; on the important social work that often goes hand in hand with religion; on grace as an idea that transcends belief itself.

It’s not perfect, of course. Rian Johnson employs a familiar formula, combining somewhat predictable twists with an absurd central mystery only Benoit Blanc can figure out. Suspension of disbelief is very much part of the price of admission. You gotta have a little faith, in other words.

Benoit Blanc remains a delightful character, and Daniel Craig is clearly still having fun with the part. I look forward to the gentleman detective’s next case.

As was originally stated in trustpilot.com/reviews/691b32bd516257e45a812c2d, albeit paraphrased:

I assist in the administration of Mozilla’s Bugzilla instance. This organisation spams it (alongside the organisation detailed in trustpilot.com/reviews/690cbc41f834b763eabd530e). A company that commits crimes online is not one that I advise.

Their response to this was:

THIS REVIEW IS SPAM, VERY OBVIOUS

…which is infantile.

Evidence is available at maps.app.goo.gl/Z9HWYzPRbZKsHFwa7.

Eines der größten Gebäude im Stadtteil Sachsenhausen ist das Gebäude, in welchem sich das Leonardo Royal Hotel befindet. Mit dem Bus gut erreichbar, mit den anderen Verkehrsmittel ist ein längerer Fußmarsch erforderlich.

Außenanischt des Leonardo Royal Hotels in Frankfurt am Main (Eigenes Werk. Lizenz: CC-BY-SA.)

Checkin und Abwicklung aller Modalitäten liefen sehr gut und schnell ab und das trotz einer großen Reisegruppe, welche kurz vor mir am Hotel ankam.

Mein Zimmer im 20. Obergeschoß hätte mir bestimmt einen guten Ausblick über die Stadt beschert aber es war bei meinem Aufenthalt sehr nebelig und so war vom Balkon aus nicht einmal die Straße am Hotel zu erkennen.

Blick in ein Zimmer im Leonardo Royal Hotel in Frankfurt am Main (Eigenes Werk. Lizenz: CC-BY-SA.)

Das Zimmer war gut und zweckmäßig ausgestattet. Kühlschrank, Kaffeemaschine und ein TV samt einem Tablet-PC zur Unterhaltung und Informationsweitergabe sind vorhanden. Auch im und am Bad gab es nichts auszusetzen. Einziger Wermutstropfen für mich war die relativ laute Klimaanlage.

Frühstücksbuffet im Leonardo Royal Hotel in Frankfurt am Main (Eigenes Werk. Lizenz: CC-BY-SA.)

Beim Frühstück gilt mein selbstgewählter Grundsatz: Der frühe Vogel hat mehr Ruhe. Durch die Größe des Hotels kann es beim Frühstück auch mal laut werden und an einzelnen Stationen können kurze Wartezeiten entstehen.

That this novel was serialised in 1897 remains difficult to believe, because, for an author to possess such accurate knowledge of the effects of compromised immunology, and predict:

• that the circuit would replace the wheel, in driving machinery, and

• that the laser would exist

…and utilise these as the fundamental premise of the story is impressive beyond belief. Even irrespective of this, to script a mesmeric novel requires consistent, correct pace, which this novel does. However, even more impressively, to create such a novel about a Victorian alien invasion, without it appearing contrived – or hopelessly… hopeless – requires serious consideration for the weakness of what should be whatsoever weak. Yet, he, a Victorian, achieved this, and being an educated, Victorian Englishman, communicated it perfectly.

I love the Samuel Beckett Bridge. Its design is astonishing – simple, yet intricate and a marvel of construction engineering. IMO it is also reminiscent of the Irish national emblem of the harp.

The Samuel Beckett Bridge in Dublin, Ireland.

At night the bridge strings light up for an even more impressive experience. They also play seasonal visuals sometimes.

The Samuel Beckett Bridge in Dublin, Ireland at night with blue lighting. (Own work. License: CC-BY-SA.)

Utility-wise, the bridge enables bi-directional crossing of the Liffey for pedestrians, bicycles and cars, although there are frequent traffic jams during rush hours. The bicycle exit when going to the city centre (coming from the north side) is also very much not ideal. For this reason, I can only give 4 stars for an otherwise sublime bridge.

(Explizite Spoiler werden vermieden, aber Andeutungen sind im Text enthalten)

Wer noch nichts von Yorgos Lanthimos der letzten Jahre gesehen hat, wird evtl. etwas überwältigt sein. Der Film erzeugt innerhalb weniger Minuten intensive soziale Spannungen zwischen den Charakteren, welche sich im Verlauf noch intensiviert und zu einigen geradezu explosiven Überraschungen führt. Der Film spielt mit seinen Zuschauenden derart, dass Momente immer so lange ausgereizt werden, bis man es kaum noch ertragen kann. Das Unbehagen beim Zusehen fesselt (ähnlich wie bei Poor Things, aber weniger als bei Kinds of Kindness) auch über die ein oder andere Länge hinweg an die Leinwand. Wenn man sich darauf einlassen kann und diese Zerreißproben nicht als Fehler im Drehbuch sieht, gewinnt der Film enorm an Qualität - insbesondere, weil er sich der eigenen Längen bewusst zu sein scheint und diese stets mit Szenen belohnt werden, in denen sich die Ereignisse überschlagen und die Karten der sozialen Konstellationen teils neu gemischt werden, zumindest aber die Geschichte rasant voran getrieben wird.

Das Set ist deutlich weniger abwechslungsreich als bei Poor Things und die geringe Anzahl an Charakteren kann darüber auch nicht hinweg täuschen. Ich habe dies während des Schauens vermisst, rückblickend aber kann ich die Entscheidung verstehen, da so der Fokus auf die sozialen Beziehungen verstärkt wird. Alles wirkt stets stimmig und die Sets sind mit viel Liebe zum Detail versehen.

Die Schauspielenden sind aus meiner Sicht großartig, und brillieren in ihren typisch überzeichneten Rollen. Emma Stone und Jesse Plemons als Antagonist*innen transportieren die Intensität der Geschichte überzeugend und mit feinen Details, die teils für humorige Seufzer sorgen, aber nie deplaziert wirken. Aidan Delbis, per Skript eher im Hintergrund als Sidekick zu Plemons platziert, ergänzt diesen perfekt und stellt durch seine (abhandene) Mimik genau die dringenden Fragen, die einen beim Schauen auch beschäftigen. Eine Projektionsfläche für die eigenen Emotionen sucht man ansonsten vergebens, man muss dem frustrierenden Spektakel einfach zusehen.

Der Film thematisiert außerdem aktuelle politische Themen, insbesondere das Potential zur Radikalisierung in meinungspolitischen Echokammern (z.B. algorithmisierte Social Media) und strukturschwachen Regionen, geht aber keinen Millimeter in Richtung einer etwaigen Verbesserung der Verhältnisse.

Ich empfehle Bugonia allen, die entweder noch nie einen Lanthimos-Film gesehen haben und Filme mit intensiven Konflikten schätzen; oder aber Poor Things oder Kinds of Kindness mochten.

Was dieser Film nicht im Angebot hat: atemberaubende Action und Special Effects, vielseitige Sets sowie soziale Harmonie — wie oft bei Lanthimos gibt es kein Entrinnen aus der Eskalation.

tl;dr – Great vegan options, but tv screens and music might distract you if you’re sensitive

We visited The Botanic – that is, the restaurant part, not the bar – on a sunday noon (reservations recommended) specifically because they offer a vegan version of the Irish classic ‘sunday roast’ menue. This one uses seitan slices as roast, which tasted amazing. The gravy served with the menue also deserves to be pointed out, as it was among the best I ever tried. There were also several sides included (carrots, cabbage, broccoli, potatoes and onion stuffing). All in all an amazing menue that probably serves one hungry adult or two not-so-hungry ones for ~18€.

The black tea and hot chocolate were prepared with oat milk on request and were also very tasty (milk is included with the tea by default). 2€ for a cup of tea is a steal in Dublin city. Nothing to complain here!

The downside with this location for me specifically is with the ambiance. Whilst the place is lovingly decorated, they clearly want to appeal to audiences that expect to watch sports events. In the main room, there are 10+ large TV screens (at the time of our visit, showing advertisements and motor racing). They did not play the TV sound on the speakers, yet I found the music slightly too loud, although this may vary. If you are sensitive to distractions, I recommend you ask for a table near the windows or in the back, where there are alcoves and the music is a little more quiet. The staff happily reseated us spontaneously and were generally very friendly and helpful!

All in all, The Botanic is an amazing place for a lively meeting of small and large groups, especially for vegans and omnis to get together. Bonus points for sports lovers. Looking for a quiet place to converse or read, you’d rather go somewhere else.

Roguelike deckbuilders are one of my favorite indie gaming genres. Definitive titles like Slay the Spire (review) offer 100+ hours of replay value as you explore their combinatorial depths.

Roguebook came out in the summer of 2021 and was developed by Belgian studio Abrakam. The game’s premise is that the playable characters are trapped inside the eponymous book, and must fight their way out using cards.

That book metaphor shows up in a few places: the overworld is mapped out using ink and paintbrushes, and you collect pages to unlock meta-progression between runs.

But it’s a shallow conceit, and the world is a very run-off-the-mill, generic fantasy world you’ve seen a million times; the name “Faeria” tells you everything you need to know. There’s no real narrative beyond “we’re in a book!”. The brief character bios are mostly about their skillset, and intermittent “story” moments are isolated and non-specific. Even Slay the Spire, not known for its story, does a better job connecting its atmosphere and lore.

Still, there are a few things to like about Roguebook, starting with the overworld.

Echoes of Might and Magic

Maps tend to be the genre’s Achilles heel: usually you just wander one of two or three pre-defined paths and pick which monsters to fight. The worst offender may be Dicey Dungeons (review), an otherwise excellent game: the level maps are glorified interstitials that show you which battles lie ahead.

Before Roguebook, the best maps I’ve seen are the ones in Across the Obelisk, which offer interesting branches and fast travel, and are beautifully designed. But the maps are static images overlaid with random events. Not very roguelike!

In contrast, Roguebook’s overworld is a randomly generated multi-screen hexagon map you travel across. You gradually reveal it using brushes and ink you earn from battles or as part of other rewards. Loot and enemies are scatted across the map. Many battles are entirely optional if you just want to go for the boss.

Yes, that is a turtle flying on a magic carpet. (Credit: Abrakam. Fair use.)

The level-specific buildings, terrain and vegetation give the overworld a much more lived-in feeling than what you can expect from most deckbuilders. It feels just a tiny bit like the gorgeous maps in a beloved game like Heroes of Might and Magic. But I don’t want to exaggerate — the amount of “stuff” that happens on these maps is much more limited.

Still, it’s undeniably more fun to crawl these maps than it is to pick a path in Slay the Spire. There’s loot everywhere, there are towers and runes that reveal more tiles and treasures, and the scarcity of ink forces you to prioritize. As shown in the screenshot, you’ll usually only see parts of the map before progressing to the next level.

Tag Team Battles

Once you’re in a battle, it looks like any other roguelike deckbuilder: player characters on the left, enemies on the right, cards at the bottom, along with your draw pile, discard pile, and dissolve pile.

There are, of course, a few specifics. You’re always in a tag team. When you start a run, you get to choose two heroes from a total unlockable set of four (one more available as DLC). There are some nice touches here: the game has a bit of flavor speech for each hero and for the interactions between your pair. It’s not much, but it shows an attention to detail that lifts the game above feeling like a genre clone.

Defense points are shared across heroes, which keeps things simple. The position (front or back) does matter (e.g., front hero takes damage first), and quite a few mechanics are tied to hero position. For example, one card powers up every time you switch positions, which can make it extremely powerful in a long battle.

In addition, heroes can recruit “allies”. When I first drew a card called “Windstorm Colossus”, I was hoping for a dramatic addition to the gameplay:

Alas, once you play them, allies just show up as unmoving, barely discernible portrait images with a number. That takes away a bit from the atmosphere! Allies can cause damage or have their own powers (like “draw a card” or “gain some energy”) that you can selectively activate.

Despite that, the ally mechanic is interesting, if a bit overpowered; it lets you effectively build a little army fighting alongside your heroes.

In addition, heroes and the team as a whole have abilities they can unlock as you increase the number of cards in your deck. Combined with treasure items that are everywhere, and gemstones you can craft onto your cards to modify them, there is quite a bit of depth once you look past the familiar facade.

Limited Difficulty

The difficulty progression is one of the game’s weaker points. It took me just 2-3 hours to beat a run, and without spoiling anything, there’s not much to it — not even the typical “that was the fake boss, now meet the real boss” final battle.

When I finally beat Slay the Spire’s Corrupt Heart, I yelled out in celebration. It was a hard-won victory that was only possible after truly mastering the game’s mechanics. You’re unlikely to have such a moment in Roguebook.

The game does offer a wide range of difficulty modifiers in the “epilogue” (its New Game Plus); if you beat it with those modifiers, you earn more “pages”, which you can use to unlock more meta-progression. But that doesn’t quite have the same draw as “must finally defeat the uberboss”.

The different characters also aren’t different enough to make you want to spend a lot of time with each new one. This is where Slay the Spire shows its superior game design: change characters, and it feels like you’re playing a new game; the mechanics really are that different. In contrast, with Roguebook, I sometimes got my two characters confused because their talents were so similar.

The combat screen should look familiar to anyone who’s played a deckbuilder. The “Soul Eater” mini-boss depicted here looks creepy, but is very easy to beat. (Credit: Abrakam. Fair use.)

The enemy design is moderately creative. You’ve got your bandits and sheep, but then you’ve also got an aerial island world populated by Ewok-like creatures that throw frogs at you. There’s just enough animation and speech for battles to feel alive and interesting.

There’s a large enough variety of bosses and mini-bosses that runs don’t quickly become repetitive, with a few novel mechanics thrown in here and there (my favorite is a boss that incarnates into other creatures while you fight him).

Hidden Gemstones

Earlier, I briefly mentioned the mechanic of modifying cards with gemstones. It’s in fact fairly well-developed: you find gems on the map or as rewards, and you can bolt them onto compatible cards to get various point or behavior modifiers (e.g., “decrease cost when you’re in the back”). “Flash gems” can be used once, and offer higher rewards (e.g., a mega-block).

But they stand out for another reason: gem mines. Unlocked via meta-progression, they start to appear randomly on each level map, and offer rooms filled with rewards. The catch is that each room has a custom trap you have to defeat.

These are regular card battles, but with trap-specific mechanics. For example, one trap door must be hit with exactly 33 points to be defeated. If you don’t make it in time, the passage door collapses, and your characters acquire injuries (unplayable extra cards) that last until the next level.

I’ve not noticed any other mid-game or late-game elements of similar complexity, but this one was a nice surprise. 30 hours in I encountered a beautifully designed “face in the wall” trap boss I’d never seen before — that’s the kind of variety you’re hoping for from a deckbuilder.

The Verdict

Ultimately, Roguebook is a good game that could have been great. Its biggest weakness is the lack of any coherent narrative or character development. A game with a sufficiently original art style can make up for that (Meteorfall: Krumit’s Tale comes to mind), but despite a few nice touches, the world of Roguebook is a bit too generic to be awesome.

The publisher follows the not atypical indie gaming strategy of overpricing the game ($25 as the Steam listing price) while regularly making it available at a massive discount (right now, GOG.com has it for $2.49). The idea, of course, is to convince you that you’re getting a superb deal.

Truth be told, at that price, it’s a steal for any fan of the genre, and it should give you at least 5-10 hours of enjoyment; more if you’re like me and want to at least unlock all the cards and relics.

I played it on my 2019 Linux machine mostly without issues. The game does get a bit sluggish when you build really large card stacks, but I experienced no crashes or game-breaking bugs.

Es liegt wohl an der Lage innerhalb der Besucherzone, das die Preise meiner Meinung nach etwas zu hoch sind. Aber wo sollen sich Patienten und Besucher ansonsten treffen?

Waffeln mit Eis im Café Kannelloni (Eigenes Werk. Lizenz: CC-BY-SA.) Die Bestellung klappt beim gut eingespielten Team schnell und problemlos und es werden auch alle Karten akzeptiert. Die Waffeln und das Eis sind schmackhaft und einzig der Cappuccino konnte da nicht ganz mithalten.

Vermeidet die Stoßzeiten am Nachmittag der Wochenenden. Dann ist es dort sehr voll.

I had heard a lot of Georgian food, but never tried it, so I came here with friends yesterday. The place was super packed - luckily we had booked in advance. We’re all vegans and together with the waiter, we figured out which of the vegetarian dishes are also vegan and then basically ordered them all. Better vegan labeling on the menu would be super helpful.

All the dishes were very tasty, though I liked the bean stew (Lobio) the best. We also had the Aubergine Rullar, the Veg. Ojaxur, and the Khinkali. Service was swift and friendly. It’s a bit out of the way for me, but I wouldn’t mind coming here again.


Selection of vegan options at Tbilisis Hörna (Own work. License: CC-BY-SA.)