Conclave

A lot of fussy old men picking their favourite - or least disliked, depending on how you view it.

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Here's what I've been watching and playing over the last seven days...

MOVIES

Conclave

Movie summary: When Cardinal Lawrence is tasked with leading one of the world's most secretive and ancient events, selecting a new Pope, he finds himself at the center of a web of conspiracies and intrigue that could shake the very foundation of the Catholic Church. (IMDb)

After finishing Conclave, I felt very similar to how I did after watching The Favourite, with this being another occasion where I can't fault any of the movie's constituent parts, but they never quite meshed together as well as they should've.

It looks great, it sounds great, the story is interesting and the performances of the excellent cast are all top-notch too, but as a whole piece, it feels somewhat less than the sum of its parts and, while not being disappointing, it did underwhelm.

I do think it isn't helped that Conclave's ending was the weakest part for me, and the choice of who was elected Pope felt very much like a twist to end a movie, rather than what would actually happen - never mind the secret revealed by said choice that felt like an unnecessary addition.

I would still recommend watching Conclave as it is a gorgeous, well-made film filled with wonderful performances from an excellent cast and it may be that things come together better for you, even with that not-so-strong ending. [7/10]

GAMES

Baldur's Gate 3

In Act III and still not max level, which is a first for me, but also most likely due to having no Gale, Karlach or Wyll and missing out on the XP I would've gained from their personal quests.

Another first is having a team member kidnapped overnight from my camp, with Minthara being obducted by fellow Bhaalspawn, the murderous Orin the Red, rather than finding out in the sewers, leaving me wondering how many more firsts I can manage in this run.

Hitman: World of Assassination

Onto the Hitman 3 campaign missions now and completed Apex Predator without even needing to go down to the club's main level - the amount of variety and how 'comfortably challenging' experimenting is in this game really has me looking forward to IOI's James Bond game.

Also currently playing: Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020)

TV

Frasier, Season Six

Another strong season, including David Hyde Pierce proving himself to be one of the greatest physical comedic performers of all times in his section of the episode "Three Valentines".

Frasier, Season Seven

Dramatically excellent, with Niles and Daphne finding out and declaring their feelings for each other, but this also marks the start of Daphne's family unfortunately becoming more prominent.

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