Wafflings of a Cozmonaught

The Bridge of San Luis Rey   (1927) written by Thornton Wilder Starting with a tragic event before rewinding is always a gamble. It shows the author's hand. It diminishes stakes and intrigue. So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell is another classic that does something similar. But while it sorta works in that book, I don't think it worked here. The Bridge of San Luis Rey revolves around one Brother Juniper in 1700's Spanish Peru and his quest to find spiritual and religious meaning after the collapse of a ancient Incan rope bridge in Peru. Said collapse leads to the deaths of a diverse troupe of individuals, and our hero is laser-focused on digging into all of their personal business and finding out why fate chose them to die. The good Brother searches through their affairs. Their taxes. The size of their undies and the size of their knobs. So basically our guy is the pre-modern equivalent of the NSA. Jokes aside, this is an interesting framing to work with, for su...

Dinner to Die For   (2025) directed by Diana Mills Smith South African horror. That is a new one for me. On hearing that, I expected something historical like the Boer Wars. Real  The Last Door  like. Maybe a trite commentary piece about apartheid if I wanted to raise my social credit score. But no.  Dinner to Die For  is about... bread.  Yes, indeed. A somewhat more tame topic as compared to imperialist wars or systemic oppression. But don't let that crusty exterior fool you. Inside is a plush interior that is both steamy and subtle in a way that made this one of the more nuanced horror movies I've seen in a long while. Quick Summary Hannah is a food photographer who can't write a decent cookbook to save her life. After getting rejected by her publisher one too many times, she and her crime-loving friend hatch a plan to add the girl next door's  "secret sauce" to the menu. Story & Characters We begin with an incredibly slick montage of homegirl Ha...