we_are_your_friends

My wife and I went to see We Are Your Friends last weekend. The movie title was often abbreviated as WAYF in the trailers.

My wife and I were excited to see WAYF for two reasons. 1. We’ve been fans of Zac Efron since High School Musical 3 came out because the movie parallels our lives. Zac Efron plays, Cole, the lead in WAYF. 2. My wife and I watch the TV show, Catfish. The deuteragonist of Catfish, Max Joseph, directed WAYF. Going into the theater we already had two big names pulling us in.

The trailers for the movie don’t tell you much about the plot, so I’ll have to fill you in.

Cole is an aspiring DJ who lives in San Fernando Valley, just outside of LA. He and his poor friends want to make it big, but they’re clueless on how to do that.

Cole meets James Reed at a club. James is a DJ who made it big. He takes Cole on as an apprentice.

Cole becomes attracted to James’s assistant, Sophie, whom James is sleeping with. Drama ensues and that’s the movie.

My overall impression of the movie was very good.

The music is decent. It’s not the genre of music I’m usually into so I can’t be a good judge of it.

The directing/acting was amazing. The characters do start to feel like real people with real reactions to their situations.

The cinematography is stellar. Every shot has a purpose in the movie and either looks beautiful or looks distorted due to some of the drugs that Cole has taken.

Which brings me to the large amount of drugs, tobacco, and alcohol the characters use in practically every scene. The only times they aren’t using something is when they’re hungover.

This may be an accurate portrayal of the characters’ life styles, but it was so far removed from my own that I didn’t really sympathize with the main characters.

The movie also had some cool animation sequences to go along with the drugs. Those parts were “trippy” as expected.

The crowd for the movie was interesting as well. We got there on opening night and only about fifteen people were in the theater. I’d expected way more!

The crowd was pleased when Cole said he’d gotten an scholarship to UC Davis for running track, but he hadn’t taken it. Woohoo! Davis!

Anyways, the movie is good drama in my mind, but judging by the crowds (and other reviews I’ve read), other people might not think so. I’d recommend it for anybody looking for a good stressful drama movie. Or if you want to know what taking PCP might look like. Either way is fine.

-GoCorral

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I’m Isaac

Welcome to the GoCorral website! I’m Isaac Shaker and this is a place for me to write about D&D and occasionally other topics. I host a podcast called Setting the Stage that interviews different DMs about their campaigns. I’m currently focused on completing the Cimmeria campaign setting and turning it into a book.

Setting the Stage Podcast

86 – Wuxia Adventures in RPGS (Daniel and Metanoia/Ithasen) Setting the Stage, Campaigns for D&D and Other RPGs

I interviewed Daniel, my cohost of the Tabletop Community Spotlight! Daniel created his own setting called Ithasen with an in-progress wuxia TTRPG system called Metanoia to go along with it. Ithasen has a spiritual force known as Ren that pervades the world. Ren is a magical manifestation of the user's, or Rennim's, will upon the universe. Rennim that cultivate their will grow stronger and capable of more amazing feats as the concentrate their power and force of personality.Within Ithasen there are seven lineages of people that decide what type of Ren they can use. Anamor use conversion Ren. Elkyr use flux Ren. Janim use elasticity Ren. Nyl use influence Ren. Okoi use recurrence Ren. Haqol use harmony Ren. Finally, Daruner use use coalescent ren. The two races lineages that drive unique politics in Ithasen are the Daruner and the Haqol.Daruner children absorb the Ren talents of both their parents, becoming a perfect blend of Daruner and another lineage parent. Through this mixing, a Daruner family could potentially include all other lineages within itself. This power has placed Daruner as the nobility of Ithasen.Haqol's power of harmony allows them to amplify the Ren powers of others. This puts Haqol in a vulnerable position as unscrupulous people will do anything to incorporate Haqol lineage into their bloodline. Haqol have experienced something akin to a genocide as their lineage has been consistently absorbed by other lineages and diluted over the centuries.There's a whole lot more than that so strap in!Daniel has a fully setup GitHub Wiki for information on Metanoia and Ithasen that you can explore.There's a Metanoid Discord server you can join to discuss the rules and setting with other fans.The occasional musing on TTRPGs can be found on Daniel's blog, Tabletop Discourse.GoCorral YouTube Channel for watching the Tabletop Community Spotlight.Vote in the CRIT Awards! Voting is open until August 23rd.Check out the Setting the Stage website!Want to be on the show? Fill out this survey.Join our Discord!Support Setting the Stage on Patreon! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
  1. 86 – Wuxia Adventures in RPGS (Daniel and Metanoia/Ithasen)
  2. 85 – Medical Doctor D&D (Justin and Oops! All Healers!)
  3. 84 – Horseback Riding D&D Camp (Michael and SaddleSnaps)
  4. 83 – Call of Cthulhu's Garden (Hem and The Sprouting)
  5. 82 – Tarot Ghosts (George and Fears & Fortunes)