SPOILERS FOR THE LOST CITY.

We all know how most romcoms work: there’s the uptight all-business lady in need of learning to loosen up who meets this smug smart-ass guy whose every other line is a witty one-liner and it’s their romance that teaches the woman to be more fun and carefree. Or it’s a man afraid of commitment and determined to be a bachelor for life who meets this hopeless romantic woman who, through the power of forced bonding scenes, changes his mind and gets him to be in a monogamous romantic relationship, because God forbid a man be happy being single and rejecting monogamy.

The Lost City still has traces of those two formulas: the movie often pauses to force a romantic scene, as if the film suddenly remembered it was supposed to be a romance, and Sandra Bullock still plays the cold no-fun female protagonist in need of loosening up, though thankfully her character isn’t as exaggerated and one-note as it could’ve been. This isn’t a romcom movie looking to reinvent the wheel. The big surprise here, however, is Channing Tatum’s character Alan. I had expected him to be just the stock romcom male interest but I’m now certain he’s going to end up as one of my favorite characters of 2022.

Alan seems to be written as the complete opposite of Sandra Bullock’s character, Loretta. He’s fun, extroverted, highly energized, not very smart, owns his role as Dash of the books, and very clearly still has a little kid inside him. Loretta, on the other hand, is serious, reclusive, tired and done with everything all the time, thinks of her books as schlock, and seems to be letting her age get the best of her. With this pairing, you expect Alan to be the man who changes Loretta’s life by showing her what life can be like if she lets her guard down and frees herself from all her worries and fears.

However, Alan doesn’t actively teach or show Loretta anything. Sure, there’s a scene in the beginning of the movie where Alan dances with Loretta during the book tour and another scene where Alan talks to Loretta about how unhealthy her “mummy” lifestyle has become, but aside from that, Alan never forces Loretta to go outside her comfort zone unless necessary. In fact, it’s quite the opposite — Alan tells her multiple times “You don’t have to do this” and even calms her down during moments when she’s noticeably nervous.

Instead, Loretta learns to change simply from Alan being himself, and the change isn’t even from her not living life freely but from her thinking she knows everything there is to know about Alan. She thinks she’s got Alan figured out, that he’s someone she could never grow to like, that he’s just a dim-witted good-looking cover model that secretly hates the fact that he never achieved anything else other than being a cover model. She’s projecting her insecurities on Alan only to find out that Alan actually loves his job as a cover model and doesn’t feel the least bit embarrassed that he’s a part of something that makes people so happy.

And really, that’s why I like Alan so much — he doesn’t seemingly exist solely to change Loretta’s life, he’s his own person and Loretta learns to like him simply from him being himself. It also really helps that he’s such a welcome take on the hot male love interest — he isn’t cynical, cocky, or sarcastic, he also isn’t empty, vapid, or hollow, and he certainly isn’t cold and in need of a woman to teach him how to be more sentimental and open-hearted.

Instead, he’s just this good-natured guy with an unpretentious and genuinely sweet heart. He starts out seemingly like a cocky guy obsessed with his looks and nothing else but we find out later that the reason why he loves being Dash so much is because it makes people so happy. “How can I be so embarrassed about something that makes people so happy?” he says in regards to his job as a cover model. His character is written so free of pretention, sarcasm, and cynicism that I can’t help but feel so endeared by him.

Still, even with his wholesome nature, Alan has some pretty bad-ass scenes. (Loretta does too, but since this post is about Alan, let’s focus on him.) He reminds me of one of the reasons why I like horror movies so much — they’re not filled with characters with superpowers or years worth of training in combat or martial arts, they’re just regular people relying on their quick thinking and bravery in order to survive. The Lost City obviously isn’t a horror but in a way, that’s also Alan, but he’s trying to save Loretta instead of just saving himself.

The scene where he’s chasing Abigail’s van and then climbing on top of it is an especially favorite scene of mine because it shows just how regular of a guy Alan is. He isn’t Dash McMahon or Jack Trainer. He’s never done anything remotely like this in his life. He’s just an everyday guy trying to save someone which makes the scene even more satisfying. Of course I’m cheering him on as he’s driving the motorcycle as fast as he can to catch up with Abigail’s van. Of course I’m celebrating when he finally manages to get on top of the van after struggling to climb it. I want him to succeed because the fact that he’s doing this despite being overwhelmed with fear makes him even more of a bad-ass in my book.

The movie ends with Loretta telling Alan “I could have never written Dash like you” which really is a perfect way to finish the movie. She’s right: Dash could only exist in the world of fiction, but Alan is real — as real as a Hollywood romcom character can be, anyway. Channing Tatum knocks this role out of the park, too. I can’t imagine this character being played as good by anyone else other than him. I’m not the biggest romcom fan so I wasn’t too excited for this film although it still seemed fun enough for me to want to watch. I’m glad I did too because it gave me one of my favorite characters of 2022.

Hey Hollywood, I’ve got a pitch for you.

It’s about this dad whose daughter gets kidnapped by this evil being named Pinstripe and the dad has to go through quite the journey in order to save his daughter. It’ll be animated and feature creepy but alluring art guaranteed to win over a niche following like Coraline and The Nightmare Before Christmas did.

It’s also a tearjerker and features some pretty heavy metaphors sure to get it nominations for several film awards shows. We could have one of the few non-Disney movies to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature! We could have the first non-Disney animated movie to be nominated for Best Picture! We could have a cult classic staying beloved for years and years to come!

There’s just one catch, though. It’s based off an indie game that wasn’t exactly very successful.

Alright, just give me a few minutes to pack my stuff and I’ll leave.

Yes, Pinstripe is one of those indie games that unfortunately did not make a big impact during its release even if it really should have. It’s a shame too because had it been more popular, a film adaptation of it could’ve been in development right now. I think Pinstripe would make an absolutely fantastic movie. It’s got the art, the story, and the characters to make it such a special film.

Still, the video game is more that enough for me. Five years later and it still remains one of my favorite video games of all time, indie or otherwise.

Happy 5th anniversary, Pinstripe.

Thank you for such a tremendous experience.

Much like Limbo and Fez, Shovel Knight has become one of those ubiquitous indie games, the kind you’ll hear almost every indie game fan recommend when asking for indie game suggestions. Yes, I was one of those people when I first played Shovel Knight. While I played it much later than its release date, I fell in love with it nonetheless, pretty much calling it a masterpiece.

That was years ago, though, and with the recent release of Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon, I wanted to revisit the game again especially since I only finished the game once.

And, uh… yeah, Shovel Knight is every bit as awesome as I remember it being.

Not that I was worried it wouldn’t be or anything. I didn’t even play Shovel Knight that long ago and the impression the game left on me is not the type of impression you think has a chance of changing in retrospect.

Still, it is impressive how much fun I’m having attempting to finish this game for the second time. Plenty of indie games (particularly the puzzle-based ones) lose their magic the second time you play them because you already know many of the solutions. The Pedestrian was a game I played twice and while I still think of it as fantastic, I don’t think I’ll be playing it for a third time simply because I’ve already memorized many of the puzzles.

Thankfully for Shovel Knight, there’s almost no puzzle solving to be had here and while you can memorize many of the game’s level layouts, I’m still having a blast playing this game again. Maybe that’ll change should I attempt to beat this game for the third time, but while I’m still on my second run, I’m having a really grand time.

From the first few seconds of the game, I’m reminded of one of the things I loved about Shovel Knight the first time I played it — the music. Shovel Knight just has really great music. Each level has its own track and they all fit really really well for their respective levels, so much so that I can’t imagine loving the game as much had it had any other soundtrack. While Shovel Knight would’ve remained a good game even with a mediocre soundtrack, the soundtrack definitely elevates the entire thing and really gives the game even more personality and memorability.

Even a year after originally playing Shovel Knight, I still found myself frequently returning to its soundtrack, particularly my favorite track, No Weapons Here. (It’s the track that plays when you’re in the village.) There’s this great YouTube comment about how when the commenter hears the tune, they like to imagine a Shovel Knight musical where all the villagers are singing to Shovel Knight, hoping for him to defeat the Enchantress.

Ever since reading that comment, I have found myself imagining a Shovel Knight musical as well — and yes, I’d pay good money to see one if it ever becomes a thing.

I mean, come on. The Troupple King already has a song and dance number, doesn’t he?

Another thing I love about the game is just how well-created the world of Shovel Knight is. Every boss has their own lair and ever lair brings something new and fun to the game. King Knight, for instance, lives in a tower, so his level is filled with things such as chandeliers to use as platforms or horses with jousting lances to fight. Specter Knight, on the other hand, lives in a cemetery, so his level is filled with gravestones to destroy and ghosts to deal with when you destroy some of the gravestones.

Hey, I don’t blame them. Wouldn’t you be pissed if someone vandalized the place you’re supposed to be resting in peace in?

These lairs also have hidden rooms which are just so much fun to find and explore. The first time I played the game, I missed multiple hidden rooms, but now that it’s the second time these rooms are becoming easier for me to find. These hidden rooms usually have an item you can acquire and they never feel tedious to get — if anything, they only add to the fun that the lair has to offer.

I’m not even the completionist type of gamer but for Shovel Knight, missing out on these hidden rooms almost feels like missing out on half the fun.

But really, the ultimate best part of Shovel Knight is just how damn rewarding it feels to finish a level. Sometimes, it feels so rewarding just to defeat an obstacle. I can’t think of another indie game that’s made me exclaim the phrases “Oh thank God!” and “YES!” the amount of times this game has.

Shovel Knight is a difficult game and gets even more and more frustratingly difficult as the game goes on, but every single time I defeat a difficult boss or overcome a seemingly impossible obstacle, that rewarding feeling makes it all worth it. It’s one of those games that I think has the right amount of difficulty to make it accessible to nearly anyone — it’s not the VVVVVV type of difficult that requires extreme skill and precision and I’d imagine nearly everyone interested in this game can beat it, even if some may require more time than others.

All in all, Shovel Knight is just an awesome game. Awesome really is the word to best describe everything about this game. The music is awesome. The worldbuilding is awesome. The visuals are awesome. The levels are awesome. The hidden rooms are awesome. The rewarding feeling of finishing a level or a difficult obstacle is awesome.

Shovel Knight has pretty much cemented its place as one of the most “must-play” indie games of all time and for good reason. If you haven’t played it yet, do yourself a favor and play it. Don’t be surprised if it ends up being one of your favorite games of all time.