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9th Ecotrail Castel del Monte
An epic trail circling the castle
At the 9th Ecotrail Castel del Monte I ran 16.5 km with 300 metres of elevation gain, on a course full of obstacles. After several hills, little-used and very narrow trails and stretches strewn with stones, the greatest satisfaction was running around the octagonal castle, and the race ended with a refreshment stop featuring fresh burrata.
Monsters, Inc. (2001)
It anticipated workplace humor before it was mainstream
The film deals with xenophobia, with children treated as a threat to be eliminated or exploited, and with the move to new energy sources, a message that is perhaps too cartoonish. Its most interesting side is the workplace humour, between burnout and points-based appraisals, which anticipates the kind made famous today by many influencers. It entertains children and adults alike: a film I recommend to absolutely everyone.
The Mummy (2026)
A B-movie nostalgia trip
The first half has classic horror tension, but then the film gives in to the excesses of 1980s B-movies, with gore, body horror and clichés galore. Imitating trash costs it its narrative continuity, and the bare sets make many scenes grotesque and embarrassing, which simply bored me, partly because the running time is too long and drawn out. An unpleasant, nostalgic watch that I would recommend only to fans of this kind of cinema.
Death Stranding (2019)
Hideo Kojima ranges from nuclear physics to paleontology
The lore blends quantum physics, STEM disciplines and even palaeontology, while the human side comes through the relationships between the characters, held together by the "Likes" mechanic, and through Sam Porter Bridges' phobias and PTSD, with sequences worthy of a horror film. The game flows well and is full of mysteries, the pointless side deliveries are best ignored, and the flawless plot requires some theoretical and scientific grounding to be fully understood.
The Drama (2025)
Inspired by the trademark madness of Yorgos Lanthimos
In the end the only sane person seems to be Emma, the protagonist herself, but the film's madness is not the magnetic kind found in Joker. An uneven pace in the middle section and a trite Freudian pretext weigh on it too. The result is so alienating that I cannot even form a precise opinion.
Metro 2033 (book, 2005)
Gripping horror undermined by a hasty conclusion
It entertained me superbly almost to the very end, with a map of the tunnels so detailed that it recalls Tolkien's worldbuilding and danger coming from people as much as from monsters. Its fatal flaw is the ending, which barely explains what the dark creatures threatening the stations really are. Despite the drop, I warmly recommend it to fans of dystopian horror.
Cyberpunk 2077 (2020)
It successfully combines the gangster genre with RPG elements
After an almost unplayable launch, partly the fault of the pre-order policy, it has become a first-rate game thanks to its patches. The map offers missions that move the plot forward without scattering it, the side quests are more than errands, and weapons, upgrades and mods make every playthrough unique. On top of that comes a quality Italian dub, an increasingly rare thing. It is one of the few titles I have completed 100% since The Witcher 3's DLCs: an absolute must-play.
Bittrail 29/03/2026
Bittrail race photo gallery. 20 km run, 600m elevation gain.
A report on the Bittrail of 29 March 2026, a 20 km cross-country run made tiring more by the elevation gain than by the distance. With a CamelBak full of water and my energy rationed from the start, the course got even harder on the stony stretches, where tripping was easy, and on the mud left by the previous day's rain.
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