Farouk
@faroukk.bsky.social
Sharing things I think matter. Writer and Cultural Critic with words in various places (currently @ Endless Mode). Game Dev at Play Underground Games working on a secret unannounced project.
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Farouk
@faroukk.bsky.social
· Apr 9
2025 Grant Recipients — Chicago Film Critics Association
The Chicago Film Critics Association & Rotten Tomatoes Emerging Critics Scholarship supports up-and-coming voices in film and media criticism in the Chicagoland area.
chicagofilmcritics.org
Excited to share that I've received special recognition as a "Writer to Watch" as part of the @chicagocritics.bsky.social / @rottentomatoes.com Emerging Critics Program. Congrats to all the writers recognized this year, and looking forward to the festival! chicagofilmcritics.org/grantrecipie...
Reposted by Farouk
I got to contribute to this list of the best shows on Blippo+ 🤠 you can read me on Clone Trois and Rubber Report. Boing boing blippers! ❤️
We can't stop thinking about Blippo+, a "game" that simulates channel surfing cable TV in the '80s and '90s. www.avclub.com/best-blippo-...
TV from around The Bend: The best "shows" of Blippo+
We can't stop thinking about Blippo+, a "game" that simulates channel surfing cable TV in the '80s and '90s.
www.avclub.com
November 29, 2025 at 6:09 PM
I got to contribute to this list of the best shows on Blippo+ 🤠 you can read me on Clone Trois and Rubber Report. Boing boing blippers! ❤️
Reposted by Farouk
My latest essay for @endlessmode.bsky.social: I wrote about the games technology of the past that incentivized being in community with one another, and how those tools could prove useful in our current political moment.
www.endlessmode.com/article/i-mi...
www.endlessmode.com/article/i-mi...
I Miss Nintendo 3DS StreetPass, and Games as Physical Community
With the loneliness epidemic on the rise, the Nintendo 3DS StreetPass and its sense of in-person community is sorely missed.
www.endlessmode.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:29 PM
My latest essay for @endlessmode.bsky.social: I wrote about the games technology of the past that incentivized being in community with one another, and how those tools could prove useful in our current political moment.
www.endlessmode.com/article/i-mi...
www.endlessmode.com/article/i-mi...
Reposted by Farouk
I reviewed the new Pokémon for Endless Mode! A video game for children, which I ended up finding to be pretty decent precisely because it knows that's what it is
Pokémon Legends: Z-A is a marked improvement for the series, with refreshed mechanics and structure, and less technical issues. Also it lets you grab a coffee with whatever this thing is supposed to be. Read our review. www.endlessmode.com/video-games/...
Pokémon Legends: Z-A Uses Its Breakneck Pace to Smooth Over Any Dull Moments
Pokémon Legends: Z-A is a marked improvement for the series, with refreshed mechanics and structure, and less technical issues.
www.endlessmode.com
October 30, 2025 at 5:13 PM
I reviewed the new Pokémon for Endless Mode! A video game for children, which I ended up finding to be pretty decent precisely because it knows that's what it is
Reposted by Farouk
With more people seeing the film now that it’s in wide release, I wanted to reshare my review of Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc for Endless Mode 💣 www.endlessmode.com/anime/chains...
Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc Is at Its Best When at Its Most Intimate
While Chainsaw Man - The Movie has its ups and downs, it's at its best when it focuses on its complicated, messy characters.
www.endlessmode.com
October 27, 2025 at 5:51 PM
With more people seeing the film now that it’s in wide release, I wanted to reshare my review of Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc for Endless Mode 💣 www.endlessmode.com/anime/chains...
Reposted by Farouk
My first big essay over at Endless Mode! I wrote about how our relationships to games parallel our relationships to nature, and photography as a way of keeping something alive that feels like it doesn’t have long for this world.
Taking screenshots of the game worlds we save doesn't just make us tourists; it turns us into nature photographers of a sort. www.endlessmode.com/video-games/...
How Games Turn Us into Nature Photographers
Taking screenshots of the game worlds we save doesn't just make us tourists; it turns us into nature photographers of a sort.
www.endlessmode.com
October 20, 2025 at 9:06 PM
My first big essay over at Endless Mode! I wrote about how our relationships to games parallel our relationships to nature, and photography as a way of keeping something alive that feels like it doesn’t have long for this world.
Body without organs ending explained
November 30, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Body without organs ending explained
Reposted by Farouk
What a genuine icon Sally Rooney is. Whoops!!! Oops you guys! I made the BBC terrorist or something......
November 28, 2025 at 1:49 PM
What a genuine icon Sally Rooney is. Whoops!!! Oops you guys! I made the BBC terrorist or something......
Reposted by Farouk
Bong Joon Ho hit me up for the squad you legend deadline.com/2025/11/bong...
November 29, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Bong Joon Ho hit me up for the squad you legend deadline.com/2025/11/bong...
I got to contribute to this list of the best shows on Blippo+ 🤠 you can read me on Clone Trois and Rubber Report. Boing boing blippers! ❤️
We can't stop thinking about Blippo+, a "game" that simulates channel surfing cable TV in the '80s and '90s. www.avclub.com/best-blippo-...
TV from around The Bend: The best "shows" of Blippo+
We can't stop thinking about Blippo+, a "game" that simulates channel surfing cable TV in the '80s and '90s.
www.avclub.com
November 29, 2025 at 6:09 PM
I got to contribute to this list of the best shows on Blippo+ 🤠 you can read me on Clone Trois and Rubber Report. Boing boing blippers! ❤️
Reposted by Farouk
We can't stop thinking about Blippo+, a "game" that simulates channel surfing cable TV in the '80s and '90s. www.avclub.com/best-blippo-...
TV from around The Bend: The best "shows" of Blippo+
We can't stop thinking about Blippo+, a "game" that simulates channel surfing cable TV in the '80s and '90s.
www.avclub.com
November 29, 2025 at 3:37 PM
We can't stop thinking about Blippo+, a "game" that simulates channel surfing cable TV in the '80s and '90s. www.avclub.com/best-blippo-...
sometimes I wish I could romanticize my life on instagram stories but I really just be in my room talking to myself all day
November 29, 2025 at 12:28 AM
sometimes I wish I could romanticize my life on instagram stories but I really just be in my room talking to myself all day
I have 2 loaves of pumpkin banana bread in the oven as we speak. Everyone watch this space
November 27, 2025 at 6:33 PM
I have 2 loaves of pumpkin banana bread in the oven as we speak. Everyone watch this space
Reposted by Farouk
![A float of Goku from Dragon Ball Z, smiling and holding his hand to his head with two fingers extended. There is a caption that says [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] overlaid on top of him.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:r3jz2av542vhxbsouxvzrwe2/bafkreigoci7n3zt72bjp6xhr7g7g7h5gbte2bovkgomwmd5ircmjersx4m@jpeg)
there are never enough pecans in the mixed nuts
November 27, 2025 at 1:32 AM
there are never enough pecans in the mixed nuts
This is true Zohran read my essay and called me personally to let me know he's bringing it back
🚨 BREAKING: Zohran Mamdani to require all NYC students to carry a 3DS.
November 26, 2025 at 10:49 PM
This is true Zohran read my essay and called me personally to let me know he's bringing it back
Reposted by Farouk
Dave Chappelle (suddenly getting serious 50 minutes into a special): On November 27, 2025, Hamnet died. He fucking died.
November 26, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Dave Chappelle (suddenly getting serious 50 minutes into a special): On November 27, 2025, Hamnet died. He fucking died.
Reposted by Farouk
I think @rianjohnson.bsky.social made WAKE UP DEAD MAN just for people like me (angry exvangelicals who still find value in Jesus’ teaching even though the Church is really bad at living those teachings out, bonus points if you like U2). Paired it with CONCLAVE in my latest column @bwdr.bsky.social
Double Features: Wake Up Dead Man and Conclave
Wake Up Dead Man and Conclave depict faith at work in a world that’s dark and growing darker. Both films hold faith up to the light and ask: In times like these, what are the faithful to do?
www.brightwalldarkroom.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:44 PM
I think @rianjohnson.bsky.social made WAKE UP DEAD MAN just for people like me (angry exvangelicals who still find value in Jesus’ teaching even though the Church is really bad at living those teachings out, bonus points if you like U2). Paired it with CONCLAVE in my latest column @bwdr.bsky.social
this is what plays in my head when I see discourse that's not worth engaging in
November 26, 2025 at 8:47 PM
this is what plays in my head when I see discourse that's not worth engaging in
I like blue and red and people with a dark past/difficult to overcome loneliness
November 26, 2025 at 4:11 AM
I like blue and red and people with a dark past/difficult to overcome loneliness
Reposted by Farouk
I had the privilege of interviewing Shinichirō Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Kids on the Slope, etc.) for The A.V. Club and asked him about what initially drew him to American pop culture, who he wants to work with next, and what defines enduring art.
Cowboy Bebop director Shinichirō Watanabe on what it takes for art to "survive beyond"
We interviewed Cowboy Bebop director Shinichirō Watanabe about his work, where his love of overseas culture came from, and what's next.
www.avclub.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:16 PM
I had the privilege of interviewing Shinichirō Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Kids on the Slope, etc.) for The A.V. Club and asked him about what initially drew him to American pop culture, who he wants to work with next, and what defines enduring art.
Reposted by Farouk
Are the Xbox Crocs a new low for "gamer" fashion, or simply more of the same cringe? That's for you to decide. www.avclub.com/xbox-crocs
The Xbox Crocs make their mark in canon of outrageous gamer fashion
Are the Xbox Crocs a new low for "gamer" fashion, or simply more of the same cringe? That's for you to decide.
www.avclub.com
November 25, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Are the Xbox Crocs a new low for "gamer" fashion, or simply more of the same cringe? That's for you to decide. www.avclub.com/xbox-crocs
One of the better things the Pokémon games have done recently with Legends Arceus/Z-A is the fact that the Pokémon straight up try to fucking kill you
November 25, 2025 at 2:26 AM
One of the better things the Pokémon games have done recently with Legends Arceus/Z-A is the fact that the Pokémon straight up try to fucking kill you
if Jay Kelly was about a woman they could've called it Grace Kelly
November 25, 2025 at 1:47 AM
if Jay Kelly was about a woman they could've called it Grace Kelly
Train Dreams? To do what exactly? Play baseball?
November 24, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Train Dreams? To do what exactly? Play baseball?
Reposted by Farouk
Finally. My big 2800 word essay about One Battle After Another and its black women characters is live. www.vulture.com/article/blac...
Black Actresses Are Carrying One Battle After Another
Teyana Taylor, Chase Infiniti, and Regina Hall propel the film’s most conflicted ideas, for better and worse.
www.vulture.com
November 24, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Finally. My big 2800 word essay about One Battle After Another and its black women characters is live. www.vulture.com/article/blac...