Hey there, I’m Matt Fantinel

Welcome to my little corner of the web!

I am a web developer from Brazil, currently living in Italy. My favorite things are videogames, football (⚽), chimarrão (🧉), coding and listening to sad music. I built my first website when I was 9, and been in love with computers ever since.

This is the special place where I collect thoughts, photos, links and whatever else I feel like putting here. I guess you can say it‘s my digital garden. Outside of here, you can find me doing my best work at Useful Group.

The Blog

What started in 2019 as a place to document things I was learning as a web developer has since grown into a journal of sorts. It is, after all, a personal blog.

Younger me working on my laptop
Me in 2019

Cool Links

I regularly gather the coolest links I come across on the web and post them here. If you like cool things, you’ll like Cool Links.

Illustration of Cool Links in a laptop screen, with a hand pointing at them in a cool way.

Quick Reviews

Since June 2024, I started writing quick reviews of movies, TV shows and games I’ve watched or played.

A stack of quick reviews I‘ve written in the past. They‘re colorful cards with the movie or show‘s poster and some words.

Photography

I'm no professional, but sometimes I like to capture the world around me. Sometimes, the photos turn out pretty nice.

Digital Garden

Things I've posted or written but that are not necessarily finished (or never will be).

Pixel art of a cozy indoor garden (actually a Stardew Valley screenshot)

The Latest ✨

Just want to see everything I've posted? There's an archive page just for that. Otherwise you can catch up below.

31 Aug 2026

Matt Fantinel
Matt posted 3 Photos

Sacra di San Michele

Taken on 2026-08-23

This incredible religious complex dedicated to St. Michael began being built in the 10th century and sits on top of a mountain overlooking the valleys near the city of Turin, in northern Italy.

I was unable to capture the views of it from further below, but it’s even more majestic.

The medieval abbey of Sacra di San Michele in Piedmont, its stone walls and tower built directly onto a rocky mountain outcrop, with visitors viewing from the terrace above. Visitors walking through the ruined stone tower of the Sacra di San Michele abbey, known as the Torre della Bell'Alda, with sweeping views of the Piedmont valley beyond.An information plaque at Sacra di San Michele telling, in Italian and English, the legend of the Torre della Bell'Alda: a village girl named Alda, fleeing enemy soldiers, jumped from the tower and survived unharmed after invoking Saint Michael and the Virgin, but died when she vainly tried to repeat the jump to prove the miracle to disbelieving villagers. Illustrated with a photo of the tower at dusk.

Sacra di San Michele

Taken on 2026-08-23

This incredible religious complex dedicated to St. Michael began being built in the 10th century and sits on top of a mountain overlooking the valleys near the city of Turin, in northern Italy.

I was unable to capture the views of it from further below, but it’s even more majestic.

30 Aug 2026

Matt Fantinel
Matt shared a Cool Link

29 Aug 2026

Matt Fantinel
Matt posted a Quick Review
Cover of How I Met Your Mother

How I Met Your Mother

Reviewed on Aug 29, 2026

Didn't like it
Decent
I like it
Loved it!

This is my third time watching this, and it has become a comfort series for my wife and I. Its highs are really great and its lows are fine. I think it’s the sitcom that best portrays the process of growing old and how relationships morph as time passes.

Its finale will forever live in infamy but I always thought it made perfect sense, though it does have awful pacing.

TV Show

28 Aug 2026

Matt Fantinel
Matt posted a Quick Review
Cover of Clair Obscur - Expedition 33

Clair Obscur - Expedition 33

Reviewed on Aug 28, 2026

Didn't like it
Decent
I like it
Loved it!

I am in absolute awe of this game. It is a complete work of art. I was amazed by its visuals, enthralled by its combat, tearful at its story and ultimately in love with its soundtrack.

It’s a story about grief, and it will make you experience that. It’s also going to be one of the most beautiful experiences you’ll ever have.

For those who come after.

Game

25 Aug 2026

Matt Fantinel
Matt shared a Cool Link

23 Aug 2026

Matt Fantinel
Matt shared a Cool Link

19 Aug 2026

Matt Fantinel
Matt shared a Cool Link
Matt Fantinel
Matt shared a Cool Link

17 Aug 2026

Matt Fantinel
Matt posted a Quick Review
Cover of Brave New World

Brave New World

Reviewed on Aug 17, 2026

Didn't like it
Decent
I like it
Loved it!

One of my favorite albums ever. Not only it is very good, it also holds a special place in my heart due to it being the most recent album when I discovered Iron Maiden, and my brother and I used to watch the Rock in Rio concert from this album’s tour every. single. day. It’s special to the band too, as a perfect comeback album after the rough 90s they had. It’s what made they become the best band in the world… for a second time.

Album

16 Aug 2026

Matt Fantinel
Matt posted a Quick Review
Cover of Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie

Reviewed on Aug 16, 2026

Didn't like it
Decent
I like it
Loved it!

Super funny and interesting! I love the way it was shot, it succeeds in not taking itself seriously and is all the better for it.

Movie

12 Aug 2026

Matt Fantinel
Matt shared a Cool Link
Matt Fantinel
Matt shared a Cool Link
Matt Fantinel
Matt posted a Quick Review
Cover of 1984

1984

Reviewed on Aug 12, 2026

Didn't like it
Decent
I like it
Loved it!

This is a punch in the gut, but I am better for having read it. Not much can be said that hasn’t already been said; it’s one of the most discussed books ever (even if often misinterpreted to fit whatever you believe in). As a “quietly rebellious” person myself, I have to say it left me in a deep state of melancholy as I was nearing the end, and that feeling still lingers the following day.

Book
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