#uglies release on netflix. don’t look at me i was a big fan of the books and i do not have high hopes for this adaptation but i WILL watch.

[areyouwho-ithinkyouare]

why is fucking everything happening this friday did everyone say “haha wouldn’t it be funny if we did this on friday the 13th” bcus istg that day is PACKED for no reason

[denimbex1986]

A little bit over a week ago, Netflix released their adaptation of David Nicholl’s book One Day. As a fan of the novel and the panned 2011 film, I knew what to expect from the story of Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew, which One Day follows over the course of eighteen years. While it might come as a surprise to the critics, the film adaptation had the potential to make me weep back in the day. Alas: when I watched Netflix’s rendition, the tears didn’t come. There were a few, but they weren’t the guttural sobs that I’d expected. I had the same experience with All of Us Strangers and The Iron Claw too. But scroll X or TikTok, and you’ll find that it’s quite the opposite for most viewers of these sad-centric media, with people describing themselves as “traumatised for life” and “choking on [their] own tears” in response to One Day alone. Was it a ‘me’ problem? Or is it that misery porn is at such a saturation point that I simply can’t withstand anymore?

“The way the iron claw broke me is insane [sic] definitely ugly crying at the moment, ” reads a tweet about A24’s flick on the Von Erich brothers. “I’m dead inside” reads one in response to Andrew Haigh’s All of Us Strangers. It’s safe to say that misery porn not only has the desired effect, but that people gobble that up. There’s no better illustration of that than the sheer amount of it. As well as those mentioned, last year saw a renewed interest in Hanya Yanagihara’s novel A Little Life, and recently we’ve been blessed (or cursed) with films like The Whale, Past Lives, and Close. While Hollywood execs aren’t going to slap it on their films anytime soon, misery porn is now almost a genre in itself...

And all of this comes at a time when we’re not only recognising our society-wide penchant for “yearning”, but wondering what it is exactly that we’re yearning for. Happiness would be an obvious answer to that question if it weren’t for the popularity of films like The Iron Claw and All of Us Strangers. With them in mind, it seems what we’re looking for is the experience of feelings, no matter how positive, negative, or how extreme. Given we’re all a bit numb – big chunks of our existence being mediated by phones and computer screens – that makes sense.

Essentially, we’re at a kind of crossroads with the genre. Still, what is it about the people, like myself, that don’t get a kick out of misery porn anymore? Some say that not crying at films makes you a bit of a weirdo. Some say it means you’re depressed. I’d hazard a guess that it’s down to the fact that, as I get older, I’m increasingly aware of the fantasy element of what I’m viewing. In this sense, you could argue that misery porn capitalises on a vulnerable audience that has something of a sell-by date...

But the idea that misery porn finds an audience unified by their shared vulnerability does tap into something important: that there’s ethical considerations that come with the genre. It’s a rhetoric that all the chatter around A Little Life comes to time and time again. Namely, is it okay to use trauma as entertainment? Or is it veering on the voyeuristic side of things? It’s a hard line of argument to pursue – you start getting bogged down with whether anyone can tell someone else if their art is appropriate – but it’s arguable that there’s a time and a place for misery porn. A landmark work of the genre, for example, might be something like Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar. That feels off the table in terms of its supposed “value” as misery porn, because it was so seminal in exploring women’s mental health. The same might go for something like Ava Duvernay’s limited series When They See Us, which dramatised the events surrounding the central park five. It’s horrible to watch, but we need to see that.

Beyond that – and this is most definitely a ‘me’ problem – there’s something annoying about the inherent competitiveness of misery porn. The hordes of tweets with suicidal ideation and increasingly obscure clips… They’re grating. As it is when someone obnoxiously sniffs during the final moments of The Iron Claw. That’s no-one’s fault, per say. Directors like Andrew Haigh don’t set out to have their work diluted into a clip from Fleabag and the girl loudly weeping in the cinema is probably just responding to the Letterbox-ification of cinema in a broader sense. You haven’t watched a film unless it’s been recorded on an app, given an arbitrary rating… And sobbed because of it.

Where does all of this leave us? One thing’s for sure, and that’s that I don’t think we’ll see the back of misery porn anytime soon. That’s okay, though. These conversations are a testament to the fact that we’re increasingly conscious of who’s benefiting from the exploration of these hard-to-swallow subjects. With that, we might usher in audiences that find value outside the things that pluck at their heartstrings. While their online reception obscures it, there’s so much radical loveliness in films like The Iron Claw and a TV series like One Day. Both, in fact, are unified by their endeavour to represent the afterlife, which I’d argue is worth more merit than how much they make you cry...'

[radramblog]

More Inevitable Hot Takes- MTG Announcement Day edition

I only have myself to blame for this one. I forgot this was upcoming, and I went and blathered about dumb preview cards from most of a month ago anyway. Well, now I’ve got to spend two posts in one week talking about Magic cards. Woe is me?

Once a year, WoTC has a big day where they announce, like, everything for the next year’s releases. And with the picking up speed of set releases, there’s a lot there, and thereby I have a lot to talk about.

To be clear, I’ve deliberately avoided Magic Twitter and Magic Reddit for these announcements. Tis a silly pair of places.

Standard Sets 2022

In order:

Kamigawa Neon Dynasty is very concerning, as one of the people who’s a genuine big fan of the original Kamigawa block. The thing is, I like Kamigawa, with it’s spirits and artwork and samurai and the like. I like cyberpunk, with the aesthetic and the themes and the music. I’m not sure I’m going to like the two combined. We better see some fucking weird-ass spirits, and I’ll only be slightly annoyed if they’re cyber-ghosts or whatnot as long as they maintain that bomb-ass art design.

We have a new plane and a set to go with it, which is cool and nice. Urban Fantasy is a thing Ravnica already did, to be honest, but if I had to guess, Streets of New Capenna is going to be a much more low-fantasy, noir-y take on the genre. I think I saw something about Azra returning, which is cool. That one on the key art looks…very Ob Nixilis-y, though.

And then we’re going back to Dominaria and actually doing The Brother’s War, again? I think Urza block was about that arc, though the Dominaria United set might be like, before all that nonsense. They might have given details, I wouldn’t have seen them, I’m going based on someone’s TL;DR. I’m excited to finally have a Mishra card that isn’t the Time Spiral one, though I’m concerned about how they’re going to make an Urza and a Mishra that are both powerful enough for the iconic characters but not so powerful as to be dominant in the Standard they’ll be legal in.

So, so much Universes Beyond

I think the four Warhammer 40k precon decks is kind of exactly what I was hoping we were going to get for that particular crossover. Just enough to get fans happy and make some fun new cards, not enough that there’s a ridiculous influx of Tyranids into Magic’s annals. I’d be interested to see what regular Magic cards translate well into these decks, seeing as they’ll have to be 40k-ified.

I feel similarly about the Baldur’s gate Commander draft set. I remember fans of that particular D&D spinoff were frustrated with the lack of representation in AFR (I think Minsk was like the only thing they got), so now they have a whole set to work with. Ultimately, D&D is now already, and interminably a part of Magic’s multiverse, and more from those particular realms isn’t going to make anything super fucky. Also, Commander Legends was cool as hell, and this is going to be another one of those, so that’s a plus.

And…a Lord of the Rings set? Like, a full set? I’m assuming whatever got them 40K also got them rights to tabletop LOTR, seeing as Games Workshop has run the LOTR tabletop game for a while. Like with D&D, the medium-high fantasy of LOTR crosses over pretty well into Magic, so I’m not worried about that kind of cockup making things Feel Weird. I’m a little confused about the legality of the set, though, seeing as it’s in Arena, but not Standard legal, but it is Modern legal? What and why and what about Pioneer or Historic?

Secret Lairs

Few hits, few misses, though I remember seeing spoilers from a few that aren’t on this list. Presumably, the Art Series: Johannes Voss, Thomas M. Baxa, and Purrfection and Math is for Blockers were announced separately? Anyway.

Hits: The Kamigawa Ink cards look drop-dead gorgeous, holy shit. Add in the fact that I already play two of those cards and that the others are all cards I like? Might have to get that one. Math is for Blockers is a fun lineup though I don’t…really get the theme? Both Artist Series look incredible, though I’m not huge on the card lineups.

Misses: PURRFECTION would be great if it wasn’t apparently a convention exclusive and also if the art of cats were on cat cards. It’s cute as fuck, but eh. The old-format walkers are frustrating, but I’m not as against them as a lot of people are- like they’re ugly, but not worth throwing a fucking fit over. I weep for any new player staring one of these down, especially if they barely understand planeswalkers in the first place and/or haven’t seen one of these particular ones before. Also, the art is kinda just ugly.

And then there’s the Universes Beyond ones. Fortnite and Street Fighter, both with new cards that will eventually have regular versions (which leads me to wonder if TWD will do the same). There’s a clear attempt here to hit the zoomers and the boomers in the community, though the former probably won’t have the money to afford the Secret Lair if they’re burning all their cash on V-Bucks. It’s…not a great look? Like I’m not opposed to cartoony art styles (the Goblins Kaboom SL looked great!) but Fortnite’s in particular looks like dogshit in my eyes and I’m not looking forward to seeing it in a Magic frame. Street Fighter I’m more excited for, because I like Street Fighter, and because they confirmed Chun-Li is going to have multikicker which is kind of perfect. Obviously we’re going to have to see the cards, but in one case I’m dreading that, and in the other I’m welcoming it.

Other Cards

We have more Challenger Decks, for Pioneer this time. The decklists are already out, and they look pretty solid! The Challenger Decks have been pretty cool previously, a really solid set of lists that only needed a bit of tweaking to be FNM-viable, but they were held back by the fact that they were often released not long before rotation. With Pioneer being a non-rotating format, this is going to be great for getting people into the format.

Another Double Masters set is…egh. It’s another thing that’s not for me, I can’t afford to whale on that shit. With shipping and conversion those packs end up ludicrously expensive in Perth, and I’m pretty sure I only got to play with one the first time. Also, this one is going to have all the collectable nonsense of 2020/21 Magic, which is going to be A Lot.

And another Jumpstart. Eh. Don’t cock the shipping on this one up and it’ll probably be okay.

Commander Collection Black is here, and the list is already out. The Green one ended up way overpriced, but at least in this case the cards are all super playable. Actually, they were for Green too, I think, but hey there’s a Deluge reprint and a flip Lilli, so. I kinda miss the Signature Spellbook series already, though.

Finally, Unfinity. Another Un-Set. Unstable was a fucking incredible set, both on a comedic level and as one of the sickest draft formats in a long time, so I’m excited to see that one followed up. On the other hand, Unsanctioned kind of landed with a dull thud. Apparently though, they got some of the folks from LRR (among others) to help write names and flavour text for this set, and I love those guys to death, so I can at least guarantee the comedy element will be present for this one.

Other stuff?

Well we have a date for the Netflix series. I have a hard time believing it’s actually happening. When I first started playing was around when rumours and announcements were still happening regarding a full-on movie, and that basically didn’t go anywhere. So it’s a little surprising to have a solid, actual time frame for Magic Story Content in Video Form. I haven’t kept with the story for a fair bit at this point (since Dominaria, tbh), so I’ve got no idea if it’s been any good, and as to whether this will be any good. Considering apparently Gideon’s in the lead, my hopes aren’t huge.

The only other thing is Pins. I like Pins. I have a bunch of them on my bag. I would like to get more Magic pins. So this is good.

And that, I think, is the sum total of it. These announcements always end up with a combination of excitement, trepidation, and dread, but I think this is leading more on the positive end of that spectrum. There’s still way too many fucking sets, but I think that is largely at Hasbro’s feet. The money machine must keep churning, after all. Maybe someday Magic and WoTC as a whole will be able to unshackle themselves from that particular constraint, but I am not holding my breath.

[karenpage]

There’s a lot to unpack with the kastle episode, so this is my best attempts to articulate my thoughts regarding it. There are, of course, spoilers below the cut but I tried to keep my discussion to only that of Karen and Frank’s interaction (with mentions of the first episode for obvious reasons). This is just my take away, I’ll write more about the season as a whole at a later point.

But yes. The Punisher season 2, episode 11: The Abyss.

Okay. First and Foremost, you can tell the writers were strapped for time, that they might’ve had a larger role for Karen/Deb if she wasn’t busy filming dds3, which sort of makes me bitter because by and far Lightfoot has treated her character better when she’s on screen in the Punisher, but I digress.

We open up on Frank, beaten 99% to death which isn’t new to any long time fan of the show- but there’s something different. Something broken in him that we haven’t seen before and I’ll be the first to admit, it’s as unsettling as it is upsetting. Watching Frank, who has persisted through the worst of the worst, who has conquered unimaginable hurt and grief, be so willing to give up.. Ready to die in way that’s more a sense of him deserving it, rather than a byproduct of the life he’s chosen to live.

It’s all over the news, the radio announcing ‘the Punisher in police custody at the hospital’, and then we cut to Karen toting the sixth amendment and strong-arming her way past the heavy police protection surrounding Frank.

A direct, obvious, and intentional parallel to when they first met.

Frank’s tied to the bed, the setup is similar to that of dds2, visually. But Karen pulls a chair up to his bedside and she waits.

We don’t have any context for time, as for how long she’s there while he’s unconscious but something I’ve read in 10,000 fanfics winded me the moment he woke up. He was having a nightmare, saw the same vision he’d seen of Maria and the kids and then heard a hail of gunfire and screamed when he woke. Karen was there. Soothing him. Comforting him. And she grabbed his hand with both of hers.

Two hands.

It’s hard to watch as Frank relives their deaths, talks, at length about the day his family died and major kudos to Jon Bernthal, yet again, delivering a monologue that ripped my heart out and spat on it (not dissimilar to the speech at the graveyard in dds2 eps4), but Karen’s there every step of the way. She’s quiet, and supportive, and everything he needed in that moment because Frank’s grappling with something big and ugly.

He thinks he accidentally killed some women in a shoot-out with Billy Russo and his gang, they were innocent bystanders, and that circles back to what he’d been dreaming about. About his entire identity as the Punisher, and why he feels like he deserves to die.

‘Now I’m the monster���, GOD, let’s be real for one second. Kastle notwithstanding? That Shit HURTED the emotions evoked with a single sentence, with tears in his eyes and a trembling lip. I Don’t Think I’ll Ever Recover.

But Karen outright refuses to believe that. Denies that Frank deserves to die and she knows something’s up. Because Karen’s pursuit of the truth continues to be a cornerstone in their relationship. There’s some uh … Questionable Writing that I think they meant to use as comic relief but it just came across as gross (like some scenes in the season, the implied humor falls flat in the face of glaring and problematic issues), but, the effect is that she and Madani discover that it was meant to look like Frank killed those women, but Billy had executed them beforehand.

He wanted Frank to suffer. He knew that that’s a wound he’d struggle to heal from when they could only do so much damage to him physically (without killing him, and Billy didn’t want that).

Now, at this point, Frank’s TRIED to have a ‘normal life’ (time to segue into that real quick, because I have to break down episode one even if I’d rather claw out my eyes). Now, I firmly believe that he was doing what he did, behaving as he had because he doesn’t know how to heal. Frank’s never had the after. He says so himself in the end of season one. He’s scared. Where does he go? How does he navigate a life that no longer resembles his own? That’s a lot for a person to do by himself but Frank is headstrong, stubborn, and so he does it anyway.

PTSD (especially recurring, horrific trauma) can make people act… differently to say the least. One of the things associated with losing children, losing family, is that there’s no measure on how to cope with it. Frank saw a chance to feel normal and he took it, but he did himself (and Beth) a disservice. He’s a damaged man, and he was bound to bring all that accompanies it, to her doorstep. I’m not a fan of episode one but, surprisingly, it’s not that Frank hooks up with someone. Not that Frank tries to ground himself in a stranger, carve out a bit of an after. Which, again, people with PTSD don’t know how to open up to the people closest to them because they have the most to lose. If that person/those people can’t see through the fog of his struggle, the loss of them would be catastrophic. It’s infinitely easier to do that with a stranger. You have nothing to lose if they walk away.

My issue was him having sex with a woman named Beth, (his late wife being Maria Elizabeth) and that in the sex scenes they CONSTANTLY hone in on the wedding ring he’s wearing around his neck and he has flashbacks and it’s strange and mildly upsetting? It feels a bit like they were trying to show that Frank’s projecting (which he is) but they went about it all wrong from a narrative standpoint. And then, again, she gets shot - at least she doesn’t die, that would’ve solidified all of my fears - but that pain, that visual is still a raw wound for Frank and it’s what sets him back on the path of being the Punisher, with Amy by his side.

OKAY. BACK TO KASTLE. I have some issues with the scenes, but, again, I think it’s more based on the storytelling (which I’ll address at the end, independently), overall I just.. I love them deeply and profoundly but it definitely hurt to see Karen admit her feelings (again) and be rebuffed (again). NOT because Frank doesn’t feel the same way, not because, in an ideal world, Frank wouldn’t want to be with Karen. But because he doesn’t think he deserves it. He doesn’t think he gets to have a happy ending, period, which is stereotypical of a protagonist in the middle of their hero’s journey (we saw the same shit with Matt Murdock).

Karen straight up said she doesn’t want Matt. That she wants Frank (even if that means wanting and loving the Punisher too - which is new. Karen can’t deny who he is and I don’t think she’s trying to any longer). She told him to give loving someone other than a war, a chance (her. Love her, Frank. Choose her.) and watching her open herself up… pour out the contents of her heart only for him to give nothing (in that moment) in return??? That Shit Hurted 2.0. BUT, him saying ‘he doesn’t want that’, in reference to life with her, where they try together. Is just a continuation of the same thread they’ve shared from the get-go.

Frank continuing to push away the people he cares about most (Curtis, Karen, hell even Madani in the end), while they hold onto him tighter for it. That’s a pretty poignant and reoccurring theme in Marvel’s Netflix; that the heroes detach themselves. Think they don’t get a life like everybody else, and then have to get slapped in the face by the persistence of the people that love them.

He thanks her. That she waited by his bedside for him to wake up and was there for him when he did. He thanks her and there’s something broken in that, too. Like it’s him trying to say goodbye but he can’t find the words just right.

So Karen tells him to show her. AND MY HEART ! FUCKING ! STOPPED ! My gut knew we wouldn’t get a kiss, but this was clearly intended to be one, and Amy’s interruption is a semi-colon. It’s not their end. Just the middle. Which leads me to believe that, should we get a season three, Karen will continue to play a significant part in Frank’s life and they’ll take advantage of the fact that she’s no longer filming Daredevil, and her availability won’t be nearly as limited. Lightfoot and Jon both confirmed that they’d want more and more of her, always.

My take away: They are in love. They confessed it. It was as heartfelt and sad, as beautiful and ugly, as any of their scenes have ever been (And likely will be), but it didn’t feel like an end because it wasn’t. It’s ‘not right now’, if Frank had kissed her, if they’d pushed through and tried to be together then, it just wouldn’t work.

He’s in the middle of his story. That means there’s growth and learning yet to come and Karen deserves more than where he’s at, now. (Doesn’t stop me from writing a fuck ton of fanfic about it, though). He has to learn how to co-exist with the two halves of himself, and that’s something that needs to be done without throwing romance into the mix (but he really shouldn’t be alone, he should get help, and I really fucking hope they touch on that in season 3).

Karen’s also a big girl. She can make her choices and is fully aware of what they mean. I didn’t like that she was hurt, again, by someone she loves, again, and at the end of the day, Karen Page deserves to be loved deeply and entirely and Frank just can’t be that person right now. That doesn’t mean never (what’s the point of telling their story if it ended like that? Lightfoot might be on thin fucking ice but he wouldn’t do Karen OR Frank dirty like that).

The Punisher was written in three parts, the beginning, the middle, and the end (much like every other story, ever). Middle installments tend to be the most poorly received, which isn’t an issue in film franchises because of the revenue stream attached, but it DOES mean shows struggle in their Sophomore years. I like to use ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ as a point of reference, because it was almost universally hated upon release, and is now a cherished part of a dynastic film franchise. People cannot tell a story, or understand it, with only two acts of a three-part play so it can come off strangely, or the general tone can feel ‘off’, because there isn’t active resolution and we’re left with just as many questions as we entered with.

Ultimately, we need a season three to see how this plays out, (we DESERVE one, and a kiss, goddammit), but if this is where it ends. If this is the last time we see Karen and Frank, at least it’s ended knowing they’re in love, that it’s an indisputable fact of canon that cannot be ignored. Whatever that means going forward, we as a fan base can figure out in our own writing, conjecture, and in the beauty of all they’ve shared up until this point.

I am so profoundly happy with what we got, the tone of the season and everything else notwithstanding. I have issues, yes, of course, I do, but I’ve waited well over a year to see them share a screen and this is what my sleep-deprived brain could make of it.

Thank you all for reading, xo.

[breadknight-likes-things]

Gaming's Biggest Disappointments of 2018,  And Their Silver Linings.

Video games were absolutely incredible in 2018, from bombastic AAA games like God of War to smaller, intimate looks serious subjects like Night In The Woods.  We’ve had an incredible year of games, but with all incredible years come some downsides, and even though this post is about the biggest foibles of the year overall, I think most of them are also indications of improvements big and small that we can look forward to.  So these posts are going to be fairly negative, a thing I try not to do on this blog, but hopefully I can interlace enough positive information in there to keep my usual tone up, so without further ado here they are.

The Telltale Closure: 

So I’m going to open with an event from this year that, frankly despite my title, has no silver lining.  The closure of Telltale games was a gigantic bummer in all respects, hundreds of people lost their jobs suddenly, were given no severance and told their health insurance was only going to last to the end of the month.  All future projects were cancelled and the even their currently running Walking Dead season was left half finished in limbo.  Some employees reported having moved across the country for a job at this well known dev less than a week before, only to more or less immediately lose it.  The higher ups running Telltale kept all of their financial issues so close to the chest that nobody below even knew anything was wrong, so when a new round of funding didn’t pull through at the last minute the only thing they could do was fire nearly every worker. In the end this left only a skeleton crew to finish the contract on Netflix Minecraft, and even they got laid off a couple weeks later!  Telltales death is a cautionary tale, and though we now see that The Walking Dead The Final season will be finished that isn’t what we should be concerned about, if it’s this easy for people in the gaming industry to be mislead about how their company is doing, something is seriously wrong.

Fallout 76, Like, In General:

Alright, Fallout 76 is a mess, and I’ve written before about how I can still enjoy it despite it’s innumerable problems, but almost all events surrounding this games release and it’s bizarre descent from “Buggy but fun” to “just not fun” after it’s patches is something that still needs to be talked about.  I think the most obvious thing to be said about Fallout 76 is that this game simply wasn’t done, I have a feeling it was rushed out to give Bethesda a product for this fall and to match up with the release of the masses of tie-in merchandise, but even so the game just isn’t finished.  As a release, the game is chock full of bugs, some visual like your characters power armor not loading right and you just being rendered spindly and nude and some gameplay affecting like enemies re-spawning in a location seemingly at random, leaving you immediately overwhelmed and dead within seconds. 

Thing is though, that isn’t where it stops, outside the game Bethesda Game Studios has shown an alarmingly tone deaf reaction to the player bases complaints.  I’m not talking about the nylon bag thing(never buy $200 collectors editions everyone, it’s never worth it), I’m talking about leaking peoples personal info and acting like it’s not a big deal or trying to placate anger by giving away paltry amounts of in game currency or collections of old games they didn’t even make.  Despite all this however, if you were to ask me my positive feelings on the thing, at the very least I’d tell you Fallout 76 is a promising blueprint for parts of the franchises future.  Even if this game is deeply flawed, imagine this being reworked more as a co-op mode in a more traditional Fallout or even Elder Scrolls game.  We could be looking at a wonderful future of exploring these big Bethesda worlds with our friends and even if the first attempt is rough as hell, it is ultimately still a first attempt, and hopefully one that portends a potentially great future. 

Metal Gear Survive:

Okay honestly, I don’t have a lot to say about Metal Gear Survive because I didn’t actually play it.  Why I’m bringing it up though is my general feeling that Konami is getting more hatred than even they deserve, based mostly around the ugly mysterious breakup between them and Kojima(though reports of how their employees are mistreated are pretty grim).  Survive is an awful game, and a cynical attempt to cash in on both the Metal Gear name and the boost in notoriety Survival Games have been having in recent times.  What the silver lining in this is however, is that Konami is very clearly not afraid to use their IP’s as some feared after that Kojima breakup.  Castlevania is enjoying success as a much loved Netflix show, two Belmonts and Snake both showed up and were well received in Smash Bros and even Zone of the Enders, which even the biggest Kojima fans seem to forget existed, got a full re-release for PS4.  Though we may need to worry about new attempts at these franchises if Survive is any indication, the scary idea that all those IP’s would just vanish seems to have just been conjecture, so instead of those video game things we all love, lets just watch TV!...Hey at least it’s a good show okay! 

The Response to Diablo Immortal:

This section is not about Diablo Immortal being a bad game, because we don’t know if it is, the thing isn’t even out!  This is about the, in my eyes, stupid, childish and cynical response to the games announcement.  What’s the issue with a mobile Diablo game?  I honestly have to ask myself this question every time I see the horrible response so many people continue to have to this benign spin-off to a much beloved franchise. People tried so hard to be mad about this game they’ve never even played, acting like an innocent nervous joke, one made by a dev after being greeted by a round of disrespectful boos, killed their dog.  Making wild claims that Blizzard no longer cares about their fans or IP’s or that they’re doing this as some kind of bizarre intentional slight against players.  Gaming has a real issue with reactionary anger, and we seem to see it happen for both valid and completely invalid reasons multiple times a year.  

People being angry at being nickled and dimed to death isn’t strange, we can so easily see this in Battlefront 2 from a couple years ago, who wants to grind out 40 hours of an online shooter to unlock one character?  Stuff like that is clearly an absurdly bad choice and the anger it engenders should probably be expected, but Diablo hasn’t actually done anything yet and people are already acting like it’s the biggest affront to video games they’ve ever seen.  What’s the silver lining in this nerd fury you ask?  It’s the game itself.  To be honest even if the game is mediocre having a Diablo game on my phone is an enticing idea, and good or bad I can’t wait to find out how it’s going to play.

We can find the good, we can find the bad, but video games remain a unique medium for stories and entertainment, and I for one can’t wait to find out what 2019 has in store for us!(I mean besides hopefully getting some answers on that batshit twist at the end of Gears of War 4 I still haven’t actually written about, i’ll get to it!)

[fuforthought]

“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny” Review

There is no doubt that Ang Lee's classic wuxia film, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" revolutionized kung fu cinema, nay cinema in general. It allowed martial arts films to be far more than traditional "chop socky". It introduced art, beauty and lots of floaty, flying shit to audiences all over the world. I've called it a masterpiece. Others might not think that word should be used but those people are (subjectively) wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Anyway... Sixteen years after the original, Netflix announced a sequel. Kung fu cinema fans immediately felt a mixture of happiness and worry. Then Yuen Wo (is it Wo or Woo?) Ping was announced as the director and we collectively let out a breath. Granted, he doesn't have the technical eye of Ang Lee but he couldn't go too wrong...could he? Then the cast was announced: Donnie Yen, Michelle Yeah, Veronica Ngo... Hell, even Jason Scott Lee! This gaggle of actors had a lot of us giving our nod of approval and we waited with baited breath for the film to finally release on its streaming platform home.

When I first saw this film, I had a lot of bad things to say. A lot. This review is based on my second viewing. So, take what I say with a pinch of salt. With that said, let's get into it...

"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" Sword of Destiny" is one hell of a double-sided coin. Where to start? Let's go with the plot first. The plot of the film is very simple. Almost comically so. There is a war going on in the martial world. Hades Dai (Scott Lee) is attempting to destroy all other clans so that his own White Lotus clan can thrive and rule the world (cue maniacal laughter). Meanwhile, Yu (Michele Yeoh) is living a life of solitude. She has traveled to Peking where legendary swordsman, Li Mu Bai's sword, the Green Destiny, is held. Oh yeah, she's also there to pay her respects to a friend's recently deceased father but that's really by the by. Fast forward a little and a fighter called Snow Vase (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) attempts to kill Hades, fails and then makes her way to Peking to steal the Greeen Destiny. At the same time, Hades has sent his own warrior to steal the sword. He's caught, logged up and blah, blah, blah... Put simply, the film is a massive fight over who has the Green Destiny. Donnie Yen, playing Silent Wolf, hops on board with his merry band of fighters, to protect the sword. And that's about it. There are protectors of the sword and those that seek to steal it. Why? Because it's a really, really good sword! Or something. The subplots are, unfortunately, quite weak. There's a paper thin love story between Silent Wolf and Yu. There's another backstory involving Snow Vase and Wei Fang (Harry Shum Jr.) being switched at birth.

So why is it a two-sided coin? Well, firstly, it's all about the performers. "Sword of Destiny" has the misfortune of featuring some amazing people and some god awful people. For example, Michelle Yeoh puts in a quiet, elegant, nuanced performance while Jason Scott Lee hams it up as a Disney-esque villain. Donnie Yen puts in a noble, gentle performance mirroring Yeoh's while Liu Bordizzo is painfully wooden and messy. This causes the film to be very disjointed. It makes me wonder exactly what Wo Ping was going for. Big, silly fantasy? Or a careful attempt at wuxia? Then there's the action. Some of the cast simply cannot perform. Michelle Yeoh is saved by doubles because, quite frankly, she really can't pull off the moves like she used to. She's stiff and dare I say too old? Put away the pitchforks and torches. I'm just suggesting she might be a little too long in the tooth to pull off quick, grand swordplay. The young newcomers, while having speed, are also pretty weak when it comes to action. The fact they're fresh faced and new to cinema really comes across. They're not used to fight choreography it seems. Although, there is a hushed, silent fight near the beginning between Snow Vase and Wei Fang that's really quite nice. What I'm trying to say is there are a lot of hit and miss action performances here. The best fighters seem to be those associated with Donnie Yen's Silent Wolf.

Speaking of the action, upon my second viewing I saw it very differently to my first. I actually thoroughly enjoyed the fights this time around. Honestly, Donnie shines. His moves are crisp, his kicking looks great and he used his two-handed sword wonderfully. He's head and shoulders above anyone else on screen. However, with that said, the choreography here is actually very nice. It's a little "soft" but I think this was a weird artistic choice by the director rather than a fuck up. There are some very nice exchanges here. Hand-to-hand (granted, not enough), weapons...it's all here. Even some environmental fights. The ice fight being a lovely use of the fighters' surroundings and featuring some beautiful "skating" exchanges. I liked the action. It's swift and charming. I will say that it's very much the simplified choreography we have some to expect from Yuen Wo Ping as of late. By that, I mean it's much more like "True Legend" than anything else. But it's nice. The flip-side to the action coin is that the wire-work really is quite clunky in places. It's nowhere near the serene gracefulness of the original film. Many of the moves look forced and...well...ugly. It's sad because there is a LOT of wire-work here. It's not enough to ruin the film but it may elicit a few sighs here and there.

The key to watching "Sword of Destiny" is to separate it from the original film entirely. If you view this film as a silly, standalone fantasy kung fu film, you can really enjoy it. Don't try to compare it. You WILL be letdown. There is a lot of fun to be had here. Sure, it's almost camp. Yes, it feels more like a Syfy movie than a Netflix movie. But it's genuinely enjoyable. It's a tight little slice of b-movie wuxia with a semi-solid cast and enjoyable fight scenes. Ignore its attempts at profound side-plots and honorable character traits and see it as a goofy old kung fu romp. Refrain from comparing it to the original and you might very well be pleasantly surprised. I certainly was.

GRADE: C+

[angstymarshmallow]

Confide and Comfort (Seth x MC)

[A little note: I don’t know if I know enough of about RCD for me to really play around with fanfiction - but I also find Seth incredibly cute, so here’s an attempt at writing a Seth x MC fluffy piece].

[Summary: When Keegan (MC) agonizes over the uncertainty of not getting a role, Seth does his best to keep her in good spirits and distracted].

[Word Count: 1856]

The door across her hall is open when Keegan leaves her tiny flat. She pads across carpet floors while still in the comfort of her bed slippers and over-sized sweater; hesitating when she’s nearly a foot away from Seth’s slightly ajar entrance.

She doesn’t know why her feet lead her here, only knows that there’s no place she’d rather be after the day she’s had. Ever since her audition this morning has gone south, the boy with the laughing blue eyes and infectious smile plagues her; relentless with invading her thoughts at nearly every given opportunity she’s had by herself.

Her hand hovers in mid-air; pausing by the front before she steps back. Suddenly she feels nervous; she doesn’t think showing up unannounced is the most neighbourly thing to do. It’s not as if they’re complete strangers – her brain tries to reason with her; nevertheless she can’t quite bring herself to knock politely on his door.

She supposes she could text him. Inform him in the friendliest and humanly way possible that she’s here – on his doorstep. Waiting to talk to him. But as she reaches for her phone, she realizes how strange that’ll sound – and knowing herself, she imagines it’ll end up being a lot awkward rather than comforting.  Instead, she scowls and drops her phone back into her sweater’s pocket.

Shaking her head clear of second thoughts, she taps lightly. She’s overthinking this. It’s just a friend coming to another friend. She doesn’t know if it’s too soon for them to be that; although ever since they’ve met – apart of her has always wondered if they could become more. More than just next-door neighbours.

She remembers more than one occasion of Seth telling her, she’s more than welcome into his home whenever he’s around. She hopes that still holds true.

When there’s no answer, she knocks again.

Still nothing.

Taking a deep breath, she steps through and calls out his name tentatively. “Seth,” her voice is almost like a squeak, bundled with uncertainty. She closes the door behind her. “Seth, you around?” It isn’t likely that he’s forgotten to lock up? A horrifying thought suddenly occurs. She’d have a tough time explaining why she’s inside his apartment if he returns home finding her in the middle of it.

She’s about to abandon all hope when she hears footsteps down his hall. Her eyes fly up just in time and she freezes at the sight of him – split seconds before he’s able to spot her. He’s half naked; sweatpants hugging his hips and a towel rubbing his tousled blonde hair thoroughly, as if he’s just gotten out of the shower.

Oh.

She knows he’s had muscles hiding under there – but not that much. She can’t stop staring. She knows she shouldn’t – that it’s rude to stare; but the longer her eyes settle on his broad shoulders, his taut stomach, the more she wonders what it’d be like to run her fingers across them.

In the seconds it takes for his eyes to catch her open-mouthed stare, Keegan slams them firmly shut. She averts her eyes to looking somewhere– anywhere but at him.

“Iowa,” Seth says it warmly although she can hear a note of surprise in his tone. “Did you break into my house?”

“Actually, you left the door open.”

“Ah, that would explain why there seems to be no forced entry.” His footsteps are closer now, and she’s almost certain he’s nearly in front of her. “What’re you doing here?”

She shrugs sheepishly, still avoiding eye contact as she clears her throat. “Well, you mentioned you were going to be around this week and I…” She trails off, risking a glance up at him. Relief settles the moment she realizes he’s wearing a shirt again.

Relief and…disappointment.

She doesn’t linger long on those feelings; she shoves them hastily aside as he jerks his chin towards his couch. “I just…” she releases a small sigh, “I guess you could say I could really use a familiar face right now.”

She sits, tucking her legs under her. She feels the slight dip of his couch as soon as he settles beside her. “It sounds like you had a rough day.”

Keegan bites her lower lip before nodding. “You don’t know the half of it,” pressing her eyes close for a moment, she takes a few seconds to listen to the steady silence between them - as he waits for her to speak first. “I had an audition.” Her fingers reach up to entwine a few strands of her hair, “and it’s stupid but I really thought I’d get the part.” She makes a strangled noise of frustration, “I mean sure it’s for something small –” she rambles, “but I really thought I had it you know.”

“Iowa,” he interrupts, shifting until he’s close enough for her to inhale the scent of his aftershave. “You’re doing this spiralling thing you only do when you’re nervous,” he bumps her shoulder playfully, “but it’s been just one day – barely that. Anything can happen, right?” He waits for her to nod before continuing, “besides even if you don’t get the part. There’ll always be other auditions. Another role you’ll be able to work for.”

“Yeah, I know,” his words are supposed to reassure her, yet they don’t. Not completely. Some part of her can’t shake doubt from rearing its ugly head. It’s stubborn and refuses to let herself be comforted by his words.

How long has she been as close to Hollywood as she can get? How long has she waited for her big break? She’s supposed to have it all figured out – that’s what planning has been for but now that it’s been weeks without any real progress, she feels loss. Like a fish fresh out of water; and she doesn’t know when that’s ever going to change.

“I know that look,” Seth interrupts, breaking through her thoughts to slide his gaze to her. His eyes hold her, like a prisoner as his tone turns gentle. “You’re still spiraling,” he leans forward, close enough for her to realize the sincerity behind his words. “Rome wasn’t built in a day Iowa and despite how cliché that is – it’s actually got its merits.”

“I know, I know. I’m sorry.” She bites her bottom lip, dropping her gaze to her lap. “I shouldn’t worry so much.”

“Mhm,” he taps the couch lightly. “Your big break isn’t going to happen overnight. Remember that aura of yours?” His smile easies some of the tension she feels. “That magnetism is going to get you places.”

Her cheeks feel hot, she looks away to hide her blush. “You’re just saying that,”

“Nah,” he waits for her to meet his stare again. “I mean it.”

For a moment, she’s forgotten how to speak. Lost in the warmness of his stare, she forgets the deadline hanging over head. She blinks a couple times before she’s able to pull herself out of it. “I’m the worst Seth, I came over here for your advice and yet here I am ignoring it.” She snorts, “this is where you’re supposed to say – congrats Iowa, you’re playing yourself. Go ahead.”

Laughing, Seth leans back inside his sofa. An arm carelessly slugs over the couch, almost close enough to brush her shoulder. “I wouldn’t dare when you’ve already been knocked down.” He shoots her a smirk, “besides there’ll be plenty of time for that later.” He adds, “after you get your first big break and all.”

She can’t keep a straight face. A laugh bubbles inside her throat. “Gee, at least I can count on you to be honest with me.”

The amusement flickers and dies out, his gaze suddenly turns serious. “Always.”

Swallowing hard, Keegan skirts her attention to somewhere else again – suddenly finding it incredibly difficult to keep looking at him. She struggles to change the topic. “Thanks for listening to me anyway, I didn’t mean to interrupt –” she gestures to his snack bowl and his TV screen being paused on Netflix, “- whatever it is you’re watching.” She squints at the title, “Daredevil? You’re a marvel fan.” She raises an eyebrow at him, “I thought you had better taste.”

“Says the girl that supports terribly developed plots to movies like Batman vs Superman and Suicide Squad.” Seth retorts, grinning from-ear-to-ear the moment she sucks in a breath and sputters.

“Hey! That’s not –” she takes another, “it’s not like –” she breaks off to laugh. “Seth!”

“Am I wrong?” He gives her a side-long look.

“Before this turns into a debate,” she ignores his smug stare. “- this doesn’t mean I’m giving up,” she adds, “I demand a cease-fire and,” she gestures to his snackbowl, “more popcorn if I’m going to watch this terrible show with you.”

“It’s a great show actually,” he corrects her, “I’m open to sharing.” He leans close enough to hand her the bowl.

“Is that because you’re feeling lazy, or because you genuinely don’t mind sharing?”

A smile tugs the corner of Seth’s lips, “mostly the second one. Plus, I figure if you’re going to be showing up unannounced, the least you could do is watch something with me. My home, my shows.”

Their fingers brush the moment Keegan grips the bowl, she swears she feels his touch lingering far after it’s landed firmly inside her lap. Ignoring the sudden flutter inside her chest, she snorts. “More like suffering through what you want to watch. I hope this finicky rule applies when you’re over my place.”  She mumbles thanks before Seth un-pauses the scene. “So, bring me up to speed?”

She blinks in surprise as he exits out of instead. He taps the remote a second time before switching back over to season one. “Wait what’re you –”

“If you’re gonna give this show a fair shot, you’ve got to watch it from the beginning.” He leans back again as the opening scene starts.

“If the show’s worth it of course,” she doesn’t meet his stare but she can see his smile from the corner of her eyes.

“Oh, it’ll be worth it Iowa. I’m incapable of picking bad shows.” His hands reach over to grab a few pieces of popcorn.

“And if it’s not?” She presses, insistently.

“And if it’s not, I’ll….order pizza.”

“We’re marathoning it?” Her fingers reach out the same time, sifting through the bowl until she feels that familiar warm, fuzzy feeling the second they touch again. This time, she retrieves her hand quickly but not before she catches his smile.

“Is there any other way to watch a show?”

She murmurs in agreement.

They’re nearly an episode in before she risks a glance at him. His brows are knitted together in concentration but the moment she shifts to stare, they go lax. His eyes are still affixed on the show, but she has a distinct awareness that his focus has shifted to her. “Thanks for this by the way.”

She doesn’t know whose hands reaches first this time, but their fingers brush; meeting in the middle except this time neither one of them pull away. “Don’t mention it, Iowa.”

-

[aion-rsa]

What Went Wrong With Dwayne Johnson’s Doom Movie?

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When Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson took to the stage at the Amway Arena in Orlando, Florida on March 29, 2008, few could have predicted what would come next.    

The budding action star was there to induct his father and grandfather into the WWE Hall of Fame, however, at times, his speech felt more like an impromptu comedy roast.    

“There was big controversy with the WWE and illegal torture,” one convoluted gag began. “Apparently they would find Iraqi insurgents, tie them up and make them watch DVD copies of The Marine.”    

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

John Cena, who starred in The Marine, was in the audience that night and took the ribbing in good humor, with his exaggerated on-camera reaction spawning what would come to be known as the “John Cena oh s**t gif”.  

Johnson wasn’t finished though.  

“By the way I made Doom. Did you ever see Doom? Well, you probably didn’t and it’s okay because nobody else did either.”    

Cue laughter.   

Nearly three years on from its release, The Rock could finally laugh about Doom. No one had been laughing when the film first debuted in October 2005 to rank reviews and a poor box office return. 

Film critic Richard Roeper was among those to tear into the film.  

“The performances are awful, the action sequences are impossible to follow, the violence is gratuitous, the lighting is bad and I have my doubts that the catering truck was even up to snuff.”   

He had a point.   

Largely filmed in a series of identical-looking and poorly lit corridors of a generic space station, Doom had the look and feel of a bad Alien knock-off.  Worse still, it bore almost no resemblance to the source material.  

Johnson may be the biggest film star in the world today but back then he was still just another wrestler trying to make the leap into movies. In truth, he was fortunate that Doom didn’t torpedo his chances in the way countless misfiring movies had for other aspiring wrestlers-turned-actors.  

So where did it all go wrong?  

Arnold Schwarzenegger and ILM

Film adaptations of popular video games are famously fraught with difficulties.   

You could probably count the number of good video game movies on one finger – Paul W.S. Anderson’s Mortal Kombat, before you ask.    

But id Software, the developers behind the pioneering Doom franchise, had been hopeful of bucking the trend back in 1994 when Universal first purchased the film rights.   

“I think Doom would be easier to write a script for than, say, Street Fighter,” business manager and co-owner Jay Wilbur told PC Gamer.   

Wilbur’s vision for the movie certainly sounded appealing.   

“I see Arnold Schwarzenegger with all the Doom garb on, Industrial Light & Magic supplying the special effects and the story would be something along the lines of Arnie stationed on Mars when the dimensional gateway opens up and demons flood in…So everybody’s dead – well maybe not everybody, you need a little human interaction and comic relief going on. But mainly, just non-stop seat-of-your-pants sweat-of-your-brow action.”   

Fusing elements of Commando, Total Recall, and the later Arnie effort End of Days, Wilbur’s sketch of a Doom movie sounded perfect – but there were issues from the start.  

According to former CEO Todd Hollenshead, several potential scripts were vetoed by id Software for failing to stay true to the source material.  While Schwarzenegger was approached, plans for the project were ultimately shelved in the wake of the Columbine High School massacre and negative press it generated around the game.   

Doomed Casting

It would be almost a decade before interest in a movie version would be rekindled by producers Lorenzo di Bonaventura and John Wells, who obtained the rights after footage from Doom 3 was shopped to agents from Creative Artists Agency.   

Di Bonaventura enlisted David Callaham, then a novice writer in Hollywood, to pen a script based loosely on a handful of ideas he had pitched during a chance meeting.   

Schwarzenegger, by then, was not only significantly older but also busy as Governor of California. Alternatives were explored. One rumor, neither confirmed nor denied, suggests Vin Diesel was in the frame to star. Ultimately, however, it was Johnson who ended up landing top billing.   

Not that anyone was complaining. Johnson was largely a B-movie star up until that point, making Doom a good fit to potentially take him into the big leagues. There was just one problem though – The Rock didn’t want to play the good guy.   

Producers had originally slated the WWE star to play the film’s main protagonist, Staff Sgt. John “Reaper” Grimm. Johnson had other ideas, though.   

“When I first read the script, and read it for [the part of] John, after I read it I thought wow John is a great character and, of course, the hero of the movie,” Johnson explained at the 2005 San Diego Comic-Con.  “But for some reason I was drawn more to Sarge, I thought Sarge was, to me, more interesting and had a darker side.”   

He agreed to star but only in the role of Sarge, leader of the film’s Rapid Response Tactical Squad sent to Mars and someone who ends up becoming the principal villain.   

Karl Urban, fresh from featuring in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, was cast in his place in what represented the first major misstep.  

Watching the film back now, it’s tempting to wonder whether Doom might have fared better had the two switched roles.  

After all, Johnson has carved a sizeable niche as an all-American good guy in the years since, while roles in Dredd and The Boys highlighted a darker streak to Urban’s repertoire.  

It’s certainly something Wesley Strick, who served as script doctor and ultimately co-writer on the film, concurs with when the notion is put to him.  

“That would work better,” he tells Den of Geek.  “I think you are onto something there. The swap was his idea though and this is all with hindsight.”   

Blame Superman

An experienced screenwriter with credits on Arachnophobia and Martin Scorsese’s Cape Fear, Strick ended up working on Doom as an indirect result of Tim Burton’s failed Superman movie.   

“Lorenzo [di Bonaventura] was head of production at Warner Bros when Tim Burton asked me to come onboard for Superman Lives,” Strick explains.    

“Tim and I and Nicolas Cage cooked up this whole scenario for a Superman movie and we would often walk into Lorenzo’s office to do battle with him, essentially, because he was stubbornly opposed to almost every idea we had,” Strick says. “Consequently, Lorenzo and I really butted heads and sometimes it could get quite ugly…I felt like I might have burned my bridges.”

With Superman years in the past, di Bonaventura called Strick to gauge his interest about working on Doom.

“I really wasn’t interested,” Strick says. “Just because I knew nothing about the game. But I have two sons and they were teenagers so there was a lot of enthusiasm from them. They told me to look into it and were excited about the idea of their dad working on this video game movie. Any project you can do where your kids are involved and excited is fun. So that appealed to me.”   

Strick was also sold on the film’s director, an exciting young Irish filmmaker called Enda McCallion. McCallion had made his name with a series of striking TV adverts (the Metz alcopop ‘Judderman’ campaign) and music videos for the likes of Nine Inch Nails.  

He was being tipped to follow in the footsteps of filmmakers like Jonathan Glazer by transitioning into features.   

“Enda was this up-and-coming new Irish director who was hyped to me as a visionary and someone who was going to bring something very original to the movie. It wasn’t going to just be this piece of product.”   

Big picture stuff

Strick was tasked with simplifying Callaham’s script to ensure it translated into a workable schedule and, crucially, that it could be made within a modest budget of $60–70 million. That meant cuts.  

“The producers looked at it and tried to put together a schedule and realized it was too complicated,” Strick says. “So, I read it and came up with a simple solution. In Callaham’s draft the marines kept going back and forth through this portal. Three times or something. It was unnecessary. They would go over there and then chase back and then regroup and then return to Mars or whatever. I said no, do it once and be done with it. I also had a list of a couple of monsters I thought the movie could do without.”   

The decision to cut several monsters familiar to Doom enthusiasts was a contentious one among fans, with Callaham’s original script featuring both the Cacodemon and Arch-Vile among others. Strick had been through this kind of process before though.   

“This is sort of the big picture stuff,” he says. “You can get a lot of shit from fans when they feel like you are trespassing on their genre and I think that happened to an extent on Doom. People were like ‘how dare you’.”   

He cites his experience on Batman Returns as an example of when the fanboys miss the point.   

“I hadn’t read a comic book since I was 12 and I loved them but I was 37 then,” he says. “Way past comic book age. In my mind, that’s okay because you’re trying to write a movie, not a comic book. You don’t want a comic book fanatic on a job like that – what would they bring to the movie?”   

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Despite ringing the changes, one sequence Strick was determined to retain from Callaham’s script was the five-minute first-person shooter sequence.  

“That was one bit I wanted to keep in no matter what. It was just funny. It had a great attitude and visually it was just delightful. If anyone ever proposed cutting it, I would argue strenuously against that. It was a great idea. Real, in your face.”   

All Change

By the time filming commenced in Prague in the winter of 2004, however, Strick found himself working on a very different film. McCallion had departed the project for reasons unknown. He didn’t respond to our request for an interview.   

In his place came Andrzej Bartkowiak, a seasoned cinematographer who had recently branched out into directing in the early 2000s, helming a trio of Jet Li action movies.   

“I was deeply disappointed when Enda left the project,” Strick admits. “It became the thing that I was assured of at the beginning it wouldn’t be. A more conventional approach to a movie like that. I don’t know what kind of movie Enda would have made but at least there was the possibility with him that it was going to be something special.”   

Strick was also having to contend with issues elsewhere.  

“When Doom moved to Universal, a guy called Greg Silverman became my executive on the project and he didn’t like me. He just always gave me shit,” Strick says. “Once he told me everything I had portrayed about the marines and their tactics was inauthentic. He wanted real, genuine, marine combat tactics.  I went back and did loads of research, read books like Jarhead, and really immersed myself in the whole marine mindset. I did a rewrite where I fixed all of the combat stuff, so it was genuine US marine combat protocol. And he hated it. I tried to explain that was exactly what was happening in Iraq, but he was just like ‘nah’. So we ended up going back to the fake stuff.”   ​

It’s an anecdote that hints at that dreaded but all too familiar issue on disjointed projects of this kind – studio interference – and Strick wasn’t the only one experiencing frustration. In the run-up to the film’s release, his co-writer Callaham had begun interacting with angry Doom fans online, who had heard rumors of the film taking liberties with the source material.   

Writing in a lengthy open letter defending his screenplay, the young writer managed to make things worse.    

“Let me assure you…, that the themes and elements that you love about Doom are ALL represented strongly in the film…just with some new twists,” he wrote.   

Few were convinced, however, particularly after he went on to claim he had watched a “bunch of strangers bastardize” his original vision of the film.   

Strick has some sympathy.   

“As soon as you engage in a fight on the internet, you’ve lost. I don’t think Dave realized that until it happened, but he got the shit kicked out of him by Doom fans. He was determined to defend himself and his movie against all comers and they just kicked him around. But he got back up and got moving again.”   

Callaham certainly did that, going on to pen The Expendables and, most recently, Wonder Woman 1984.  

Strick remains philosophical about his experience on Doom and still has cherished memories of taking his sons to the premiere [“they were in awe of The Rock” ].   

Positives and Negatives

“I thought the film was pretty good. Particularly in the sequence where it becomes like the video game. It’s the one great thing in the movie. Ironically, it’s a movie but it’s at its best when it devolves into pure video game action.”   

Bartkowiak took the brunt of the criticism for the film’s visual issues – visual effects wiz Jon Farhat took charge of the much-lauded first-person shooter sequence.  

Things would get even worse for the experienced cinematographer-turned-director a few years later with his next film, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, which pulled off the ignominious feat of being an even worse video game movie.  

Johnson rode the storm though, eventually hitting A-lister pay dirt with 2011’s Fast Five – a movie that breathed new life into his career and the Fast & Furious franchise as a whole.  

Today, Johnson is able to laugh about Doom, recently claiming its failure was the result of a “video game curse” he successfully broke with Rampage. The jury is still out on that one.   

With a different director, more ambitious budget and the right stars in the right roles, Doom could well have ended up being a great video game movie – but Strick thinks making a truly great video game movie “is next to impossible.”  

It’s about narrative,” he explains. “In a movie, we’re taking you for a ride whereas in a video game you are in the driving seat. So they are two conflicting and competing ideas for what makes a story engaging. Sit back, relax, we’re going to entertain you versus you’re immersed in an environment that you control. I don’t know where you find the center for that where the two opposing ideas co-exist. That’s possibly why the video game sequence is so good. It took on that paradox. You’re watching a video game movie that’s a simulation. It’s a kind of reminder of what the movie could never be.”   

The post What Went Wrong With Dwayne Johnson’s Doom Movie? appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[ibythetidepromotions]

An interview with Wormhole

Thank you for your time, Could you introduce yourselves to the readers?

Noni: Thank you so much for having us! I am Sanil Kumar, but everyone calls me Noni. I play guitar in Wormhole. 

Ansh : Hello, you FILTHY readers, I'm Ansh, I've been the vocalist for Wormhole for about two years now, as well as guitar for Noisays, Codex Orhova and Perihelion.

Sanjay : I am Sanjay, I play guitar in Wormhole as well as Equipoise and Greylotus

How did Wormhole come to be?

Noni : Wormhole started sometime in 2015 between Sanjay and I, but really this band has been together for a lot longer than that. We’d known each other and been playing music together for a while but stopped for a bit in 2015. At that time Sanjay and I just write and release some music of our own. We saw how other slam bands at the time were making music in their homes and were able to cultivate a cult following through social media and Slam Worldwide and we thought if we could get a small following like that it would have been really cool if we could manage to get a couple people into our music.

So Sanjay and I had some doodles from our old band(s) that we more or less put together for an album and released it under the name Wormhole. Since it was just the two of us at that time, we needed to find a vocalist. We ended up having Duncan Bentley from Vulvodynia do most of the vocals. This must have been right after he finished recording his parts for their album Psychosadistic Design. That resulted in Genesis which was released in 2016.

Ansh: Back in the day we had a comedy slam band called Rotting Phallus that we all left except the vocalist. Later, Sanjay and Sanil used some of their Rotting Phallus tracks, wrote some new tracks, and released Genesis under the name Wormhole. Matt and I joined the band again and we started to really find our sound. New and improved, now with ugly-ol' BASIL, all has been smooth sailing!

Sanjay: Technically Wormhole was originally a ‘comedy slam band’ in 2014 called Rotting Phallus.  Noni, Ansh, Matt and I were all a part of this.  The band kind of died and we stopped being a band because we had a toxic asshole vocalist who we all hate now.  When the band died noni and I got duncan and recorded all the OG Rotting Phallus tunes under the name Wormhole.

On the start of 2020 you guys released ‘The Weakest Among Us’ the cover art reminds me of a boss fight about to happen in some Doom/Halo-esque battle, what is the story behind the cover art?

Noni: You’re kinda close haha. The cover was inspired by the Metroid Prime series. We are super inspired by those games in more ways than one. There is a cut scene before a boss battle in one of the games that we based the cover art off of. We’ve been really inspired by the soundtrack too. It sets such a cool vibe.Sanjay and I grew up playing those games, and we’ve played them over and over. The universe, atmosphere, character design, everything about those games is so cool to us. Pretty metal. If it weren’t for those games I don’t know what I would make this band about.

Ansh: Sanjay and Sanil are BIG and STUPID nerds who like SPACE and other SILLY THINGS like METROID PRIME and ANIME.

Sanjay: Metroid Prime is the main source of visual and lyrical inspiration, but I love Doom (especially Doom 3) and you can tell I think Mancubus looks brutal as fuck.

Since the world is at a standstill for the foreseeable future and you released  ‘The Weakest Among Us’ on the top of 2020 how hard has it been to get the word out about the album since no one can tour currently?

Noni: It has been really shitty having tours cancelled and not being able to promote the album properly, but we also know that we are not the only ones in this boat so there is no sense in complaining I feel. Social media is our friend though and people still seem to be pretty responsive to the album anyway.  

It seems like going forward, bands are going to have to figure out how to do this anyway. So, if Wormhole (or any band) isn’t really working out because we can’t tour, then we have to figure something out.

Ansh: In general I've been happy with the online support but not being able to tour is beyond frustrating. As tough as it can be at times, touring is kinda like the celebration of your music and all the hard work you put into it, so not being able to get that live show release is truly devastating. Compounded with the potential fans we could have made and merch we could have sold, it's more than a bummer. But all the love and support the record has gotten online has also been one of the only things keeping me sane whilst I'm stuck in my house.

Sanjay: It’s definitely not as easy since touring is one of the main ways to reach new audiences but it’s not as hard when you have some dedicated fans who genuinely love spreading some Wormhole gospel.  Those fans are the realest MVPs in these trying times.

I always find it fascinating when the band's cover art describes what the album is going to sound like, when talking to the artist how do you project your ideas out of your head coherent enough to be understood?

Sanjay: We kind of got lucky with Lordigan (the artist of both covers) on Genesis.  We were kind of winging it and knew we just wanted a slam monster album cover.  We had some help from my bud Ryan Wolanski on getting the colors we wanted as well.  With TWAU I had a general idea of the color scheme and setting we wanted.  Lordigan was very aware of the Doom/Space Marine aesthetic so it was not hard to communicate.  Our album cover is not really a reflection of the music I would say because we kind of just pick what we want because it’s cool and we’ve seen similar things work for other bands.

Ansh: I usually just get an artist I really love and ask them to listen to the music and draw whatever comes to them, but maybe that's why I'm not allowed to do merch for Wormhole. 

Noni: We just tried to be specific and nit-picky. The most important thing for our artwork was to have a center focus, the classic slam monster, with a few other things to look at in the background/foreground. The album’s production wasn’t going to be super futuristic and modern, so the color scheme kind of reflected that. We wanted more browns to dominate the image, to give a bleak and miserable vibe. We went to Lordigan Pedro Sana for both of our albums and he was super responsive to every change we wanted to make. The best thing for them is a reference in my experience, especially if you can find something in artwork they made to use as a reference.

I see the album artwork as just as big a part of the album as any of the songs or riffs. The way I see it, both the music and the artwork and song titles all work together to create a vibe and atmosphere. They need to feed into each other. Not only that, they need to somehow stand out from the other million extreme metal records being released everywhere. It’s really important and one of the places I see newer/local bands cutting corners or not going all in, and maybe settling for something that isn’t stellar.

Crowdkill Apparel has some of the most unique merch options I've seen from car seat cover to a shower curtain, when given the opportunity what would be the weirdest merch you guys would like to release?

Noni: I would love to see the Wormhole logo on a cereal box. I imagine our cereal would have marshmallows.

Ansh: A bong??? A worm shaped bong??? Like from the first album??? Or maybe a big spikey worm dildo/butt plug??? Done tastefully OBVIOUSLY.

Sanjay: Wormhole weed called “The Dankest Among Us”.  Any weed paraphernalia honestly like rolling papers and some Wormhole glass.  We did a small run of grinders before which was cool.

With the state of the world that it is currently, touring as you would of guessed is a no go, Suicide Silence they have the right idea about having a virtual “world tour” where the show is streamed has the touring bug been bad enough to where you’ve considered this?

Noni: I think rather than trying to make “touring” work, we are going to try to put out content that is a little more practical for people to enjoy. Music analysis, lessons, playthroughs, stuff like that. Comedic or podcasty type stuff where people get to know the band members and develop some kind of a personal relationship with them despite not being able to meet with any of our fans in person. Not everyone who listens to this stuff plays an instrument or makes music, so we want to put something out that engages with that group as well.I’m sure we’ll do some full band stuff too, but not everything will just be us playing the songs. I think in this current era, and consequently the future, bands will have to do much more than just play their music to get out there. It was already kind of like that but now I think the big emphasis isn’t really on the music anymore. I think it will be kind of analogous to how gaming consoles used to be all about gaming. But now your Xbox or Playstation has to be able to have Netflix and YouTube and still regularly release and develop games over time.

Ansh: My other band Noisays was recently part of Mathcore Index Fest, the fest raised a reasonably sizeable donation for the Justice for George Floyed and Breonna Taylor Relief Fund, and it was sick to hang in a chatroom with a bunch of homies that i would be chilling with at the show. It was sick to do something good, share music and connect with friends and fans but virtual life is never going to be the same as real life to me. Whether it's teaching online, hanging out with people on video chat, or attending a virtual show, it's always just gonna be virtual and it'll never be a replacement for real life, to me at least. So please do everything you possibly can to make sure WE CAN COME PLAY FOR YOU ASAP.

Sanjay: I don’t think we can compare ourselves to Suicide Silence because our fanbases are vastly different.  I would hope we could do something like that but i definitely don’t think we are at a point where it would make sense.  Would be fun though.

Dream tour with Wormhole on the bill?

Noni: For the band obviously we just want to go out with the big boys like Obscura or The Black Dahlia Murder or Thy Art for our egos. But for my satisfaction I would want Wormhole to play with Dethklok just because Sanjay and I worship Brendon Small. Dude is a fucking genius and clearly has something figured out that neither of us do. Defeated Sanity would be on there too. If we’re talking defunct bands as well, I would want Necrophagist and/or Death in there somewhere too. But the real dream would for us to tour with Metallica and just play in Metallica and it’s also 1991.

Ansh: Warped Tour and we play right before All Time Low or some shit like that, Old Town Road guy opens right before us and does all the remixes. Miles Davis joins Limp Bizkit for the headlining set.

Sanjay: I would want to be direct support for Gojira.  That’s all really.  I think a bunch of bands (including Wormhole) have a lot to learn about the energy they project live and I would love to be a part of their show.

Anything else you would like to tell the readers before we go?

Noni: If there is some crazy guitar player or musician out there that you really admire and put on a pedestal you should understand that you are capable of literally anything that person is. That guy may have some special X factor but that is really only like 10% of it. The other 90% is the hardwork. Also thanks for reading and supporting and all that. It is really sick and cool and makes us feel good.

Ansh: Play and listen to lots of music, work stupid hard, and do whatever the fuck you want, the only people that'll say you can't do it are lazy as FUCK. Fuck'em.-ANSH OUT.

Sanjay: tech-slam

Wormhole Social Media:

Facebook

Instagram

Bandcamp

Merch

[bronsonthurman]

Review: Netflix’s Death Note

Recently Netflix released its version of Death Note, one of several anime adaptations in the works by major American studio. While it credits the Weekly Shonen Jump manga series as its source, it likely benefits far more from awareness of the 2006 anime adaptation. American viewers of that series surely featured prominently in the calculus of producing this movie, providing a ready made market. Unfortunately this movie is a vapid attempt to exploit the premise as American teen horror and just looks that much worse for its comparison to the unique psychological thriller that was the anime.

Aside from the requisite spoiler alert, I would advise readers who haven’t seen either of these productions to immediately watch the anime. The Netflix adaptation will spoil its surprises without delivering any rewards. The anime is only 37 episodes in self-contained entirely and though it occasionally detours into the ridiculous and convoluted, as anime is wont to do, its characters and plot are fresh, engaging, and thought provoking..

If it were not for the superior source material the movie might have seemed like just more mediocre teen targeted commercialism instead of an outright dumpster fire. Protagonist Light Turner (Nat Wolff) is a troubled, brilliant teen making extra cash by selling homework and creepily staring--oops, I mean longing for--beautiful cheerleader Mia Sutton (Margaret Qualley). We are supposed to believe he is good at heart because he tries to defend her against a generic male bully, but the audience can’t help but notice he only gets involved after she has the courage to intervene; Light butts in with an outburst of machismo he tries to back up by being a ineffectual smart ass. All in all the introduction brings to mind school shooting tragedies in a manner that only adds ick, not substance. It preps the viewer to feel wary of what they’ve gotten into, and rightfully so.

Into the hands of this unfortunate protagonist falls the titular premise, the Death Note, really a Death Notebook wherein owners can write names, dates, and manners of death for people they wish to kill. Hot on its heels Light is visited by the prickly, hunched demon Ryuk, who is served well by darkly lit computer animation and proves that Willem Dafoe is enjoyable even when he’s taking it easy, if not exactly just phoning it in. Ryuk serves as an unpersuasive argument that the devil made Light do it. Luckily for the viewer there is only one bully ready to be a target of Light’s wrath, who is decapitated gruesomely. The two-dimensional cruelty presented as justification does nothing to avoid the disturbing appearance of a shitty person in desperate need of psychological help getting bloodily murdered instead.

In better hands Death Note could have been a shocking and significant co-option of the property to explore a decent-at-heart kid pushed to the edge of good and evil by youthful callousness and falling into an abyss of high school violence. Director Adam Windgard, perhaps recognizing his own limitations, giving us instead exactly what we should expect from a director of mediocre horror like the Blair Witch reboot, V/H/S, and You’re Next: more flimsy, forgettable horror. Windgard tries to make Death Note into Final Destination with a few improbable and modestly gory set pieces, strung together with music videos with terrible soundtracks, in between trying to establish conflict between mysterious FBI consultant L and a cringe inducing loser-gets-the-girl teen romance. Sad to say this sub-plot’s only redeeming quality is being perfunctory and it only gets worse when Mia’s motives take a sinister turn.

There is a meaningful discussion overdue on female capacity for vengeful judgmentalness, violence by proxy, and vileness typically relegated to men. These subjects are hinted at, but this film is no place for something so nuanced, so the betrayals and come uppance we are subjected to feel like the cinematic equivalent of a basic bro screaming “that’s what you get bitch!” Whether coming from the screenplay by Charley and Vlas Parlapanides or from director Wingard one of them should have realized how it would reflect on the men behind the film. It just feels gross.

Efforts to weave plots around the endless rules included in the Death Note may appeal to some devoted hobbyist geeks, but even a casual hobbyist geek like me was underwhelmed. The only respite comes from the fact that Dafoe has a great voice and Lakeith Stanfield gives a competent performance as L that seems aware of what made the anime equivalent of his character interesting. Mentioning the acting in this movie feels spiteful--the actors are hardly to blame, going through motions as they were surely expected and giving basically the appropriate emotional cues to support the dialog, such as it is. That Qualley’s flat performance as Mia seemed fitting is not so much a complement to her, but rather another strike for the subtle stink of chauvinism exuded by her role and plots.

Eventually there are confrontations, a chase action sequence that doesn’t contribute anything or know when to quit, something like a climax, and an attempt at a twist ending. Attempts to redeem Light Turner ring hollow and false. None of it matters or convinces, none of it draws the viewer in. Even the guilty pleasure of really tearing apart something awful wouldn’t have kept the movie on for its full running time if I weren’t penning an article--I walked away only minutes in before deciding I couldn’t suitably insult it if I hadn’t sat through it all.

The degree of animosity here is not entirely due to the film in isolation. Alone it wouldn’t merit a full viewing and I would have left feeling mildly resentful that I had wasted 15 minutes on a teen horror movie that really was intended for teens. It speaks to its target audience in a cynical, exploitative way, not in a Buffy-the-Vampire-Slayer-will-appeal-to-your-inner-adolescent way. Sometimes that’s still passable, pressing the intended viewer’s buttons just how they want them to be pressed by a particular genre. But this movie takes deeply interesting source material and uses it to compel me and countless others to sit through it for 101 minutes. That it was free with my subscription makes it worse, not better, because if I had to pay for a theater ticket to see it, I wouldn’t have, just as I didn’t see Ghost in the Shell, an adaptation of a franchise I am much more personally attached to. This pops up on Netflix as if to say “you liked Death Note, right? We have more Death Note for you,” only to insult me by abusing its source so badly.

This is the cause of angry reddits, comment section tirades, bad user reviews, and poor returns. Hollywood doesn’t understand the genre. Whitewashing it a big part of it; stories are products of cultures, infused with those experiences and values. Its not just the race of the actor that matters, though racism under the guise as marketability is truly an ugly reality that deprives many fine actors of work and us of their performances. In the case of anime adaptations the whole story is being whitewashed to force it to fit Hollywood’s limited realm of cinematic experience. This robs of us of fine stories that are highly original, at least from our cultural norm.

This adaptation robs us of Light Yagami, a model Japanese youth with a bright future ahead of him, diligent, conscientious of his responsibilities in a distinctly Asian way. When this fine young man becomes convinced that he should use the Death Note to make the world better by eliminating criminals, we believe him, at least at first. He matches wits against his opposite, the misanthropic but just L, sacrificing his rationales of justness bit by bit along the way. The audience takes a gripping psychological trip to the realization that our protagonist is the villain. His crazy girlfriend isn’t just a bitch, she’s an outright obsessive who is perversely the subject of obsession herself as a teen idol. The police are bastions of mundanity, trying to bring sanity back to a world split by public knowledge that this grim god of vengeance exists. The chase alternates between methodical procedure and inspired drama. The series is anything but a formulaic rehash of a genre which American audiences already have in excess.

Ultimately that’s all Netflix’s Death Note is. It adds nothing, and it sacrifices much. It wastes the viewers time and insults fans drawn in by the licensed property. It subjects the viewer to some of the tackiest songs I’ve ever heard in a soundtrack. It’s sure to disappear from Netflix suggestions soon, in line with their strategy of producing as many things as possible by scatter shot and just being quiet about the failures. Don’t bother searching for it.

[imdrunkandreviewingshit-blog]

Drunk Rant: Death Note

(Disclaimer: This review was recorded verbally, then transcribed. Drunk Idiot Reviews felt the need to revise much of the review for clarity’s sake, but the spirit and much of the language is kept intact.)

SPOILERS ABOUND

On Sunday night, I sat down with my good buddies on the various couches in front of the television. We mixed lemonade, vodka, and limoncello, because we are broke young adults who need to find simple ways to get drunk. And once I was at least seven or eight drinks in, we decided to watch Death Note.

Death Note is the latest original Netflix film, directed by Adam Wingard and starring Nat Wolff, Lakeith Stanfield, Margaret Qualley, and Willem Dafoe. This movie was released in 2017 on what I assume the 28th of August. The movie is an adaptation of a Japanese light novel and focuses on a young man who controls the fate of anyone that he writes the name of into a notebook, leading to their death. This is Netflix’s latest attempt to break into the film market, which they have succeeded in at multiple attempts with Beasts of No Nation and Okja. However, this latest attempt at an an original film, a well-marketed film, is a failure.

Holy shit, what is this movie?

Before I get into this, let me tell you that I’m a big fan of the original Death Note series. I love…no, I won’t say I love the series. I very much enjoy the first half of the original Death Note. The dynamic between Light and L, both of whom seek their own form of justice, was very intriguing to me and made me really fall in love with it. Even if there were certain questionable elements that come along with the territory of anime. This movie really fails to adapt anything I feel is intriguing or interesting about the series. I don’t generally like to compare adaptations to the source material, as I feel directors should be encouraged to create their own work with the source as inspiration, but I feel it’s imperative to do when the movie is just this bad of a misfire.

Let’s start with Nat Wolff’s Light. In the original series, Light is your perfect student. He’s smart, charming, handsome; everyone loves him. And that’s kinda what makes him interesting, right? He has it all but he has that narcissism inside him that makes him sure he knows what is best for the world. And then he gets something that allows him to shape the world in his image. And for that reason, you really fall in love with him, though he’s a shitty person. Then L comes in with his strong moral code, he’s a genius detective who also wants to catch all criminals in his way. He just does it in a much more acceptable fashion. And that’s personally why L is one of my favorite anime characters, but I don’t indulge too much in anime because anime is fucking trash (Drunk Idiot Reviews would like to remind readers that this is not purely the opinion of the author but is indeed a verified fact, yet the writer does still watch anime). In this film, Nat Wolff imbues Light with a complete sense of unlikability. Light is a dork, Light is ugly, Light doesn’t really stand up for the common man outside of one time in the beginning.. He starts off with a vendetta against the person who kills his mother, but as soon as Light kills the murderer, this motivation is quickly forgotten and unjustified. It’s simply not enough to make you care about his mission statement or believe his convictions. It seems—no, it doesn’t even seem, he IS an edgy child who feels like he has a better sense of justice because he is a “high thinking individual” or something. And you know what? I don’t even blame Nat Wolff for this. I don’t think Nat Wolff is a  good actor, I’ll be real, but the writing is what fails him. Light is an edgy teen who shops at Hot Topic two out of the seven days of the week, and he should be treated as such. He should not be sympathetic in any way, shape, or form, and it’s kinda disturbing to me that this movie feels like we should somehow be rooting for him. So when one of the main forces in the Light vs. L conflict is this bad, how can the film even hope to live up to its source?

That said, one of the standouts is Lakeith Stanfield’s L. Stanfield imbues him with an honest feeling of what he was in the source, a detective with a righteous sense of justice, but the script fails him again. His sense of justice isn’t incorruptible; he leaks the names of low level criminals as bait for Light, and the film actually leads you to believe that L is going to kill Light in a very poor cliffhanger. Now, Lakeith Stanfield is a great actor, he’s wonderful in Atlanta, and he’s good here, but it just doesn’t work.

The biggest problem with this movie, over the script, over the acting, over the fucking sophomoric cinematography that makes you feel like you’re about to topple over with the amount of Dutch angles, is the pacing. The pacing in this movie is breakneck and is so herky-jerky that you might get whiplash. The transitions from-- I mean, in the first fifteen minutes, Light is going from a regular student to killing massive amounts of people. There’s no moment of hesitation, there’s no sense of guilt, he just fucking embraces it.

Part of the reason he is so receptive to it is because it’s foreplay. It’s the relationship between Light and Mia, it’s that he’s trying to impress her, and it’s working. Mia is a sociopath that seems to get off on seeing people die. He wins her over and makes her fall in love with him by killing some bully in front of her. It’s just really fucking gross. I won’t say I was disgusted but it made me pity Light. He’s a fucking loser with no problems, he has a halfway decent life, but whines and feels like he’s disadvantaged. And you know what, there was a chance for this script to make everyone more sympathetic, but they try to shove in almost a whole season of the anime plus their own original shit into one 90 minute movie, and it’s just laughable to me. The tone is really strange too. It really felt the need to amp up the horror elements, but this wasn’t a story that needed it or ever delivered on even one scare. As such, the gore, the music, the shots, they all feel just like useless toppings on a shit cake.

I like Adam Wingard. Until the release of this movie, I was defending Wingard, I wasn’t put off by Blair Witch, but this is even worse. And now it makes me question Wingard’s ability outside of satirical movies. Death Note almost feels like he wanted to satirize the original film by putting it in a modern western context, giving us a more typical troubled protagonist, and maybe kind of highlighting how enamored we are with our own judgments, but the only joke here is his own movie. 

I will say there were a few positives to the movie. Willem Dafoe IS Ryuk. Willem Dafoe is Satan to me purely on a looks and acting basis, and he works so well here. Ryuk is much more of a tempter in this than in the original, but I dig this interpretation of him. The mix of practical effects and CGI makes him such an incredible presence on the screen, and he is almost always clinging to the shadows. There are plenty of scenes where you won’t even notice him until you see the eyes or some spiky shit in the background.  Let me tell you, I think it’s pretty damn beautiful.

But unfortunately, one and a half characters don’t redeem an entire cast of terrible performances. I really don’t want to see Netflix try to do anything else with this.

You know what? Death Note wrote its own name in the Death Note. And the time for its perish was August 25th at about 8:00 pm or whenever it came out. This thing was DOA. See it if you’re drunk and like the series, it’s worth laughing at Nat Wolff’s weird ass screaming. Otherwise, don’t waste your time.

[knclarin-blog]

no. 18 magnum opus [final]

The Asian Beauty Standard: Is White Right? 

By Kristine Clarin 

Umbrellas, sunscreen and shadows--these were some of the ways I was taught to keep my skin white and bright. Growing up in the Philippines, my grandmothers and aunts urged me to wear a hat and slather my body with SPF 55+ because as soon as I stepped out into the sun, the only potential threat was not the risk of a sunburn, but the mere idea of getting a few shades tanner. A subject that is often overlooked in mainstream culture is the problem that within the East Asian community, the idea of white skin and Westernized features are glorified while tan skin and Asian features are frowned upon.

For decades Westernized beauty standards have circulated within this community, and unfortunately, darker skinned Asians such as Filipinos, Malaysians, Vietnamese people and so on, are shamed for failing to strive or maintain white skin. My aunts would give compliments when my skin was lighter than usual but would scold me when I was a tad bit darker, describing me as “dirty”. Being surrounded by this mentality, I genuinely believed that white skin was the only skin that fit under the definition of beauty. Sadly, this childhood is not only exclusive to myself but to most, if not all East Asian girls. In history, skin colour determined social status. The lower class would generally be working tirelessly under the sun while people of higher stature avoided the rays by staying in the shade. While this mindset doesn’t apply to modern day as much, many people still see dark skin as something negative and undesirable. Fortunately in North American society, we are taught to love our features which increases self confidence. However, this isn’t the case in other parts of the world and skin colour is not the only issue.

In Asia, the use of whitening products and undergoing cosmetic surgeries to look “Westernized” are as popular as ever. Statistics show that there has been a 20% increase in cosmetic surgeries between 2011-2012 and the numbers continue to rise rapidly. A 12 year-old girl named Lee Min Kyoung in Korea lacked confidence growing up. Her mother’s solution to her daughter’s shyness? Plastic surgery. Min Kyoung did not ask for the procedure but her mother insisted because “this is a society where you have to be pretty to get ahead” implying that she did not think her daughter’s looks were adequate. After the surgery, she became confident in her appearance because of her new eye shape. Lee Min Kyoung, like many adolescents, are still learning to accept themselves and being constantly pressured to “look a little less Asian and look more American” restricts them from doing so. This way of thinking is just not acceptable. Western features became a “need” rather than a “want” as this glorification continues to spread through the constant advertising of skin whitening products, celebrity endorsements, white washing, as well as the mentality of older generations.

Growing up in a Filipino household, I’ve gotten used to the sound of my grandmother’s daily dose of teleseryes or “soap operas” echoing from our living room. It wasn’t long until I started to indulge in these addicting television series and soon became obsessed with the main leads. Afterwards, my addiction went further as I branched off to watching Filipino variety and talk shows. Looking back at that phase, I realized that most, if not all of the celebrities were advocates for skin whitening products. From creams, to soaps to pills, they’ve vouched for them all. There’s even a brand called “SkinWhite” selling a range of products dedicated to achieving a fair complexion. Being a darker skinned girl, it was very hard for me to resist the temptations of wanting to be as “beautiful” and “perfect” as my soap opera idols and I did everything I possibly could to keep myself from tanning. Staying indoors, using bottles upon bottles of sunscreen and using every kind of chemical there is to achieve “perfection” while my family encouraged and even participated.  It is extremely saddening to know for a fact that others felt the same way I did and went to even greater lengths. Many people in the East Asian community have gone to the extremes to get the perfect pale complexion, even if it meant putting their lives at risk. An outbreak in Hong Kong occurred when certain whitening creams contained between 9,000 and 65,000 times more than the recommended dose of mercury, hospitalizing several women. However, women are not the only ones that feel the societal pressures of Eurocentric beauty because men feel the same way.

We often focus on how women see themselves and forget that the Asian beauty standard is a broad spectrum that shelters men as well. Many of my Asian-male friends are also surrounded by the idea that Western beauty is ideal. GQ (Gentlemen’s Quarterly) is one of the most well known men’s magazines and released its first issue in 1957. Fast forward to present day, GQ has over 600,000 monthly subscribers with more than half of the demographic to be men. In its 60 years of publication, GQ has only featured one Asian male on the cover which was back in 1996 and that was Jackie Chan. Almost all of the men on the covers were white, but doesn’t reflect the audience that the magazine reaches. It is without a doubt that many East Asians boys and men read their monthly issues and it is discouraging to see that what society constantly idolizes are people that look nothing like them. Asian-men become alienated and it’s implied that they are not attractive the way they are. By the looks of it, they are not worthy of being on the cover of magazines, but the same white males are offered several features in their careers not only on the US issues but in Asian ones as well.

Many people have labelled Asians to be those nerds that don’t know how to have a good time and all of them happen to be Chinese. Asian girls are submissive and cute, while Asian men are weak, short and have small--- nevermind. Society has painted this picture for the whole world to look at East Asians as nothing more than their stereotypes, that they’re not complex human beings like everyone else and we can give credit to the lack of representation in Hollywood. Recently there has been a rise in the remakes of movies and shows originating from East Asia, some of them I personally loved watching growing up. I was absolutely livid to discover that Scarlett Johansson would be the leading actress for the movie Ghost in the Shell which was once a Japanese animated film and that the show Death Note based in Japan would have a Netflix remake with no Asians in the cast whatsoever. The thought of Hollywood taking shows and movies from East Asia but have the audacity not to cast a single Asian, aggravates me. There is a plethora of roles to be filled by white actors and actresses while Asians aren’t even able to play characters that represent or supposed to represent their ethnic backgrounds. How are aspiring actors and actresses of Asian descent supposed to work for their dreams when they aren’t even given the chance to? Many people let go of their aspirations because it seems nearly impossible to be casted, no matter how hard they work. The roles that are available for them are the stereotypical nerds and immigrants with Chinese accents, not allowing these young actors and actresses to experiment and grow as artists. I grew up with very few role models in Hollywood because I had no one like myself with the same background and upbringing to take inspiration from. I looked up to actresses like Anne Hathaway, and Meryl Streep, not that I’m saying they are not talented, but I believed that I had to look like them in order to achieve anything in life. Although there have been steps taken to diversify Hollywood and the media, I still believe that even now, the mentality is “white is right”. Besides American culture, whitewashing is also a huge problem within East Asia itself.

In the past couple years, I found myself delving into the world of South Korean pop music. At first, I was in it for the head-bopping tunes, but then I slowly got deeper and deeper into the fandoms as well as the basic structure of the music industry in that country. I discovered that my beloved k-pop idols are constantly under the pressure of having porcelain skin. Fans take pictures of the stars and photoshop them so that their skin is whiter, smooth, clear and completely free from imperfections. The celebrities too, become ashamed of their skin and pile on products to remove the dark pigments because they feel as if the fans will not support them if they looked a certain way. Fans bash on their idol’s natural complexion because they think that it’s ugly and dirty. At one meet and greet of a group called Winner, a fan came up to a member named Mino, begging and pleading him to use whitening creams because he was dark. In a once and a lifetime event, the fan chose to criticize their idol, rather than expressing their gratitude for their music. How crazy is that? Another idol, Hyorin from the girl group Sistar has noticeably tanner skin and the public is blind to her talent and beauty because her “scandalous” complexion is what makes it on the headlines. I am in a constant state of confusion when it comes to this issue because not only are the celebrities already being targeted in the public eye, but picking on their slightly tanned skin makes them even more vulnerable. Skin colour has no correlation to one’s talent and ability to entertain, so what’s the big problem? It all stems from the idea that white skin is the right skin and that Western and European features are desirable.

Women and men of Asian descent as a result, detest their appearance and strive to Westernize because of the lack representation, the glorification of white skin and the constant shaming of those with darker complexions. Being a South East Asian girl, it took time and an accepting environment to realize that the Asian beauty standard is indeed a serious problem. I would look at myself in the mirror and wonder why I tanned so easily and why my eyes were so small. It’s sad to know that I was not alone in those insecurities. Why is light skin, a taller nose and bigger eyes deemed to be exclusively beautiful in the East Asian community? Shouldn’t we embrace our differences and accept that being unique is not a bad thing? My hope is that Asians and even non-Asians will learn to accept, admire and appreciate their features while educating others on inclusivity and self love. In the past, it was definitely not easy but now, I see beauty in myself and in others. Tan skin and all.

[jes-wan]

An eye behind shattered glass - Black Mirror S1- S3 thoughts

I just completed a binge of Black Mirror’s three Seasons. It’s hard to say if this was mentally a great thing to do, as the show has a rather down trend with it’s stories, for the most part. My thoughts will be in Netflix order, for whatever reason they have the season’s backwards, although it doesn't mater too much with each story being standalone. I suppose that is what makes binging a series like this easy, because everything is different and you only notice a few actors returning to play different roles. I thought I would write down my thoughts on these episodes and how they relate to real life, I won’t be talking too much about the episode themselves, because I don’t think that’s exactly what the writers of Black Mirror are after.

Obviously spoiler alert, so read at your own peril, you have been warned.

Nosedive

The first episode I watched in this series was also the first to make me feel guilty in real life. Of course I'm talking about relating this to using Uber. Where we rate our drivers and they rate you. A friend questioned recently how wrong the system is to be so open and have no guidelines for rating. It’s a good point and exactly what this episode is based on. Out of all the stories this one is the most realistic to actually happen. It wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine cafe’s starting to adopt the same system as Uber, and it spiralling out from there. I did enjoy the actress’ journey to discovering what’s the point in this system where you can’t be honest, or a breakup costs you, your job, the ending of the two of them yelling in some sort of lockup was perfect. Where, the language was ugly, that didn’t mater, it needs to be apart of our life. Sometimes you just need to tell someone, look that’s really stupid, without loosing your social standing. Speaking of which, going back to Uber, after watching this I found out how a passenger can see their rating. Mine was 4.96, which means someone gave me a four star, the feeling that you weren’t perfect right there is the problem. In the end conversations shouldn’t be rated for being meaningful, regardless of their outcome it’s all about interacting with another human, taking the good and bad.

Playtest

Buyers regret, that’s what VR feels like after watching this episode, or at least what VR might do to some people. Okay, maybe it isn’t that bad. Yet, it does make you wonder how fears could play a huge part in someone getting hurt in VR. Yes, the point of this story is playing off fears in a horror setting. Although in reality fears a deeper than that. You could be playing an adventure game and you have a fear of spiders. One comes up close to you and gives you a real life heart attack. How will we in the future combat actual fears, safe environment or not, that’s what the episodes asks. Instead, the real underlining issue is leaving things too late, putting something off because it’ s too hard. Well for the main character, doing so proved to be fatal, if he had just answered his mum a long time ago, she might not have called during the test and he would still be alive.

Shut up and Dance

You hear about people being blackmailed all the time, I couldn’t say if anyone has ever gone this far, but it might have happened to some lesser degree. The real question to ask yourself, is the risk worth it? If he had gone to the police right away, yes the video would have been released, but he would have had some backup, heck even the media might have been interested in hearing his story. It’s taking a bad situation and turning it better. Raise awareness, because as far as I know the web cam hijacks do indeed happen. In the end the troll, who I suspect was the kid in the hotel lobby, just released it all anyway. Not surprising, because someone who would come up with the ideas they did, probably isn’t someone with social empathy anyway.

San Junipero

I have to say this story was beautiful, I wasn't expecting the twist with it being a cloud reality. At first I thought it seemed like an excuse for a writer to put every 80s pop song into one episode. Big lessons here, even when someone tells you a story don’t assume they are selfish or whatever the case might be, ask questions. How long were you married is a good one. I’m not sure I wouldn’t struggle with the idea that after being uploaded living there forever would make me long for those who didn’t make such a choice. The ending was a surprise happy though and it was nice to see Greg was just someone willing to help out and get nothing in return, seldom do we see this today.

Men Against Fire

I was thinking this might be straight out action and not too thought provoking, at this point I should’ve known better. After binging the entire Alien series before this, I was glad to be wrong. I’d never heard the stats before about soldiers shooting over heads and the hit rate was so low. It’s sad to think that turning people into what we consider a monster would make them easier to kill. Even if they are expressing the exact same motions as someone saying people don’t shoot me. Not much of a choice for the ending, either watch those people die in an endless loop or be erased, no idea to be honest, both are bad. He got discharged anyway and now lives in a fantasy world, still bad I guess.

Hated in the Nation.

First of all, please no one make mechanical bees! Just don’t do it. Secondly what’s happened to all the bomb shelters in the UK. They could have put the third victim in one, a house surrounded by FLOWERS seemed like a terrible idea! Of course, social media plays a big part again, how often do we see people hiding behind their computer screen, shouting hate or even death in this case, knowing there is no consequences. That’s the lesson here, you can troll under your fake profiles, hate the world, think it’s funny to condemn, but really if someone manages to program killer robot bees, you might be in trouble. So consider this next to you decide to call someone on twitter. :P

Be Right Back

Tragic story from the get-go, the regret of putting work ahead of going with someone. Then dealing with a pregnancy, under a self imposed isolation. If you were offered the chance to talk to a passed person based on how they talked on social media would you? I couldn’t even try, to me it would be like forever putting yourself though the loss, every second you would feel sad after the conversation is over. Even more so with the android version of her late husband. In some respects it is nice for your daughter to meet basically a ghost of her father, but as she gets older what kind of impact will this have on her? Tricky, but a choice I can say I would never make.

White Bear,

Not what I was expecting, brutal but brilliant acting. Being ignored is worse than being yelled at, in my opinion. That people will film someone getting hurt rather than help, is something that does exist now. It seems to be instinct to pull out the phone and take video/photos before calling emergency. I heard that police actually hear about public crimes on Facebook first as opposed to people calling their emergency line. I don’t want to get to into too much about how she filmed her partner killing the child, there are no words and it’s hard to fathom that probably has happened somewhere for the writers to come up with it. A park for justice though, I know I couldn’t be a part of that, but with the rise of reality TV, I'm surprised something like this doesn’t already exist.

The Waldo Moment

I’m hesitant to write too much about the theme of this episode, due to the pure politics as opposed to social themes. I will say, is this really how the disenfranchised feel? If so, oh...

White Christmas

Realised what was going on after the lady and the egg scene, although I thought he was a police officer looking for a confession, I was close enough. However, I'm keen to talk about blocking people. The feeling of blocking people rather than facing them, easy isn't it? But can be cruel. If she had just come clean, he wouldn’t have gone through years or torment. Wondering why she kept the child, after the argument was seemingly about that. She may not have died on that train, if she was honest and her dad would still be alive same goes for her child. Of course he’s responsible for his own actions, and he did commit murder. Yet, the real lesson is, be honest, not mater how much it will hurt. You can’t possibly predict what you might set in motion by lying.

The National Anthem

You could just slap the media, which really did a great job in making a situation worse, anything for a story! Would everyone actually stand/sit there and actually watch such a horrible humiliation? No where in the demands did it say people had to watch it, yet the whole nation stopped. People laughed and smiled forgetting all about the reason why he is doing this. As a species do we really have such little compassion until it’s too late? Do we want to watch the train wreck? Of course, humanity's super power and after a year it’s pretty much forgotten and turned into a political vote changer. Although only three points up? I guess regardless of heroes, it’s not a popularity contest, which probably isn’t a bad thing.

Fifteen Million Merits

I’m not a big fan of talent shows, especially music ones, I feel it’s turned talent into image. Regardless, after watching YouTube videos recently on comments made by judges, it’s no wonder we are turning into a society of people who do not question our idols. What people will do for fame, she said yes to a life of sex slavery and he sold out to preach something no one is even listening too! It’s almost not worth it and looking for a way to escape the complex would have been a better use of time.

The Entire History of You

Would you become obsessed with the past if you could just rewind it? As someone who always tries to find the truth, I know I would be overusing this system. I’m not sure it was really that bad of a system, because without it he would have never found the truth and would have lived in a state of ignorance. Been played as a fool is much worse in my books. Irrespective of having this technology people didn’t seem to worried a conversation could just be rewound back and still followed their ways of deceit, shame really. Of course this sounds like a conflict with Nosedive, but the difference is honesty not avoidance.

Well that’s it, my thoughts on Black Mirror and it’s very good attempts at making you think about the society we live in.

Thanks for reading,

Peace out

Jes-Wan

[thesevillereport]

In Focus: Don't Miss This Opportunity

It's been a tough few months watching this new strain of the coronavirus wreak havoc on the world. Outside of money markets and supply chains, seeing what it's done to people and families in places like China, South Korea, Italy, and now the United States has been devastating.

I do have faith that this too shall pass. I believe we will get past this case of the coronavirus. I don't know when, but I trust the science community will figure this thing out. I'm more worried that governments won't listen to the science, that is a real concern I have. Over the last 10 to 15 years I've heard science say one thing about topics related to science, while some governments, and others not trained in science say something different.

History has provided evidence that there is a countdown on every great dynasty, civilization, or nation. Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Ming Dynasty, on and on and on, they all come to an end. But I don't think this coronavirus is the beginning of the end for the dynasty that is the United States of America. If you feel the same way, then you need to get invested in the markets.

Market pull backs, recessions, bear markets, are opportunities for people who aren't investing to get in the game. If you believe the U.S. will continue to be a world economic leader over the next five to ten years, then it is likely the countries best businesses will also be around during that same time span.

Hindsight is 20/20

If you've ever thought to yourself that you should've invested in Amazon (AMZN) during the great recession when it traded under $100 per share, or in Netflix (NFLX) when it traded  under $40 per share (pre 7:1 split), or in Apple (AAPL) at under $100 per share (pre 7:1 split), then this is your time.

Market pull backs, no matter what the catalysts are - credit crisis or coronavirus - provide opportunities that are seized by the smart and the bold, and this one should be seized by you.

I don't know how long this bear market will last, or if the markets will do a V-shaped recovery, a U-shaped recovery, or an L-shaped recovery.  What I do know is the way we (as a collective) live our lives will change, and there will be monetary consequences and rewards attributed to those changes.

The iPhone ushered in smartphones as we know them today. Apple released the iPhone in 2007 before the start of the Great Recession. The chart above shows how the smartphone took off after the recession. Before the Great Recession it was all about the Blackberry for those that could afford one. After the recession, Apple's iPhone and the offerings from Samsung and others were what people wanted. iPhone in, Blackberry out.

As the U.S. was exiting the recession the term "cord-cutter" started to gain traction. In 2010 some of the largest cable providers in the nation started to report large numbers of their subscribers leaving.

When coupled, the shift to the iPhone and other smartphones and the rise of the cord cutter put in motion gears that would crank up the money printing machine we call the stock markets.

Smartphones made content consumption available everywhere. YouTube (GOOGL) views saw big increases, Netflix subscriptions increased. Facebook (FB) was no longer a thing people did when they were in front of their PCs. Thanks to the smartphone we could check what was happening on Facebook at any time of the day.

The smartphone also brought the app culture along with it, creating billions of dollars in value for Apple and Google, and millions for smart app creators.

Post Great Recession introduced us to crypto currencies also. Whether you're a fan or not, we saw Bitcoin go from pennies to trading upward of $19,000.

I have no doubt that from the mess that is the coronavirus there will be a new set of opportunities created. Some things that are the norm today will give way to a new norm.

For one, the U.S. has been really slow to adopt tap-and-go pay when compared to the rest of the world. In a time where we are being reminded to not touch our faces and to wash our hands constantly, the last thing we should be doing is touching money, and being able to pay using a phone and or a watch would be of great benefit to me and everyone else.

Another norm that I think will be thoroughly reviewed is business travel. I don't believe we'll be self-quarantining ourselves five years from now. But in the immediate future as companies attempt to keep cost low and survive the current economic slowdown, Zoom (ZM) may go from a thing businesses use, to the number one tool in business communication.

If you've just started investing I don't think you have to sit around and think of all the fundamental changes that will happen in society to see a good return on your investment. Market pull backs like the one we're experiencing now have an impact on the most solid companies. Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Procter & Gamble, Walmart, and McDonalds to name a few have seen their stock prices fall with the markets. These are companies that are likely to be around five years from now and trading above their current values. An investor doesn't have to be a professional analyst to buy McDonalds and Apple when they are discounted and hold them for the long-term.

Timing is Everything

When investing in the stock market, a great level of patience can make up for bad timing. But if great analysis, great timing, or great patience were superpowers and I had to choose one, I'd pick great timing. Buying right before the surge up and selling right before the big drop is a power that very few market participants have.

To make up for not having great timing investors can look at what has come before and make an educated guess based on those facts of the past. For instance, a bear market for the Dow lasts on average 206 trading days. That stat suggests that there is no need to go out and buy stocks right now.

As an investor you're likely not going to buy-in at the very bottom or sell-out at the very top, but you can make money in between. If you haven't been blessed with the super power of great timing, then take the nibble approach to investing. Buy small lots of the companies you believe will survive 2020. With so many investment platforms offering commission free trading, buying 10 shares here and there of a quality company is very doable.

An Ugly Opportunity is Still an Opportunity

I strongly believe we'll survive the coronavirus as we have survived everything from the Great Depression to the Great Recession. The current situation we find ourselves in with the coronavirus outbreak has provided an investment opportunity that I'm sure most if not all billionaire investors and multi-billion dollar hedge funds are taking advantage of. You should be taking advantage of it too.

Down markets are where the seeds of fortune are planted. This is your opportunity to plant a few seeds that you and your family can benefit from in the future. Is there a lot of uncertainty out there, yes there is. Is the road ahead clear, not really. But not all opportunity comes when you're ready for it, presented in a Tiffany's box with a perfectly tied bow. Sometimes opportunity gets dropped in your lap at what feels like the worst of times. This is the dropped in the lap at a bad time opportunity, take advantage.

[haleyfury]

While reading is my #1 way to relax, I love being able to escape to movies and TV shows. When I have free time during the school year, I love relaxing with some Netflix and Amazon Prime because it takes less concentration—being an English and Communications double major means a lot of time with words (which I obviously love) so it’s nice to time a break here and there. And while I do admit that I feel guilty sometimes about choosing film over reading, I’ve watched SO many great things between from December and February that it’s been completely worth it. The following movies and tv shows do not include rewatches (we’d be here for a while if I counted all of my Parks and Recreation time) or Christmas specials that I watched in December.

Movies

Pitch Perfect 3– While I love Pitch Perfect and Pitch Perfect 2, I admit my sister and I went into with low expectations. Since the Bellas are finished with college, I didn’t know how the storyline would continue. While the plot wasn’t the most realistic, I soon fell in love with the music and even though I missed not having Skylar Austin and Ben Platt being in this installment, I really appreciated the focus on our female characters and characters. The soundtrack for this movie is actually my favorite out of all the Pitch Perfect movies because it really higlights Anna Kendrick’s talent. My favorite songs include “Freedom! ‘90” , “Toxic”, and “I Don’t Like It” and I was soon inspired to make a Spotify playlist with all my favorite songs from the movie.

Ocean’s Eleven– Ocean’s Eight is one of my most anticipated movies of 2018 for its female cast. In order to prepare myself for Ocean’s Eight, I know I needed to watch the movie that started it all, Ocean’s Eleven. If you’re a Six of Crows fan and need some more heists in your life, I highly recommend checking this one out.

The Big Sick– The Big Sick kept popping up on Amazon Prime whenever I logged in, so I figured it was a sign to watch it. Even though there’s plenty of comedic moments, The Big Sick is not a light & fluffy comedy, as the movie is based on Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon’s real-life experience with Emily’s illness. I grew up watching Everybody Loves Raymond with my parents, so it was really fun to see Ray Romano play Emily’s dad.

The Greatest Showman – The Greatest Showman is my surprise and absolute favorite out of the movies on this list. Beforehand, I kept referring to The Greatest Showman as “that circus movie” but so many of my friends and fellow reviewers kept giving it such rave reviews that my sister and I had to see it. I am not exaggerating when I say that I have listened to the soundtrack everyday since—it’s my favorite thing to listen to when I workout! The cast was absolutely phenomenal and the movie just felt so magical and surreal. I highly recommend at least checking out the soundtrack if you haven’t already and I cannot wait until it’s released on streaming services or DVD.

Fun Mom Dinner– In my opinion, Fun Mom Dinner is the funnier and a tad more realistic version of Bad Moms. By no means am I bad-mouthing Bad Moms because I loved Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, and Kathryn Hahn as its leading ladies and I will probably watch Bad Moms 2, but the comedy in Fun Mom Dinner felt so much less forced. I absolutely loved the cast – Toni Collette is becoming one of my favorite actresses, I’ll watch anything with Adam Scott, AND LET’S HAVE MORE MOVIES WITH ADAM LEVINE, PLEASE- and like the name, it’s the perfect movie if you’re looking for something fun.

Miss You Already– I cannot tell you the last book or movie that made me ugly cry as much as I did during Miss You Already. Drew Barrymore and Toni Collette star as two best friends, and I figured I was in for some tears from the get-go, as Toni Collette’s character, Milly, is diagnosed with breast cancer. I loved this movie so much, especially for its the emphasis on Milly and Jess’s friendship and the focus on their family and romantic relationships. I cried SOBBED for the last thirty minutes and continued to cry afterwards (reminder that I need more Kleenex for my dorm room).

TV Shows 

The Good Place– I talked about The Good Place in my February Wrap-Up, but I basically started TGP because so many people on Twitter were talking about ALL OF THE PARKS & REC Easter Eggs. While a comedy, TGP is so thought-provoking, as the show follows a group of characters who mistakenly end up in ‘The Good Place’ after their deaths, for its discussion on the meaning of good and bad. The cast is phenomenal, and I love all of the guest appearances, especially from the Parks & Rec cast — I loved Maribeth Monroe as Mindy St. Claire & Maya Rudolph as Gen and please let there be more Adam Scott in season 3.

Ghosted– February 25th was the third anniversary of the ending of Parks and Recreation, and besides some season 6 rewatching, I knew I wanted to watch something with the P&R cast. As I’m sure you can tell from above, Adam Scott is one of my favorite actors, so I decided to continue watching Ghosted. The show features Craig Robinson and Adam Scott as detectives for a government agency that montiors paranormal activites. I watched the pilot back in September, and the Parks & Recreation anniversary inspired me to pick it up again. I’m excited to see more episodes come out in March because of Craig Robinson and Adam Scott’s chemistry and the flow of the show grows more with each episode.

What shows or movies captured your heart this winter? Any from above? Share in the comments!

I Like Words on Screen: What I Watched Winter 2018 While reading is my #1 way to relax, I love being able to escape to movies and TV shows.

[edmundminoredinfilm]

Final rankings and a few sentences about every 2017 movie I saw...

1. THE SHAPE OF WATER - The Academy owes Guillermo del Toro big time after it overlooked his 2006 masterpiece Pan’s Labyrinth. Hopefully justice prevails and del Toro takes home both Best Picture and Best Director. This movie is a perfect fairy tale.

2. BABY DRIVER - I don’t even know how to say how good this movie was in just a sentence or two so instead I’ll throw a curveball: “Was He Slow?” should have been nominated for Best Original Song.

3. DUNKIRK - Never has a movie with such little dialogue emotionally moved me the way Dunkirk did. On top of that, the timeline structure is fantastic, Hans Zimmer kills it and all the sound is majorly on point in this one.

4. A GHOST STORY - Did it not get award season love because of its minuscule budget, summer release date or Casey Affleck? I’m sure it’s a combination of the three but it deserved several nominations and a win for its cinematography.

5. THE FLORIDA PROJECT - The most surprising snub in the Best Picture category. If Willem Dafoe wins for Supporting Actor, it isn’t just the Academy making up for Florida’s lack of nominations, he was really good.

6. CALL ME BY YOUR NAME - The cinematography and musical choices remind me a ton of The Graduate. The parallels to The Graduate don’t stop there though: thematically CMBYN is The Graduate for 2018 teenagers, despite being set in the 1980’s.

7. MUDBOUND - I’m opposed to nominating Netflix movies for Oscars but if you’re going to nominate them, this is the movie to nominate. Also, if there were an ensemble acting award this would definitely be in the top three of the year.

8. THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI - Frances McDormand is overwhelmingly good, as are Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell. The screenplay is great. I understand that some have ideological issues with the film, and I’m not say that I don’t, but regardless of the film’s worldview, it is still so well put together.

9. PHANTOM THREAD - The production design is wonderful. The Academy certainly nominated the wrong actress from this movie though, snubbing Vicky Krieps and nominating Lesley Manville, who wasn’t bad but I didn’t think was anything special.

10. THE DARKEST HOUR - My expectations were low but I was blown away by the cinematography and on the edge of my seat the whole movie. Also, I would say you can sign me up to watch any movie with Lily James, but she’s in the upcoming Mamma Mia sequel...

11. BLADE RUNNER 2049 - The best sci-fi movie since Mad Max and a worthy follow up to the original Blade Runner, one of the best science fiction movies ever.

12. COCO - I ugly cried in a way only Pixar can make me do.

13. LADY BIRD -  A strong script and a good movie. My hat is off to Greta Gerwig, who not only captured the Catholic high school environment so well, but also has made the first great period piece of the early 2000′s.

14. HOSTILES - Christian Bale’s performance in this definitely was top 5 for male leads this year. Even though it wasn’t seen by lots of people, I’m surprised by this snub since James Franco’s bid for a nomination fell short because of allegations.

15. GET OUT - One of the most original concepts of the year for a movie. More so than any other movie this year, Get Out has me excited for what its director and writer, Jordan Peele, might do next.

16. THE DISASTER ARTIST - The Franco allegations did this one in, but it certainly deserved that nomination for Adapted Screenplay, and probably a nomination for James Franco.

17. MOLLY’S GAME - The dialogue is fantastic, but I know that’s not going to get you to go out and see this. Here’s what will: Michael Cera plays a high stakes poker player in it.

18. LOVING VINCENT - The flawlessness of the animation isn’t just impressive because it’s beautiful, it’s also impressive because of the direction it must have taken to get the 125 painters that worked on it on the same page. Coco is fantastic and deserving of the Animated Picture Award, but it’s a bit sad such a unique movie won’t win Animated Picture this year.

19. I, TONYA - Margot Robbie is excellent and the movie is really funny. However, I think she is done a disservice by having to play both 23 year-old Tonya and 15 year-old Tonya; she just seemed to old to play the latter.

20. THE MEYEROWITZ STORIES - Adam Sandler is particularly good in this one. I also thought “Genius Girl” should have gotten some consideration for Original Song, if we’re nominating Netflix movies for Oscars.

21. THE BEGUILED - A bit surprised that Sofia Coppola didn’t get any love during awards season but that doesn’t mean this movie wasn’t good. The movie has great ensemble acting and chilling cinematography.

22. LOGAN - The Academy got the nomination that this movie deserved wrong: while the screenplay didn’t deserve its nomination, Dafne Keen, who plays the young girl, X-23, ought have been nominated for supporting actress. The screenplay doesn’t deserve the nomination because the dialogue is nothing overwhelming and, while the movie may break barriers for super hero movies, so much of it has been seen before, especially an old guy that everyone used to love but now he’s a jerk who is addicted to boozing. I’ve seen it before.

23. KONG: SKULL ISLAND -  My favorite “popcorn movie” of the year. Explosions and monsters make for a fun movie here, and while the visuals effects are good, they aren’t Shape of Water level good (The Academy makes another mistake).

24. FILM STARS DON’T DIE IN LIVERPOOL - Good acting from Annette Bening and Jamie Bell is a bit wasted in this movie as the screenplay fails to really show why Gloria Graham’s last few years merit a feature length film.

25. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: VOL 2 - Another good “popcorn movie.” Unsurprisingly good soundtrack and one of the best PG-13 Marvel movies since Tobey McGuire stopped being Spider-Man.

26. ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD - Christopher Plummer’s nomination is an absolute virtue signaling joke by the Academy. That said, it’s a decent movie if you’re looking for a thrill.

27. THE BIG SICK - It’s a great real life story and a good movie, but this was one of the most overrated pictures of 2017. Why would we start giving Judd Apatow-produced movies Oscar nominations now when we overlooked far better movies like Funny People and Forgetting Sarah Marshall?

28. LEGO BATMAN - I am so ****ing mad that Boss Baby is nominated for Animated Picture instead of this Batman movie, a movie we desperately needed after Batman v. Superman.

29. ROMAN J. ISRAEL ESQ. - Denzel’s acting is good, but not Oscar-nominated good in this movie. Also, the dialogue is fine but lacks what you might expect from a legal drama billing top talent like Denzel and Colin Farrell.

30. WONDER WOMAN - It has an OK story but I was underwhelmed by the special effects and I expect top notch ones from a movie like this.

31. SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING - It’s not Tobey McGuire, and that’s a bummer, but it’s also not Andrew Garfield, and that’s a good thing.

32. STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI - Put great special effects and the Star Wars name on any average plot with pretty bad acting and watch the profits flow in.

33. WONDER WHEEL - It is a visually beautiful recreation of 1950’s Coney Island. Other than that, the film features a wide range of really good to pretty bad acting and Woody Allen’s most tone deaf screenplay to date (and I am a fan of lots of his movies).

34. THE POST - No one would accuse it of being All the President’s Men or Spotlight, but, given its nominations I guess some thought it was a good journalism movie? Yawn.

35. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST - It was pretty to look at?

36. BOSS BABY - See Lego Batman.

37. MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS - Michelle Pfeiffer really deserves a  Razzie for this one. The ending implied a sequel would be coming, but I don’t think anyone wants that.

38. PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 5 - I didn’t even bother to Google what the real name of this movie was. I forget everything about this movie that I saw only about half a year ago; that is probably a good thing.