#[ MMM the CINEMATOGRAPHY ]

[dontyoufeelcalmer]

aidan checking his chamber like he’s staring into the fridge at 2am is my fave thing

[fuddlyduddly]

never not thinking about the camerawork and editing in this scene tbh

[blueish-sun]

Anyways here's a clip of me the moment I realized I was perceiving Cyberpunk live

[ansiedead]

The Substance (2024) dir. Coralie Fargeat

[theother-victoria]

Mr reca word vomit bc the brain worms won’t leave my brain!!! I promise I’m Very Sane abt this man

TAGS: not proofread, written before his release so potentially ooc and I’m too lazy to rewrite it post-release, secret relationship trope, reader wears lipstick, making out eheheheheh, reader is smaller/shorter than him, this is my propaganda and sign for u to become a reca kisser too

TAGLIST: @akutasoda, @https-sourlimes, @tragedy-of-commons, @mitsvriii (putting you on the reca kisser agenda >:3), @harque, @hazyue, @gabile18, @khoncore, @moineauz

Ok so imagine being in a secret relationship with the man himself…

Like the two of you HATE each other’s guts in public. As a rival film producer, the public loves to pit your films against each other, and the two of you as well apparently. There have been so many instances of you making small digs and sly remarks toward each other during interviews that it’s become somewhat expected by now. You have a gripe with the pacing of his films and his fame. He has a bone to pick with your cinematography.

“That manic director’s most recent film? I would give my thoughts, but unfortunately I fell asleep not even halfway through.”

“That uninspired, dreadfully dull and artistically lacking director? All their films look the same. I couldn’t differentiate them even if I wanted to.”

No matter how critically acclaimed your work is, he always has something to say about it.

Even if it was in the back of an alley with his hands gripping your hips tightly and teeth nipping at your neck.

"It took until a quarter of the way through the movie before- hah- your cinematography finally showed some signs of thought put into the shots. I know you can do better than this. So why- mmph- did it take you so long?"

You angrily nip on his bottom lip. A flash of satisfaction runs through you when you hear him hiss and taste blood on the tip of your tongue.

“Like you’re one to talk with the horrendous pacing of your newest film! Tell me, what was the plot of it again? Because I- mmm!?- already forgot the direction it was supposed to be taking twenty minutes in!”

"Well, you just simply lack reading comprehension. Not my fault, of course.”

“Oh, you little piece of-!”

He shuts you up with a rough and messy kiss. Your legs immediately go jelly and were it not for his leg slotted between yours and pushing you up against the wall, you think you would’ve collapsed right there and then.

When he pulls away, your lips are glossy and swollen. There’s a dazed look in your eyes that makes him smirk in satisfaction and without any hesitation, he pulls out his camera to take a few shots.

“Yes, yes, wonderful! That expression really suits you!”

Anger looks good on you, but he much rather prefers this expression.

He leans in for another kiss and because you can’t say no to him, you indulge him- until you hear footsteps nearby. You hurriedly clamp your hand over his mouth and wait until they’re gone before glaring at him.

“Stop running your mouth so much in public! You’ll give us away at this point!”

“Then stop being so loud,” he hisses back, though he’s in no better state than you, his-already-disheveled hair an absolute mess now from you gripping it. His flushed face is littered with lipstick marks and you can’t resist the temptation to add a few more.

“Cheeky, aren’t you?” he huffs out as you place a lingering kiss to the corner of his mouth. A soft kiss to his eyelid makes his eyes flutter shut and an affectionate sigh escape him. He smells of the chemicals used to develop film and strong coffee…

Then there’s a gasp and the undeniable sound of a camera shutter going off. Caught red handed.

You pull apart from him with a surprised gasp and expression. Strangely, he doesn’t look fazed at all. Still as smug as ever.

You whirl around to see an equally-shocked photographer standing there. Paparazzi, from the looks of it. He was probably going around and looking for some potential shots before accidentally stumbling upon something that would make front-page headlines. When you look back at him, then at the photographer, there’s even more people now snapping away at the two of you in a compromising position.

With the damage already done, you try to leave before he stops you. His jacket resting on your shoulders dwarfs your smaller frame and he yanks on the film strip belt to reel you back in. The crowd of photographers has doubled now, murmuring excitedly to themselves.

“Wh- let go! The paparazzi are having a field day-!”

He silences you with a swift kiss and a pinch to the inner thigh. The cameras flash even more rapidly now.

“Let them see for all I care.”

enjoyed this? my taglist is open!

@ theother-victoria, do not copy, repost, modify, translate, or feed to ai

[maitredorsia]

(Mansplaining voice): Babe listen, American Psycho is a GREAT movie with themes and details used to tell the story! Like cinematography and shit, okay? In this scene right here, Mary Harron is making a statement about corporate office c— mmm men in suits yummy … yum yum . Ooo there’s another one! No way, no fuckin way not another one… ?YOOOO!! Yippee! i need him i need him. —-BABE! Babe ur not paying attention LOOK—. Oh wow that guys wearing suspenders… oh good grief the tie, wish i could pull him in with it and we could kiss… Wowee. Just LOOK at the pleated trousers, look. Oh wow. there’s another man in a suit mmmm yummy. Delicious… wish they were MY colleagues haha, friends with LOTS of benefits if u catch my drift haha! zoo-wee mama!!!! Haha !—-Pardon? Yeah I am drooling, wow—- Oh wow… take a look at THAT one! he’s soooo…. huh? Whaddaya mean u want a DIVORCE? WHAT

[salubriousbean]

The Acolyte Episode 8 Thoughts

because HOLY KRIFF WHAT THE CUSS

Unorganized spoilers below the cut

Okay first off the music absolutely slaps

Like whoa

The slightly discordant vocals? The violin?? The like that one bit that reappears sort of when they show qimir??? The orchestrations???? Absolutely slaps

Lol when Vernestra was like "you" and qimir was like "nope" and puts the helmet on that was pretty silly (he's her pupil??? What the cuss??)

Osha thought she saw Mae . . . She saw herself . . . *agonized mumbling*

Poor Sol 😭 😭 and then Vernestra puts all the blame on him??? 😭

Look all the characters are so well written and so flawed

Everything about this was flawed from the start :(

Osha goes to train with qimir?? Nuh uh girl

WAS THAT

WAS THAT DARTH PLAGEUIS IN THE CAVE

bro just had to go and do a creepy dramatic hand (whoever the kriff he is)

Okay THIS NEEDS A SECOND SEASON

The fight scenes actually go so hard, the slow mo was cool, but I felt it was a tad dramatic. I did like seeing it slower because man those fights were rapid fire

BRO WHEN OSHA AND MAE KICKED AT EACH OTHER

AND THEN IT SWITCHED TO THE TWO LIGHTSABERS LOCKED TOGETHER

MMM YESSS THAT WAS COOL

The cinematography slapped bro

Whoever Vernestra's like padawan is (does his name start with m? Idk) is super silly (I like him) and when Vernestra's like "go gather Knights without getting attention" i was like "bro is a questionable choice for that but okay"

Um also Sol's viking-ish funeral? 😭 😭 lemme just 😭 😭 😭 😭 😭 AAAAAAAA

THE- THE HUG

BEFORE THE MEMORY WIPE

"I CAN'T LOSE YOU AGAIN"

GRAH (hitting me in the feels)

Poor Mae :(

All of them are so flawed jst like real people grahh they're so hrjsjfkskfjekdkcj

I wasn't very satisfied with the ending but how could they resolve the ending when the whole thing was flawed in the first place

grah

Bazil what the freick

GRAHH

*chanting* SECOND SEASON SECOND SEASON SECOND SEASON

I just- I dunno mate, we need a second season to see what happens with Darth Plageuis (can't spell his namr) or whoever the cuss that was in the cave

And like what?? How is he there?? Does qimir know?? (Yes i know qimir is technically just "Stranger" but I don't like that)

What the kriff are qimir and osha gonna do

PH THAT REMINDED ME

UM THE LIGHTSABER

THE CRYSTAL

LIKE

SHE BLEEDED JT (is that correct grammar I don't think so)

AND- AND THEN

THE

AGHH

THAY WAS SO COOL.

THE WAY IT LIKE TURNED RED

WHEN KT WAS ON

RAHHHHH

S O C O O L

Okay bye (for now?) :) (smile through the pain)

[eddiediazismyhusband]

me watching 7x6 every time ryan was onscreen: “mmm yes i love the cinematography and like the film of it-“

[astraystayyh]

okay i deffo need to rewatch this movie because i feel like there are a lot of nuances i missed :') BUTTT UGH what a beautiful tale on love and humanity and kindness but also the ugliness of war. here is my essay that no one asked for AKSJDB

"they'll cry when they can't regain their humanity later" "no, they'll forget they ever cried" THIS ONE DIALOGUE waaaah :'))) so so telling about how some people are so immersed in their power, evil, that they forget their roots, their humanity to begin with

"i feel terrible like im trapped under a stone" "oh yes, a heart's heavy burden" this ONE STUCK WITH ME TOO because if it isn't so true :') sometimes a heart feels like tons of bricks pressed against your chest, but it is that same heart that infuses you with happiness and love. reminds me of my favorite lyrics "how rare and beautiful it is to even exist"

i love how kindness is an invisible string tying all these characters together, turnip staying with sophie because she was kind to him and didn't dismantle his cane, the witch of the waste giving up howl's heart because she was finally hugged, calcifer lightning up his fire each time Sophie compliments him ☹️ to be kind and to receive kindness back :')

i loved how there wasn't this huge fuss over sophie's spell breaking, it felt as if it happened by itself as she grew more confident. idk if this theory is correct but i feel as if the spell wasn't exterior, but rather relating to how she felt about herself. when sophie was asleep she turned to her true self because she couldn't harbor bad opinions about herself during her sleep. turning young when howl showed her his childhood house and only becoming old again when she said that she isn't beautiful.. once she grew confident about herself, helping save howl and their family, the curse just lifted :') my baby sophie

(love the fact that her hair stayed grey at the end, a tangible proof that she was changed for the better by this entire experience :'))

also how love changed howl, who went from hiding to having smtg worth fighting for because someone finally believed in him, beyond going after his physical appearance :'))))))

mmm what else...... OH the whole WAIT FOR ME IN THE FUTURE AND THEM MEETING AGAIN oh im a sucker for these tropes I love love love love it. ☹️☹️☹️☹️

i think beyond the love story, the movie also shows how ugly war is, how avoidable it with the queen basically starting it for fun and acknowledging that it is pointless, how the lives of civilians are discarded by ones in power. when Sophie asked Howl if those missiles were theirs or the enemy's and he said does it matter, he's so right because does it, really? if the end goal is to kill innocents to gain more power, everyone is evil.

honorable mention to the beautiful cinematography and the SOUND TRACK MY GOD especially the final song ☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️ kind of mad at myself for taking so long to watch it but waaaah so worth it I DEFFO NEED TO REWATCH IT AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN

[kuwdora]

Newjob anxieties really has me wiped. job transition is such a thing. particularly after a spate of some bad/awkward/frustrating job circumstances. And a fuck of a time job hunting to get here. Been rough going especially during the week, leaving me lower energy than usual. Newjob seems to be working out pretty well, though. I like it and am getting a lot out of it but I don't think the anxieties will go away for awhile until I feel more settled.

mmm, fannishly. I remain in so much love with all the new Star Trek Lower Decks and have like 2 posts inside me of raving about my love but I doubt I'll get around to writing it in full. I have so much love about it. god.

I somehow managed to watch all of The Fall of the House of Usher over the weekend. It's like Mike Flanagan is hooked into my brain sometimes for things that make me tic, it's great. Gnashing my teeth on the cinematography and Carla Gugino and all the awful bisexuals in this show.

Still trundling away with editing and working on like four different Witcher fics. Trying to finish things. I'm very pleased and still very excited about my Witcher stuff. Also my to-read fic tabs are so exciting, I can't wait to have enough brain to read and comment again.

For All Mankind is coming back soon, so I will be losing my goddamn mind again on a week to week basis for that and I'm so thrilled for season 4.

Also contemplating signing up for festivids for the first time since 2019. The nominations are looking pretty good, though I don't know what I'd actually want to ask for yet. Know what I'd want to vid though. Decision time later this week, maybe.

[rafasbiscuits]

Tagged by @schumi-nadal and @fisherkings thank u for tagging me guys it's always an honour, love youuu😘😘

Rules: post 10 of your favorite comfort mfovies then tag 10 people.

1. X Men movie series. Definitely, absolutely, undoubtedly, comfort movie. X Men. I remember watching the prequels with my brother as a kid when it's only the two of us at home. It's not just a comfort movie it's literally a fricking nostalgia for me. Then continued watching the whole timeline when I had my own computer.

2. STAR WARS MOVIES!!! Been a fan since I was a literal toddler and grew up with this. All sorts of nostalgia will come rushing to me and I will immediately feel hugged everytime I listen to the theme and just, see a familiar character. hey I don't know any lore cause I don't watch the cartoons but I watch enough to know what's going on🤷

3. Mean Girls. Yes, I watch Mean Girls on repeat everytime I eat lunch, it helps me eat cause I get distracted by all the drama going on, it's not nostalgic or anything cause I first watched it like two years ago but it is definitely a favourite and an absolute comfort movie.

4. Any Ghibli movies, I mean cmon, Ghibli!!! All my childhood anime movies are made from Ghibli. I love every single one of themm

5. Any Barbie movies (especially the Mariposa one, and the Princess Academy one and OMG THE MERMAID ONE!!) wait the mermaid one definitely needs its own like thing but I'm just putting it here. THE MERMAID BARBIE IS SO ICONIC I LOVE THAT MOVIE SO SO MUCH omg I have to rewatch

6. Twilight Series. Don't- actually. yes. I don't care anymore, I will not keep denying the fact that I LOVE this movie. It's part of my childhood and this movie really gave me alot of memories, I always watch the series whenever I'm sad or stressed about school..which is, all the time.

7. GOTG trilogy. Ugh, I mean I'm a Marvel fan in general (but I lean more to X Men), but Guardians Of The Galaxy will always be special to me. And the trilogy ended this year too and lemme tell you i CRIED. I remember begging my brother to lend me his USB so I can watch the first movie, and I did (took me a few weeks) and then BAM! Found comfort characters, all their songs became my comfort songs and immediately became a comfort movie, seriously the whole movie feels like home to me, god I love them.

8. Brokeback Mountain. I don't need to say anything about this, explains alot already.

9. Interstellar. Loved that movie to the CORE. watched it on the cinema and this movie made me fall in love with Nolan.

10. mmm I can't think of anything anymore but uhhh 2001: A Space Oddysey. Love it forever and always, the beginning of time and all that, loved the book it's one of my favourite books. And then the movie was just out of this world (literally) soundtrack? Top. Acting? Absolutely fantastic. Cinematography? yES. Perfection. I have an interest in the topic which is why I just feel so happy when I rewatch it..

Tagging...uhhh: @yoellglia @swaggypsyduck @tam-is-blogging @thefrootloopman @hubillusion @jcferrero @bluespring864 @raulsevyn @soronya @janesurlife (I'd love to tag all of you, yes the one who is reading this, but it says 10, I love you all very much tho😘)

[butididnottried]

Of Billy antis and, apparantely, their, i guess, apprecation for Neil, more or less <3

Am gonna be “whiny” because why not Neil, whyyy never Neeeil, it’s fucking never fucking Neil, FUCK. HIM. All of my homies hate Neil.

So, this post, this fucking post, that was made, like, two days ago? Because of reason this one specific post snapped something in my brain. I don’t even know why, it’s typical anti post, with typical “oh how irremediable monster Billy is” arguments. Nothing new. Ok, the new thing is that op removed this post and apologized. Like, that’s nice and all, but also ??? People usually don’t behave like that, good for you op for handling that properly and nicely.

(I already wrote some of this post and it’s longer than i expected, so, under the cut ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )

Funny thing is, that i started following fandom some time after season 4, because of how steddie flooded everything, and it was really nice, seriously, jut a bunch of fans cooing over their new blorbo. In a few weeks i learned very much about ST and it’s characters only from fandom (not valid very bad way of doing that, misinformation and bad takes and interpretations up to the roof xD), but from perspective of time i can recognize how weirdly selective that knowledge was, because, holy shit, from what i saw while there was no hate towards Billy, his existence was fully ignored. It took me over a month of reading fanfics before i came up to one with Billy in it (evil, very evil, because steddie need to happen somehow), and despite reading many fics with Max in them, i had absolutely no idea who the guy was. Like, the heck? Just some background bully character? With absolutely no connections to this disabled, kinda bitchy poor girl? Or fully abled, happy and with no worries bitchy girl. Depressed in canon? No sir, we don’t know her. Just superior characterization. :/

I don’t remember how i stumble to the Billy side of fandom, but wow, that was fast. While steddie side was - still then - nice nad fluffy and mostly with no real worries, Billy stans had the real, fat meat with thick gravy, and guys, my dudes, the most smartest girlies, you we’re and still are, taking this apart - child and domestic abuse, homophobia, racism, classism, repression, masculinity, objectification, parentification, disability, mental illnesess, ableism, prejudicions, writing of the show, themes, cinematography, all that stuff, just, mmm, delicioso *chefs kiss* And this is also how i learned about Billys antis, i saw how they behave and talk, how hateful they are and how steddies grew just to be most awful, sadly making ST fandom almost as bad as Star Wars fandom, if not at the same level. But. But i’m not active in the fandom, i’m one of these fans that are just stalking, watching, reading, reblogging. No, i never had to handle antis myself. (Like, it’s my third post about ST and in previous two i was just making fun of it xD) And yet i know how many, many of them are full of hate, almost deliberate ignorance and just horrible views. Listen, if somebody is harshly and negatively criticising the supernatural/fantasy side of a show, ok, we can talk and exchange opinions, because these parts of plot are not real, usually have no equivalent in real world, even if they can be metaphors for real problems, most times we don’t need to be so serious about these. But if someone says that abused character that is not, how to put it, not behaving nice about their abuse, deserve only to suffer and die, then big yikes on a red flag, because for 99,9% that’s also their opinion on real people. And like, i never was abused. My dad, while more or less neglectful, was against hitting kids, and in school, while bullied, i never was beaten up or in a real fight (but, yo, my good people, it was because i was radioactive back then so no close contact, why not), and still, i can have empathy, sympathy and fucking compassion for Billy. Just like i had it in elementary school after learning that one of my bullies was beating by his parents. We didn’t become friends or anything like that, but. It’s not that hard, to have some basic understanding.

Sooo, it feels like this is kinda too long already and not very necessary, but i just wanted you to know my, eeeh... where do i stand in fandom, my position towards it? Because it’s different, how i’m just silently hoovering above, and how you all are in this all, dealing with antis even for years, since season 2, and most probably many of you already had conversations about this, but in this almost a year i’m here i didn’t saw mentions of that thing. Maybe it was just talked to death and left behind. Because, honestly, i’m not a smart person, kinda of a dumbass even, and in no way i’m first to notice that. That thing, with antis, that i started this post with. Get back to the ponit, which is...

FUCKING NEIL.

Those two lines in post i mentioned, about “Runaway Max”.

“anyway, the amount of pure hatred i feel for billy hargrove just keeps intensifying with every chapter i read.“

“according to max, him and neil “have a lot of opinions about anyone who isn’t white and Lutheran and a man (128).“

Pure hatred for Billy. But Billy and Neil. Billy AND Neil. Are having these same bigotes views. With emphasis on “these same bigotes views”, because of course, yeah, sure, why not. But there’s no hatred for Neil. Only Billy. Neil is almost non-existent. He’s noticed only when it need to be made very crystal clear that abuse that Billy is going through is absolutely not an excuse for his actions, nuh uh, no sir, there’s a checkmark on this and that’s all, no need to say more abou that one particular man. He is schrodinger abuser - has everything to do with Billys behaviour and absolutely nothing at all. Seriously, Neil is talked about only on Billys side of fandom.

It’s fucking never “during season 2 Billy was just the worst, so violent and agressive, he was a bigot, a sexist, so SOOO so racist, a murderer and rapist and facist and nazi and he was speeding and smoking, drinking alcohol, having sex and throwing slurs left and right all the time, and he was abusing Max literally all the time and was controlling her every move just because he was an asshole and a bitch and dick and, oh the HORRORS, he was pursuing married, middle-aged woman that just simply could not say ‘no’ and cut that teenange bullshit behavior, becuase she’s a delicate and weak woman with no free wil and he’s an toxic man so she needs to do whatever he wants, i’m gonna faint any moment because of how vile and irremediable villain he is. Oh what’s that. His father is the same? Neil is using slurs? Violent towrads his own son? He’s the one making Billy hoovering over Max like a hawk? Is Neil treating Max like that? Is Max safe in her own home? What abou Susan? Oh, oh, Jail for Neil! Jail for Neil for one thousand years! And Billy too, because i hate them BOTH. They’re togehter just the worst. And in season 4, when Max admits that she’s happy that Billy died, and it’s truth and only truth and nothing more and less that just the truthies truth, and she says in her letter that Neil left? Oh, how relieveing that this monster is gone. Maybe Max and her mom are poorer right now and are living in a trailer, but at least they’re finally free of abuse, violence and bigotry.

Ah, no, sorry, it’s actually only about Billy. They just do not hate Neil. Why? Like, i know why, but WHY? I did not read “Runaway Max”, but i know that there’s a few pages long (good fucking god) of very depictive descrpition of how Neil beat the shit out of Billy. Seriously. Not only to the blood, but enough tto Billy having problems with event standing up from the floor. But his grown man hurting and teenanger is not that bad really, only kinda bad, not as much as his victim, we don’t need to focus on mr. Hargrove too much because his role in Max life is apparently not big enough to be in any way important. But i know that from Billy side of fandom, while antis are without any break relieving over and over how Billy cast dead cat on fire (not gonna lie, i personally also would not like that). But also it looks like this book is written in a way that makes Max an very reliabe narrator, that always says the most unbiased and objective truth. Well, at least antis are believing her every word. And yea, books shouldn’t at every step reminding reader that, hey, do not believe that person every word, they’re fucking kid and know almost nothing of world, but - and, eh, i don’t want it to sound like i’m throwing accusation at this book author, i don’t know this person and this is just how it looks from the outside, from opinions and quotes that i saw on both sides. But, it unfortunately looks like this author is more or less Billy anti themself, like they’re sharing and endorsing these same views at abuse. Maybe they don’t care, maybe before writing this book they watched the show once and had very shallow outcomes from it, maybe they weren’t digging deeper into that and wanted just get some fat check for writing a book for a popular franchise. Honestly, valid. But why then be so cruel and careless towards depictions of abuse? Just for shock value? Like Duffers? I guess :/

Anyway, antis. So fucking adamant of how they hate abuse, how it’s bad, how they are so good and right and caring, but the real abuser it out of their picture. It almost looks like they have nothing against him. Oh, Neil is calling Billy slurs, slapping him and humiliating? He can have that, be a violent homophobe as a treat, because i also hate Billy, so Neil is my kind of guy. But also Billy deserve to be called slurs and beaten up, so. Are they the same type of person? Antis and Neil? That’s why they don’t talk about him? Because they’re aware thay they would sound very similar to him? (i coneccted the dots lol) Neil with no doubt is a bigot. And many Billy antis are racist and ableist towards his fans. Victimblaming Billy for what’s happening to him. I’m sooo veRY PREtty sure that Neil do not want to do these things to Billy, but this boy just don’t know how to behave properly, like a real man, with respect and all that other bullshit, yadda yadda.

Maybe instead of stranger-rants bingo cars about bullshit  that anits are repeating about Billy we should have this one shrek meme with Lord Farquaad pointing finger and text “child and domestic abuse apologizer”. Because there’s no middle ground on this topic. If in this situation you’re againts Billy, then you’re on Neils side. You’re against any kind of abuse, or you’re just an asshole that is using poor excuses to doom ceartain people to suffering because you don’t like them or they don’t met your very specific and weird (and more or less unethical) morals. God fucking not bless holy shit kurwa mać ja pierdolę. :/

Or, maybe, you we’re a victim yourself and that’s why you hate Billy. But, listen, if you wen’t through hell because someone was hurting you, why you think that there are people that deserve the same? When you know how horrible and scary that is? Did you deserved that? No. Then why someone else should be abused? Because they’re reacting bad to what’s happening to them? They can’t copy in a healthy way? Hey, hey. You know what, sounds like you also can’t copy healty, if you’re harassing strangers, calling them names and use your own abuse as an excuse for how you behave, while be very, agressively firm about how Billys abuse is not an excuse to be a shitty person. Get off internet, get off fandom, really curate your safe space and get away from antis, apply some self care.

[izartn]

Thinking about the setting of CFC again, and I know I said on my first post after reading the book that Meatbun should have just gone urban fantasy to get her kick with the more out there elements more plausibly, the scifi plot elements were the weakest on the book but...

You can tell she really wanted to go full on scifi, bc thinking about it, I think going full on 100-200 years on the future with he technology (no aliens or space travel super avaible except for like, maybe the moon or Mars) would have really aided both what she wanted to explore re:technology and the ways we use and abuse it, and her commentary on arts and fictional worlds.

Plus the pseudo superpowered He Yu and Xie Qingcheng and their resulting mental illness and infection by RN-13 would have fit better; maybe even targeting the way humanity has started to openly play with modifying genes and neuroplasticity.

Mandela as an ideology widespread and having to fight it. Making the matrix plan much more scary and plausible.

Like. The distopian sci-fi film noir of it all would have fit like a glove to what she's trying to do in the novel, and to her protags.

Come on, distopian scifi serves to amplify the worst and the best the same way historical fantasy does, and Meatbun loves to go to extremes from what we've read of her.

He Yu being raised by robot nannies that he loves until he realises/is explained they're just unfeeling programs and getting a bit of that real human connection with Xie Qingcheng? Poor wire monkey kid.

Realising "nobody" "real" cares for him would hit weirder here, if not harder. Getting a complex about having to program his own behaviour if he wants to fit and be loved by others! Pushing himself to master coding (he's a hacker in canon! Tie that even tighter to setting and plot and his emotional journey dammit), almost falling but then ruthlessly dismissing the false fantasies created by technology! In the way he does by the end of the book but hitting harder in this setting bc that unreality it's an element that's been there from the beginning.

He Yu having to deal with his hallucinations when he's on his lower moments in this version would also be even more also even more oomph, given people giving in to the technological ghosts would be something he's used to seeing. And then realising his own brain is creating that trap when he thought he was above deluding himself. Like he does in canon but you know. Tying it with the plot and setting better, which makes it hit harder.

You also just know the elite He Yu is born feom are on some hunger games almost capitol bullshit. HY deciding to study cinematography and arts in this kind of culture. Meatbun ripping apart the abuse of AI, tying in with her criticism of the lower common denominator re:fluffy simple stories.

Compare that to a Xie Chengqing even more determined that science has everything studied about human behaviour and emotions are just silly hormones that can robe one of control. At the same time rejecting the frivolous use of technology; finding unsuspecting common ground with He Yu despite it all. Mmm. His brand of condescending old fashioned machismo and general internalised homophobia (and He Yu's if we're talking about it) (although in He Yu case it could just be denial of XQC in specific though which would be hilarous/sad considering. all of the story) would be maybe more difficult to translate but honestly humanity is such a shit show that I would buy we having regressed and then progressed again on the human rights front. Anyway it's more about his unhealthy repression, controlling tendencies, and trying to be good at being human by societal standards, for his sister and master/prpfessor/adopted father. That can be explored perfectly on this setting regardless.

Maybe it's the aftermath of a conflict and that's why people are so crazy about Mandela! Collective trauma around incomprehensible loss. Human nature at his most basic need for love and companionship vs survival, like Meatbun likes.

The more I think about this the more I like it. Mmm. Did censure prevent Meatbun of going all out with the scifi? Because it really really fits.

[aliveandfullofjoy]

Movie asks: 14, 17, 20

14. a movie made better by the ending

the whole movie leading up to it is pretty fucking great, but the taking of pelham one two three (1974) has maybe my favorite final shot of all time. a completely nonverbal punchline that ties the movie up perfectly. so representative of the whole movie, too — comedy meets crime thriller. brilliant.

17. a movie you never get tired of talking about

bold of you to assume any topic could prevent me from getting tired of hearing my voice! kidding. mostly. i think i’ll say first cow (2019), which has taken up permanent residency in my brain since i first saw it. i love thinking and talking about that movie. it’s just magnificent.

20. a movie you think looks beautiful

mmm. so many. the literal first to come to mind was the tree of life (2011), which (like every malick movie) has some of the most jaw-dropping cinematography i’ve ever seen in my silly little life. so many shots are just constantly in my mind’s eye.

thanks, pal!

[e-lec-tric-in-di-go]

2 and 4!

2. A movie you think is underrated

I think “Novitiate” (2017) is an excellent movie that somehow no one has seen. The cinematography and story are both so well done and it feels like a very tactile movie—like you can really feel what’s on the screen. It’s not for everyone (strong focus on religious trauma) but I think it’s so excellent. It’s dark. It’s queer. Dianna Agron is in it. What more can a girl want?

It also has this:

“So many people settle for a love that doesn’t really ask anything of them, that they don’t have to make any sacrifices for. I don’t want that. I want a love that I have to give everything to.”

4. A movie you like but wouldn’t recommend

Mmm this is tricky. I want to say “Jojo Rabbit” (2019) because I’ve gotten into fights with people about that movie and it’s one of my absolute favorites. I want to recommend it, but I’ve become more hesitant to do so.

I feel like the humor is very dependent on having grown up in a certain context of WWII framing. Like depending on where you grew up, your personal history, the way your culture treats WWII etc. you either love it or you see it as the most offensive thing in the whole world. I happen to love it but I’ve become more careful recommending it.

And then another movie that I think is really good but wouldn’t recommend, simply because it is very confronting, is the Norwegian film “Utøya 22. juli” (2018) about the Anders Breivik shooting. Not to be confused with the terrible American Netflix adaptation that came out later. It’s a one-take movie that lasts for the exact length as the shooting. It stands out because it doesn’t focus on the terrorist himself but rather on the chaos and the panic of being on the island. It’s a very impactful film, but I wouldn’t really recommend it.

[sarah-dipitous]

Hellsite Nostalgia Tour 2023 Day 68

Monster Movie

“Monster Movie”

Would I Survive the First Five Minutes??: The victim was already dead before the episode started. We started in the car with the boys and then they went to a small town’s Oktoberfest

The cinematography of this one is EXCELLENT. The script? Phenomenal. It feels exactly like an old movie

I’m wondering how far in it’ll be when the other shoe drops. It can’t be this old monster movie the whole time. It’s too early in the series for this conceit to last the WHOLE episode. We actually have an end goal still. At some point, this black and white film, the dramatic camera work, the script will revert. We won’t be in Kansas anymore … or Pennsylvania, I guess

I had no idea where Dean was going with all the descriptions of the scars and bullet wounds that he no longer has since coming back from hell, but…I never would have guessed that he would consider himself a virgin again. I refuse to weigh in on if he’s right or wrong because it’s simply a construct, I simply wasn’t expecting it

Ew, dump this guy immediately. Oh look, a werewolf did it for you!!

Mmm, looks like this case IS weird enough for you now.

A MUMMY??? This one barely makes ANY sense to have, but I’m not ACTUALLY complaining…okay, at least it’s not an actual Egyptian sarcophagus with an actual mummified human inside. Prop sarcophagus—THANK YOU, Sam, for saying what we’re all a little bit thinking “this is stupid”

OH SO HES LIKE DRACULA DRACULA (sort of)

(Omg how has the other shoe not dropped yet? THERES EVEN AN INTERMISSION!! This might be the best episode, sorry)

A shapeshifter???

“No, the X Files is a tv show, this is real” I love this script

Ed is too obvious of a choice. He’s got a crush on the pretty bartender, he works as a projectionist at the old movie theatre…

Lucy on the other hand…seems like a deliberate name..

Is Sam, yeah, he’s entered a full phantom of the opera scene ……..yeah, knew it wasn’t Ed

No. Come on. They can’t Frankenstein’s monster Dean. I can’t believe they’re doing this to me. (Ok. To be honest, I didn’t keep up with Dracula Daily the whole way last year. Is there a scene where Jonathan gets or almost gets electrocuted? Are we just playing out Dracula instead of injecting some Frankenstein into this?)

This pizza delivery guy is NOT paid enough to deal with this

I’m DYING. Ok so the shapeshifter in Dracula form has Jaime(/Mina), wants her to put on this beautiful gown so they may eat…pizza. To quote Sam earlier “this is stupid” but I love it

Ok I WAS right (maybe) Dean just said he was about to be Frankenstein’d. To which I repeat, I can’t believe they’re doing THIS to ME (but why put him in lederhosen??)

Did Jaime? Yeah, Jaime just killed the shapeshifter

This was such an enjoyable romp of a breather episode. They never did fully drop the old monster movie pretense, and it was NICE.

“Been On My Mind…”: aw look, Dean at least got to kiss Jaime on more than one occasion, so we’re back at 10