#Also surprisingly underrated film. AGAIN.

[randomalistic]

OH MY GOD I LOVE YOUR WRECK-IT RALPH VIDEOS AND I WAS JUST REWATCHING MY FAVORITE TGMD EDIT AND ITS YOU???? YOU MADE THAT TOO??????? 🫵🫵 TGMD FAN?????

YEAAHAHAHAH EXPECT AN UNHINGED GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE VIDEO ESSAY AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE IDK WHEN THOUGH ❤️but it’s happening.

[salvadorbonaparte]

2023 in Films

I watched way too many films this year. Here are my opinions on some of them

January

Las Cosas Del Querer (1989) - Amazing if you love sad hot people and flamenco

Canadian Bacon (1995) - Incredibly silly and Alan Alda plays the US president

Nope (2022) - A highlight of the year

February

Hellraiser (1987) - This film is actually about miscommunication in this essay I will-

Predestination (2014) - Time Travel and Gender Moments

Malignant (2021) - Camp horror masterwork

Late Phases (2014) - Mediocre werewolf film with some really interesting comments on ageism, ableism, suburbia and religion

March

Sterne (1959) - Plays into some problematic stereotypes from today's perspective but revolutionary for its time, first German film to address the Holocaust

Major League (1989) - A film I only watched to confirm that it uses a weird phrase I also found in my thesis project

Carry On Screaming (1966) - Camp. Gay. Horror. Parody.

Glen or Glenda (1953) - A product of its time and no longer up to date in its understanding of gender but surprisingly revolutionary in its compassion and earnestness despite the bad reviews

April

Taxi Driver (1976) - Isn't it frustrating when annoying people tell you a film is good and then it's actually good?

June

Mr Deeds Goes To Town (1936) - Mr Deeds has autism swag

El Espíritu de la Colmena (1973) - I really wanted to like this because civil war era Spain and Frankenstein are super up my alley but unfortunately it was so much slower than expected

Das Boot (1981) - Very long and claustrophobic but holds up to the hype

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022) - RIP King

July

Nimona (2023) - His big wet eyes bewitched me

First Blood (1982) - You're telling me the film is about Americans fighting an enemy they view as simultaneously weak and dangerous, escalating the situation, and then sending more and more men into a rainforest to die through guerilla warfare after being warned again and again they can't win this? sounds familiar

Barbie (2023) - Insert a bunch of pink emojis

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) - Made me crave bagels

Jojo Rabbit (2019) - God I love war satires

Sweet Liberty (1986) - Alan Alda having fun and also using his own film as a therapy session

The Majestic (2001) - A rewatch but it's so tragically underrated, Jim Carrey is very good in dramatic roles and McCarthy-era media is like catnip for me

Joker (2019) - This is just Taxi Driver with extra steps

August

Tin & Tina (2023) - Probably one of the worst films I have seen in a while

Battle of the Sexes (2017) - I love women

Four Lions (2010) - The ending really got me, I love when satire gets serious

The Sheriff and the Satellite Kid (1979) - Can we talk about how the theme song is just going "I'm the sheriff" "yes you're the sheriff"

Happiness (1998) - Nauseating but in a "good film but what the fuck" way

They Call Him Bulldozer (1978) - Italian Lagaan

The Talented Mr Ripley (1999) - Sad and Gay

Twister (1996) - So much better than expected

Magnolia (1999) - Cloudy with a chance of frogs, a really long but really good film and I'm not entirely sure I got it

Doubt (2008) - Somehow I watched 5 films with Philip Seymour Hoffman that month because I was haunted by his ghost or something

September

The Terminal (2004) - I assumed this to be more of a classic romcom but the whole concept (based on a true story) is so terrifying and tragic that it made me feel all emotions at once

Apocalypse Now (1979) - I knew a lot of trivia about the film but for some reason I didn't know anything about the cast so every single actor was a surprise and made me go "!!!", Also I kinda wanna write an essay about it

October

Bloodbath at the House of Death (1984) - Some of the gay jokes absolutely killed me

Last Night in Soho (2021) - I'm Not Like the Other Girls to Time Travel Murder Nightmare Pipeline, actually I really enjoyed this one but it's also super silly

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) - How do you say poor little meow meow in gaeilge

The Menu (2022) - I go to the murder restaurant I order the beesechurger, I was super surprised there's no cannibalism but tbh that would have been low hanging fruit

The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021) - Explains a lot about religion in the US, I love that she was pro lgbt, also I googled her ex husband and he has a prepper/survivalist thing going on now and scams more people

The Darjeeling Limited (2007) - we can't eat pray love ourselves out of this one boys

Holes (2003) - Hated the book as a teenager for school reasons but gave the film a try and really enjoyed it

Renfield (2023) - I expected werewolves but I enjoyed it nevertheless, My Chemical Romance is on the soundtrack, it's very silly, the effects are great

Interview with the Vampire (1994) - Oh people weren't lying about it being homoerotic

The Big Lebowski (1998) - I've had days that feel like that

November

Pappa ante Portas (1991) - Funnier now that I'm an adult, basically half the jokes my mum makes are from this film

The Meg 2: The Trench (2023) - I watched this while sick and really wanted to see a giant shark fight a giant octopus and boy did it deliver

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022) - Very nice animation style

JFK (1991) - I actually fell asleep halfway through because it's so long but can we talk about how this film is just A-listers but has some of the worst wigs and makeup I've seen

Bottoms (2023) - A spiritual sequel to Heathers

December

When Harry Met Sally (1989) - They deserve each other (derogatory) but that one restaurant scene was pretty funny

The Royal Nanny (2022) - one of the many Hallmark films my mum made me watch and this is perhaps the worst one, incredibly sexist even for a Hallmark film and they clearly mean Mi5 but say Mi7 which was a WW2 propaganda service? Also they really want me to believe there is a British prince called Colin and that he doesn't look like his family tree is a circle?

I forgot the title but there was also the one where two people get stuck in a time loop while trying to make a sponsored youtube video about baking and I didn't really pay attention much but man that was bad

[llorom4nn1c]

♡ Underrated Youtube Channels! ♡

♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡

🎀 Acidmilk

I talked about them in my last post but I love their channel so much so I'm going to mention them again. They make outfit videos and thrift hauls, usually with an emo and scene theme. Even if you're not scene, I still think their videos are still really funny and worth checking out! They are unfortunately inactive though.

♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡

🎀 Artatmidnight

I found this channel pretty recently and it's basically a film analysis channel that analyses girly movies. Her Jennifer's Body and Mean Girls videos are my favourites. I haven't found a lot of channels like this that analyse girly 2000s movies with this much depth so I think this one's a very incredible and unique channel.

♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡

🎀 Liam McEvoy

He's actually one of the funniest people on Youtube and I'll never understand why he never had more subscribers. He basically made makeup videos as well as videos where he'd analyse Internet phenomenon and make some surprisingly insightful observations. His editing is definitely the best part of his videos, but just be warned that there's a lot of moaning edited in so you might not want to watch them without headphones.

♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡

🎀 Dakota Warren

My favourite booktuber fr. She mainly recommends classic literature and gothic horror and every book she's recommended that I've read has ended up being really good. Her videos are also just really aesthetically pleasing and pretty. So if you're ever looking for more good book recommendations, definitely check her out.

♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡

🎀 Kaitlynn Rhenea ASMR

Probably one of the most underrated but relaxing ASMR channels I've found. She mostly does roleplays and they're all so relaxing. She also just seems so sweet in them, as in I get more compliments from her than I do my own family. Her Victoria's Secret angel series has some of my favourite videos and they're just all so comforting. She's so Lana coded and makes the best ASMR.

♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡

That's it, byeeeee!! ˚｡⋆୨୧˚♡

♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡☆♡

[mermaidsirennikita]

I’ve started watching The Artful Dodger and loving it, it’s far better than Bridgerton at actually capturing the essence of a romance novel (my first thought upon seeing Jack and Belle interact was that it could’ve been ripped straight from a romance novel). Do you have any recs for tv shows or movies that have the vibes of a romance novel?

Ooh yes!

Oldie but a goodie and if anyone hasn't seen it they should (and really, the whole trilogy--the second movie gets a bad rap, but I personally so enjoy it, and I love the third movie for a lot of reasons but the "REIGNITE. OUR. LOVE." sequence is absolutely one of them, the "we are gonna FUCK THIS SHIT OUT" vibes are sooo romance novel for me). Bridget Jones's Diary. Mark Darcy is just an amazing hero. Bridget is a legend. Hugh Grant as Daniel Cleaver is PEAK Hugh Grant, and his introduction in that film is one of the greatest character intros I have ever. Seen in cinema. I see some people knock on it because of things that have aged--Bridget worrying over her weight because it's the early 2000s and super skinny was the trend, the workplace harassment. I don't give a fuck. If you haven't seen Bridget Jones's Diary, you are doing yourself a disservice.

(It is based on a book, but that book is not a romance novel. The movies are.)

Ummm speaking of Hugh Grant, Music & Lyrics is an underrated BANGER and absolutely fucking reads as a romance novel. A washed up has-been pop star begins a creative partnership with the messy neurotic woman who waters his plants? He does a flop attempt at defending her honor to do the guy who did her wrong. There's a grand gesture/grovel moment ffs. It's GREAT. The music is AMAZING. POP! Goes My Heart!

This one is borderline because it is more of a girls trip comedy, but the romance is truly centered so well and is a swoony romance and it features peak Richard Madden and it is again, so underrated. Netflix's Ibiza, dude. Buttoned up marketing girl goes on a business trip to Spain, her two best friends (who are both much wilder than her) accompany her and they go to the club one night and see DJ Richard Madden (LEOOOOO WESSSSST) and he and the main girl have this amazing meet cute that involves someone drawing a dick on her face in glow in the dark marker and him coming to the rescue, but then he has to go to a gig in Ibiza and she and her friends decide to track him down because some people are destined to go to the moon, but her destiny is to FUCK. THAT. DJ. But Harper and Leo's connection is more like love at first sight than pure horniness? I just miss movies that like, unabashedly capture zany happiness and the flutters of first love (and the sex scene is so good???). This movie is amazing and I adore it.

Bros. Look dude. I know Billy Eichner fucked up the marketing for this one. I know he's annoying as hell. Bros is objectively a romance novel movie lol. It's not as inclusive as it could/should be, I will agree with that always--but the romance arc is so good, and it is legit funny, and it has a FAILED GROVEL which we all know is one of my favorite things. And I do think it has a deeply true heart and soul and is really amazing.

Brown Sugar. PEAK Taye Diggs and Sanaa Lathan. It's a slow burn friends to lovers movie in which there is sooooo much sexual tension and so much angst and so much follow the fuck through. Also, Taye Diggs has one of the most magnificent line deliveries of all time with "riCHARD LAWson".

Imagine Me and You. The sapphic romcom we deserve. A bride falls in love at first sight with hot florist Lena Headey while walking down the aisle to marry her groom, as you do. What follows is a woman desperately trying not to cheat on her husband while experiencing extreme sexual tension with Lena Headey. Surprisingly soft and super romantic.

Lady Chatterley's Lover (2022). Required viewing for historical romance novel fans. Obviously based on a book, but again, that book is not a romance lol. The movie is. And it's one of the hottest movies in recent memory. Jack and Emma did the WORK. The kiss right before he goes down on her is maybe my favorite movie kiss of all time.

Obviously. Pride and Prejudice (2005). I shouldn't have to include this, but to be fucking clear lol. I will always maintain that while P&P (the novel) is a predecessor and a shaper of romance novels, it is not a romance novel. It is a contemporary novel with a lot of social commentary and a good love story. This movie? Makes it a full, sweeping romance with some of the best tension ever committed to screen.

Faraway. Omg, an amazing slept-on movie that is a rare romcom featuring a middle-aged woman! Basically, right when her mom dies she finds out her husband is having at min an emotional affair with his younger employee, and she also discovers her mom had a secret property on a Croatian island. She goes there, and is immediately courted by this younger real estate developer guy, but why is she constantly butting heads with the gruff guy who's been living in her mom's house????

Far and Away. Hate to recommend a Tom Cruise film, BUT it is is very romance novel, and it does star Nicole Kidman as well, and I hate to say it but those two did have bomb chemistry when they were married. The Irish accents are rough, but the plot is delightful because he's a poor guy who ends up getting roped into her scheme to leave for America (after his harebrained revenge scheme against her dad fails lol) and they live in a boarding house together pretending to be brother and sister... But like, everyone can tell they aren't because of their extremely obvious sexual tension lol.

When Harry Met Sally. Cliche, but it is a classic every romance lover should see. I'm not a big Billy Crystal fan, but his chemistry with Meg Ryan is MAGIC in this, and you really do get the sense of two people slooowly falling in love without even realizing it until suddenly they do all at once.

[astridhoff03]

This Movie is definitely an underrated Gem

It’s the perfect Arc for Shrek. It’s funny sometimes and there are still the classy pop songs but this all doesn’t matter on how good this movie is. There’s Emotion, there are darker tones, there’s tell don’t show. Fiona and Shreks Releationship when they fall all over in Love again is so touching and beautiful at the same time. Puss and Donkey were hilarious together as always. The Villain was great, I really like his Modevation and the way he was spoken and portraited through the film. The Orge dance party with the rat catcher was amazing. It’s brilliant to make the rat catcher of Hameln of all people a bounty hunter when you look at the original Folk tale. The message was so good and the emotional moments hit, you care. It’s such a good ending to conclude shreks Story. surprisingly enough the guy who ruined KFP4 directed this movie. But you also have take into account that this was planned, so maybe Jeffrey Katzenberg was looking over his shoulder the whole time, to make sure he did everything right. I think this is now my favorite Shrek movie. (Sorry fairy godmother but you will always be my favorite shrek villain.) I can highly recommend it will not waste your time. Check it out and I’ll link schaffrialls review about it, because he can describe everything better what’s great about this movie than me. Hey if this movie is an underrated gem among fans so is httyd3, both movies do more things right than wrong. THW and Shrek 4 are in my opinion one of the magnum opuses of this Studio.

[thespoonisvictory]

Happy New Year! Here's everything I watched and read in 2023

And also some misc. thoughts on the things that made an especially good, bad, or striking impression. If the thing is in purple, it was a rewatch! books are all rated out of five because there was a reasonable number of them. top five from each category are in the bottom for funsies.

*not including podcasts/dropout content. I'm up to date on make some noise, gamechanger, wbn, and d20 (mostly). I also watched the emily axford guest episodes and chapter 2 of candela obscura on CR

Movies

The Menu

Glass Onion

Romeo and Juliet (1996) (this is one of my fav movies of all time, I'll never get sick of it. just gorgeous top to bottom)

Rosaline (I went into this knowing I wouldn't like it and came out thinking it was just alright. lead actress is good, but I hate derivative Shakespeare works that don't understand the original story)

Hamilton

Tangled

Secret World of Arrietty

Honor Among Thieves (just a damn good movie, love the practical effects)

Mamma Mia!

Barbie and the Three Musketeers

The Three Musketeers (1993)

Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse

The Last Unicorn (rewatched this for the first time in at least a decade, what a gorgeous vibey fantasy film. something about the dark scenery and tone really sticks with me)

Nimona (thought Ballister was a great character and enjoyed the design choices for the world, a good piece of Knight (tm) media. however, I thought the animation was lacking and didn't think it deserved a best picture nom like a lot of people did. it was cute, not lifechanging)

The Green Knight (watch it)

80 for Brady (a request from my mom, surprisingly funny)

The Visit

Sweet Home Alabama (bad)

Barbie!

Sharkboy and Lavagirl

Pride and Prejudice 2005 (another one of my all time favs)

Sleeping Beauty

The Aristocats

La La Land

Red White and Royal Blue

The Princess and the Pauper

Barbie and the Three Musketeers (again)

Howl's Moving Castle

Girl Vs. Monster

10 Things I Hate About You

500 Days of Summer (made me cry, which I didn't expect. can you tell I had a joseph gordon levitt moment lol)

Get Out

Twilight

The Conjuring (I watch this every year, one of my fav horror movies)

Scooby Doo: The Witches Ghost

Kiki's Delivery Service

Barbie and the Twelve Dancing Princesses

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Love, Actually

Honor Among Thieves (again, but with my DnD party)

The Holiday (I mean. it's Jude Law)

The Boy and the Heron (holy fucking shit this was so good)

Asteroid City

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

In The Tall Grass

Books

Harrow the Ninth by Tamryn Muir: good! I fucking struggled at the beginning getting through but it paid off. (3.5/5)

The Falls by Joyce Carol Oates: a fun gothic romance/tragedy set in Niagra Falls which took an environmentalist angle I was not expecting at all. Picked it up at a Goodwill and enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. (4/5)

A Game of Thrones by GRRM: I mean, it's a classic. The way the plot unfolds at the end really is incredible, but from the first chapter it grips you. (4/5)

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas: HOLY SHIT if you read one book because of me let it be this one, it is criminally underrated for how well known it is. It is thee action-adventure novel of all time, hysterically funny and easy to read. (5/5)

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern: I took a little dip into YA to bring some autumn vibes to my summer internship. Plot was bad, vibes came through. (2.5/5)

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte: fucking slaps!! anyone who thinks it isn't romantic is dead wrong, I found it much more engaging than Jane Eyre, the other Bronte novel I've read. (4.5/5)

Just Above My Head by James Baldwin: a gripping account of two black families before and during the civil rights movement, of which one son becomes a famous gospel singer. Julia, one of the daughters and a child evangelist, stuck with me long after I finished it (5/5)

Nona the Ninth by Tamryn Muir: enjoyed it more than HTN, Nona asking about her birthday present made me cry, as did Campal :( (4.5/5)

That Summer In Paris by Morley Callaghan: put me in a massive reading slump over a silly little Goodwill read, never have I been less entertained by what was essentially a book of entirely gossip about 1920s writers. (2/5)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: read it immediately after ABOSAS, holds up in its entirety, particularly in the environmental descriptions (4/5)

A Clash of Kings by GRRM: I've already posted about this a ton but holy shit, it's slow getting there but the payoff is incredible. really excited to keep reading bc George absolutely sold me on this web of political and personal relationships. (4.5/5)

A Place Bewitched and Other Stories by Nikolai Gogol: the cap for the year, bleak Russian short stories about weird little tales. would hit harder during fall. (3/5)

Shows

The Last of Us (as good as people said it was. sold me on zombie media as someone who does not like zombie media)

TLOVM S2

You S4 (a decent ending, parts with Love Quinn were the best lolol)

Succession S4

Shadow and Bone S2

Partner Track (CUTE. wish netflix didn't cancel it)

Marvelous Mrs Maisel S5 (a letdown tbh)

Game of Thrones S1

BBC Musketeers (I had a big three musketeers phase this year; this was my fav adaptation I watched. a lot of heart and a lot of silly, I am very biased about it)

BC Strike

Bridgerton - Queen Charlotte (I watched this in French, had a miserable time)

The Terror

The Bear (twice)

The Summer I Turned Pretty S2 (steven and taylor!!!!!)

Legends of Tomorrow S1-5 (rewatching with Roommate)

Yellowjackets S1

Over The Garden Wall (I watch this every autumn)

Gilmore Girls, Seinfeld (continuously)

The X Files S1-2

Blue Eye Samurai (shockingly blunt and visceral in everything from it's depiction of racism to fully committing to animating a boner).

Unfinished: Fionna and Cake, the Fall of the House of Usher. we're working on it.

Top Five Movies (no rewatches):

5. 500 Days of Summer

4. Get Out

3. The Green Knight

2. La La Land

The Boy and The Heron

Top Five Books:

5. Wuthering Heights

4. Nona the Ninth

3. A Clash of Kings

2. Just Above My Head

The Three Musketeers

Top Five Shows:

5. The Last of Us

4. Yellowjackets

3. BBC's The Musketeers

2. Blue Eye Samurai

The X Files

If you made it this far send me an ask telling me what ur favs were this year or thoughts you have on mine :)

[ispyspookymansion]

hiiiii im having my 18th birthdaysoon! 20th of next month! im a little unnerved tbh. but anyways i was wondering if u had any like. anything with that kind of theme. it doesnt have to be literal or even a direct metaphor just. whatever movies you can think of that deal with sort of like. the last step of coming of age. adulthood. aging. anything that remotely parallels that. preferably w no SA. if you got nothing for that maybe a few horror movies that you really like that i can watch on my Special Day im really feeling like just binging horror movies all day recently. youre like the horror movie expert that i follow lol so id be happy to check out your suggestions

omg exciting…..turning 18 felt weird yes but i hope its a good birthday and a good age for you!! i’ll try to think of some good horror recs for the occasion lets see!

- raw 2016, one of my very favorite horror movies and definitely one of my favorite coming of age horror films! its a cannibalism flick with a great score and themes on sisterhood and family and fate and becoming the adult you are, whether you want to or not. kind of intense and gross but its really good. oh its also french sorry but its worth it

- pyewacket 2017, about a girl with a tense relationship with her mother who dabbles with some occult stuff that she shouldnt and has to try to handle whether she really woke something up with it, or if its in her head. a lot about growing up + mother child relationships, i think this is an underrated gem

- we’re all going to the worlds fair 2021, its a bit younger than 18 but its a gorgeous and strange reflection on coming of age that i think will resonate a lot especially for people who grew up online and/or are queer/trans. it’s a very odd and stylistic piece so its a bit hit or miss for people but i like it a lot. the MC is younger than you but i think its a really striking story! its kind of moody and left me a little sad (its not a tragedy tho) so maybe not a happy birthday film

- carrie 1976, obviously this is a classic coming of age film if you havent seen it i cant recommend it enough! its just really good. score is great, acting is great, visually its stunning and colorful and awesome. a classic for a reason

- excision 2012, this one is again very weird and also heavy on psychosexual themes but theres not any assault that i remember. does the dog die says there may be one kiss that is unwanted but it doesnt stand out in my mind fwiw. this is a visually bizarre movie about trying to be who you want to be, who you think you ought to be, and who your family wants you to be. very much coming of age, very very weird

- hatching 2022, again this one is about a character younger than 18 but i think the practical effects work is stunning and the themes about growing up, family, expectations, and loneliness are applicable even though the mc is young. its really gross visually and i love that!

wow these have all been girls uh theres a lot of weirdgirl horror about coming of age i guess. those are also all pretty serious, emotionally heavy films too so lemme think of some more that are a little different

- the lost boys 1987, this is a lot lighter than some of the others! its a very fun california coast set vampire coming of age movie, very 80s, very homoerotic

- the final girls 2015, its a meta horror comedy about getting sucked into a friday the 13th esque slasher film starting the protags recently deceased mom. again, lots of mother child relationship work, surprisingly touching story about growing up and grief and handling that

i’ll also rapidfire toss some out that are related to birthdays, if thats more your speed on this: child’s play 1988 (andy barclay gets chucky for his 6th birthday, kind of self explanatory i assume you know who chucky is), happy death day 2017 (a girl gets stuck reliving her birthday over and over and dying each time, she has to figure out who’s killing her and handle some nice coming of age/family themes, its a horror comedy), bloody birthday 1981 (very very cusp of 70s 80s horror about three evil kids with the same birthday who are evil due to the planet’s alignment at the time, they like to kill people, it is what it is. no sexual assault iirc but they do peep on a girl changing), madhouse 1981 (a woman is chased down by her insane twin in the days leading up to their birthday, this one is kind of mid but the ending is pretty strong and iconic to me)….that might be it off the top of my head :-)

hopefully some of those sound fun to you!! if not come back and i can rec some more, theres heaps of coming of age horror out there these are just some that came to mind

[tilbageidanmark]

Movies I watched this Week #114 (Year 3/Week 10):

Innocence Lost in Close, my 2nd sensitive drama by Belgian Lukas Dhont. Movingly and tenderly it details an intimate friendship - love, rather - between two 13-year-old boys. The script, style and direction are flawless and restrained, and the acting of the two amateur teens is pitch-perfect. 10/10.

I really should watch ‘Girl’, his debut film, again.

From the 5 Oscar nominees for Best International feature this weekend I’m missing only ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ by now. My favorite is still ‘The Quiet Girl’, with this ‘Close’ a close second.

🍿

3 from Portugal:

🍿 A landmark of Portuguese New Cinema and Paulo Rocha's underrated debut masterpiece The Green Years ('Os Verdes Anos'). A naive 19-year-old boy from the provinces come to Big City Lisbon of 1963, finds a job as a cobbler assistant, and falls in love with a pretty housemaid. Beautifully gentle and nostalgic, also leisurely-episodic and unrestrained - with a shocking finale. 7/10.

🍿 “...Everything I’m telling you is not reality, but tales...”

Tabu by Miguel Gomez, a black & white magical realist story of madness, obsession and colonialism. A heartbroken explorer commits suicide by jumping into a river infested with crocodiles. A kind middle-aged women tries to help her delusional neighbor who lives in the apartment next door, together with her black maid. A search for a mystery man who committed a grave sin many years ago and miles away. All those and more are mixed into a poetic metaphor of lost love and lost empire.

Mesmerizing and engrossing, melancholic and transcendental - The best film of the week!

(The only issue I had with the story is that it talks of the past in “Africa” instead of Mozambique, but maybe this is how they talk about it now, I don’t know)

🍿 Ice Merchants, a wordless, enigmatic story about loss which was Oscar nominated for this year’s animated short. It tells of a father and son who live alone in a cabin hanging on a side of a mountain thousands of meter above the ground. Every day they parachute in tandem down to the village below, to sell the ice they gather up there. And every time they jump down, they lose their hats.

🍿 

Allegro Non Troppo, my first by Italian animator Bruno Bozzetto, creator of the ‘Signor Rossi’ cartoon character. It’s a low-rent Italian ‘Fantasia’, a light-hearted feature that showcases psychedelic animations to 6 classic evergreens, including a dance of sugar molecules inside a bottle of Coca-Cola to the tune of Ravel’s Bolero, as well as pieces by Debussy, Dvořák, Sibelius, Stravinsky, and Vivaldi. It specifically asks to be be compared as a parody of the superior Disney original.

🍿

2 by new French director Constance Meyer, both with Gérard Depardieu:

🍿 Another wonderful random discovery: Robust, a powerful debut feature by a young female director (who doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page). It’s a terrific story of two larger-than-life people: Depardieu as an aging, seriously-overweight and lonely superstar, disgusted with life and wishing to be dead. And a black, 22-year-old, 300-lbs. female wrestler who’s assigned to be his helper/bodyguard for a month, and who is not intimidated by his fame or reckless behavior. The two fantastic professionals develop an unlikely relationship without pity or allusions. The young no-bullshit security guard character (Déborah Lukumuena) is a revelation: she’s surprisingly well-rounded, highly-talented in her own right, strong, confident and sexual, with a skinny boyfriend she holds at arm’s length.

I loved its physicality, and will highly recommend it. The trailer. 9/10. 

🍿 Mayer directed only 2 short films before ‘Robust’, both of them also with Depardieu: ‘Frank-Étienne Towards Grace’ (which I cannot find online) and Rhapsody from 2016. It’s an inexplicable poetic story of an old, heavy loner who lives in a small tower apartment, and takes care of a tiny baby the neighbor leaves with him every morning. 

🍿 

Naked Normandy (2018), a light and charming French comedy about French mayor Francois Cluzet who has to convince his villagers to pose naked in a field for a famous American photographer. Toby Jones is obviously Spencer Tunick, and the field he wants to stage his photograph is obviously Windows XP ‘Bliss, “the most viewed photograph in history”. 6/10.

🍿

My life as a zucchini, a stop-motion animated Swiss film that was Oscar-nominated in 2016. In Aardman Studio-style, it tells a sweet and sad story about a little boy who kills his alcoholic mom by accident, and who is sent to an orphanage with 6 other unfortunate kids. It was written by my favorite director Céline Sciamma. Heartfelt and compassionate. (Photo Above).    

🍿

2 with Dean Stockwell:

🍿 I haven’t seen much of Francis Ford Coppola’s last 30+ years (Except of Godfather 3, of course), so I sought his 1987 Gardens of Stone. Another polemic of his about the Vietnam War, it tells of the guards at the Arlington National Cemetery who perform the military kabuki mass-burying dead soldiers. The theater is beautiful, but the drama is a bit outdated. With peak Anjelica Huston and concert promoter Bill Graham (who had a flourishing film career at that time), James Earl Jones, and many others. 3/10.

🍿 I didn’t realize that Stockwell’s career "spanned seven decades” and that he started as a child actor, with his breakthrough role as a young boy in the musical Anchors aweigh. A terrible story of two naive sailors on a shore leave in Hollywood, with thin, virginal Frank Sinatra, and buddy Gene Kelly, both acting and behaving like two six-graders who just discover ‘Dames’. Even the singing and tap dancing numbers are third-grade. It’s notable for the scene when Gene Kelly appears with the animated Tom and Jerry, but this is the only watchable scene that is not dull. 2/10.

🍿

Love letters from 1953, the first film directed by the actress Kinuyo Tanaka, who was the second woman to have a career as a film director in Japan. It’s a romance story about post-war Japan still bearing the scars of the occupation and assimilation. A former prisoner-of-war gets a job writing English-language love letters for females whose GI lovers went back to America. An interesting melodrama.

🍿

After loving the John Cho thriller ‘Searching’ (I saw it 4 times last year!) I was not looking forward to the director’s new “standalone sequel” (because sequels!). The 'Screenlife’ genre where all events are shown on computer, smartphones and tablets is clever, and the team behind it have already produced 4-5 movies just like that. The best thing to say about the new version. Missing, is that it’s exactly the same as the surprise hit from 5 years ago. The only difference is that instead of a father looking for his missing daughter. it’s the daughter looking for her missing mother. So it’s strange, they decided to go that way, surely for viewers new to the set-up. On the other hand, for the old fans, it’s completely redundant. 5/10.

🍿

2 new documentaries with 100% Tomato score:

🍿 Following last week’s discovery of Charles Burnett’s neglected black masterpiece ‘Killer of Sheep’, I was happy to dig into Is That Black Enough for You?!? Film critic Elvis Mitchell’s essay about the legacy of African-American film history from the silent era to its Golden Age of the 1970′s. Samples of hundreds of black movies that were lost, forgotten, censured and white-washed, left me with a big new list of movies to look forward to.

However, his encyclopedic knowledge of the topic was delivered too hurriedly and without digging deep into any particular point. The only overreaching impression is how inherently racist Hollywood’s Amerika had always been. 6/10.

🍿 Ron Howard’s portrait of big-time humanitarian / celebrity chef José Andrés, We feed people. Andrés established his non profit organization ‘World Central Kitchen’, which cooks for survivors after natural disasters. A mix of touching scenes of destruction, together with the usual TV-documentaries blandness. Not 100% for me.

🍿

Another Oscar-nominated Chilean docudrama - with “only” 94% Tomato-score - The Mole Agent, has a wonderful premise: An 84-year-old man answers an employment ad that specifically asks for a very old candidate. His job is to infiltrate a Santiago nursing home, pose as an applicant resident there, and investigate undercover if there’s truth to the claims of abuse toward the mostly female residents. In the course of the 3 months he lives there, he uses clandestine recordings, micro camera pen and Google-type glasses to send daily reports to an off-site investigator. 

I guess it “is” a documentary, in the sense that obviously the location and residents are real, but it’s better not to regard it as a documentary in the strict sense, because it’s obviously filmed with a supporting crew and with the approval from the nursing home.

The very human stories of the old ladies at the end of their lives is moving and fascinating. 8/10.

This is my 26th film in 2023 directed by a woman. I am excited about director Maite Alberdi’s new film ‘The Eternal Memory’.

🍿

Following Elvis Mitchell’s advise (above), I started with Harry Belafonte’s brave 1959 Film Noir Odds Against Tomorrow. It’s an expertly-scripted plot by blacklisted Araham Polonsky, who was credited for the screenplay under another name. Crisp, tight and engaging classic about 3 small timers who try to rob a bank, ring leader Ed Begley, suave nightclub singer Belafonte, and racist ex-con SOB Robert Ryan who doesn’t want to take a job with a colored man. A terrific heist gone awry story with racial undertones. 8/10.

🍿

I used to like Bo Widerberg since his ‘Elvira Madigan’ days. His 1984 The man from Majorca is a highly-enjoyable Nordic style police procedural with cover-ups and conspiracies galore. It is often compared to ‘The French Connection’. The lead is played by ‘Uncle Gunnar’ from ‘My life as a dog’. 7/10.

🍿 

After reading the new Atlantic’s portrait 'Schwarzenegger’s Last Act’, I watched Pumping Iron, the Reality TV documentary that put bodybuilding on the map. I can’t believe I was lifting weights too for about 2 years around that time. 3/10.

🍿

Predestination, a bullshit Australian science-fiction story, complicated and stupid, unfolded as a “Barroom story”. Pre-Succession doppelganger Sarah Snook (one as a woman and one after a sex assignment surgery, where she looks like a young Leonardo DiCaprio) and horribly-playing Ethan Hawke ham it out. 2/10.

🍿

There are Jews in the world, there are Buddhists There are Hindus and Mormons, and then There are those that follow Mohammed, but I've never been one of them...

The meaning of life, Monty Python’s final film, aged very well! Still surreal, irreverent, funny and full of extraordinary violence. Also with 4 Superb musical numbers: ‘Every sperm is sacred’, ‘The Galaxy Song’, ‘The Penis song’ and ‘Christmas in heaven’. And some genial scenes and situations: “Find the Fish”, "Live Organ Transplants", "Oh shit—it's Mr. Creosote!". Also the standalone swashbuckling introduction of ‘The Crimson Permanent Assurance' (with young Max Headroom!). 9/10.

“NOW! Sex, Sex, sex....”

🍿

Throw-back to the art project:  

Monty Python Adora.

🍿

(My complete movie list is here)

[one-vivid-judgment]

What're your favorite dramas? What would you recommend to watch?

Ooooh, big question! 

I haven't watched that many dramas compared to other people, but I'd say I know my way around the block. Most of them have been Thai BLs + 2 straight dramas (one of which was a K-Drama, actually) + a GL I'm currently watching aka 23.5

For more lighthearted, wholesome vibes, My School President is the one I'll ALWAYS recommend. It's my favorite, and I think it's perfect to introduce yourself to the world of Thai BL! The music is absolutely great, it's mostly a comedy but there are some touching moments too, and although there IS romance and that's a very important point, I'd say it's more about the main friend group's journey. Their friendship is still the most realistic one I've ever seen in a drama. 

For something more on the spicy™ side of things, Love in the Air is solid. Just... some of the themes are VERY delicate (I'm specifically talking about one of the characters having VERY SEVERE trauma from being in an incredibly abusive relationship + being raped by his boyfriend's friends). 

For something more dramatic, The Eclipse and Moonlight Chicken are very good! They touch on very serious topics, like homophobia, suicide, loss and the mental health struggles that come with it, the treatment of disabled people (in Moonlight Chicken, one of the boys from the secondary couple is deaf, and even though the actor says almost nothing the whole series, he's absolutely PHENOMENAL at making you feel things), growing up in a poor family. The Eclipse in particular made me cry HARD. They DO have happy endings though! I was also watching A Tale of Thousand Stars, which was pretty on theme for this category, but put it on hold and I haven't finished it yet. 

For something more fantasy-like, I've watched Vice Versa and Hotel del Luna. I didn't really like the latter though; even though it started out great and IU is GREAT at her role, it started to drag hard past the midway point and you could tell some scenes were made longer and filmed from EVERY angle just to fill in an hour and a half of episode runtime. I watched the last three episodes on double the speed just to get it over with. 

Vice Versa is pretty good though! I thought the body switching thing would get confusing, but it was surprisingly easy to follow! And, again, there is a big focus on friendship that I always appreciate along with the romance. 

I didn't know where to include this, but I gotta say: Mama Gogo is MAD underrated. 

It's about a former 2000s pop star who left the spotlight after she got pregnant, and now in her 40s, she's kicked her husband out of the house, her daughter hates her, she's to her neck in debt and her job doesn't even remotely pay the bills, not to mention she's constantly being harrassed by debt collectors. Meanwhile, her former bandmate is rich, successful and has her own makeup brand. Things happen and she ends up becoming the manager of male strip club. I know how it may sound (though yes, there IS a lot of fanservice and the actors appear almost naked onscreen A LOT) BUT I SWEAR THAT'S NOT WHY I LIKE IT 😭😭 There are a lot of legitimately funny moments, and when you think everything's gonna be like that BAM, they hit you with the drama: one of the guys is a single dad and when his ex-wife finds out he works as a stripper she tries to get custody of the daughter, another one gets in a VERY weird relationship with an older woman, another has a legit criminal record. I thought the characters were gonna be flat as hell, but BOY, WAS I WRONG. Also, the music is great too. 

So, yeah, I'd say that about covers it! Oh, and if you like GLs, please do watch 23.5! It just started yesterday but it's already the loser lesbian representation I've always craved 😭

[themosleyreview]

The Mosley Review: Violent Night

Its that wonderful time of the year again and you know what that means. It is time for all the holiday music to truly be listened to at right time and definitely time to get your annual viewing of Christmas films marathon started. Every year I watch "It’s a Wonderful Life", "Christmas with the Joker" episode from the Batman: Animated Series and my favorite the first Die Hard film. Every year there is a film about Christmas that is always cheerful and features old Saint Nick himself. Some are fun and heartwarming like "The Christmas Chronicles" or sometimes a little more funny, crood and dark like "Bad Santa". What I haven't seen is an action film featuring Santa Claus in a situation where he is vulnerable and out of his element. Something that acknowledges his legend and maybe shows a more jaded hero. This film delivered that in spades and I loved every second of it. Now it wasn't only about the amazing amount of creative violence and hilariously well timed usage of classic holiday phrases, it actually was a heartwarming tale of how adults have forgotten how to believe in good and how powerful a child's belief can reinvigorate ones belief. It was a surprisingly smart action film that is of this generation, but also fun for the older crowd as well. I mean who doesn't want to see Santa save a family from armed goons comitting a heist on Christmas?!

David Harbour was absolutely perfect as a modern grumpy and heavily intoxicated Santa Claus. He is truly in his element as the every man that has almost lost his faith in humanity and I loved watching him fumble around while delivering presents. I liked that he wasn't jolly and his commentary on the state of gifts was hilarious and true. Once he gets involved with the action in the film, he was wild, funny and just awesome. He explores Santa's past and then quickly brings back the heart of the character in so many heartwarming moments. You can't help but love David as he takes Santa on a rollercoaster of emotion and creative action. Alex Hassell was good as Jason Lightstone as he tries his best to reconnect with his family. Alexis Louder was great as his estranged wife Linda and their chemistry was excellent. Leah Brady was outstanding as Gertrude "Trudy" Lightstone and she steals your heart in the best way the moment she's on screen. Most child actors can go too over the top or completely undercook the innocence of childhood, but she perfectly balanced. She really reignites the heart of Santa and I loved that she got in on the action as well. She pretty much is almost the R rated version of Kevin McCallister. Beverly D'Angelo was perfectly savage as Jason's mother and Trudy's grandmother Gertrude Lightstone. I always enjoy her on screen presence as she nails that "take no crap from anyone" attitude. Brendan Fletcher was fun as one of the henchman in the heist codenamed Krampus. He was such a good sociopath and I think he is truly an underrated actor. John Leguizamo is the head of the operation as codename Scrooge and my god was he amazing. I loved his dark sense of humor and relentless brutality. Once we get into his backstory, he really embodies his codename. I loved his dialogue with Santa the most and especially their fight scene. It was personal and sad. I'm so happy to see him back in the spotlight.

The score by Dominic Lewis was great and cheery in the right moments and then fantastically joyful and bombastic during the action scenes. I liked his subtle twist on the classic Christmas tunes like Silent Night and Carol of the Bells. They're in there and well hidden. The action in the film was expertly shot and I loved that you could see that most of it was David Harbour really doing it. All the fight scenes were creative and used their environments in the best way. I cheered so many times as a few ornaments were used in brutal ways. Like I said before, this film was exactly what you expect in terms of action, but it will definitely surprise you on how heartwarming the story truly is. This is definitely a new favorite Christmas film that I will add to my annual rotation. Let me know what you thought of the film or my review in the comments below. Thanks for reading!

[nanshe-of-nina]

Favorite History Books || Fear and the Muse Kept Watch: The Russian Masters—from Akhmatova and Pasternak to Shostakovich and Eisenstein—Under Stalin by Andy McSmith ★★★★☆

Under this stultifying regime in which, to quote Pasternak, independent thought was “a form of meningitis,” it beggars belief that anything of any lasting value could be created. And yet Russia under communist rule produced works of extraordinary power and beauty that continue to delight long after the passing of those who created them. Some of the finest poetry in the Russian language was written in the oppressive chaos of the 1920s or under Stalin’s malignant eyes. Shostakovich wrote his Fourth, Fifth, and Seventh Symphonies and other lasting compositions under Stalin; Prokofiev composed the most popular piece for children in the world’s classical repertoire, Peter and the Wolf, and the wonderful ballet Romeo and Juliet and collaborated with Eisenstein on Alexander Nevsky, one of the most popular films of the 1930s; Bulgakov secretly wrote Russia’s favorite twentieth-century novel, The Master and Margarita; Pasternak wrote Doctor Zhivago; and that other magnificent and now underrated novel Quiet Flows the Don appeared under the name of Mikhail Sholokhov.

On the whole—again surprisingly—Stalin recognized the great artists within his domain and treated them with more respect than he showed communist officials who crossed him. Trotsky’s biography of his rival begins with the remark that Stalin was “Asiatic,” as if he were a twentieth-century Genghis Khan from the bandit country beyond the Caucasus Mountains. Stalin was indeed as ruthless and suspicious as any barbarian despot, but he was not ignorant. He had been educated at the Tiflis Seminary in Georgia, one of the best schools in the empire outside the major Russian cities. The young Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, son of a violent, drunken cobbler, may have been a playground bully and gang leader, but he was an intelligent pupil. His singing voice was “good enough for him to go professional,” according to Simon Sebag Montefiore, while “as a poet he showed a certain talent in another craft which might have provided an alternative to politics and bloodletting.” Once in power, he was shrewd enough to understand that his regime gained n prestige from artists producing work that was genuinely admired at home and abroad. He was also clever enough to differentiate between real artists and hacks turning out rubbish to please the authorities. He would, when it suited him, arbitrarily raise a mediocrity like the now-forgotten composer Ivan Dzerzhinsky to sudden prominence while having his officials bully and harass Shostakovich, but his subsequent behavior makes it obvious that he knew which of those two composers was a great artist and which was the mediocrity. Despite the dreadful ordeals the dictator put him through, Shostakovich remained a privileged Soviet citizen. He, Prokofiev, and other successful artists became very wealthy by the standards of the place and time.

To an audience used to free speech, this reads as a black comedy about a writer of great talent forced to debase himself before an absolute ruler—but imagine what would have gone through the mind of an aristocratic courtier in Versailles, brought up to believe that title and pedigree were all that mattered and whose life has been spent straining to be acknowledged by the king, on seeing a commoner being honored in this extraordinary way for no better reason than that he wrote amusing plays. Bulgakov endured endless harassment from the authorities, until everything he wrote was banned except the one play that had received Stalin’s personal endorsement. To us, that makes him a persecuted writer. To his contemporaries, he was someone who had enjoyed the exceptional privilege of speaking directly to Stalin on the telephone and could therefore go to bed without fearing an ominous knock on the door in the night. There must have been petty officials longing to be recognized by Stalin who envied Bulgakov.

[below-average-fangirl]

do ALL the tgm asks <3

Haha. Okay *cracks knuckles* here we go.

1. Favorite dagger duckling

B.O.B and Phoenix - I’m cheating and having two because it’s my ask and I can. 

Phoenix: I’m dead dickhead.

Bob: See you in the afterlife Bagman.

How could you not love them?

2. Favorite line

To take that line, which is so prevalent in pop culture, and turn it into a moment that shows how grief changes over time, how it becomes a lasting connection to a loved one, and a reminder that we love and miss them is beautiful. 

3. Favorite scene

The entire Darkstar sequence is not only stunning to look at, surprisingly emotional and thrilling, but it also does a pitch-perfect job of introducing who Mav is as a character to a new audience, as well as showing the existing audience how Mav is still Mav.

"Just a little push" 

4. Scene that made you cry the most

My cry count at this film is 7

The Darkstar “Talk to me Goose”

Mav watching Rooster through the bar window

Ice/Mav meeting. “It’s time to let go.”

Iceman’s funeral

The moment Mav enters the bar to say goodbye to Penny, until the mission launch and his goodbye to Hondo

“Dagger one is hit”

Mav: Thank you for saving my life. Rooster: It’s what my dad would have done

Out of those, I think the one that really gets me every time and that I can cry about just thinking about is,

Gif by @ethanhunt

And the reason for that, as I have said elsewhere and I will be a broken record about, is that Rooster is, of course, talking about Goose... but he’s also talking about Mav. Plus, it’s tears of happiness because they’re family again.

5. Scene that made you laugh the most

Gif by @ethanhunt

You’re not expecting it on the first viewing, and it was such a fantastic way of breaking the tension because you’re relieved Rooster is okay, and they’re finally talking.

6. Underrated moment

So I want to highlight this moment between Hondo and Admiral Cain because it shows why Mav and Hondo are friends.

My other underrated moment is when Mav is in the bar watching Penny and Amelia. He’s on the outside looking in and you can see how much he craves to have that kind of life.

7. Favorite song from the soundtrack

The Man, The Legend/Touchdown 

8. Favorite character

Let's take Mav being a favorite as a given. So my non-MAV favorite is Penny. God, she’s fabulous and every time I watch the movie I love her more and more. That Oprah Winfrey gif probably sums up my feelings about her best: "She is … the mother I never had. She is … the sister everybody would want. She is the friend that everybody deserves. I don't know a better person. "

Jennifer Connelly does such an excellent job hinting at how Penny is feeling internally and the things she wants to say but can’t, the conflict that comes with loving someone like Pete.

9. Favorite flying sequence

Maverick completing the course in 2:15. It’s thrilling every single time. And to see Mav from behind in the F-18 as he’s flying is such a small detail, but it gives it so much more intensity and puts you right in there. The supporting cast do a fantastic job of reacting in character. The more I watch the movie, the more I start to well up as Mav reaches the target, with the swell of the music and the look on Cyclone’s face. And Rooster too, watching with some pride and wondering how Mav is able to fly like that and how he can to.

10. Favorite hug

No dialogue needed, the hug says everything. Tom and Jennifer do a fantastic job of imbuing that relationship with so much love, respect and unspoken history.    

11. A fan theory, that you maybe don’t subscribe to, but you find neat.

Shipping wise, Hangman and Rooster are ex-lovers. I don’t ship them personally, but I can totally see why people read there relationship that way.

A fan theory I can see, but don’t subscribe to is that the movie is a death dream, as mentioned in this article, “I’m sure you’ve heard the popular theory that Maverick died in the opening Darkstar sequence, making the rest of the movie a death dream.”

Which fits with an observation from this article. “There’s a ghostlike quality to Maverick in that scene and others — in that early bar scene, where the kids almost see past him, and then later, when he shows up in his Navy whites to say bye to Jennifer Connelly. He feels like a ghost.”

Personally, if any part were to be a death dream I think it would be after dagger one is hit.

12. Favorite shot

Gif by @indifferentvincent

And this from @rochc93 is why I love Tumblr because it’s as if you can all read my mind

[ablednt]

Winnie the Pooh movies are really underrated like yes the target audience for these are children but also the plots all contain real life conflicts that are relevant far into adulthood.

Piglet's big movie includes Piglet's distress over what is honest to god exactly the kind of microagression I've always gotten as a Little/Disabled Person where his friends overlook his accomplishments and often exclude him from things. While he's missing- trying to find his friends to help them as he thinks they're lost in the woods- his friends become worried and follow the events of his journal to find him. Through this journey they realize that while good intentioned the way they treated piglet is wrong and it's important to hype your friends up and let them decide for themself what they are and aren't capable of. It really highlights how important it is to check in on your friends and make sure that they feel respected and also that it's important to tell people how much they mean to you because you don't have forever with them. (This is heavy handed as there's a few moments you think Pooh Bear and Piglet both fall to their deaths before they can even have a conversation but I digress)

The Tigger movie is about found family and isolation. It's also about the importance of communication. Again, if you see someone as family you have to TELL them or they won't know.

The Search For Christopher Robin is an allegory for death and grief. Christopher Robin has disappeared from the 100 acre woods entirely (to go to school but because his letter got messed up no one knows this and instead think if he's anywhere he's getting hunted by a scary monster in a giant skull) and everyone has the rest of the movie to grieve him and they all process their grief in different ways. In this way children are primed to eventually learn about death for real but there's so much love put into the uncertainty in this film and how each character in it has a moment where Christopher Robin is the one person they feel they need and the only person they cannot find. And they all manage to get by anyway and help each other cope and although the ending is cheerful with a happy reunion the message of hope is so well done.

The Heffalump movie in terms of morals is a little heavy handed but also it's a cartoon mainly for preschoolers so it gets a pass as it can't be too nuanced but it deals with demonization and has a surprisingly radical "sometimes the adults in your life are wrong and straight up lie to you out of their own bias" implication for a disney movie (like not saying it's anyrhing special from a political perspective but again. Movie for babies)

I just think about them a lot they're nostalgic for me but they really hold up and I'm still enriched and uplifted by them which is nice

[the-bau-quinjet]

Can you please do like a sequel of Shut Up where Bucky and the reader team up against Sam????

Oops...

Warnings: fluff!!

Word Count: 1438

a/n: Sorry this took so long! It took me a while to think of a prank that wasn't too terribly mean...

Shut Up!

Masterlist

"Y/N." Bucky whined, his hands holding tightly to one of your own. "We have to do something to Sam!"

You laughed at his childlike behavior. Ever since your first date with Bucky, which went surprisingly well considering how nervous the both of you were, Bucky has been pestering you about teaming up against Sam.

Rather than responding, you pulled out your phone, quickly playing the video of Steve in his Captain America suit rattling on about patience.

"We need a plan first." You laid back on your bed, pulling Bucky along since he still held your hand.

"One: why do you have that video so readily available? Two: I have a plan." He smiled maniacally. "Turn him into a bird."

You scrunched up your face. "One: for moments like this, duh." You answered his first question.

I am definitely 100% in love with her. Bucky's thoughts ran wild.

"Two: I already made you a cat. You need to be more creative." You laughed at his pouty face.

How is he so perfect?

"Like what?" He bounced on the bed, fully embracing the childlike temper tantrum.

"I don't know. We could make Friday only call him Bird Brain for a day. Or make it so Redwing only responds to being called 'toy plane'." You thought about random prank ideas, trying to think of something that would bother him, but still be funny. Bucky looked at you fondly as you listed ideas.

How is she so perfect.

"I've got it." Bucky grinned smugly earning a raised eyebrow from you. "Can you make it so he can only say song lyrics?"

You thought to yourself for a minute before finally nodding.

"Embarrassing song lyrics?" He added, the mischief clear in his eyes.

"Now you're talking. What are you thinking? Early Jonas Brothers? High School Musical? Hannah Montana?" Your smile grew with each new artist you listed.

"Perfect. Now we just have to think of a way for him to eat something we give him."

Bucky was pacing, clearly deep in thought.

"Actually, I didn't need to make you eat that cookie. I could've just turned you into a cat with the flick of a wrist." You grinned at his wide eyes.

"What? Why then?"

"Because. It was more fun to see how paranoid you were about eating anything I gave you."

Bucky pouted, although he had to admit it made sense.

I am definitely in love with this man. You shook your head, trying to clear the thoughts.

"C'mon. We've got to make a plan."

-

You worked your magic on Sam on a day when you knew everyone would be around the compound. He was minding his own business, trying to watch a movie when you and Bucky suddenly appeared.

"Hey, Sam. How you doing?" You asked with a fake air of innocence.

"I'm hot. You're cold. You go around, like you know-" He instantly burst into song, eyes widening. He threw his hands over his mouth, trying to prevent anything else from coming out.

You played it cool, but the twinkle in Bucky's eye easily gave away your prank.

"What's going on? This can't be happening. Don't tell me it's a song!" Sam switched songs, eyes narrowing. He continued singing, despite his clear protests.

"Oh, it's a song." You grinned, leaning into Bucky who wrapped an arm around you.

I love her so much.

Sam shook his head in response, leaving the common area. He figured it would only last a few hours, so all he had to do was avoid people talking to him.

What he didn't account for was Tony's "impromptu" team building night. In reality, you suggested to Tony that maybe the team needed more time together not fighting anyone, and he ran with the idea.

"Alright party people! What should we play first?" Tony gestured to the massive table filled with various board games.

"I've always loved clue!" You grinned, knowing what would come next.

"Clue it is! Who does everyone want to be?" Tony questioned, laying out the various pieces.

"Who will I be? It's up to me. All the never ending possibilities, that I can see." Sam immediately burst into song, surprising most everyone around the table.

"Oh, I wouldn't say never ending, Sam. I think there's only six!" You patted him on the shoulder, a wide smile on your face.

"What did you do?" Steve asked, eyes narrowing in on you and Bucky.

"Oh, don't worry Cap. It'll only last another..." You glanced at the clock, "four hours." Bucky hid his face in your neck to prevent himself from laughing too obnoxiously.

I love him so much.

"Games and a show. I like it." Nat winked at you, always a fan of your pranks since none were ever directed at her.

"What was he even singing?" Clint stared at you, again unprepared for Sam to answer in song.

"Cause we rock. Camp Rock. We rock, we rock on." Sam glared at you, the expression really not matching the joyous music filling the room.

"He can only sing songs from Disney Channel Original Movies or people who were once on Disney Channel." You smiled to yourself, happy with the limits on the spell. "I do believe the last two were from Camp Rock."

"This should be an interesting night." Bruce shook his head, never one to understand the draw of practical jokes.

"That's an understatement." Steve shook his head. He finally had you and Bucky getting along, so of course you'd do something like this.

-

"Moving on." You pointedly glared at Clint, knowing he was about to bring up Budapest again. "Let's play a team game next."

"Charades?" Bucky suggested, trying to keep it simple enough.

You all split into two teams, Sam being sure to put himself against you and Bucky.

"Sam, you're definitely going down." You goaded, trying to draw out another song.

"Hey now, We no longer wait around. My team's stronger like weights now." He started rapping, or as close to rapping as it gets on Disney.

"Oh my God. That's even better than I expected." You laughed so hard, tears sprung up in your eyes.

"Disney raps now?" Tony questioned, also laughing at Sam's embarrassed face.

"Yes. Lemonade Mouth. An underrated film, honestly." You nodded, completely serious only earning more laughs from the team.

I. Love. You. Bucky's thoughts were written across his face, but somehow went unnoticed by you.

-

"That's okay, Sam." Bucky grinned. "Nobody's perfect."

"Everybody makes mistakes. Everybody has those days. Everybody knows what, what I'm talking 'bout. Everybody gets that way."

You couldn't stop the smile from forming you your face, although rather than laughing at Sam's embarrassment you were now just enjoying Bucky being happy.

I. Love. You.

-

"I hate you both." Sam cleared his throat, no longer used to the sensation of speaking.

"It was Bucky's brilliant idea." You smiled at him. I love you.

"Well, it was Y/N's brilliant execution." He pressed a kiss to your nose. I love you.

"Dear Lord. I can't take this anymore." Wanda erupted, in a similar fashion to the night you turned Bucky into a cat. "I get it. You two love each other. Now, please! Learn how to control your thoughts!"

You and Bucky were wide eyed, stares flitting between Wanda and each other.

"You love me?" Your voice was soft showing how unsure of yourself you were.

Bucky nodded before voicing a similar question. "You love me?"

"Oops..." Wanda hid behind Vision, trying not to draw anymore attention to herself. Thankfully, all eyes were on you and Bucky.

"I really, really do." You whispered, eyes solely focused on Bucky.

Bucky pulled you in for a kiss, heart bursting with joy. He never thought he'd find someone to love him, let alone someone as incredible as you.

"I love you." Bucky whispered against your lips, kissing you between the words.

"I love you too." You kissed him right back, heart fluttering.

"I liked it better when they were constantly fighting." Sam muttered under his breath, earning a punch in the arm from Steve.

"Let them be. They're in love." He sighed with a happy smile. He couldn't help but think about how much Bucky deserved to be happy.

"I don't know if this is the cutest or grossest thing I've ever seen." Nat commented, eyes still focused on you and Bucky's whispered words and soft kisses.

"Grossest. Definitely the grossest." Clint added on, needing to jump out of the way as you and Bucky took off for your room, paying no mind to the many teammates laughing at you as you passed by.

Permanent taglist:

@averyhotchner @jesuswasnotawhiteman @madewithsebstan

[theuntitledblog]

Home Alone (1990) - REVIEW

SYNOPSIS

Eight-year-old Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) is accidentally left behind at Christmas when his family leaves for France. At first, he is happy to be in charge but when two thieves (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern) try to break into his home, he decides to fight back.

They certainly don't make Christmas films like Home Alone anymore. This is a film that has been a main staple in my household for over 30 years; a simple premise with admittedly questionable believability yet executed with a sense of fun, hilarity but also surprisingly tender. Home Alone is suitable for the whole family; children will envy Kevin McAllister's situation and sense of freedom while adults will enjoy watching an 8 year old try to survive the challenges of everyday life and two incompetent burglars. It's a fantasy of course, Culkin's Kevin goes from one moment being unable to deal with packing a single suitcase to then being competent enough to managing his family home and then to defend it. But what a fantasy it is and key to Home Alone's success and lasting status as a Christmas classic for me is Macaulay Culkin's performance and the music.

Macaulay Culkin isn't alone in making this film, he's supported by memorably turns from Catherine O'Hara, Roberts Blossom, Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern. However let's face it, the film would sink extremely fast if Kevin wasn't charming, endearing or likeable especially in those initial sequences that set up the main premise. Would a real 8 year old Kevin be able to execute everything seen on screen here? Absolutely not but the film has a such a sense of fun and immense charm that it hardly matters. The films booby trap filled finale as Kevin takes on villainous burglars, Harry and Marv (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern), certainly lacks consequence but it makes for hilarious viewing as both Pesci and Stern sell their reactions perfectly to whatever torment Kevin subjects them to.

The first thing we hear as the film begins is the score of legendary composer John Williams who has managed again to create another magical score that elevates the film to another level much like he did with E.T, Jaws and Star Wars. Home Alone has a seriously underrated score but what also helps propels its status as a Christmas classic is the many carols and songs that feature throughout and are part of the many memorable moments that director Chris Columbus has created. Home Alone has so many standout moments; 'Angels with Even Filthier Souls', family chaos, the Booby Trapped house and even the spider. Those who haven't seen it before may come to wonder what all the fuss is about however for the generation that grew up with it as a staple of Christmas, it's a must see family classic year in and year out.

VERDICT

Macaulay Culkin's memorable performance and John Williams classic score has allowed this family classic to endure for 30 years to be a staple of every Christmas.

5/5

[ninacarstairss]

PARABATAI WEEK — day 6, underrated/fanon parabatai @carstairgray

i’m broken, torn apart, shattered and a couple more adjectives because of tftsa and it falls perfectly on the parabatai week so here are some simon x george parabatai headcanon

they place their parabatai runes on the back of their shoulders to symbolize they’ll always have each other’s back.

after the ceremony they go back to the new york institute and the rest of the gang surprises them with a party to celebrate.

simon places a stuffed rat on george’s bed before he shows him his new room, in memory of their days at the academy. the rat also has a tiny collar with “jon cartwright xxxv” engraved on it.

george jumps on the nearest chair when he sees it and his academy nightmares come back to him as simon is doubled over laughing near the door.

once the initial fear of having to deal with rats even at the institute passes, george keeps the stuffed animal and he adores it, it reminds him of their time at the academy, how he and simon met and became the brothers they are now.

they start having training sessions with jace and alec and they always end up on the ground with jace and alec triumphant over them but they put up quite a fight when fighting together.

they also like to train a lot with izzy and clary but that works way less for their skills because izzy and simon end up making out somewhere when one of them pins the other on the floor and clary and george just leave the room and go get a coffee before they can see something they won’t be able to forget. alec still talks about his nightmares regarding the time he walked in on simon and izzy in idris.

george gets to know the gang better and they all love him, but simon is especially happy when he notices him bonding a lot with izzy and clary and when he sees alec starting to trust him fully. jace ends up telling george so many stories about the first time he met simon and how he was when he first entered the shadow world, including the being-turned-into-a-rat part — george’s favorite ever since the academy — and that’s when simon knows jace really likes him too.

simon keeps schooling george in pop culture, movies, comics and the history of his band when he was a mundane and he drags george around the city in all the best places to find comics and the best film. soon enough george is making star wars references on a daily basis. though, he’ll never stop mocking simon about all the names his band went through, especially when he reveals the ones he though about during the academy that had to do with rats and other weird creatures, or grey eggs.

george often leaves to visit his family in scotland and he always takes simon with him. his parents love him and they always welcome him as a son. george couldn’t be happier and simon feels at home. he misses seeing his family every day, but he learned that for every loss there’s something to gain and this new part of a home is his own new piece of happiness.

once, though, the whole gang tagged along. george talked about the green fields and the sheep of scotland so much that they wanted to see for themselves. it’s a wild vacation and, between a hike and a tour of the nearby cities, jace gets not-so-gracefully swept off his feet by a running sheep and it’s a sight they’ll never forget or let him live down.

they have annual dinners with the group for the academy. no matter how far they’re all located from each other, they get a portal and meet in idris at least once a year and visit the muddy fields where scarsbury had them running and doing push-ups for as long as it took to kill them. beatriz and julie have also become a great pair of parabatai and jon manages not to be too obnoxious for one night a year.

simon also schooled george in the art of eating take out every day for basically all meals and told him to gently refuse every single thing that leaves the pan when it’s izzy cooking as soon as he stepped foot into the institute. surprisingly enough izzy and george find in each other some really horrible cooks who get along a lot and think they cook fantastic food while burning half the kitchen every single time they get close to a burner. simon’s desperate and he’s most likely going to loose his eyebrows in a kitchen fire soon enough. or worse, he might actually have to eat the stuff they cook one of these days. (credits to @icycoolslushie for the idea on this one)

when sizzy get married simon chooses george to be his suggenes and george cries his eyes out because his brother is so grown up and he’s getting married

once clary and simon convince the gang to celebrate halloween and they organize a halloween party at the institute for all their friends. george is the first to agree and he’s so excited. he and simon are planning matching costumes and decide to go as avatar characters — but with more covering clothes on, simon is stoic about this and george agrees it’s probably best not to risk finding themselves in the middle of a fight with a halloween night demon wearing only that little cloth around their hips — and they also kick it up a notch by dying their hair blue. except that they buy the wrong kind of dye and when the next day they wash their hair to get the colour off, it doesn’t go away. izzy and clary have to fix their mess with brown dye.

they are those friend that always do the craziest things you see on the internet and end up with the most aesthetic photos, like george in the middle of a parking lot with flashing lights surrounding him, sitting in a shopping cart and laughing, or simon naturally posing with his bow and arrow in front of a fantastic landscape and they become snapchat famous for these pics. izzy, alec and jace are pretty confused by this snapchat famous thing.

when simon moved in at the institute after the academy he installed a playstation in his room and most nights george is there with him, playing at 3am with snacks of all kinds surrounding them. izzy joins too sometimes but she’s not great at those games and has smashed a couple of joysticks after loosing multiple times, while clary kicks both their asses when she pops in for a game.

one night george entered simon’s room for a 3am game and instead found him with izzy, both of them half naked and in the middle of some sort of role play where izzy was calling simon “lord montgomery”. he never lets simon live that down and brings the name up in the most inappropriate moments — such as clave meetings — making simon choke on air every time. after that, though, george is very careful to knock.

simon’s pansexual and he’s a little afraid to come out to george at first, but he soon realizes he knows george and he wouldn’t turn his back on him, he wouldn’t leave. so when he does tell him he’s shaking slightly but he’s also happy and george clearly is too, he scoops simon into a tight hug and tells him he’s incredibly proud of him and reassures him he loves him no matter what, they’re brothers no matter what.

they’re not big on celebrations of birthdays or mundane holidays in general, but they do like to keep the traditions alive. both of them have been raised with no knowledge of the shadow world and they were observant of some religious and mundane holidays that shadowhunter don’t celebrate. so they like getting christmas gifts for everyone or organize parties for new year’s. they celebrate hanukah too and share other little traditions from their childhoods, like george’s family tradition of sheep’s wool-covered sweets and chocolates to find instead of eggs for easter or simon’s family tradition of taking a two day trip around spring to see the changing season and enjoy some free time, even if the trip is to the nearest town. they’re small traditions sometimes, but they like to keep the memories alive.

george becomes really good with max after that first encounter and the offer of raising him in his and simon’s drawer. he and simon often volunteer to babysit him, and rafe too afterwards, and they obviously use as bedtime stories the plot of star wars or comics, which the kids absolutely love.

sometimes when he’s stressed or tired george goes full on scottish and also switches to gaelic at times and simon is just there looking at him, torn between wanting to giggle at his usually contained behavior now unchecked and wanting to hug him and confort him. he always goes with the second, but he does love to hear george speak gaelic.

after the time at the academy when george was leading the mission to go after the faerie fruit vendors where simon got sucked into faerie he’s incredibly protective of simon in battle — or just all the time, actually. he’s thrown himself in front of simon more times than simon can count and he loves this kind of care, because of course he does the same whenever george is in danger, but it also makes him sad a lot because he knows george still feels guilty about that mission, even if nothing bad really happened, and he would do anything to make sure nothing similar ever happened again.

tag list @cordaisya @im-not-ruined-im-ruination @surrounded-by-exquisite-clutter @stxr-thxif @icycoolslushie @writeforjordelia @gabtapia @fair-childd @clarys-heosphoros @shadowhuntingdemigod (let me know if you want to be added or removed)