#And Nolan might not be as vocal as he is but he definitely loves him

[nolan-chance]

Yes you guessed it I'm the one and only Nolan Chance (Fortnite) and I'm dating Montague (Fortnite)

[carolinahope]

6x10 In a Flash

So this episode was basically a set up. It was not bad but I’ll reserve my judgment until it all plays out. The one thing I will definitely judge them on is the terrible sperm donor storyline. I hate it with a passion of thousand suns. And each time they bring it up a little piece of hope in me that this might end up well in any way, shape or form, dies. 

It was great to see Albert but his insistence on all of them being a big happy family is greatly annoying. I so hate this narrative that pretty much every single US show is pushing (kudos to The Rookie for saying fuck it to it with Nolan). Just because you share DNA with someone that doesn't make them your family. So I’m very much with Chimney on this. It’s up to him, and not anyone else to decide how and when he wants to address the (lack of) relationship with his father. As for Eddie, just because his relationship with his dad is being mended, doesn’t mean everyone else’s will or would go the same path. 

Thanks heavens for Hen. The only one with a brain cell. I really love their friendship with Chimney. They understand and support each other and have no issues with calling the other on their BS or saying what needs to be said even if the other one doesn't want to hear it. Also, she is such a good mom. 

I love the detectiving of Bobby and Athena, it’s always fun. And now they included May as well. It hurts to see Bobby stretched so thin with grief and frustration, though, so I hope this one has a happy ending. 

I also loved the little Buck & Bobby moment in the kitchen. Their relationship is tied to food in a lovely way and I’m glad the show remembers it. And Buck being concerned and supportive and Bobby being forthcoming *chef’s kiss*

There was not much Buck and Eddie and I think my expectations were a little too high from the promo. But this is only just the beginning. And Eddie screaming for Buck was definitely something. While we got all kinds of reactions from him to Buck being in danger I don't think we have ever had something this vocal. I wonder why Bobby got him to drive. If to distract him or to ensure they get there the fastest they could. Or both? 

I’m definitely curious where this all leads. 

[bubbl3zdaseaotter37]

Rating the Bad Batch: Season 2 Episodes

In celebration of the end of the season (and something I did to occupy myself while I waited) I listed, all the season 2 episodes. It also turned out a lot longer than I originally anticipated. I love talking about characters and plot and all the writing stuff!

Anyways, the usual disclaimer: these are MY opinions, and MY analyses that I thought might be fun to share.

The Outpost

This one is definitely going to be the longest of all of my explanations, so go to the bathroom, grab your popcorn, etc. while you still can.

Just to clarify, I have never been a Crosshair stan. I also never hated Crosshair. I wanted him to come back to the Batch, but I wasn’t sure what could push him over the edge and cause him to desert the Empire like the series has been alluding to since the finale of season one. This episode was that final push, and it just drop-kicked me off the cliff right along with him. Not only was this episode a visual masterpiece, full of symbolism and emotion, but it was also the perfect balance of character focus and plot relevance, which is ironic seeing as the Batch wasn’t even in it.

From the beginning, I already knew what kind of episode this would be. Lieutenant Nolan, introduced in a seamless fashion, was the perfect villain for this episode, and I think we all knew he would get his comeuppance in the end. Taken separately Nolan was just another inexperienced and power-hungry imperial officer who viewed clones as hardly anything more than expendable parts, useless old equipment that needed to be disposed of. He was just another, if slightly more vocal, Admiral Rampart. However, it was still Lieutenant Nolan’s actions that pushed Crosshair to his breaking point. 

Then we meet Commander Mayday. Then, Commander Mayday meets our protagonist. As soon as he was introduced, I fell in love with this guy. I only realized later that it was because he reminded me of the clones from the Clone Wars that we had come to know and love. Rex’s unfailing loyalty, Fives’ sarcastic demeanor, Cody’s experienced leadership, Hunter’s brotherhood. Mayday was the perfect contrast for Nolan’s selfishness.

Mayday immediately accepts Crosshair for who he is, doesn’t ask him to elaborate on how he got there, and treats him like his equal. Again, a drastic contrast to Nolan, who clearly sees clones as lesser beings, unworthy of his time and effort. Mayday is the brother that Crosshair so desperately needs.

I think it also says something about Crosshair’s character. He is loyal to a fault.

So far, we have already seen his loyalty to the Empire tested. Even if he won’t admit it, Mayday gained his unending loyalty after he saved Crosshair’s life. Crosshair had complained about “dead weight,” only to voluntarily carry an injured and dying Mayday all the way back to the Outpost. That’s how desperate Crosshair was to have a brother again.

And then, it was all for nothing. Nolan refused to help the two of them, Mayday died for a pointless mission, and Crosshair was left with nothing. I don’t believe that Crosshair expected to live after he shot the Lieutenant, that was just how little he still had to live for.

I think the biggest point of this episode wasn’t just to be the final reason for Crosshair to leave the Empire. It was also to make Crosshair realize how lonely he was. How much he missed his squad. And this was only supported by what happens in Tipping Point.

2. Tipping Point

There was so much going on in Tipping Point, but I think it was the perfect setup for whatever’s going to go down in the last two episodes. Not only is Echo back, but he’s back with a purpose: setting up what I hope will finally reunite Crosshair and the Bad Batch. Our glimpse into what Echo has been up to for the last five episodes was also pretty cool. (And they brought Howzer back)

3. The Crossing

This episode was another “filler” that I liked mostly because of the character development. We finally get that tender moment between Tech and Omega that I had been waiting for since the beginning. We also got to see the fallout of Echo’s absence as Omega comes to terms with Echo’s choice to leave them, which was something we didn’t get to see a lot of for Crosshair.

4. Truth and Consequences

It’s hard to ignore this episode as the mid-season finale. The Bad Batch meets Rex again, Rampart gets his comeuppance, we finally get to see the final fate of the clones, and Echo chooses his own path. I think it was the perfect way to up the stakes, and bring the second narrative following the clones still in the Empire to an end: with Sidious’ victory.

5. The Solitary Clone

Since the ending of the last season, we were left wondering what happened to Crosshair. Now, we find out that the Empire took their sweet time rescuing him. Cody becomes one of the deciding factors for Crosshair’s eventual desertion of the Empire. Cody’s words are what finally cause Crosshair to stop following orders blindly. I think this episode was an extremely important moment in our favorite sniper’s development.

6. The Clone Conspiracy

This episode is mostly here because of its awesome setup for the next episode. It was really cool seeing the clones’ spreading dissidence, as well as those who continue to follow orders. Senator Riyo Chuchi’s return was also really cool to see. I can’t wait to see what Chuchi gets up to with Rex and the other renegade clones.

7. Faster

I’m sure that by now, you all have realized that I am a huge fan of character-centric episodes. What other people call “filler,” I see as an opportunity to get to know our favorite characters better! For me, Faster was one of those episodes. It was really fun and entertaining to see Tech’s more feral side, if you ask me! 

Additionally, this episode was great foreshadowing of the developments between Cid and the Bad Batch. Although I do think it would be odd if the show were to leave their relationship as it is. I doubt this is the last we’ll see of Cid.

8. Ruins of War

Again, seeing Tech’s feral side was pretty crazy. I have to admit, he had me scared when he got stuck under that crate. I think anyone who watched Andor will understand.

Anyways, this was the climax of the first arc of the season, and ended with another important theme of the story. Echo wants to do something about the Empire, Hunter wants to remain safe and hidden. Other than that, it didn’t have all that much groundbreaking themes or developments.

9. Metamorphosis 

This episode was pretty fun! I liked the horror-style beginning, and it was essential to the play because it revealed to the Empire that the Bad Batch was, in fact, not dead. The Batch uncovered a new conspiracy: the Zillo beast, a loose end which I am glad has finally been resolved. I’m also somewhat startled by the similarities between Fives’ discovery of the chips and this. I just hope it doesn’t turn out the same way.

I guess the only reason this episode wasn’t a little higher on the list is because it wasn’t the spiderweb of character development and plot that some of the other episodes in the season were.

10. Spoils of War

Honestly, I was kind of surprised I didn’t rate this one higher up on my list. After all, it was the season premiere, and a very exciting story full of conflict both plot-wise and between the characters. I don’t really have any problems with it, per se, I just think it worked better as a set-up for the climax of the following episode, along with Hunter and Echo’s moral differences, which would resolve themselves in Truth and Consequences.

11. Pabu

Pabu was, almost literally, the calm before the storm. It’s important in a story to see the characters happy, if only for a short while, because it makes the darkness that follows all the more stark and painful for the audience. Seeing the Bad Batch so content on Pabu prepared us for the coming storm.

I think we can all agree it was a much needed break, but I still have an issue with Phee. It just confuses me that they have known her for such a short time, and are so quick to trust her with everything. I do wish we had seen more of her first, more development of their relationship before the Batch placed their trust in her so completely.

12. Tribe 

Again, this episode was mainly filler, but I did enjoy seeing Gungi again! The episode called back to the fact that the war and its fallout had caused so much displacement, even for literal kids like Gungi and Omega. It helped to set up Hunter’s concerns that we see on Pabu, that he doesn’t want to strip Omega of her childhood.

13. Retrieval

Again, this episode acted as a call to change, as well as to set up the Batch’s conflict with Cid. When the Marauder is stolen, Hunter (and the others for that matter) realize how important this ship is to them. It’s their home. In turn, Hunter realizes that he wants something better for Omega, that she deserves a place to call “home,” as is cemented when Benni chooses to remain on his home planet rather than find somewhere else. Seeing Omega with Benni reminds us, as in Tribe, that she is just a kid, and she needs a chance to make friends with other kids. Otherwise, it remained another filler episode.

(Also, that trust fall between Omega and Hunter literally had me yelling)

14. Entombed 

This episode just didn’t do it for me. It was entertaining as a little Indiana Jones style adventure, and introduced a character that would affect the Batch for the foreseeable future, but I don’t think it did much for the latter. 

Unlike a lot of the other “filler” episodes this season, such as Tribe, or The Crossing, we didn’t get a lot of character focused moments. Normally, I’d be fine with this. It’s good to have a light-hearted episode every now and again! I really enjoyed Faster, even though it could also be categorized as “filler.” The major character related issue was the Bad Batch’s introduction to Phee, which for me is a whole other issue.

I was really disappointed with how they introduced Phee as a major character, and I would claim that she is one. So far, she has contributed quite a lot to the Bad Batch, and is one of the main reasons they’re considering staying permanently on Pabu. In the beginning of the episode, she was construed, at least in Hunter’s point of view, as a not very trustworthy character. At least, that was what I picked up. I also wouldn’t have guessed, from the introduction, that she would be a character who would stick around for so long. There’s so many other things I have to say about Phee, I think I’ll just leave it at this: her introduction did not do her justice, and that was the main point of this episode. That’s why Entombed is at the bottom of my list.

[yunsangelic]

Hey, Im new to the hockey scene and might send you some asks without the anon option in the future (but not right now 'cause I'm still too self conscious) and I read some of your asks in relation to Nolan Patrick and wanted to know if you can explain a bit of his skills for me? I know he is a great player and I can see that the games I've been watching, but I'm too new in this scene and some written help would be awesome. He was the first player who got my attention, he and Sarah Nurse. Thx

First of all take as much time as you need to work up your courage, I get being anxious, but I swear I’m nice even off anon!! Second of all I LOVE Nursey in like one million different ways. Okay and then finally to address your main question, I had to tap into the Big Hockey Brain that belongs to Mara* (@MaraBowden on twitter) because she is THE statistics gal in the Chick Trick Podcast & Website! (CTP twitter link, CTP Website) Also I’m sorry this is gonna be all over the place.

[*Mara’s analyses are based on solely Nolans time in the NHL, mine are based off of his time in the WHL and the NHL]

Okay let’s get started.

The first thing I notice is how focused he is on ice and during games. In his mic’d up videos he’s always talking about what plays could be made next depending on what the opposing players do, which is another thing

He pays attention to what other guys do, on his team and on other teams, what their typical move is, he reads people and plays REALLY very well which is a great skill to have.

That all being said his hockey IQ is, unsurprisingly, high and it’s a skill, according to his dad and uncle-both former players and coaches, he has had since he was kid (x)

He has a very solid, strong shot. From Mara (paraphrased by me): He has a good shot location, consistently put up above average xG numbers (this means expected goals) likely due to the good shot location. He mainly shoots directly in front of the net and from the slot (the slot is the space between the attacking teams faceoff circles) Outside of good shot placement there isn’t much statistically that pops out about him because he has only played 2 NHL seasons and neither of them were the full 82 games. (this part is word for word) “[B]ut I watched some highlights and routinely was like ‘bro that was sick’ which makes me think he’ll figure stuff out more in the future[.]” (Heat map of his shot placement x)

This speaks more to his character but he’s very respectful towards his teammates and coaches (TK doesn’t count, neither does Hak) 

He isn’t afraid to put pressure on opponents, especially when battling for the puck!! You can see that he wants it and he’s gonna do what has to be done to get it.

He’s pretty physical for a forward, and definitely isn’t afraid to get into it with another player when they piss him off (*Paris hilton voice* that’s hot)

Watching him stick and puck handle, he’s quick, precise, and efficient. And not to like uwu babie him but he does this thing when he scores where he like “holsters” his stick after he scores and I swear it's so fucking CUTE (he does a bit of handling AND celly-ing in this video here x)

Also, because I have to bring this up, his absence from the Flyers this year wasn’t his first run in with a long term injury in his career (sports hernia, out 3 mos in WHL), and he handled that situation with maturity and level-headedness and I believe he’ll handle his current injury in the same way.

I have noticed that when he’s having a good game and he’s got the swagger everyone saw in Brandon that hes very steady, focused and one or two steps ahead of the game which is where he gets those absolute beautiful goals.

Last bit of stuff here; He follows through on everything he does hockey-wise. Hits, plays, and shots. And he’s extremely vocal, as I mentioned with his teammates he can be heard on the ice, off the ice on the bench, and in practice as well, so he definitely has so much potential to be an all-star and maybe even make people rethink his placement in the draft...... :)

Citations: MoneyPuck.com, all videos are on Youtube.com, nhl.com/flyers, SportsNet, Philadelphia Flyers, Mara’s Brain, My Brain.

[phoenixfeatherquill]

To Catch A Swan (14/22)

Once upon a time, not so long ago, Neal fell asleep in a car.

He liked the yellow bug.  It was a little ostentatious and it was probably foolish to steal it—a white sedan was probably a little less obvious.  But he couldn’t help it.  It reminded him too much of those Herbie films.  There was a homeless shelter in Denver that had zero movies in the rec area, save those movies, so he’d watched them all during a particularly nasty blizzard. He didn’t have fond memories of Colorado, but he liked those movies.  (The remake was crap.)

He hadn’t been long in Portland.  In fact, it was supposed to be his last night there.  No cash for a motel, shelters were packed, so he slept in his car, parked in a little alley to avoid cops.  He actually liked crashing in his car.  It was a little cramped, sure, but there was something soothing about falling asleep to the sound of rain on his roof.  It reminded him of better times.  

So it was quite the shock when he awoke to someone breaking in.  

The sound of the metal sliding through the window was what woke him.  He watched in utter shock as the thief easily unlocked the door and got inside.  

She was the most beautiful thief he’d ever seen.  Golden hair caught up in a messy ponytail, dark hipster glasses (clever, to avoid detection in Portland), a small smile that indicated she’d done this before.  She withdrew a screwdriver, a large rock, and started the transmission.  He watched her start to drive off before finally announcing his presence.

“Impressive. But really, you could’ve just asked for the keys.”

He dangled them for emphasis and she yelped.  The squeal of shock only made her more adorable.  He rested his chin on his fist and observed her.  She didn’t seem to know how to react to this situation (it was new for him too), so she remained silent.

Neal gave a little wave of approval.  “Just drive, it’s fine.”

“I just stole your car, your life could be in danger!” She’d snapped, perhaps trying to regain her earlier confidence.

“Neal Cassidy,” He introduced himself.  

“Yeah, I’m not telling you my name,” She’d fairly snarled and her irritation only made him more amused.

“I don’t need it to have you arrested when the robbery’s in progress,” He chuckled a little.  

She set her chin.  “Emma Swan.”

Emma Swan.  A good name, and he told her so.  

“So do you just live in here or are you just waiting for the car to be stolen?” Emma Swan asked sarcastically.

“Why don’t I tell you over drinks?” He suggested amiably.  

She turned to look at him over her shoulder in shock.  “Excuse me?!”

“Eyes on the road!” Neal pointed at the stop sign Emma blew past.  The sound of irate Portland drivers filled their ears. She straightened a little, probably embarrassed.

“I am not having drinks with you, you might be a pervert,” She informed him.  

“I might be a pervert,” Neal acknowledged. “But you’re definitely a car thief.”

“I said I was sorry.”

“You didn’t, actually,” Neal felt it relevant to point out.  She huffed a little at this but both of them stiffened in fear when the heard the siren behind them.  Emma swore a little.

Neal groaned and raked his fingers through his hair.  “That’s why I said eyes on the road…”

He could see her eyes flick around and he knew from experience she was judging whether or not it was worth it to make a run for it.  But there didn’t seem any good places to run to so Emma put on an artificial smile as she nervously awaited the officer.  Neal, however, immediately snatched the screwdriver out of the ignition and replaced it with the keys.  

“License and registration?” The officer’s bored and patronizing tone towards Emma’s bright greeting gave Neal an idea.

“Terribly sorry, officer, but this is actually my car. I’m…I’m trying to, uh, teach my girlfriend how to drive stick.” He gave the officer a sheepish grin, one he’d perfected over years of conning authority figures.

“She’s got a lot to learn,” The cop said coldly.

“Yeah, I know, but you know…women.” Neal gave a helpless shrug.  

Emma gave him the dirtiest look.  But he knew what he was doing.  He read the cop the moment he’d walked over and looked Emma all over, condescension fairly dripping from his uniform.  

“All right, I hear you. It’s a warning. This time.” The cop gave Emma a stern, paternal look before returning back to his car.  Neal thanked him grandly and popped out of the backseat to join Emma in the front.  

“What are you, some sort of misogynist?!” Emma demanded as he clambered into the passenger seat.  

“You’re welcome,” Neal glanced over his shoulder as the cop drove off. “Oh, go. We got lucky.”

“We?” Emma stared hard at him and he grinned at her mischievously. “This isn’t your car either, is it? I stole a stolen car?!”

Her outrage was palpable and hilarious.  He beamed unrepentantly and cocked his head.

“Now how about that drink?”

It had hit him like lightning.  It wasn’t merely attraction or companionship.  It was something far greater, something he hadn’t understood at 23. His father—before he became the Dark One—had always spoken sadly of love, had seemed almost wary of it.  As the Dark One, he’d been mocking towards it.  Though even he had apparently been caught up in its magic, with this mysterious Belle character…but no one had prepared Neal for it. He’d fallen in love at first sight with Emma Swan.  

She had been understandably apprehensive of him, but charmed too.  She expected him to take her to a dive, somewhere they wouldn’t check her ID.  He took her out for cocoa instead and brought her to one of his favorite spots—a deserted amusement park.  He’d never forget the utter delight on her face when he turned the lights of the carousel on.  It was at that moment he wanted to do nothing but make her eyes sparkle like that for the rest of his life.

They’d sat together on that carousel and talked.  She’d asked him his story and he was tempted to say, “Which one?” He’d lived so many lives across the years he sometimes wasn’t even sure who he was anymore.  

She’d asked about his past and he’d admitted to her his problems with his father. He had shoved his fear and hatred for Rumplestiltskin in a dark place in his heart; it was unbelievable that he was sharing it all with her now, even confessing how he missed having a home.  

Their gaze had met and for the first time in a long time, Neal felt like he had a home.  Wherever Emma was…was home.  

And that night in the sheriff’s office, when she kissed him, something in his heart settled and Neal felt like coming home again.  

Everything in his mind went blank.  There was only Emma, only how right it felt for her to be in his arms once more, the feel of her soft lips against his, the tangle of her golden curls in his fingers.  This was right, this was real, this was home, and he was never going to let it go again…

The phone rang.  They were abruptly ripped back into reality and Emma dove for the phone like a drowning woman would grab a life preserver.  Panting a little, she answered the phone.

“Hello?”

Neal watched her, his fingers twitching.  She glanced at him, the color in her cheeks rising.  

“Yeah, fine. I’m…I’m going to get her. And then I’ll question her. Yes, I’ll let her know you’ll be present. Okay. See you then.”

She hung up the phone.  She stared at her desk like it would reveal her fortune and Neal cleared her throat. She straightened and looked at him.

“That was Regina. She wants to be present when I question Mary Margaret.”

He nodded.  They stared at each other, unable to vocalize what had been lost.  The moment was broken.  Neal desperately wanted to snatch it back.  But did he have any right to?  

Emma crossed her arms over her chest.  “I’m…I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize,” Neal broke in immediately. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

She laughed harshly.  “I kissed you.”

“Yeah, well, I kissed you back.”

There was another long pause while Neal pondered what to do next.  Emma wiped her chin absently and Neal tried to reclaim his frazzled mind.  

“I should—I should go,” He said finally. “Get some sleep. You should too. I’ll…I’ll call you tomorrow morning, okay?”

She nodded but did not meet his gaze.  He quickly strode out of her office as fast as he possibly could.  

Running away again, coward?

Neal ignored the hateful thought.  He thought vaguely that perhaps he ought to do as he’d told Emma, go back to the cabin and sleep.  But he had more important business.  He turned the corner and heaved a sigh of relief.

The light in Mr. Gold’s pawnshop was still on.  He strode forward and banged on the door.  

Sweat beaded his forehead.  He exhaled again when he heard the slow footsteps of his father approach the door and open it.  Gold said nothing about the lateness of the hour, Neal’s frazzled appearance.  

“Mary Margaret needs your help,” Neal said without preamble.  

Gold leaned against his cane.  “Oh?”

“It’s—it’s Regina. I’m sure of it. Regina is setting her up, framing her for the murder of Kathryn Nolan. You have to help her. Mary Margaret needs a good lawyer and fast.”

Neal felt dizzy.  He was actually asking his father for help.  Was he insane?  Whenever his father helped him, people died!  But the heat from Emma’s kiss, his fear for what would happen next, everything scrambled his mind.  

“I was already intending on offering my services,” Gold said smoothly. “Pro bono, of course. I know what I charge her for rent, after all.”

Neal stilled.  “You were going to—why? What do you get out of it?”

Gold said nothing.  He watched him and picked up a silver chalice.  He polished it carefully and Neal watched the methodical movements in frustration.  

“What are you trying to do?”

For some reason, the question cast a shadow across Gold’s face.  It disappeared as quickly as it appeared, but Neal, who was an expert at his father’s expressions, felt very cold.  All of this was a chess match to his father. He was placing different pieces on the board, arranging his surroundings until the moment he would strike.  To trap a queen—but which queen?  

Neal turned and walked out of his father’s shop.

                                                                       XXXX

Neal did not call Emma.  Instead, the two of them gave each other a very wide berth as Emma conducted her investigation.  He trusted that she would call him if she needed any help.  But he needed to figure out what exactly Gold was up to.  

What did Gold want?  The obvious answer was power.  But didn’t he have power here in Storybrooke?  Aside from occasionally going toe to toe with Regina, but overtaking her didn’t seem to be a priority of his.  But if he remembered who he was…what else would he want?

The answer struck Neal like lightning as he entered Granny’s diner. Gold would want magic.  

But this world had no magic.  So how on earth could he—

Neal stiffened when he noticed August talking to Henry at the counter. He marched over and snatched August’s shoulder.

   “What did I tell you about talking to my son?” He growled.  

August sighed dramatically.  “Always so suspicious! I was just offering Henry a little friendly advice.”

“Dad, he believes in the book!” Henry said excitedly. “He could help with Operation Cobra!”

“He can help by getting the hell out of here,” Neal said very softly, in a tone uncomfortably reminiscent of Gold’s.  August well remembered Neal’s fists and hastily made his exit.  

Nolan took the newly unoccupied seat.  “Henry, I want you stay away from that guy.”

“But Dad!” Henry complained. “We need all the help we can get. And he’s right. He said we need proof to help Miss Blanchard and we do.”

“Emma is working on finding proof,” Neal nodded at Granny in thanks as she filled him a mug of coffee. “We have to trust her on that.”

“Yeah, well, we found a big knife in Miss Blanchard’s heating vent,” Henry informed him loftily. “And my mom obviously planted it there. So we’re finding proof in the other direction.”

“Does Emma believe the knife belonged to Mary Margaret?”

“Of course not!”

“Then trust her to find the truth. That’s something Emma’s really good at,” Neal took a long sip of coffee. “In the meantime—I mean it, Henry. Stay away from August. He’s not a good guy and he could get you into trouble.”

Henry sized his father up.  “How do you know him?”

Neal hesitated.  He didn’t want to keep secrets from his son.  Rumplestiltskin lived in secrets and darkness; Neal wanted his relationship with Henry open and honest.  But how could he tell his son such a thing?  That August had played upon his insecurities, frightened him with his warnings of Emma’s destiny and the Enchanted Forest—and had convinced him to leave her?  Could Henry ever forgive such weakness?  

“Look,” Neal put his hand on Henry’s shoulder. “I just want you to trust me on this one, okay? Stay away from him. Promise me?”  

Henry’s brow furrowed and Neal was strongly reminded of Emma.  After a long moment, Henry nodded.  

“I just want to help prove that Miss Blanchard’s innocent,” He sighed and pushed his now cold hot cocoa away.

“I know it’s frustrating,” Neal acknowledged and ruffled Henry’s hair. “But trust me, kid. Emma knows what she’s doing. And I’m looking into it too. If Regina is setting her up—”

Henry’s eyes lit up.  “I’ve got it!” He crowed.

Before Neal could ask what he was talking about, his son hugged him fiercely and dashed out of the diner as fast as his short legs could carry him.  

                                                        XXXX

Neal wasn’t able to catch his son the day after, to find out what exactly had inspired his outburst.  But he learned that Mary Margaret had accepted Gold’s help and her arraignment was scheduled for the following morning.  At the very least, Neal had confidence in his father’s talents.  He would keep Mary Margaret from being arrested. Not everyone could nearly beat a man to death and persuade (or blackmail) a judge to ignore the matter.  

The rest of the day was quiet but very busy.  Jefferson nearly overwhelmed him with odd jobs the entire day, so much so, that by the end of the evening, Neal almost decided to crash at Granny’s inn rather than make the long trek home.  It was still freezing and nothing seemed more unpleasant than a cold, windy walk back to the cabin.  It hadn’t been the first time he’d crashed at Granny’s.  And he could check in at the sheriff’s office first thing in the morning. Maybe bring Emma some coffee…

But he still hadn’t talked to her about that kiss.  Did she even want to see him?  

Finally, Neal decided to walk home.  He needed the time to figure out if it was even worth broaching the topic of the kiss.  Emma was completely immersed in Mary Margaret’s case—as well she should be. It wasn’t really time to talk about the nature of their relationship.  He should leave it alone.  He knew better than to push Emma.  No one could deny she had walls—many she’d built because of him—but breaking them down forcefully would only wreck her further.  

He’d nearly reached the cabin on Jefferson’s land when he noticed something odd.

There were lights on in Jefferson’s house.  

At any other moment, this would not have concerned Neal.  Jefferson was something of a night owl and Neal had gotten used to his odd employer taking walks at 3AM, occasionally skulking around the gardens in the middle of the night, or even having an all night nightcap, which he often invited Neal to join in.  But Jefferson had specifically told him that he would be out of town tonight and it was doubly urgent that Neal complete all of the errands by that evening.  

Why would Jefferson have lied to him about being out of town?  It made no difference to Neal.  They weren’t exactly friends.  Neal didn’t care what Jefferson did or didn’t do.  

Unless…had he dumped all of those errands on Neal to keep him away from the house?

  The idea was paranoid.  But Neal couldn’t seem to escape the niggling feeling that something was off.  And he’d learned at this point in his life it was best to trust his instincts.  The last time he hadn’t, Graham had ended up dead.  

Jefferson was always extending invitations for drinks.  He would go up, have a glass of beer with him, see if anything was amiss, and head back home.  No problem.  

Neal cast one more longing look towards his cabin and shut out the yearnings for his nice, warm bed.  He trudged up the hill towards Jefferson’s front door and raised his hand to knock. He then thought better of it and tried the handle.  

To his surprise and unease, it yielded immediately.  

He stepped inside.  “Jefferson? You here?”

The house was eerily quiet.  It had always been far too big a place for one person and Neal had repeatedly told him so.  Jefferson always smiled an odd little smile and agreed.  

“Hey,” Neal called out again. “It’s Neal. Everything okay? I thought you were going out of town tonight.”

He continued to walk down the hallway.  He thought he heard something, a scraping noise, metal against stone. He followed the sound and turned a corner—and nearly ran into Emma and Mary Margaret.

“Emma?!” Neal said thunderstruck. “What are you doing here?”

“Neal, thank God!” Relief broke over Emma’s face. “We have to get out of here. Right now. He’s crazy! He tied Mary Margaret up!”

“Keep your voices down!” Mary Margaret implored. “He’ll hear us!”

“Neal, quick, we have to—”

They were interrupted by the click of a pistol cocking.  

“Sorry, Neal,” Jefferson said ruefully aiming the gun towards them. “I really didn’t want you to be here for this.”

                                                     XXXX

“What the hell is going on?! What the hell are you doing?”

Jefferson clucked sympathetically and pointed the gun at all of them.  “You should’ve stayed in Storybrooke tonight, Neal.”

“Put the damn gun down!” Neal moved bodily in front of Emma and Mary Margaret.

“I’m afraid that just isn’t possible,” Jefferson sighed. “Emma. Tie Spot back up, please.”

Neal calculated his odds.  He was likely to get shot if he rushed Jefferson but there was a chance he’d only hit Neal, and the scuffle would give Emma and Mary Margaret a chance to escape. But before he could make a move, Emma placed a hand on his shoulder.  

He looked at her and she shook her head.  After so long, how could she read him so well?

“Single file, please,” Jefferson said in a bored voice. “Forward march.”

They slowly walked into a small, dark room, where a trembling Mary Margaret returned to her seat.  Emma whispered something to her and tied her wrists and replacing the gag.  She then turned to Jefferson.

“Your telescope,” She accused. “You’ve been watching me.”

“You’ve what?!” Neal thundered.

“It points towards the Sheriff’s office,” Emma’s eyes never left Jefferson’s face. “Why?”

“I need you to do something for me,” Jefferson replied quietly. “Neal—if you make any move towards me, I swear, I will blow Miss Swan’s head off. Let’s go.”

He must have noticed Neal’s fingers twitching.  Boiling hot rage coursed through Neal’s veins and he said in a low voice.

“Is this why you hired me? To get close to Emma?”

Jefferson didn’t answer.  He nudged them out of the room, indifferent to Mary Margaret’s screams, and prodded them forward.  He took them to a small room Neal had never seen before, lined with top hats.  

“Sit down, Neal,” Jefferson ordered. “Hand me that cell phone in your pocket. And keep quiet.”  Neal obeyed, regretfully.  

“I don’t know what you think you’re doing,” Emma burst out. “But if you hurt my friend, I swear I’ll make you regret it.”

“Hurt her? I’m saving her life.” Jefferson said softly, walking towards her not unlike a lion stalks its prey.  

“How do you figure that?” Emma demanded.    

“Don’t play stupid. We all know what happens when people try to leave Storybrooke.”

And in that moment, it hit Neal like a ton of bricks.  Jefferson knew.  He knew everything.  He knew about the curse, he knew who he was, where he came from…did he know about Neal?! Did he know who his father was?!

“The curse is keeping us all trapped,” Jefferson murmured. “All except you two.”

“Have you been reading Henry’s book?” Emma said perplexed.

“Henry and his book of stories,” Jefferson mused. “The ones that Emma chooses to ignore—but Neal pays very close attention to. Ever wonder why?”

Neal’s fists clenched.  Emma glanced at Neal in bewilderment.  

“For the last twenty-eight years,” Jefferson began to circle the room, like a vulture, keeping the pistol aimed high. “I’ve been stuck in this house. Day after day, always the same. Until one night, you two roll into town, the clock ticks, and things start to change. You see…I know what you refuse to acknowledge, Emma. You’re special. You brought something precious to Storybrooke—magic.”

“You’re insane,” Emma said flatly.

“Interesting,” Jefferson bared his teeth. “Perhaps you’re the one who’s mad. After all, what’s crazier than seeing and not believing? Ask Neal. He knows.”

Without waiting for this, however, Jefferson took Emma by the shoulders and sat her down at the table across from Neal.  The table was littered with sewing supplies, pins and pincushions, scissors of all sizes, scraps of fabric.  

Jefferson bent and rested his chin on Emma’s head, staring at Neal blankly. “She’s the only one that can do it, Neal,” His voice was barely above a whisper. “She’s going to get it to work.”

And in that moment, Neal realized who he was.

The Mad Hatter.  

“The hats…” Neal sucked in his breath.  Magic hats that could open a portal.  

“The tea!” Emma exclaimed. “Your psychotic behavior. You think you’re the Mad Hatter.”

Jefferson clearly did not like to be called that.  “My name is Jefferson.”

“Okay,” Emma set down the piece of fabric and took a deep breath. “You’ve clearly glommed onto our kid Henry’s thing. They’re just stories. The Mad Hatter is in Alice in Wonderland—a book. A book I actually read!”

“Stories…” Jefferson smiled a little. “Stories. Tell me, Neal. What do you think of these stories? In high school, you studied the Civil War, yes? You learned that in perchance a book? And what are storybooks based on? Imagination? Where does that come from? Neal—where do you come from?!”

“Jefferson,” Neal said in a low voice. “You can’t—you—”

“This is it!” Emma gestured around her. “This is the real world.”

“A real world,” Jefferson corrected.  He leaned towards her, across the table. “How arrogant are you to think yours is the only one? There are infinite more. You have to open your mind. They touch one another, pressing up in a long line of lands. Each just as real as the last. All have their own rules. Some have magic, some don’t. And some need magic. Like this one. And that’s where you come in.”

Jefferson pointed the blade of the scissors towards Emma while keeping the pistol firmly trained on Neal. “You, Spot, and Neal are not leaving here until you make my hat. Until you get it to work.”

The scissors clattered as he dropped them in front of Emma.  Both she and Neal jumped at the noise.  Jefferson smirked a little at their tenseness and spun around towards Neal.  

“I truly did not want you involved,” He said apologetically. “Believe that, at least. I know who you’re hiding from. And I know why. But I have to get my daughter back.”

“What?” The color drained from Neal’s face.

“The curse,” Jefferson told him. “He did this to find you, you know. To make all of us feel what he felt. Like everyone else, what I love has been ripped from me. Look.”

He gestured for Emma to go to the telescope.  She peered through but Neal remained rooted to the spot.  He did this to find you, you know.  To make all of us feel what he felt.

 “Her name is Grace,” The pain in Jefferson’s voice was palpable. “Here it’s Paige. But it’s Grace. My Grace. Do you have any idea what it’s like to watch her day in and day out, happy, with a new family? With a new father?”

“You think she’s your daughter?” Emma asked.

“I don’t think, I know. I remember. She has no idea who I am. Our life together, where we come from. I do. That’s my curse.”  Jefferson turned towards Neal.  He reached a shaking hand out and ran his fingers through Neal’s curls.

“Do you understand now?” Jefferson asked quietly. “Do you understand what he’s done to me? To all of us?”

“What—what who’s done?!” Emma asked, her eyes flitting between Jefferson and Neal nervously.

“Jefferson,” Neal’s mouth was dry. “I—I’m so sorry. I didn’t—I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t want him to find me. I never did. I just—”

“I know,” Jefferson nodded frantically. “I know. You and I are the same, Neal. We will do whatever it takes to get our family back.”

“That’s why you want me to make the hat.”

They both turned to look at Emma.  Her expression was vulnerable.

“You just want to take Grace home,” She exhaled slowly. “To your world.”

Jefferson stared at her.  “You believe?”

“If what you say is true, that woman in the other room is my mother. And I want to believe that more than anything in the world. So maybe you’re right. Maybe I need to open myself up more. Maybe, if I want magic, I have to start believing.” Emma stepped towards Jefferson.  

“So you’re—you’re going to help me? You can get it to work?” Jefferson was half-begging.  His voice trembled and Neal’s heart broke for him.  

This was all because of him.  The curse, Storybrooke, all of it—all of it had been done because Rumplestiltskin was trying to hunt him down.

It was all his fault.

Emma swallowed hard.  “I can try.”

He backed away and turned to grab the hat Emma had haphazardly stitched together. But as he did so, Emma seized the telescope and knocked him unconscious.  He fell to the floor instantly.

“Crazy son of a bitch!” Emma burst out and snatched the gun. “Neal, are you okay?!”

“I’m fine,” Neal stood up and embraced her. “Are you? Did he do anything to you?”

“He drugged me, but that’s it. You got here before anything else could happen. C’mon, we’ve gotta get out of here!” She grabbed his arm and tried to pull him along with her, but Neal stopped short.

“You get Mary Margaret out of here,” Neal told her. “I’ll keep an eye on the Mad Hatter here. Then come back here and arrest this asshole.”

“You sure?” Emma handed him the gun.

“Don’t worry about it,” Neal said grimly. “I’d like to have a few words with him in any case.”  

Emma nodded curtly.  “Here. Time him up.”  She handed him scraps of fabric that would do as light ropes.  Neal bent down and tied Jefferson’s wrists together tightly.  The Mad Hatter’s eyes flickered slightly and Neal kicked him in the gut for good measure.

“I won’t be gone more than fifteen minutes,” Emma promised. “I have to get Mary Margaret back to her cell before her arraignment.”

“I got him,” Neal said, still staring at Jefferson’s unconscious form. “Go.”

“Neal…” Emma hesitated. “I just—about what happened the other night—”

He gave her a half-smile.  “You know, I was all worried about bringing it up with you because you had so much going on. And now you’re bringing it up right after you’ve been drugged and tied up?”

“Okay, fair enough,” Emma coughed. “Raincheck?”

“Raincheck. Get out of here.”

                                                           XXXX

When Jefferson awoke, he was tied to a chair facing Neal, a gun pointed directly at his head.  

“Let’s review,” Neal said in a dangerous voice. “You hired me so you could keep a close watch on Emma and figure out her movements. You drugged the mother of my child and tied her up. You terrorized her mother and tied her up. And you tried to force her to send you back to the Enchanted Forest. Am I missing anything?”

Jefferson spat a wad of blood on the ground. “Neal…”

“Trust me, I sympathize,” The dangerous glint in Neal’s gaze faded slightly. “I get the desire to get your kid back at any cost. But you cross a goddamn line when you endanger my family.”

“You have to let me go,” Jefferson pleaded. “Before she gets back.”

Neal laughed harshly.  “Oh yeah? And why the hell should I do that?”

“Because I know where Belle is.”

[edharrisdaily]

Ed Harris Has No Idea What’s Happening on Westworld Either

Ed Harris has enough iconic characters in his 40-year career to make other actors jealous — and that was before he added Westworld’s Man in Black to his repertoire. We’ve learned more about Harris’s character, the ultimate player of the game, in season two of HBO’s epic drama as he has progressed deeper into the park amid a robot uprising. In Sunday’s episode “Vanishing Point,” Westworld reveals the most traumatic moment of William’s life — the suicide of his wife, Juliet (Sela Ward) — and pushes him to the absolute edge of cruelty and sanity: After shooting his own daughter, Emily (Katja Herbers), he’s last seen slicing open his arm to see if he’s actually human. Ahead of the episode, Vulture spoke with Harris about “Vanishing Point,” why he’d never want to direct an episode of Westworld, what he thinks of the show’s fandom, and why he loves Atlanta.

Westworld is a famously secretive show. How much of William’s arc do you know in advance? And how does that affect the way you play the character?

The first season was different than the second season. The first season was full of surprises as to what was revealed to almost all of us every episode. We found out things in like episode five, six, and seven and were like, “Wow, that’s news.” The second year, I knew the path that my character was on and where I was headed.

How is this project different from others you’ve worked on?

I’ve never really done this kind of episodic series, so that’s different unto itself. And the length of the season is pretty long. The first year was ridiculous. We stopped and started again — six, seven, eight months. You work two, three days a week max, some weeks you don’t work at all. And this particular show is so complicated. There’s so much being shot. The end of the second year, they had three or four crews working on different episodes. I’m glad I’m not the person trying to keep track of it all.

When even the writers aren’t sure of the backstory, how does that change your approach?

Even when they are sure, they don’t tell you. [Laughs.] I would say, “Hey, look, I just did 125 performances of a play in London. I knew what was going to happen every night. And I was still very present and fresh. You can let me know whatever you want to.” What I didn’t know, I didn’t know. I was going episode by episode, particularly scenes, characters, who I was working with, and what was going on. I didn’t really fret about what I didn’t know because I didn’t know what I didn’t know.

More in the moment.

Very much so. For me, anyway. I took it a script at a time, scene at a time, line at a time. Be present and real and tell the truth.

What’s the most challenging part of this role?

In terms of where it’s going, I guess the difficult thing is just gauging that and trying to understand it. For instance, the episode Lisa [Joy] directed, episode four, she was great to work with because she knew more about [William’s] intent than I did. She was very helpful, in terms of “this is what’s going on inside of him now and this is where it will lead.” When you play a character, you try to get as deep in there as possible. When certain things are revealed to you, it’s very helpful.

How much of the buzz around the show do you pay attention to? The fandom is pretty vocal.

Absolutely none. My wife, who’s a news junkie, will say, “Ed, they’re writing about blah blah blah,” and I’ll say great. I’m very happy it’s a successful show and I love working with the directors and the cast, but I don’t really pay attention to all of the guesswork and what people are trying to figure out.

Is this true across your career? Do you read your reviews?

I really don’t. I remember things that were said to me when I was 28 doing theater in L.A. that I don’t need to have in my head, you know what I mean? If you’re doing a play today in New York, you can’t help but find out if it was positive or negative.

Did you discuss the character at all with Jimmi Simpson? Compare notes?

A little bit. We have a good relationship. I said, “Anything I can help you with, let me know.” He would email me some questions every once in a while, but I didn’t even know there was a younger me until I saw a guy walking around the trailers and said, “Who’s he?” “That’s you.” “Oh. Really? Thanks for telling me.” I think Jimmi does a great job establishing the whole history of this guy.

What did Sela Ward and Katja Herbers bring to “Vanishing Point” that made the episode different?

It’s nice to be out of the Man in Black suit and just be William, the family man, however poor he is at it. Sela was brand-new to the whole situation, so you just try to make somebody like that as comfortable as possible. Work with them. Have them welcome. Get rid of whatever nerves they have. Katja is great. She’s not afraid to ask me things, acting questions. I love talking about it. If she has something that’s bugging her or is stuck in something, we can discuss it.

The episode is about obsession, especially the kind that can blind us from what really matters. Have you ever been obsessed?

I was definitely obsessed with Pollock in the ‘90s, but it was a good obsession. I wasn’t blinded by anything. Let’s see. I like to get into things. I like to do things well. I can get pretty easily obsessed with something I care about, but not necessarily blindly.

Do you have any character or story input on Westworld?

Hmm, we probably had some discussions. Never any major points of disagreements. I did say in one public forum, “I don’t want to be in a samurai suit and I don’t want to be naked.” There are two things I suggested.

How do you pick parts at this point in your career? What’s important to you?

What’s important to me at the moment, which I will know in the next few days, is if I can get financing for this film I want to direct in August or September. It’s a Montana novel called The Ploughman — Robert Duvall, Garrett Hedlund, my wife Amy [Madigan], my daughter [Lily Dolores Harris]. I wrote the screenplay and I’ve been fighting to get the money I need. If I don’t, we won’t be able to make it for a while.

Why is that so important?

Well, I’ve only directed two movies and I haven’t directed in ten years. I really love doing it, and this is a novel that I think could make a really cool movie. I adapted it a couple years and I’ve been trying to do it for the last three years. I really, really, really want to do it.

It sounds like a big, challenging project. When you’ve accomplished so much, are you still looking for things that challenge you?

Yeah, definitely. I just did this play in New York, Good for Otto, the new David Rabe play with my wife Amy. And it was definitely a challenge. A 14-character play. Every night, you’re out there and you’re trying to make it work. I still really enjoy what I do. The acting part of it is more fulfilling in theater than in film work, in a certain way. One of the things I love about directing is you’re constantly focused. You’re constantly occupied. For instance, in Westworld, I’m on set two days a week, and then I may not work for two weeks. I may not know I’m not working for two weeks because they don’t know yet. You’re on set for 12 hours and on camera for ten minutes. It gets a little bit old after a while. You try to keep a good attitude.

Would you consider directing an episode of Westworld?

Jon [Nolan] and Lisa mentioned it to me a while back, but I don’t think I’d be a good director for Westworld because I have a hard time understanding it. [Laughs.] I’m as confused as anybody else watching this thing. I don’t always know what’s going on.

Do you watch your past work? If The Rock is on cable, do you watch it?

If I’m flipping and I happen to see it, I might watch it for a little while. Just for fun. I won’t hunt it out to see something that I did.

What’s your airport question? What do people recognize you for and what do they ask you when they do?

It’s a wide variety. Sometimes people come up and say something like, “Milk Money is my favorite movie.” “All right, I’m glad you enjoyed it.” [Laughs.] A lot of guys go “The Rock! The Rock!” Or I’ll hear, “I really liked you in The Hours.” “Pollock is my favorite movie.” Now Westworld. More people have probably seen that than all the films I’ve ever made. It’s a little bit strange, but it’s alright. You get used to it. I kind of skulk around. I don’t ask to be recognized. I’m always wearing a hat and glasses. I don’t mind if people are polite about it.

You’ve been acting for 40 years. How do you think film and television have changed?

You’ve got, what, 500 scripted shows? I was talking to Amy the other day, and we get all these Emmy screeners in the mail, how could anybody possibly watch all of this stuff? They should have categories. Emmys for HBO. Emmys for network. Emmys for Hulu. That’s the main thing that’s changed — the amount of stuff being put out there is amazing. And in film, it’s all tentpole business. You go to a ten-movie theater and eight of ‘em cost $200 million to make. It’s very different.

So, how do you find what’s good through all the clutter?

There are a lot of good things. I was watching Atlanta last night and I just think the originality of that show is beautiful. You never know what’s gonna happen week to week. It’s so quirky and fun. It’s cool. That’s one of the good things. There are a lot of really good things written, produced, and directed that would never be done in film.

Do you think TV is at a more creative point in its history than film?

You know, there are so many independent films being made that you don’t even know about, I can’t really say. I think there’s a lot of wonderful, creative work being done. I go out the Sundance Film Lab every June if I’m not working. They’re very creative. They’re wonderful.

What’s next? Hopefully the Montana film, right?

If it doesn’t happen, I don’t know what I’ll do. I’ll keep working outside in my yard.

Is that what you like to do?

Yeah, I got some acreage. That’s what I like. Be outside. Close my mind.

[parisian-nicole]

The Rookie Fic (Bolan): Here Comes Trouble

Summary: Another Bolan (Bishop/Nolan) fic because I just love them. These stories have been in a serial format so it would help to read the previous ficlets first, which I will post the links of below. After the latest episode, Nolan decided to be there and offer his friendship to Bishop, but will she accept it?

1. A Bolan Friendship (aka - With a little help from my friends): http://parisian-nicole.tumblr.com/post/183668282987/the-rookie-a-bolan-friendship-fic

2. She’s got legs: http://parisian-nicole.tumblr.com/post/183712241992/the-rookie-shes-got-legs

3. Do as I say, not as I do: http://parisian-nicole.tumblr.com/post/183755851392/rookie-fic-do-as-i-say-not-as-i-do

Even before she had answered the door she had already known who would be standing on the other side. "Officer Nolan," She signed out as she slightly rolled her eyes, which had been looking downward when she opened the door, then she lifted them up to lock onto his eyes. "What are you doing here, at my house?" Talia Bishop asked as she stood in her doorway holding open her front door just a silver, as John Nolan stood on the other side looking as if he were trying to think up a quick lie.

"I just finished my shift and I was in the neighborhood and thought, 'Hey, I wonder what Talia is up to, maybe she'd like some company'," Nolan said with a small smile as Bishop stared up at him with a humorless look.

"Your fancy ass neighborhood is nowhere near here and I never told you where I lived," She offered.

"Okay, you got me," Nolan replied deciding it was always best to just be honest with Bishop as she had this knack for always knowing when he was lying. "Officer Lopez may have mentioned you lived here."

"Yeah, and she's now off my Christmas list," She sighed out as she leaned her weight more comfortably against her open door. "What do you want, John?" She asked in a tone that relayed just how tired she was, and the fact that she used his first name let Nolan know she did want company. Though she'd never vocalized that to him.

"I was just really worried about you," He answered honestly. "I heard that you were put on administrative suspension while they review your case."

"You don't have to worry, you will be assigned to a new TO."

"Yes, Sgt. Grey has already so graciously volunteered," Nolan stated with a soured look on his face as Bishop giggled a bit. "But I didn't come here about that. I am not worried about myself, I was worried about you, and how you might be doing. A very wise TO of mine once came by to check on me when I was going through a tough time after the Captain…" He didn't go on not wanting to dredge up those nightmares, and he didn't have to as Bishop fully understood. "She told me that when very bad things happen on the job we can sometimes go to a dark place and start bad habits, and she didn't want that for me. So, I'm trying to return the favor, and I brought refreshments," He announced proudly as he pulled the big bottle of vodka he had behind his back up for her inspection.

"I advised you 'not' to drown your sorrows in alcohol and you're here to return the favor with a big ass bottle of vodka?" Bishop questioned and Nolan instantly became embarrassed and regretted his gift idea. His mouth fell open to give an apology but he couldn't find the words. Bishop appreciated his concern and opted to let him off the hook this time. "Well, at least you've got great taste in alcohol," She said as she reached out, grasped the bottle, and then stepped back to offer him entrance. Nolan stood for a moment longer not quite sure if it was okay to enter or not. When Bishop arched a brow at him and nudged her head a bit he took the invitation and hurriedly crossed the threshold. "Thank you for checking up on me, John," She spoke out again as she made her way to the doorway to her kitchen with Nolan fast on her heel. "It wasn't necessary, but appreciated none the less," She said as she grabbed 2 small shot glasses from a top cabinet in her spacious galley kitchen that was big enough to have a large island in the middle. Nolan was very impressed by the décor of the home, which looked to be an older home from the outside, but the inside was very upgraded and modern.

"You have a very lovely home, Talia. When I pulled up I never would have guessed it looked this well designed on the inside," Nolan said as he took the glass of vodka she held out to him, took a sip, as he looked about the kitchen, which had high-end stainless steel appliances and granite countertops.

"Thank you," Bishop replied as she lit up a bit with pride. "It's been five years of hard work. Taking everything left over after paying the mortgage and utilities and pouring it into fixing up the inside. Figured since I would be dwelling on the inside I'd focus on that first, much to some of my neighbor's dismay. Some have complained about how unsightly the outside has looked for so long. I only have the spare bathroom upstairs and the basement to finish out. Then, I can start on the outside. At least that was the plan, but now that I will likely be out of a job here soon, I don't know what I'm going to do."

"Don't say that, Talia," John chastised her a bit. "They are not going to fire you, you are one of the best officers they have. I have not only heard Sgt. Grey say that about you, but many other officers too. Besides, this is all BS, I read the file," He offered and when she tossed him a disbelieving look he quickly tried to cover. "Which I know I shouldn't have done because I should mind my own business," He repeated words she had often told him.

"Right," Bishop responded as she shook her head a bit and downed her drink, and then poured herself another.

"But you know how I am, I…"

"You're too damn nosy for your own good," She offered.

"Sorry, I tend to get that way when someone I care about is in trouble when I'm worried about them," He said and she didn't argue his point, but simply gave him a nod to let him know she would let it slide this time. "When I read the file," Nolan continued. "It states that you were only in foster care with him, but he's not your biological brother."

"No, that doesn't matter to me," She cut him off. "Like I told Sgt. Grey, I don't care if it was just a year that we were in that hellhole of a foster home together, we were together and as far as I am concerned, he is my blood brother. and I'm no longer going to pretend otherwise."

"I understand, but the point I'm trying to make is, isn't the policy referring to 'blood' relations … Like sharing the same DNA. You two don't right?"

"No, not that I'm aware of," Bishop replied. "We just looked out for each other in our foster home, and we became family there."

"Then, you were not required to list him on your application. Regardless whether you think of him as family, family, he's not. Once, the Chief sees that he can't fire you, no way," He said with a smile as he took a sip from his glass. He noticed that she didn't seem to be happy or relieved by the news. "What's wrong? I thought that would for sure make you at least throw me a grin, smirk, or something. Your signature eye roll maybe?" Bishop shrugged her shoulders and then tossed back another drink and quickly replaced it with more.

"I just keep thinking that maybe things would have been different for him had I not acted as if he didn't exist. If I had been there for him."

"Don't do that," Nolan said as he shook his head. "A very wise woman once told me that we can't change the past, so we shouldn't fixate on that. We can only try to make a difference in the present and hopefully, it will ripple out into the future."

"Yeah, she sounds hot," Bishop joked which brought a big smile to Nolan's face as he knew she was lightening up a bit.

"A major hottie," Nolan affirmed and Bishop giggled a bit at his teasing.

"Thank you, John," She said with a more serious tone. "And if I have any parties you are definitely in charge of getting me booze. This is good."

"The perks of having and good friend and landlord who is wealthy and a bit of a lush," He said and then gulped down the liquid in his glass and then tapped the glass on the countertop. Bishop was finishing off her third shot and then she refilled his glass, which he quickly downed.

"Ughhh," Nolan groaned out as he shook his head a bit as if to clear away fogginess. "That is good stuff," He stated and Bishop agreed as she filled his glass again, tapped it with her filled glass, then they both drank it all down. "All right, where is the gaming system, it's been a while since I spanked you," Nolan claimed as he turned and headed to the living room, with Bishop stumbling a little as she followed behind him with her glass and the vodka bottle in hand. Once Nolan reached the plush, overstuffed sofa he flopped down upon it and then slid down to the floor and reached for one of the controllers that were already sitting on the floor nearby.

"I should warn you," Bishop spoke out as she ungracefully crumbled onto the floor right beside him. Had he not been there to shoulder her she would have fallen over completely. "I've been practicing with Bradford. So, prepare yourself because it won't be as easy as the last time we played a shooter game."

"All right, let's see what you've got," Nolan said as he started the shooter game that was already in the console.

Fin (for now)

[outfitandtrend]

[ad_1] In the latest Ladbrokes odds, Irish star Aidan Turner’s chances of replacing Daniel Craig as 007 have been slashed, and Tom Hardy, who is a firm fan favourite, and who has dominated the ‘next James Bond’ conversation for the last couple of years, is also taking a backseat to Bridgeton heartthrob Rege-Jean Page, who is the current ‘most likely’ pick, according to Ladbrokes. Rege-Jean Page’s Ladbrokes odds are 7/2, while Aidan Turner’s and Tom Hardy’s are 6/1 respectively. Henry Cavill is a tied third with Turner and Hardy, also with Ladbrokes odds of 6/1. The next most likely candidate after these guys is James Norton (8/1) and behind him Richard Madden (9/1). Then the high paying outliers are Idris Elba with odds of 10/1 and Sam Heughan with odds of 16/1. For those that have enjoyed Hardy’s performance as Alfie in Peaky Blinders and Farrier in Dunkirk (or Bane in The Dark Knight Rises), and who are keen for a Bond with a history of playing villains, this might be slightly disappointing news. But don’t worry: Hardy is still very much in the running, just with slightly better paying odds than Rege-Jean Page. Daniel Craig and Ana de Armas in No Time To Die. Image Credit: Eon ProductionsWith Daniel Craig now definitely retiring as Bond, Rege-Jean Page told The Mirror last year: “Ah, the B word. I think if you are British and do anything of note, that other people take notice of, then people will start talking about that.”“That’s fairly normal and I’m flattered to be in the category of Brits that people have noticed.”Rege-Jean PageHe refused to be drawn on his intentions, though, adding: “The concept of having plans in this moment in history is mildly hilarious. I’ve given up making them.” As for Hardy, he hasn’t wanted to say much, for fear of jinxing his chances, but he has been a smidge more vocal about wanting to play James Bond. “I’d love to play Bond with Chris Nolan or something. It would be awesome” he said in 2012 on the radio. A few years later, speaking to In:Demand Showbiz, Hardy said: “I think every boy wants to play James Bond to a certain degree.” A few years after that Hardy told The Daily Beast: “If I mention it, it’s gone. You know, there’s a saying amongst us in the fraternity of acting, and in the fellowship of my peer group, that if you talk about it you’re automatically out of the race. So I can’t possibly comment on that one.” And so the waiting game continues. Read Next Did you enjoy this story? If so, subscribe to our daily newsletter to receive our top tending stories. [ad_2] Source link

[briangroth27]

Ready Player One Review

I went into Ready Player One with polarized preconceptions. Several friends loved the book so I was initially excited, but in the run-up to the film's release hate exploded online and I saw all manner of spoilers and scans of troubling chunks of the novel, which made me much more wary. I still liked the story’s idea so the trailers’ focus on nostalgia didn’t bother me, but I didn’t know what to expect going in. I was pleasantly surprised: it’s a fun roller coaster! There are several strong ideas at play, even if they aren't fleshed out as much as they could've been. It definitely seems like most of the book’s problematic stuff has been excised, making for a fast-moving, enjoyable film with a strong, important message.

Full Spoilers…

Tye Sheridan was solid as Wade Watts/Parzival, a generally good guy obsessed with OASIS’ virtual playground and the quest to win control of it. Sheridan was awkward and geeky enough to sell a classic nerd persona without being so overbearing or unlikable that it's unbelievable Art3mis (Olivia Cooke) would fall for him (or that we would root for him). An altercation in the real world with Wade’s aunt’s (Susan Lynch) boyfriend (Ralph Ineson) was a nice moment for Sheridan to show Watts’ vulnerability and fear, giving a glimpse of how differently he reacted to challenges outside the OASIS. I would’ve liked to see more opportunities for that in the script, particularly after Art3mis meets him for real. While I was glad Wade was toned way down from what I’ve heard he is in the novel, I think he’s written a bit too safely. He’s likable, but he’s so much an everyman that he lacks conflict. I don’t think genuinely good characters are boring, but challenging their beliefs is a way to make goodness interesting and this film doesn’t do a lot of that. That could’ve been easily remedied by playing up a few aspects of the movie version to give him a stronger arc. For example, Wade’s poor and wants to win the contest so he can live a life of luxury (winning comes with a huge payday). Why not use that selfish—if understandable, in a world consumed by severe economic decline no one cares about because they all escape to the OASIS—instinct to spark more conflict with Art3mis, who wants to better the world with her winnings? Why not have Wade argue that it’s easier to play in the OASIS than to endlessly fight and maybe really die for people who don’t care about the real world? Maybe even let the promise of relaxation, safety, and an end to financial worries tempt her a bit so her values are challenged as well. When she beats that temptation to carry on with her crusade, Wade could also realize there are more important things than his own comfort.

Also, Wade declares his love for Art3mis way faster than anyone could reasonably love someone, somewhat undercutting the “take chances with your heart” lesson he learns later, so I wish the script had given him time to find out what real love is. He could still be intimidated by the enormity of real love, necessitating that lesson when actual feelings are on the line. While I don’t think their love story is any shallower than in the average film, that doesn’t mean it couldn’t have been deepened. Lean into Wade’s instant “movie love” and have it mess up Art3mis’ quest by making his help a hindrance for a while. His eagerness to connect with her does destroy his real life, but the movie only comments on how foolish he is to reveal his real name, not that his infatuation is the cause. I also wish there was much more reaction to Wade’s family being murdered; it radicalizes him to Art3mis’ cause (making his aunt into yet another woman in a refrigerator, unfortunately) and Sheridan is good at conveying the loss for the few moments the film lets him live in it, but beyond that it felt like the loss got forgotten somewhere. Even when Wade and his friends intercept villain Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn) as he’s exiting the OASIS and trap him in a simulation, Wade’s rage at his aunt’s death seems to be mostly an act, because he has a totally cool head as soon as he leaves Sorrento’s presence. Had the movie presented this as an example of how disconnected players had become from people in their real lives (even if they do make friends with people online), it would’ve been a strong, compelling rebuke of the OASIS. If that’s the intention, it needed a vocalized realization and a moment for Sheridan to explore it.

Olivia Cooke was awesome and driven as Samantha Cook/Art3mis, who—like others have pointed out—had a stronger plot and motivation than Wade did. Since her father died a debtor worked to death by the evil corporation IOI, she was out to prevent them from winning the contest and (in the book, so I’ve been told) wants to use her financial winnings to better the real world. I wish that end goal had been clearly articulated in the movie, because while I like the idea that the world is so bad that the only thing worth fighting for is an escape from it, the huge sum of money the players were competing for could make a real difference. Also, it might have been interesting for Art3mis to be out to shut down the game altogether. There's a literal "delete the OASIS" button—which I kinda wish was designed to look like the Ghostbusters’ Containment Unit—introduced at the end that's never referenced elsewhere, so why not tease it earlier as part of Art3mis' mission? Shutting down the game (and reimbursing everyone for their virtual loot) so that people would be forced to focus on bettering and living in the real world would’ve been a logical goal for her. That's where you could play up Wade's reverence for James Halliday (Mark Rylance) and his OASIS by making him argue for the importance of a game, leading to them compromising with the "close the OASIS on Tuesdays and Thursdays" idea at they implement in end.

Samantha immediately shutting down Wade shortening her real name to Sam after they met in the real world was a nice beat; it was a small moment, but it’s cool that she got to assert her chosen identity in the real world as well as online. I loved that she was weirded out by Wade saying he loved her so quickly and that she called him out on not really knowing her, instead only seeing the parts she wanted him to see. Those both felt like realistic reactions and smart commentary on internet (and real-life) interactions as informed by movies where all romance is a speedy fairy tale. I do wish they'd continued to subvert and expand on those ideas, however. They could've played up her insecurities about her real self beyond being embarrassed by a birthmark, which would've been a nice contrast to Wade's confidence in the OASIS vs. his considerably more fearful real-world persona. It also would've been nice if more than her birthmark had thrown Wade off. Props to him for not caring about her physical appearance, but that's a really low bar; why not include some personality traits he doesn't like? Different tastes in pop culture? Are there things about Wade or his interests she doesn’t like? At the very least, her rebellion could've fueled conflict between them and created much more drama than her apprehension about her birthmark did. Her drive could've been too much for him at first, since he just wanted a cozy life and she's putting her real self in danger. Now that I think about it, playing that up could’ve been a reference itself to Han and Leia in the original Star Wars. While conflict and challenges would’ve generated more sparks and, eventually, a stronger bond, both Sheridan and Cooke sold what they got and I liked them together. While I appreciated that they were drawn as more or less equally capable in the contest (and Samantha was definitely more capable in the real world), I didn’t need her to tell Wade she knew he'd win: it seemed less supportive and more like it undercut her own skills to nod at him being some kind of savior. She does get a lot to do in securing Wade’s access to the final challenge from behind enemy lines, though, which was cool and made winning a bit more of a team effort.

I liked Wade’s best friend Aech (Lena Waithe) a lot and the reveal that the male avatar was controlled by a woman was cool. It was also a nice touch that her mechanic skills weren’t received with shock once her friends knew who she was (and that she didn’t need to explain how she was such a good mechanic!). Waithe was good with what she got, but I wish they'd used her to explore the idea that the OASIS lets you be anyone and anything you want a bit more. Wade gets confidence, Samantha gets beauty and the power to strike back, and Sho (Philip Zao) gets respect beyond his years, but letting Helen articulate exactly what she gets out of the OASIS could’ve been a powerful moment and an argument for its positive aspects. I’m glad the movie at least nodded at her being a lesbian (by having her avatar enjoy making out with the Shining ghost (Gem Refoufi)) instead of ignoring that altogether, though that’s the perfect example of something that could’ve been expanded upon by giving her a moment to say the OASIS allowed her to acceptably live her truth. I wish we’d gotten to know Wade’s pals Sho and Daito (Win Morisaki) better as well. They could've at least had varied goals; rather than seeking control and fortune, maybe one of them could’ve just been down to complete the challenges like a trophy hunter in today’s video games. In general, I would've liked to see more of Wade's competitors before he brings everyone together at the climax. TJ Miller’s I-R0k is a great counterpart to Wade, given he comes off as a much more problematic nerd than Watts does, but he’s still essentially an IOI stooge rather than a player with his own agenda. Are there rebel Gunters Art3mis works with that do extreme things she doesn't approve of? There's only so much screen time, of course, but after the first leg of the Egg Hunt it felt like only the High Five and IOI were invested in the quest.

Mendelsohn was good as the evil businessman in charge of keeping IOI's profits up. That he wanted to monetize the OASIS by putting ads all over it and wanted to charge for its use made him a good avatar for both Hollywood leaning on nostalgia instead of creating new things and for the forces opposed to net neutrality, since this tech should be for everyone. The fact that he was greedier than outright mustache-twirling evil (until he started killing people) was a smart choice that kept him human. At the same time, that greed quickly led him down a "who cares" path: he has no concern about zeroing out everyone scrambling for the Easter Egg, which would bankrupt everyone against him (I hope Wade restored those players' coin counts!), and that was good character progression. I also liked his fake geek scene: being fed trivia to convince Wade they were the same (and his general exasperation with geek culture) was a good way to make him markedly different from every other character in the movie, particularly the younger generation. I also liked the change in his response to confronting Wade as an “inferior” geek and Wade as a competent rebel threat. I've seen it jokingly pointed out that a rich white guy like Sorrento just admitting he's a criminal and giving up at the end is the most unrealistic thing in the movie, but I think that's foreshadowed by Wade confronting him with the "gun." Nolan respects the gamers when they show the capability to end his life; as soon as they're willing to play by his rules, he takes them seriously and backs down almost immediately. Like Wade’s online courage and offline weakness, Nolan has an “avatar” of strength in the real world around people he believes are less than him. 

Contrasting with Sorrento, I really liked that the IOI researchers (Turlough Convery, Joe Hurst, Eric Sigmundsson, James Dryden, Danielle Phillips, Rona Morrison, Khalil Madovi, Morris Minelli) were truly invested in the outcome of the game and (eventually) watching Wade win it. Their glee at the success of the hunt and the purity of the final challenge added a lot of texture to them. They may have sold out to IOI (or simply been forced into working with them because of debt or promises of riches), but they weren't just heartless drones. While I appreciated that depth, I was a little confused about the power IOI wields in general in this world. One of their divisions seemed to be a (virtual) privatized debtor’s prison and I would've liked to see what that was like when not engaged in the egg hunt (assuming it existed before Halliday's challenge). That seems ripe for the potential to program nightmares into prisoner’s minds when the only crime was falling behind on their debts. I've been told that in the book, IOI's Sixers are more like indentured servants and I could see that spin in the film (particularly through Samantha's dad), but some clarity on what their actual power level and place in society was would've been appreciated, because it certainly looked like Samantha had been arrested by them. It was also a little odd that IOI could blow up part of the Cleveland Stacks and no authorities cared or even showed up until the end, unless that's a comment on the classism of this society. Despite that lack of clarity, "the common people vs. a corporation with too much power" is a solid theme and the movie plays it well. I also appreciated that Sorrento’s real-world muscle was headed up by a woman, F’nale Zandor (Hannah John-Kamen). She could’ve easily been a guy and most movies would’ve gone that way, but making her a strong, dangerous woman who didn’t like Sorrento that much was a cool choice. It would’ve been nice for Samantha, Sho, and Daito to be able to defeat her instead of Wade (who was focused on the OASIS during their fight), though.

I liked Halliday and his quiet sadness in the wake of the important lesson about connections he'd learned too late. He seems much more likable and understandable than what I've heard about his book counterpart. I'm pretty quiet in real life, so I could definitely relate to his difficulty opening up to people. The fact that his quest to know his favorite pop culture is really a quest to appreciate the game and the world outside by connecting with real people (first Halliday, then people in your real life) was an awesome twist. Whether Halliday is really dead or not doesn't matter to me; either way, he is free of his creation and has found a successor who can do what he couldn’t. Halliday’s programmed self leaving with his childhood self was a perfect exit from the story for him. Simon Pegg gave a solid, unexpectedly subdued performance as Halliday's former friend Ogden Morrow that I liked a lot. He had a good bit of tragedy to him over falling out with Halliday and I liked how he figured into the OASIS world. Serving as the docent of the Halliday museum felt like a cool way to honor his friend and preserve his memory while potentially trying to figure out exactly what drove them apart. I’m glad that the fact that Halliday was in love with Og’s wife wasn’t played to make anyone look bad—rather, it was treated as just something that happened—and the real tragedy was that they fell apart over something Og probably would’ve forgiven Halliday for had they just talked about it instead of Halliday bottling it all up inside (another lost connection).

I liked the references in Halliday's virtual world—I love 80s/90s pop culture—but almost none of the cameos stunned me. They were more like set dressing selling the idea of a nostalgia playground and that’s all they needed to be. If they were the real characters instead of players using avatars, we'd lose focus on Wade, Samantha, etc. and their struggle. While we do get glimpses of interests beyond the 80s/90s—the Adam West Batmobile, King Kong, mentions of steampunk, and disco music (bizarrely referred to as "old school"...all of this is old nowadays, not to mention to teens in the 2040s)—as others have noted it would've been nice to see more diverse fandoms represented by the Gunters, even while they were engaged in cracking Halliday's 80s/90s-focused challenge. It would've brought more variety to the characters. As for the contest itself, I loved the race and The Shining test a lot. The race for the first key, through a twisting and turning New York, was a great adaptation of racing games that made me think of Split/Second. It also featured two of my favorite cameos in the movie, Rexy from Jurassic Park and King Kong, because those “were” those characters. The Shining challenge for the second key featured an excellent recreation of Stanley Kubrick's movie before morphing into pretty much exactly what I'd imagine a bombastic video game version of that film would be, which was cool. That adaptation being hated by Stephen King was also a nice tie to Halliday becoming disillusioned by what people were giving up to use his game. Jack Torrence’s fall and attempt to destroy his family also feels like a pretty perfect (if extreme) parallel to Halliday feeling he’d betrayed his best friend by secretly loving his wife and cutting him out of the company. The chaotic melee leading up to the final key was fine, but full of players I didn't know or care about so it fell flatter than it probably should have (one of the "real" characters thrown into that battle gets a great moment, though). On the other hand, the final challenge was a nice, quiet moment that fit the film's theme and Halliday's lesson. It felt right to bring it all down to one player connecting with the designer of one game. The actual final challenge was perfectly personal too, but they totally missed a chance to homage The Last Crusade by having Halliday’s wizard avatar say “You have chosen…wisely.”  

I liked the ideas behind this world quite a bit. It’s definitely prescient to showcase a world in love with distractions and games to the point where they stop interacting with real people or doing something worthwhile with their lives (who among us hasn’t gotten distracted by Twitter or Facebook and put off doing something we should be doing?). They did a great job of showing how much people were wrapped up in their virtual lives, spending real money (even their mortgage money!) on virtual trinkets and upgrades. That real-world financial connection made the stakes high enough to carry the film for me. It's true Wade and the High Five are only fighting for a recreational toy (even if it has other applications like education) without having goals for their lives outside the OASIS, but in the dystopia they live in (and in our real world), people need a release and escape: our lives can't just be work/school, food, bathroom breaks, and sleep. That's why we go to movies and play games in the first place. It's why people shouldn't police what people on food stamps use them for; existence should be more than just existing. At the same time, remembering the OASIS is just a game, not the pinnacle of your existence, is a great message and the movie walks the line between these seemingly at-odds lessons very well. To that end, I wish they'd said the High Five were going to use their enormous winnings to make the real world somewhere people would want to explore too.

I'm interested to see if the novel expands on what you can do in the OASIS beyond playing. I did miss the first minute or two—I came in as Wade was introducing his treadmill/haptic suit—so perhaps some of these elements were referenced and I just missed it. I've heard kids go to school inside it and that's an interesting opportunity for students to be exposed to any facet of history/science/whatever in a tactile way through VR. I'd be interested to see how much work is done online in conjunction with OASIS applications, if any. Do people buy their food with OASIS coins? The more real-world things are wrapped up in the program, the more crucial it becomes to save it from a corporation that wants to eventually price people out of vital services. On a more personal level, seeing more people experimenting with how they present themselves to the world would've been great. If they can literally be anything or anyone, a lot of personal freedom is also at stake. Aech and Shao touch on this freedom, as does Art3mis with her idealized appearance, but I would've loved to see more, particularly with today's political battles over transgender rights. In terms of how people in this future interact with each other, I found it disheartening that even 30 years from now, in a world where everyone is constantly online playing in the OASIS, Wade still has trouble believing a girl—even the famous Art3mis!—could be an expert at trivia. This very modern problem doesn't come up much in the movie, but the Slappers Only line stood out to me. Wade and Samantha test each other on Goldeneye 64 knowledge, which is fine, but it's obvious by what she says that she'd know what Slappers Only is without Wade mansplaining it.

From the look of trailers, I never would've guessed Steven Spielberg directed this. However, he brought his trademark heart and humanity to the CGI elements and video game structure; even in unfamiliar trappings, it felt and acted like a Spielberg movie. Despite areas where the characters could've been fleshed out to create more conflict or explore the personal freedom of the OASIS, Spielberg's touch and the strength of his performers kept them likable and engaging. He also maintained a quick pace: this didn’t feel like a two and a half hour movie at all. I thought the CGI looked good, given this was supposed to be a video game with game graphics. Since it intentionally looked "off" from reality, it wasn't jarring to have anime-inspired avatars or constantly shifting geography. I liked that the score had touches of film scores from the 80s in it; those bits of nostalgia did get me. From the excerpts I've read online, most of the novel’s problematic elements were removed for the adaptation. Wade doesn't show any transphobia—Aech brings up the idea that Art3mis could be a guy and Wade denies it, but seems to accept that possibility anyway. They're worried Art3mis is a guy who’ll steal Wade’s coins, not that he’s a guy who wants to date him. There's no "masturbation manifesto,” no super-long lists of everything Wade has studied (partially because they can just show us all the references and partially because the movie has a more personal egg hunt). Wade's attempts to make Art3mis like him are also toned down or cut altogether, though I wouldn't have minded including one or two and subverting them to teach him that real love isn't like in a movie where grand gestures and "persistence"/stalking will get you everywhere. Unfortunately, it did seem like there was still a noticeable lack of content by female and minority artists, though. Thriller gets a shoutout, but only as a costume Wade considers wearing. As I’ve seen pointed out elsewhere, there was also a lack of 80s content that was geared toward girls. Why not have Jem and the Holograms playing the club Wade and Samantha go to or something? This section of the OASIS is curated to Halliday’s tastes, sure, but if we’re going all-in on the 80s and 90s, largely ignoring minority and female artists is a pretty huge oversight.

I don’t think my critiques here are about movie-ruining problems, just areas where a good, solid film could’ve been exceptional. Even if its characters could’ve been expanded to make more of an impact and statement, Ready Player One is definitely worth seeing! It's an exciting adventure with heart and a great, relevant message. I had a lot of fun and I recommend it!

Check out more of my reviews, opinions, and original short stories here!

[weekendwarriorblog]

Welcome to Awards Season Part 3 – The Performances of 2019

Okay, things went a bit haywire with my scheduling on what I hoped to be an ongoing (and weekly) column/series, but to be perfectly honest, I need to focus on paid writing work. I actually had a whole second part of the movies piece that talked about the movies that premiered in the September festival season and in recent months, but it was going very, VERY long, and I just didn’t have time to finish it. It would have been great, as The Godfathers* once sang, “If I Only Had the Time.” (*Look ‘em up on Spotify.. this is a real band and they’re awesome!)

Instead, as you can determine by the title above, I want to talk about some of the actors in this year’s awards races, which has become quite a bit more competitive than it has in years past.

What’s interesting about the Oscar acting race is that there are some really strong precursors like the Golden Globes, Critics Choice and SAG, but they’re all different groups with only SAG having any membership overlap with the Academy. All three groups have announced their nominations with the actual awards being presented over the next few weeks. The first two winners will be announced before the Oscar nominations on Jan 13, and then SAG announces a week later.

Another thing to note is that everyone has a different opinion of what makes a great performance. Some like really emotive performances, others appreciate transformative roles where you no longer recognize the actors, and in some cases, a movie just has such a good script that an actor’s ability to deliver those lines is enough to honor their roles. We have some of all of those below, and this has been an amazing year where we have a number of tough acting categories to fill.  

Often, all the voting groups might agree on three or four nominees in each acting category and there’s one or two slots open for others but this year definitely seems to be a lot of  possibilities with some categories only have one or two sure-things, which can lead to a lot of surprises when Oscar nominations are announced on Monday morning, January 13.

THE ONE-OFFS

There are a couple movies that are getting a lot of attention for their lead performances, usually title roles, and that’s almost the only thing that’s getting any mention. Two or three of these days may get Oscar nominations, but it’s repeatedly been tough for actors to win in movies not nominated for Best Picture and only one of these three stands a chance in getting more than an acting award.

Joker

Todd Phillips’ take on a Batman villain origin story doesn’t have a ton of agreement on why it’s good or bad, but one thing everyone can agree on is Joaquin Phoenix’s harrowing portrayal of Arthur Fleck, which actually gives the late Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning portrayal of the character in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knighta run for its money. Even though none of the other performances in the movie are getting attention, I totally can see this getting other nominations for screenplay, technical categories and maybe even Best Picture which puts Phoenix in good place as a front runner for lead actor.

Judy

Another brilliant performance that no one can deny is Renee Zellweggerchanneling an older Judy Garland in this biopic that sees the aging singer/actor trying to mount a comeback at a series of London dates. It reminded me a lot of last year’s Stan and Olliebut Zellwegger has never been better in terms of what she puts into transforming into Garland when onstage performing but also creating an incredibly emotional

Rocketman

Another movie that I wish was getting more transaction is this Elton John musical that’s filled with his music but is equally brilliant for Taron Egerton’s performance for the veteran music man, a role that involves him singing all of his own vocals (unlike last year’s Oscar winner Rami Malik in Bohemian Rhapsody) and performing very emotional scenes. I love the movie, and I was glad to see Egerton get both

Dolemite is My Name

The last time Eddie Murphy was seriously a contender in the awards race was for his supporting role in 2006’s Dreamgirls, although he ended up losing the Oscar to Alan Arkin after winning SAG and the Golden Globe. Murphy is going all-out for his portrayal of Rudy Ray Moore in a movie that harks back to James Franco in The Disaster Artista few years back. Murphy already received a Golden Globe nomination in the Musical/Comedy category where his toughest competition may be Taron Egerton, but Murphy’s comeback trail might be paved with a second Golden Globe after six nominations.

Hustlers

The other actor getting almost all the attention for her movie is Jennifer Lopezin this crime-drama set in the world of strip clubs, and she already has enough support that she could be considered one of the frontrunners in the supporting actress category. Still, it’s going to be hard for Oscar voters to take her or the movie too seriously due to the subject matter, so like Murphy, she’s doing a lot of extra-curricular stuff to get her out there (like performing half-time at the Super Bowl), which should guarantee Lopez a well-deserved Oscar nomination.

Us

Jordan Peele’s follow-up to Get Outmay not have gotten as much awards traction, but considering that it came out in March, the support its getting for its star Lupita Nyong’oboth from critics and from early awards voters is refreshing for her performance in what is a straight-up genre film. She did not receive a Golden Globe nomination but her SAG nomination over other favorites (like Awkwafina) makes her a serious contender for a second Oscar nomination. (She won the Oscar for her first nomination in 12 Years a Slave.)

Uncut Gems

After a strong platform release, the Safdie Brothers’ new crime-comedy-thriller (?), starring Adam Sandler, has opened nationwide, and Sandler’s performance is getting a lot of the praise and accolades for the movie, although he wasn’t nominated for a Golden Globe (possibly cause of the film’s confusing genre classification, although Sandler was previously nominated for Punch Drunk Loveyears ago). It did get a Critics Choice nomination as well as an Independent Spirit nomination, but it seems like a tough battle to convert that into an Oscar nod.

Harriet

There’s something to be said about Cynthia Erivo’s performance as Harriet Tubman in an otherwise weak biopic (compared to some of the others this year), but she has already been nominated in all three previous precursors (SAG, Golden Globes, Critics Choice) which puts her in a good place to get one of five nominations. The question is whether she’ll get a nomination on the merits of the movie and her performance or if it’s a response to #OscarsSoWhite and the lack of women of color other than possibly Awkwafina, which would put her up against Lupita.

Just Mercy

Destin Daniel Cretton’s adaptation of this popular novel hasn’t been getting nearly as much critical or awards traction as other movies, but it’s best bet is Jamie Foxxas a prisoner on Death Row, which also got a surprising SAG nomination despite not receiving any other awards.  We’ll see if the movie gets any traction now that it’s in limited release. It will only hit theaters nationwide just as the Oscar nomination process is closing.

THE ENSEMBLES

A good problem for a movie to have is to have so many great performances by its cast that it’s hard to just single out one great performance. Sometimes, this means that it’s best best is in the SAG Ensemble category rather than in individual ones, but there are a few where there are clear standouts in an overall great cast.

Parasite

Bong Joon-ho’s class dramedy-thriller has gotten a lot of love and attention from critics over the past year since it debuted at Cannes, and a lot of that is due to its amazing cast. There are great performances by mostly unknown Korean actors, some of whom have been working for decades in Korea but you’d be hard-pressed to get anyone to remember any single name. The one exception may be Song Kang-ho, who is easily the Tom Hanks/Cruise of Korea, having worked with Director Bong since the beginning of his career. Lots of

The Irishman

Martin Scorsese’s latest crime-drama about the Jimmy Hoffa disappearance has an amazing ensemble cast, although like Marriage Storyand others above and below, it’s getting the most attention for three amazing performances. Probably the most attention is being paid to two performances: Joe Pesci in his return to the screen after many years, reuniting with Scorsese, and Al Pacino, who shockingly never worked with Scorsese before, instead being the lynchpin of Francis Ford Coppola’s “Godfather” movies.  The irony is that they’re both supporting roles to that of Robert De Niro, who not only plays the main character but also originally found the book and brought the project to Scorsese. De Niro is really good in the movie, better than he’s been in years, but it’s not the sort of transformative or emotional role that often gets attention. The fact that BOTH SAG and the Golden Globes left De Niro off their list might prove that there isn’t nearly as much support for this movie, although it’s likely to get two acting nominations in the supporting category.

Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood

In some ways, Quentin Tarantino’s ninth movie is in the exact same boat as Scorsese’s, because it’s a great ensemble but three performances in particular are getting all the attention.Obviously, Leonardo DiCapriois well liked and well-respected by the Academy to receive as many Oscar nominations as he has (before winning for The Revenant), and he’s doing something very different in Tarantino’s latest, definitely more comical. It’s an interesting counterpoint to the performance by Brad Pitt, who is just so dominant in the film in every scene that it’s hard not to think that putting him into the supporting category might help him win much like Christoph Waltz did for Django Unchainedand George Clooney in Syriana. (Oh, the joys of category fraud!) Margot Robbieis also pretty amazing in the film as Sharon Tate, but it’s not nearly as moving and memorable as her performance in…

Bombshell

The Jay Roach-directed Fox News sex scandal movie was released a few weeks back and has expanded nationwide with not much of a fanfare, but the biggest support it’s received is from SAG, who gave it four nominations including the coveted Ensemble Cast nomination against some of the stronger Best Picture contenders like Irishman, Parasiteand Once Upon a Time. Charlize Theron’s multiple nominations as Megyn Kelly by most of the groups, including Golden Globes, definitely gives her an edge to get into the Oscar nominations, and Robbie’s portrayal of a composite character is also quite compelling. Amazingly, Nicole Kidmanalso received a nomination for her turn as Gretchin Carlson, a much smaller role, but that was from SAG, who has more in common with the Academy than other groups.  I’m a little bummed that John Lithgowisn’t getting more attention for his performance as Roger Ailes or Kate McKinnonfor that matter.

Little Women

This might be better off in the one-off category, because so much attention is being foisted on Saoirse Ronan’s second performance in a Greta Gerwig movie that other great performances are mostly being ignored. That is, except for Florence Pugh, who is just as amazing playing Amy in two different periods, both younger and more mature. Frankly, I think Timothée Chalametis also terrific (as he is in The King), as is Chris Cooper and Laura Dern, but people have issues with some of the choices made and the movie might be more impressive for Gerwig’s adaptation than any single performance. The fact that this didn’t get a SAG ensemble nomination in a VERY crowded year is somewhat telling, but Ronan was also left off the list which might mean she may have to watch this year’s Oscars from Ireland.

Waves

I also want to mention Trey Edward Schutt’s latest movie, which has fantastic performances by Kelvin Harrison, Jr, newcomer Taylor Russell, Lucas Hedgesand Sterling K. Brown, the latter giving a fine supporting role. Unfortunately, despite the critical support, this one seems to be getting lost in the shuffle of a busier-than-usual fall awards season. The fact that Brown has yet to receive a nomination means this one is probably D.O.A., but still a fine dramatic film.

MULTIPLE PERFORMANCE FILMS OF NOTE

The next few movies also have great ensemble casts but their focus seems to be even more radar-focused on one or two performances, which may be why none of them received SAG Ensemble nominations.

Marriage Story

Noah Baumbach’s relationship drama might be the only movie this year that has a chance at the extremely elusive ability to be nominated in all four acting categories, something we’ve only seen recently with two of David O. Russell’s movies, Silver Linings Playbookand American Hustle. A lot of attention is being focused on the powerful, emotional performances by Adam Driverand Scarlett Johanssonand rightfully so, but Laura Dernis pretty amazing as the latter’s divorce lawyer, and it’s so wonderful to see Alan Aldaon screen as one of Driver’s kinder lawyers. This might be another case where the screenplay is so good that all the actors are doing their best work, although the lack of a SAG Ensemble nomination (despite those great performances) and Baumbach not receiving a Golden Globe nomination for directing also puts a slight damper. So far, the first three actors have received nominations from every precursor group and that should help get them Oscar nominations, although Dern has the best chances at converting her nomination to an actual Oscar since she doesn’t have as much definite competition.

The Farewell

We then get into the Sundance premieres that I spoke about last time, and Lulu Wang’s personal dramedy about going to China to visit her dying Nana, who was unaware of her condition. The movie has a beautiful performance by Awkwafina, one of last year’s breakout stars.  She has already received Golden Globe and Critics Choice nominations but was ignored by SAG in favor of others. That doesn’t mean that she’s completely out of the race and to the actor’s credit, she’s been doing the most in terms of getting out there and talking about the movie/role, which will keep her on people’s minds when filling out their awards ballot. It’s hard not to give equal credit to the Chinese actress, Zhao Shuzhen, for her performance as Nana, although she hasn’t received nearly as much early awards recognition, just a Critics Choice nomination. If you remember, Alfonso Cuaron’s Romagot a supporting actress nomination for a lesser-known Mexican actress, so maybe this film will get similar love.  As much as I love this movie, I feel that both actors are starting to become outliers within very crowded categories, but it’s hard to deny what they both bring to Wang’s film.

The Two Popes

One of four Netflix movies that the streaming service is pushing is this drama that features a fantastic script by Anthony McCarten (Darkest Hour) and two amazing performances by Jonathan Pryceand Anthony Hopkins, which certainly deserve accolades. The question is whether the Academy members give much support to the movie over others in a very crowded year. If this movie is able to get a Best Picture nomination or screenplay, one can probably assume that one or both actors will get nominated but it seems like Hopkins has a better chance, just cause Pryce is competing in a much tougher Lead Actor category. Both actors received Golden Globe nominations and Hopkins was nominated for a Critics Choice nod, but neither received SAG nominations, which isn’t great for their Oscar chances.

Clemency

A movie that just got released (today, in fact) after first premiering at Sundance all the way back in January might be in a place where it’s been forgotten by some and not seen by others, which is a shame, since the performances by Alfre Woodard and Aldis Hodgeare two of the year’s best even though the movie is definitely a tougher drama, maybe even than the somewhat similar Just Mercy. Unlike that one, this movie probably won’t even get a wide release, so it will probably get lost in the shuffle.

The Report

Another movie that got a ton of attention out of Sundance but has lost a lot traction since is Scott Z. Burns’ political thriller starring Adam Driverand Annette Bening, the latter as Senator Dianne Feinstein, who oddly is getting more attention than Driver. (It might since Driver is so much better in Marriage Storythat few are paying much heed to his equally great performance in this.) Bening did get a Golden Globe nomination but no SAG OR Critics Choice, so it feels like she may be an outlier in the supporting actress category.

Richard Jewell

An otherwise decent real-life drama that has been mired in politics and other stuff is Clint Eastwood’s new movie about the Atlanta Olympics bombing and the title security guard, as played by Paul Walter Hauser, who helped save lives but then was accused of planting the bomb. Hauser is quite fantastic, as is Kathy Batesas his mother, but only the latter has gotten any awards attention with her Golden Globe nomination.

DECENT PERFORMANCES IN OTHERWISE TOUGHER SELLS

The four movies below are likely to be remembered as the movies that people liked but didn’t get as much attention for their performances as for more technical aspects.

The Lighthouse

Another movie that got quite a bit of critical attention at Cannes ala Parasite but hasn’t been able to convert that into much attention beyond that is Robert Eggers’ second movie that relies so much on the two-hander performances by Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe. Dafoe seemed like a shoe-in to get a fifth Oscar nomination for his role – personally, I thought he was better in Edward Norton’s Motherless Brooklyn– but supporting actor has just become far too competitive in the later months of the year.

Jojo Rabbit

Taiki Waititi’s Nazi satire has many fans – I’m not one of them – but winning the Audience Award at the Toronto Film Festival is one of the precursors for the Academy’s Best Picture category that can’t be ignored. On top of that, Scarlett Johansson (already sitting pretty with her inevitable Marriage Storynomination) was nominated by SAG and the Critics Choice in the supporting category, which shows support for the movie, even though the Golden Globes only nominated her co-star Roman Griffin Davisas filler in the Actor, Musical/Comedy category. (He also could be a frontrunner for the Critics Choice Young Actor/Actress.) The thing is that they might have a tougher time at the Oscars, especially with so many other options in the supporting actress category.

Ford vs. Ferrari

I guess I’m a bigger fan of James Mangold’s racing drama than many of my fellow critics, and yet, many were surprised by the amount of support that Christian Balehas been getting in the earlier side of awards season, most notably with SAG and Golden Globe nominations, yet nada from the Critics Choice (my own group!). That’s really interesting, and it shows continued support and respect for the frequently-nominated Oscar winner, and we’ll have to see if that can translate to another Oscar nomination.

1917

Sam Mendes’ movie is fantastic and is likely to get a lot of Oscar nominations and George MacKay’s performance is one that really should be getting more attention, although it’s likely to get lost in the shuffle of the amazing visuals and action of this very personal war movie.

Honey Boy

Another movie that is definitely getting a little lost in the shuffle is Alma Har’el’s narrative feature debut based on Shia LaBeouf’s screenplay, in which LaBesouf stars as a version of his own abusive Hollywood father. It also has fantastic performances by young Noah Jupe, also great in Ford v Ferrariand Lucas Hedges, but it’s a tougher movie and like Waves, it’s hard to get people to see this when there are so many bigger and stronger movies.

I have more to write about the Oscar race and maybe next time I’ll make some actual predictions… again, time permitting.

[onlyfools-fall-foryou]

So I wrote for the school magazine but this was never published because we ran out of time. Long story. Just gonna post this here.

Lina’s Completely Self-Indulgent To-do List for You and Me

Most of these listed items are pretty mature. By that, I mean high school and older.

Upcoming Movies: Dunkirk Why don’t we just watch all of Christopher Nolan’s movies while we’re at it? Dunkirk is, yes, another WWII movie on the side of the Allies, but it’s a Nolan film, so I’m not complaining. Nobody’s complaining. Like Nolan films, it’s incredibly star-studded, with his usual Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy etc. Nolan really hasn’t given away anything by his short and simple trailers, other than what people already know about the Battle of Dunkirk. (Spoilers, they get rescued.) Release Date: July 21, USA

Spider-man: Homecoming Can I just say, I am loving new spidey. That guy is ador(k)able. Marvel is finally giving us the sassy teenage Peter that we didn’t know we needed. Release Date: July 5, Finland

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets Luc Besson, director of /Leon, Nikita, and The Fifth Element/ decided to turn the futuristic sci-fi time-traveling comic series, /Valerian and Laureline,/ into a movie starring Dane DeHaan and the beautiful, beautiful Cara Delevingne. (I was slightly obsessed with Cara Delevingne in 2016.) Let’s just hope that Cara is better at acting here than she was in /Paper Towns/. Release Date: July 21, USA

Detroit From the only female director who has won the Academy Award for Best Director, Kathryn Bigelow, director of /The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty,/ comes another possibly scarring, possibly life-changing movie based on modern historical events. (By modern, I mean 50 years ago.) This time, it’s about the Algiers Motel Incident, taken place during the 1967 12th Street Riot that left three black males dead and two white females and seven black males brutally beaten by the police. Remember when I said this would be scarring? It stars John Boyega and many other beauties. Release Date: August 4, USA

The Dark Tower This is the beginning of a possible movie franchise adapted from Stephen King’s novel series of the same name. Starring Idris Elba as our formidable hero and Matthew McConaughey as our mysterious villain. If you’ve read any Stephen King or seen any adaptations, notably I’ve seen /The Mist,/ you know they’re chilling and terrifying and scarring. Watch with caution. Release Date: August 4, USA

Movies If you’re a nerd who likes to spend most of their life in a screen like me, just invest in a Netflix account (unfortunately, I get nothing out of this promo). And, all the Netflix original shows are top notch because Netflix goes all out on their shows. (Edit: DON’T TRUST NETFLIX. THEY MIGHT CANCEL YOUR FAVOURITE SHOW.)

Patriots Day (2016) It’s about the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombings. Apparently watching it the first time around is the best, according to my brother who watched it twice. For the first 20 minutes or so, you’re so tense because it’s just people getting ready for the marathon and you know what’s about to happen. That was interesting, because the movie did try to tense us up, but it didn’t try that hard. It was mostly our knowledge of the bombings that did most of the work. Most of the characters are real people, except for the main character played by Mark Wahlberg, who is fictional. It leaves you sweating from your pores (and tear ducts) at the end of the movie so drink some water before starting.

Moulin Rouge! (2001) If you’re into music, beautiful people dancing and singing, renditions of pop songs like “Smells Like Teen Spirit” or “Like a Virgin,” you should watch this sort of rom-com/rom-tragedy starring Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman. Go read my other article on page * for some extra info.

Inglourious Basterds (2009) Glorious cinematography. Glorious deaths. Glorious acting. The opening scene is pure gold. It’s one of those scenes you get completely lost in. It also gets you sweating from your pores. Everything from the cinematography and the acting and the set and music and everything is just so well done. Everyone who has seen this scene knows what I’m talking about. And of course, Mélanie Laurent is (one of) the main character(s) so that’s a lot of, em, eye cleansing.

Twilight (2008) Just kidding.

TV The Get Down Go read my other article on page *. Tl;dr: About the origin of hip hop in 1977 Bronx told around beautiful brown young adults with voices of angels.

Lost You have probably head of /Lost/, whether it’s something good or bad. Lost is infamous for its bad ending, which, I don’t think is that bad, but who cares about an ending when everything else is good? The premise is, a bunch of people were on a plane going from Sydney to LA but it crashes on an island. For the first couple episodes, you might think it’s just another survival show, but boy you are wrong. The episodes vary from present to flashback, the centric-character changing every episode. Try not to cringe too hard as Daniel Dae Kim completely ruins the Korean language. Lost is one of the shows I only watch when I have a lot of time because it and its soundtrack completely emotionally ruins me.

Books Sorry, this list may be shorter than the others because I shamefully admit, I don’t read as much as I watch. (Stop judging me, I know my brain cells are dying.)

Harry Potter Need I say more? If you haven’t read Harry Potter, where have you been and where is your integrity?

13 Reasons Why I read this book in the summer of 2015 and it was one of those books I couldn’t put down, not because it was so fun to read, but because my stomach was shaking with uncomfortable angst and I had to get it over with in order for my life to move on. It’s about a teenage boy who gets a mysterious tape one day. On the tape is a recording that a sort-of-friend/ex-crush, Hannah, made before she killed herself. The thirteen reasons are, yes, why she killed herself and are directed at 12 people in total (it goes to a person twice). It deals with some pretty mature content like sex, sexual assault, and obviously suicide. I think I was a little young to understand the book to its full potential, because the book is heavily about the relationship of Hannah and everyone around her and I didn’t realize relationships were so hard at the time.

Percy Jackson Yes, I can hear you snickering about how big of a nerd I am. I admit, I was obsessed with Percy Jackson, still low-key am, but to be fair, so was my mom! Whenever we would get a new book, my mom, brother, and I would pass it around none too patiently. Percy Jackson is definitely more for younger kids, i.e. middle school, because the level of darkness and death sort of stays the same throughout, unlike Harry Potter that matures along with us, becoming darker and darker. If you don’t know who Percy Jackson is, he’s the son of a mortal and Poseidon. He then struggles to save the world every book. The series really educates you in a fun way on Greek (and later, Roman, Egyptian, Norse, and who knows what next) mythology and it’s fun to see how the writer portrayed his Godly characters. It’s just a really, really fun read. Another perk is Rick Riordan seems to keep writing books, so the series doesn’t seem to ever end.

Music

Hamilton If you’re into American history, people of color, hip-hop, bromance, and death, listen to this amazing cast album of Hamilton: An American Musical (or watch the bootleg). Basically the story of Alexander Hamilton’s life, through childhood in the Caribbeans, coming to New York where dreams are made of, the American Revolution, trying to set up a government and finally his death. Will you become a non-functioning human for a couple days while you finish it? Yes. Will you start violently sobbing when you hear the name John Laurens? Yes. Will you start breaking into song and rap when you know you can’t sing or rap? Yes. Is it worth it? Yes.

Harry Styles Following the classic tradition of naming your debut album after yourself, Harry Styles comes back to the music industry with this album that is completely different from One Direction (before they started writing their own songs, so this album more like MITAM). After a year (and a half) of being in the new Nolan movie (life goals right there mm mm.) and chilling in the Caribbeans, he randomly dropped news of his single “Sign of the Times” and the rest of his album in April. The album is like a time capsule from the 2007s with a mix of the 1970-80s, giving off rock god and sappy indie breakup band vibes at the same time. I’m actually listening to it as I’m writing this right now, and gosh it is good. It’s Harry doing everything he couldn’t do in a band, every song has him straining his vocal cords and (*wipes away proud tear*) you can just imagine him jumping around stage and having the time of his life.

Other

Duolingo.com (Like I said, I get 0 money out of this.) Duolingo is a website for, you may have guessed it from “duo” and “lingo,” learning languages. It’s completely free, these people don’t even require you to “upgrade your account” to do all the languages. There are most of the European languages, some Asian languages like Vietnamese (Japanese and Korean etc are in progress), Swahili, and Klingon (in progress). You can choose how seriously you want to learn and set your daily XP goal. It sends you an email and application notification so you don’t forget (but of course you can turn it off) and there’s an app too. If you do it intensively (really intensively, like a couple hundred XPs a day), I think finishing a language course during the summer is possible. It’s such a good and wholeful website/app. I’m currently learning Norwegian so if anyone wants to join, halla at me!

Learn How to Box Finally, a non-nerd item on this list! More broadly, get in the habit of working out. Whatever we’re going to do in the future, we need the stamina for it, even if you’re just going to sit at a desk all day. I’m only putting boxing up there as an example because it’s fun and it makes you feel powerful. Not that I’m an expert or anything, I did like four months and quit (lol) but I still work out in various ways. Grab a friend and convince them to go with you. Working up a sweat, even for a short time, generally makes you happy. I don’t know how much this applies to other people, but personally, I spend my workout minutes giggling most of the time. When I’m doing something really challenging, I start manically laughing. This is also an excuse for you to get your mom to let you out of the horrible cycle of hagwons and tutors!

[northernscruffycat]

I was going to just talk in the tags, but I have too much to say, so have an actual reply. A lot of the results here are pretty surprising and different to what I’ve come to see from the Love Tangle fandom here on tumblr. There’s a few things that aren’t surprising though - Nolan is still #1 and Timo is still #2. As much as I personally hate Nolan, he is popular with the 50 Shades crowd who want their animu Christian Grey and they’re a large portion of the audience for this game. TIMO DESERVES TO DO WELL AND MAY HIS REIGN BE LONG AND FRUITFUL. All of the original guys did well, because a lot of people have been here from the start and attached themselves to their faves. Carlo is the only original guy who didn’t do well, because Carlo sucks and we all know it. Naoki coming #5 is also well-deserved and I wonder if he’ll rank even higher on the “best story” poll if they release those results. I’m also not surprised that Earl and Andrea did badly; I love both of them, but I know I’m in the minority there. Now for the surprising parts, because there’s a lot: Valentin coming #3 and Lex coming #4???? Lex is okay, but I hear a lot of people complain that his route was dull and he falls into LT’s over-populated “nice guy who doesn’t have much personality outside of being nice” category, so I’m surprised to see him score so high here. As for Valentin, I haven’t played his route myself, but I remember from doing Lex’s route that when the MC wakes up in bed next to him after a drunken night she can’t remember, that Valentin refuses to tell her if they slept together and then uses that to manipulate her. Yikes. So I can’t say that I understand the appeal of this twat and I’m actually a little worried that it’ll encourage Solmare to do more stories like that in future... Both Celina and Ivy did well, yaaay! Given the vocal backlash from homophobes back when Celina first came out, I was worried they’d do badly here. But I’m pleasantly surprised to see a lot of support for the girls and hope it means we’ll get more same sex options in future. Oliver also did pretty well! Considering that the writers clearly hate him, I’m glad the Oli fans showed up for this poll. Hopefully it’ll mean they’ll actually make more effort to write him better and include him in future. Silvan and William both didn’t do as well as I expected. Which is a shame, because I feel like Solmare were under the impression that Silvan was popular, which meant we got loads of content for him. Now they know this isn’t the case I hope it doesn’t mean we’ll see less of LT’s most hilarious character. Perhaps the biggest shock of the poll - LUMIERE DID BADLY!! DDD: We all seem to love Lumiere around here, so I’m honestly shocked to see him and Yangzi both get terrible scores on the poll. Wait no, actually this is the biggest surprise... PAUL DIDN’T COME LAST. Not only that, but he beat Moses. Isn’t Paul hating our biggest meme? Though I guess it’s reached the point where we hate him so much that it cycles back around to liking him? But I’ve been enjoying that the writers themselves seem to joke about hating him now as well, so I hope that doesn’t stop. As for Moses, I honestly thought he was more popular, but I never fully understood why they felt the need to add a third character to Julia’s place of work, since Timo and Paul felt like enough, so maybe he just feels too redundant for most? That’s definitely an issue for me, anyway. Looking at the very bottom, we have Henrik and Jonas, neither of whom I like, so I can’t say I’m disappointed by this. Jonas coming dead last crowns him as our newest most unpopular boy, which he probably deserves even more than Paul, because at least Paul’s funny. Jonas just kind of replaced Andrea as the reporter while having a worse design than Andrea. ANYWAY, I’m glad they shared these results and I’m curious to see how this might affect LT in future, as well as if they’ll share the results for the other polls from the survey. P.S. For the record, I voted for Celina. I was between her and Timo, but clearly Timo didn’t need my help to do well haha.

I was surprised at Valentin and Lex's popularity!

[ellieashcroft80-blog]

Res Streaming Company For Pono.

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Also Arena (Daggerfall's older sibling) had a gigantic map, however the huge large number from it was filler; unfilled, content-free transition areas that had no bearing on the activity whatsoever. Part moment game, part dancing from fatality, that is actually listed below that the elegance of Black Spirits the Parlor game and also undoubtedly Sulky Souls on its own may definitely be actually found - that is actually certainly not unfair, you merely should take note. Nevertheless this is a gorgeous activity with or even without HDR (yes I tried it each ways). Isobel that can easily review tarot memory cards and also begins a passion along with her that might aid him win the game when Marco develops in to the adult years he meets a younger female. The very first authorities photos from the 7th period have actually additionally been actually launched, with HBO supplying 15 gos from the future collection of incidents. I discovered on my own applauding for him constantly throughout the story, or even when suspicion is cast his means multiple opportunities (which each was rightly as well as wrongly cast), I couldn't have cared much less. Our team have actually said nothing about this. Our company don't also recognize that you'll be actually participating in as. Our experts possess no idea how that are going to be looping to Season 2 or the Michonne collection. 2 more other games you couldn't think of, however all together manage to flaunt the different facets of the console. Moreover, in the process of time I have seen to my agitation that, when large staffs are involved, there additionally turn up resentments, favouritism and national politics in the activity. Chronicled due to the Guinness World Records, Runescape is actually looked at the planet's very most well-liked totally free MMORPG, with over 200 thousand enrolled players, as well as the best frequently updated video game. The Mobile Application Trends Set is assisted by Sourcebits, a leading designer of functions and ready all significant mobile phone systems. A lot of game manufacturers and also executives do not participate in, know, or perhaps like activities.

[furederiko]

After a whole month* of absence, the Random-News-Digest has returned! It's the 1st of the month and also for the year 2017. *) Technically, it's around 2 months, since my last R-N-D was published on December 12th, 2016.

NOTE: Starting with this post, expect to see several news to be put in a joint category. For example, all things related to Marvel Studios will be put as one section, while Marvel TV's shows will be a separate one. Occasionally, some will show up as a standalone though, it all depends on the situations and conditions. It's an attempt to make the post more... shorter and concised. That's the intention, at least. LOL.

Disney Live Action

Back in the 90s, the classic animated movie "Beauty and the Beast" had an original song by the same name, that became a huge memorable hit. With combination of powerful vocals by then-rising star Celine Dion, and well-known soul singer Peabo Bryson, the duet took the world by storm. I doubt there's even anyone who have never heard of this song. Which is why, it's a huge task for the current generation of singers to deliver this song with the same amount of heft, as part of this year's live action remake.

And that privilege has been given to Arianna Grande and John Legend, while Dion herself contributed a new solo song "How Does a Moment Last Forever" to the movie's soundtrack. Walt Disney Pictures officially released an audio-only VEVO for this 2017's version duet, and if you have ever had any doubts about the quality of both Grande and Oscar Winner Legend, then well... you can stop worrying. I admit, they don't sound like Dion and Bryson. But you know what? A good singer needs to make a song their own, and in that regard, Grande and Legend have succeeded. All the while, the classic vibe and feel of the romantic song remains in tact. Uhmm... scratch that, they also made it sound... modern too. Sure, the music feels oddly like... karaoke, but when Legend's voice came in I felt the exact same shivers I had when I listened to the original for the first time.

You can also listen to the song, while it's serenading the movie's Final Trailer. Yep, Disney has released one last marketing push for the movie, although in my opinion it's really NOT necessary. And trust me, I advise you (especially those who have NEVER seen the animated version) to NOT watch it. Because well... it practically spoiled like 80% of what's going to happen in it *sigh*. Thankfully, aside from a few seconds of Emma Watson singing "Something There", none of the musical numbers have been used in the trailers. Which is perfectly GOOD, because I prefer hearing them directly in the theatres. Okaaaaay... I might have spoken a little TOO SOON. The Golden Globe TV spot has already featured Watson's version of her Belle's solo number by the same title... "Belle". Dang it Disney, STOP IT... just STOP! I know it's completely my fault for running into that video, but pleeeaseee! Keep everything else a surprise, okay?! *sigh*

DC Films

In case you've been living under a rock (which is perfectly cool, by the way, it's your choice), or have been removed from modern civilizations for the past few weeks (which is... also cool, because sometimes a retreat to the wilderness IS necessary), actor Ben Affleck has stepped back from directing the next Batman solo movie. Yes, eventhough I believe that's part of the deal when he jumped in to play grumpy murderous Bruce Wayne for DC Films. Talking to Variety, Affleck stated that he chose to focus on the lead actor role and handed over the directorial duty to someone else. Why? Is it because the costume will be too uncomfortable for him to work both side? That's a possibility. Perhaps he went a little anxious after his much-buzzed movie "Live by Night" failed to please... practically everyone? Or is it because, there's a brewing storm behind "Justice League" that gave him... cold feet? No matter the reason behind it, I think this is a huge loss for a potentially-great movie.

Then again, not just the studio (as proven by them trusting Zack Snyder and David Ayer over and over again), apparently the fans are more desperate and concerned about having the movie MADE, instead of having the right people come in to ensure its QUALITY. Proof? Immediately after the news went large, many fansites wasted no time to speculate and fan-cast their favorite directors, whom they hope will replace Affleck in the directorial chair. Although I bet the seat is still warm, Affleck's name faded from everyone's head so quickly! My condolences to him for experiencing what Tim Miller had with the second "Deadpool" movie. So yeah, one thing for sure, that tentatively titled "The Batman" WILL definitely see the light of day. Right now, Warner Bros is actively looking for Affleck's replacement, assuming they want to be on time for their schedule to release the movie next year (alongside James Wan's "Aquaman" and Margot Robbie's "Gotham City Siren"), of course.

Meanwhile, the same thing isn't happening with the other movie, "The Flash". After two consecutive directors walked out due to 'creative differences', WB has decided to do a page-one rewrite of the script, which if I recall correctly was done by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Who, by the way, were initially considered to direct the movie too, before moving on to "Han Solo: A Star Wars Story" at Disney. Joby Harold, a guy whose name I'm NOT familiar with has been tasked to do this ordea... er, I mean responsibility. This means, highly likely it will NOT be released in 2018 as previously planned. Why? Not only things will be restarted from scratch, lead actor Ezra Miller has a commitment to star in the second installment of "Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them", and the production is expected to begin around July. As I've said in November, the earliest for him to start working in this movie is Fall 2017 for a release date of Winter 2018. But that was when there's an existing script ready to be filmed.

What's happening with "The Batman", "The Flash", and the wise delay of "Justice League 2" (should we even be surprised? They kept releasing more uninspiring still from the movie) only proves that WB has yet managed to have proper footings with their DC adaptations. Let's just hope that those are just minor necessary setbacks from the DC Universe in order to move smoothly in the future. After all, "Green Lantern Corps" has hired Justin Rhodes and everyone's favorite person David Goyer to write the screenplay, while "Shazam" and "Black Adam" have been reported to be made into separate movies to accommodate more of Dwayne Johnson's star-power.

LEGO Movies

Feel free to call this shameless bragging, but I trust my gut instinct. Many times it has proven to be correct. A recent good example of this, is my genuine hype as soon as I saw the first trailer for "The LEGO Batman Movie". Ignoring the obvious fact that I always have a soft spot for LEGO's animated adaptation, I had this feeling that the movie will be fantastic. Which was, a complete opposite to when I saw any (yes, all) of the live action DC Films so far (don't get me wrong, 'DC Films' obviously refers to ones released prior to Nolan's trilogy). Guess what? Critics are loving the movie too!

The Guardian called it "a relentlessly funny superhero movie". Variety called it as "kicky, bedazzling, and super-fun". Den of Geek said that it's "a second straight victory for the Lego franchise on the big screen", and similar to Polygon, likened it to the famous "The Dark Knight". IGN gave it an 8,5 out of 10 score. You can check out many other sites to read their thoughts on the movie. As of writing, its RottenTomatoes' accumulated score (remember, the site only aggregates score from various places, not rates their own) is sitting at a comfy 98% out of 40 critics. Something that neither "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" and "Suicide Squad" were able to accomplish. Nope, both started out under 50%!!! Of course, this score will fluctuate in the coming days and weeks, and it is the final score that will actually count more. But really, this IS a great sign.

You know what is the lesson that I hope WB would learn from this success? HIRE THE RIGHT MAN for the job and RESPECT the source material! Stop relying on snobbish arrogant hacks like Zack Snyder, David Ayer, and the likes who wants to have their way without honoring the comics. Hire the right people and DC Films will no doubt be equally a success. And now that I think about it... on a lesser note, why not focus on animations instead? Back during the Bruce Timm era, their DC properties have been nailing the animated superhero market for years. Completely towering over the competitor Marvel by a huge margin. Yet they somehow decided to focus on the dark, gritty, and gloomy live action adaptations (thanks to New 52), with ripple effects that ran through many mediums, including the DC animation movies (starting with "Justice League: Flashpoint"). That's when DC direct-to-videos animated movies became... dull and boring as well. "The LEGO Batman Movie" is a return to the fun escapades, an easy proof of what DC should've done. This movie, alongside the carefree "Justice League: Action" series are exactly what WB needs for their DC properties! Assuming they want to win over fans of all ages, of course.

Unfortunately, I don't think I'm going to be able to watch this movie at the theatres. With the current financial condition, I will need to wait until the home video is released. But hearing positive praises and recommendations from critics is already enough to make me happy. As in, FINALLY, there's a theatrical DC movie that's worth-watching after "The Dark Knight". If you're not convinced just yet, check out the 'technical' "Behind the Brick" featurette for the movie, or the fun "Gotham Cribs" specially hosted by Batman and his... uhm, roommate Bruce Wayne (who gives some shirtless fanservice too... Wooooo!!! XD). Want a song instead? Check out the official LEGO Batman theme, in the tune of "Everything is Awesome" from "The LEGO Movie". Yes, even if you're not a DC fan, according to critics, if you loved "The LEGO Movie" then high chance you're going to love this movie as well!

To complement the movie's success... there's also a recent news regarding "The LEGO Ninjago Movie". Yep, a title that will be released this year, the one I've completely forgotten about. Just yesterday, USA Today exclusively shared sneak peaks of the movie, and well it looked... uhmm... weird. I didn't have issues when I first saw the image of Garmadon, or Sensei Wu. But when I saw the Ninja, I seriously gasped. Honestly? I'm NOT too keen on how they look... different compared to the TV ones. WHY the need to change their hairstyle? To make more merchandise? Also, do we need big name actors to bring them to life? What's the problem of using the exact voice cast of the TV series? Do their their names not... selling enough? I have to say, as a devoted fans of the franchise, this reveal somewhat annoyed me.

Yes. The report also confirmed the voice cast. I have to use the word 'confirmed' because apparently, these names have already been leaked/revealed back in June 2016. Courtesy of fansite Brickset, who stumbled upon the names during the Licensing Expo 2016. I'm genuinely surprised that it went off radar that easily, particularly mine, who had seen all six seasons of the show and can't wait to see more. Anyway, the cast consists of Jackie Chan as Sensei Wu, and the newly announced Justin Theroux as Garmadon the big bad. The ever talented Michael Peña will voice Kai, Kumail Nanjiani as Jay, Zach Woods as Zane, and Fred Armisen as Cole. Garmadon's son (assuming the movie follows the plot of the series) Lloyd is confirmed to be the lead protagonist, and will be voiced by Dave Franco. While Abbi Jacobson is set to voice the odd-haired Nya, who (once again, assuming it's similar to the series) is Kai's sister. While admittedly these are great names, somehow I feel like some of them are... voicing the wrong character. For example, I figure Peña should be the one doing Cole (considering many fans have likened the character as hispanic), while Franco's playful voice would be better as Jay or even Kai instead of Lloyd. Jackie Chan is a terrific actor, but him as Wu? Hmmm....

But that's not all that concerns me. It's what Franco said that made me worried. "They may be really cool as ninjas and the Ninjago world adores them, but at school they’re the geeks and nerds who are ignored.". At... SCHOOL? And NERDS? Huh? People who are clueless about the franchise might find this to be 'good', but I honestly wonder if fans would be pleased with these changes. I know I'm not *sigh*. Oh well, I can only hope this movie will not prevent the 7th season from happening, because I'm more looking forward to that one. "The LEGO Ninjago Movie" is set to arrive on September 22nd, 2017.

Marvel Studios

It's Super Bowl time of the year, a time where people came or tune in TV for sport, and movie studios used it to tag along for promotions. True to the earlier report, Disney released two new trailers for their upcoming movies. Everyone's easy guess, was that "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" is one of that, considering it's among the House of Mouse's first Summer movie of the year. And well, that was correct, with the other one belonged to "Pirates of the Carribean 5". Not long after USA Today released several new official images (which looked really good, especially Mantis), Disney officially released the Super Bowl trailer online.

It became the most watched and talked about trailer throughout the game, and true to director James Gunn's tease, fans have gotten their first look of Elizabeth Debicki's villainous Ayesha. To be honest, I never thought it's really that hard to imagine how she would look. Just photoshop Debicki with a golden skin, and you have Ayesha! Surprisingly though, she looked... a little different than the one shown in the official LEGO tie-in sets. Perhaps because in the trailer, she's covering her long wavy golden locks in that royal helme... er, tiara thingy? That might be the case. Don't believe me? Go ahead and check out the trailer's breakdown, courtesy of SlashFilm. Kurt Russel's Ego the Living Planet is the only character we have yet seen so far. Perhaps Marvel Studios is intent on keeping him longer in the dark to avoid... giving away too much of the story?

Marvel Studios also released a new official poster to accompany the trailer, and well... it also looked really good. Brilliantly artistic, I should say, because it works well with the 'Volume 2' title and also Chris Pratt's Star-Lord's personal signature. Despite looking funky, it does not go excessively beyond borderline ridiculous like those... uhm skwad ones (Yeeessh!!! who designed those?). Embargo for the set visits have also been lifted, and various entertainment sites have begun running their reports. Haven't had time to read these set visits, but will do it later today when I have the time. Or tomorrow. But to be honest, I don't need to know more about this movie. I'm already sold about it even before it is announced. LOL. With Gunn himself confirming on social media that Tyler Bates' score for the movie has been completed, it looks like the movie is very close to finish. After all, it will premiere earlier in various countries. I think it'll arrive in April here too! I'm personally curious and can't wait to hear responses from the early screening!

Skipping "Spider-Man: Homecoming", and moving on to "Thor: Ragnarok", director Taika Waititi has confirmed that actor Sam Neill will indeed have a role, albeit minor in his upcoming movie. And he's not alone as an alumn from "Hunt of the Wilderpeople", because he will be accompanied by another actor from the movie. Who is it? Waititi himself!!! LOL. In case you forgot, this quirky director is also an actor, and he did have a brief but really memorable part in that critically-acclaimed movie. Revealing what he played in "Hunt of the Wilderpeople" might be regarded as spoiler, so you've just got to see that movie yourself to know what it is (don't worry, it's HIGHLY recommended). But if you're looking for a quick sample to know whether the New Zealander can act or not, back in 2011 he played Hal Jordan's best friend in the critically-panned "Green Lantern". Arguably not the best example of his talent, but it'll suffice. Especially because he's one of the element that was good in that... uhm, 'bad' movie. My problem with "Thor: Ragnarok", is that up until now, we haven't had a teaser nor trailer for it! I was counting on the Super Bowl for the teaser, but that's not the case. So how the tone and everything else will fit is still everyone's guess. I do trust Marvel Studios though. I'm sure they fully believe in Waititi, so perhaps we should all just follow suit and rest at ease.

Ryan Coogler's "Black Panther" has begun production last month under the working title "Motherland". Through its official announcement, Marvel Studios confirmed that Andy Serkis will return to reprise his role as Ulysses Klaue. Martin Freeman was also confirmed to return as Everett Ross, but this isn't new since he has been spotted alongside lead actor Chadwick Boseman, and actresses Lupita Nyong'o and Danai Gurira before. In the comics, both characters are closely related to Wakanda, so their inclusion is more than obvious. The movie is also expected to have a big action scene in Busan, South Korea. Does this mean we can expect Claudia Kim to reprise her role as Dr. Helen Cho as well? Eventhough the movie has a high-calliber cast that makes everyone (including mine) shakes head in awe, this movie is still lacking some Asian-colors, am I right? Then again, Busan might simply work as a stand-in for the high tech nation of Wakanda, so the movie's setting might not necessarily take place in the East Asian country. I really shouldn't get my hopes up too soon.

At the same time, the much-anticipated "Avengers: Infinity War" has also begun production. This movie will be filmed concurrently along with the currently UNTITLED Avengers movie, that is set to be released on May 2019. Not just in Atlanta, the film will also shoot in several locations around the world, like London, Scotland, and likely others. Oddly, Marvel Studios has yet to release an official cast announcement for the movie. Possibly to avoid spoilering the story, or some other technical reason. So while we wait for that to happen, all we can do is observe movements and activites of Marvel Cinematic Universe's various actors on social medias to guess whether they are in it or not. Some names like Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Olsen, Jeremy Renner, Benedict Wong, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementief, and others have been confirmed thanks to keen-eyed fans. This include possible new cast members, like Peter Dinklage who is widely speculated to play Pip the Troll thanks to his newly dyed red hair. Expect to hear more of this behind the scene scoops throughout the production. If checking various social medias sounds exhausting, not to worry, because fansite MCUExchange has been keeping track of who's in and who's not. You can follow their updates for convenience.

During the set visit for "Vol 2", Marvel Studios' president Kevin Feige also revealed that Josh Brolin's Thanos will serve as the 'main character' of the movie. This is an interesting approach, and a conscious decision by the Studio as a response to the frequent criticism about their 'weak' antagonist characters. Feige is clearly aware of this much-talked about complaints, "A big criticism of ours is that we focus on the heroes more than the villains, I think that’s probably true. I don’t think it will always be true.". It'll be intriguing to see how this applies to "Infinity War", and moreso, critics and especially audience's reaction to it.

Marvel TV

Marvel TV has officially announced the core cast of their two upcoming shows! And both of them are YA titles...

The first one arrived for Freeform (formerly ABC family) and Marvel TV's first collaboration: Marvel's "Cloak and Dagger". MCUExchange initially ran a report mentioning Debbie Ryan and "Heroes" alumn Noah Gray-Cabey as the contenders, but the official press announcement immediately debunked that just a few days after. Young actor Aubrey Joseph has been cast as Tyrone Johnson, who will possess a 'dark' power to teleport others using his Cloak. While former Disney Channel's Olivia Holt has been cast as Tandy Bowen, who is able to manifest the power of 'light' in form of daggers. Just like the comics, the show will focus on both late teens's struggle with their new powers, as they fall in love with one another. Really, it's a YA love story, not unlike... "Twilight"?

Marvel TV's Jeph Loeb and showrunner/Executive Producer Joe Pokaski voiced their excitement and praises for the two young actors. In my opinion? I think the two looks great for the characters, particularly Holt. I'm not too keen on Joseph, but at least this one's much better than the previously rumored actor. Looks-wise, of course.

The second one, came for the more anticipated "Marvel's Runaways". Marvel TV officially announced that their collaboration with Hulu will star: Rhenzy Feliz as the nerdy African-American Alex Wilder, Lyrica Okano as the goth Nico Minoru (Sister Grimm), Virginia Gardner as the model-perfect Karolina Dean (Lucy in the Sky), Ariela Barer as the brash social justice warrior Gert Yorkes (Arsenic), Gregg Sulkin as the seemingly-dumb jock with untapped engineering skill Chase Stein (Talkback), and Allegra Acosta as the innocent Molly Hernandez. There isn't an official word yet, but this show has said to be ordered straight-to-series by Hulu.

To be honest, I'm not fluent with the comic series, and I haven't heard or seen any performances of these actors. But judging from their headshots alone, and comparing it to the character images the internet freely provided, I believe they look spot-on! They already looked like they jumped out of the comics, if you ask me, and with a simple touch of makeup, they will be even similar. So yeah, even I feel impressed by these names. And when people who are familiar with the series are saying good things, it seems more and more certain that the series will be good. Not to mention, Brian K. Vaughn who co-create the comics himself is onboard as Executive Consultant. This obviously gives audience a much higher assurance. For now, no names are confirmed for their 'villain' parents yet, nor whether this live action version of Nico will have any familial connection with Linda Louise Duan's Tina Minoru who debuted in last year's "Doctor Strange". I think it would be wise if they are indeed mother and daughter, to establish the show's place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But I'm not counting on anything, considering the gap that's been developing between the movie and TV side.

If the recent report could be trusted, then both series will begin production this month. "Cloak and Dagger" will start filming on February 14 (which makes sense, since it's a love story), with a working title "Shadows". It will take place in New Orleans, which is a change from the comic's setting, and the show is set to arrive next year. It is unclear when "Runaways" will begin production, but the show is expected to debut earlier, which is this Fall. Its working title is called "Rugrats".

Speaking of production, if another recent report is also valid, then Marvel TV's third new show is expected to begin production soon. Yep, Marvel's "Inhumans" is said to begin filming next month, between Chicago and Los Angeles. I'm not too sure about the source, but it makes sense considering the show has set a surprisingly fixed IMAX debut date in September. Not just those two areas, there was a report that said the series will also be filmed in Hawaii. Assuming these reports are true, that means we can also expect to hear casting announcement for Marvel's royal family pretty soon.

Marvel TV has already hired a director in Roel Reine to direct the first two episodes (which will be shot as an IMAX movie format), with a familiar Marvel TV-Netflix collaborator's name, Scott Buck as the showrunner. Although the Dutch director's name is still fairly unheard, and his portofolio in the US isn't actually... encouraging, he has indeed won the Dutch equivalent to an Oscar for a theatrical feature entitled "The Delivery". So perhaps, it's already in good hands? Anyways, that means all we need now is the cast, which for me personally, might very well be the make-or-break element of them all. Two actresses have been rumored so far, based on their social media activities, and honestly, I don't think they are a good fit. But rumor is just rumor until proven otherwise. So while I'm feeling genuinely worried, I can somehow be hopeful too.

If I had to choose which one I want to watch among these three, it's the second show that intrigues me most. "Runaways" easily comes on top, due to the talents alone. "Inhumans" comes next, though as I said, I can't help but feel more worried about it more than the others. I'm not too sure whether Marvel TV has the chops or creds to deliver such grand scale, but that's just a subjective perspective. "Cloak and Dagger" comes third is on list, eventhough I'm a fan of the characters in the comics. I don't know why, but I'm just not feeling it for some reasons. I hope I'm just alone thinking that way though, because expecting a new show to fail so early is just too despicable of an act for me to pull off. Of course, I also don't have any accounts for both Freeform or Hulu, and not planning to obtain ones just to watch one show. So the chances of me seeing two of these shows are VERY slim. Thanks to that, in the end "Inhumans" will likely be the one I'd end up watching. But let's just wait and see what happens when the time comes, all right?

Netflix

As for the Netflix side of Marvel, there are buzzes that we'll be getting a new trailer for Marvel's "Iron Fist" soon. Which is not surprising, considering all 13 episodes of the show will premiere in just a month and a week away! Several new official images have been released, showcasing the core cast of the series with no additional details whatsoever. This new series is the one I'm looking forward the most among the 'Netflix Defenders', so I'm crossing my fingers that it wouldn't disappoint.

At the same time, production for the next two shows continues to roll. Gettyimages has provided behind the scene photos of Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock and Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones together for Marvel's "The Defenders", possibly reenacting a particular scene from the comics. There are mentions that the production will also shoot on Staten Island, which feature a scene with Mike Colter's Luke Cage. The mini-series has been confirmed (through Entertainment Weekly) to be released in Summer, so we can expect the production to wrap up really soon. This announcement practically confirmed that Frank Castle's show will take the Fall schedule, and that the character miiiight not be in the mini series. Much to many fans dismay, of course, including me.

Meanwhile, identity of Sigourney Weaver's character has yet to be revealed as well. EW only revealed her character's name as Alexandra, which can refer to practically anyone, comic book rooted or not. Showrunner Marco Ramirez only stated vaguely that Weaver's Alexandra is "a very powerful force in New York City. She’s everything Sigourney is: sophisticated, intellectual, dangerous.". Once again, that can mean anyone... or anything, since we're dealing with The Hands. Personally, I'm leaning towards a politician who wants to regulate vigilantes and people with abilities. That would rhyme really well with the aftermath of "Captain America: Civil War", as well as what's happening in "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.". But that's just me and my theory. Don't quote me on that! LOL.

Another candid images of the production for Marvel's "The Punisher" has been making rounds in the internet. These images raised some... concerns among fans, because Jon Bernthal has been seen holding flowers. Hmmm... does this mean he's visiting a grave? Problem is, an old one (his family), or NEW grave (of a cast member, or character from previous series). Don't forget, this show is now expected to arrive at Fall. That means they might still be working on halfway through the series. Worth noted though, that filming doesn't necessarily follow the chronologic of the show. So whatever scene he's filming might always come from a needed flashback, something that occurs in the 2nd arc, or something that might happen later in the series' epilogue.

For the non-Marvel, Netflix has officially released the first trailer for the highly-anticipated second season of "Stranger Things" during Super Bowl. What a surprising move! This came directly on the heels of them releasing an official image from the show, that highlighted the children leads in their time-setting-appropriate Ghostbusters cosplay. I haven't seen this trailer myself (have to wait until after 1:00AM to be able to use bigger datacharge), but response to it have been... great. Too great even, so I'm REALLY curious. But you know what? I don't really need to see it anyway. I've already fallen in love with this show, so there's really no question whether I'm looking forward to see next or not. Problem is... season 2 will not arrive until Halloween. Well, that's a long wait, huh? *sigh*

Oh well, can't help it. Guess now I only need confirmation of when the 3rd season of "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" will arrive, and I'm practically good to go!

[weekendwarriorblog]

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND  October 5, 2018  -  Venom, The Star Is Born, The Hate U Give

Going to change things up again this week as we get into October, because I want to give special attention to a film called THE HATE U GIVE (20thCentury Fox), which is opening in select cities this weekend but will expand nationwide on October 19.

In this adaptation of Angie Thomas’ book (which I haven’t read), Amandla Stenberg plays Starr Carter, a teen girl living a dual life with her family in the primarily black Garden Heights community and when hanging out with her bratty white high school friends who are always trying to act “ghetto” around her. At home, Starr has loving parents, Maverick and Lisa (Russell Hornsby, Regina Hall), a younger brother Sekani and half-brother Seven. When Starr sees her childhood friend Khalil (Algee Smith) shot by a white police officer, she’s unsure whether she should come forward and testify. Her police officer uncle Carlos (Common) doesn’t think so, especially since Khalil might have involved with Maverick’s old crime-boss King (Anthony Mackie), who wouldn’t want his business known to the police.

It seems like a fairly simple plot derived from the #BlackLivesMatter movement, but there’s so much more to the movie than the ongoing battle between the police and the poorer communities they patrol.  In many ways, Starr is dealing with an identity crisis that I imagine   many African-Americans must face, having to be one way around white friends and co-workers and another way at home or with their family.

Besides the fact that this is Stenberg’s third movie this year where she had a hunky white boyfriend, she is so much better in this than her other films because she brings a playful energy to Starr that makes you want to follow her story.

Audrey Wells adapted Thomas’ book into a fantastic screenplay and director George Tillman Jr., whose filmography includes oddities like the biopic Notorious and Dwayne Johnson’s Faster, really directs the hell out of this movie

There are so many great scenes including one between Stenberg and Common where they have an honest talk about the different sides of what might seem like a cut-and-dry case of police racism.

The Hate U Give (which is derived from Tupac’s “T.H.U.G. L.I.F.E” motto that “the hate u give little infants effs everyone) is a movie that shares an important message without hitting you over the head with it ala Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman or some of the other films in the oeuvre release this year.

I guess my only misgiving about the film is that it goes on a little long, offering a few satisfying scenes that could have easily ended things there, but then continuing with a full-scale riot when tempers explode after the trial of Khalil’s murderer.

In my opinion, this is up there with some of the best movies I’ve seen this year, and only slightly behind A Star Is Born (review below) this week. While on the surface, it might not seem like a movie that would appeal to everyone, it works on so many levels, including as a straight-up coming-of-age film (and by now, you all should know how much I love those).

Rating: 8.5/10

The Hate U Give is kind of the Hollywood version of the #BlackLivesMatter story, but if you’re looking for something a little more grounded in reality, you should check out Reinaldo Marcus Green’s Monsters and Men (Neon), which is now playing in select cities. I got a chance to rewatch it this past week, and I was just as impressed as when I saw it at Sundance.  BlacKkKlansman star John David Washington is particularly impressive, again playing a police officer.

We now return you to the regularly-scheduled movie preview column after the jump…

This might surprise some but not others that this coming October is offering some of what might be the best films of the year, between this week’sA Star Is Born and The Hate U Give to next week’s First Man and Bad Times at the El Royale. We’re living in exciting times!  

VENOM (Sony)

In what looks to be the second to last “superhero” movie of the year, Sony is finally making a movie dedicated to Spider-Man’s arch-nemesis who later became a hero, hoping the fans will forget all about the awful version of Venom from Spider-Man 3.  A big selling point for the movie is that it returns Tom Hardy to the comic book world after playing Bane in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, and he better hope fans like his Eddie Brock/Venom more than they did his strange-sounding villain.

Hardy has been laying low recently, his last film being Nolan’s Dunkirklast year in which the actor was barely recognizable as a WWII jet pilot. It was two years before that when he appeared in Inarritu’s Oscar-winning The Revenant, the crime-drama Legendand George Miller’s long-awaited (and also multiple Oscar nominee) Mad Max: Fury Road.  In the years following The Dark Knight Rises, Hardy has also starred in a number of smaller films that haven’t gotten much traction, so it’s odd to see him returning to superheroes only six years after playing Bane.

Venomalso brings director Ruben Fleischer back into the Sony fold after directing the horror-comedy hit Zombieland and the comedy 30 Minutes or Less, although Fleischer has been focusing on television in the last five years since the Ryan Gosling crime-drama Gangster Squad. Neither of the latter two movies did as well as Zombieland, and it definitely feels like he has something to prove with Venom.

Unfortunately, people have already been vocally pessimistic about the movie ever since the first trailer didn’t bother to actually show Venom, and things got even more questionable after seeing Venom in a rather awkward longer trailer.  Much of the movie’s success is going to depend on whether reviews totally trash the movie or whether some critics actually like what Fleischer and Hardy are doing. So far, the RottenTomatoes reviews are at 28% Fresh, pointing more to the former, but one wonders if curious fans will still give the movie a chance.

Some have suggested Venom could open with over $60 million but I’m going a bit lower with around $55 to 57 million and $130 million or so total domestic. What’s interesting is that the opening range for the movie puts Venom into consideration to become the top October opening over Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity, which opened with $55 million a few years ago. Regardless of whether it sets a new October opening record or not, I expect a fairly large drop after its opening weekend just because the fans will rush out to see it and then move onto other things.  Expect this to end up around $125 million domestic, which is not great, probably not enough for a sequel unless the movie surprises internationally.

Mini-Review: I’ve never been a huge fan of Venom as a comic book character. He always seemed a little one-dimensional to me, even as other writers/artists tried to flesh him and his host Eddie Brock out. (So far, Donny Cates’ take on Venom is well worth reading.)

I’m going to assume you know something about the character, his history as a Spider-Man costume-turned-villain and then how he became a hero. It’s obvious Tom Hardy and director Reuben Fleischer were making a movie for fans of the character who were disappointed with his handling by Sam Raimi in Spider-Man 3, and for the most part, it’s fairly faithful other than any references to Spider-Man.  In fact, the whole story has  been moved to San Francisco, as to avoid any other Spider-Man comparisons.

In this case, the symbiote comes down to earth in a space shuttle made by the Life Corporation run by an Elon Musk-type CEO named Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed), and Drake does experiments on the homeless to try to make them hosts for the alien creatures. Tom Hardy plays investigative reporter Eddie Brock, a big-time loser who loses his lawyer girlfriend (Michelle Williams) when he snoops into a case against Drake. While investigating at the Life Corporation, one of the symbiotes takes to Brock, and you can probably guess what happens.

Although this is a straight-up origin story in the simplest terms, some things just don’t work and there are definitely issues, the first being the often silly screenplay that is constantly on the border of veering into campy Nicolas Cage territory. Much of that is due to Hardy, who plays off the silliness of the schizophrenic nature of the character,

On paper, Venom could have easily been a terrifying R-rated horror film with lots of gore, but trying to keep it at PG-13 means that Fleischer makes it more of an action-comedy, and there is enough decent action scenes and quirky humor to keep things entertaining.

Probably one of the things that makes or breaks any comic book movie is the CG visual FX and Fleischer’s hefty team of animators does a decent job making Venom watchable with long black tendrils that reminded me of the video game Prototype (one of my first Xbox games). Things do get a little messy when a counter-symbiote is introduced named “Riot” is introduce and the end battle has some of the same problems as the Ed Norton The Incredible Hulk in that it just doesn’t deliver.

Even so, if you ARE a fan of the comic character, you should be pleased with this incarnation just as those unfamiliar with the character from the comics will probably find the movie and Hardy’s performance to be off-putting. The film never deteriorates to the point of being a Catwoman or Fantastic Fourlevel trash fire, though. Despite some tonal issues, it’s often fun and entertaining, especially the action scenes, and if nothing else, there’s an end credits scene that will make people (esp. Venom fans) hope this movie does well enough to warrant a sequel. Rating: 6.5/10

Venom is going to have a lot of strong competition for older moviegoers and women of all ages with...

A STAR IS BORN (Warner Bros.)

This wasn’t even remotely one of my more anticipated movies of the year until it started getting rave reviews out of the early September festivals, but I’m sure it would have gotten a lot of attention for being Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut, even if it seems like a shoe-in to win lots of awards over the next few months.

Obviously, this is a remake of a movie that dates back to the 1937 movie starring Fredric March and Janet Gaynor, which was nominated for 8 Oscars, winning for its story (as opposed to its screenplay). It was remade in 1954 with Judy Garland, and that was nominated for six Oscars and then again in 1974 with Barbra Streisand and Kris Krisstoferson, and that also only won one Oscar out of four nominations. Can Bradley Cooper’s version possibly break the “jinx” and make a movie that wins more than one Oscar? I think so.

Cooper has mostly been taking time off of acting to direct A Star Is Born, merely providing the voice of Rocket in last year’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and this year’s Avengers: Infinity War. He kind of hit a bit of a downturn in the years following his enormous hit American Sniper for Clint Eastwood, which grossed $350 million and got Cooper his third and fourth Oscar nominations. (Cooper has already been earmarked for a number of Oscar nominations for A Star is Born, for acting, directing and possibly even for writing some of the film’s songs.) Neither of Cooper’s 2015 movies with Jennifer Lawrence (Serena and Joy) did as well as their first two movies together with David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle. Cooper’s movies with Cameron Crowe (Aloha) and his cooking movie Burnt also didn’t do very well. Even so, Cooper had already been elevated to the A-list as an actor

The real ringer for Cooper’s debut is casting Lady Gaga in the role of Ally, the lounge singer who Cooper’s Jackson Maine discovers and falls for, because Lady Gaga has such an enormous diehard fanbase that even the younger girls might not be discouraged by the film’s soft-R rating. (Honestly, I still have to question the MPAA who gives this an R and Venom a PG-13 when there was WAY more swearing in that one.) Anyway, Lady Gaga is pegged to be nominated for an Oscar for her performance and probably one of her songs, too,

Another one of the films ringers is comedian Dave Chapelle, who basically just appears in one section of the movie but Warner Bros. wisely has cut a second trailer featuring him to play in movies like Night School in hopes of appealing to some of the African-American audiences that will see this movie as very white bread. More importantly, it stars Sam Elliot as Jackson’s older brother who has many great scenes with Cooper and is likely to be nominated for his first Oscar for it. (He should have been nominated for last year’s The Hero if you ask me.)

There are many easy comparisons for A Star is Born from Eminem’s 8 Mile ($51.2 million opening, $116m total) and the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line ($22.3m opening, $119m total). There’s certainly the hype that came with 8 Mile going into opening weekend and Cooper certainly has enough box office pull, but the fact that this is a remake might already make some older audiences wary. At the same time, Gaga and Cooper’s modern take on the age-old story is likely to appeal to younger audiences, as will the music that runs a wide gamut of country rockers and ballads, including a couple that will likely be nominated for Oscars.

The good news is that the movie has been receiving rave reviews since it premiered at Venice and then played Toronto shortly afterwards.

This is the thing. I think A Star Is Born is going to do very well this weekend, probably more than $40 million, but I think it’s really going to kill in the weeks to come as word-of-mouth and repeat viewings pushes the movie up over the $150 million mark. If the movie plays as well as I think it does, I wouldn’t even be surprised to see it approaching $200 million once it re-expands to take advantage of inevitable awards.

Mini-Review: It’s been more than a minute since I saw the Barbra Streisand/Kris Kristofferson A Star Is Born, so I’m not too adverse to a fourth remake, as much as I was concerned about a movie featuring an actor I’m so-so on and a pop singer whose work I never really cared for. Imagine my surprise when I found myself enjoying the film almost immediately as we see Bradley Cooper’s Jackson Maine performing on stage with the very loud live music coming from the Dolby sound system where I saw the movie.

Maine is an alcoholic so after the show he goes looking for a bar, winding up at a drag night of one local watering hole where it just so happens that Lady Gaga’s Ally is performing “La Vie en Rose” (maybe a nod to another Oscar-winning actress?). He’s immediately enthralled and goes backstage to meet her, and the two immediately hit it off, hanging out and learning more about each other. Ally immediately starts enjoying the perks of Jackson’s fame as he flies her to one of his concerts and pulls her up on stage to perform the song “Shallow.”

Things progress from there as Ally becomes famous from a video of her performance with Jackson. After one show, Ally is approached by a manager-type who wants to make her an even bigger star, and he proceeds to do what happens too many times in the music industry where he tries to transform her into some pop diva that’s

I really enjoyed seeing the romance and relationship between the two leads evolve, because Cooper’s Jackson Maine is quite a smooth-talker, even if he’s slurring most of his words. Gaga is also impressive, likely bringing some of her own struggles in the music business to the role. On top of that, the supporting cast, including Sam Elliot as Jack’s older brother and Andrew Dice Clay as Ally’s Dad brought a lot to the mix as Cooper ably balances the film’s tonal shifts from heavy drama to lighter moments.

Things do get a little bit predictable during the second act as Ally’s star begins to rise while Jackson’s starts to crash and burn, and he’s unable to accept how she’s becoming more successful than him, as his career begins to stagnate. He stops drinking, then starts drinking again and things just get worse and worse, as he seems to be hindering her career. The film’s last act is a stunner as Jack tries to get his alcoholism in check and Ally’s star continues to rise, making it obvious something’s eventually going to give.

A Star Is Born is an impressive debut from Cooper, not only for his direction but also how he elevates himself as an actor to keep up with his perfectly cast co-star. That’s not even considering that he co-wrote many of the film’s gorgeous songs. I enjoyed this film far more than I thought I would, and I know that I won’t be the only person seeing it multiple times.

Rating: 9/10

Venom shouldn’t have a problem taking the top spot although we’ll have to see whether negative reviews manage to keep the fans away. Either way, it will beat A Star is Born on Thursday/Friday but then the latter will pick up steam, bearing in mind that Monday is Columbus Day so there’s no school and government offices are closed, which could help some of the returning movies, as well.

This week’s Top 10 should look something like this…

1. Venom  (Sony) - $55.6 million N/A 2. A Star is Born  (Warner Bros.) - $42.5 million N/A 3. Night School  (Universal) - $15 million -46% 4.Smallfoot  (Warner Bros.) - $14.5 million -37% 5. The House with a Clock in its Walls  (Universal) - $7.3 million -40% 6. A Simple Favor (Lionsgate) – $4 million -38% 7. The Nun  (New Line) - $3 million -54% 8. Crazy Rich Asians  (New Line) - $2.7 million -35% 9. Hell Fest  (CBS Films/Lionsgate) - $2.2 million -57% 10. The Predator (Fox) – $1.7 million -57%

LIMITED RELEASES

Other than The Hate U Give, this weekend is kind of a mixed bag for limited releases, since I haven’t watched as many of these as I probably should.

Almost a year after it premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, Fernando Leon de Aranoa’s LOVING PABLO (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment) starring Javier Bardem as the Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar as it follows his rise to power while in a love affair with Colombian journalist Virgina Vallejo, played by Penelope Cruz. The film is based on Vallejo’s book, and it’s opening at around 15 theaters across the country.

Filmmaker Peter Bogdonavich pays tribute to the great silent film Buster Keaton with Buster Restored (Cohen Media Group), which combines footage from Keaton’s silent comedies with interviews by those he’s inspired including Mel Brooks, Quentin Tarantino and Johnny Knoxville. It opens at the Quad Cinemaon Friday along with a small Buster Keaton retrospective and then opens at the Landmark Nuarton Oct. 19

Matt Tyrnauer follows his recent doc Scotty and the Secret of Hollywood with Studio 54, opening at the IFC Center Friday. It looks at the New York nightclub that was the place to be seen between 1977 and 1980 but was exceedingly hard to get into as its popularity and notoriety rose. Tyrnauer was given incredible access to the man-behind-the-club Ian Schrager, who tells the story of Studio 54 for the first time. After a number of showings at IFC Center with Tyrnauer in attendance, Studio 54 will then open at the Landmark Nuart in L.A. on Oct. 12.

Opening at the Film Forum in New York is Joseph Dorman and Toby Perl Freilich’s Moynihan (First Run Features), a portrait of former New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan who tried to contend with poverty and racism in the greatest city in the world. (The latter bit is my own personal opinion. I haven’t seen the movie.)

Not to overshadowed by Bradley Cooper, Cuba Gooding Jr. stars and makes his directorial debut in Bayou Caviar (Gravitas Ventures), which stars Richard Dreyfuss as a Russian gangster who hires Gooding’s former boxer to take down an associate’s son-in-law with a scandalous tape. It also stars Famke Janssen, Katherine McPhee, Ken Lerner and Lia Marie Johnson.

Bella Thorne and Jessie Usher star in Jeremy Ungar’s Ride (RLJE Films) with the latter playing James, a struggling actor who drives people around L.A. for a ride-sharing service. The job gets slightly better when he hits it off with the beautiful Jessica, but the two of them are then taken on a crazy joy ride by another fare.

Following its run on DirecTV, Trevor White’s A Crooked Somebody (Vertical/DirecTV) stars Rich Sommer as a medium who goes against the advice of his minister father (Ed Harris) trying to call forth the dead, only to be idnapped by someone who desperately wants to make contact with the dead.

Terence Stamp and Ann Demetriou stars in David LG Hughes’ Viking Destiny (Saban Films/Lionsgate), the latter playing a Viking princess who is forced to flee her kingdom after her king father (presumably Stamp) is murdered, so she travels the world building an army to get revenge. In case you’re wondering what Game of Thrones has inspired…. wonder no more!

Michael Ironside stars in Michael Peterson’s horror film Knuckleball (Freestyle Digital Media) about a 12-year-old who finds himself alone on an isolated farm after his grandfather dies. (I assume Ironside plays the latter.)

I also don’t know a ton about Eugene Kotlyarenko’s Wobble Place (Breaking Glass Pictures), which has an exclusive run at Metrograph starting Friday with the filmmaker in attendance for a few screenings. Best I can do to describe this is to share the odd trailer…

This week’s Yash Raj Films offering is Abhiraj K. Minawala’s Loveyatri, a love story set during the 9-day festival of Navrati, starring Aayush Sharma and Warina Hussain, a romance which almost comes to an end as she travels back to the UK leaving him in India.

Filmmakers Jukka Vidgren & Juuso Laatio’s Scandinavian cult-comedy Heavy Trip (Doppelgänger Releasing/Bloody Disgusting) will open in select theaters Friday before going to VOD on Oct. 12. It stars Johannes Holopainen as a guy stuck in a small Finnish village who is also the lead singer of metal band Impaled Rektum, a band who hasn’t played a single gig in 12 years until they’re booked to play a Norwegian festival.

And speaking of which, Bloody Disgusting’s Retro Nightmares continues with a double feature of Amityville: The Evil Escapes & Amityville: It’s About Time on Thursday Oct. 4 in select cities.

Lastly,  Anthony Nardolillo’s Shine (Forgiven Films/GVN Releasing), which won the Best Feature award at the 2017 Urbanworld Film Festival, comes out Friday, starring salsa dancersJorge Burgos and Gilbert Saldivar as two brothers who find themselves on opposite sides of the gentrification hitting East Harlem.

STREAMING

The only major new film streaming on Netflix is Tamara Jenkins’ new film PRIVATE LIFE, which premiered at Sundance and just played the New York Film Festival. It stars Kathryn Hahn and Paul Giamatti as a married couple who have been trying to have a baby and start looking at alternative methods after fertility treatments aren’t working. Jenkins is the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of 2007’s The Savages, starring Laura Linney and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. (The movie also opens at the IFC Center in New York and at a theater in L.A.)

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

I’m pretty excited about my local theater’s latest series, an Albert Brooks retrospective that runs between Friday and Tuesday and including some of his classics like Modern Romance, Lost in America, Mother, Defending Your Life,Real Life and a program of SNL shorts.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

Alain Resnais’ 1974 film Stavisky, featuring music by Stephen Sondheim, gets a restoration, which opens here on Wednesday.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

Beyond Fest 2018 continues with a double feature of Flash Gordon and the West Coast premiere of the doc Life After Flash. Thursday sees a double feature of The Monster Squad and the new documentary about the movie called Wolfman’s Got Nards. Beyond Fest will then wrap on Saturday with a TRIPLE feature of Black Christmas and Halloween from 1978, as well as the brand-new Halloween weeks before its nationwide release.

AERO  (LA):

American Cinemateque’s other L.A. theater continues its own Beyond Fest Tribute to Cronenberg with a double feature of the director’s Crash and Spider on Thursday night. It also begins the series The Life of Reilly, as in John C. Reilly, with a double feature of Chicago and Step Brothers on Friday, and then a free screening of Reilly’s new film The Sisters Brothers on Saturday. Saturday also sees a screening of PT Anderson’s Magnolia with Reilly in person and a screening of A Grin Without a Hat (1977) to celebrate Icarus Films’ 40th anniversary.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

To help celebrate last week’s retrospective recipient Peter Bogdonavich’s new doc The Great Buster: A Celebration (see above), the West Village theater will also show a trio of Buster Keaton shorts, The General and other Keaton classics.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART (LA):

Along with a program of Jean Vigo shorts, the Hollywood theater will show the new 4k restoration of the director’s L’Atalante that screened at Film Forum last week.

MOMA (NYC):

The Unknown Jerry: Home Movies and More from the Jerry Lewis Collection at the Library of Congresscontinues with  Come Back Little Shiksa (1962) and The Re-Inforcer (1951) on Friday, Fairfax Avenue (1951), and a couple features on Gar-Ron Productions on Saturday and The Bellboy (1960) on Sunday, as it continues into next week. The month-long Modern  Matinees: Vincent Price will show Edward Scissorhands on Friday afternoon.