#Barius deserves a raise

[agent-tempest]

Don't get me wrong I love donuts but I cannot express how much I LOVE pasty rings, hole cakes, circle-sweets, sugar wheels and especially Doughie-os

[jelzorz]

129.

When the kids come back, and the castle medic clears them of any injuries, they sit down in the council chambers to give Opeli, and Barius, and Corvus a well-deserved retelling of everything that happened while they were away. Opeli didn't spend every second of their adventure worried sick over her king, her mage, and Captain of the Crown Guard (although Corvus was, arguably, more worried about Soren in particular) to not get all the details immediately, thank you, and her frazzled nerves slowly, slowly begin to settle the longer Ezran talks.

He, understandably, does most of the storytelling. Soren has a jelly tart in each hand and a whole one in his mouth at any given moment, and Callum and Rayla interject every now and then, but they're otherwise happy to let Ezran handle it on his own. They'd had to find an extra chair for Rayla, who ends up seated between Opeli and Callum (although rather closer to Callum) and Opeli realizes too late that Callum had always left the space for her, although whether or not it was a conscious choice remains to be seen.

Anyway, Ezran rambles about drakes, strange butterfly children, and Claudia and Lord Viren, at one point, and then their harrowing escape from Umber Tor (which Opeli pretends doesn't frazzle her nerves all over again), but when the hour is up and Ezran is done, he yawns and settles back into his chair.

"The end," he sighs, munching on the corner of a jelly tart. "Long story short, everything was fine, we're all fine. You had nothing to worry about, Opeli, see?"

Opeli gives Barius and Corvus a look and, between the three of them, agree silently that they beg to differ. She doesn't say that though. She only lets out the most patient sigh she can muster and tries not to rub at her temples. "I'm glad you're all safe," she mutters finally. "You too, My Lady," she adds to Rayla. "Will you be staying longer this time?"

A beat echoes around the table. Rayla flushes, ashamed, but reaches for Callum's hand across the table. Callum grips her fingers, and Opeli's pleased to see that everything that happened between them is clearly water under the bridge. "Yeah," says Rayla. "If you'll have me."

Opeli nods. "I'll have the staff send some things up to High Mage Callum's room then. In the meantime, the four of you should rest. You've had a long journey."

The council meeting adjourns (because it is one, however informal and impromptu this was). Soren wanders off with Corvus. Ezran and Bait catch Barius on his way out of the council chambers to discuss some interesting new jelly tart flavours. Callum and Rayla remain seated at the table blinking at Opeli.

Opeli blinks back. "Is something wrong?"

"Well, I--" Rayla presses her lips shut and looks from her to Callum and back again with pink rising in her cheeks. "Callum's room?"

"Yes, I assumed you'd be sleeping together."

Another beat. Opeli only realizes how it sounds when they both go red and stutter explanations--

"Oh, nononono, it's not--we're not--"

"Opeli, we aren't--"

Opeli raises an eyebrow at them both. "Aren't you?"

A third beat. They have the decency not to lie any further. They look away.

Callum coughs. "I just--you didn't approve of it last time, and y'know, it's not like we were... doing anything then, but--"

Opeli raises a hand and shakes her head. "Contrary to popular belief, I do know what teenagers are like, and I'm certainly not going to fault you for it, especially after what the two of you have been through. I only ask that you try not to start any scandals." She shoos them out of the council chamber then, acutely aware of (and amused by) the way they walk out into the hall like they've got rods taped to their backs. When the door closes, Rayla sucks in a breath.

"So. It's--y'know-- that's all fine?"

"Well, you were going to get around to it at some point," says Opeli shrugging. "I trust you'll be safe. In any case, at least you're all home now. I've learned the hard way to just let you kids be as long as you're not doing anything actively dangerous. It's better for my nerves. Your Highness. My Lady." She bows at them both and heads down the hall ahead of them in search of Barius and a cup of (very strong) tea and tries not to laugh at the way they're still hovering awkwardly by the council chamber doors.

Oh, to be young, she snorts to herself (and, not for the first time, she's glad she's not).

[ethanalter]

Steven Soderbergh explains his love for 'Get Out': 'It's like Halley's Comet to me'

Daniel Kaluuya stars in Jordan Peele’s Get Out (Photo: Universal Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection)

When Jordan Peele’s hit thriller Get Out opened in theaters in February, few would have predicted that it would emerge nine months later as a leading awards season contender. That’s a feat that no film has accomplished since Jonathan Demme’s Silence of the Lambs traveled a 13-month road from its February 1991 release to its Best Picture victory on Oscar night in March 1992. The movie’s staying power is a clear sign that audiences and critics aren’t the only ones who embraced Peele’s timely movie; people within the industry love it as well. Steven Soderbergh, for one, expressed his admiration for the film on his Twitter feed recently, proclaiming it “the movie of the year.”

Why isn’t GET OUT—which is the movie of the year so far—in the correct format on HBO? #hatepanscan

— Bitchuation (@Bitchuation) November 5, 2017

Speaking with Yahoo Entertainment, the Logan Lucky director elaborated on that rave review. “That movie is like Halley’s Comet to me; you have something that not only blew up commercially, but also becomes a cultural touchpoint. What he did was so unique that it resonates beyond its success — he found a really unique way to talk about race.” Soderbergh is such a fan of Peele’s vision, he wants the film to be seen in its optimal version. That’s why his original tweet also included a direct dig at HBO’s choice to play a pan-and-scanned version of Get Out instead of honoring its original theatrical composition. “My real bête noire is panning and scanning. Given that we’re in a high-def world with horizontally shaped screens, I don’t understand why we’re continuing to do it. If I were going to start a political party, that would be its sole platform.”

One early wrinkle that has cropped up in Get Out‘s march towards the Oscars is whether or not it fits into a specific genre box. The recent announcement that the film would compete in the Best Comedy or Musical category at the Golden Globes, for example, has raised several eyebrows, including Peele’s. “There are no jokes in the movie. It’s all meant to feel true,” the writer-director remarked to CBS. Asked for his thoughts about Get Out‘s Globes classification, Soderbergh points to the equally questionable call to classify Ridley Scott’s 2015 survival story, The Martian, as a comedy. “After The Martian, I don’t know how seriously we’re supposed to take this categorization, because I think everybody was baffled by that. As long as it’s getting attention, then I’m happy, because it deserves it. It’s one of those films that really does blur a line, because in some ways I can see it as a comedy, even if the ultimate impression you get is just shock and horror. The movie is funny, but it’s the kind of laughs that catch in your throat.”

Director Steven Soderbergh on the set of Logan Lucky (Photo: Claudette Barius/Fingerprint Releasing /Amazon/Courtesy Everett Collection)

Another reason for Soderbergh’s admiration for Get Out may be his recognition that he’ll never make a movie that tackles race in quite the same way. The director expressed similar sentiments about Mad Max: Fury Road to The Hollywood Reporter, remarking: “I tell you I couldn’t direct 30 seconds of that. I don’t understand how hundreds of people aren’t dead.” Of course, making a contemporary thriller is less technically demanding, not to mention dangerous, than an apocalyptic action movie. Soderbergh says that his next film, Unsane, which opens in theaters in March, will fall into the same horror-thriller territory that Get Out occupies. Filmed entirely on an iPhone, the movie stars Claire Foy, Juno Temple, and Jay Pharoah and follows a woman who is placed in a mental institution against her will and comes face-to-face with her greatest fear.

“If you’re a woman, it’s a horror film, and if you’re a man, it’s something different,” Soderbergh teases. “Get Out shows how efficient genre is as a delivery system for ideas, so there’s an undercurrent of social commentary in Unsane that’s interesting. It’s something you can either choose to pay attention to or not — it doesn’t affect your engagement with the story. The circumstances that this young woman finds herself in is fascinating on a social anthropology level.”

Logan Lucky is currently available on digital and arrives on Blu-ray on Nov. 28. Unsane premieres in theaters on March 23, 2018.

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:

Steven Soderbergh reveals backstory to his viral Lucasfilm rejection letter

Why ‘Get Out’ is looking like a legit Oscar contender

Jordan Peele explains origins and influences of ‘Get Out’