#Cliff Freeman

[davedyecom]

PODCAST: Mary Warlick

I’ve just finished watching ‘Coco Chanel Unbuttoned’. Not only did I discover Coco wasn’t her real name (Gabrielle), I discovered her philosophy. Pre-Coco, high end fashion used the finest, most expensive materials, like silk, lace and satin – a visual display of one’s wealth. Coco chose instead, the basic materials she’d grown up with, poor and in an orphanage. Like jersey, previously used to…

[polls4you]

Found Family Battle (First Round)

[greeneyed-thestral]

[gumptioustactition]

Doctor Sleep(2019) would have been a fine movie had it been the last hour, or the first two, each as standalones. The "sequel" aspect only became relevant in the latter third of the film; up until that point being a fantasy/adventure about a psychic cult. Despite the length, it wasn't boring! It was a fine movie that I wouldn't recommend to anyone EXCEPT someone who has already read the book and wants to see it put to screen. 4/10.

[ongreenergrasses]

for the prompt asks: maybe something where nile and andy are trying to pull off a dangerous stunt together? either for fun or for a real mission they're doing

“This is stupid,” Nile says. She peers off the edge. “That’s practically vertical.”

“Not vertical.” Andy demonstrates the grade of the slope with her hand. It’s about 10 degrees off from vertical. “See?”

“Why are we doing this again?”

“To get back to the road for the bus.”

“But why,” Nile says. She looks down again. It doesn’t look any less intimidating.

“It’s a good skill to have. You’ll have to run off a cliff at some point, it’s just inevitable. Better to practice it now.”

“I guess,” Nile says doubtfully.

The side of the mountain is steep, and very, very long. It’s far higher than any mortal person would go. Nile sees people hiking in the gully below and they look way too small. She doesn’t want to go hurtling off the mountain towards them.

“Do you want me to hold your hand?”

Nile shakes her head. “I’ll be okay. I probably need my hands for balance anyway.”

“It’ll be fine once your instincts kick in,” Andy says. Nile’s instincts are currently telling her to turn around and walk back down the way they came. “I’ll count down.”

Nile steps off and onto the mountainside on “two”.

The first few steps are okay. They’re steep but Nile’s still in control. Then, gravity takes over, and her steps get faster and faster, her feet scrambling to keep up with the rest of her. She hears rocks sliding around her, but they’re just gravel, so she’s not too worried.

She hears a whoop and she sees Andy, running full tilt down the mountainside. She’s managed to figure out how to go slightly sideways, which seems to be stabilizing her. Nile tries to turn and almost trips, so she keeps going down forwards.

It is fun, after she gets her bearings. The adrenaline rush is enormous, which explains why Andy likes it so much. Andy waves at her.

Nile waves back, and then her foot slips out from under her and she goes down, hard. She lands on her ass and it’s not enough to stop her from continuing downhill. It does, however, slow her down enough that she sees the ledge that she’s about to go off of right before it happens.

She lands on the ground, directly on top of her arm, and she groans. She feels it snap under the pressure.

She sees Andy scrambling over to her, despite the laws of gravity, and she comes to pull Nile to her feet.

“Ready to keep going?”

Nile flexes her fingers and feels her elbow pop back into place.

“You’re right,” she says. “It is fun.”

Andy beams. This time, she takes Nile’s hand, and they both head off together.

[theoburrsvirginitybalcony]

The J Freeman ", Chernow learned about dueling from me" tweet has mansions in my head. She literally served ate years in the Cuntnecticut Slayte Prison for driving the werk bus of of Diva Cliff and into Mother Lake

[martitheevans]

Gordon freeman is a stronger man than I ever could be, people keep going "Hey why doesn't gordon do the thing :D" I would absolutely just drive off a cliff instead

[blistering-typhoons]

BBC SHERLOCK REWATCH - A STUDY IN PINK (REAL TIME NOTES)

From the perspective of someone who watched this show when they were thirteen, made it their whole personality and then stopped being a massive prat.

I thought about organizing this into a cohesive review, and maybe as I go on I'll delve deeper into some of my observations but for now I thought it would be funny to present my findings in raw, mostly unaltered form:

- loud ass opening, my god

- only bit of acting Martin freeman ever does lmao

- dances along to theme against my will

- god the effects and transitions are so shit

- all the shots of the pills are so ugly

- oh yay molly - whoo - yayyy

- the potential withe these two goddamn

- also this sherlock does not drink his respect women juice by god

- fucksake the deduction about john's sister- not only is it translated awfully into this modern setting, it's explicitly a deduction Sherlock is supposed to make once they know eachother a bit better

- THE POTENTIAL

- also sherlock displaying one insecurity when john accidentally insults his stuff- well done moftiss, characterization

- How far away is the crime scene, why it dark

- pls the transitions

- PIPE BOMB, WHOO Phone deductionnnn

- oh my god it's so shit

- uuuuuuuugggghhhh the potential I hate this shooooow

- fuckin deduction as a way for witty one liners and sexism, i hate this place

- 'you were thinking it's annoying' i'm going to send myself off a cliff, CRINGE

- RACHE- moffat, come here a sec- literally putting ACD on par with the police, who are always wrong the sheer audacity- also just a bad change

- these lens flare white lights are so goofy please, you will never be a whole scene of silence with jeremy brett

- benedict cumberbatch is very pretty i will grant

- terrorized by the fact i used to quote this show unironically

- from a writing point of view I understand that John gushing over Sherlock is to show off and emphasize their specialest boy- but, some sincerity is infused into it from an acting standpoint

- 30:02 GIRLIE WHAT IS THAT SOUND EFFECT

- OOH YAY THE PSYCHOPATH/SOCIOPATH STUFF WHOO YEAAAAH

- All the phones calling as john walks past is kinda cool but mostly stupid

- oh anthea, what a rich character lmao

- how long was mycroft posed like that

- First johnlock queerbait whooo

- Where does he fuck off to???

- he just vanishes lmaoooo

- Three patch problem. Bruh.

- I am bored as shit, help

- This music- girl

- Bloated is a very good word to describe some of these scenes

- HERE SHE IS- THE BIG DADDY OF QUEERBAITING

- this scene is insane fucKING INSANE I HATE THIS SHOW

- god how much episode is left fucksake

- the stop/go signs- pick a tone girl

- this episode is so almost good and it's anytime Sherlock makes a mistake lmao

- not the drugs bust :/

- ooh sociopath line- whoo

- "I don't have to [imagine]." OOOH OKAY, WELL, YOU GUYS GET *ONE* POINT FOR THAT SHEESH

- this is so ridiculous- COME WITH ME- girl shut up

- I wanna be done I wanna be doooone.

- lamenting the confrontation we had in the unaired pilot

- The 'Frwhoomp' noise as the light goes out, girl

- 20 Minutes left my christ

- BRO- I forgot that bit of ADR wooooof

- and thus begins the scree of Moriarty

- five years, why is Scotland Yard still doubtful of Sherlock's skills? I know he might have been deep in his addiction during some of that, but they evidently kept him around for crime solving.

- Great man/good man quote has me fumin babes, my god, what a fundamental misunderstanding of Sherlock Holmes

- boring ass back and forth

- this piano is giving me war flashbacks

- is it a five orange pips reference?

- also the pills look like that speckled gum that burns your throat

- when is it oveeer

- falling asleep

- bomb under the table but the table is made of glass and hates gay people

- she tooks the kidssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

- 13 min

- love, or rage, dude, come on Sherlock

- i hate this 'enjoying crime too much' theme they've written

- like watching a stupid play

- once more, the potential

- moriarty he said calmly

- also, so out of character for Sherlock do I even need to say

- peaks of what could have been- FUCK

- this mycroft fake out- lord

- also, mummy, fucksake

- cheesy ending BUT IT'S OVER

[spiderh0rse]

freeman's mind notes part 9, e41-45

e41

all lasers all the time

sees a warning sign and promptly tries to obstruct the laser

wants to reflect this very dangerous laser through a disco ball

he'd love to let the laser gradually burn a hole out of the building

gravity hates him so bad

he'd want a big room with a trampoline

insulted by some guy and promptly abandons him

MIND. PLEASE STOP BEING ABLEIST

thinks the sirens would be a good alarm clock sound

actually shows concern for a guy who's been shot

SO relieved to be outside

it looks like an anemometer but it is Not

HATES being beeped at by the turrets

thinks there may be a meteorology department

the science team makes their own explosives

has read The Art Of War

considers being exploded not a terrible way to go

"whoo hoo hoo!"

ALMOST feels like he doesn't need more stimulants today

he doesn't think his suit can stop mortar shells

e42

mentions a rocket launcher....

damned dam

ICTHYOSAUR ALERT

[gibbering]

"BOMBS BAD BAD BOMBS BAD BOMBS BAD"

just plain ol rambling in fear out here

just in love with saying "damn" and "damned" every chance he gets here. He is on a dam

still struggling to stay afloat

"underwater 'ah-hah!'" GSIIENDKD

flooding the canyon would make him feel better

air is for losers

"wahhhhh gahhhhhh"

checks a corpse for money or snacks. will Not give the man fare for Charon

growls :grins:

slur count six. It's not the r slur but hey. Variety.

needs a surface to air missile

curse of formatting :/

e43

jiving with the idea that some unnamed force wants him dead

he thinks that he was MEANT to die in the test chamber but since he didn't (due to being "hardcore") reality is slowly unravelling. I just played a Friendsim route where this was a plot point.

he concludes that this makes him the most important person in the universe

gordon freeman has become Based (thinks there is too much money funneled into the military)

says an incorrect plural of "cactus" and corrects himself

this is subtitled as [screaming] but it's more of a "mnnnyeaheaheah" noise

he does NOT look like a helicopter

he likes math. No tolerance for bullshit. Math works or it doesn't. Clear defined rules that stay clear and defined. Some of these comments are mine and not his. I like math.

he doesn't smoke!

does clarify he doesn't smoke tobacco. peyote, yes. Mulls over other methods of taking it being better though

straining noises

YAAAAH AAAAAH WAAAAH

doesn't seem to recognize the tentacle. He definitely has brain damage between the head trauma and repeated electrocutions.

the desert tricked him. The desert.... THE DESERT....

yells all silly at some headcrabs

implies he yelled all silly at some scientists to claim his lab space for work. Didn't need a shotgun for that

the first situation in two days in which a grappling hook would Not solve all his problems

sand in his suit :(

e44

new intro. First surface portion of the game.

he feels like he's escaping from prison

seems pro-union

notices that going outside just makes stuff worse for him every time

wonders, perhaps sarcastically, f the planes are gassing him

turret beeping is a DEATH SENTENCE for it

echo! :D

he's got the best comeback of all. A spas-12.

he doesn't mind people talkin trash about him if they get shot after

doesn't much like heights

would love to slide down that big ol pipe

no breakdancing on the cliff

"dahdahdahdahdah..." Followed by a growl

[whimpering]

he can't read his mind

he hates the tin foil hat people. Not because of the conspiracy (owls) but because of their means of defence

bad bridge... Wants a grappling hook so bad but admits it may not work here

[breathing heavily]

the CLIFF is following him- no. Nevermind.

didn't realize Black Mesa was built into the mesa proper

no longer trusts catwalks

afraid of spiders

he could SLIP on these SHELLS

"is that..? Oh my god, it's a rocket launcher." You can HEAR the awe in his voice

he just sounds as calm as he ever sounds all series

interloper!

so happy to have used a rocket launcher :)

"whhuuuh"

a universe that entirely wants him dead wouldn't give him a rocket launcher so some part of the universe wants him alive

knows a fair deal of greek mythology

screams at a near miss with a cliff edge

he just wants a helmet :(

put the water park on the cliff edge

e45

we know this one.

he can't see where he is on the gps trackers

his water park! It's here! No wish needed!

HATES the military theme to the park

modern major general :D

this was where I would put Gordon's Hal. IF HE HAD ONE (don't worry about that if you don't know Hal, for my tumblr fellows)

complains about mmg being dated but that is actually the point of the original song. The idea was to just talk to fast no one would question that it was all common knowledge

that said it's impressive that he's memorized it and can sing it while he's running and shooting people

the new lyrics too are solid. Some syllables are. Questionable for the tune, but overall quite fine

"Ah."

I think some fans got mad at him for calling the tank an Abrams when it wasn't. Whatever!

buttons!

"nyyeehhhhh,,"

valley girl mind

he wants this tank so much

astounded that bullets managed to EXPLODE a tank

his knees are wobbly again. Methinks he's recovering from the adrenaline of the past five, very hectic minutes

if he were a general facing someone like Freeman and soldiers didn't work he'd just use nerve gas on the guy

[tokuvivor]

DuckTales Character Songs! (Part 2)

Alright, now we’re cooking here! This time around, I’m going to be focusing on important recurring characters that debuted in Season 1.

Again, giving some brainstorming credit on this to @glowyjellyfish, plus, also, a little bit to @shychick-52, since one of these is in her pinned list.

Flintheart Glomgold

Rasputin by Boney M.

Ah, Rasputin. The Russian mystic who wouldn’t die. And like Rasputin, Glomgold is a very fiery, polarizing character who will say and do anything to get to the top, even if he has to resort to power beyond his normal means (not unlike The 87 Cent Solution!)

Bradford Buzzard

Takin’ Care of Business by Bachman-Turner Overdrive

He didn’t really have a bigger role until Season 3, but he still counts for here! Anyway, Bradford is very serious, by-the-book, and business-oriented, so this song works perfectly for him.

Ma Beagle and the Beagle Boys

Bad Boys by Inner Circle from Cops

Pretty self-explanatory here. Moving on.

Gyro Gearloose

The Scientist by Coldplay

Yes, the title is obvious. But the lyrics can be seen as speaking more to his guilt over his past actions (“Nobody said it was easy, it’s such a shame for us to part,” “I was just guessing at numbers and figures, pulling the puzzles apart,” etc.), such as what happened at Tokyolk and with the Spear of Selene.

Lena

Demons by Imagine Dragons

All throughout Season 1 (and even in later episodes), Lena had personal demons regarding Magica that she couldn’t easily shake. Like the lyrics said, she wanted to hide the truth from Webby and everyone else, but there was nowhere to hide. And she always kept up walls that prevented her from getting too close to people (“Don’t get too close, it’s dark inside.”) And even after she broke from Magica’s control, she was worried that she could still turn out bad, but with the help of others, especially Webby and Violet, she was able to overcome those demons in her mind.

Gladstone Gander

Life Has Been Good to Me by Randy Newman

Gladstone is a naturally lucky character. Whatever happens in the game of life, the dice roll in his favor. I guess other than the events leading up to and within The House of the Lucky Gander!, life is good to him.

Mark Beaks

How Bad Can I Be? by Ed Helms from The Lorax

Life is all about survival of the fittest at times. You gotta do what it takes to survive, even if it means screwing others over. That mindset is 100% Beaks to me. The last half of the song, especially, where the Once-ler is bragging about his business and building an economy, absolutely screams Beaks to me.

Zeus, Storkules, and Selene

Zeus: The Gospel Truth by Lillias White, LaChanze, Roz Ryan, Cheryl Freeman, and Vaneese Thomas from Hercules

Storkules: The Harder They Come by Jimmy Cliff

Selene: Song About the Moon by Paul Simon

I feel it would only be appropriate if I put the three deities of Ithaquack together. First off, I kinda had to throw a Hercules song in there somewhere, and this one brilliantly tells the story of how Zeus came to power. On the second note, Storkules is absolutely a pillar of strength, and he’s very determined, too. Just like the real-life myth and the movie, he will take on any and all opponents, no matter how big or daunting they may be. Finally, we have Selene, the goddess of the moon. The moon is very powerful, graceful, and beautiful, just as she is. The song here explains how in order to write a song about the moon, you need to capture its features, its essence. And in order to write a song about the heart or a face, tie it back to writing about the moon. It just shows how influential the moon can be, just as Selene is in making decisions as a goddess.

[hislittleraincloud]

You're the one who started screaming "pedo" over a gay ship. Sounds pretty conservative to me.

Also literally none of the actors in the show are teenagers. So you're just a fucking weirdo.

I never "screamed "pedo" over a gay ship".

I have called out the behavior of Wenclairs around their ship and the crazy parasocial shit re: Jenna Ortega that's going on.

You do(n't) realize that it's a running Gen X joke that teens in teen shows or that feature teens are more often than not portrayed by older actors/non-teens (though Ortega turned nineteen during the filming of Wednesday 1). But that has fuckall to do with the pervasive insistence that a show penned mostly by, and directed by, cis het people featuring a boy crazy girl who likes rainbows is somehow coding for her being a total lesbian for her roommate.

You can call me conservative if you want, but you obviously haven't a clue and have only popped in here recently. SNS, not going to give you a full lesson in who I really am. You've already opened your mouth, so I'll just keep opening mine.

I don't think like Wenclairs; then again, by the time I was their age — the bulk of you are young/Gen Z and below — I already knew what I needed to do to grow up and survive in a world that is against my way of life.

But I also knew it was fucking weird to obsess over an actor so much that you write RPF and/or y/n shit about them. Singularly and as a couple. Sure, fandomers have written Mary Sue/Gary Stu since the dawn of fic, but it wasn't like this. This is aberrant...you're all acting worse than the Johnlockers who went after Martin Freeman's partner, Amanda Abbington, when she joined Sherlock. Pretty sure that kind of toxic fandom behavior — pushing things on the showrunners and actors — is what the problem is here. Not the ship itself, if it happens organically.

But there isn't going to be anything organic about it because it wasn't written in canon as such. Y'all just seeing what you need to see to justify the obsession. I mean, friendship. That's what was with the dramatics of The Hug. Everyone in the school knew that Wednesday eschewed touching/friendship and expressions of friendship. The scene's the core of M&G's intentions for Wednesday and Enid.

But y'all took Myers' "roomates" joke and ran right off the side of the cliff with it. And even as she's stated in so many words that you shouldn't ship real people, y'all still fucking do it.

So who's really the fucking weirdo(s) here? The ones who can separate real life from fiction or the ones who can't?

[marahsfandomloves]

So I'm not sure if others remembered, but I remember asking back in 2022 when season one was released if this series was connected to Jackson's Middle-earth films. I know the legal deal between Amazon and the Estate, but after watching half of season two now(I can't believe we are halfway over already!) I definitely believe that the show makers are trying to connect it to the films as close as they can without treading on anyone's toes on the legal matters. What I have noticed that makes me think they are trying to connect it-

1- The Balrog is one of the strongest crossovers between the show and the films, and after I found out that Weta worked on the series, that just make more sense.

2-The brief shot of Narsil in season one during the Numenor segment.

3. The Stranger's dialogue. Blue Wizard or Gandalf, he is definately quoting alot from the previous films.

4. The scenery of certain locations, we only saw Khazud-Dum (outside briefly in the Hobbit during Azog and Thorin's fight) and it was very broken down other than Dwarrowdelf in the Lord of the Rings movies, but the way inside of Khazad-Dum looks, you can tell they were trying to make it look like what it did in it's glory days.

The Grey Havens, despite less buildings, the horizon shot looked the same between the two cliff faces that you see when the ship leaves in the Return of the King.

5. All ties to the Eye, the shots of Halbrand's eye. When they were making the Elven rings and the molten metal looked similar to the Eye on Barad-Dur.

6. Interviews with the cast, I've seen quite a few of them for season two where they show scenes from the PJ films and then talk about the films which I feel like is them trying to bridge the two.

7. Young Shelob when Isildur injured her eye, Shelob has a closed eye in PJ's film.

8. The cast members such as Elendil, Galadriel, Elrond, Isildur and even Gil-Galad and Cirdan look like younger versions to their film counterparts( much like Martin Freeman did to Ian Holm's Bilbo).

9. Sauron's Armour in the Prologue of Rings of Power is similar to the Armour in the Prologue of the Fellowship of the Ring.

10. Amazon is the top bidder own the rights to the videos games and films for Middle-Earth.

11. Both Rings of Power season 3 and the Hunt For Gollum will both come out in 2026, so by then we may see more of an officially connection if legal stances chance in two years.

12. Elrond 's sword in Rings of Power season 2 looks very similar to Hadafhang, which he had in the Hobbit and Arwen had it in the Lord of the Rings.

So fat, the biggest difference is the three Elven Rings, but that could of been before Amazon got some of the film rights to PJ'S films. We may see more connections in the next few years if Amazon aquires the rest of the film rights.

If there is more that I see, I will definitely connect the dots, I know that there are a few differences such as the look of the three elven rings looking not like what they did in the Jackson films, but that is a smaller detail in the grand scheme of things. Even if they are meant to be two different adaptions of Middle-earth, I like to think they are connected in one big story. Just something I've been wanting to share!

[therecordconnection]

Ranting and Raving: "Dreams" by Van Halen

Picture it: A team of teenage superheroes piloting a giant fighting machine have just defeated an evil wizard (who himself has just fused with a different giant fighting machine) who was trying to achieve world domination by unearthing two long-buried giant death machines that lie underneath a bustling city. The wizard couldn’t free these machines on his own, so his plan was to hypnotize the parents and adults of an entire city so he could have enough slave labor to free them. The machines were successfully freed and used to try and destroy the entire city, which was only made possible by convincing all the parents and adults to buy and use purple ooze (made by the wizard) sold in a can and advertised as a multi-use product. Once the wizard got what he wanted, his final command to the hypnotized masses was to march and throw themselves off of a cliff like a giant herd of human lemmings. They are eventually saved when the kids of the parents and adults figure out that dumping water on them undoes the hypnotism. They do this while the heroes are off fighting the wizard.

The superheroes, before saving the day, have had to travel to a distant planet in order to find “The Great Power.” This was needed after the wizard destroyed the heroes’ main base and placed their leader into a near-death state, which strips the heroes of their powers. Long story short, the heroes find said great power, return to their city, and quickly spring into action to save the day. Once the day is saved, our heroes, disguised in their civilian identities, celebrate with the entire town and enjoy a fireworks display put on by the town in order to properly thank their heroes. 

That thank you is spelled out on a billboard in bright lights and pyrotechnics. It reads, “Thank You POWER RANGERS.” Van Halen’s “Dreams” plays during this entire fireworks display and it’s a glorious end to one of the campiest, silliest, most beautiful mid-nineties time capsule movies ever made.

Everything about 1995’s Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: The Movie is so lovably, shamelessly, unabashedly DUMB! But that’s the incredible beauty about it. In this movie version of the popular TV show's world, the rangers, who never had that much characterization to begin with, become one-liner machines saying stuff so heinously idiotic that even Spider-Man would shake his head in embarrassment. Consider: The movie's absolutely bonkers first fight scene against evil wizard Ivan Ooze’s Ooze-Men. The following lines are all said in rapid succession: Tommy (White Ranger): "Welcome to my nightmare." (said right after Ivan said this, which is a reference to an Alice Cooper song.) Adam (Black): "Wanna play Kick the Can?" (Adam then kicks a bucket at one of them.) Aisha (Yellow): "Kiss & Make-Up!" (Aisha slams two ooze-men together, knocking them out.) Adam: "Let Me Get the Door." (Adam hits one of them by opening a door in an ooze-man’s face.) Billy (Blue): "You Ooze, You Lose." Kimberly (Pink): "SIT DOWN!" (said when she kicks one of them and they land on their butt). 

I'm pretty sure whoever wrote this movie only had passing knowledge of the show and assumed the rangers always talk like this while fighting. Whoever choreographed the fight scenes REALLY loved watching the rangers do backflips. They do it SO FUCKING MUCH! I never noticed until my most recent watch with friends. Billy, Kimberly, and Rocky (Red) backflip like Olympic gymnasts throughout this entire movie (for Kim makes sense, she's a gymnast in the show).

The writing of the movie is at its strongest whenever Ivan Ooze is on screen. Paul Freeman gives the performance of a lifetime and plays Ivan exactly the way a corny villain in a nineties kids movie needs to be played: Over the top, gleefully evil, with a backstory that is basically 1:1 Rita Repulsa's story from the show (locked in a bucket, freed by humans, seeking revenge). Everything he says in the movie is gold. My friend Brian and I knew it was coming and laughed like bandits when Ooze delivered the best line in the movie: "Oh the things that I have missed: the Black Plague, the Spanish Inquisition, the Brady Bunch Reunion." Freeman delivers all of this like a perfect Saturday morning cartoon villain. On some level, he knows he's playing a purple monster wizard in a kids movie, but on another, he takes it seriously. A superhero movie is only as good as the villain the heroes need to defeat. He's better than any villain in the show mostly by merit of being in something longer than a TV show episode, but he's also better because he just oozes (heh heh) personality from minute one until the end (when he's crotch-kicked into a comet).

This movie is also smart enough to know its audience and plays to it. It knows that it was made for kids ages 5-10 who had been watching the show for two years and already know everything about the rangers and their world. The movie correctly assumes you've watched the show in some capacity, so it doesn't have to waste any time. We just get into it immediately and the movie is better for it. The pacing is great! It never feels like the movie drags at all and there's always something happening. It revels in its own camp and ridiculousness. It just throws everything at you and it never fully loses that delightfully light-hearted tone, even in its most dramatic moments.

You can immediately tell where the extra budget for a movie went. Normally this would be sarcastic, but it's not in this case. The movie begins with the rangers going skydiving and roller skating through the park. The new metallic look for the ranger costumes still holds up. The costumes really pop and I think they're visually better for "The Movie" than the spandex from the show would've been. The re-designed Command Center looks great (despite the fact that Ivan destroys it in about two minutes). Zordon looks goofy, but you can tell he got "The Movie" treatment by having a more realistic looking hologram head. The Alpha-5 costume is a little shinier and he clinks and clanks more like a robot. The zords and Megazord fight in this one got the budget of CGI, but that's the one place where I think the budget wasn't worth it. That's where the movie really looks the most dated and I'd even argue it looks like dogshit dripping from a paper bag. But it's so bad in the funniest ways. If anything, the movie gets more charming because it was bold enough to go with something that bad.

Money definitely went to the soundtrack, which is almost undeserved: Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Higher Ground" cover is here. DEVO (who recorded songs for movies when they felt like it) gives us fight music with "Are You Ready?" Shampoo's "Trouble" soundtracking parents marching to their death like lemmings is unintentionally funny. The orchestral version of the Power Rangers theme that plays during the morphing sequence (which still rules) is big, ridiculous, and epic all at once, just like the movie is. But if you ask me, the one soundtrack moment everyone remembers is the very end, when Van Halen’s “Dreams” plays. Say what you will about the Power Rangers movie, but it absolutely earns the right to have that song as its ending theme. The first time I ever heard Van Halen, as I imagine a bunch of people my age did (I’m 29) was when I was a little kid watching that movie on VHS in the late nineties. I can’t hear the song without thinking of the Power Rangers. Evidently, I’m not alone in that regard. If you scroll through the comments section on any Youtube video for “Dreams,” you’ll find somebody referencing the movie in some form. “Dreams” works as an anthem for the Power Rangers because lead vocalist Sammy Hagar’s lyrics and thesis statement for the song are basically proven and reinforced by what the Rangers do in the movie. The biggest, brightest, cheesiest superheroes deserved (and, more importantly, earned) one of the biggest, brightest, cheesiest songs made in a decade that was full of them. “Dreams” is special. It’s a perfect song, and, oddly enough, Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: The Movie, of all things, reinforces why it’s a perfect song.

I highly doubt Sammy Hagar or any of the guys in Van Halen saw the Power Rangers movie. All four members of the band had kids by the time the movie came out, but they were all scattered in age (and some of them were older than the target demographic). My only guess as to how Saban Entertainment got the rights to the song is that somebody told Hagar and the guys that the song would do business because the movie was going to do business (and it did: $66.4 million box office against a $15 million budget. It was fourth on its opening weekend against Apollo 13, Pocahontas, and Batman: Forever). I imagine they were paid a nice check for that and thought there wasn’t any harm in having a nine year old song of theirs featured in a kids movie. It wasn’t like Van Halen needed the extra exposure. They were one of the survivors of the grunge era. They were still consistently doing good business and playing arena shows. Hell, they had scored their fourth #1 album (Balance, which would end up going triple-platinum) five months before the movie came out. They were doing just fine.

“Dreams” was never the biggest Van Halen hit (it peaked at #22 on the Billboard Hot 100) but chart success isn’t always the best indicator of a song’s history and life. “Dreams” is one of the most beloved songs of the Hagar-era of the band and it remained a live staple for the entire time Hagar was in the band. Even after the “Van Hagar” years, it stuck around after that. Sammy has played it a healthy amount during his own solo ventures and other bands post-Halen. I remember hearing the song a lot (among others) when Eddie Van Halen died in 2020. A great song always finds ways to stick around.

I’ve always had the theory that by the mid-eighties, Eddie Van Halen was starting to get a little bored with being one of the best guitar players in the world. Around the mid-eighties with the 1984 album, he started really experimenting with keyboards and synthesizers, the instrument that invaded eighties rock and threw rockers to the ground in a Big Show-style choke slam. Of the eighties dad rock bands that incorporated keyboards into the mix, I think besides Geddy Lee in Rush, Eddie was one of the best to do it. It helps that he didn’t have to learn how to play them on the job. Before becoming a guitar god, Eddie trained to be a classical pianist. That’s what his parents wanted him to be before he got bitten by the rock n’ roll bug. As a fan in the eighties, it was probably weird to suddenly see the wildly technical guitar hero suddenly start banging on keys, but I doubt it was to Eddie. He already had experience with the instrument and just like guitar, Eddie was good at playing keyboards.

You can hear all of that experience in the intro to “Dreams.” It’s a stunning and beautiful melody, played on an Oberheim OB-8 (for all you gearheads keeping score at home). It’s coupled with Eddie mirroring it with an acoustic guitar and it just adds to the beauty of the whole thing. It’s soothing. It’s euphoric. It’s enticing. It’s any number of adjectives you want to ascribe to it. 1986, the year “Dreams” came out, was the beginning of the really overwrought synth-cheese years. Say what you want about the synth-heavy Van Hagar songs, but Eddie knew good keyboard sounds when he heard them.

I love that little two second pause right before the rest of the band launches into the song. It’s great! Van Halen always had great energy and “Dreams” comes right out of the gate with it. Alex Van Halen’s drum sound is so underrated to me. I’ve always loved how much weight his drum sound has. He comes crashing in and it feels like he just punched through a gate and sent it flying into a wall. His drums are just so beautifully pronounced without getting in the way of everything else. He might have been one of the only rock drummers on Earth in the eighties who didn’t buy into the whole gated reverb craze that Phil Collins invented. It really makes him and his whole sound that much more unique in hindsight.

Sammy Hagar had the improbable task of replacing David Lee Roth when he left Van Halen in 1985. For the record, I like both singers, but prefer Sammy. Roth was a great showman and frontman, but as a singer, I’ve always found him goofy and limited. He basically modeled his entire approach––from his look to the way he sang––on Vegas-era Elvis Presley (he kicks like the king, but he jumped around more than the king could). To me, his lyrical contributions always came with a sense of danger and unpredictability, but when he sang about specific people, it always sounded like he was armed with sarcasm. Nothing out of his mouth ever felt sincere, but I also recognize people didn’t want that from him. They just wanted a party animal. He obliged, and he was certainly entertaining to watch, but as a singer he only had a small toolbox of skills. Sammy didn’t have the sense of danger and that wild man/party boy spirit, but he was still a great showman in his own way and––let’s face it, people––a better singer with much more range and skills. I think one of the most important skills Sammy had, the one skill above all else that made his time with the band so successful, was Sammy’s sincerity. 

Roth wouldn’t have pulled off a song like “Dreams.” Part of that is because Roth couldn’t do a vocal like Sammy’s if his life depended on it. A bigger part is that Roth would’ve scoffed at Sammy’s lyrics for the song, which are very simply about following your dreams and never giving up, no matter how hard it gets. He would’ve laughed like a school bully and called him a clown (which would’ve been the pot calling the kettle black, but I digress). 

Sammy’s not the most gifted lyricist in the world (“Only time will tell if we stand the test of time” from “Why Can’t This Be Love” is a prime example of this) but Sammy’s greatest strength as both a lyricist and a singer is a tried and true one: It doesn’t sound stupid if you believe it and know how to sell it.

On paper, Sammy’s lyrics to “Dreams” aren’t impressive in the slightest. Most of them read like obvious and cookie-cutter motivational quotes that wouldn’t look out of place on a Hallmark card or a motivational calendar. But when he sings them? That’s what makes the difference. The great energy that the song already has gets immediately amplified to greater heights once Sammy steps up to that mic. When Sammy delivers the lines, “Yeah, you reach for the golden ring / You reach for the sky! / Baby, just spread your wings” he starts getting extremely hammy, but not in a bad way. It’s even more hammy during the chorus, if you can believe it, where Sammy practically screams out to the masses and assures us that we’re gonna get higher and higher and climb straight up. That chorus turns the entire song into a spectacle and Sammy sings it with such heartfelt sincerity that even the most cynical asshole you know would be swayed by it. He believes every single word of this song and that’s what gives the song its power. He delivers the lyrics with unshakable belief that we can fly higher and climb higher than we think we can. It’s glorious. If you listen to this whole song and it doesn’t make you feel fucking invincible, if it doesn’t motivate you or help make you feel like you could do anything and achieve anything, then I don’t know what to tell you.

The song’s most beautiful moments are during the post-choruses, when the melody from the intro returns and Sammy delivers his most impactful lines:

So baby, dry your eyes Save all the tears you've cried Oh, that's what dreams are made of 'Cause we belong In a world that must be strong Oh, that's what dreams are made of

Alex’s quick dum-dum-dum-dum drum hits during that are incredible. I love that bit when Sammy sings”Oh, that’s what dreams” and then Alex crashes back into the beat just as Sammy is finishing the line (“are made of”). A musical moment like that was born to soundtrack boxers and UFC fighters scoring knockouts, heroes defeating villains, people performing wild and incredible feats. It’s magic, that’s the best way I can describe it to you. 

Eddie plays keyboards throughout the song, but he’s still Eddie Van Halen, so that means that he’s gonna give you a guitar solo. Come on, what do you think this is? There are better Eddie solos than what’s on “Dreams,” but one of the reasons Eddie is so revered as a master of his craft is because he understood that a guitar solo has to serve the song. It has to give the song something. Eddie fires off two quick solos during the second half and they’re everything you want from the guy. They serve the song by ramping up the ridiculousness and hamminess of the lyrics by giving the song a triumphant melody and energy. The end of that first solo near the 3:07 mark sounds like victory and it opens up the song for Sammy to return and wail that chorus again. That second solo around the 4:00 mark keeps that triumphant feeling and it’s everything you love about Eddie Van Halen’s guitar playing in just fifteen seconds. Excellent tone, wonderful melody, that always-cool finger-tapping thing, what more could you ask for? That shit rules and it’s not hard to understand why so many classic rock fans miss Eddie so much.

The song ends in the most wonderful way possible. Sammy sings, “And in the end / On dreams we will depend” but instead of repeating that’s what dreams are made of, he switches it and sings, “‘Cause that’s what love is made of.” Only in the mid-eighties could you end a song like that and have it be so feel-good and so lovably silly. I love Eddie’s keyboard outro right at the end and that held note that just fades out. It’s a great ending and leaves you with the best feeling. It’s awesome. No notes.

“Dreams” is a perfect song because it’s so over the top, so ridiculous, but so lovably and unabashedly sincere. It revels in the cheesiness of its entire production. It does the exact same thing that something like Stan Bush’s “The Touch” (another pumped-up motivational eighties classic that famously appeared in a ridiculous-yet-incredible kids movie) and serves as lovably campy motivation music.

For Sammy Hagar, the motivational lyrics to "Dreams" were written as a sort of victory lap and  testimony from himself. He was a kid who grew up dirt-poor and struggled in poverty for most of his adolescence, but powered through that and somehow grew up to become a successful, world conquering musician. “Dreams” was his way of telling his fans and anybody who needed the song that if he can do it, so can you. If you have a dream, fight for it. You can make it happen if you work for it, believe in yourself, and don’t give up. You know who believes that kind of stuff? The Power Rangers.

The reason “Dreams” works so well as the end-credits song to the Power Rangers movie is because like the song, The movie revels in how ridiculous and over the top it is, but it never loses its sincerity. Like Sammy Hagar, the movie believes in everything it's selling to you and it remains unshakably optimistic. There's not an ounce of cynicism to be found in one single second of that movie. The only sarcasm are the quick one-liner jokes that come out of the rangers' mouths. After almost twenty years of MCU garbage, the Power Rangers movie becomes surprisingly refreshing. They also stand by what Hagar preaches in “Dreams.” They’re a source of motivation and just like Sammy, they believe that keep going and you don’t give up, no matter how bad things get or how impossible things seem. The movie reinforces “Dreams” by showing you six people with unbreakable determination. Here’s a superhero team that effectively loses their powers (it happens when Zordon is practically killed by Ivan Ooze, which makes no sense because the ranger powers aren’t directly tied to Zordon in the show) and become ordinary people again. Rather than wallow and accept all is lost, they risk their lives to travel to an unknown planet and find a great power that will restore them to being Power Rangers again and allow them to save both Zordon and the city of Angel Grove. No matter how tough their journey gets, they never break. They know they can turn things around and save the day if they don’t give up and keep going. Whether they have their ranger powers or not, they’re in a world where they have to stay strong and keep going. No matter what.

It's really easy to listen to “Dreams” or look back at the Power Rangers now and laugh at how silly and cornball it all is... but kids in the mid-nineties certainly didn't think it was stupid. I didn't think it was stupid either when I was a kid in the late nineties. Look me dead in the face and tell me Tommy Oliver doing impossible bicycle kicks and, later, a wild corkscrew kick dressed to the nines as a ninja isn't the coolest shit in the world. Go on. Do it. 

The Power Rangers are six of the silliest heroes ever put on Western TV and movie screens, but they're still heroes. Even when things get tough and the situation is dire, they refuse to break down and give up. They keep going. They endure, because they know they have to. Because they know people need heroes. They always will. “Dreams,” as over the top as it is, is a song that reflects that sentiment of endurance and the belief that nothing is impossible. Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: The Movie earned the right to have a song as perfectly uplifting and as gloriously electrifying as Van Halen's “Dreams” close the curtain on their Hollywood movie experience. We’re all better for having their specific brand of cheesy optimism in the world.

Thank you, Power Rangers.

[stachebracket]

Round One 'Stache Match-ups

Peppino Spaghetti (Pizza Tower) vs Professor Rowan (Pokémon) Geppetto (Pinocchio 1940) vs Tim Lockwood (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs)The Lorax (The Lorax) vs William Riker (Star Trek: Next Generation) The President (Pikmin) vs King Dice (Cuphead) Nigel Thornberry (The Wild Thornberrys) vs Kratos (God of War) Filbrick Pines (Gravity Falls) vs Mouse Kaboom (Happy Tree Friends) Tarzan's Dad (Tarzan 1999) vs Drayden (Pokémon) Morshu (Legend of Zelda) vs Magikarp (Pokémon) Luigi (Super Mario) vs Snidely Whiplash (Rocky and Bullwinkle) Dracula (Castlevania) vs Gaepora (Legend of Zelda) Hades (Hades) vs Geralt (The Witcher) Jules Winnfield (Pulp Fiction) vs Walrus Captain (A Hat in Time) Dr. Wily (Megaman) vs Charlie Swan (Twilight) King of All Cosmos (Katamari) vs Hizashi "Present Mic" Yamada (My Hero Academia) Drake (Pokémon) vs Craigor Smiff (Red Stitch Report) Blaine (Pokémon) vs Gimli (The Lord of the Rings)

Eggman (Sonic) vs Lando Calrissian (Star Wars) Archibald Dandy (The Adventures of Captain Wrongel) vs Walter White (Breaking Bad) Mung Daal (Chowder) vs Linebeck III (Legend of Zelda) Kingambit (Pokémon) vs Doc Louis (Punch-Out!!) Major Alex Louis Armstrong (Fullmetal Alchemist) vs Doctor Neo Cortex (Crash Bandicoot) Soichiro Yagami (Death Note) vs Murro Morton (Identity V) Baron Zeppeli (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 1: Phantom Blood) vs J. Jonah Jameson (Marvel) Wulfric (Pokémon) vs Henry Henderson (Spy x Family) Gashu Satou (Your Turn to Die) vs Stanley Hudson (The Office) Alolan Golem (Pokémon) vs Landorus (Pokémon) King Harkinian (Legend of Zelda) vs Thundurus (Pokémon) Gustavo (Pizza Tower) vs Tornadus (Pokémon) Broque Monsieur (Mario & Luigi) vs Cadmus Ebcott (Red Stitch Report) Rhys Strongfork (Borderlands) vs Agustín Madrigal (Encanto) Bob Belcher (Bob's Burgers) vs Soseki Natsume (The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles) Oscar (Duolingo) vs Professor Turo (Pokémon)

Soda Popinski (Punch-Out!!) vs Mario (Super Mario) Cliff Clavin (Cheers) vs King River Butterfly (Star vs the Forces of Evil) Stoutland (Pokémon) vs Grandpa Harley (Homestuck) Von Kaiser (Punch-Out!!) vs The Captain (BBC Ghosts) Mustache Girl (A Hat in Time) vs Tobias Fünke (Arrested Development) Chat Noir (Miraculous Ladybug) vs Randy Marsh (South Park) Wario (Super Mario) vs Gandalf (The Lord of the Rings) Kevin Ayuso (Identity V) vs Mr Pickels (Happy Tree Friends) Inigo Montoya (The Princess Bride) vs Minimus Ambus (Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye) Kricketune (Pokémon) vs Eldstar (Paper Mario) Jane Crocker (clever disguise) (Homestuck) vs Advisor Mung (Hypnagogia 無限の夢 Boundless Dreams) Saguaro (Pokémon) vs Revolver Ocelot (Metal Gear Solid) GOING TO REMATCH Waluigi (Super Mario) vs Vincenzo Santorini (Atlantis: The Lost Empire) Mr. Rime (Pokémon) vs Raikou (Pokémon) Sportacus (Lazy Town) vs Ron Swanson (Parks and Recreation) Steven Magnet (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic) vs Sir Humphrey Bone (BBC Ghosts) Sea Hawk (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power) vs Duster (Mother 3) Varrick (The Legend of Korra) vs King Bradley (Fullmetal Alchemist) Omni-Man (Invincible) vs Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart (Doctor Who) William Murderface Murderface Murderface (Metalocalypse) vs Lolorito Nanarito (Final Fantasy XIV) Mumbo Jumbo (Hermitcraft) vs Probopass (Pokémon) The Toy Soldier (The Mechanisms) vs Chancellor Cole (Legend of Zelda) Alakazam (Pokémon) vs Entei (Pokémon) Thom Merrilin (The Wheel of Time) vs James Gordon (DC Comics) Gomez Addams (The Addams Family) vs Solid Snake (Metal Gear Solid) GOING TO REMATCH Asgore Dreemurr (Undertale) vs Taryon Gary Darrington (Critical Role) Julius Pringle (Pringles) vs Netero (Hunter x Hunter) Dudley (Street Fighter) vs Barret Wallace (Final Fantasy VII) BJ Hunnicutt (M*A*S*H) vs Daruk (Legend of Zelda) Mabosstiff (Pokémon) vs Vito Corleone (The Godfather) Cervantes (Fire Emblem) vs Don Paolo (Professor Layton) Gordan Freeman (Half-Life) vs Zangief (Street Fighter)

[runilareads]

Review: The Cup and the Lip - Elizabeth Ferrars

Title: The Cup and the Lip Author: Elizabeth Ferrars Series: N/A Release Date: 1975 Publisher: HarperCollins Rating: 4 stars

Favourite character: Peter Least favourite character: Kate

Mini-Review: Okay so this was amazing as usual. I love Elizabeth Ferrars books, her writing is just… ugh, I love it. My reason for it not being 5 stars is because of the ending. Not the reveal of the whodunnit, that shocked me. No the romance subplot that was never followed through on. I feel cheated.

Fan Cast: Peter Harkness - Harry Lloyd Gina Marston - Ellie Bamber Max Rowley - Tom Burke Kate Rowley - Olivia Colman Juliet Weldon - Laura Carmichael Walter Weldon - Martin Freeman Helen Braile - Clare Holman Anna Weinstock - Celia Imrie Adrian Rolfe - Aaron Taylor-Johnson Daniel Braile - Bill Nighy Arthur - Harry Holland Cliff Paton - Anthony Boyle Rosie Paton - Simona Brown Detective Superintendent Crabtree - Alex Price

[tawneybel]

Note: Top ten hottest characters, part eighteen. This list was originally supposed to have Gallner’s character from 5cream, but then I finally caught Beautiful Creatures and Larkin’s a mega cutie. Also, I’ve actually been neglecting horror movies lately, because I’ve been reading lots.

10. Ramone (Oscar Nuñez) from The Proposal

If anybody had to strip in that movie, I’m glad it was him.

9. Butch Gilzean (Drew Powell) from Gotham

I’d be your moll, Butch.

8. Amaz-O (Mike Carbone) from Goosebumps

Should have worn a rabbit headband at some point.

7. Billy Freeman (Cliff Curtis) from Doctor Sleep

Who needs steamy when there’s dreamy?

6. Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac) from Dune

Imperial DILF.

5. Rev-9 (Gabriel Luna) from Terminator: Dark Fate

Just when you thought shapeshifting androids couldn’t get any cooler...

4. William Thurber (Ben Barnes) from Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities

Gets chained to a bed surrounded by chanting cultists. Sweet.

3. Adam Alvaro (Tyler Posey) from Jane the Virgin

Have I seen this? No. But it’s Posey, playing a kind, thicc boyf.

2. Henry Creel (Jamie Campbell Bower) from Stranger Things 4

False nice guy who undergoes a grotesque metamorphosis and gets tentacles.

1. Larkin Kent (Kyle Gallner) from Beautiful Creatures

Sassy shapeshifter.

Note: Previous part.