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lizacstuff · 4 years ago

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Liza that 3rd fragman 👀 "if I was born a 100 times I'd fall in love with you everytime" Eda saying this is their last obstacle and nothing can separate them, serkan's "I'll be right back, close your eyes I'm here" If this isn't all a red flag for shits about to hit the fan then I don't know what is LOL (but also how cute to Edser look and them telling each other they love each other very much 😭😭😭)

That fragman is both the SWEETEST and the MOST OMINOUS thing I’ve ever seen. ALL AT ONCE.

Friends... we’re gonna go through some things. That being said, everything is going to be great. These writers have been solid so far, and I have faith they have come up with something really interesting to increase the longevity of this show. And I don’t know about you, but I’m prepared to go through some things if it means keeping Eda and Serkan for longer. (I heart them)

This show is about Eda and Serkan and their love story, at it’s core it’s a comedy, it will all lead to happy things, but... yeah, buckle up!

I have a lot of asks both about the fragman and last ep, so I’m going to answer a bunch under the cut.

Anonymous said: The fandom theories about episode 28 have gotten so wild that I literally think the most shocking thing would be if they actually got married and were not separated (emotionally or physically). What if the earlier painful episodes were to make us believe that things couldn't possibly go right in 28 and it's a reverse psychology trick?

You could be right! I like your thinking. I checked on twitter and I had to back away slowly. The juvenile temper tantrums were too much for me today.

Look, I think it’s clear something big is coming. It has to, there has to be something that shakes up the show. Some of the theories are more upsetting and catastrophic than others, but the writers won’t do anything that dings either character or their love for one another. Whatever happens will showcase the connection between these two and the chemistry between the actors, that’s the point of everything, and anything that does those things is gonna be a-okay with me.

@jan31 Hi Liza. Do you think we are going to see the wedding in 28 or they will leave it on a cliffhanger for next week. Lots of theories going round mainly cos of Neslihan saying new dimensions coming in episode 29, which could just mean married life etc. I have seen suggestions of memory loss, it's all a dream since episode one. I would personally love Eda to wake up like in episode one but for it to be a total turn around and she is the boss and Serkan the employee. Eda being robot yildiz appeals to me!!! I know it will never happen but leave me here with my dreams!!

I started the day at 90% sure they’ll be married in 28/29, but now I’m down to like 30% that they’ll get married in these episodes. I really, really want them to get married before whatever happens happens, because every scenario I can think of for this reset or starting again, seems like it would be better if they were married.

However, the shooting spoilers from today, make me question that. Namely the videos where Hande appears to still be wearing the ring on her right hand. We shall see, that could be for many reasons.

Honestly, though, I wouldn’t hate a memory loss storyline. Seeing one of them (and Serkan’s line in the trailer makes it seem like it might be him) lose their memory and have to fall in love all over again? There are worse fates for a shipper than getting to experience that all again but in a different way.

Anonymous said: Your response to the fandom drama anon was so good, it's exactly how I feel. While I don't know what the old posts that were like are (that's shady as fuck) I did see all the other drama go down and wow. The actresses def need to stay in their lane and some of the fans, hoooo boy, it's obvious they're young based off their reactions alone. Had to unfollow some people once I realized what they were like. Also some of the IRL shipping reminded me of col*fer stuff, reading into everything and blowing it out of proportion (which then gets picked up by paps....). But you're right in that at least the show related drama is tame compared to OUAT. But still, people being too careless even while they know the paps see everything and harass Kerem and hande (omg did you see the video of hande the other day stopped in the van and she looked so overwhelmed 😔)

You’re referencing this post here about yesterday’s drama.

Today Neslihan made it worse by addressing everything and claiming she didn’t like all those Hande-bashing posts because... wait for it... she was HACKED. Oy. Hackers got in and went back two years to like gross posts about Hande? Sure, Jan. While I don’t believe that for a second, I guess that at least gives her cover with Hande so they can all pretend it’s true and move on so it’s not awkward on set. But, yikes, she needs to consult a publicist, she took a narrative that was circulating in certain circles in fandom and made sure all her followers were aware. Not very savvy.

As for the paps coming after Hande, yes I did see her in the car, she did look overwhelmed. Back off vultures!!! That’s why I think Kerem sometimes throws himself to the wolves so that doesn’t happen. She always handles them like a pro, but you can tell she’d rather be anywhere else on earth than talking to them.

The pap stuff is worse than I’ve seen before, they’re like vultures circling for any conjecture (sometimes made up out of thin air) they can turn into a question and blame fans. OUAT actors dealt with nothing like this. Also I can’t believe they never ask about the show. Like after last week? They could legit ask about the sex scene which probably would have given them some angle on the actors that they wanted, (especially since it was too hot for Turkish TV) but they let that pass them by, and instead asked the same questions about being together that they never answer. Dumbasses. They are not only awful people, they are awful at their jobs.

In Van, the paps pay off crew members for info, they always know more than fans. Also I don’t remember stars of my shows getting this level of tabloid attention before. Except for on Riverdale, Lili and Cole generated that level of interest, and while I didn’t pay terribly close attention to them, I feel like they rarely talked to the paps, were just photographed. Also I don’t suspected the CW of calling the paps on them, but I suspect either the network or production company of sometimes calling them on Hande and Kerem.

Anonymous said: Do you think it’s weird that they didn’t touch the kidnapping at all in either trailer? They might not have filmed it in time for the 1st one but certainly the 2nd. And I’m definitely not complaining about the ones we got because its like a fairytale but the kidnapping was the cliffhanger...? 🧐 I think they should’ve just left the princes storyline at “he went back to his country” but then they didn’t so......

If they’d left his story at just going back to his country, then the Prince really wouldn’t have served his purpose. He was brought on to cause some sort of trouble, so they probably need him to cause the trouble before he goes, lets hope it ends with this kidnapping!

And to answer your question, yes, I do think it’s weird that neither trailer touched on it. On any other show I’d think it was a huge red flag, but on this show maybe not as much because a) there’s obviously a lot of romance in this episode, it’s not crazy that they are focusing on that to draw people in with the promos b) this show likes to do cliffhangers that end up being no big deal, that happens a lot.

Who knows it could turn out to be a big deal that shapes the rest of the episode in some unexpected way (Eda’s captured the whole episode and she’s dreaming about wedding prep, or... who knows) but I think it’s more likely that they resolve in the first 5-10 minutes and then move on. Since we know from the summary (not that I trust those) that Serkan goes on the bachelor weekend, it feels like the Prince is taken care of prior to that. I don’t think he’d leave her alone for a second if there was a chance the Prince was still a threat. Perhaps Babaanne is pissed he tried to kidnap Eda and tells them she’ll handle it herself???

Anonymous said: Semiha not being in the promo is highkey suspicious. The actress is promoting the episode lol. She's about to Evil Queen this wedding ceremony but you know what, I'm fine with whatever she has planned if they end up married at the end of the day. What's funny is that since a lot of fans these days will assume that there will be shocking negative plot twists, not actually having one here would be a plot twist so I hope the writers keep them together for whatever's next haha

You’re not wrong, at this point, having this wedding take place would be a shocking twist for all of us! As for Semiha... hmmm... it will be interesting to see what her reaction is to Eda being kidnapped by her pick of suitor. Serkan Bolat might be the son of the man indirectly responsible for her parents death, but he would never hurt her. Take note, Grandbag!

Anonymous said: Do you mind sharing your speculative scenarios?

After the trailer today, I don’t know if I can even remember some of them.

Memory loss

Grandma forces Serkan to choose between Eda and his company/wealth, he chooses Eda and they start over from scratch with nothing

Time jump

AU starting over, showing a different path they might have taken together

Dream

These actors playing different characters in a new story

I don’t think the last three are likely, but they did spring to mind after some of Neslihan’s teases.

Anonymous said: So this show doesn't get like fantastic ratings (it actually seems to be on the lower end compared to all other dizis airing) but the social media engagement is off the charts. Why is that?!? Is the show just extraordinarily popular internationally? or that this is a "shipping" show? I'm floored by the numbers - its like no other show/fandom is even trying

The ratings were terrific during the summer. But to your point, it has a huge fandom both in Turkey and internationally, but it’s worth noting that most of those charts you see where it beats every other show in every imaginable social metric is just for Turkey.

It’s one of those lightning in a bottle situations where you get the right property and the right actors together at the right time and magic happens. And, for sure, the number one reason is the shipping. Shipping drives fandom engagement, and a fantastic ship with a juicy, fun, tropey love story is what this show offers. It also offers up two extremely attractive, talented, likeable leads with off-the-charts chemistry (plus the added speculation about an off-camera relationship that has intrigued more than a few fans, tabloids and gossip sites and fueled interest) who have done a good job of building the fanbase through their social media engagement. Plus the timing is part of it as well. I don’t know about you, but this show hit the spot during this pandemic and the horror of 2020. We all needed this escape.

Anonymous said:Do you think something happened in the writers room after the backlash of 25 and fan disappointment after Ayse's announcement? I feel like a switch flipped and now we're in fanficland with how much good content we've gotten in these last two episodes. Like I thought maybe they should wrap up the series soon before the characters got completely off the tracks but they may be finding their groove now and I'm interested to see what their next twist is after they can write out Balca/Seymen.

I don’t know about a switch flip, this show has been fanfic land since the first episode! The tropes! That is how I described it to multiple people when I first started watching: an AU fanfic come to life.

As for the writing changes, no, I don’t think backlash after 25 affected 26 or 27, because 26 was already 90% shot, and 27 already written. However, I assume they themselves could tell that 25 got just too dark and had strayed pretty far from the DNA of the series. While I didn’t think it was bad, it was not fun to watch and this show ought to be fun to watch.

Let’s hope, however, that the backlash affects future episodes in that they know what works... and what doesn’t. The last two episodes definitely felt reminiscent of the first batch of episodes. Light, funny, romantic. If they can keep that tone... I’ll be thrilled.

Anonymous said: i didn't realize how much i missed "together" edser until watching 27.. it's been so long since they were "officially" together and we also had such few episodes of it.. ppl have been comparing it to 12 and while in some ways i agree, edser are always so different here than they were there. 12 was them navigating their new relationship.. they were more shy and finding their footing.. here they are very much established, as they should be after knowing their love for so long in comparison to 12!

Yes, it was lovely. You know I’ve preached a lot about how even though Eda and Serkan were broken up, they’ve still been together all this time. And it’s true, but there is something about them truly being together that is magical. We never got enough of that the first time around (a writing mistake in my opinion) and they’re so good together it’s lovely to watch.

Anonymous said: Serkan not asking for help from Balca when asking his team for help with the marriage gifts preparations and refusing her offer of help when she asked made me so happy. Good job Serkan! He's learning! She's not trustworthy!

Yes, that was a good moment. And he was eyeing her very warily when she offered. The thing I don’t understand is how has no one caught on that she’s working with Babaanne? That entire office is filled with nosy people, has no one remarked on the number of times Balca has gone up to the office or they’ve disappeared for lunch at the same time? Come on Leyla! Come on Melo! Notice these things!

Anonymous said: Fingers crossed that we finally make progress towards getting rid of Seiman & Balca now that all the girls were drugged and Eda was put in the car in the last episode. Unless Seiman has a change of heart and takes Eda back inside before anyone wakes & the guys get there then the show has to address it. Although I do not think Balca is going to back down unless Serkan straight up tells her he has zero interest in her and never will. Totally fine if that happens in the next episode.

Will Balca backdown even if she’s humiliated like that? She’s so delusional I’m not sure. What I am sure is that she’s dangerous. This came in before we saw the other two fragmans that have no mention of the kidnapping. Hard to picture how that is so easily resolved. Unless she frees herself (which seems unlikely in her groggy state) or maybe Melo’s future boyfriend is able to stop it before they get far? Or I don’t know. I just know that I want to see Serkan lose his mind and all the other characters see Serkan lose his mind and then I want it to be over. LOL.

Anonymous said: As much as I am loving everything Edser, I cannot wait for Seiman, Balca and Grandma to be gone. And I am even more annoyed to think that the show might try to redeem all 3 characters. All 3 of them are truly awful people and no need to waste air time trying to make the audience think any different. Just my opinion...🤷🏻‍♀️. Show please finally expose those 3 for the psychos they are and get rid of them.

Bye bitches! I don’t think there’s any redemption for Balca and Seiman. They both have poisoned/dosed people, hard to come back from that. And there is no need to redeem them because neither is compelling enough to be a long-term character. But maybe Granny, we probably will see a redemption arc for her.

Anonymous said: i know you were worried a few weeks ago that with ayse leaving as writer, we probably wouldn't have the same sort of comedy as previous episodes... but istg the whole kiz isteme scene, especially with chef alex, had me almost crying with laughter. especially when serkan off the cuff just goes "well if that's an option..." to everyone misunderstanding alex "wanting" ayfer for 2 nights and then eda ready to beat him with the flowers he bought her... comedic gold lmao.

SO GOOD! I was thrilled to see that sort of comedy, the sort of comedy we’d come to expect, from these writers. I think it bodes very well indeed!

That scene was amazing. I know Neslihan said that much of it was improvised. Probably that line from Serkan (since Serkan is SO out-of-his-mind in love I’m not sure he could even joke about having Eda only two nights a week! LOL) was improv from Kerem, and Aydan asking about the other nights, and Seyfi bringing up the weekend. And Eda’s very Hande-esque “Ser-KAN.”

I just love rewatching that scene and checking out everyone who is breaking character and just losing it. Cagri most of all. He’s blurred aback there but you can see Ferit spends the whole time laughing or trying to stifle a laugh. Reminds me of Cagri in the scene in 18 when they’re watching the security footage he was losing it in that scene as well.

Anonymous said: i'm scared - I think they are really about to give us all of these happy EdSer scenes only to have something happen RIGHT before the wedding ceremony due to Babaanne. Based on the last episode, I don't think there's any chance of a breakup (knock on wood) but what if Serkan gets arrested, goes to jail for 2 years, and we get a time jump?

This was sent before the last two teasers, so yes I think something is gonna happen. We shall see! I don’t really think Serkan going to jail for 2 years is in the cards, at least I hope not! Besides if Babaanne did that she would have no hopes of ever reconciling with Eda, so that seems unlikely she’d follow through and leave him there for so long a time.

Anonymous said: With the last week's sex scene, they did a lot of fade outs but the scene was basically still there so it wasn't much wasted effort for the actors. But for what they're teasing in episode 28 - idk how they can get away with showing them in the shower at all if Serkan lifting Eda with her clothes on had required blurring? Is Eda dropping her robe even pushing it? It's intriguing indeed.

Great questions. We’re 36 hours from finding out (well I'm longer than that because I wait for the English subs, hee hee) All I know is I want to see these scenes.. one way or another!

#sen cal kapimi #edser #Sen Çal Kapımı #sck spoilers #sck specualtion #sckask #sck episode discussion #asklizac #Anonymous

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gunterfan1992 · 4 years ago

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Episode Review: ‘BMO’ (Distant Lands, Ep. 1)

Airdate: June 25, 2020

Story by: Anthony Burch, Adam Muto, Hanna K. Nyström, Jack Pendarvis, and Kate Tsang

Storyboarded by: Hanna K Nyström, Iggy Craig, Laura Knetzger, Anna Syvertsson, & Adam Muto

Directed by: Miki Brewster (supervising), Sandra Lee (art)

I just watched a new episode of Adventure Time...

That, dear readers, is a sentence that—after the airing of “Come Along with Me”—I never thought I’d get to write again! And believe me, it feels great to be proved wrong in this instance.

In October of last year, we were all treated to the news that four new Adventure Time specials—collectively identified as Distant Lands—would be airing in the next year or so. For months, the Adventure Time fandom has waited with bated breath for these specials to drop. Would these episodes be good? Would they live up to the series that came before? Would they undo the emotional satisfaction of the Adventure Time finale? These were the questions. And now, the first special—entitled “BMO”—is here. Does it live up to expectations, proving that Adventure Time always bounces back? Or is it toast-bread for sure? Read on to hear my thoughts!

Beginning in media res, "BMO" opens with the titular character on its way to Mars to terraform Mars. After running into an errant service droid named Olive, BMO is transported to a fantastical space station known as the "Drift." It is here that BMO becomes acquainted with a humanoid rabbit named Y5, and together, the two help reveal the insidious plotting of the station's capitalist overlord, Hugo, and his henchman Mr. M (who, it must be noted, is almost certainly Finn’s father, Martin, up to one of his many schemes). After much mayhem, hilarity, and poignancy, the special ends with BMO traveling back to Earth and meeting up with Finn and Jake for the first time—revealing that this entire special was a prequel to the main series, explaining how BMO first met up with his good friends in Ooo.

The first thing I'd like to comment on is the fact that many of the show's former crew members returned to work on this special. In addition to Adam Muto (Adventure Time's hard-working executive producer), this special saw the return of: storyboard artists Hanna K Nyström, Laura Knetzger, and Anna Syvertsson; storyline writer Jack Pendarvis; character designers Andy Ristaino and Benjamin Anders; art director Sandra Lee; and composer Tim Kiefer. I was actually quite surprised (and delighted!) that so many of the show's old guard returned to help out. And while this special also saw several new creative voices helping out (including folks like former OK KO! storyboard artist Iggy Craig, former Steven Universe board artist Miki Brewster, and writer Kate Tsang), the overall product was recognizably Adventure Time. I must admit, this was my biggest worry going into Distant Lands; without folks like Tom Herpich, Kent Osborne, or Cole Sanchez, would this feel like the show I know and love? I’m happy to say that the answer is yes!

BMO really is in fine form in this episode—from their singing the "Potatoes (More Exciting Than Tomatoes)" ditty in space all the way to their hitching a ride to Earth on a space lard. (Indeed, the sheer number of humorous remarks the little robot gets makes me think that many of the shows writers were saving up goofy one-liners following the show’s cancellation, just in case.) I’m quite pleased with how the episode handled the character, and, in truth, somewhat relieved. Initially, I was worried whether the character would be able to coherently anchor an hour long special, given BMO’s unpredictable and somewhat unreliable nature (see: “Ketchup”). Would 45 minutes of BMO’s seemingly boundless goofiness work? Thankfully, the other characters in this special do an excellent job counterpoising the lovable robot’s more, shall we say, unorthodox personality features (Y5 perhaps said it best when she noted that BMO tends to “expend energy for no apparent purpose”). The end result feels remarkably balanced, with BMO’s chaotic, goofball energy complimenting the very real plight of the Drift’s residents.

Speaking of other characters, Y5 served as a workable straight man, whose half-heartedly pragmatic personality contrasts nicely with BMO’s boundless and wacky optimism. I must give the writers and producers credit: it was extremely risky for them to feature a brand new character as one of the main players (rather than one of the show’s many beloved side characters), but for the most part, they stuck the landing. I think much of this success is due to Y5’s voice actress, Glory Curda, whose performance really breathes live into the character, giving her an earnest believability. That said, the fast-paced nature of this special precluded me from developing the strongest emotional connection to the character, and as such, Y5′s “my parents don’t appreciate me” subplot did not resonate with me as strongly as, say, “It Came from the Nightosphere” did. (But then again, not every character can be Marceline!)

Strictly in terms of story structure, "BMO" is not exactly groundbreaking, and the special follows the standard "buddy movie" formula fairly closely (You know, the structure that goes: "Two individuals from different walks of life are forced to work together. Despite a rocky start, they begin to function as a team. Alas, they are split up, but reunite just in the nick of time to save the world"). But unlike Grace Z. Li of Vulture, who wrote that the special plays out "expectedly" and as such "is simply unimaginative in its structure," I cannot say that the standard plot structure torpedoes "BMO"—it simply gives the special a solid story frame that supports the characters while also providing an opportunity for the show to drop some timely social commentary.

Adventure Time has never been one to shy away from such commentary, but I do not know if it has ever been more overt than in “BMO.” As Alexander Sowa of CBR puts it, Hugo—the alien-human overlord of the Drift—is a “futurist reminiscent of Steve Jobs or Elon Musk” who long ago used a spaceship to escape Earth during the final days of the Mushroom War. After “biohacking” his DNA with the genetic material of the grey aliens who flit around the Oooniverse’s infinite cosmos, Hugo and his ilk founded an Amazon-esque empire in the Drift, inculcating its inhabitants with a love for rampant commercialism. As a villain, Hugo really is the wombo combo: a selfish capitalist hell-bent on stealing riches, colonizing new lands, exploiting conquered peoples, and then leaving when the situation looks bleak. It is not hard to see Hugo and his followers as stand-ins for the leaders of today, who refuse to acknowledge the reality of thinks like climate change or income inequality—problems that, if left unchecked, will lead to cataclysmic societal collapse. It is a bleak topic for Adventure Time to meditate on, but at least the episode ends on a positive note, with BMO's actions proving that with the right leader(s) and enough people working together, otherwise powerless individuals can topple oppressive regimes and begin to right the wrongs that have been made by the bourgeoisie (if you’ll allow me to invoke the ol’ Marxist term). Now, "BMO" admits that such reformation is one that will require many sacrifices, but nevertheless, the special does emphatically assert that it is possible. And in the hellscape that is 2020, this is a message of hope that so many need to hear.

In addition to social depth, there's quite a bit of existential nuance to this episode, too. Perhaps the most striking scene in the entire special is the scene wherein BMO is torn apart and—for all intents and purposes—dies. It is a chilling scene made all the more haunting by the return of BMO's rainbow personae (last seen in season seven's "The More You Moe, the Moe You Know"), who urge BMO to accept death ("Now your job is to be dead") and recognize that the robot has failed in its mission to be a true hero. (As pointed out to me on Reddit, the scene stylistically echoes an eerie bit of dialogue from Portal 2, wherein GLaDOS tells you: “I have a sort of black-box quick-save feature: In the event of a catastrophic failure, the last two minutes of my life are preserved for analysis. I was ... forced ... to relive you killing me. Again and again. Forever." Talk about horrific!) Thankfully—in the spirit of the hero's journey—BMO bounces back from the brink of oblivion, proving that even in the bleakest of moments, all of us can be heroes.

Or something like that.

All in all, “BMO” was an enjoyable romp that dropped us back into a magical world we all love. While I wouldn’t say that the special was mind-blowing, it succeeded in its mission of telling a new story in a new place, while focusing on a character whom Adventure Time fans care deeply about.

Here’s looking to “Obsidian!”

Mushroom War Evidence: When it comes to the Mushroom War mythos, this episode was full of a lot of little details. CGO’s monologue reveals that, indeed, Earth was ravage by numerous nuclear weapons; what is more, it seems that some sort of doomsday weapon vaporized part of the Earth, leaving that gaping scar in the planet that has for so long fascinated the show’s mythology-junkies. It is also explicitly state that Hugo and his ilk were humans who fled Earth during the Mushroom War to escape certain destruction.

Final Grade:

Also, while I have your attention: Book update! As some of you might already know, over the last year and a half, I’ve been working on a book all about the history and production of Adventure Time! It’s been an absolute blast, and I’ve been lucky enough to talk to quite a few of the folks who worked on the show (including people like Tom Herpich, Jack Pendarvis, Pat McHale, and Rebecca Sugar). I’m in the final stages of type-setting, and should hopefully have the book ready to go within the next few weeks. Here’s a sneak peek of cover (please ignore the faint InDesign lines; they won’t be in the finished product):

Originally, I was going to publish this work through McFarland and Company, but then Cartoon Network got all pissy (long story short: I reached out to Rebecca Sugar and Adam Muto, got in contact with both of ‘em, and asked some questions about Bubbline. Rebecca responded and and confirmed that Bubbline was intended to be canon when she boarded “What Was Missing” but structural homophobia prevented it from being explicitly declared as such. This revelation made CN PR reeeeeaaally uncomfortable and they threatened to sic the lawyers), so I’m now going to be publishing through the University of Kansas Libraries. The good news is that the work will be free to download, and easily accessible! Yay! That said, if you want a hard copy of the book, I’ll post details about that in a bit. Anyway, keep your eyes peeled!

#adventure time #atimers #distant lands #adventure time distant lands #bmo #hanna k. nyström #iggy craig #laura knetzger #anna syvertsson #adam muto #miki brewster #sandra lee

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kmalexander · 4 years ago

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My Reading List for 2020

It’s no secret 2020 has been a challenging year. While upon reflection, I found it to be surprisingly full, like many of us, I still spent the majority of my time at home. One benefit of our new socially-distant stay-at-home culture was the amount of reading I managed to accomplish. Just like previous years, I’ve compiled a list of the books I’ve read over the last three hundred and sixty-six days, and as always, I want to share them with everyone.

This year was hit-or-miss for me reading-wise. There were books I loved and many books I ended up loathing. I found books I know I will re-read and proselytize, but they were often mirrored by other books I hate-read. I also found myself reading a few histories for pleasure, not something I normally do, and I dipped into science fiction much more than in previous years. Audiobooks (

) used to be the mainstay of my daily commute, and this year they became the soundtrack to housework. Not a bad tradeoff. Oh, and as always, I beta-read a couple of great books, and I’m excited to see where those go in the future.

This list correlates with my Goodreads 2020 Reading Challenge, but it always includes a few extra since Goodreads doesn’t let me count beta reading, and I don’t list comics or short stories or poetry (new this year!) over there. Remember, this is all strictly reading for pleasure—I typically forgo listing any research/history books I’ve read for a project as I read those differently than I do fiction. This list is always enormous, so l skip reviews except for my favorites in each category. However, I’d invite you to follow me on Goodreads, where I occasionally leave other reviews.

New for this year: with a few exceptions, most links now go to IndieBound instead of Amazon—2020 has been rough on small businesses, and now more than ever, be sure to support your local bookstore. When possible, I am now linking to each author’s personal website—if you’re on the list and I didn’t find your website, please let me know about it. (I won’t link to social media, sorry.)

Novels & Novellas

Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World #1) by Rebecca Roanhorse

Gideon the Ninth (The Locked Tomb #1) by Tamsyn Muir

City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1) by Cassandra Clare

Prosper’s Demon by K.J. Parker

The Crimson Campaign (The Powder Mage Trilogy #2)

by Brian McClellan

Jade War (Green Bone Saga #2) by Fonda Lee

Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries #2) by Martha Wells

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland

by Patrick Radden Keefe

The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War

by Joanne B. Freeman

They Mostly Come Out at Night (Yarnsworld, #1) (Link goes to Amazon) by Benedict Patrick

Frank on a Gun-Boat by Harry Castlemon

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

On Basilisk Station (Honor Harrington, #1) by David Weber

The Reign of the Kingfisher

by T.J. Martinson

RADIO by J. Rushing

Neuromancer (Sprawl, #1) by William Gibson

The Fireman

by Joe Hill

The Cipher by Kathe Koja

The Mist by Stephen King

Control Point (Shadow Ops #1) by Myke Cole

Blood Standard (Isaiah Coleridge #1) by Laird Barron

City of Miracles (The Divine Cities #3) by Robert Jackson Bennett

The Iron Ship (The Gates of the World #1) by K.M. McKinley

Vita Nostra (Metamorphosis Cycle #1)

by Sergey & Marina Dyachenko

Thieftaker (The Thieftaker Chronicles #1) by D. B. Jackson

BETA READING (Literature) by REDACTED

Circe by Madeline Miller

Terrier (The Legend of Beka Cooper #1) by Tamora Pierce

Red Storm Rising

…. again. by Tom Clancy

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

Clutter: An Untidy History by Jennifer Howard

The Half Killed by Quenby Olson

The Toll by Cherie Priest

Jurassic Park …again. by Michael Crichton

Seveneves

by Neil Stephenson

Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones

In the Valley of the Sun by Andy Davidson

Foundation (Foundation #1) by Issac Asimov

Consider Phlebas (Culture #1)

by Iain M. Banks

BETA READING (Historical Horror) by REDACTED

The Worm and His Kings by Hailey Piper

Wake of Vultures by Lila Bowen

Metro 2033

by Dmitry Glukhovsky

Favorite Novel of 2020

In the Valley of the Sun

by Andy Davidson

This sun-baked vampire horror set in Texas unexpectedly became a new favorite. A surprisingly tense, character-focused narrative. Brutal. Anguished. Tormented. Bloody. Lyrical in ways that remind me of Cormac McCarthy without the weight. It’s not shy of confronting the cracked ugliness of humanity and finding the beauty between the fissures. Davidson is an incredible writer, and I immediately purchased his more recent novel after finishing In the Valley of the Sun. We need more horror like this.

Favorite Novel Runners-up of 2020

RADIO

by J. Rushing

A jazz-infused, opium-soaked, historical fantasy that explodes from the opening chapter and never relents until its final pages. A thoroughly fresh debut that’s unlike anything I’ve read before. Rushing brings his unique, well-researched world of 1920s Paris to life with a captivating voice. Don’t expect a saccharine overly-romantic version of Paris; this is a stained, broken, and bloody place—a welcome addition to modern fantasy literature. Jim’s a friend of mine, so be sure to read my interview with him.

City of Miracles

by Robert Jackson Bennett

In recent years, the Divine Cities have become one of my favorite urban fantasy series, mostly for its fresh approach to the genre, atypical characters, and serious exploration of themes oft-ignored within mainstream fantasy. With City of Miracles, Bennett wrapped up the trilogy with a heartbreaking yet thoroughly satisfying ending. This story is a bit tighter and more focused than the previous two while wrapping up various loose ends rather nicely. It’s rare to find a final book in a series that resonates with me as much as City of Miracles did—it’s easily my favorite book in the trilogy.

Honorable Mentions of 2020

I started doing Honorable Mentions in 2018 so I could highlight some of the other standout novels from my year of reading. Below you’ll find many more excellent books, I’ve listed them in order of reading.

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse A unique southwestern approach to post-apocalyptic urban fantasy.

Prosper’s Demon by K. J. Parker A subversive fantasy with a fresh voice and plenty of twists. Nice quick read.

The Crimson Campaign by Brian McClellan An excellent sequel, one of the best examples of massive and complex military operations in fantasy.

The Field of Blood by Joanne B. Freeman Phenomenal nonfiction detailing the history of violence in Congress leading up to the U.S. Civil War.

The Cipher by Kathe Koja Deeply unsettling transgressive horror that felt far too familiar. Visceral and enthralling.

Blood Standard by Laird Barron A dark crime/P.I. novel with a heart and a sense of humor. I will be reading more in this series.

The Iron Ship by K.M. McKinley Thoroughly fresh fantasy—huge world, great characters, interesting plot, unique setting. Nearly made my runner up list.

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones Disturbing modern horror built around the experiences of first-nation people and the rural poor.

Clutter: An Untidy History by Jennifer Howard The history of stuff told from an all-too-relatable personal experience. Ended up buying a few copies for my family.

Seveneves by Neil Stephenson The moon is destroyed, and humanity only has a short amount of time to survive.

The Worm and His Kings by Hailey Piper Unique cosmic horror that explores gender identity, relationships, and poverty with a fresh perspective.

Short Stories

An Inhabitant of Carcosa …again. by Ambrose Bierce

And Now His Lordship is Laughing by Shiv Ramdas

How the Trick is Done by A.C. Wise

The Yellow Sign …again. by Robert W. Chambers

Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island by Nibedita Sen

Give the Family My Love by A. T. Greenblatt

The Dead, In Their Uncontrollable Power by Karen Osborne

The Masque of the Red Death …again. by Edgar Allen Poe

The Repairer of Reputations …again. by Robert W. Chambers

Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu

Seasons of Glass and Iron by Amal El-Mohtar

Tideline by Elizabeth Bear

Favorite Short Stories of 2020

The Dead, In Their Uncontrollable Power

by Karen Osborne

Generation ship! Class struggle! Religious ritual! Rebellion! Murder! Control! The complexity told within this genre-mashup was astounding. Such a rich world crafted in a way that feels effortless while maintaining a rich narrative was impressive. It’s no secret I’m drawn to stories that are hard to pigeon-hole into a specific genre, and that is fully represented here. Well worth a read.

Favorite Short Story Runners-up

Paper Menagerie

by Ken Liu

This heartbreaking story about magical origami, cultural identity, and family was the first piece of fiction to win a Hugo, a Nebula, and a World Fantasy Award. And after reading it, it was easy to see why. Touching and reflective. A masterwork of speculative short fiction.

Graphic Novels

Preacher: Book One by Garth Ennis (Author) & Steve Dillon (Artist)

Saga, Vol. 8 by Brian K. Vaughan (Author) & Fiona Staples (Artist)

Preacher: Book Two by Garth Ennis (Author) & Steve Dillon (Artist)

Once & Future, Vol. 1 by Kieron Gillen (Author), Tamra Bonvillain (Artist), & Dan Mora (Artist)

American Vampire, Vol. 2 by Scott Snyder (Author) & Rafael Albuquerque (Artist)

Paper Girls, Vol. 2 by Brian K. Vaughan (Author), Cliff Chiang (Artist)

Preacher: Book Three by Garth Ennis (Author) & Steve Dillon (Artist)

Die, Vol. 2 by Kieron Gillen (Author) & Stephanie Hans (Artist)

Favorite Graphic Novel of 2020:

Preacher: Book One

by Garth Ennis (Author) & Steve Dillon (Artist)

I didn’t expect to like Preacher. I bounced off the series hard when I was younger, writing off Ennis as a “blasphemous shock jock” and nothing more. But revisiting it as a middle-aged adult revealed a different sort of comic. The offensive transgressive material is still there, but beneath it is something much more—a book with more heart and humanity than one would be able to judge by its surface and laced with merciless satire that still rings relevant twenty-five years later.

Favorite Graphic Novel Runner-up of 2020:

Paper Girls, Volume 2

by Brian K. Vaughan (Author), Cliff Chiang (Artist)

Volume 1 nearly made my runner-up list last year. On the surface, it’s a time-jumping story about a group of friends caught in the middle of a future war. But beneath those sci-fi trappings, there is so much more here. It’s a book about being a kid and the expectations therein, complications with friendship, and the complexities of growing up. The characters are fantastic, and the story moves along at a clip, making it impossible to put the trade down. I’m ready for volume 3.

Poems

So this year, I’m including some of the poems I read in 2020. I hinted at doing this last year. But this is really a trial run. In reality, I read more poems than listed below, but I didn’t do an outstanding job keeping track of them. Because this is the first time for poetry on this list, I’m going to skip picking a favorite. Hopefully, I’ll be back on track next year.

Small Kindnesses by Danusha Laméris

The Peace of Wild Things by Wendel Berry

Beneath the Sweater and the Skin by Jeannette Encinias

The Woods by Melanie Batista

I Confess by Alison Luterman

The Waste Land …again. by T. S. Eliot

Near a Raven by Mike Keith

Insha’Allah by Danusha Laméris

We Lived Happily During the War …again. by Ilya Kaminsky

Christmas Greetings to Felis …again by H. P. Lovecraft …again.

Passing Solstice by Ken Hada

Winter Solstice by Hilda Morley

Childhood Memory from the Old Victorian House on Warner by Beth Cato

Raw With Love by Charles Bukowski

So that’s my reading list for 2020. It’s been an interesting year in reading for me. As promised, we now have a poetry section, and I hope to expand that in the future. There are some great poems there, so be sure to explore them further. Despite my ups and downs, I’m overall quite happy with the books, stories, graphic novels, and poetry I read over the last twelve months. They were excellent distractions from the chaos of the year, and it was refreshing to lose myself in other worlds. 2020 will be behind us soon, and I am looking forward to the worlds I’ll discover in 2021.

How about you? What were the standout books, graphic novels, short stories, or poems you read this year? I’d love to hear about it. Leave a comment and let me know!

Are you looking for a good book? Want to see my reading lists from previous years? Check any of the links below and see what I was reading in the bygone days of old.

• 2013 • 2014 • 2015 • 2016 • 2017 • 2018 • 2019 •

Next year, why not join me? Goodreads does a reading challenge every year, and I am an active participant. First, follow me on Goodreads (leave me a review while you’re there), and once the New Year arrives, participate in the Goodreads Reading Challenge for 2020.

Want to stay in touch with me? Sign up for Dead Drop, my rare and elusive newsletter. Subscribers get news, previews, and notices on my books before anyone else delivered directly to their inbox. I work hard to make sure it’s not spammy and full of interesting and relevant information. SIGN UP TODAY →

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shadowbanish · 4 years ago

Text

Thank you @paintedcentaur for tagging me!

Rules: answer 17 questions, and tag 17 people

Nickname: I don’t really have a nickname. My username on most places is Shadowbanish, but as far as any IRL nicknames go, one of my best mates always calls me either Shortround or the first hobbit name that comes to his mind, since he’s 6′5″ and......

Zodiac sign: Aries

Height: ......I’m 5′2″. :’))))

Hogwarts House: I did a quiz aaaages ago once, and it said I was Slytherin.

Last thing I Googled: Synthesizer brands for hatchling names. lol

Songs stuck in my head: Turtle Power by Partners in Kryme, because I originally didn’t have a song stuck in my head, so I skipped this part, and a few answers down I mention TMNT, and since then it’s been stuck in my head, so I came back to add it here.

Number of followers: 752

Sleep: Who the hell is that?

Lucky number: 13 and 27

Dream job: Growing up, I always dreamed of becoming a marine biologist and maybe also a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. Now..... *shrugs* I don’t really dream of being anything, apart from emotionally and financially stable. heh

Wearing: PJs. I mean, it’s 3am. Yeah, okay, I’ve been wearing them all day.

Favourite song: AJSHFGJSDF Does anyone actually have a single favourite song? I can’t even narrow it down to 50. So uuummmm.... here’s some good songs I heard recently-ish and really enjoy:

Saturday by All The Damn Vampires

Cry Little Sister (cover) by Vomitron ft. Anneke Van Giersbergen

Cadillac Maniac by Kissin’ Dynamite ft. The Baseballs

My Name is Ruin by Gary Numan

Rendezvous by Scandroid

Favourite instrument: To play, the Irish Whistle. To listen to, any flute, and also the erhu.

Aesthetic: Wtf would I even call my aesthetic? Tacky nostalgic goth? lol I dunno. I love all things dark and spooky, but I also love neon lights and glitter and tacky 80′s/early 90′s patterns/colour schemes and shit. So yeah, I guess tacky nostalgic goth it is. X’)

Favourite author: Uumm... hmm. Well, a recent one would be Pat Mills, for the graphic novel series “Requiem Vampire Knight” (please don’t look that up if you’re a minor - lol), and a childhood one would be Joanna Cole, for "The Magic Schoolbus" series, that sparked my interest in science and made me beg my mom for a microscope when I was 5, so that I too could add iodine to my spit and see what it looked like up close.

Favourite animal noise: THIS!

Random: Speaking of random, my spouse got tired of us spending almost an hour trying to think of what to watch for our Saturday night movie nights every week, that we’ve sorted it out for the next year. We wrote out a list of 52 of some our favourite films, folded each one up into a tiny square so we can’t see what it is, and then randomly choose one out of a bowl. This Saturday is the first, and the random pick (which happens on a Wednesday, since nothing really exciting happens then) is Transformers the Movie (1986). c:

Tagging: (I’m just gonna pick 17 folks that show up in my recent activity. lol) @vladimpalerfr @dire-vulture @charoite-burrower @coatlscoatlseverywhere @starwood-stranded @dadboat-fr @dragonbleps-fr @cornsnoot-fr @sickviking-fr @mistyhollow-agent @zerkjo-fr @thatwhatthing-fr @highland-gem-guardian @tomswifty-fr @fr54526 @thewindbloom @owleics-fr

(I’m sorry if anyone’s already been tagged. Also, if you’ve been tagged and don’t want to do this, then obviously you don’t have to!)

#dash games #my posts

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purple-spring · 7 years ago

Note

How long did it take you to become this well of a writer? Do you have any tips or suggestions? I want to make my writing more exciting and vibrant like yours is. I feel like it's not as good as yours and I want it to be the best it can be.

Hey there, @fangirlthatreads! I’ve been sitting on this ask for a while and I do apologise for that, but I was so incredibly touched that you came to me with this kind of question that I wanted to answer it as best as I could, and create a sort of masterpost for writing in the process. I’m devoting my whole day to answering this, so hopefully it’s worth the wait :)

So, to answer your first question, I guess I’ve always enjoyed and have been fairly competent in writing. I wrote all throughout school, but never really got the opportunity to continue that in college, so I got a bit rusty. I only really started again recently (Sprousehart and Bughead were too tempting to resist), which has just been the most joyful, creativity-unleashing thing. I started simply by writing the beginning for “Tomorrow” because I couldn’t get the idea out of my head, and I had a very vocal cheerleader (hi, @jandjsalmon) encouraging me to write the whole thing. I haven’t looked back since then.

As for tips and suggestions, I thought about this for a long time and came up with the following, which I’ve tried to divide into three sections after the cut - READ, LISTEN, WRITE.

Anyway, without any further ado, I give you –

paperlesscrown’s personal guide to writing

—-READ—-

I mean, your account name kind of gives it away, but I’m sure you read a lot! But my #1 tip for writers is to read voraciously. I often think of it as fuel for the tank: you can’t put out what you don’t put in. When I run into writers’ block, it’s the first thing I do - I purchase a book for my Kindle and bunker down and read.

Three kinds of reading that I do:

Fanfic - This is a no-brainer. It’s important to expose yourself to the different interpretations of the canon and the characters you are writing about. I must admit that I’m not always the most up-to-date fanfic reader, but I am always hitting up @blueandgoldoffice and my dear friend @theatreofexpression for suggestions and recommendations.

Literature - This is important, too. As amazing as fanfic writers are, there is a whole other universe out there of incredibly written original fiction (and poetry!). Anything I can get my hands on, I get onto it. It’s why I bought myself a Kindle - I carry it around with me everywhere to make sure that I am constantly feeding my brain with exciting plots and engaging characters and beautifully turned phrases.

I often try to read specifically, too. What do I mean by this? So, for example, when I was writing “Apparitions”, which included huge chunks of dialogue between Cole and Lili, I chose to read One Day by David Nicholls, which I knew had a lot of earthy, realistic dialogue between a couple in love. When I was writing my first smutty fic (“In here, too”), I made sure to read The Boss by Abigail Barnette, which is an INCREDIBLE Dom/Sub series (which honestly every Dom!Jug writer should read) with amazingly written sex scenes.

I also make sure I read different formats - not just chapter books, but also longform articles, poetry, etc. I read a lot of short stories because I write exclusively in one-shots, so reading them allows me to see how writers develop plot within a limited word count.

Writers’ resources - This is something I’ve started doing recently, and it’s made such a huge difference. There is a whole world of writers’ resources out there. I recently bought the Emotion Thesaurus, which is described as “a writers’ guide to character expression.” It. Is. Amazing. It catalogues an emotion and the different ways a character could express them (that way I’m able to avoid cliches or vary the way that the emotion is expressed). It’s formatted like this:

It’s quite cheap on Amazon and such a worthwhile purchase. You should also check out websites such as Reference for Writers, which has SO MANY amazing resources for writers, plus links to similar websites.

Meta - Read analysis on your characters, whether it’s a recap from website like Vulture and AV Club or (with Riverdale specifically) meta posts from places like @riverdalemeta, which compiles all the incredible theorising from around the fandom. It helps you think about your characters more clearly. A good story always comes from a good grasp of character, and sometimes meta posts make a world of difference in understanding a character.

—-LISTEN—-

Listen to…

1. A beta. I cannot emphasise this enough. Betas make all the difference between a good piece of writing and a great one. My forever beta, @jandjsalmon, has saved from terrible writing decisions and has also steered me towards incredible ones. @theatreofexpression is a constant source of ideas, headcanons and discussions about the show. The thing about betas is that they are essentially your first audience and an important first filter for your work. They are able to pick up on inconsistencies, disruptions to flow, awkward phrasing, spelling and grammar errors, etc. I often think about them as the midwives for our stories. I may be the one giving birth to it, but it’s the beta who guides me with how to breathe, stand, position myself, etc. and essentially get the baby out into the world (sorry for the weird metaphor, lol). Always, always try and work with one.

2. The characters you are writing about. A handy tip - whenever I am writing, I put the show on in the background (as long as it’s not distracting), or interviews with the actors (if I’m writing RPF). It helps me to get a good grasp on their voice. With Bughead, I’m not much of an AU author - I prefer writing and expanding on canon scenes, so it’s important for me to try and get the voice, tone and phrasing of each character right (as well as the overall tone and atmosphere of the scene).

3. Music. Music can activate some really strong emotions and neurological reactions in us that help us to write well. Some people like writing to playlists (I made one for “What she wanted”), while others like listening to instrumental music. Both are fine, although sometimes I can find lyrics quite distracting. In terms of instrumental music, I listen to a lot of Philip Glass (classical and heavy) and Explosions in the Sky (indie and atmospheric) when I write.

—-WRITE—-

I guess there’s nothing left to do but to write!

Start small. I write a lot of drabbles, as you may have noticed, and those are just small writing exercises for me to keep the words flowing. Not everything you write will contribute to an amazing story, but it’s important to keep putting ideas to paper.

Engage in writing prompts. These don’t have to be Bughead-specific. There are plenty of writing prompts on the net - Pinterest is a great place to find some good ones!

Do writing sprints. I actually learned about this idea from the incredible @tory-b, who does this with other writers on the wonderful Bughead Family Discord. It’s basically stretches of 30 minutes to an hour where you do nothing but write. It doesn’t have to be perfect - it just needs to be written down. It’s a way for you to knuckle down and focus and not have any sort of pressure in terms of getting everything perfect. While my job and life often prevent me from engaging in these, they’re an awesome idea for any budding writer.

Practical tip: Google Docs is your friend. This is a tip just for logistics, but I write on Google Docs rather than Microsoft Word because it’s a lot more portable and I work on multiple devices throughout the day. I have Google Docs installed on my phone and I access it via my web browser off my laptop. This just means I can work on a story when I’m travelling, when I’m at home, even when I’m standing in line at a grocery store. I’m often hit by inspiration quite randomly, so this works really well for me. It’s also the best tool for betas - they are able to edit and make comments in a way that’s easy for them and doesn’t involve multiple file-sending.

…

Anyway. I truly apologise for that insane essay, but I hope this can help you (and anyone else). If you have any other questions, please feel free to send them to me! I hope we can read more of your work soon! xx

#paperlesscrown writes #guide to writing #writing tips and suggestions

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thepapermixtape · 6 years ago

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Looking for L.A.

By: Genevieve Finn

I really liked this line I read in a short story: “Paris turns its seasons like a nonchalant kaleidoscope.” My old home, the San Francisco Bay Area, does that too, spinning puffs of fog through the skies in the winter, then following them with technicolor summertime sunsets. What a good, cyclical way to mark time.

The kaleidoscope of my new home, Los Angeles, rarely rotates through seasons at all. If it does, it goes counterclockwise, with warmth in the winter and gloom in June. This fact seemed so strange to me during my first half of freshman year; it made me feel odd and a little suffocated.

Another thing that contributed to my sense of stasis was adjusting to life on the Hill, UCLA’s undergraduate residential hub. At home, I lived with just my Mom, who was often gone on business trips. I was relatively self sufficient, buying my own groceries, driving myself where I needed to go, setting my own schedule, etc.

But on the Hill, whatever I might need is only a few steps away at the Hilltop store. All my food is already made, any friends I want to see are only a few floors above or below me, and there’s an RA to help me if I need anything else. Everything on the Hill is catered exactly for me, and in the unlikely event that the Hill doesn’t offer it, Westwood definitely does.

UCLA is this perfect, self-contained world with its outer boundaries set at Wilshire and Bel Air. I absolutely love it here, but often time feels a too elastic and I get stir-crazy. So, last quarter, I made it my mission to explore a new neighborhood of L.A. every weekend.

Unfortunately, this means my Uber charges are through the roof. But on the bright side, I’ve gotten to meet some cool people, hear some engaging stories, and see some beautiful things.

So far, I’ve been to Echo Park, Silver Lake, Los Feliz, Venice Beach, Korea Town, Culver City, Downtown L.A., Malibu, and a couple others, but my favorites are those first four. They’re all neighborhoods in flux, dealing with various degrees of encroaching gentrification. Silver Lake and Los Feliz are generally billed as “so hipster it hurts,” while the people of Echo Park and Venice Beach struggle hard to maintain their beloved, often-grittier neighborhood cultural legacies perpetuated by people of color.

And how do I fit into those places, as someone passing through? Well, a usual day of exploring looks like this: I get up very early to catch an Uber without paying an exorbitant fare and begin the day at whichever coffee shop I can find in the neighborhood. Coffee shops are good because a) caffeine, and b) baristas are always down to chat. With the barista’s advice, I determine the main street of the neighborhood and then I set out walking, peeking into buildings and shops, talking to cashiers, pedestrians, dog walkers, drifters, mechanics, hipsters, diners seated at streetside tables -- anyone at all.

I ask why they choose to live where they live, what they think of their community, and where they recommend I go next. I walk and I talk and I end up collecting experiences like these:

In Los Feliz, I met Cole Sprouse in Skylights Book Store and found this hole-in-the-wall shop filled with creepy but beautiful art. In Silver Lake, I met a woman from Texas who told me the stories of all her tattoos while she strolled with her two mastiffs. I hiked all over the steep suburban hillside in oppressive February heat, mentally superimposing my San Francisco Victorian row houses upon the low-roofed, bright L.A. homes. In Venice Beach, I spent an hour talking to an elderly dog walker on a street corner about how he and his wife moved to the neighborhood when it was known as sort of artists’ enclave, and how he’s so glad they bought their house back then because they definitely wouldn’t be able to afford to rent it now.

In Echo Park, I spoke in stilted Spanish with a mechanic in the gaping, metal maw of his garage. I found a tiny, empty exhibit filled with some sort of macramé knot art, and I pet a French bulldog whose owner recommended I visit the Time Travel Mart. I walked through the Park itself and was struck by the mixed concord of people filling it. Homeless people lounged in their lives’ belongings in one area while hipsters popped open cans of wine in another. A congregation of Churchgoers preached in Spanish, sang lively psalms in honey-dipped voices, and strummed guitars in a third section. I talked to one homeless man about why he was homeless; he said he had an ongoing court case that had dried up his savings and that living in the Park was better than living in a shelter. I received a blessing from the members of the Church. One lady cried while she blessed me and gave me a bunch of flowers afterwards.

And then there are the Uber drivers who get me from place to place and the poolers that come along for the ride. In my cars, I’ve talked to a nurse headed home to Venice Beach about why nurses need to get more respect, a peppy young programmer who brought her tiny chihuahua in the car, and a friendly skateboarder who recommended I go to an alien-themed club where the bass is thick as molasses. My in-transit conversations are often my best, because I can link a person to both where they’ve come from and where they’re headed.

I distinguish my time at UCLA now by the all-day adventures I have each weekend, instead of by kaleidoscopic seasons. This practice of solo exploring helps me clear my head and get away from Westwood bubble, which, though full of good eatery options and people my age, is still a bubble all the same. Getting away allows me to speak to a wide range of people, each offering a different perspective on Los Plus, my sweetest sleeps are always to be had after a day of exploration because I’ve usually walked around fifteen miles by the time I’m done.

There is something that sometimes doesn’t sit well with me about this urban exploration venture though -- the notion that I’m being some sort of story-vulture picking through the carcasses of native Angelenos’ lives to find something interesting, like a sort of kleptomaniac of humans. I do know that you can’t fully understand a place through a series of twenty-minute long conversations with a random assortment of its residents. But, I also don’t know how to fix that feeling of plumbing a place of its stories, then leaving it drained, but I’m working on it.

It’s important to note that L.A. isn’t simply restricted to wealthy hipster neighborhoods filled with young people. Places like Boyle Heights and Eagle Rock are equally as intrinsic to Los Angeles as the places I have visited so far, and are next on my list for exploration.

A lot of people really don’t like L.A. Particularly, it seems those in New York dismiss it as the opposite, lesser cultural pole of the U.S., a deceptive career launch pad with a drop-down trap door for those desperate to work in the entertainment industry; those in the Bay Area dismiss it as the other big California destination, but solely consisting of Instagram fakery and boa constrictor highways that squeeze the city’s beauty away.

But I have grown to enjoy Los Angeles, this assembly of balkanized neighborhoods very much. I like how its light is sometimes watery and white like 2% milk, and sometimes rose gold. I like the color palettes of its buildings. I like how there are sometimes random palm trees stuck in awkward places, like the SoCal version of the North Pole’s candy striped sign posts. I like its very good tacos. I like how its car honks become a bunch of distant, scattered music notes at night.

I would tell those L.A. critics that the Los Angeles I love is the one I’ve looked for, and that they should do the same.

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thesinglesjukebox · 5 years ago

Video

youtube

TAYLOR SWIFT - BEAUTIFUL GHOSTS

[3.50]

Taylor takes a chonce...

Thomas Inskeep: Where we learn that Swift has ambitions of writing relentlessly overblown, ridiculously florid Broadway songs just like her co-writer, Andrew Lloyd Webber. And god, her keening vocal on this makes me want to punch someone. [0]

Alfred Soto: Her voice is not her strongest element, a fact this farrago overlooks. By comparison her accent on "London Boys" is a Meryl Streep Oscar stroke. [2]

Katherine St Asaph: I don't mind Taylor Swift being on this, in theory (in voice is a somewhat different proposition); Sarah Brightman was a dancer in Hot Gossip. Nor do I want to reassign this piece to Andrew Lloyd Webber's cat. I could even, begrudgingly, stop minding that Nile Rodgers worked on this, or that there's a gratuitous Phantom reference, or that the whole thing is a worse version of Jekyll and Hyde's "A New Life," when Cats already had the blueprint for "A New Life." But I do mind there being no structure, melodic, emotional, or otherwise. [3]

Katie Gill: The idea of adding in a song to CATS kind of misunderstands the structure of the musical. You see, CATS already has a big awards bait song, "Memory," which is musically is integrated into the show via a prelude at the end of act 1, other cats singing the tune at various point, and the prelude ending with a leitmotif often heard throughout the show. HOWEVER, now "Beautiful Ghosts" exists. It's positioned as a direct response to "Memory" and ALW loves his goddamn leitmotifs so logically it should sound like a response to "Memory", but it doesn't! It just sounds like a Taylor Swift song! Likewise, if this song is a direct response to "Memory" then one would think it would come AFTER "Memory" or the "Memory" prelude. However, "Memory" is the emotional climax of the show and the prelude is the Act 1 finisher, neither of which are a good time to add in a pop song to kill the plot. "Beautiful Ghosts" should really be positioned as a response to "Grizabella the Glamour Cat" because the transition between that song and the next one is an awkward spot in the musical that the pop song + a bit of dialogue could help smooth over. HOWEVER, if you position "Ghosts" as a response to "Grizabella" then it'll occur way too early in the film and also rob "Memory" of its lyrical impact. Part of the big impact of "Memory" is that you've had two goddamn hours of fiddle-dee-dee Jennyanydots whimsical nonsense and then WHAM, we go right into "touch me / it's so easy to leave me" which gives us the big, giant, emotional impact that "Memory" deserves and dammit, I don't have anywhere else to write about how this addition means that ALW fundamentally misunderstands his own musical so y'all are going to have to put up with me here. [4]

Jackie Powell: What makes this recording so charming is how practically imperfect it is. And I mean that as a compliment. The attempt at a British accent aside, Taylor Swift did her homework. And I'm not talking about T.S. Elliot, which I'll return to. This performance reminded me of Roland Barthes' "The Grain of the Voice," an essay that discusses how perfect vocals aren't what always sell a performance. The French philosopher and critic pontificates that a singer who is compelling has what he refers to as a "grain" or the "body in the voice." In other words, when Swift embraces her weaker while spectral head voice on the verses, cracks on the last line of the bridge and forces her belt on the last note of the entire song, she embraces Barthes' "Grain of the Voice" almost to a tee. Her belting is far from bodacious and like Jackson McHenry of Vulture, I question if this Andrew Lloyd Webber penned melody was really meant for Swift. But ALW did, in fact, need her. "If you can't get T.S. Eliot, get TS," she said while in the studio with Webber. "I'm here for you." And TS does study up on T.S. In "Beautiful Ghosts," Swift penned a lot of gerunds and descriptive nouns that have shapeshifted into gerunds. Or sometimes she just uses the suffix -ing more than twice the amount that Elliot employed it in his 1915 poem "Hysteria." In between all the "Chonces" being "Bawn into Noothing" and being "let intou," it's endearing to get a sense of Swift's acting chops via listening to her inflection, diction and even her ability to weld some dynamics that we don't often hear in her own catalog. But Swift was in between too many decisions. Was this supposed to be a pop version of a Broadway-style song? Was this supposed to be akin to Demi Lovato on "Let It Go?" (Maybe not, as we all know which version of the song is sung at karaoke.) But with all else being equal, Swift shalt have made a commitment to one of these two worlds: she's now clinging to pop but Broadway is now calling? She's straddling between these two islands and it doesn't work as well as she might have "waaanteed." [7]

Isabel Cole: Is it weird that I think I would like this better if it were more awful? Taylor Swift and Andrew Lloyd Webber are not similar artists, but they are two people who have between them made [checks spreadsheet] a million bajillion dollars by being wildly extra and unafraid of leaning the fuck in. Many of my favorite Taylorisms are fun because of their hyper-earnest theater kid melodrama (just think of the tremor with which she sings another girl in "Style"); many of my childhood memories involve belting "Memory" in my bedroom. But this is just so... dull. TS + ALW 4 CATS sounds like a nightmare of unhinged excess, but this could be any generic Best Song Oscar also-ran; the most interesting part is that she reuses the best line from "Fifteen." Worse, these artists who can write a hook that will be stuck in your head until the end of time somehow came together to write a melody so sprawlingly uninspiring I cannot hum it after several listens. There's nothing here even to make fun of beyond (objectively funny) Taylor's sporadic British affectations. Like, come on, guys: I'm not sure you can do better than this, but I know you have it in you to do worse. [2]

Alex Clifton: Cats didn't really need a new song (nor, frankly, did we need the new nightmare adaptation) and I'm mixed on Andrew Lloyd Webber at best, but this still hits my heart somewhere, especially with Swift's breathy delivery for the first half of the track. I am both surprised and annoyed to relate to a song sung by a cat. Points deducted for chooooooooooonces. [6]

Natasha Genet Avery: Let's dispense with the obvious: 1. That newfangled British accent is...something. 2. Playing into her favorite victimhood narrative, Swift's contribution to Cats *had* to one-up Grizabella ("At least you have something!". 3. This is blatant Oscar bait. Now onto the meat: Cats is a corny and embarrassing head-scratcher. Cats is why people don't trust musicals. I love Cats. To me, to anyone who has been in a musical, musicals are about unreasonable, outsized commitment--you peel off your self-protective shield of irony and spend dozens, if not hundreds of hours donning clown-school makeup and spandex, somersaulting across the stage and belting the praises of storybook animals. If you're entrusted with a big number, you practice and practice until your delivery is technically masterful, if not heavy-handed. Beat me to death with that vibrato. Fuck me up with those dynamics. Leave it allll on the stage. And so, when Taylor set out to out-emote "Memory", she agreed to take on 30 years of mockery, three key changes, Elaine Paige, 600+ professionally recorded covers, and countless school productions and karaoke renditions. A lot of people fault Taylor for being a try-hard (I've always found it sort of endearing), but here, she simply didn't try hard enough. Swift admitted that she wrote most of "Beautiful Ghosts" "immediately after hearing the song for the first time." Without T.S. Eliot's hand, Beautiful Ghosts" is empty, untouched by whimsy. Oh, and the singing: Swift is sorely out of her depth, and mostly opts for limp falsetto, culminating in a strained, awkward belt. We'll see what Francesca Hayward does with it, but for now "Beautiful Ghosts" should get booted from the clowder. [3]

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: I consume music of all genres voraciously -- with the exception of musical soundtracks. This is for a number of reasons: 1) I haven't seen a lot of musicals, 2) for the ones I have seen, I tend to find the music and lyricism overwrought and boring, and 3) I would prefer to just listen to artists' original music outside the parameters set by some make believe world. I was worried that I would have a tough time trying to check my own bias in reviewing this song, but am now relieved and confident in asserting that "Beautiful Ghosts" is objectively bad. In an alternate reality, this could be a compelling country-lite track on Fearless or Red, or even a synth heavy ballad on 1989, but here, Taylor just sounds drowsy with a weird British accent, selling a metaphor that makes about as much sense as the utterly bizarre Cats movie trailer. [3]

Andy Hutchins: One tweet that has stuck with me is the one that correctly called Reputation — before its release, even! — the final boss of 2017. I think Cats might play a similar role for the final days of 2019 and the first month or so of 2020, even if its pitch is obviously to a smaller segment of the population than pre-Crisis Taylor reached. So how convenient it is that we have Taylor here, indulging her theater kid impulses with none other than Andrew fucking Lloyd fucking Webber co-writing, singing her heart out in the ingenue role she's clung to throughout her 20s for better and worse (which is, hilariously, not her role in the film itself!), pining for something wild for what feels like the 20th time. "Beautiful Ghosts" is as subtle as a hurricane, and churns powerfully, and Taylor almost hits that note at the end — the strings wouldn't swell if she'd hit it perfect, of course. It's good. Fine. Whatever. This sort of hopeful schmaltz is so safe, though, that it mostly makes me wish that Taylor were still willing to take excursions from beaten paths: That way lies "Style," even if you might have to double back from the doorsteps of "Look What You Made Me Do" or "End Game" on occasion. [5]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

#Taylor Swift #Cats #pop #music #music review #writing #musical

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yerimsowd · 6 years ago

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4 reasons why J. Cole is the best active rapper

No one tells a story like him

Storytelling in hip-hop is the ability, as the name indicates, to tell a story through rap. Now, some may argue that some way or another, any artist that takes their pen and write a rap tell a story. However, what we really mean by storytelling is the ability to transport the listener into a vivid, colorful, 3D type of narrative. Storytelling is almost cinematic and a good storyteller sucks the listener into their tale. In Ice-T directed and executive produced documentary Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap, Ice-T interviews an impressive cast of rappers (from KRS-One to Eminem to Raekwon) about the process behind their style of writing. One of the interviewees is Rakim from Queens mid 1980s rap duo Eric B. and Rakim and he insists on the importance of storytelling in his rap technique. “I’m taking you into a whole other world of thought”, Ice-T explains he felt when listening to Rakim. My first argument in my case for Cole being the best active rapper is that no one does that better than him. Although I don’t think it is the best Cole storytelling song, one classic and well-known example would be Wet Dreamz from classic album 2014 Forest Hills Drive. The song is a fictional story of adolescent Weltschmerz about losing one’s virginity, leading to the sensational twist contained in the title.

Has got galore classics

If you browse hip-hop media outlets such as Complex or Genius (or even if you don’t) you may have come across countless articles about who the best active rapper is. You may even have had this debate with your friends. And even though it’s an unsolvable issue, one argument that always comes up is the question of who has the most classics. This is why a lot of people dismiss the idea that Drake is the best rapper of his generation, because it’s hard to pick a Drake project and say: “we’ll come back to this ten, fifteen years from now and still appreciate it”. But when it comes to classics, J. Cole is up there, with two of his projects standing out. The first is his third mixtape Friday Night Lights (2010), which contains twenty songs, features star producers such as Kanye West or Timbaland, samples everything from Erkyah Badu to Jay-Z to 2Pac and has featurings with Drake or Pusha-T. The second, Cole’s third studio album 2014 Forrest Hills Driveis much better known. That’s the album that so famously “went platinum with no features” and that got the internet crazy about it. Songs like 03’ Adolescence, A Tale of 2 Citiez, Fire Squad, G.O.M.D, No Role Modelz, Apparently, not forgetting the epic fourteen minutes long Note to Self at the end have made 14FHD -as fans affectionately call it- an instant classic.

Uplifts the whole game, instead of tearing it down

“I love you lil’ niggas I’m glad that you came / I hope you scrape every dollar you can / I hope you know money won’t erase the pain”– MIDDLE CHILD

Cole’s relationship with his peers has not always been appeased. In a 2016 track called Everybody Dies, Cole had taken serious shots at the new generation of up-and-coming SoundCloud/mumble rappers: “Bunch of words and ain’t sayin’ shit, I hate these rappers / Especially the amateur eight-week rappers / Lil’ whatever, just another short bus rapper”. But since then, Cole has come a long way, as the MIDDLE CHILD lines quoted above illustrate. During his set at JMBLYA festival in Austin in May 2018, the Fayetteville, North Carolina MC stopped the crowd from shouting “fuck Lil Pump” and “fuck 6ix9ine”. Later that month, he sat down with Lil’ Pump for an hour-long, laid back, one on one talk on how both started rapping, their influences, their childhoods… Before that, he had expressed his growing appreciation for the new wave, citing XXXTentacion, Trippie Redd and Lil Baby. His twitter feed is now filled with tweets of support for younger rappers from Offset to 21 Savage and 6ix9ine (whom he sent his prayers to after they got respectively deported and locked up). Finally, J. Cole uplifts the hip-hop scene through Dreamville records, the record label he co-founded with his manager Ibrahim Hamad. Dreamville has allowed the hatching of young artists such as Bas or J.I.D. It’s a multifaced project that includes a non-profit organization, a festival in Raleigh, North Carolina, and a series of compilation mixtapes featuring most artists signed to Dreamville (Revenge of the Dreamers III is coming out in April).

Commercially successful and socially and politically conscious at the same time

“They tellin’ niggas, ‘sell dope, rap or go to NBA’ in that order / It’s that sort of thinkin’ that been keepin’ niggas chained”– Immortal

The fourth and final reason why I believe J. Cole is the best active rapper is that on top of everything I have talked about before, he is one of the few rappers that manage to find a balance between commercial success, critical acclaim and social and political consciousness. His album 4 Your Eyez Only was released alongside a documentary bearing the same name and that covered multiple issues affecting the African American community (gang violence, mass incarceration, racial discrimination…). The album itself tells the journey of a friend of Cole’s who went from selling crack to starting a family. 4 Your Eyez Only is a tape addressed to his daughter for he to listen to after he dies. Call me corny, but I don’t think you can the best rapper alive if you onlytalk about your jewelry, your car and your girls. J. Cole’s strength is that he can make party music you can play in the club and music you can listen to on your bed with your headphones.

Sources: Genius, whosampled, Vulture

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pete-and-pete · 6 years ago

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Who Are the Teenage Actors in ‘This Is Us’?

This Is Us is one of the hottest shows on television these days, and the stars of the series have certainly skyrocketed. Names like Justin Hartley, Chrissy Metz, and Milo Ventimiglia have become household names, but what about the younger stars of the show?

Who are the teenagers who play the younger versions of the stars? Read on to find out.

Hannah Zeile

Hannah Zeile attends the Season 3 Premiere of NBC’s “This Is Us” at Paramount Studios on September 25, 2018 in Hollywood, California.

Hannah Zeile is a 20-year-old actor who stars as young Kate Pearson.

The role of Young Kate marks her first since taking four years away from the industry to go to high school. Hannah tells Variety, “So, coming back to set I sort of felt like a fish out of water. I had to be told where I was supposed to be, I didn’t really know the routine of everything yet. I was a little bit nervous because I knew I was going to be working with Milo and Mandy, who are obviously really talented and have been in the business for a really long time and I looked up to them. I didn’t really know what to expect, but I had no lines that day so I could just kind of watch them, and they were both so welcoming and kind.”

Interestingly enough, Metz used to work as a commercial agent at the agency where Zeile was signed when she was younger. Zeile says the first day in the hair and makeup trailer for This Is Us, Chrissy turned to her and said, “Oh my God! I don’t know if you remember, but I was a commercial agent at the agency that you’re with.”

Zeile was raised in Thousand Oaks, California. Both her parents are former athletes. Her father, Todd Zeile, was an MLB player, while her mom, Julianna McNamara, was an Olympic gymnast.

Niles Fitch

Niles Fitch attends the Season 3 Premiere of NBC’s “This Is Us” at Paramount Studios on September 25, 2018 in Hollywood, California.

Niles Fitch was a child actor. When he was four, he started print modeling in Atlanta. He then made his Broadway debut in The Lion King after touring in the show across the country. He’s appeared on shows like Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Army Wives, and Best Friends Whenever.

Asked what it was like filming the scene when teenage Randall gets a panic attack, Fitch tells Young Broaday, “Difficult at first because I wanted to portray what some people experience and make it look real. When we started filming it got easier and easier. Mr. Milo was really supportive too. He treated me just like a dad would treat a son in that scene, with a lot of compassion and love.”

He says if he were to dip his toes into another industry, he would try out photography and directing. He tells teens who want to pursue acting, “Read a lot. Don’t overthink it, always be yourself. Bring your unique self to every role.”

Logan Shroyer

Logan Shroyer attends the Season 3 Premiere of NBC’s “This Is Us” at Paramount Studios on September 25, 2018 in Hollywood, California.

Logan Shroyer is 19. Before booking This Is Us, he appeared in Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street, and as Cole Campbell on The Thundermans.

In a February interview with Vulture, Logan shared that he was born in Torrance, California, but spent some time in Oklahoma before relocating to South Bay.

He explains that for This Is Us, he went through a very last-minute audition process. He had one audition and then found out the next day he had booked the role. “The next day, I got word that I booked it, and then it was this whole transformation process into being Kevin in the ’90s, getting brown contacts to match [Justin Hartley], and then I was on set the next day. I got the full script that morning, met Dan [Fogelman], Mandy [Moore]. It was just this crazy whirlwind. It was really crazy.”

He goes to on say that before he booked the role, he had six callbacks for a film. Then, This Is Us came along and he booked it in just one audition. He didn’t book the film.

Asked about his time with Justin Hartley, Shroyer explains that he hasn’t had too much contact with the actor. “Justin and I will talk. Many people might think I’m coached by him or something like that, or there are these rigid guidelines. But in actuality, the first time I talked to him, he was like, “This is your character too. You really just run with it. This is Kevin.” Early on, I did study him a little bit to see some of mannerisms and things like that. It has to become a part of what you do. But they really give you the respect as an actor to take it and do your own thing. So, I’m really thankful for that, that they trust me so much.”

source https://heavy.com/news/2018/10/teenage-actors-this-is-us-young/

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gwynnew · 7 years ago

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'Lady Bird' and 'Three Billboards' star Lucas Hedges on 'magical unicorn' Saoirse Ronan and his faux rivalry with Timothée Chalamet

Lucas Hedges, right, with Saoirse Ronan in Lady Bird. (Photo: A24/courtesy Everett Collection)

In Greta Gerwig’s coming-of-age film Lady Bird, Lucas Hedges performs a jubilant number from Into the Woods, dances in a rose garden with Saoirse Ronan, and collapses into giggles while microwaving late-night snacks with his friends. Anyone who saw Hedges’s Oscar-nominated performance as a grieving son in 2016’s Manchester by the Sea will recognize this as a dramatic shift in tone — which is just what the 21-year-old actor was looking for, he told Yahoo Entertainment. Hedges plays Danny, a Catholic high school senior in Sacramento in 2002, who becomes the first boyfriend — and first heartbreak — of the title character, played by Ronan. It’s one of two memorable minor roles Hedges took on in 2017, the other being Frances McDormand’s son in the darkly comic crime film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Neither part is big enough to merit the awards-season attention Hedges received last year, but he’s fine with that. Instead, he’s enjoying the experience of watching his friend (and Lady Bird co-star) Timothée Chalamet garner the same kind of buzz for his performance in Call Me by Your Name. When Yahoo spoke with Hedges in late November, Chalamet had just won the Gotham Award for Breaththrough Actor, the category in which Hedges was nominated in 2016. The thoughtful and humble Hedges talked to Yahoo Entertainment about making Lady Bird, compared the acting styles of Ronan (“a unicorn”) and McDormand (“iconic”), and shared the personal hazards of living through awards season (“I started losing track of reality”).

Yahoo Entertainment: Thanks for taking the time to talk to me! I was just watching Timothée Chalamet’s Gotham Awards speech— Lucas Hedges: Oh my God! Wait, that’s so funny. I just saw it, too! Isn’t it amazing? [laughs] It’s hilarious. I texted him about it last night and was like, “Dude, that was so funny and amazing and eloquent, and you’re killing it.’”

Well, I was thinking about you, because in an interview with Vulture about your great run of films, you said something like, “I’m not having Timmy Chalamet’s year or anything.” [laughs] I know, I know.

I mean, I wouldn’t put it that way! But do you feel like he’s going through some of the things you went through last year? Oh, to-tally. The joke that I have with Timothée, or the joke that we have together — hopefully I’m not throwing him under a bus right now — is that we’re both so threatened by each other. We’re both like, “Dude, I’m so threatened by you!” “What? I’m so threatened by you!” But we have such a great friendship because I have so much respect and love for everything he does, and I’ve just come to really love him as a friend and as an artist. But as far as I’m concerned, he’s having an even crazier year than I did. He just won a Gotham Award for the category that I was nominated in, and he’s on the cover of all these weird magazines. I mean, he’s becoming like, this crazy icon. [laughs] And I can’t say that that happened to me.

You’re the face of Dior. I feel like you’re underselling yourself a little bit. Oh, OK. I have a history of doing that to myself so you may be right. But I feel like I’m grateful that he’s going through this because it makes me feel less alone.

Lucas Hedges at the National Board of Review Awards 2017 in New York. (Photo: Kristin Callahan/Everett Collection)

I always wonder about how people process these experiences of fame. You can’t Google “how to handle losing an Oscar,” “how to handle winning an Oscar;” even “what do I bring to the Oscars?” Do you feel like you need to warn Timothée about anything or prepare him for anything? You know, there’s a part of me that wants to be like: Meditate every day. Do yoga. Really get clear with who you are. But I can’t tell him that because that’s not what I did, and I really just think he should live it, and do whatever he wants to do. And what I mean by that is not “go crazy,” but just, you’re a good person, and do whatever feels natural to you in these moments. If you want to go out and celebrate, go celebrate. You deserve to celebrate! And he is 21, so he [can] have a drink; don’t lose control. And if you do feel like you’re on the verge of losing control, then start meditating [laughs] and take care of yourself. But I do think it’s a time to actually celebrate.

And if there ever comes a day that I go through that again — I just think it’s kind of hard, and I started losing track of reality. When most of your conversations are interviews and you’re thinking about, just how everything you do is perceived, then how every word that comes out of your mouth is filtered through an interview lens — it gets complicated and confusing. And it sort of becomes plastic. So I guess maybe I have advice for him? But I feel like I’m in the same position as him still. I have no idea what I’m doing, still.

I talked to Greta a couple weeks ago about how she created the environment on set, and how she conveyed the idea of what it was like to be a teenager before everyone had cellphones and fast internet. How did you wrap your head around that idea? I know she makes you put away your phones. For the two years before this year, I had a flip phone. I was living with a flip phone when I got offered the part, just because I was on my iPhone way too much. I’ve also gone entire periods of my life without having a phone, so it’s hard to imagine a world without it, but I know what it’s like to live without it. Oh, but then again it’s the time before flip phones — even a flip phone is futuristic! [laughs] But I also feel like that’s kind of insignificant when it comes down to playing the part… It’s not about the fact that I don’t have a phone, it’s about, what do I want as a human being? Ultimately the movie could take place at any time, anywhere.

One of the themes in the film is Lady Bird wanting more than her parents gave her. When I was growing up in the suburbs, I was in awe of kids like you, who have glamorous artsy parents and live in the city. So was that idea something that you could connect to at all? [laughs] It’s so interesting because I grew up in Brooklyn, my dad’s a filmmaker. My parents aren’t celebrities or anything, but I grew up with the life that someone who didn’t live in New York City, who’s an artist and wants to be an actor, would long for. And I spent my entire childhood longing for, of course, another life. I just wanted to live in England and have English parents. So it’s weird how we always find the thing that we don’t have. It’s sort of the obvious cliché, the grass is always greener thing. But yeah, part of the reason why I wanted to be an actor in movies is so I could escape the world that I grew up in — not because it was uninhabitable or dangerous, it was a very safe place, but because there’s always somewhere more magical. And I’m only now beginning to love where I’m from, weirdly, and only now am I getting really grateful for the parents that I have. But I’m always sort of trying to find my way out of what I was born into, which is just weird. Like even now — like you said, I did get nominated for an Academy Award, but there’s still a part of me that’s like, “Well I’m not having Timothée Chalamet’s year!” [laughs]

J. Cole did this great song called “Love Yourz”, which is just an amazing song about how you’re never going to be happy until can you figure out how to love the life that you have. And he really, he has some great lyrics — you should listen to it. It’s a really beautiful song. I can hear it in my head right now.

There’s a lightness in your performance in this film that’s really lovely to see. There are light moments in Manchester, but having been introduced to you through that, it’s nice to see you, for example, juggling French fries. [laughs] Oh yeah, that’s funny! Have you seen the movie more than once? Because that happens in the blink of an eye. Yeah, that was one of the reasons why I really — well, one, I got to have a love storyline with Saoirse Ronan, who’s just the most amazing actress, and that was one of the things that really drew me to doing the movie to begin with. But also, it is very light and it is very fun, particularly the musical theater aspect to it, which I wanted to do so badly. And I’m not a singer, but I love the idea of singing, and just committing yourself whole-heartedly to something. And giving yourself over to it even if it is really stupid — like even if you’re part of a stupid high school theater production, there’s something amazing and so earnest about giving yourself over to that, which I really wanted to do.

Lucas Hedges with Saoirse Ronan in Lady Bird. (Photo: A24/courtesy Everett Collection)

I imagine the set being like a giant high school cast party. It truly was. I was saying in an interview earlier today that I’d go over to Beanie’s house and we’d watch The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. It just felt like summer camp. It was essentially the summer in Los Angeles a year ago, and I had never really lived in L.A. before, and it just felt like a new realm of experiences and excitement and fun. And, god, I’d give anything to do it all over again.

Both times I saw the film, my immediate reaction when it ended was to think, No, keep going! I hear that they’re doing a Call Me by Your Name sequel, so they should do a Lady Bird sequel. [laughs]

I’m going to ask you a difficult question that I’m not sure anyone else could answer: How does the experience of doing a scene with Saoirse Ronan compare to doing a scene with Frances McDormand? Interesting! (Deep breath) Well you know, it’s so bizarre, because ultimately — I mean, I’m still so new to acting, but it’s like, how do you exist with two different human beings? Like when you meet one person who’s entirely different from another person, it’s not going to be the same; it’s going to be entirely different. It’s the reason why we have some friends and not others, it’s the reason why we marry one person and don’t marry the other. So getting to act with Saoirse was a completely different world from getting to act with Frances, because they’re completely different people at completely different stages of their lives. I mean, Frances in Three Billboards is sort of like this iconic figure who’s broken and is fighting for what she believes in to the point of, she’ll fight till her death. And that’s kind of, I think, true for who Frances is. I think Frances represents a lot of what Mildred represents. And Saoirse is a unicorn. Saoirse is like this majestic creature from a far-off land, and I think that’s true even when she’s playing a girl from California. She is a unicorn even then. The thing that stands out for me of getting to work with Saoirse is her eyes. She just has the most magical eyes, and you can get everything from looking into her eyes. And that’s sort of my experience working with both of them.

Lucas Hedges and Frances McDormand in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. (Photo: Merrick Morton /Fox Searchlight Pictures/ Everett Collection)

Three Billboards is much more emotionally intense in a lot of ways. But it’s also very funny. That was very apparent from the script, is that it was sort of dark and twisted in its humor. It’s also crazy that this movie was written and made way before Trump became president — not that it has anything to do with the president, but the craziest stuff is happening in American and it’s very timely. I have no idea how to really take in any movie that I’ve been in, just because I don’t know how to divorce it from the experience of making it, but I wonder what it’s like for people to see that movie right now.

When you have those intense, emotional scenes — the scene where you’re holding a knife to John Hawkes’s throat in Three Billboards, even the coffee shop scene in Lady Bird — how do you get yourself into that head space? I’m still learning how to get into the head space of those scenes. But music is really big for me; music can get me lost in a world very easily and bring me back to a time in my life that’s similar to the one I’m exploring in the scene. And also just energizing my body, really moving around and getting my breath going and activating my solar plexus. It’s a lot of sort of boring actor-y things that help me a lot. I lean on music most of all though.

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:

Beanie Feldstein on her dancing, cheese-eating ‘Lady Bird’ role and her breakout year

‘Lady Bird’: How Greta Gerwig gave wings to her Oscar-buzzing directorial debut

Three Billboards’ director Martin McDonagh on Tarantino comparisons, telling off priests, and making an American hero of Frances McDormand

Sam Rockwell on channeling American rage in ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’

2018 preview: The 50 movies we’re most excited to see

#news #movie:lady-bird #_revsp:wp_yahoo_entertainment_us_421 #_category:yct:001000031 #_lmsid:a0Vd000000AE7lXEAT #_category:yct:001000593 #interviews #beanie feldstein #movie:three-billboards-outside-ebbing-missouri #lucas hedges #_author:Gwynne Watkins #_uuid:bcc70a7f-2ec8-3f81-be4e-af78d73f6ea9 #greta gerwig #saoirse ronan

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totesmccoats · 7 years ago

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Batman #33

To close out the last arc, last issue, Catwoman accepted Batman’s engagement proposal. In this arc, she has to meet the last supervillainess that Batman proposed to.

Honestly, seems like a weird hazing ritual for Batman to force on Catwoman. “Thanks, for marrying me – but first, we gotta go to the desert, break a whole bunch of laws, and upset multiple Justice Leagues so you can meet – and possibly be murdered by – my ex.” Unless this was Catwoman’s idea? Sounds like it could’ve been her idea.

Back at the Manor, Alfred breaks the happy news to the Robins (and Duke), who don’t exactly take it well. Especially Damian, who blames himself, and is also the only Robin to realize that this involves his mother.

And, as weird as the premise is, King has not let Batman down yet, and this issue promises another instant-classic arc. He opens the issue with a scene right out of a western: Batman on a horse, handing a shotgun to Catwoman, who uses it to put a second horse out of its desert misery before continuing on their trek across the desert. Then, immediately cuts to Jason Todd wrestling with Ace for his jacket back in Wayne Manor. The Manor scenes really highlight how much the Robins have been missing from King’s run on Batman by demonstrating how well King writes each of them in dialogue with each-other, from Dick telling Duke about the cow in the basement, Duke criticising Jason for telling him to lighten up Batman, and Damian – the youngest one there – dismissing all of them as children until cracking under the news.

Joelle Jones is killing it on art, with a thick inky style that puts everything in high-contrast and gives Batman and Catwoman’s desert adventure a two-fisted pulpy feel. It admittedly doesn’t translate too well in the Manor, where the extreme shadows can’t be explained by a desert sun beating down on everything. Bellaire perfectly matches Jones’ lines with flat – almost cell shaded – saturated colors that also convey the extremes of the desert.

My biggest issue with the book, and it’s not this book alone, is that Damian is still drawn as just a white kid. Like, they show Talia – his mother – as a brown woman, and yet Damian doesn’t look like he has a hint of middle-eastern/south-asian in him. I know that in real life not all children of multiracial heritage look like a half-and-half combo of their parents, and some traits are more dominant than others; but in a medium where diversity is an issue, I don’t see why DC doesn’t take advantage of having one of their more prominent characters having a mixed race heritage to actually depict a person with that background in their art.

Superman #33

Superman has just gotten comfortable with Luthor flying around and Metropolis’ other hero, when Lex is forcibly summoned to Apokolips to reclaim his throne as God of the planet (See: Darkseid War). Lex tries to contact Superman, asking for assistance, but Supes ignores the messages, believing them to be frivolous invitations to listen to Lex brag; that is until Lex forcibly brings Superman, and by accident Lois, and Jon, to Apokolips.

I am really not used to Superman and Lex Luthor being friendly with each-other, as they are in the opening to this issue. It’s honestly kind of disturbing. Just feels wrong. But the following scene, where Lex inner monologues to himself about becoming the people’s newest and native-born hero, and their increasing dependence on him; that’s peak Luthor. That’s the Luthor that makes sense to me.

This isn’t the best opener to an arc, mainly because the back half is Superman refusing the call to action twice, essentially just stalling the story and filling up pages so that we can end on the cliffhanger of family being split up on Apokolips.

Still, we haven’t gotten a good Superman on Apokolips story in a grip, so maybe this’ll be it. Sucks that it’s probably definitely going to compare badly to the other current Apokolips story going on in Mister Miracle tho.

Green Arrow #33

Having crippled the Ninth Circle by taking out their satellite, Oliver returns to Seattle – now Star City – to find it almost completely remade in the vision of its new corporate overlords. Historic and cultural areas have been razed and replaced with luxury high-rises that have pushed out the middle and lower classes. And Green Arrow returns only to find himself defending one of those overlord-developers from an activist threatening to literally crush him under one of Seattle’s oldest trees that the developer wants to cut down anyway. Things have changed.

Meanwhile, Oliver is still under trial for the murder of a woman who – twist! – is still alive; and despite what Star City has become, the Ninth Circle is still disappointed by Moira Queen and Broderick’s progress, giving them a vote of no confidence; and Dante is also back, and hiring Shado for one last job on behalf of the Circle.

Percy continues his amazing run on the series, effortlessly setting up multiple story threads for this new arc, while developing the political backdrop of the new uber-capitalist Star City that Green Arrow will confront philosophically and physically through the story. Green Arrow’s been one of the more fun, solid, and smarter books since rebirth, and Percy seems poised to continue that trend.

The standout of the issue is artist Jamal Campbell, who previously worked on the fantastic Green Arrow #27, and who I hope stays on this book for a long time. His work is comparable to Francis Manapul’s, but a touch less stylized, preferring to use less dramatic curves compared to straight lines and angles; and a more toned down palette that does reflect the sort of lighting you would see in a cloudy north-western city. This is not to say that Campbell doesn’t have a sense of the dramatic. His designs for the various masks for the Ninth Circle are all fantastic, like some sort of dark zodiac, each of them brimming with style and personality. And he dips into the style of a steamy romance novel for his title page, where a shirtless Oliver lifts Dinah, who wraps her legs around his waist, over a bannister to give her a kiss. And then there’s the scene where Shado fights off a squad of ninjas, where every kill-shot has it’s own stark white-on-red panel. If DC’s smart, they’re gonna want to give Campbell whatever books he wants.

Wonder Woman/Conan #2

As he slumbers, Conan dreams of the day he had spent with Yanna as a child, climbing mountains with the dark-haired daughter of a tribe of exclusively women. In the waking world, he is chained to another dark-haired woman who calls herself Wonder Woman. He tried to rescue her from a life as a gladiator servant only to get captured himself, and now the two will be forced to fight to the death. But it seems that another power has other plans for the Barbarian and the Amazon. And they have other plans themselves, with Conan winning the fight but refusing to kill Wonder Woman; which gets them both thrown on a pirate ship as forced labor.

Thankfully, Diana does have more to do this issue, even if it takes her a majority of it to remember her name. Simone actually writes a neat joke involving her name; Conan saying something with the words “Die Yanna” next to each-other gives Wonder Woman pause. But even if she has more to do, and takes the lead by the end of the issue, this version of Wonder Woman still feels underdeveloped, perhaps owing to her existence still being a bit of a mystery box. Considering how much time this issue devotes to the young-Conan and Yanna flashbacks, it’s gonna be weird if Diana isn’t somehow related to her. It also doesn’t help that she spends a good chunk of the issue not talking.

There are fun moments in this book, like a crow-lady biting a man’s fingers off for soliciting her, Conan waking up to discover he held Wonder Woman’s hand all night, or Wonder Woman bonking a man in the face with his own lute; but overall characterization is so thin – and mostly delivered by 3rd person narration – that it’s hard to really care about the protagonists. It’s a weird issue for Simone to have as a writer, who usually doesn’t presume empathy in her stories. Maybe it’s because this is a limited series crossover?

Another niggling thing – Wonder Woman’s breasts are distractingly large in this book. They’re bigger than her head and like, perfect spheres. This is bad, like, even for comics – even for Conan comics.

The Wild Storm #8

Marlowe gives Angela the sparknotes version of what he and HALO are doing on Earth, which conveniently leaves out anything she might find threatening about why they came here, and gives her full access to his resources in exchange for her data. Meanwhile, King’s team at IO have made a breakthrough by uncovering Cole Cash’s identity, and are planning their next – possibly treaty-busting – moves of their own.

And in Amsterdam, we’re introduced to two more characters resembling but not identical to those from the previous Wild Storm. The first is Shen Li-Min; the latest incarnation of The Doctor (not that one), who uses her powers to psychedelically heal people by taking them on vision quests. The second is one of Shen’s patients, who her session doesn’t quite work on because she’s not exactly human. She’s a techne named Jenny Sparks.

Despite another issue full of exposition, including the introduction of two new characters, it’s Davis-Hunt and Buccellato who really get to flex their muscles with sequences involving interstellar travel, two psychedelic trips into character’s minds, and one visit to an extra-dimensional hospital. I’m mostly familiar with Davis-Hunt’s horror work, and am glad to see that he can do bright and colorful and trippy just as effectively, even if there remains a twinge of the uncanny even among his bubblegum pink skies. And you *know* that more than one person is going to get a tattoo of Spark’s heart – because that is one badass visual.

Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #5

At the top of the issue, Vulture kidnaps Mason and blows up his lab while Spider-Man and Mason’s assistant, Uatu, are still inside. And Teresa only manages to escape by grabbing a prototype web launcher and hitching a ride with Vulture. And while she rescues Mason, Spider-Man has to confront his most dangerous nemesis: heavy rubble.

That’s right, it’s a recreation of everyone’s favorite, Spider-Man #33. But, Peter’s better at this now, so it’s not that big a deal. What is a big deal is that now Peter’s got two people he has to hide, Teresa and Mason; and because of that photograph, the authorities will be looking for him, too. Luckily, he may be getting some help from an unexpected source, J. Jonah Jameson.

This isn’t Zdarsky’s strongest issue, probably because of the sense of urgency in this part of the story, which doesn’t leave room for the types of asides and extended character beats that often give his work their pop.

Kubert, however, must have found something inspiring in the script, as he does some of his more interesting work in this series so far this issue. I particularly like his use of framing things in the reflections of Vulture or Spidey’s mask; and Kubert also illustrates some really good of Spider-Man emoting through his mask, really showing him struggle while lifting heavy rubble, for instance.

Kill or Be Killed #13

And we’re at the issue that closes the circle, bringing us to the cold open all the way back in #1, with Dylan going through the mob base, shotgunning everyone in his way. But before that, a revelation. Just before the shootout, Dylan had been obsessed with the demon, and decides to look through his dad’s stuff to see if there’s any more information about it. But he discovers something else entirely: a half-brother from his father’s first marriage whose suicide lines up perfectly with when his father started drawing the demon. A demon born out of one suicide by a man who committed suicide, and revived by his other son’s failed suicide attempt. Dylan isn’t one to miss a pattern.

But what I find more interesting than this new discovery is, again, how radically Dylan has transformed as a character. His obsession with the demon begins when he thinks to himself how proud the demon would be by his murdering two people in three weeks. And upon learning about his brother, and reminiscing on his father’s isolated and disappointing life, he is overcome by anger rather than sadness or empathy. Dylan’s obsession with the demon feels more introspective than otherwise, him unconsciously looking into how he so easily became a murderer.

Phillips illustrates this transformation subtly, by putting Dylan’s face in shadows more often than not, and especially when there are other people in the panel whose faces remain unobscured. Besides quite literally illustrating Dylan dwelling in darkness, it also creates a visible distance between him and other people. And the transition in style, from the series’ main style to the more photorealistic illustrations done in-universe by Dylan’s father is impressive as it always is; though it’s weird to be leafing through a comic on the subway only to suddenly be looking at a sci-fi pin-up.

Bitch Planet: Triple Feature #5

The final collection of Bitch Planet shorts done by guest creative teams, who get to paint their own corners of Kelly Sue and De Landro’s dystopia, and one of the strongest.

The first story, by Matt Fraction, Elsa Charretier, and Nick Filardi is a brilliant twist on the “grandma/pa during holiday dinner” story. Kimmy brings her boyfriend, David Zeiss, home for his first Christmas, but warns him about her Grandma, who says some crazy things. But, instead of being anti-semitic, Nanna instead interrupts with stories of lesbian experimentation in college, and how women used to have their own jobs and weren’t just pleasure machines for men. It’s delightful! And, I honestly flipped back to the cover to see if the art was done by Bruce Timm, who’s style I want to say definitely inspired Charretier’s own; though she thankfully doesn’t give every man and women the exact same proportions.

The second, by Jon Tsuei and Saskia Gutekunst, follows two friends, one white, one asian, as they audition for the same role in a movie. If you even barely follow any actual Hollywood news, you can probably already sense where this is going. Gutekunst’s art in this isn’t really my taste; she uses a kind of manga-light style with soft colors and gradients. It fits the narrative because of the whitewashing story-line, but it’s just looks like a half-step in one direction, and another half-step in another.

The last story, by Nyambi, Bassey, and Eyang Nyambi, and Chris Visions is a doozy that creates a link between appropriation of black culture and beauty with the police violence against black bodies. When a white girl goes full blackface to join her friends at a danceclub, she gets pulled over by cops and can no longer rely on her whiteness to get out of a ticket – or much much worse. It’s the most Twilight Zone story in this anthology series so far, and one of the best encapsulations of the idea that America loves black culture and hates black people.

Comic Reviews for 10/18/17 Batman #33 To close out the last arc, last issue, Catwoman accepted Batman’s engagement proposal. In this arc, she has to meet the last supervillainess that Batman proposed to.

#batman #bitch planet #conan #dc comics #green arrow #kill or be killed #peter parker #spider-man #superman #triple feature #wild storm #wonder woman

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thepeakmoment · 7 years ago

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More Returns

Here's a superb podcast on Peaks. May 30 is the most recent episode. A great listen. Counter Esperanto Podcast: Tangents About Twin Peaks: 10th Secret: The Return

On Tue, Jun 13, 2017 at 1:53 PM, Dom wrote: I'll check it out tonight.

So my Diane prediction was on the fucking money.

I got another theory I'm working on.

Who's the mysterious billionaire? I heard some people say it may be Audrey Horne. I heard some people say it is Jack (John Justice Wheeler). I heard some people say it is Phillip Jeffries or Evil Cooper.

Put on your tinfoil hat for this one. The Billionaire is Leo Johnson. He lived through his spider ordeal. Then he took everything that Windom left behind (notes, computer files, other assorted Windom things) and built a criminal empire. I find it very hard to believe that the fucking casting director's son who was in the 1st two seasons and the fucking movie is NOT in this one.

The secret history of twin peaks tells us what happens to a bunch of characters like Leo. For instance Hank dies in prison. But not one word in the book about Leo? I got to believe that he lives and he’s not just a slobbering fool any more. I know this is probably not going to happen. But that's my theory.

I cannot imagine Leo is a rich billionaire — how did he make his money? A theory that makes sense I’ve heard on EW TP podcast that it could be BOB-Cooper attempting to catch Good Cooper if he ever left the Lodge. But really, I have no idea… not as of end of P7.

I like how Lynch-Frost are using all official Twin Peaks releases as canon to draw the narrative from — Laura’s Diary, FWWM, Missing Pieces of blu-ray edition, as well as many classic episode threads.

And like Erik, I KNOW, that Sheriff Harry S. Truman will make an appearance in this season. I feel it in my bones.

It’s looking grim for Harry — or rather, it sounds grim from Frank saying to Harry, “beat this thing.” But actually I can see Ontkean coming out of retirement to have a role toward the end of the series. I also (want to) believe Josie returning … maybe she’s the billionaire, but why would she make such a contraption mounted to the side of building?

On Sun, Jun 25, 2017 at 2:26 AM, Erik wrote: Good Morning Gents. Grab a cup a joe and settle down a minute. I got some backed up information for yous … << Starts Tape Recorder…. >>

Spot on is right Mr Domi. You got that Diane was Laura Dern AND that she drinks at the Pub we went to. I even want to say she is seated in the area of the bar that we were sitting at that night. Glad it wasn't raining when we went, "FUCK Gene Kelly, You mother fucker!!" LOL I love Albert, he is my favorite this season. (Location: Max Von's Bar = Casey's Irish Pub, 619 South Grand, LA)

So Episode 7 should have shut up all those whiner's and complainer's of Ep 6. There was a lot of hate on the internet, and even in our FB Group, about that episode. I was ok with it. I did not like the scene with the kid getting hit by the truck, but the scene ended with the Fat Trout Telephone pole, so I'm ok with it.

"Lynch has gotten flak for the male gaze in his work, but the problems go a lot deeper than lingering shots on female anatomy.…” Laura Hudson in Vulture.

Also in EP 6 we finally got two major new pieces of music from Angelo, not his best work, but still great to hear. The overall lack of his music is my biggest complaint this season in case I didn't make that clear.

When Johnny Jewel's Windswept first appeared, I thought that was Badalamenti finally debuting new music. I was definitely disappointed it was not Angelo, no disrespect to Johnny. But I agree with you Erik about no AB original score. That music is what made classic Peaks so memorable. I don’t get why Lynch is using such popular music. There really wan’t any such tracks in FWWM, it was Angelo’s music and further cemented Peaks as evergreen. Lynch is acting like Scorcese in the epic cinematic story… and he doesn’t need to. Marty did not have a Badalamenti in his arsenal. Lynch does. Please use him.

EP 7...There's a body alright.. is definitely the shit. Now we are cooking. Jerry!!!! Come out of it man... Lets get Ben and Jerry back in action, not disfunction. The diary pages, Annie's message from FWWM, Leland hiding pages, DIANE from hell! ... Bringing it all back home.

There’s a dark undercurrent with Diane and Cooper. All signs are indicating something very bad happened to Diane. I think BOB-Cooper raped her.

I wonder where Frank Truman was at the time of Laura's murder? He says he remembers Leland, her father, did it, but is not really familiar with the case. BUT why the heck is Frank not asking "So what is "the Lodge" you keep talking about?” Hawk?

The way Hawk talks so knowledgable about both Lodges and the way Frank does not question or disbelieve him, then it must be common knowledge among the indigenous culture. Wonder if Frank is a Bookhouse Boy?

Ancient Doc Hayward, kinda sad, but he was still funny. Did you catch his Skype name? MiddleburyDoc... Warren Frost was actually living in VT right? They probably actually did just Skype him and screen capture it…lol

I caught that right away about Warren Frost’s Skype handle. And no doubt, Frost stayed in Vermont to do his scene. That just recorded the screen.… I do miss Briggs. Yet he died long before Lynch-Frost’s three-year tenure writing the new story, they had plenty of time to work the presence of him into the story.

Briggsy.. Oh Major Briggs. how we miss thee. Should be interesting how this plays out. And When the hell are we going to go back to I bet the road where Andy is waiting to meet the Truck owner is up there at Frankln Canyon Pond.

The Dog Leg.... WTF? Is Joe McCluskey the guy that rigged the car and Mr C Killed earlier on? I do think the Psycho Little guy with the Ice Pick and Gun is kinda silly. Over the top for no reason. Oh well.… It's kinda silly also that no one has taken Dougie to the Doctor. Everyone just plays along. we have to suspend disbelief I guess.

OMG enough with the guy sweeping at the Roadhosue. Is this all the extra time he told Shotime he needed more money for to tell the story properly? lol and more music used in hundreds of shows and commercials. I love Booker T and the MGs don't get me wrong, but ... UGH I miss you Angelo... Also... Kinda weird to see Jean Michel... Did Jacque Renault have a twin brother? lol Mr. C and Ray getting out of Prison.. Bad stuff gonna happen. I think they might have used San Bernadino County Jail for this locaton. The Cell block Cooper is located on looks familar. I will compare some screen grabs from my Locaton and Publicity Photos we took for Beyond Scared Straight at that jail.

And beause they needed to pad the ending to get to the alloted running time... Back to the RR Diner for the end scene, and yet another over-used stock song they probably had to pay more to use than what they paid Angelo for everything. Plus, I liked that song better when they used it in the X-files episode “Home" but No, I'm not bitter.

General notes: Glad Naomi Watts has such a big part. She really owns her scenes. Wish Jennifer Jason Leigh was more present but Mr C just left Jail for somewhere... It's slightly brilliant how Lynch (but probably Frost came up with it) still has made Harry a character in the show. even if only on the phone and never even heard. I feel like Harry is there kinda. Also brilliant... Robert Forrester.... wow. Wish he was in the original or the movie. Not sure how I feel with Dern as Diane. I'll go with it and see what happens.

Outstanding questions for me....(cause I haven't been reading blogs or listening to podcasts)

What is up with all the Arthurian Legend references? Dougie lives on Lancalot Court, down the street from the Merlin Market. Janey-E meets for the ransom drop on the corner of Gueneivere and Merlin. And of course, Glastonbury Grove... Pete Martel: "King Arthur's burried in England!"

Why is it when Dougie puts his thumb up or his hand out to shake, he turns his body 180 degrees?

What is up with the creepy guy (from Mulholland Diner scene) in the Vegas Office? I can't seem to catch his meaning in the story line.

What is up with Cooper's Room Key from the Great Northern? If has finally made it back to Ben Horne...Soooo?

One last question... Did Lynch quit smoking? He made two references to people (Gordon Cole even) quitting. Did we ever even see Cole smoke in the series or movie? weird for him to say he quit when the character never smoked on camera. "You think about that Tammy."

On Jun 25, 2017, at 4:29 PM, Dom wrote: I think Frank Truman was a police officer in Seattle during Laura's investigation if I remember the book correctly. But I think that a "Sheriff Truman" has been in power for over 60 consecutive years now between the 2 brothers and their father. It sort of like there must always be a Stark in Winterfell.

To my knowledge that was the first time ever we have heard name Joe McCluskey. I have no clue who that is. But I have a feeling we will learn.

Yea, I don’t recollect Joe McCluskey. Gotta watch again to see if he first appears or is mentioned earlier.

I think Ike the Spike is either from the black lodge or an agent of the black lodge. Remember he smelled "funny" per the little girl.

Spike did look a little monstery, his teeth especially.

I actually loved that scene of the sweeping. I could just imagine everyone watching was freaking out and I enjoyed that. And I thought that Walter did some great acting while on the phone as Jean-Michel. "He owes me for two!"

That ending scene from the RR diner was weird as shit. Its either the worst continuity error of all time or something truly weird happened there. Completely different set of people dining there after David Lynch's son runs in and asks if anyone has seen Billy.

Lynch did not quit smoking. He, like Harry Dean are lifers.

Both Laura Dern and Naomi Watts are killing their roles. Both doing a fantastic job. I just cannot wait to see them come face to face over Dougie.

And MacLachlan! All his Cooper iterations are really well done. I love that BOB-Cooper character. Can’t wait to see what trouble he kicks up now!

My new tin foil theory is that we may be dealing with 2 Twin Peaks. Twins of each other if you will. I'm still working this one out. Different versions of the same town in different universes a part of a greater multiverse?

Did you notice Andy was wearing a rolex? Kind of weird.

…And he was supposed to meet the guy at 4:30. Is that one of the numbers from ????? ?

The guy from the Vegas office is working directly for Phillip Jeffries or whoever is pretending to be him IMO.

Don’t overlook the black soot guy walking in the hallway toward the female FBI agent in the morgue. I think it’s related to the guy next to Bill Hastings cell.…

Lots of Arthurian Legend stuff from way back when. I never got that. But its seems to be very important. I would love to go to Merlin's Market.

During the end credits from the last episode buried in the music is Windham Earle's theme mixed into the background too!!!!!

I might try headphones for tonight’s part to see exactly what sounds I miss. I know there’s a lot of low audible noise and rumbling that I don’t hear when our apartment is 86º and the fan is going.…

On Jun 25, 2017, at 8:10 PM, Dom wrote: Some last minute thoughts...

Yeah I agree about MacLachlan is killing it and should win an Emmy for best actor. Black soot guy is awesome and its the same dude for sure from the jail cell. Some people seem to think we have seen him a third time as a homeless man outside of Vegas at the Rachera Rosa is whatever it is called. I don't think that we did. I will need to re-watch that again. Another tin foil hat theory. On those three pages from Laura's diary she refers to knowing who it is and that its not Bob. At least everyone thinks she is referencing Leland. That is probably most right. However I am thinking that she is referring to an evil more powerful and sadistic than even Bob.Like whatever came out of the glass box and mutilated those younglings.

On Jun 25, 2017, at 8:17 PM, Erik wrote: > "Yea, I don’t recollect Joe McCluskey."

I am thinking if the guy in the diner eating food non-stop the whole scene with Ray and the chick Mr C shot in the head. Just before he kills her, he tells her "i killed joe, and the she freaks out, knowing the gig is up. The previous scene the eating guy "joe" does something to a car in storage and then cooper like squeezes his face for a whole minute. Could be McCluskey?

> "Lynch did not quit smoking."

Well, its mighty fine of him to send a non smoking message to all the youths. Considering Cole does not smoke, it is a conscious message.

> "All his Cooper iterations are really well done."

Yes, Kyle will def get an Emmy nomination. Dern and Watts will also I predict.

> “RR diner was weird as shit. Its either the worst continuity error of all time or something truly weird happened there.”

There are no accidents on a Lynch set. If an error occurs and he likes it he will use it. So who knows why he did it. On the same level as the windows flashing code on the FBI jet. He is throwing out decoys i feel.

> “then it (the Lodge) must be common knowledge among the indigenous culture.”

Then why the heck is Truman not like "well lets go up there" nor does Hawk tell him he was up in those woods when Log Lady last called.

> “Don’t overlook the black soot guy walking in the hallway”

Nope, I did not mention him cause i consider it another decoy. Kinda like the shambling being behind the diner in Mulholland Drive...never came up again. i am sure he will play a part at some point.

But i did forget to mention the playing card Mr. C showed the girl in the hotel bed before he shoots her. Aliens? Very well could be.

Have a good viewing. The damn internet saying EP 8 is extra noteworthy. Could it be Phillip Jeffries? Windom Earl? More Leland and Laura? (I actually doubt we will see either of them again). Audrey? Big Ed? They got plenty of options.

Cheers! ~G

Sent from the Black Lodge.

#twin peaks: the return #commentary #showtime

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scheduledfor1fall · 7 years ago

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Wrestlemania IX Review

Hello, folks. Just a friendly reminder that sometime soon, I’ll be posting a follow-up to this review, in which I analyze the card and discuss some changes I think would have improved this show even marginally. Until then, let’s get right into the review!

We get a short intro, before going to our host Gorilla Monsoon, who, true to his word, is wearing a toga. Monsoon introduces us to the newest addition to the announce team, Jim Ross. Yes, it’s the debut of Good Ol’ JR in the WWF. Unfortunately, JR is sans cowboy hat this time around, but he too is wearing a toga. Ross throws us over to Howard Finkel, who today will be known as “Finkus Maximus.” Maximus introduces us to Caesar and Cleopatra, making their return from the Royal Rumble on an elephant. Out next is Randy Savage, coming out on a sedan, being fed grapes. Kinda wish it had been Slim Jims. Savage gets a huge pop, and I’m sad that he’s not actually wrestling tonight. Out next is Bobby Heenan, riding backwards on a camel, and looking absolutely terrified. Heenan complains that he was supposed to be the one on the sedan, with the virgins feeding him grapes. Alrighty then. With the commentators now gathered, we get the entrance of Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels, flanked by Luna Vachon in her WWF debut. Out next is Tatanka with a hatchet. Tatanka circles Michaels with the hatchet, as I fear we may see a murder live on PPV. Out to second Tatanka is Michaels’ former manager Sherri, as our opening match gets underway:

TATANKA DEF. SHAWN MICHAELS BY COUNT-OUT, WITH SHAWN RETAINING THE INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP:

Good way to kick off the show. Michaels was working very hard here, and Tatanka looked the best he ever had up to this point. The finish, of course, is definitely the elephant in the room. Obviously, the company didn’t want to end Tatanka’s winning streak too soon. At the same time, I guess they decided either that it was too soon to end Shawn’s reign as IC Champion, or they didn’t think Tatanka needed the belt. Either scenario begs the question of why the match was even set up in the first place, given the circumstances. On it’s own merits, however, the match was solid. ***.

Post-match, Luna jumps Sherri, but is scared away by the noble stereotype, who checks on Sherri, and helps her away from ringside. Afterwards, we cut to an interview conducted by Mean Gene, whose toga is thankfully much more modest than he had implied it to be. Mean Gene welcomes his guest, the Steiner Brothers. Scott cuts quite possibly the most coherent promo of his career, and Rick promises to make Julius Caesar proud. Cut back to the ring, as the Headshrinkers and Afa are already awaiting their opponents. Out next are The Steiners, as we get our next match:

THE STEINER BROTHERS DEF. THE HEADSHRINKERS BY PINFALL VIA FRANKENSTEINER:

Very fun, hard hitting match between these two teams. I actually liked this a little bit better than the opener, and, in fact, I’d go so far as to say this was one of the most underrated Wrestlemania matches I can think of, at least as far as ones that don’t really get talked much about. Just a solid tag team match, and a great follow-up to the opener. *** 1/4.

Cut back to Mean Gene and a statue of Caesar dressed up like Doink the Clown. Interesting. Mean Gene claims Doink desecrated the statue, and runs down Doink’s evil deeds, to which Doink laughs uproariously. I’m really loving Doink as these shows go on. Doink, in a heavy-handed instance of foreshadowing, warns that Crush may be seeing “double vision” by the end of the night. Out comes Crush for this grudge match. Out next is Doink, with an umbrella, for some reason. He really should’ve come out on a unicycle, or with some hyenas, or something. Doink squirts Crush with his flower, causing a chase to start the match:

DOINK THE CLOWN DEF. CRUSH BY PINFALL VIA PROSTHETIC ARM SHOT:

Kind of a standard, somewhat boring match, until the amazingly cartoonish finish, which saw a second Doink emerge with a prosthetic arm while the real Doink was about to be put in a Kona Crush. The two Doinks ganged up on Crush with the arm, did the Groucho Marx mirror gag, and both burst into laughter, before Doink pinned Crush. Enjoyably wacky finish to an otherwise forgettable match. * 3/4.

Post-match, another referee runs out and informs the ref of the second Doink. They check under the ring, to no avail. Cut to Todd Pettengill in the crowd, as he polls some Japanese cameramen about whether or not there were two Doinks. They babble about Yokozuna and laugh, much to Pettengill’s disappointment. Waste of time. Razor Ramon’s music hits, as The Bad Guy makes his way to the ring. Out next is Bob Backlund, for his very first Wrestlemania match.

RAZOR RAMON DEF. BOB BACKLUND BY PINFALL VIA INSIDE CRADLE:

Short, boring mismatch between these two. I’ve touched on Backlund being out of his element here, and I would point to this match as an example of why. Razor took all sorts of bumps for Backlund, and it didn’t really come off as believable. The finish didn’t really do either of them any favors, either. For what it’s worth, there were some pretty loud “Razor” chants at the beginning of the match, so make of that what you will. 3/4 *.

Back to Mean Gene, as he’s interviewing the Tag Team Champions, Money Inc. We get a look at how the feud between these two and the Mega-Maniacs all started. DiBiase says it’s time to put up or shut up, calling Las Vegas their backyard, and IRS threatens to take Beefcake’s protective mask and further injure his face. They also insinuate that Hulk Hogan’s conspicuous black eye here was caused by them, specifically that they paid some goons to rough him up coming out of the gym. Do they think I’m stupid or something? I’ve seen Hogan survive much worse bodily harm in Mr. Nanny. I’m sure he’ll be fine. Out come the champions for our co-main event. Out next are the Mega-Maniacs, and Hogan is sporting quite a nasty shiner, indeed.

MONEY INC. DEF. THE MEGA-MANIACS BY DQ TO RETAIN THE TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP:

So, here was the finish: the referee was down. Beefcake and IRS were both down. They tagged in their respective partners, and Hogan used the facemask of Beefcake, which had been ripped off during the match, on the heels. Hogan and Beefcake then pinned their opponents at the same time. Jimmy Hart, who comes off as rather Scrappy Doo-ish in his newfound babyface role, then turned his jacket inside out to reveal zebra stripes, and counted the pin. Hogan and Beefcake, like colossal buffoons, celebrated with the tag team titles, as if that actually counted as a win, until a real referee came down and disqualified the Mega-Maniacs, probably for that bout of idiocy, to which Hogan and Beefcake were incredulous. What an awful finish to an otherwise average tag team match. Again, we must ask the question: why book a match, a title match no less, wherein the challenger cannot, under any circumstances, lose the match, when you have no intention of changing the belts? This was far worse than the Michaels/Tatanka deal. That one reeked of desperation. This one reeked of bullshit; they really couldn’t pin Beefcake? The man who went in with a known injury that could very well have been exploited? This was infuriating, but I can’t really slag the match too much. **. On a side note, it looks like Hogan won’t be leaving Wrestlemania IX with gold. Too bad he won’t be given another opportunity to win a title tonight, because I think he’d do it in record time.

Post-match, Jimmy Hart throws the ref out of the ring, and the Mega-Maniacs celebrate by opening up Money Inc’s briefcase and throwing money to the crowd. Ugh. We get another interview with Todd Pettengill, this time with Natalie Cole, daughter of the Jazz great Nat King Cole, and the CEO of Caesar’s Palace, Dan Reichartz. Neither of them really contribute much. We then get a Mean Gene interview with Mr. Perfect, ahead of his match with Lex Luger. Okerlund points out how many people Luger has knocked out with his forearm, including WWF Champion Bret Hart at a brunch earlier that day. Mr. Perfect stumbles a bit over his promo, and goes to the ring. Out first is Lex Luger, with his long posing routine, this time incorporating four mirrors with sparklers on them. Well, that’s new. Out next is Mr. Perfect to a huge reaction.

LEX LUGER DEF. MR. PERFECT BY PINFALL VIA BACKSLIDE:

Well, this was a little disappointing. I’ve generally enjoyed watching Mr. Perfect wrestle on some of these episodes of Raw so far, so I was expecting a solid match, even though I’m really not a fan of Luger’s work so far. For whatever reason, these two just didn’t click at all. I won’t lay the blame entirely on Lex; I just don’t think these two had a particularly good chemistry in this match. * 1/2.

Post-match, Luger hits Perfect with the forearm, knocking Perfect out. Shortly after, Perfect goes after Luger to the back. Finding Luger talking to Shawn Michaels, Perfect starts brawling with the Narcissist, until Michaels attacks him from behind. I guess he really doesn’t like having his conversations interrupted. Michaels continues the beatdown, until officials pull the two apart. Back to ringside, as Heenan and Savage argue about what they just saw, leading to Savage standing up threateningly to a huge pop. Man, it’s too bad Vince didn’t want him to wrestle at this time. Ross sends it to Gorilla Monsoon, as he hypes up Undertaker vs. Giant Gonzalez and Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna, still to come. Giant Gonzalez is out next. Oh lord, no. Gonzalez is still wearing the stupid air-brushed muscle suit. They couldn’t give him tights, or a loincloth, or something other than that? Out next is The Undertaker, on a funeral chariot, with a vulture. If Taker did shoot interviews, I’d be very interested to hear if he had any problems with the bird. Speaking of problems, here comes this match!

THE UNDERTAKER DEF. GIANT GONZALEZ BY DQ:

Wowie, was this bad. If I had to choose between The Great Khali and Giant Gonzalez which one is a worse wrestler, I’d have to go with Gonzalez, if for no other reason than his selling. The dude sold like a shambling zombie most of the match, and his offense was just as putrid. The finish, which infamously featured Gonzalez use a chloroform-soaked rag on Taker, was just as insulting, as the list of awful finishes from this show continues to grow. Bad stuff. Probably the worst Streak match I’ve ever seen in my life. -**.

Post-match, a group of officials checked on Undertaker, which lead to Gonzalez chokeslamming one. Taker is stretchered out, as the crowd begins chanting for Hogan. Oh, you’ll have to wait a few minutes for him, folks. Suddenly, the gong rings, as Taker comes back out to Gonzalez’s dismay. Taker goes after him in the ring, as Paul Bearer attempts to restrain him. Gonzalez is then lead out by security, as Undertaker is announced as the winner by DQ. JR promises that the war between these two is far from over. Stick around, folks!

We go back to Mean Gene once again, as we see Yokozuna’s defeat of Jim Duggan, as well as a contract signing between Yoko and Bret, which ended with another Banzai Drop. Gene acknowledges that the odds-makers are betting on Yokozuna to win the match. Well, give them a prize. Gene then asks Hulk Hogan for his thoughts on the main event. Hogan rambles about Bret Hart, as well as his and Brutus Beefcake’s injuries at the hands of Money Inc. Hogan warns Bret to watch out for Yokozuna, as he assures him that he and his Hulkamaniacs are on his side. Hogan then issues a challenge to either Bret or “the Jap.” Lovely. Anyway, the challenge is laid out; the winner of the WWF Championship match tonight will face Hulk Hogan at some point. Perhaps before the show goes off the air, even. Gene then takes us to Todd Pettengill, who accosts some fans, including two frat boys who are probably having the time of their lives, getting to wear togas out in public, drinking beer, and watching some rather poor wrestling. Out first is Yokozuna, with Mr. Fuji. Out next is the champion, as our main event begins.

YOKOZUNA DEF. BRET HART BY PINFALL VIA SALT TO WIN THE WWF CHAMPIONSHIP:

Considering this was Yokozuna’s first major PPV match, I have to say, I did not think this was bad. There’s only so much these two can do with each other, and I feel like what they did was probably the best it could be. Bret’s certainly capable of better matches, but, for what it was, a pretty decent match. ** 1/2.

But wait, it’s not over yet! As soon as Yokozuna stands up, in comes Hulk Hogan, outraged at Bret’s title loss. Hogan checks on Bret, when Mr. Fuji grabs a mic and challenges Hogan to a match with Yokozuna. Uh-oh. Hogan is about to walk away with Bret, but he freezes when Fuji offers to put the WWF Title on the line. Bret tells Hogan to go for it, in a moment that he may or may not be bitter about today. Hogan, being the noble hero he is, accepts the challenge against the tired fat man, and here we go:

HULK HOGAN DEF. YOKOZUNA BY PINFALL VIA LEG DROP TO WIN THE WWF CHAMPIONSHIP:

Essentially, Yoko tries to grab Hogan as soon he enters, trying to hold him back so Fuji can throw salt in the Hulkster’s eyes. Hogan ducks the salt, however, as it strikes Yokozuna. Hogan then takes down Fuji, hits Yokozuna with a clothesline not unlike his finisher in Japan, and nails the leg drop to score the quick victory. Many others have said it before, but, yeah, this left a bad taste in my mouth. I don’t know if this was the plan all along. If not, the question must be asked for the third time tonight, why make a title match where you don’t really want the challenger to become champion? They may not have ever had a heel walk out of Wrestlemania as champion before, but there’s different ways to send the crowd home happy. This reeked of desperation, much like the previous finishes. I should mention that this was the last WWF Title match for quite some time. The next title match would be Hogan dropping the title 70 days later at King of the Ring, but we’ll get to that when we get to it. Stupid, stupid stuff, but not really worth rating, to be honest.

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

I will concede that I’ve never seen the earliest Wrestlemanias, some of which may be worse than this show. I’ve also never seen Wrestlemania XI, which seems to go hand-in-hand with this show as among the worst Wrestlemanias. I have seen Wrestlemanias 27 and 32, which some consider to be among the worst. But of all the Manias I’ve seen, this was by far the worst. Bad finishes, bad matches, bad booking all around, and a headscratchingly strange aesthetic to the production made for a rather unenjoyable viewing experience. I will say, the first two matches are definitely worth seeing. Maybe even Yokozuna vs. Bret Hart, I suppose. But as a whole, I’d have to give this show a thumbs down. Watch it for historical purposes if you must, but be aware that a long stretch of tedium and boredom await you.

Well, that’s for all now. Stay tuned, as next time I go over a few changes I would’ve made to the card to improve it, even a little bit. Until next time.

#wwf #wwe #wrestlemania #wrestling #1993

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