#Edit: THAT PERFORMANCE WAS SO GOOD OH MY GOD I LOVED THE FILMING THEY REALLY IMPROVED THE LIVE ONE

[coconut530]

you know the outfits are good when my first reaction is to draw the OCs in them ~ ✨

outfit ref under cut

[wh0reforcoriolanussnow]

ooooh a fic where reader and Tom reacts to the tiktok edits of them pls✨

Internet Boyfriend || Tom Blyth x Actress!reader

A/n: I LOVE THIS HAHAHHAHA also yes, I did add the links to the tiktok edits ����

Warnings: none :)

Wc:

Divider by @pommecita

“First of all, congratulations on satisfying this fan of the original series,” The women points to herself, “Thats what we like to hear,” You smile, “Like this film is epic! But uh we need to all about something really really serious first,” You nod, anticipating the questioning.

“Y/n,” You eyebrows shoot up as you tilt your head, “Do you think Tom is ready,” You and Tom look at each other, “to become the internet’s boyfriend? Cause I don’t think he realises what’s about to happen,” Tom looks taken aback as he looks at you.

“I’ve been saying this for so long too!” You meet Tom’s gaze, “I did not expect that question,” He shakes his head lightly laughing. “Beyond the internet boyfriend, it’s just he gives such a beautiful performance in this film and after our first premiere in Berlin, I grabbed his face in the car on the way back to the hotel and I just bawled my eyes out to him, remember that?” You look to him, a smile on your face.

“Yep,” He chuckles, looking down, “Because as an actor and his girlfriend I was just so proud to witness the rise of Tom Blyth in movie making, it’s such a beautiful thing and there’s no one more deserving out there, truly.” You say in appreciation as you and Tom lock eyes.

He puts his hand on his heart, “Thank you,” He says, truly moved by what you said, “That’s so sweet of you,” You lean your head against his shoulder and his arm wraps around your shoulder. “You’re welcome,” You say to him, looking up as you place a light kiss on his jawline.

“Both your performance is honestly just spectacular, I love the two of you, I wish I was there in person to witness it,” She jokes as you all laugh along with her. “Another thing I wanted to ask, specifically aimed to you Tom,” He looks at the women expectantly.

“The girls on tiktok are loving it already, are you ready,” Tom scratches the back of his neck, “Oh God,” As you already start laughing knowing where she was going with this question, “Are you ready for the Snow thirst edits? How do you feel about them,” It’s silent for a few seconds as Tom looks at the floor, a smile on his face.

“It’s begun babe,” You squeeze his arm. “Uh- I’m not on tiktok and I try to stay off online, as much as possible, uhm which is difficult these days- but I don’t see them often until people send them to me- So stop sending them” Tom looks at the camera as you throw your head back, losing it already as you laugh.

“As someone who has tiktok and thoroughly enjoy the edits of the movie, I do send them to Tom-“ “You send them all the time! It’s embarrassinga” You both intertwine hands and laugh out loud. “I don’t really send you the thirst trap ones, mostly just the ones about how blue your eyes are and how great of an actor you are,”

“Well speaking of it, we actually have a few thirst traps of you Tom, lined up for you to react to,” Tom drops his head as you start giggling, “Oh my god,” “Here we go,” You say in as you watch a crew member past you an IPad.

“Oh dear god, this video is going to turn into a try not to cringe challenge video with y/n and Tom reacting to Coryo” You sigh as you watch the first tiktok which is of Tom as Snow. https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSNC4EmV8/

You immediately smile knowing you have already seen this tiktok. The interviewer starts laughing as you both watch Tom’s reaction to it. “I must say, It’s very good,” Tom admits, “This tiktok has 5.4 million views, and everyone is saying that this is the Coriolanus snow edit,” She says as you click on the comment section and read through the comments.

“I agree that is the Coriolanus snow edit aswell,” You chuckle. “Okay next one,” You say as Tom groans beside you, already very much embarrassed. https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSNCVJCRX/

Your jaw immediately starts to drop upon hearing the audio. Tom covers his eyes as you and the interviewer laugh. “I love the beginning!” You say in between laughs, “Wait what was the beginning?” Tom asks, “Did you not watch it?”

“I covered my eyes the second I heard my voice,” He admits with a silly grin on his face as you shake your head and rewatch it. “Oh, I see,” He rubs his chin as you watch the next one. “Oh I’ve seen this one!” Tom says as you both rewatch it. https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSNCVkrxh/

“I’ve always told Tom that everyone obsesses when he says Snow lands on top,” “Yes! The fans go crazy!” The woman laughs along as Tom looks uncomfortable. “Tom say it,” You nudge him as he gives you the ‘don’t make me do it’ look as you give him your puppy eyes, “fine,” He huffs.

He clears his throat as a joke before staring into the camera, “Snow lands on top,” He says in an insanely attractive voice as you fake faint. “Watch them edit this too,” You point out, “Please no,” He covers his face in embarrassment as you pat his back, silently laughing.

“This one, is one my favs actually,” The woman says as she shows you and Tom the tiktok. https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSNC4wS5J/ You both crack up at the ending as actual tears started forming in Tom’s eyes. “Oh my god he’s crying,” You slap his thigh as you lean over in your chair from laughter.

After a good 5 minutes the two of you calm down. “For the next one, Y/n you can just go ahead and search up Tom Blyth on TikTok and pick whatever tiktok you want him to react to,” Your eyes lit up at the offer and you hurriedly take the iPad from Tom’s lap and type his name. Tom leans over to look at the iPad as you hide it from him, a mischievous glint in your eyes that he knows all too well.

You take your time as your scroll before one catches your eye. You watch it and your jaw immediately drops open. “What is it?” Tom says impatiently as your eyes flicker from Tom to the woman. “I don’t know if I can even show this,” You cover your mouth.

“Babe, I don’t think you want to see this,” You continue while Tom becomes impatient and curious. “Just show me!” You give a look to the interviewer as you show him the tiktok. Almost immediately, Tom turns it off and gets up from the screen as you stifle a laugh, watching him as he walks behind the camera, his hands on his hips.

“What did I just watch,” He says as you full on start to laugh to the point where you were on the ground laughing and had a stitch. “I should have stayed curious” Tom runs a hand down his face as he sighs and sits back down on the chair, laughing at you on the floor dying from laughter.

“I’m so glad you find this amusing, sweetheart,” He playfully rolls his eyes as he offers his hand and helps you up. “My eye makeup is most definitely ruined,” You say in between laughs as Tom grabs your face and wipes away the smudged mascara.

“Oh my god! I’m sorry I didn’t even show you the tiktok!” You realise as the woman doing the interview snickers. “We probably looked mentally insane,” You fan your face. The TikTok was of Coryo kissing your character in tbosas and the next clip was of Billy kissing Dulcinea which also happened to be played by you and the writing on the TikTok said “This man kisses like he is starved, like she is the oxygen he needs to breathe,”

Tom was beyond embarrassed as he recalled both moments when he was kissing you on screen. “This may be abit of TMI but ladies, he’s always been like that,” You cover the left side of your mouth as you whisper it to the camera before winking.

[hockeyandhrsepwr]

Yeehaw baby! 🤠

Mat Barzal x reader insta edit

Note: I’m not a Barzal gal but I am a ho for a man in a cowboy hat which I blame on my proximity to Alberta. Someone has probably done something similar to this so I just want to be clear that I’m not copying anyone

Summary: Barzy takes on Stampede

Yourusername

Yourusername it’s July now, y’all know what that means 🤠

Yourbro it’s Canada Day?

Yourusername bruh

Yourbff yeehaw?

Yourusername haw-yee baby🤪

User2 oh slay, time for the yearly content

User4 can’t wait for your outfits!!

User457 this is my met gala lol

Yourfriend Pede?

Yourusername Pede

Yourfriend well hurry up bitch!! We’re waiting

Yourusername hope you’re ready

Lenasianed can’t wait to see you!

Yourusername it’s time to celebrate you my sweet girl!! Please tell me I can have baby snuggles?

Lenasianed she’s with the grandparents this weekend

Yourusername ☹️

Barzal97

Barzal97 a rootin tootin good time celebrating EBear

Titobeauvi oh dear god

Bboeser buddy you’re from Vancouver

Barzal97 I’m a cowboy at heart

MamaBarzal oh really?

User78 oh fuck Cowboy Barzy

User67 HELLO?!

Yourusername The Longest Ride (TM)

User33 um, something you wanna tell us?

Yourusername he’s giving Scott Eastwood in the classic film The Longest Ride. Obviously

User25 not where I thought that was going tbh

Barzal97 thanks I think?

EBear thanks for coming out man!!

Barzal97 anytime man!

Friend78 YYC > YVR

Barzal97 I will not accept Van slander. Calgs only better when it comes to this

HockeyGoss

Hockeygoss howdy y’all, look what we have here. Mat Barzal spotted getting close to a mysterious woman during Stampede

User4 girlies living the dream

User90 god the hat

User69 random but anyone else think that could be yourusername?

User2 girl what?

User69 idk, something about the jewelry we can see

User268 girl you tripping

Yourusername

Yourusername Wear the hat, something something 🤔

Yourbff pretty sure you know how it goes

Yourusername ummm nope

Yourbff well maybe B can refresh your memory

Yourusername oh he’s working on that 😘

Barzal97 context please?

Yourusername cowboy hat rule hockey boy. Google it

User56 Queen!

Friend56 ride him baby!

Yourusername 🫶yeehaw

Yourusername

Yourusername don’t take but two to have a little soirée (me & Sam if that wasn’t clear)

Highlight of the month CowboysMusicFestival SamHunt

Yourbff truly iconic performance

Yourusername I don’t think I’ll ever recover

Barzal97 okay I get the hype now

Yourusername was a crime that you weren’t a fan tbh

Yourotherbff can’t believe you didn’t before now given how often she plays him

Barzal97 I just to see her in her element to get it. She really sold it

Yourbff stop sucking up

Yourusername no please, continue

User89 did everyone just skip over her friends comment!!

Lenasianed it was a party all right

Barzal97

Barzal97 I met a girl with crazy shoes and baby blues. The way she moves is changing my whole world.

Yourusername crazy shoes are my specialty 😘

User7 OH?!

User25 my two worlds colliding

Yourbff if you don’t take care of her, I’ll kill you with your own skates

Barzal97 uh

Yourusername babe, we talked about threatening people on the internet

Yourotherbff but mom!

Yourusername no!

Titobeavi she’s so out of your league

Yourusername thank you Tito. See you next week?

User85 she’s already met his bf?

Barzal97 I should hope so, she lived in NY all last year

User64 💀 he didn’t deny the bf allegations but omg they’ve been dating a year?!

Yourusername

Yourusername save a horse, Vancouver Edition

Yourbff what?

Yourusername save a Zamboni, ride a hockey player 😏

Yourbro 🤮

Barzal97 🤦‍♂️ (I love you crazy woman)

[tzyuki]

[ 김규빈 ] ONE & ONLY ꒰ K.GV x F!READER

008. WAZE DORMS?? | smau + written (778 wrds)

IN WHICH ✶ — Rumors about Y/n pursuing a Zerobaseone member backstage at music bank start floating around the media after she and ZB1 member, Kim Gyuvin are seen talking behind in one of the episodes of ‘Eunchaes Star Diary’. Some netizens believe it and some don’t, some hated her for touching his shoulder and some didn’t care. Y/n went live to debunk the rumors, saying she wasn’t interested in a relationship at the time. The thing was, the rumors were true. She secretly was pursing Kim Gyuvin, or at least she wanted to. Ever since she first saw him backstage at M Countdown when ‘Love Killa’ team got to perform she was starstruck. She saw him at the vending machine and wished him luck in ‘Boys Planet’. She actually never had watched an episode of the survival show at all, she said it would be too painful for her, but that was the night she started to watch and most importantly, vote for Kim Gyuvin.

Y/n flopped onto the couch in the living room of their dorm, exhausted from the early schedule she had. The rest of her members had gone out for lunch leaving the girl home alone.

The chiming sound of the dorm bell ringing, her head lifting up to see who was at the little screen at the door. She could see the faint face of Moon Jaeyun. Almost forgetting that he’d come by to hang out with the girl and later so would Gyuvin.

“Coming!” She shouted as got up from the couch, walking towards the door. “Hey,” She said to the boy as she opened the door. “How are you?” Y/n said, opening the door wide so the boy could walk in.

“Hm—good. We’re working on a comeback right now so I’ve been kind of busy.” Jaeyun said, putting a thought to it. “How are you? I saw you started filming for your guys show.” He asked as the two plopped down onto the couch side by side.

“Good, I have to bring Lulu back home soon so I’ll have to miss my break day.” Y/n sighed. “And our show is gonna be so tiring to film this season.” Y/n groaned. “I thought you guys just do stupid missions at the academy and each mission reveals each step to the big secret—or whatever.”

“It is,” Y/n slightly tilted her head, thinking about the youtube show they released last year. “But sometimes we film real scenes that take hours to do.”

“You guys are actually kind of good, did you ever think about taking acting up professionally?” Jaeyun asked genuinely. “You watched it?— and no, I’ve always wanted to sing and dance.”

“Who hasn’t?” Jaeyun chuckled. “It’s filmed and edited well. The fact that it’s only a show made for your fans” He scoffed. “I think people who aren’t your fans should watch it.”

“Is it really that good?”

“Yeah, the drama is there, the acting is good, and the plot is actually really good—like for a variety show it’s really good—you’re really good at acting too.” Jaeyun gassed up the girl. “You’re being nice to me, Jae. This is so weird getting complimented.” The girl chuckled.

The doorbell chimed again.

“Are your members back?” Jaeyun asked, his head turning to the door. Y/n awkwardly chuckled. “I forgot to tell you, Gyuvin and one of his members are also hanging out here.”

“You double booked?” Jaeyun gasped. “Look, I'm trying to bag the guy.” Y/n held her hands in surrender. “Come open the door with me.” She ran to the door, “Coming!” Jaeyun walked up behind her. “Oh my god—that’s Matthew!” Jaeyun shouted a little too loud, Matthew and Gyuvin could be seen laughing on the camera.

“Matthew!” Jaeyun shouted as the door opened, he pulled the other into a hug. “I didn’t know you’d be here!?” Matthew said, pulling away. “Come in, come in.” Jaeyun said, acting like it was his dorm.

“Hi, Gyuvin.” Y/n chuckled, the two gave each other looks as the other two were talking in english. “Hi, Eumppappa.” Y/n said in a slightly high pitch tone as she petted the dog.

“He likes you.” Gyuvin said. Eumppappa was excited and happy as Y/n stroked his ears. “Let me go get Lulu.” Y/n smiled as she ran to open her room door. The pig ran out oinking as she approached Gyuvin and his dog.

“She’s clearly happy.” Y/n giggled. “How’s your day?” Y/n asked, slightly leaning on the counter of the island, not trying to seem awkward. “It’s good, I’ve just been walking Eumppappa. How is getting back into work?”

“Tiring, as always.” Y/n scoffed. “It’s a fun job, but it gets tiring with all the practice and content we have to film. It’s hard to keep a happy act at times.” Y/n confessed. “You seem so passionate on stage, thought?” Gyuvin said. “I am, I really love performing and everything, but once I show an ounce of being tired it’s like the whole internet is calling me lazy.” She laughed.

“I’ll admit, I make jokes about them so it goes over my head.” Y/n sheepishly laughed. “Am I talking too much?” She asked, worried she was talking the boy's ear off. “You aren’t, I like talking a lot too.” Gyuvin chuckled.

“To be honest, I double booked. I didn’t want it to be awkward between us so I invited my friend as well.” Y/n admitted. “At least it worked out great, they already know each other.” The two looked at the pair on the couch goofing off.

m.list — previous — next

taglist (open) 𓏸 ͘ ࣭⸰ @jinkyu @whoschr @str0l0gy @sieuneo @enhaz1 @weoris @deafeningtyrantmilkshake @jiawji @trsrina @esc6pism @tmrx2gther @jiaant11 @latriii @annoyingbitch83 @pwarkj @sleepingisweak @beomibeom @seosracha @sparklingsjy @ahnneyong @mioujon @whippedforbeomgyu @wonqr @lunavixia @y7n2394-ze @wtfhyuck @lcv3lies @mangowonyo @nyujjan @chaeryvips @tocupid @chanlixed @svtglitch @wonluvrbot @wondering-out-loud @igotkpoops @jeongintwt

[weolucbasu]

So, @da-proti-toku-grem kind of inspired me to make a lengthy post, sharing some positive vibes across the fandom, listing the reasons why I love each member of Joker Out and why I would go full mom-mode on them and cook for them and bake them gluten-free cookies.

Anyway:

A Joker Out, brain-rot, appreciation post

(members listed in alphabetical order)

Bojan

First up - as someone who had the chance to see them live, he is an insane performer

His ability to enchant the crowd is insane and you can tell really well that he has great acting abilities too

Watched him in Gospod Profesor too, spot on for someone who is a so-called amateur

His singing voice is... amazing to say the least, it feels really unique

Also, the way he talks, the sound of his voice, the words he uses, his pronunciation, if there were awards for talking he would get one

The languages he speaks, I want to study him, linguistically, he is truly a phenomenon

We of course love a bilingual king

He looks like he has his priorities straight

I also respect him so much for how open he is about his mental illness

I might relate to him a bit too much at times whoops

And the fact that he can somehow befriend literally anyone??? Love that

His friendship with Jere is the main one of course

Oh yeah and the fact that he literally helped people who collapsed at their gigs a few times

Bless him, he deserves all the rest he is hopefully getting

Jan

First things first, I have a soft spot for math guys

And the way he talks about math is fascinating (but you still won't get me to like it Jan)

Cat dad???? We absolutely adore Igor and a man loving cats is such a green flag

I know people say he mumbles a bit and it's hard to understand him at times, but idk, he talks nice and slowly, so it's still really easy to understand him

He comes from my home region, so I am very biased haha

Also, every band needs a guitarist with luscious locks

He absolutely owns the colour red, that colour was invented specifically for him

The nose ring suits him so well too, this man KNOWS what fits him

And if that ends up being jackets with nothing underneath when he performs, THEN SO BE IT

I know people call Kris the lesbian icon, but from what I've seen lesbians are very drawn to Jan as well

Oh, and he gives me Klaus from the Umbrella Academy vibes (I blame the hair and the pink boa)

Jure

Holy shit, sunshine in human form????

The most underappreciated one in the band imo

His surname literally means 'cat' and I am so normal that Jan has called him 'muca'

He also comes from my region haha, bias again

He's really good at filming, he actually shot a few things for RTV (national TV station) and edited them as well, god, talent

Also playing drums... I have sang, I have played guitar, played bass, but drums is something I feel like I could NEVER do, so hats off to you

As @da-proti-toku-grem pointed out, THE MOLE ON HIS LIP? weak knees, yes

He also reminds me of a good friend of mine and I vibe with him so much, I feel like I would vibe with Jure as well

I really don't like the fact that drummers tend to get ignored and I just wish there was more Jure performing content

Though I love it how every time, during Novi Val, he comes to the front and hangs with the others

His hair also looks so soft and fluffy aaaaaa

Again, biased but he resembles my bf the most out of everyone so hmmmm

Kris

The baby of the band! (and the only one in the band I could actually call 'mulc')

In case you didn't know yet, he's half Dutch

And he speaks Dutch, which, as someone who speaks Dutch (in theory, not in practice) makes me really happy

I wish to study him linguistically as well

Also his parents' story feels very close to me, as I'm dating outside of my culture as well

According to him he was menace as a kid and I think we should normalise the fact that you can become a better person as you grow up

But pls don't honk at me on the road Kris, pls, I will cry

The songs he wrote??? NGVOT and Vse kar vem??? Oh boy, I love them, adore them

His holey sweaters are also a vibe

Dutch fans, if you don't shower him and the rest of the band with gifts at their Dutch concerts, I will be mad

Also gotta honorably mention Maks

They gotta be my fav nepo-but-not-really babies out there

Kinda like Maya Hawke?

I am ranting

He also looks like the only member of the band that I would fight, and idk why

Also, I must know if he supports Max Verstappen haha

Minus points for chemistry though, I cannot with that

Nace

Okay everyone

Here we go

We have reached my beloved

I love all of them, but Nace just a bit more

It was love at first sight, I cannot lie

I have a soft spot for bassists and he might actually convince me to try and play bass again

He has been playing it for so long too??? like wow

Oh and of course; THE TATTOOS, BLESSETH BE THE TATTOOS

I will always go feral about his tattoos

At every concert

I know he was the last to join the band but it looks like he fits in so nicely, it's beautiful

Strong mom-codded dad friend vibes

He kinda is the dad of the band haha

And he looks like he gives amazing hugs (lucky all of you who had managed to get one already)

A nice addition to the band

Oh and he's apparently shit at sports which is like... felt

Plus the fact that he wanted to be a vet?

Me too boo, me too, but neither of us is there now

Anway, I'll stop now. In conclusion, this band has my whole heart and they deserve every good thing that happens to them and so much more.

[thebreakfastgenie]

I got a little ranking request for you: What are your Top 5 best and Top 5 worst Billy Joel music videos?

Omg okay. This is so hard!!!

Top 5 best:

Turn the Lights Back On

This is the one that makes me the most emotional. It's not even the AI younger versions of him, although those are great, but the old footage they put in at the end. Oh my god. It gets me every time. And when he turns the page from Famous Last Words at the beginning.... it gets me every single time. It's really beautifully made and I'm so glad we have it.

2. The Longest Time

This is a nice simple concept and I really love it. The old age makeup is a little goofy but it's worth it to me. I love seeing the band singing together in this one! The lyrics are romantic but the video is about the group of friends and it's nice.

3. You're Only Human

Billy Joel called this video terrible but he's just mean. It's cheesy but it makes it work. I think the cliche of homaging It's a Wonderful Life actually helps, because it doesn't take itself totally seriously. I like the narrative videos, which he would hate, but too bad. This is the only song of his that I enjoy significantly more with the video. He's great in it! He gets to ham it up and be silly and then he does the scene where he takes the kid to see the cops informing his parents that he's dead and he gets that look on his face. My heart. Playing the Piano Man riff on the harmonica is such a perfect touch. It really personalizes it and takes it from being a straight It's a Wonderful Life scenario to being a message from Billy Joel himself.

4. Pressure

This one is a really great example of surreal music videos that raise more questions than they answer. I think it's just really well-done and the effects are cool. It has some funny little easter eggs too, like "William Joel, age 29, occupation computer software."

5. A Matter of Trust

This is more of a performance video, but it has just enough narrative setting to it to make me interested. I like the rehearsal concept, even if seeing him play a guitar is weird. The comedy beat with the lady yelling at them to shut up is fun. Everyone in the street stopping to listen is predictable but it works. And the cameo from Christie and Alexa is adorable. "Okay girls, A Matter of Trust!" my heart!!

Honorable mentions that I adore but didn't make this list because I think these 5 are better: Keeping the Faith, She's Right On Time, Uptown Girl, We Didn't Start the Fire, Tell Her About It.

Top 5 worst:

Zanzibar

I don't even know what's going on here. He's released two other animated videos in recent years and those are both pretty good. This one is just weird.

2. Piano Man (1985)

I don't think either Piano Man video should exist, but between the two of them this one is worse. I hate how literally it interprets every line, I hate how brightly colored it is. I don't know if it's supposed to be comedic or it's just 80stastic but it's not dark and gritty like the song is in my head. This video represents everything he's ever said is bad about videos. I have my own extremely clear vision of the piano bar in my head from the song and this is getting in the way. Among the reasons this one is worse, it's very obvious when you look at him that it was filmed in the 80s, not the early 70s. His hair is completely wrong.

3. To Make You Feel My Love

There's no point to this, they just needed a video because they put this out as a single with Greatest Hits Volume 3. It works slightly better for Hey Girl.

4. And So It Goes

I have nothing against this it's just completely pointless. It doesn't add anything to the song. The only good part is the shot of his hands playing.

5. The Downeaster "Alexa"

I just don't like how it's edited and I really want this song to have a better video.

The only ones on the worst list I really feel strongly about are the first two though!

And then there's Sometimes a Fantasy which is both the worst and the best.

There's a video limit but I can link it.

I honestly think it's pretty well made and I really enjoy it but it's weird and it makes me feel a little gross. It just... is.

Thanks for the ask!

[panelshowsource]

could you make a post about all the books from comedians you own/have ordered and which are your favorites I want to buy all of them but don't know where to start ++++++++ would love to know if you know of a way to order a signed copy of David's book if I don't live in the UK

you know, in a stroke of what may be relevant information, i'm actually an editorial director by day and even used to be a literary agent here in nyc — none of which is obvious on account of my billion rushed typos and...just...general existence :) (i promise i'm supremely carefully handed in my editing!!! and have a lot of resources, at my job hahahahaha oh god maybe i shouldn't have mentioned this!!!) — but i'm really no book critic and have no idea how my tastes stack up against what a lot of you are looking for. i'm happy to share some of my general, poorly articulated internet thoughts but it may be more worth checking out goodreads or talking with others who have more experience with autobiographies (which a majority of these types of books are)!

to begin with a disclaimer, one of my friends texted me recently, "why do you only watch sad movies?" i love sad films, sad music, i love to cry, catharsis, sentimentality which is always a little self-indulgent. it's a bit ironic, because this is a comedy blog and you guys know me as someone who loves to find things to laugh about and i fill my life with so much silliness through his huge, life-long hobby, but, all the same, that is only one side of me, i guess. i'm saying this now because you're about to hear me talk briefly about a few somewhat-to-incredibly sad books and be like "oh i didn't know this what i was getting into" 😅

books i do recommend:

just ignore him by alan davies — this isn't a book review but i am self-conscious about just how i describe this book, because it's so sensitive and i carry a lot of respect for alan. at the time of publication, alan actually didn't want any of the press to know and/or discuss the most tragic elements of the book, so readers wouldn't be influenced in any direction before confronting it themselves. (it's okay to talk about now of course, and anyone should know there are major trigger warnings for death, child abuse, sexual abuse, and pedophilia.) it is a sad book about his earliest years: the complexities and nuances of male power and manipulation, of unimaginable loneliness, of a lost child. alan said it wasn't cathartic to write—that is was indeed very painful—but the vulnerability, the commitment to shirking himself of the painful silence he endured for most of his life, is exceptionally moving. alan's writing can be quite thorough, even flowery, in creating vivid places and images, so so much of the heaviness feels piercing and even disturbing. if you read other comedians' books, a decent majority of them are written in the style of standup or, say, a ted talk — with performance in mind, specific structures and beats that mimic how they'd tell these stories on stage. i would argue this is quite different to that, that while the writing is in a style and structure that benefits being read aloud this is a very different alan to alan the performer. and, very honestly, i'm really not an audiobook person, not to mention listening is a wholly different experience to reading — but the audiobook for this is phenomenal: alan narrates and, while of course it's his story so he'll tell it best, he is a very gentle, thoughtful storyteller. this will be you by chapter 4:

moab is my washpot + fry chronicles by stephen fry — the first and second of his three autobiographies covering some of the most sensational times (stephen is willing to admit) of his childhood and teen years + his rise to fame through the cambridge footlights. these are good reads for 1) stephen fry fans duh and 2) people who can enjoy the inspiration of auden, waugh, wilde, wodehouse, quintessential english writers who inform the foundation of stephen's relationship with literature and appreciation. stephen is painfully honest — and often sorry for it, apologising for what he perceives to be his shortcomings — and you can't help but feel, even early on in the first book, that his view of his own world is somehow even more subjective than everyone else's views of their own worlds. maybe it's because he's so judgmental, maybe it's his oscillating mental health, maybe it's the shocking thrust with which he was confronted with the wideness of the world...i'm not sure, but stephen's life through stephen's eyes is so very stephen-y. i think that's why we love him‚ though i can see some people loathing the less admirable sides of him, which he does show, so don't read this if you want to maintain some image of him that helps you cope or keeps you perfectly entertained. if you're not british, the fry chronicles is an especially good read to scratch some of your anglophilic interests (lotsss of namedropping and backstage chat)!

delicacy: a memoir about cake and death by katy wix — one of my recent faves and another book that isn't thoroughly funny. told in 21 vignettes either centered around or vaguely related to cake, katy talks about her school life, grief and loss, self-esteem and body image, misogyny — in ways that are just...matter of fact...opposed to lessons learned or things she's working on through therapy. she's accepted a lot, but she's also afflicted by a lot to this day; she's capably honest about where her reality stands. for this reason, it can be a bleak and certainly very raw read. i listened to the audiobook for this one, which was nice, but i much recommend the actual written book as the vignettes are in different formats (short story prose, letters, email exchanges) that often anchor time and place, intention, even the little peeks of light of comedy. katy's writing is very lovely, both my heart and mind were touched.

back story by david mitchell — a mildly vulnerable, moderately insightful, and quite humorous exploration of david's up-and-coming years. i really appreciate the premise — due a bad back and sciatica, he begins taking very long walks every day, and these walks trigger memories and anecdotes as he passes certain places — that really doesn't come off as a gimmick. it's a very easy read (or listen) and what i'd consider an uncomplicated, unproblematic bio, but it would be difficult to enjoy if you're only a casual fan of david mitchell or only like him in his most recent dad years, as it was written in his peep show heyday and is so much about those years of his life, his relationship with robert webb, etc. a good intro-to-the-genre book and the very first britcom book i read way back in 2010!

i also really enjoy graham norton's books — especially for the goss, but he's a great writer and his debut fiction novel got quite good reviews! — and tim key's books of poetry, though you really need to be a fan of tim key to read tim key :')

books i do not recommend:

before & laughter by jimmy carr — this book is much less of an autobiography (details are scant and anecdotes are few; it's cute when he refers to karoline as "my girl") and much more a collection of 1) jimmy's interpretation of contemporary comedy and what it means to be a comedian, and 2) how that journey, and his evolving attitudes, shaped him + became advice he would offer to others. this is why he calls the book adjacent to self help & motivational speaking. i don't think it teaches you anything new about him — literally or as a writer — so i don't recommend reading it, though the audiobook (where he's truly performing the writing like a ted talk) is an easy listen. a lot of people will not understand that jimmy is overwhelmingly sincere in regards to all of the topics and personal philosophies the jimmy nearing 50 espouses. he's someone with very studied, thorough personal philosophies (if you've seen him on podcasts talking about his life and career then you'll know just what i mean) and he explains them deftly, but they can feel a bit...how should i say this...flat to people who have heard a lot of it before, in hollywood movies or from their own parents or wherever. he didn't write this just for another stream of income — he is passionate about these conversations and that counts for something. overall i already knew a bit about the guy and didn't need this.

my shit life so far by frankie boyle — i have never read one of frankie's fiction novels (crime is really not my thing, so someone needs to let me know if richard osman's book series is a smash because i'm only going to check them out if i'm convinced to), but as a long-time fan of his, knowing how much of a wordsmith he is, and how intentional he is in everything he says, i was surprised by how dull i found this. his shit life was just that — uninteresting, meandering. his anecdotes may have worked better aloud than on paper, but they didn't grab me. you learn a bit about his young adulthood, but like jimmy he's intensely private and i could feel that distance between us even while reading an autobiography. it didn't work for me, super sad about it :(

can everyone please calm down? by mae martin — instead of criticising this book, i'd rather just make a disclaimer or two. if you are already engaged in queer discourses and dialogues, you are not going to learn very much from this book. both the descriptive writing and presentation of research is "accessible" to the point i'd call it more adjacent to YA than adult literature; if you prefer more creative, complicated, and/or signature writing styles, this book is not for you. if you are a big fan of mae martin and would appreciate an overview of their journey on the identity spectrum (going so far as to even rejecting it, in some capacities) in one place, then this may be convenient — but even then, at this point, it's somewhat outdated. imo a well-intention skip.

phil wang and tom allen are two more i think don't convince me with their writing, but i'm still making my ways through a couple of books and could probably talk more about this later!

i have never made this kind of non-fiction bio a priority on my long reading list, so i still have a lot of exploring and catching up to do, but i'm finding that i do prefer the books that explore the events of comedian's past as well as those that walk the reader through experiences in the comedy & tv industries. there are a lot of books about mental health and identity, which may be more of what many of you are looking for (sara pascoe, fern brady, jon richardson, and more).

okaY PHEW SORRY i always type too much 😒

first, as for david mitchell's new book, you can order it signed from waterstones as they ship to the usa — and it's currently half off!!!!! if you want to buy it unsigned from a usa retailer amazon is cheapest and target & bookshop are the cheapest non-amazon options :) an audiobook is coming out as well, so i do believe i will be able to add that to googledrive before too long, but no guarantees on a good time frame!

you can go here to download any of the ebooks & audiobooks i have on my googledrive!

[agentnico]

Wicked (2024) review

Look, I’m not gonna be one them sods who makes a “this is a wicked movie” jokes. Nope - I won’t succumb to that level. Just don’t look at my Letterboxd.

Plot: Misunderstood because of her green skin, a young woman named Elphaba forges an unlikely but profound friendship with Glinda, a student with an unflinching desire for popularity. Following an encounter with the Wizard of Oz, their relationship soon reaches a crossroad as their lives begin to take very different paths.

I recall my wife really wanting to see the original stage production for her birthday, so I took her to the West End show and it was alright. Fun songs and a great production, but I have never myself really cared for all things Oz-related. Especially with Wicked, which essentially feels like a Harry Potter-riff with the primal location being Shiz University, that might as well be called amateur Hogwarts. Mind you, when I made this observation, my wife snapped back “oh my god, it’s almost as if all wizard schools have to be Harry Potter related!!”. I get it, Wicked has a humongous fan base and this movie is going to make so much money. It’s actually crazy to think that we may be having the most strongest box office thanksgiving in a long while, with Gladiator II, Wicked and Moana 2 all releasing one week from each other. However Gladiator II in my eyes was a major disappointment (except for Denzel!), Moana 2 we shall see, and as for Wicked? Well…

I wonder how many audience members are going to get pissed off when they find out that this is a Part One? I’m aware that when this movie project was first announced it was mentioned that it was a two-parter, but in the marketing there has been absolute zilch about two movies, so I’m guessing some casual moviegoers are gonna be like “what in the f***?!” in the screenings. However speaking of the two parts, the original stage production is about 3 hours long. Now take this - Wicked Pt. 1 happens to also be nearly 3 hours long. Yet it finishes at exactly the part where in the original play the intermission happens. So I’m totally bamboozled as to how they managed to extend the first half of the play into 3hrs, as me and my wife both agreed that the story beats are pretty faithful to the original source material. So I must give props to this film’s pacing, as you never really are bored and the events that transpire play out with solid energy from beginning to end. That being said, you totally do feel the run time. This movie is long, so thank goodness they split the movie in two. Heck, should have made it a trilogy of films, cause if we look at The Hobbit, Peter Jackson and his team managed to make three major motion pictures out of a tiny little children’s’ book!

The narrative isn’t the only element that stays faithful to the stage musical, as also all the songs are performed in nearly the same way. It’s really common in Hollywood productions to change-up/modernise songs from stage to screen, yet here with Wicked they keep the same spirit, so it was lovely to see them be respectful to their origins. Also let’s not lie - these songs are absolute bangers. Me and my wife were listening to the soundtrack on the drive back and having the absolute best time!

Let’s talk about Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. Look, I’m going to base my thoughts sorely on their performances within the film, and not judge them on their real-life issues, whether it be Grande as a homewrecker (it’s times like this I’m happy to have my wife, as she spills all the goss) or with Cynthia Erivo’s online hysterics over the edited Wicked poster. In the movie itself though these two are fantastic. Cynthia Erivo’s voice is just something else, and I recall when I first saw her in the thriller Bad Times at the El Royale back in 2018 where she solo performed “This Old Heart of Mine”, and I knew she was going places. Now as Elphaba she performs those songs with such soaringly raw and vulnerable emotion, that it truly is incredible to witness. Those of you who are familiar with the original stage production, just you wait till you hear her belt out “Defying Gravity”. If you know you know. As for Ariana Grande, the only time previously I’ve seen her act (aside from SNL) was when she cameo’d as herself in Zoolander No. 2 as the latex BDSM orgy girl. Take that information as you will, but my point is I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing her acting chops till now. As Glinda she really riffs of the spoiled Mean Girls energy, and I must say she managed to really deliver a fun and comedic performance. There were some solid laughs in my audience during some of her bits. Also, I know we’re never supposed to comment on people’s physical selves these days, but I’m genuinely worried about Grande’s health. We can see every bone in her body, and her face looks drained of all life (and it’s not simply due to her no longer wearing fake tan) - just hoping she’s okay. But yep, performance wise solid stuff, and in fact the movie’s best scenes are when Grande and Erivo share the screen together, as they both have wonderful sisterhood chemistry. Jonathan Bailey as Prince Fiyero brings some real Chris Pine energy with charm and charisma a-plenty, and Peter Dinklage made for a loveable goat. However the rest of the cast left room for more to be desired. Michelle Yeoh feels really miscast as Madame Morrible, as her ‘performance’ came off more as if she was reading lines of a teleprompter - so wooden and flat. Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard of Oz goes full Goldblum which not much else to add. And Ethan Slater as Boq was a waste, as Boq in the original play is the main source of comic relief, however in the movie he was so bland and boring. But I guess he was on set mainly to entertain Ariana Grande - oh yes we went there!

Here’s a strange one though - the film feels as if Kevin Feige and the MCU were in charge of making it. It’s a common conversation how most Marvel movies have a very digital bland look to them, and the company’s approach to colour grading (or lack of) makes for really cheap looking final products. Well Wicked looks like a Marvel movie. The world of Oz is supposed to be the goat when it comes to overly vibrant and saturated sets and aesthetics, and yet the world in the film looks like it does have colour, yet has this greyish filter over it that makes it look bland and kind of ugly. I do also think that director Jon M. Chu struggles a little with directing massive big crowd dance sequences, as most of those scenes in the film seemed really messy and disorganised, almost as if it were a school production.

I found myself to enjoy Wicked way more than I expected, mostly due to its two central female performances, the great soundtrack and a surprisingly energetic pace for a 3hr long movie, but also I can easily knit-pick the other weak cast performances, the dull-looking cinematography and direction. As a date night movie though me and my wife had, and yes I’ll say it - a wicked time! See you next November for Part Two!

Overall score: 7/10

[femmeleatherface]

Spooky Movie Marathon 2024: Week 2

Day 6: The Black Cat (1934) - "suggested" by the Edgar Allan Poe short story of the same name (according to the credits, humorously)

Day 7: Encounter with the Unknown (1972)

Day 8: Bijo to Ekitai-ningen (AKA The H Man) (1958) - American cut, English dub

Day 9: Witchcraft (1964)

Day 10: The VelociPastor (2018)

Day 11: The House on Haunted Hill (1999) - remake of the 1959 film of the same name

Day 12: Mary Reilly (1996) - adaptation of the novel of the same name by Valerie Martin, which is itself a parallel novel to Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

oh boy, where do i even begin... i would love to include sub-bullets to be organized, but tumblr is terrible. so second bullet list i guess:

The Black Cat: was not expecting to love this as much as i did. i knew i would at least like it becaue it has béla lugosi and boris karloff in it, but i was not expecting the sheer brutality of the subject matter or the amazingness of lugosi's performace. going to have to move it above his performance as ygor in son of frankenstein as my favorite performance of his, because wow. also the cinematography oh my god... i only watched this because i needed a really short movie and remembered reading about it in a book on the impact of ww1 on horror films in the 20s and 30s and thougt it sounded interesting, and it REALLY delivered.

Encounter with the Unknown: a big disappointment... i only had this saved because it has rod serling's name attached to it, which honestly is probably how it's suckered a lot of people into watching it, so well played on the marketing people. the music and editing were so bad, which i do try to be more forgiving of in older/indie/directorial debut films, all three of which this movie is. but then the movie had the gall to spend the last ten minutes re-telling each fucking story all over again with the second non-serling narrator just yapping blandly like he was reading a textbook to me. if it had been serling he would have at least made it sound cool and poetic, but as is, i walked away from the movie feeling like it had wasted my time. but to end on a kind note, i really liked the middle story about the mysterious hole. it was sufficiently eerie, even though the music refused to shut up.

Bijo to Ekitai-ningen: i do always prefer and try to watch original cuts for things when i can, especially non-american films, and go for subs instead of dubs, but the version of this i had saved was the dubbed american cut. i looked it up and aparrently the original japanese cut had 9 extra minutes, primarily centering around the drug dealing subplot. i'll have to try and track it down sometime, but for what it was, the version i watched was fun. it was like a crime thriller version of the blob, which apparently came out very shortly after this? in so close a timeframe that it seems unlikely there was ripoffery involved. not sure what was up in 1958 to result in 2 movies about killer slime, but i'm here for it.

Witchcraft: surprisingly good considering i only had this saved because lon chaney, jr., was the top-billed actor and then he barely showed up in it. excellent black and white cinematography and well-executed spooky mood. in true lon chaney, jr., fashion, he constantly looks like a shivering wet dog of a man whenever he's onscreen, and i love it.

The VelociPastor: i love... aaaaa. this movie's humor is exactly the nonsense i go for so i had fun. i will not call it a perfect movie because i raise my eyebrow at the portrayal of china and the chinese a bit, but it was a movie i really enjoyed overall. the editing was also. impressively good. mesmerizing, even. definitely was not expecting that in a movie about a priest who turns into a dinosaur and eats catholic ninjas.

The House on Haunted Hill (1999): this movie is so much fun. it's in that vein of horror remakes like the 1988 blob movie where it updates the genre of the original film to the way it is contemporaneously. in the blob it was updating the film from a fifties teen movie to an eighties teen movie, and in the house on haunted hill it's updating a fifties midnight movie to a nineties one, complete with ballyhoo in both. this makes the 1999 house on haunted hill much more EXTREME! and EDGY!, in true nineties horror fashion, but it still feels like the same genre, just evolved with the times--which if you're going to remake something, is a smart way to do it. i think between the two i like the original better because it's a lot more unique that there's no actual ghosts and it's just two concurrent scooby doo masquerades for elaborate murder plots, and the cheap special effects are a lot more endearing and feel a lot more intentional considering the final plot twist. plus, vincent price is in it, and he's a tough act to beat. maybe if the 1999 movie had given jeffrey combs more scenes and let him combs it up a bit more that might tip the scales a bit, but weirdly enough this movie barely let jeffrey combs do anything, which is A CRIME.

Mary Reilly: i am. definitely not the target audience for this movie. strange case of dr. jekyll and mr. hyde is one of my favorite books and henry jekyll was my high school blorbo, so needless to say i am very pretentious about it and have very specific interpretations of jekyll as a character that i am unfortatenly very rigid in. i read mary reilly in high school during the peak of my strange case hyperfixation and really did not like it, so i was not expecting anything much from the movie and... yeahh.............. it does all the strange case adaptation tricks i despise, like making it a jack the ripper story and focusing all the themes of victorian repression on sexual repression (rather than. repression in general. brought about by years spent in a repressive culture and not suddenly meeting a hot young woman you want to fuck one day). strange case was published in 1886 and the ripper killings were in 1888, i promise every single person adapting the book that it is NOT about jack the ripper and can we please move onto other things oh my god. the closest connection the book has to the ripper killings is that there was a stageplay adaptation running during the time and the guy who played jekyll and hyde was so good there was a crack theory running around london for a while that he was secretly the ripper. that's it. and speaking of the guy who played jekyll and hyde... john malkovich is one of the worst jekyll and hydes i've ever seen. he did a good physical performance as hyde at first, being sufficiently creepy and menacing, but then he started talking and no. no, no. you also know your movie is in trouble when your hyde looks wayyyy too much like tommy wiseau. BLECH. also!!!!!!! the movie did not have mr. utterson in it and i am pettily mad about it!!!!!! but also utterson was presented as an absolute jerk in the mary reilly novel if i remember correctly, when in strange case he's an emotionally repressed (in fitting with the theme not being all about victorian prudishness)/awkward old dork who loves his friends and makes bad puns. so maybe it's for the best he was excluded from the movie (like he is from basically every single strange case adaptation ever despite literally being the main character in the book oh my god. this man is the vice president of forgotten fictional characters more important than hollywood thinks. the daroga in phantom of the opera is president). definitely not my movie or take on strange case, but i'll give it this: jekyll's cabinet looked really good! the sets in this movie were lovely all around and that one in particular was excellent. julia roberts was also very good and made me care about mary much more than the book ever did. so good for her.

by god that was a lot of text. anyway. until next week. i'm going to watch return to the house on haunted hill for sure, as well as something i know i'll like tonight to wash out the vitriol that mary reilly left me with. but we'll see how it goes. i like infusing randomnes and spontaneity into this marathon, it keeps things from getting boring.

rankings, ratings, and lists thus far:

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) (duh)

The VelociPastor (2018)

The House on Haunted Hill (1959)

The House on Haunted Hill (1999)

The Black Cat (1934)

Witchcraft (1964)

Lyle (2015)

White Settlers (2014)

Bijo to Ekitai-ningen (1958)

Prometheus (2012)

Mary Reilly (1996)

Encounter with the Unknown (1972)

congrats to mary reilly for not being at the bottom of the list. encounter with the unknown was unfortunately much more frustrating.

[casualfruit]

If I’d checked the ratings before watching Wolverine: Origins, I probably would have skipped it, but I did get a kick out of how stupid it was so I can’t say I regretted it. It was So Aggressively Late 2000s in the best and worst ways.

The performances were so over-the-top campy that they were verging on self-aware parody, except the film was taking itself totally seriously, which made it even more ridiculous—but that’s exactly what I expected. Danny Huston, Hugh Jackman, and Liev Schreiber absolutely DEVOURED their roles and left NOT ONE SINGLE CRUMB. The only disappointment was Lynn Collins’s lackluster performance as Silver Fox, which was made even worse by being in a movie where everyone else was going for full action melodrama. I was also a bit let down by Gambit’s barely-there southern drawl, but he wasn’t in much of the movie so it wasn’t a huge deal. On the bright side, Will.I.Am and Dominic Monaghan were an unexpected delight.

I will say though, aside from the performances, my favorite part was Logan’s body hair. Especially the shot of his dog tags sitting on a bed of chest hair 🥴 I am a faggot with preferences and I demand that Hollywood stop waxing their male actors and just let them be HAIRY FOR THE LOVE OF GOD JUST LET THEM BE HAIRY PLEASE I BEG YOU—

I really liked the scene where Logan is at the old couple’s house and sits on the motorcycle and it sinks down under his weight. The fact that his metal-coated skeleton is Heavy should be used more in movies. Also, the scene where Stryker says “your country (USA) needs you” and Logan responds “I’m Canadian” and drives away was so fucking iconic.

On the other hand…

The CGI was generally alright, but there were some points when it was straight up Bad. Mainly the adamantium claws, but especially the shot at the very end when the kids are running to Prof X. It was so painfully clear that they were being edited in. I don’t know why they couldn’t just have the kids run towards him for real.

I’m still not fully clear on what Zero’s motivation for being such a shithead was. I wasn’t on my phone half-watching, I was genuinely paying attention to the movie. I assume that he harbored some kind of resentment for Logan… but why? Fuck if I know. It’s not like it really mattered.

As disgusting and mean spirited as it was, the fatphobia with Fred Dukes was also very much of its time. I’m glad that it only lasted for one scene, and I am SO glad that it isn’t as prevalent as it used to be.

And Deadpool… oh god. I’d seen references to him in the DP movies and in videos about superhero movies, but I didn’t realize just how bad it truly was. His self-aware and irreverent humor is one of his defining characteristics; sealing his mouth shut turns him into a generic humanoid monster. And the sword arms were so phenomenally stupid I could barely believe what I was looking at. How the fuck could he move his elbows when the blades were fully retracted? Even if his wrists had mobility, the blades should have gone from the bottom of his forearm to like halfway thru his upper arm. The only good thing I have to say about third act DP is that the rest of his design looked kinda cool as generic humanoid monsters go, but honestly the Mannequin Soldiers from FMAB did it better.

The adamantium bullet memory wipe was such a bullshit cop out ending. Logan’s inability to recognize Kayla was supposed to be emotionally impactful, but I felt nothing because I was too busy being pissed off at how stupid the whole thing was. I think I hated this even more than what they did with DP.

All in all, I’d say this movie earned its Rotten Tomatoes score of 38%

[ashadhahaha]

Priscilla (2023) - A Review

Heya folks! Here's a new blog dedicated to films + TV that I'm watching.

I made a very hasty decision to see Priscilla (dir. Sofia Coppola) in theaters today. I knew a little bit about it, that it was Priscilla Presley's biopic and that it would be based on her own autobiography, "Elvis and Me".

I have many good things to say about this film. Perhaps the most stunning things are the mise-en-scene and the editing. As always, Coppola has a very compelling way of telling stories.

The montages!!! I love how Coppola and her frequent collaborator Sarah Flack cut together Priscilla. I can see Lost In Translation here a bit with the clunky, slightly off-beat cuts. It's intriguing, a little unsettling, yet rhythmic at the same time. My favorite is when Priscilla waits on Elvis the first time. The way she's suspended in her own girlhood while Elvis floods her brain and her life. What a way to watch the time pass. You get all the information you need, all the details, and in an interesting way that fits the film well.

Some of the montages feel a little too romantic, like I'm watching a teen drama, which I think is excellent. There were so many points in the movie I start to fall for the romance and have to remind myself how this began in the first place and the young girl at the center of it.

THE COSTUMES. Coppola very much has an eye for production design!!! I noted in an interview she tends to spend her time there more than most directors. You can certainly tell. Elvis and Priscilla and honestly the whole world feels so believable and immersive because of the amount of detail. Priscilla's hair being our visual marker as we move through time is a great device and it really allows us to see this progression as she grows up and tries to fit more and more into this world she didn't choose.

Jesus, every single frame in this movie is beautiful. The way Priscilla is LIT. OH MY GOD. From the very beginning, with Priscilla's feet walking into the frame over the pink carpet. Every shot is composed with intention and meaning and create a strong aesthetic language that we feel consistently throughout the story.

Coppola doesn't shoot a lot of coverage, so her scenes consist mainly of a static camera, a well-decorated set, and her actors moving and talking to each other. Some moments feel incredibly long, other feels short and sweet. The rhythm is pervasive and concise.

She also tends to shoot at a lower budget. The most expensive scenes were likely the huge montages! There's a particular montage of Elvis performing that's used to show passage of time and it's shot very simply. You can do a lot with a little. Just a single spotlight in front of him to cast a long shadow, one camera on a dolly, a couple silhouettes to represent the crowd. Elvis is dark, powerful, and stepping more and more into the role of superstar. The lower the budget, the more creative control one has and I think Coppola thrives with these kinds of monetary restrictions.

Even the way scenes start seemingly right in the middle of things. Priscilla's life is moving at a pace she can't really control. She's completely at the mercy of Elvis and his wants and desires. And it's so observational. We're just watching these people exist. It gets unbearable the more Priscilla is barred from living her own life. She's trapped behind the gates of Graceland. Alone.

I love that first scene when she first moves in with Elvis and she's kind of wandering around this huge home. She sits in the chair, then she scoots back and crosses her legs. Then she looks out the window. Then she's playing with the piano. She's trying to imagine herself there, feel herself growing into it. It's foreign and she's so out of place. Still, she tries to force her own belonging. What a great use of negative space!

The world always feels like it's going to choke the life out of Priscilla. Like it's against her and swallowing her up at the same time. Coppola proves again how well she portrays isolated, lonely characters.

I also think Elvis was portrayed pretty fairly. He's sensitive, but troubled. There is love between them, but it's complicated and a little sinister and Priscilla spends much of the movie convincing herself it's worth sticking around for. I think this biopic is a step in the right direction of highlighting a more unseen perspective. Again, Coppola was a great choice.

& those are my thoughts! :3

ashadhahaha

[rosellerivers19]

Raayan- I have high hopes (thank you tamil cinema)

I have for some time lost hope in telugu cinema improving in diversity of tropes and performances but with recent stars and movies I have been brought back

Gam gam ganesha, prasanna vadanam, Hi nanna (kinda iffy for some reason but diverse storyline), and Hanuman

And I am waiting to see Kalki 2829 AD which I think will be definitely a big game changer given its dystopian setting something Indian cinema hasn't really approached a lot before especially on this kind of budget.

I've been limited to telugu movies for a long time because language barrier but due to subtitles and Telugu dubs my options have increased recently I watched the hindi movie Maharaj on Netflix in telugu which I really loved despite people claiming its hinduphobic while the movie is based on a real case and the movie claims yet again how hindu practices aren't bad but people misusing them is then again not a lot of people have comprehension or actually watched the movie and jump the train on any movie that slightly criticizes the religion or even raises just a few questions

*cough* *cough*

"Hindi movie PK starring Amir Khan"

I've watched a few good tamil cinemas when I was younger I didn't watch a lot of Dhanush movies because of the language barrier the only one I saw maybe was Maari 1 and 2 because it was dubbed in telugu but now I've grown to watch a lot more realizing he has a lot of diverse scripts and am so glad this man exists I need to binge his movies over the summer.

So I was listening to telugu songs on youtube when I came across this one called

"Peechu Mithaya"- telugu version

It's from the upcoming movie Raayan and oh my god just seeing this lyric video made me want to pay anything for this movie to come out right now and watch it.

Not only is the music beautiful ( i can listen to this for hours I don't know how I found this gem but I did and I'm grateful)

But the visuals and implications we are given is something I am screaming for.

PLUS SIZED ACTORS ON SCREEN HAVING AN ACTUAL LOVE STORY!!!!

Indian cinema has a lot of colorism especially to heroines especially from what I've seen in telugu movies. And they have to fit this perfect bod I've never seen a heroine be remotely big or a bit chubby even if it would show off their curves thats how the industry is and that saddens me.

But then we get this song and we see Aparna Balamurali who is first of all a plus sized character in the film with a dark complexion not milky white now tamil fans may be used to this but for me being born in Telugu cinema this is a jackpot especially when I have to really dig for inclusive films. The only cinema I've watched which supported a plus sized heroine having a love story is "Size Zero" starring anushka shetty an Iconic queen but I honestly have not seen any other films having a plus sized heroine or at least side heroine as a plus sized character with actual depth where we see her love story or ability to get happiness I think there was one Allari Naresh film but I don't remember it well.

edit: Totally forgot HanuMan existed which is also a good representation even though the mc's sister dies she was empowered and was on the brink of marriage so love that

In the Lyric Video "Peechu Mithaya"

We see an unconventional girl (Aparna Balamurali) who doesn't fit the beauty standards end up with an average/ attractive character (sundeep kishan) or at least have a romantic relationship in the songs visuals and a healthy one so far.

I am primarily gonna be watching this movie for them seeing the side hero carrying the plus sized side heroine brought me joy knowing that it would give hope to other women who aren't the conventional beauty standard or plus sized that they can be loved and have a love story like them that they aren't too heavy and the right guy will do anything to make them feel appreciated.

Look at the way he carries her and looks lovingly into her eyes!!!!!!

And there's just something about seeing this man looking so utterly in love with a girl who thinks she won't be good enough because of her physical appearance or other insecurities and he wants to prove her desperately wrong that makes me go feral.

Do you see what I mean!?!?!?

And I don't know if they will even delve into that kinda trope in the movie but I really wish they will since its something women especially women who've not been exposed to that kind of concept in their media want. Keep in mind we don't even have a trailer for this movie yet so pure speculations

And there's just so many cute clips like-

Nudging each other playfully!?!?!?

Having a couple argument/ confrontation!?!?!?

Riding on a bike together?!?!?!?

*cues internal screaming montage*

I love LOVE especially something so simple yet beautiful we need this more than Pushpa bribing Srivalli with money for kisses and putting his hand in inappropriate places without her consent. Or men just stalking in general and normalizing it????

Now I know that this couple might not even play a big part in the movie maybe one of the characters dies yadayada but knowing that scenes like this exist in the movie and that we'll have an entire song dedicated to THEM just quells my heart.

Dhanush sir thank you for this 4 minute montage that ignited my hope in Indian cinema and is making me want to delve into tamil cinema even more

[sakebytheriver]

What did you like most about everything everywhere all at once?

Oh god 😭😭😭

How can I even begin to answer that question? I mean there are just so many aspects in that movie that are absolutely incredible, from the cast to the costumes to the special effects it's all a bunch of exceptional pieces of a puzzle put together to make a work of art that is possibly one of the best films we've ever seen

But if I was forced to pick just One Thing about the movie I like the most, I would definitely have to say the writing

The script and the writing behind it are the main reason this movie is as good as it is, without it this movie would have been nothing, I mean there's a reason why it took the Daniels almost a decade to write this thing. They started coming up with the premise and doing research all the way back in 2010 and there is no doubt in my mind that those years taken to perfect the script before ever starting production are completely responsible for this movie being so incredible.

They didn't put their first draft on the screen. They put their 50th draft on the screen

How many movies can you think of with great premises that have absolutely shit execution? And it all begins in the writer's room. The writing process is so important to making a film or TV show successful and the reason why Everything Everywhere All At Once is so good is because the Daniels took that process seriously and took their vision seriously, unwilling to press record on the camera until the script was as perfect as they could possibly get it and be proud of their work

It took the Daniels 8 years to write this script, and then they filmed everything within a production schedule of only like 30 days (before reshoots) and then about a year of editing and post production before the film was in theaters. That is a ridiculously fast turn around for a movie and without those 8 years of perfecting the script there's no way on earth the production schedule would have been as easy and as fast as it was

I could wax poetic about basically every aspect of this movie till I'm blue in the face, but the writing is the framework and the solid foundation that allows every other bit of the production to stand as tall as it does and I will forever be chasing that kind of brilliance in all of my own writing for the rest of my time on this planet for sure.

I mean there's a reason why this movie doesn't have just one singular overly famous quote, but in fact has like 20, from "In another life I would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you" to "No one is unloveable there is always something to love" and "You think because l'm kind that it means I'm naive, and maybe I am. It's strategic and necessary. This is how I fight." and "Please be kind, escpecially when we don't know what's going on" and "We can do whatever we want. Nothing matters" and "Right is a small box invented by people who are afraid. And I know what it's like being stuck in that box" and "I'm useless alone. We're all useless alone, it's a good thing you're not alone" and so on and so forth, there is line after line of dialogue that reaches straight into your chest to physically touch your heart with their words. How many movie quotes can do that without the actor's inflection and performance backing it up? How many lines can break you just from reading them the way half the quotes from this movie do? How many movies even have a singular line that can hit you the way ALL of these lines in EEAAO hit you? The cast and their deliveries are absolutely incredible and 100% aid and elevate the source material, but these quotes were already powerhouses when they were just print on a page, putting them into the talented mouths of the movie's cast only elevates them even further

Actors are taught how to make shit writing sound like good writing, the amount of actors I've seen having to fight an uphill battle to make garbage dialogue work is basically every film put out these days, but the writing in EEAAO isn't forcing these actors to fight with reality to make their lines sound like words a real human being would say, it's already so incredible that the actors can play and discover a different kind of truth within every word instead of forcing themselves to find the truth within words no real human has ever passed through their lips

Bottom line, I suppose to me, the best part of EEAAO is the writing behind it, because without good writing, you would have absolutely nothing

[rose-and-lemongrass]

Okay I'm trying to be chill about the fact my computers busted and I can't edit sooo here's my favorite horror films I watched in 2023!! So far, at least, I'll update if I find some more great ones in the next month. These are in no particular order.

Talk To Me (2023) LOVED IT. I was genuinely really really stressed while watching it. Honestly give me a character I like and put them through the ringer and I will be invested. I REALLY wanted Riley to make it. I know some people don't like the end but I did. It's a very existential and depressing ending but I thought it was fitting.

Sissy (2022) This is a super super underrated movie. Barely any discussion of it all online. I thought it was incredible; it perfectly nailed what it feels like to be in a social situation you know you don't belong in. I felt called out several times. Cecilia is a really fascinating character too, and I loved the social media aspect.

Creep 2 (2017) I couldn't believe how into this movie I was. It's basically just two really weird characters manipulating each other (with one being way way way more successful than the other) and it's so wild to watch. I liked the first Creep but the relationship here was so fascinating. I almost feel like this movie would have been better as a standalone bc we as the audience know that Aaron is a serial killer. It would be fascinating to be like Sara and not know for sure. Either way though, I loved it, I hope they make a third one.

Terrifier 2 (2022) Dude I LOVED this movie!! Controversial opinion maybe but I thought it was fantastic. Sienna is such an amazing character, Art the Clown was on his A game. I weirdly resonated with the family stuff (i got emotional at points) The special effects were great. I know it has a reputation. And it has earned that reputation. I have found no one I can comfortably show this movie to that I trust isn't going to be horribly traumatized. Which sucks bc when I saw this in theaters I got like. Sexually harassed. And I dont want it to happen when I see the third one. I wish I had a buddy I could take. But regardless every time I watch it I have a blast, and I really wanna make a video discussing this series soon bc I have so many thoughts!!

Halloween (1978) Yeah everyone was right this movie is awesome. I'm totally going to add it to my halloween watchlist every year.

Candyman (1993) Yeah again it's really really good, everyone was right lol. Really dragging my feet on the remake bc honestly this movie is basically perfect.

Cube (1997) I always thought I'd like Cube. And I did. It's really weird and psychological and cool. I watched it like 11 months ago so I don't feel like I have a lot to say right now, but I just remember how much I was invested while watching it and how much I gushed about it after I finished.

Deadstream (2022) Honestly this was most fun I had with a movie all year. I was dying laughing the entire time. I've watched it three times and I sent the opening scene to everyone I know. It's just a very funny and very spot on parody of YouTubers and I love it

Fresh (2022) I don't love the abrupt ending but the rest is basically perfect. The levels of performance during the dinner scene OH MY GOD. And it's a really fun and disturbing exploration of how terrible dating is and I appreciate that a lot.

Hereditary (2015) This movie hurt the entire time and I loved it. Toni Collette's performance is the best I have ever seen, I am actually furious she wasn't nominated. Her screams man, they are haunting. Also really realistic dream dialogue I pegged right away it was a dream bc that's exactly how people talk in my dreams. This is a movie with a lot of layers and something about it resonated with me, especially after the terrible terrible year I had.

Midsommar (2019) I vibed with this one hardcore. I think its just weirdly cathartic to see someone in a bad social situation get accepted while the person who put them in that situation gets rejected. Again because of the terrible year I had. But also its bad that that happens! Like its creepy how easy it is to be taken in by a cult. I also didn't feel the length at all I was very very invested the whole time. My friend Emily absolutely hates this movie though lol

Trick R Treat (2007): I didn't find it scary at all. But I vibed with it. It just FELT like Halloween, and some of the stories really really worked for me. Particularly the werewolf one and the one with the zombie kids.

VHS (2012): This is entirely because of the Amateur Night and 10/31/98 segments. I love those segments to death, I've watched them over and over. I still haven't watched Siren (the full length Amateur Night adaption) but I am so psyched they kept the same actress. She was an absolute star I'm planning on watching it entirely for her.

It Follows (2014) I know I can't keep saying I vibed with these movies but I did. I love the dreamlike quality, the ambiguity, the idea behind the monster is actually one of the most terrifying things I can imagine. Even if you get rid of it there's a chance it'll come back to you so you're never safe. Certain sequences were really really cool. Also one of the best jumpscares of all time in this. Like I don't even like jumpscares, they never get me, but this one did! Also I adore the opening sequence and how it's complete nonsense until you rewatch it and realize what's happening.

Infinity Pool (2023) I went in completely 100% blind. It was a wild ride that's for sure. I said "oh fuck me" full volume at one point if that tells you anything. Honestly I have nothing to say about the plot but the feelings this movie evoked in me were intense. Really good movie for someone who secretly hates themselves and is scared that everyone around them does too, I guess, because it captures that feeling perfectly.

[puppetshowdown]

Any favourite info-dumps? <:O/genq

I love all of them! But here I'll share a few that really stood out to me! -The Julia one I mentioned before!: "I just….. I am love her. I was SO happy when she was introduced. Her first episode is my comfort media. Autistic representation where it isn’t framed as a bad thing is SO rare in children’s media, and “she does things a little bit differently, in a Julia sort of way” made me CRY. She is so much like me and she makes me so happy. The happy flaps when I saw her on the Sesame Street float at the Macy’s parade nearly hurt my wrist I was so happy. She is the best girl and deserves the best. Her puppet was designed to have a set of arms specifically so that she can stim, and she has a comfort toy like I do and doesn’t like the way paint feels like I don’t and loves to sing like I do and gets overwhelmed by sirens like I do and I just love her SO MUCH. (I didn’t link a picture because there are so many good ones! I like the one where she is looking at a feather, and also the one from the cover of the picture book she initially appeared in <3)" -Audrey II: "want to preface: either the stage version or the '86 movie version works, as both are portrayed by puppets! although neither is canonically a puppet in the story. i couldn't tell from the rules if this was disqualifying or not. BUT if i could get a word in for the movie Audrey II: WHAT A GORGEOUS PUPPET… or should i say SERIES of PUPPET/ANIMATRONIC HYBRIDS! there's somewhere in the ballpark of a dozen Twoies in the film to represent the different growth stages of the plant. they're all beautifully painted with vibrant detail, perfectly matching the high camp tone & setting! the mechanics of the puppet are also intricate and innovative; especially the MOUTH those lip syncs are so accurate and expressive! the largest puppets were actually so heavy that in order to remain accurate to the audio, they had to be operated along to the tracks and filmed at half speed, then sped up in editing… which means that when the actors appear with the plant in those scenes, they're ALSO performing at half speed! the stage play versions are (by necessity) less technical than these puppets, which were fabricated by the Jim Henson company btw, but lots are still really cool; a unique standout is the one from the Pasadena Playhouse production! whew. all this and i didnt even talk about the character… Audrey II is an alien plant that was beamed down to Earth and wants to take over the world. it sings some catchy songs about that. they can fit so much queercoding and slay into this plant. it's a girlboss it's a drag queen it manipulated a young man into committing several murders. we stan." -Spamton: "Hee heehee I am so obsessed with this silly puppet guy. I love how he went from an absolute snazzy lil salesman dude with his red tux, and just gradually turned into a complete disaster of himself. I like how little detail is actually shared about his past, so you're left to wonder if he was actually brought down by circumstances out of his control, or if he brought his failures upon himself and just doesn't want to accept that. I want to give him a hug and he would no doubt try to bargain for my soul in the process"

-Riley Ruckus: "SHES SO GENDER OH MY GOD SHES THIS COOL EVIL SCIENTIST WHO WAS MADE TO BE LIKE. A KIND BUT SLIGHTLY AGGRESSIVE SCIENCE TEACHER FOR A KIDS SHOW, BUT AFTER COMING TO LIFE HAD THAT TWISTED INTO MAD SCIENCE, AND SHE CARES SO MUCH ABOUT HER DOGGO AND SHES SO PRECIOUS AND WOULD ALSO RIP U APART AND IS SO VERY GENDER"

And honestly so many others! I love all the infodumps! From the long passionate paragraphs to the more silly jokey ones They're all so much fun to read!

[project1939]

Day 33- Film: Skirts Ahoy! 

Release date: May 28th, 1952. 

Studio: MGM 

Genre: Musical 

Director: Sidney Lanfield 

Producer: Joe Pasternak 

Actors: Esther Williams, Joan Evans, Vivian Blaine 

Plot Summary: Three women at various dead ends with men decide to join the WAVES (Women’s US Navy). Mary Kate is jilted on her wedding day, Una hasn’t seen her supposed fiancé in months, and rich girl Whitney is the one who did the jilting on her own wedding day. We follow the exploits of these three and their prospective beaus as they try to survive basic training. 

My Rating (out of five stars): *** on merit, ****½ for how much I enjoyed watching it! 

I needed a movie like this today! Something colorful, silly, cheery, campy... and full of lots of stunning '50s women bonding with each other. First things first, this is not a great film. If it’s in your wheelhouse, you’ll probably get a kick out of it, if not, you’ll probably hate it. But I adored it for the most part. So... 

The Good: 

Esther Williams! Oh my god, Esther Williams! Before today, I had only seen clips of her swimming, never an entire film of hers. She’s so charming and exquisitely beautiful, I was instantly smitten!

The comradery between the three female leads. They were cute and sweet together, and there was no unnecessary conflict added in for drama. 

The Technicolor. It was the vibrant 1950s MGM Technicolor you imagine. 

Just getting a movie with lots of women in it! Hollywood at this time seemed especially allergic to movies like this, so I always love them when they do exist. 

The campy corniness of it was good fun. 

Esther just being her drop dead gorgeous normal-bodied self! She’s got thighs! Her waist is on the thicker side, proportionally... she was an athlete in real life, before being an athlete meant you had to be rock-hard. She’s not overweight by any stretch, but in today’s Hollywood she would probably stupidly be considered so. All I know is, she makes my knees turn to jelly! 

The title. The title. The gloriously silly title! 

Whoever dreamed up the movie poster above? What were they smoking? “More floating heads! We need more!” “But there’s no room!” “Put them on her arm! Her arm!” 

The Bad: 

The music in it wasn’t the greatest. You’re not going to find any classics or standards here. Besides “Anchors Away,” of course! 

The musical numbers were also not very well integrated into the plot. Pretty much every time, the plot had to come to a stop to “put on a show.” Some of the musical numbers were pretty random as well, like when Debbie Reynolds and Bobby Van performed a racially insensitive (?) comedy song, and another where a guy in a nightclub sang a love song. (Although sadly, I understood why that one felt so random- the singer was a black artist. Musicals like this would often put in a number with a black singer who had no connection to the plot, so that it could be edited out of the prints for theaters in the South. And that’s the absolute disgusting truth.) 

The men! Couldn’t they give any of these beautiful women any half-decent men? The girl who got jilted at the altar took the schmuck back! The girl who never saw her suspicious fiancé was still tagging along after him. And Esther William’s character for some reason fell in love with a 50 year old. Who wasn’t all that attractive. He had to have been 20 years older than she, and it just didn’t work for me at all. 

Lots of emphasis on the fact that what women really need above all else is a man. One of the big songs is “What Good is a Gal? (Without a Guy)” So even though it promotes female bonding, it has to undercut it a little. Or a lot! 

I wanted more swimming numbers with Esther.