#I was really excited for the film

[uwudonoodle]

This month for my book / movie club, we read The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton, and I have some thoughts. It was my first Crichton book, so I was looking forward to it (they did Jurassic Park before I joined). I didn't hate it, but I was underwhelmed. It was all plot and no character. The plot itself, the mystery of the virus was fairly interesting, but I think it was bogged down with too much scientific jargon. It's clear that the author did a lot of research, and the science itself is pretty accurate, which is admirable, but not all research serves a narrative. Not all sci-fi needs to be accurate to tell a good story.

It's not that I hated what the book was, but I think it could've been more. The characters were basically props to give exposition. They were all generic white male scientists with only a couple of unique traits to distinguish them. The most prominent female character in the book was the voice recording in the lab, whom the male characters liked because she sounded sultry.

There was essentially no character development. They could have had the scientists butt heads about procedure or hypothesis, and come to a better understanding and even become good friends by the end, but they didn't. They worked amicably most of the time and didn't develop anything more than the professional working relationship they started with. They're was a baby who was a survivor that was basically treated as any other piece of evidence. I kept waiting for someone's humanity to come out around the baby, but he was just treated as an object (they kept refusing to feed him because maybe having an empty stomach was why he survived, talk about neglect). It would have been interesting to have one of the scientists develop an attachment to the baby, and possibly seek to adopt him by the end, but no such luck. He was just another piece of the puzzle to serve the mystery. For a story about saving humanity, there was very little humanity to be had.

One other nitpick: It drove me nuts how often the scientists were trying to look at things critically and unbiased, and then they'd refer to humanity as "man" or "mankind". I get it, this was written in the 60's, and that's how people talked back then. But you're literally referring to your entire species by your own gender, my dude. I could let it roll off my shoulder a few times, but I lost count after about 40 times. It ended up rolling my eyes a lot at that specifically.

I thought I would enjoy the movie better, as I thought the actors would have to add more personality to the characters. We watched the film from 1971. Unfortunately for me, they followed the book very closely. I'll give them a point for a faithful adaption since so many movies fail at that, but I think a looser adaption would have made for a better film.

The improvements they did make was to add more female characters. They made one of the scientists a woman, and not a 25 year old super model either. She was a very average looking 40 something woman, which was very refreshing. They also added a female nurse to help take care of the baby (it was a relief to me to have someone to comfort the baby and advocate for his care). I also really liked the set design of the lab. Vintage 70's futurism is always a good vibe.

Unfortunately the script followed the book a little too religiously. The dialogue droned on with scientific jargon that was difficult to follow, and sometimes had me zoning out. They also had some disturbing scenes of putting lab rats and monkeys to sleep that probably wouldn't be allowed today. Besides the nice set design, it was visually very sterile. It felt claustrophobic and bland under all the florescent lights. Film is a visual art form. The very least you can do is make it appealing to look at.

The worst part was the music and sound effects. It had the most grating minor 70's "the aliens are coming" electronic score, which I guess served the plot, but was overall very unpleasant. The music coupled with all of the obnoxious sounds and alarms in the lab made for a true assault on the senses in some scenes. Even my partner in the other room came and asked what all that terrible noise was all about. I was relieved when the credits finally rolled if only to experience silence again.

I guess I get why it's a classic, since they did build some tension with the mystery, and the climax was exciting. For people who crave scientific accuracy, this is an excellent recommendation (my sister mentioned that this was required reading for the AP Biology class at my high school). As someone who wants emotional satisfaction and human connection in my stories, I'm probably not the target audience. It was an interesting experience, but I'm happy to move onto the next book.

[egophiliac]

I'm really hoping that after book 7 they release all the overblots as cards. Also if this is the year of Riddle I think they might release the equestrian club finally and I can see him in the new years event since cater and Trey have done It. Which club r u most excited for? I can't wait to see them all.

at this point I, too, cannot wait for my sweet HORSE BOOOOOOOYS

...although I'm also VERY curious as to how 1) they're going to wrangle a super special club uniform out of the board game club, and 2) how they're going to force Idia into wearing it. will there be dice pockets? I hope there are dice pockets.

[marigraphia]

I've had this pose ref saved for a while and the Superman set photos just gave off the same energy 👉🏻👈🏻

The reference is this photo of Katharine Hepburn as Antiope and Colin Keith-Johnston as Theseus in the 1932 play 'The Warrior's Husband' (and I'd love for people to turn into a draw your otp meme pls pls pls this pose is so good)

And also, of course, the Superman (2025) set photos

[cracklewink]

MY GIRL FINALLY HAS A REF SHEET (my longest yeah boy ever)

I'm working on a comic about her see tags for more 👀

[bukashki]

Day 1 (slightly belated): Once upon a time

feligami february 2025!

[crazymecjc]

half baked thought bc I’m actually chewing drywall abt this trailer rn but I’m really interested to see if and how bachelor route leans into film as the vessel for performance rather than theatre- I think it’s a fascinating narrative shift that really articulates the difference between the haruspex and bachelor routes. “any choice is right as long as it’s willed” really reflects the ever changing and in-the-moment presence of live theatre whereas with “there is only one truth,” the film has been made. the events have already come to pass. they are preserved in time ad infinitum. which also adds to the tragedy of daniil dankovsky i think :)) idk i just think its Neat and i am so so incredibly excited about this game cannot wait to see the sillies again :))

[eggmacguffin]

it does really suck to see years of someone's creative work be sacrificed in the name of a market test.

And everyone else who worked on edge of sleep, and everyone else who worked on Iron Lung.

because that's all this is! Market testing.

they're testing to see what money is potentially available in pre-existing fanbases.

if you flip through the amazon prime front page, you don't see any mention of the show in any of the "recommended" categories. If you search it, you have to type the entire name to see it.

Based on this information, I believe the show is most likely blocked from the main page categories. The people in charge clearly have faith that it WON'T hit the top 10, because Edge of Sleep hitting top 10 will completely skew the data in the the market test being performed.

It's scummy, it is art-and-lives-and-work in exchange for money, and I wish they'd picked a worse person and worse project to do this to.

[candyheartedchy]

They share one brain cell and only use it to love their friends.

[kacievvbbbb]

Mihawk is such a capricious dude, oh my god. The only dude you know who is always itching for a fight but only ever a specific kind of fight so he goes out of his way to take the path of least resistance for everything else.

Like he would rather leave than fight Don krieg, Sail away than decimate the marines, live in peace instead of challenging the other emperors for the one piece. And when they do he’d rather follow buggy’s idea of just being smarter about how they go about it instead of brute forcing it like the rest. He is constantly leaving fights but then a swordsman of mild repute and an interesting technique engages him in a battle and suddenly you have his whole attention. Like with vista it was obvious that he could have just cleared him like he did everyone else but he’d never seen the flower sword techinque and by god was he going to miss this chance. And so he engages him in what is essentially a spare.

Because Mans isn’t looking for a fight, instead, like a middle aged director of a short indie film, he’s chasing a feeling.

He wants to feel like his 19 year old self did when he was strong but there were people stronger. When there were still obstacles to overcome limits to exceed. When the world was large and exciting and he wasn’t just waiting for it to catch up with him. When he could look at Shanks as the person he is instead of the person he could have been.

He wants to look at Shanks and not see visions of a grinning red haired boy with 2 arms and a strawhat laughing in the dirt and asking for “just one more round Hawky I swear I’ll beat you this time”

But there is nowhere Mihawk can run that that boy won’t haunt him.

[lefthandarm-man]

Steve Rogers // Captain America Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

the way he looks at bucky (part 1, part 2, part 3)

(bucky vers.)

[aclockworkreader]

y’all really do get the most real and unfiltered version of me on here. i feel like we get to have actual conversations and i can truly be myself 🤍

[xoxoemynn]

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

Hello OFMD crew, I know this isn't how we wanted to be spending our Pride month but I'm so happy to be spending it with you.

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

[marshmallowgoop]

I'm infinitely falling for you

The Heiji-POV AMV I edited for COMPASS: A HeiShin Anthology, which is now available as a free PDF! You can find out more and check out all the wonderful contributions @haidocityzines!

[Song link] [YouTube link]

[spookberry]

Here's the flyer for Alien Yu-Ri a short film I was lucky enough to help work on with the Animation Co-Lab class at PNCA 🥰

[kantbeloved]

First directed this scene (if the translation is correct). First also added his own lines to his song. I just love how involved he is in all these different things outside of acting (which is already a lot of work)! 🥺

We already know Khaotung wants to study to become a director, maybe one day we will also get director / screenwriter First. And maybe I'm biased but I think both could do really well. 🔥

[razberrypuck]

FIRST TEASER FOR THE FNAF 2 MOVIE❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️