#I would love to be like Colman but it's just not realistic

[greekmythcomix]

Fantasy Odyssey cast

I’m working on the choose-your-own-path Odyssey book/game today, and I thought a good way of trying to write a bit faster (and stop being distracted by the fact that I have a day off from the world to do with as I like and I’m spending it stuck to the computer) would be to visualise the characters as actors I like. Or at least work out whom I have been visualising all this time. I’ll add to this list as I write other sections.

NB: I live in the UK, was a child in the 90s, and like comedies and dramas, so these are probably going to end up all British and aren’t necessarily going to be very exciting choices! Please feel free to make your own suggestions.

PS: I know there’s a film coming out with Ralph Fiennes as Odysseus and Juliette Binoche as Penelope coming out in a year or so, but that casting is just too serious for me (and Binoche is forever Antigone to me after using her NT run to teach the play for coursework, so…)

--------------------

Odysseus:

Michael Sheen

Odysseus is complicated. Apparently he looks like a country boob, but has a voice that commands all and speaks words like falling snowflakes. He can lie at a second’s notice, but is also loyal and magnetic enough for his wife to have wanted to wait for him all this time. The role needs Sheen: the sheer *range* of the man, who can be sweet *and* prickly inside one sentence. His Nero is terrifying yet also somehow vulnerable. He also looks excellently the part - stocky, sturdy, with a woolly beard and hair (perfect streak of weathered white through the front). He’d be captivating.

Telemachus:

Alex Lawther

I’m a bit sick of portrayals of Telemachus making him a total one-note whinge bag (you know which portrayal I mean in particular) and in the text he’s angry yet well-behaved and does a lot of growing up. He’s been brought up by only his clever mother and her loyal servants/enslaved people so he should be a little soft but sharp around the edges (the suitors are almost all the same age as him give or take a handful of years), and he also takes after his father - Homer really paints that comparison on thick - so he should be clever too.

That’s Lawther in a nutshell.

And, if you look at photos of a younger Michael Sheen, there’s a lot of similarity there, so that works too. (And they’ve both played Hamlet, so that would be fun to talk about)

Menelaus

Brendan Gleeson/ Brian Gleeson

The film Troy rather ruined this one, as Brendan Gleeson played Menelaus rather perfectly for me. Only I’m imagining he gets a lot nicer once he gets Helen back. However, he's rather aged out of the part, but his son Brian is almost old enough to play him (yes, nepotism). In Frank of Ireland he’s a lil bit daft and that’s how I’m seeing Menelaus in Book 4, all memories and wrapped around his wife’s littlest finger.

Helen

Right now, possibly Emilia Clarke, but I’m not certain (see below)

Helen is a confident trickster. She’s effectively been abused her whole life, treated as a prize and a sexual object since childhood, can’t trust anyone, and is now leaning into it (see Book 3). But all she wants is stability. It’s probably a choice a little influenced by Clarke’s former roles, but her apple-cheeked visage and winning smile suggest she can get herself out of trouble by getting men to fight eachother for the privilege.

EDIT: wait wait wait... let's go left-field and get Natasia Demetriou. Her Helen would be manipulative, dismissive, sometimes incredibly sweet and naive but only on the surface. She'll dope you to make sure you don't ruin a good time. She's in charge. Oh yes.

Penelope

Nina Sosanya/Olivia Colman

Our Penelope is so sassy, totally on it (Odysseus-in-disguise praises her as a ‘king’, the highest era-appropriate compliment on her rule he can give), but willing to make way for her son. She’s clever, no-nonsense, totally in love but also a realist. I couldn’t pick between these two brilliant actors so I’m picking bits of them: Sosanya’s needliness and Colman’s ability to dismiss you kindly and both of their wit.

Athene

Ruth Wilson

Calculating, sexy, kind of ruthless. Enough said.

Diomedes

Kayvan Novak

He’s not in it for long, though there’s potential for plenty of flashbacks. Diomedes is pretty serious, businesslike, a bit meat-headed, deadly as a sword between your ribs, and while Novak is a lot funnier than that I think he could pull off the character without being unlikeable.

Antinous and Eurymachus

Timothee Chalamet and… TBD

Ok so technically Chalamet is a teensy bit younger than Lawther rather than older, but it’s within tolerance. I think he could pull off older and haughtier, full of insouciance knowing how much he’s worth compared to the rest of them, and properly intimidating and manipulative. The murder plot the suitors attempt against Telemachus becomes a bit of a dark peer prank, with Chalamet as the leader of a group of obnoxious rich boys who only have one impediment between them as suitors and one of them as king, and I can see a face-off between Chalamet-Antinous and Lawther-Telemachus with Ruth Wilson’s delighted Athene bobbing between them.

Eurylochus and Polites

Simon Farnaby and Jim Howick (Ghosts, Horrible Histories)

Obviously these two need bigger roles than in the original text, so they pop up in the alternate storylines. Eurylochus is smarmy and annoying, and Polites is an adorable yes-man. At one point Odysseus wonders whether or not he should actually cut Eurylochus’ head off, and I can see Farnaby and Sheen facing off in my head. And there have to be some comedic characters in here to relieve the tension.

More like 20 years, amirite?

Eumaeus

Not sure yet. Eumaeus is such an important and underrated character, earnest and loyal to the last, but with the bearing of a prince (as he once was before becoming enslaved). I’m fluctuating between Idris Elba, Riz Ahmed and David Tennant, which is a bit mad, but I’m getting back to writing this bit soon and I may have a better idea after they’ve sat down for an interminable amount of time to eat roast piglet. But, now I've seen Good Omens 2, maybe just Michael Tennant with heart-eyes for Odysseus is pretty accurate.

I am desperate to get Matt Berry in here somewhere. I think he’s going to be Medon the herald, who has covered himself in an ox-hide and is hiding under a chair during the suitor-slaughter. BUT WOULDN'T HE BE BRILLIANT AS AGAMEMNON???

Proteus, god of the Sea

Proteus is both king of Memphis in mythology, but also a sea-god (like Nereus) who shepherds seals and cannot lie. I've made them different characters, but I think they could pull off being played by the same actor. Proteus of the sea is a shape-changer, changing into a lion, snake, water and fire (!), but is often thought of as being half-man-half-seasnake.

Hello Sir Derek Jacobi, I love you but am also very cross with you right now, be a seasnake-seal-shepherd.

I’ll edit this post when I think of more.

[rancid-butter]

TAG GAME: EIGHT SHOWS TO GET TO KNOW ME 

I was tagged by @scienceoftheidiot​ of course as this is the only person to drag me regularly from Tumblr limbo to actually post stuff and not just reblog shit!

My friend you won’t be surprised that I have no less than THREE shows in common with you.

Ripper Street - To this day, I have yet to watch a better period crime drama. It is extremely compelling in its topics, atmosphere and humour. I love everything about it, except the SUFFERING and CRYING induced by watching it. (Below: me, watching “for the plot”)

Suburra - Probably the best thriller/mob series I have ever watched. Absolutely brilliant acting, complex characters and a wonderful take in my opinion on masculinity and friendship in these particular circles. Amazing music choices to top it off.

Daredevil (Netflix, although as I’m not what you might call a “connaisseur”, I will probably watch the next series) - The only “superhero” adaptation I have enjoyed from beginning to end. I do resent the Wesley situation A LOT and I still want answers! This is the second show @scienceoftheidiot​ managed to completely suck me into. I have to confess enjoying the Punisher character way too much.

Good Omens - My first experience of Neil Gaiman’s work, 10/10 would recommend! Already watched it 3 times. The Tennant/Sheen duo is exquisite and works so well.

Detectorists - This is truly a gem, hilarious, touching, completely ridiculous at times and so very British in so many ways. Mackenzie Crook and Toby Jones really are next-level weirdos in this and I love them.

Murdoch Mysteries - I’m a sucker for crime shows and period drama so of course this one had to make the list. We do love a good, strong female lead and Dr. Julia Ogden is just that! Society issues are dealt with in an interesting fashion (a bit like in Ripper Street but in a less political way maybe). The number of famous people/inventors Murdoch encounters is preposterous but when have regular crime shows ever been realistic anyway?

Downton Abbey - Peak period drama, obviously. A FANTASTIC cast - I mean, just Maggie Smith is enough to make me watch this. And the costumes, dear god! Not really a hot take on servants/masters dynamics but hey.

Broadchurch - One of the toughest series I have watched, but so well written. The gloomy and tense atmosphere is masterfully crafted and this is everything I like about a crime thriller. Also, Olivia Colman.

(Very pissed to not be able to include Agatha Christie’s Poirot which is probably where my love of British TV, period dramas and crime started all at once.)

[the1percentofmybrain]

MOVIE LIST

(⚠️TW⚠️: mentioned lots of triggers without censoring the words as i've heard that can be worse from a friend with cptsd)

Movies I watched and what I think, ever since I started keeping a list

❤️=Sweet/big heart!

🧡=“dumb”/“chick-flick”

 💛=funny/very much a comedy

 💚=artsy/visually interesting/

 💙=sad

💜=has some prominent sexual/other innapropriate elements

 🖤=has some prominent gory/dark elements

🤍=very very odd

a film may still be a little funny or dumb but not sooo prominent that I was sure I wanted to put the heart there

(if there are things that you REALLY can’t watch i’d check https://www.doesthedogdie.com/ or common sense media

Minari- I really liked this! ❤️💛💚💙

muriel’s wedding- you’re terrrrible, muriel(very weird, silly, and australian) not AMAZING but enjoyable for me 🧡💛💜🤍

shark vs eagle-the main character was sooo sweet! I liked this a lot!❤️💛🤍

The Right Stuff-a classic w/outstanding cinamatography💚💙

Napolean Dynamite- Get your OWN tots this film is legendary GOSH! Do chickens have large talons? Liger DUH💛🤍

Amadeus-very long movie, pretty good to watch💚

moonstruck- :) I THOUGHT IT WAS ABOUT WEREWOLVES UNTIL HALFWAY THROUGh❤️💛

Shirkers- cool story, sophie is my bestie💚

Made you look: fake art documentary- well done and left you with a lot to think about

the full monty- when i heard the premise I wanted to call social services but it was actually HILARIOUS so sweet and talked about serious topics like body insecurity, sexuality, depression, divorce, unemployment, and suicide in a very comfortable/almost realistic way? without it feeling forced in and unnatural. TOTALLY get it if someone didn’t agree that was just my take??❤️🧡💛💜

Goodfellas: no comment. best movie. 💚🖤

Romy and michelle’s high school reunion: Beautiful. (weird, random, comedy flick but i liked it) 🧡💛🤍

The holdovers-this nice and well done! not too much to say.❤️💛💚💙

Night on earth- LOVE these simple vignettes with humor and heart❤️💛💚

Can’t buy me love- wasn’t fully happy with it but entertaining enough. 🧡

She-devil- fun and entertaining, a little dated but a little nuanced ❤️🧡💛

Beetlejuice- I liked edward scizzorhands a little more, but this is still a classic ❤️💛💚

Amarcord- Interesting and had a point but not perfect Weirdly sexual fascist italy slice of life film💛💚💜🤍

FIND TITLE olivia colman anonymous hate mail one- Fun and light with good actors and a great premise💛

Triplets of Belleville- sooo weird. I got something out of it but would not reccomend it to everyone💚🤍

Man on Wire- GREAT documentary ahhhh 💛💚💙💜

The Royal Tenenbaums- just classic wes anderson with a great soundtrack also some probably unnecessary incest and sh 💛💚💜🖤🤍

Wings of Desire-sad, long, beautiful, artsy❤️💚💙

Anatomy of a Fall- SO WELL DONE sad and poignant and fresh and french and kept me on my toes ❤️💚💙🖤

the unbearable weight of massive talent- ridiculous comedy u gotta know about nic cage first probably, give it a chance it gets sillier and there’s pedro pascal which makes me happy🧡💛

Love and Death- funny but niche, if you like russian literature or woody allen that’s the only time i’ll reccomend💛💜🤍

Aftersun- wow. No typical “plot” but I loved it and was captured by the beauty and realistic representation of how memory works❤️💚💙

Feel free to leave suggestions and thoughts/your harshest critiscism/indignation at my takes in the comments!!

love to discuss this stuff!!

[avida-heidia-5]

I Just Watched: The Father (2020)

(Originally posted to Letterboxd on 12th May 2023)

Wow! What. A. Film.

THIS is Anthony Hopkins at his peak. I might have been disturbed by his skin-crawling turn as Hannibal Lecter, but this…! This was even more disturbing! Oh my god! 😳

I was unexpectedly moved to tears by Hopkins’s role as a father (called Anthony, funnily enough!), who was diagnosed with dementia. His depiction of the illness was scarily authentic. In all honesty, it made me feel uncomfortable BECAUSE of how authentically he portrayed it. His behavioural patterns and mannerisms mirrored how a real dementia sufferer would act, and I know this because my granny and my mor-mor (mum’s mum in Danish. My mum’s side of the family is Danish) both struggle with dementia. A lot of experience meeting dementia patients must’ve helped Hopkins create a realistic portrait for him to take with him. Let’s just say he stole that portrait and ran with it and didn’t stop running until the very end. That’s astonishing given he’s now 85 years old! What a legend!

Acclaimed French playwright Florian Zeller wrote and directed this film. Not only that, it was adapted from his own play La Père back in 2012. I had an inkling it was based on a play as the cinematography certainly reflected that. Through his use of symmetry and a mixture of soft and harsh lighting and minimal locations, Zeller presented his story like a live theatre show. His experience as a theatre director must’ve helped massively when planning out his little passion project.

Choosing actors who’ve had experience with performing in theatre was the right call to make. Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman are absolute naturals at the craft and performed well beyond what they were used to in front of a camera. It’s an entirely different experience for them yet very familiar at the same time. They, of course, stole the show. Apparently, Zeller already had Hopkins in mind when writing the play and wanted him in his film for years. Now, it’s finally happened. It’s a match made in heaven! 🥰🥰🥰

Usually, it can be very risky adapting films based on plays; they tend to take away elements of what makes a play stand out, in a way that almost makes it unadaptable. Watching a live show provides a unique experience compared to watching it onscreen as it makes you feel more involved somewhat, like you’re there, living and breathing in that moment. Here, it works simply because of the way it was shot and acted. I felt like I was there with these characters, feeling the same emotions as they are feeling. It’s scary and I love it.

I loved everything about this film: the acting, the cinematography, and…this will be a very weird thing to comment on…but I loved the pacing. It’s on the slow side, but I didn’t mind. I was too engaged to even notice. I liked the unique way dementia was presented in the film. It’s something no one wants to live through in any stage of their lives. It is left, right, and centre, the most brutal and heartbreaking depiction of dementia I have ever seen put into a film. It’s startlingly accurate to the real thing.

Everyone involved in this deserves every single award given to them, especially to Florian Zeller who created this masterpiece in the first place. Impressive given it’s his directorial debut!

10/10! ❤️

Bonus:

So do I, dear reviewer! So do I! 😢😭😭😭

[theotheristhedoctor]

For season 2, can we get more Imogen?

I know she was just a character created for the show to give Nick some more angst, and to a certain extent is a way to avoid having to put personalities on the other Rugby lads (which then highlights Nick's isolation).

BUT

I think there's actually a lot more that could be done with her character:

(1) Firstly, as mentioned, she is the only character with an established positive friendship with Nick. This means that in terms of developing his "coming out" story, she's the perfect replacement for the Rugby Lads (who tbh even in the comics felt a bit forced).

(2) She's already been shown to be a bit "classic straight" awkward about the gays ("I'm an ally" / "thanks"). Who else would be better to deliver the "he's a really good mate" line?

(3) She's an established 4th female character, which means she can come to Paris with the group. That gives you the fabulous options for Token Straight dynamics, in particular with Elle. There's also definitely something to play with in terms of her hanging around with the boys at break; exploring what it means to be a straight girl who just wants to do masculine things would fit very neatly into the themes of the show.

(4) She's been established as actually quite a mature person? She doesn't out Nick, even though he stood her up and rejected her. As a 16-year-old popular girl, she could easily have revealed that he didn't like her; instead she lets him off the hook. Without being OOC she can still be written as awkward but willing to learn, which moves the dynamic away from the patronising "teach a straight to ally" stories and into something more realistic (whilst still being very awkward and funny).

(5) Tao would LOATHE her to start with, which allows his character to develop a bit more. Tao and Nick can now establish a friendship based on a mutual love of Charlie. This is however a bit of a magic bullet to fix Tao's key flaw: jealousy/fear of loneliness. Imogen, as someone who could strike up a friendship with Elle about girly things Tao doesn't get, gives him a new challenge.

(6) Similarly, Charlie having to share Nick's time and attention a bit might help develop some of the co-dependency issues that we get in the comics, without creating some silly love triangle (real or imagined). Nick already rejected her romantically, so spending time with her can only be about wanting a friend, but it would still require Charlie to accept that he doesn't get to own every minute of Nick's life.

(7) Imogen meeting Nick's mum, and the awkward "so how do you know Nick" "Oh he stood me up for a date after my dog had died" would be very funny, particularly given Olivia Colman's acting.

[listentothequiet]

you know the thing that gets me about heartstopper is (one of many but let's start with the first), I didn't read the comics beforehand so when I got to the last episode and *spoiler alert* Nick and Olivia Colman is sitting in the same room and you know, monologues are happening, I did for a second get genuinely scared. I was like, I haven't read the original material, I don't actually know if it's gonna end well; despite me going for the whole show anticipating Nick's Mum being perfectly kind (because you have Olivia Colman. it's a bit funny how she just, exists there. I'm looking forward to see how she gets more utilised through the next seasons loll, *fingers crossed that they come into life*). But I was like, I can't actually, truly know. Which is exactly what I suppose every queer teen goes through. the utter terror of everything really possibly tipping into a new, horrible scale, despite having been so sure in how much you are loved. because for some it realistically does. I was afraid that it would happen like how I could imagine it only going in my sphere. I'm so glad it didn't. it's such a simple thing, but. I suppose that's why queer happy endings are so needed, why so many of us write them for ourselves. why we need to hear it in our own words, and why we demand space for it from people who have hogged the limelight for so long. because we still feel the terror. joy is not the only possible outcome, unfortunately; but it can start being one, more and more so hopefully. so I guess thank you, alice oseman. I don't know the full extent of the blessed work you do yet, I'm reading up on it, but thank you for introducing to many, what I believe, could be their first encounter with the experience of being fully and joyfully known.

[vostokovasmelina]

hello again with non-secret non-santa! i think my favorite movie is a tie between the Black Cauldron and Fried Green Tomatoes. I haven't watched any new movies, so I've mostly been just going back to older ones that I very much enjoy! I have another question for you! What TV shows do you enjoy watching? Popular or not! Why? What in particular draws your eye or emotion to a show? I hope you have a wonderful day while being safe! - 💜

lmao i’m an uncultured swine and has never seen those movies - buT i do know what black cauldron is and i’m so proud of myself

about tv shows - i have severe commitment issues (alksjkfdhask) so i don’t really watch that many of them but the ones i watch i absolutely adore. i usually need someone to buddy watch it with me (usually my mum and/or bro) otherwise i’m not motivated enough. i binged peaky blinders in two weeks purely because of my mum. without her, i would still be stuck on season 2.

here are some i have sat through or like enough to actually remember to watch them lmao:

killing eve - probably my most favourite tv show like ever. i’m not so vocal about it tho so even i forget sometimes how much i actually love it but it’s just the best thing ever made :))

wayne - the end of the f***ing world but american and better? idk man it’s just the second coolest show ever

fleabag - i adore pwb and this shit is the most relatable thing ever

bodyguard - i’ve watched it like three times already and i still love it so much

atypical - i’m still on season 2 so no spoilers please but i love this show so much, it’s my safety blanket

the alienist - underrated piece of pure art

sex education - rewatching this with my brother was the best part of quarantine :’)

peaky blinders - duh

sharp objects - triggering as fuck but i love it and the book is also one of my favs

good omens - i’m still obsessed, i keep rewatching it and i’m even planning on rereading the book next year - help

broadchurch - i love david tennant and olivia colman so much, dude

the queen’s gambit - i lovelovelove anya taylor-joy and i loved the book so much and the show so didn’t disappoint wow the best thing that happened to us in 2020

honourable mentions: collateral; criminal: united kingdom; des (lmao i hate myself, i’m obsessed with british crime dramas way too much); over the garden wall; red band society; criminal minds; the witcher & one day at a time (i absolutely hate how they just cancelled it for good recently like wtf >:( )

i also like documentaries!! (true crime and history, mostly)

what draws my eye to a show? gosh, such a hard question, i really can’t tell. like, i usually go on netflix and see what’s up on there but i’m generally really picky and take the longest time to start a show even if i’m interested. what i know for sure is that i like anything dark and lowkey emotional (even though no media has made me cry in the last 4 years lmao) but i’m mostly into realistic stuff? like i watch and read much less fantasy/sci-fi than i used to and i’m lowkey sad about that so hit me up with your recommendations if you have any :D

(lmao i know i said i don’t watch many tv shows and then gave you a proper list but i swear i don’t have netflix on 24/7. i just find it hard to actually binge a tv show)

what about you, my dear secret santa? what kind of shows do you like and what is your absolute favourite? do our tastes overlap at all? <3

[bbclesmis]

NY Times: A New Version of ‘Les Misérables’ Has Less Singing, More Misery

Vilvoorde, Belgium — Lily Collins, dressed in a mud-colored linen shift, tried to hide the small piece of jewelry she had crafted, as a hatchet-faced factory supervisor approached.

The camera moved in for a close-up of her pale, anxious face. “Sorry, Lily, just one more time,” said Tom Shankland, the director of the new adaptation of “Les Misérables,” a coproduction with BBC and PBS’s Masterpiece. “Listen, my deathbed scene was on Day 2,” said Ms. Collins, who was playing the ill-fated Fantine. “It’s all uphill at this point.”

There is not much that’s looking up for any character in Victor Hugo’s epic 1862 novel “Les Misérables,” which has provided the subject matter for dozens of theater, television and film adaptations, most famously the blockbuster musical that zillions of fans affectionately call “Les Miz.”

But this six-part television adaptation, which first aired in Britain from December to February and arrives on Masterpiece on Sunday, might come as a surprise to those who only know the musical. This version hews much more closely to Hugo’s book, a five-volume, 365-chapter novel that over the course of its complex plot explores history, law, politics, religion and ideas about justice, guilt and redemption. Set in a grimly realist France, its abundant starving poor and oppressed are entirely disconnected from the wealthy classes. (The aptly dreary set here, in a dilapidated, gloomy former prison, might as well have sported a sign saying “Likely to Perish Within.”)

Unsurprisingly, the musical, which got a lavish Hollywood adaptation in 2012, focuses mainly on the central characters and plot lines. “I thought the musical a very feeble representation of the book,” said Andrew Davies (“Bridget Jones’s Diary,” “War and Peace”), who wrote the screenplay for the new series. “It very much reinforced my idea that we needed a proper, old-fashioned long-form television adaptation.”

The story (skip ahead if you are one of the millions who have seen a previous incarnation) begins with Jean Valjean (played here by Dominic West), a peasant who has almost finished his sentence of 19 years hard labor for stealing a loaf of bread for his starving relatives. Brutalized by his jail time, he is transformed through an act of kindness, and becomes a wealthy and respected citizen, with a new identity. When he discovers that one of his former factory workers, Fantine, has become destitute after being fired, he adopts her daughter, Cosette, who is living with the evil Thenardiers (Olivia Colman and Adeel Akhtar in the series).

Editors’ Picks

Pursued over the years by his former jailer Javert (David Oyelowo), a police officer obsessed with bringing the former criminal to justice, Valjean raises Cosette (Ellie Bamber) who eventually falls in love with Marius (Josh O’Connor), a student taking part in the revolution against the monarchy in the June Rebellion of 1832.

Let’s just say that very few characters get a happy ending.

“I think we managed to include everything that was really important,” Davies said, adding that he had streamlined some of the narrative’s twists and turns, notably Valjean’s repeated returns to and escapes from prison, and Javert’s uncanny reappearances wherever Valjean is to be found. “I think this has made it feel less improbable and more believable in modern terms,” he said.

In a series of conversations, Davies, Shankland and a few of the principle actors talked about three important aspects of the mini-series that set it apart from the musical. Here are edited excerpts.

Valjean vs. Javert

DOMINIC WEST The first question is obviously, what is Javert’s problem? Why is he so obsessed with Valjean? You do wonder what’s going on there, and we sort of hinted at it in one glance where I am naked in front of him when [Valjean] is released from the prison hulks. It always helps to bring things down to love and sex, and I think there is a homoerotic thing going on, perhaps the love of the jailer for his prisoner. It’s a modern, reductionist view to bring it down to that, and we didn’t emphasize it. But it’s there.

That they are alter egos, in a way, was the biggest clue to why Valjean felt so guilty, so unworthy. I realized that anyone who is brutalized and treated like an animal eventually becomes that. Valjean’s belief that he doesn’t deserve anyone’s love in the real world is central to his sense of self, and that is an important political point. Javert believes criminals are born that way, and Valjean is evidence that criminals are products of their environments.

DAVID OYELOWO My first interaction with “Les Mis” was with the musical, and when I read Andrew Davies’s script, it seemed very apparent that I could bring real layering and complexity to this character, who in the musical is a much more one-dimensional villain. I suddenly understood this man, born to criminal parents in a prison and filled with loathing for that world. It became apparent to me that he had transposed a side of himself onto Jean Valjean, and needed to destroy that part of himself he saw there. You need six hours of television to explore that complex idea!

Oppression and Politics

TOM SHANKLAND I am one of the few people in the universe who wasn’t really aware of the musical and the story, beyond the posters. When I read the script and novel, I really got a sense that this was a story of revolution, of social injustice, about people who felt disenfranchised. I wanted to find a way to interpret the story in a way that felt respectful to Hugo, but also politically relevant. It has wonderfully big moral questions: What does it mean to be good in a cruel world? What is meaningful action?

Drawings from the period — etchings of that revolution and others, images of urban warfare — were important in creating visual imagery, but I also drew from my memory of the 2011 London riots, and from the gilet jaunes in Paris. I didn’t want it to be just big images of the barricades, and I didn’t want it to be stiff and costume drama-y. There is nothing romantic or picturesque about those experiences; they are frightening and chaotic.

OYELOWO Hugo shows the fragility of the class system so well. Fantine starts off just above the underclass and falls catastrophically. Javert is the reverse, rising to prison officer and policeman, forcing his way up through the social hierarchy, but always feeling precarious. This idea of the fragility of many people’s social and economic positions feels very relevant today. In our society, the gaps between the haves and the have-nots is widening and people’s lives can be stripped away, just as they are in this story.

The Dark Side

LILY COLLINS There are parts of each character’s story line in “Les Misérables” that doesn’t get into film versions or the musical, because there just isn’t time. A song lyric can try to tell the story in one line, but here we show Fantine’s early life, how she falls in love, is deceived and has a baby. That makes her fate all the harder because we have discovered that side of her life, her trusting and joyous personality.

We shot my death scene first. I did a lot of research about what France would have been like for women at that time. What were the diseases, the symptoms of the disease she might have died from, what that would look like for filming. It was pretty grim, especially the scene when her teeth are pulled out because she is selling them for money for her child. It really made me push myself and find out what I could withstand physically and emotionally.

WEST I hadn’t seen Valjean played as initially completely unredeemable in other versions of the novel. I wanted to really show that brutal, callous side that Hugo depicts, and we wanted to make his leap from that to romantic hero as big as possible. That really gets your pulse going as an actor. In a way, I went back to my childhood. I wasn’t a street urchin, but I was a fairly coarse Yorkshire kid, and I tapped into that. In the same way, the Thenardiers are usually treated in a more comic vein, but they are really evil. It’s interesting and remarkable that the novel hasn’t been treated in this kind of depth for a very long time.

DAVIES The series ends with an image of two little boys, who we have seen begging earlier, and who Gavroche, a street urchin, takes under his wing. Gavroche is killed, and the little boys are still begging at the end, as a reminder to the audience that although the story ends happily for some, the suffering and brutality goes on.

x

[topkoality]

here’s my oscar winners review that absolutely no one asked for (keep reading)

have i seen enough films of 2018 to actually be doing this? am i an actual film critic? no, of course not, but i’ve got lots of opinions and that’s why i’m posting this! in bold are the winners, in italics are my pick of what should’ve won, and if there was a category that i really knew nothing about, it will not be included. also we’re saving the best for last so if you want my hottest and fully developed takes you might as well go to the end of this post

Best Animated Short: Bao, Animal Behaviour, Late Afternoon, One Small Step, Weekends

i did not see any of the other animated shorts on this list but bao, which maybe says something, but i remember seeing this in theaters along with many other trailers/adverts while waiting to see bohemian rhapsody (wow...) and it was so, very emotional. perhaps it even took the spotlight of that whole movie experience? the animation was beautiful, the story was heart-wrenching, and i believe every parent and those who want to become a parent one day should take the time to watch this.

Best Animated Feature: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Incredibles 2, Isle of Dogs, Mirai, Ralph Breaks the Internet

well deserved, the animation in this movie was— and i’m being very serious when i say this— groundbreaking. in the least, it has shown animators that realism is not always the goal, and being experimental can certainly pay off. the concept this movie has with all the inter-dimensional spidermans joining our protagonist miles was genius, and when i realized that there would be multiples of them due to the multiple sets of intros we were given, it was hilarious and perfectly entertaining. i don’t think anyone can go into this movie and not enjoy it. i honestly thought incredibles 2 was going to win, just simply due to my lack of faith in the academy, but thankfully that did not happen. as far as the others, they were all definitely deserving of their oscar nomination, but the oscar win had to go to spider-verse.

Best Film Editing: Bohemian Rhapsody, BlacKkKlansman, The Favourite, Green Book, Vice

i mean... bohemian rhapsody? surely there’s something else... that was maybe even a little bit more deserving... than that. surely academy, surely you can do better. or can you? bohemian rhapsody had some of the worst editing in a major film that i’ve seen. i mean, did you just like how the movie made you FEEL, academy?! be honest you can say it. i loved we will rock you. but that’s not editing! i mean, this alone made me seasick: https://twitter.com/jesssetaylor/status/1097712834643984390. i would’ve loved to see the favourite win, as the editing in that movie represented it so well. the editing created a fully immersive experience, and the short, witty, snappy quips that were highlighted by the editing made the viewing experience all the more hilarious. the title sequences alone that were edited in gave me a purpose to watch the scenes a bit more closer than i initially would’ve; searching for the line that was given the status of the title for that section. i haven’t seen blacKkKlansman but if that had won, i wouldn’t have been mad about it, as i’ve heard great things. but ultimately, the favourite deserved this oscar. 

Best Visual Effects: First Man, Avengers: Infinity War, Christopher Robin, Ready Player One, Solo: A Star Wars Story

i’m just glad avengers didn’t get this

Best Sound Mixing: Bohemian Rhapsody, Black Panther, First Man, Roma, A Star Is Born

now best sound mixing, i suppose i can understand. the sound in this movie WAS the movie. i felt like i was actually in concert, experiencing queen live, so i understand. it was very good. i could have seen ASIB taking this oscar as well, due to everyone raving about the music, but perhaps this was the one oscar that bohemian rhapsody actually deserved.

Best Sound Editing: Bohemian Rhapsody, Black Panther, First Man, A Quiet Place, Roma

nope, nope, nope. again, mixing i understand, but editing? all they did was edit in the songs mate... roma should have won this. the sounds in that movie made me feel like i was actually there, experiencing the water dripping down from the buildings, creating a puddle. washing the floor, witnessing a protest, being outside when i’m actually inside— watching the movie with my family. it was so realistic; i was completely taken. dissatisfied completely with this one!

Best Original Score: Black Panther, BlacKkKlansman, If Beale Street Could Talk, Isle of Dogs, Mary Poppins Returns

nicholas britell i’m so, so sorry. everyone was talking about how great the score was for black panther, and while there were some good songs, i don’t think it deserved the oscar win. definitely deserved a nomination, but a win? i’m not so sure. if beale street could talk, now that was a score that was truly deserving of this. very disappointed that if beale street could talk’s only win was for regina king’s performance. it definitely at least deserved this oscar as well.

Best Production Design: Black Panther, The Favourite, First Man, Mary Poppins Returns, Roma

i definitely understand this win, black panther was breathtaking in terms of the beauty of the production. congratulations hannah beachler and jay hart! i would’ve been happy to see the favourite also win this category, but black panther deserved it!

Best Foreign-Language Film: Roma, Capernaum, Cold War, Never Look Away, Shoplifters

now, at first, BEFORE best picture was announced, i was confused as to why roma was even in this category. should a foreign-language film that is also nominated for best picture even be in this category? i mean, obviously it would win! and it did. i fully expected roma to win best picture (more on that later) but due to it not winning best picture, i’m very glad that it at least won best foreign-language film. but cuarón, just go ahead and give the oscar to yalitza aparicio!

Best Costume Design: Black Panther, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, The Favourite, Mary Poppins Returns, Mary Queen of Scots

again, the costume design was amazing in black panther, and this was a win that was very deserving. but would i have liked to see the favourite win? yeah, but that’s just my own selfish gay opinion— black panther winning was definitely the right choice

Best Cinematography: Roma, The Favourite, Never Look Away, A Star Is Born, Cold War

roma deserved this, period! the cinematography was immersive, it was emotional, it was everything that it needed to be. do i even need to say more?

Best Original Screenplay: Green Book, The Favourite, First Reformed, Roma, Vice

okay, i didn’t even see first reformed and i know that it should’ve won. i mean, first reformed should have been nominated for best picture. i also would have been completely happy with the favourite winning. roma, i should mention, i would not have wanted to win because cuarón really just stole a woman’s story and made it his own, completely disregarding the feelings of the woman it was based on

Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali (Green Book), Adam Driver (BlacKkKlansman), Sam Elliott (A Star Is Born), Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?), Sam Rockwell (Vice)

i mean, best supporting actor? mahershala ali? he should be considered the lead actor of green book, but due to the movie just being terrible and racist and inaccurate, i guess he’s the supporting actor! other than that, i love mahershala ali so i’m just glad he got an oscar.

Best Supporting Actress: Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk), Amy Adams (Vice), Marina de Tavira (Roma), Emma Stone (The Favourite), Rachel Weisz (The Favourite)

well deserved! i would have loved to also see stone or weisz take this as well, but i think the fact that they were both nominated from the same movie just goes to show that this movie had amazing acting, which makes me happy. i’m glad if beale street could talk and regina king’s superb acting abilities are being recognized, as well, therefore i’m pretty happy with this.

Best Actor: Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody), Christian Bale (Vice), Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born), Willem Dafoe (At Eternity's Gate), Viggo Mortensen (Green Book)

willem dafoe... maybe next year, huh? i don’t understand the appeal for rami malek winning. i used to love the man, but things he has done has shown his arrogance, so i’m a bit unsure of him recently. i’m not mad that he won, and it’s a great win for the MENA community (that i am apart of), so for that reason i’m satisfied.

Best Actress: Olivia Colman (The Favourite), Glenn Close (The Wife), Yalitza Aparicio (Roma), Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born), Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)

olivia colman you earned it, fair and square. this was the big win for the favourite last night. as the night got closer to this announcment, i was losing faith and just expected gaga or aparicio to go ahead and take it. and as it got even closer, i just thought aparicio would win. but olivia colman, whew. her acting was stunning in the favourite. her character consumed the movie, as she should have, and she depicted queen anne’s tragedy perfectly. yalitza aparicio’s performance in roma was very good, but i did not feel the emotion from her character as viscerally as i did from olivia colman’s performance. i really thought the night would go on with the favourite winning absolutely nothing, so thank god that they got this, because olivia colman was the clear choice! that film was fantastic, and i’m glad it got a least a little bit of recognition, even though it definitely deserved at least one other oscar (cough) best flim editing (cough). queen anne was hilarious, she was maddening, she was infuriating, she was miserable, she was everything. also sorry glenn close... maybe next time?

Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón (Roma), Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite), Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman), Adam McKay (Vice), Pawel Pawlikowski (Cold War)

okay cuarón, just give your oscar to yalitza aparicio. no? okay. well then, yorgos lanthimos you deserved it. the favourite was edited perfectly. the delivery of the lines was perfect. the panning from one character to the next, everything about it was done with eloquence. and don’t get me started on the music— every time viola d’amore concerto in a minor, rv. 397 i. vivace started playing just as weisz or stone did something to piss off the other, it was SO SATISFYING! of course i was only rooting for only one of them (especially by the end), but either way i felt what they were feeling in those moments. the music, the editing, the camerawork, the acting, the script... it all worked harmoniously in order to create the masterpiece that was the favourite. also, from a viola player, thank you for making the main theme a viola concerto, yorgos. also in a minor? that’s taste. this directing deserved an oscar win, not just a nomination.

Best Picture: Green Book, Black Panther, BlacKkKlansman, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Favourite, Roma, A Star Is Born, Vice

okay here we go... here we go. green book? GREEN BOOK? no. nope. literally any film besides this one please. okay let’s get started... green book is inaccurate, it’s a white savior story, it was a movie that was supposed to be about don shirley, the world class pianist, but instead is about this random fucking cab driver? and don shirley’s family have said that it was inaccurate and that it poorly represented actual events of shirley’s life. as a piano player... i am disgusted. also if you were going to give the oscar to a flim depicting racism... why not give it to blacKkKlansman? you know, the movie talking about racism that was actually created by black people and not just a team of white men? fuck you, green book! i fully expected roma to win, and oh, how wrong was i. roma deserved best picture. green book is a joke. i obviously would have liked to see the favourite win, because a gay movie about GIRLS! would have been nice to actually get some recognition. roma, the favourite, blacKkKlansman. these were the choices that should have gotten best picture. the others, eh. also why was black panther even in the nominations? like, seriously... that should have been replaced with if beale street could talk. and also, since they had ten slots anyway, first reformed should have gotten a nomination as well. this was by far the most disappointing win of the night AND confusing, for me personally (more confusing than bohemian rhapsody winning best film editing, which says something). just a terrible choice. this movie should not have even been nominated, but the academy is dumb. seriously though, NOT roma?

okay that’s it folks, those are my opinions. all in all, not a great oscars. some really good wins, though, like olivia colman’s win and spider-verse. also roma for best foreign. basically everything that was bolded and italics on this post were pretty good wins. but despite that, there were some VERY bad ones. 

[joealwyndaily]

So excited for your reviews on TF!!

Anonymous said: Tracy I hope you have a great time tonight and enjoy the movie!!!!!

Anonymous said: IM SO HAPPY YOU WENT TELL US EVERYTHING

Anonymous said:How was the premiere of the favourite? Tell us all ☺️

Thanks guys!!! Okay so here are my thoughts on The Favourite! I tried to be mostly spoiler free but if you don’t want to know anything at all, don’t read ahead!! And if you only want to read about Joe scroll down to the blue hearts!

(also it’s kinda long, sorry lol)

So I have to say, I was really impressed with the movie, it went above my expectations. I was expecting it to be hilarious and well-acted and it was! But it was even more than I anticipated. The script was so funny and dry and clever and subtle and quick-witted and cheeky. Everyone’s acting was so well done. All the character’s were likable and also annoying at times haha, and I mean that in a good way! It was beautiful visually, the costumes, the lighting… and it was surprising too, like yeah it was funny but it also had a lot of depth to it as well.

Olivia Colman was amazing. My heart broke for her character so many times, you can really feel her pain and all the suffering she’s experienced, and parts of it are made to be humorous of course, but underneath the humour you see that she’s someone who has experienced great tragedy and I just thought her performance was so incredible; hilarious but with so much depth and I truly believe she would be deserving of Best Actress.

Emma and Rachel were also fantastic!!

The thing that stuck out to me is that these women are portrayed as human beings. They’re complex, they’re never only one thing. They’re strong, sad, funny, smart, interesting, sexual, conniving, mysterious, hurt…; their characters were so well-rounded and multi-dimensional. You have moments of empathy for each of them and you feel so many different emotions towards them throughout the movie. There were times where I rather disliked Emma and Rachel’s characters and other times where I loved them and was rooting for them, and I feel like that’s not easy to achieve, to create characters like that, so that was something which really stood out to me.

The lighting and camera work too was super interesting. Yorgos used a lot of, I suppose unflattering angles, and there were a few long shots of just looking at a character’s face which was kind of unsettling, because it was so humanizing. Like you were almost able to see their inner thoughts… I’m not sure how to explain it exactly, but it was something that really stood out.

I kinda geek out about lighting in film so that was something I really noticed and appreciated, there was a lot of play between light and dark, and it was so realistic, the natural light and the candle light, it was very well done.

and now on to Joe!! 💙💙💙

I have to say if I did not know who Joe was before seeing this movie I would have googled him right away! He was so handsome, even with the huge wig, and he was so hilarious. The first shot you see of him in the movie is like spotting a unicorn in the woods lol… idk how else to describe it he just looked so enigmatic! I can’t wait to gif it 😛

Anyway, his character Masham was for me, the funniest! Some of his scenes were hysterical, the dance scene with Sarah was sooo funny, the whole audience laughed so much.  And the back and forth between his and Emma’s character was great. They had wonderful chemistry, they played off each other so well and the repartee between them was excellent. 

I’m not sure exactly what to say because I don’t want spoil anything because really the surprise and humour of Joe’s scenes was so enjoyable and I don’t want to ruin that for you guys! But there was definitely one scene and something his character said that made me blush hahah…. and there was another scene where Joe dressed up similar to Nicholas Hoult’s character with the wig and the full make up, lipstick, blush, mascara, and omg it was so funny!

And the last shot of him in the movie was super interesting to me. Because throughout the film I felt a bit distanced from his character, like you don’t really get an idea of his thoughts and feelings, not to the extent of the three female characters. But the last shot of him was very humanizing. He looks sad and it’s that moment where you see beyond all the bravado and humour and idk, I’m glad they included it, I feel like it gave a new perspective on his character and the relationship between him and Abigail … I have more thoughts about it but I’ll leave it for now lol

But he was really just so great in the movie, he has great comedic timing; the script is very witty and dry and he did such a good job with it. And I keep thinking about how this was the third movie he ever did and he’s with these amazing actors who have been working for years and he totally held his own and complimented them so well, and also stood out on his own too. I was very impressed with his performance!! 

Overall, I would give the film a 9 out of 10. I can’t remember specifically which scenes it was but I remember feeling that a few parts dragged a bit. But other than that, I thought it was excellent and I’m really excited to see it again and look at it more closely. I’m still deciding how I feel about the ending… But basically, with all the anticipation and excitement I had for it, it did not disappoint at all! 

I’m so excited for you guys to see it and read your thoughts on it!! 

[satorsugu]

Would you find me weird if I said that I thoroughly enjoyed reading your thoughts on the first episode of BBC Lesmis! When you watch the second one, since I saw on your tags that you can't watch it yet, can you reply with your thoughts on it??? Still not sure if I wanna continue or if it's worth my time

aw that’s so nice? not weird at all! i’ve been keeping this in my inbox just waiting for the moment i’d finally get to see the second episode––and i’ve done just that, so here u go, anon! 

(my thoughts r under the cut. didn’t want to post spoilers in case someone else is interested in seeing it.)

disclaimer: i’m speaking as someone who’s read the brick and loves it dearly; i don’t know how different my opinions would be if i hadn’t read it.

ok so Some Notes about this episode. i’m rly rly upset with how they portrayed valjean, lol. we know he’s a good man. after what happened w petit-gervais and the bishop, he decided to change and become a better person. but in this adaptation he was the one who ended up firing fantine?? for something that i know was controversial at that time, but knowing how he acted and how he embraced the poor and the oppressed––he would never do such a thing. it leads the audience to assume that he either: (1) really wasn’t a good person and hid behind a mask 24/7; or (2) was a good person but was terribly afraid of what the public would think of him, especially if he forgave fantine instead of letting her go. this never happened in the book, and he never had these kinds of doubts. bbc’s painted him as some sort of egotistic individual who isn’t as kind as he makes himself out to be.

(for the record, i know he forgave her in the end, but still. he never did that in the brick. the decision to fire fantine was the foreman’s own doing and it affected her life greatly––and it was among the main reasons why she suffered a great load under prejudice and poverty. that one event changed everything, which is why the details are so so so crucial. it’s disheartening to see how much they butchered it.)

also? what is Up with javert? they gave him the biggest mouth possible. he told monsieur madeleine about petit-gervais right away, and it ruined the transition of events; suddenly his appearance in the area seemed all too sudden, and way too two-dimensional. they made it seem like catching valjean was his only purpose in life, and he somehow made it to montreuil because he knew from the get-go that monsieur madeleine was valjean. the whole thing could have been stretched out a bit more to make things seem more realistic, u feel? because now the character lacks a ton of depth. anyways.

for positives––i’m really warming up to lily collins as fantine. she portrayed her pain beautifully, and the part where she got arrested Oh My God. my tears rly .. they rly .. oh myg od. the costume design in that part was great too––i’m glad they made it as gory as it was meant to be, with the missing teeth and blood and everything. lovely.

olivia colman was great too––to have been able to see the other side of her relationship w monsieur thenardier was great and i’m glad they added that in. also great: the small glimpse of gavroche, and the foreshadowing of his abandonment… lmao

the episode was fine, though bbc already disappointed me w multiple charactrs in the first two episodes and i can’t help but lower my expectations for the next one. they aren’t really doing well when it comes to accuracy, i’ve noted, and u can see that in the way they downplay some of the characters and completely change the storylines of others. 

either way, right now i’m giving it a solid 3/5––but this is as someone who’s read the brick. i don’t know how i’d review it if i had never read the book. i’ll be watching the next episode though––it’s up to u if u want to watch it, i wouldn’t say you’re missing out on much, but i’d still say it’s good regardless of its faults. u should give it a try

[peacockbluey]

Thoughts on Flowers, Series 2, Episode 3

Lots of things happening. Lots of things full of feels and terror and what can only be summarized as !!!!!!!!!! Do I have thoughts about it? Of course I do! Here we go.

Right from the very beginning, the tone set is an ominous one. The opening for this episode is something straight out of Amy's morbid, tragic romantic inclinations, with Amy flipping between two realities, walking out into the water. It's imagery that calls to mind Virginia Woolf's death by drowning, which is exactly the sort of allusion Amy would dig--but it also suggests how quickly she's becoming immersed in full-blown mania.

Donald's dream is at once pure Donald (who else would have a wet dream nightmare?), and yet also really interesting character insight that illuminates him a little more. It says a lot about how Donald sees himself, to imagine himself as a clown, wanking, hideously obvious and grotesque in his desire, being jeered at and laughed at by everyone he knows--including, significantly, Matilda. It's his worst nightmare: that everybody thinks he's a joke, that his desire is ridiculous, that he's making a fool of himself by even feeling it. But beyond all of that, the part that really strikes me is that the dream opens with him searching for Amy, trying to rescue her from... something. It really shows you how deeply that's ingrained in Donald, the desire to protect and defend Amy. This is his job, his duty, he has to look out for Amy; he always has... even if he can't stop being a dick to her, or being rabidly envious of her.

I love that Amy's nickname for Hylda is Monkey, but everything else about the berries scene is hard to watch, because Amy's mania is really, really escalating. It's shown throughout the episode, from the increasingly nonsensical, disorganized structure of the music (which her orchestra can't even play because they have no clue what she wants) to the lack of sleep to the pressured speech and temper tantrums because she's constantly accelerating and getting mad at the world for not being at the speed of sound with her. Her eye, naturally, is fucked up now with... pinkeye or something similarly awful, to make her more like Bertha than ever. Her ability to distinguish between herself and Bertha is diminishing.

Deborah knows. Just from the sound of the voicemail Any leaves her, you can see from her face that she knows something is seriously wrong. (Olivia Colman, seriously. She is so, so great.) She is thoroughly frustrated throughout the episode in trying to get through to Amy or get someone to check on her (THANKS MAURICE), but the worry is there.

A parallel between Series 1 and Series 2: proxy squabbling between Maurice and Deborah over inappropriately sized food. In series 1, it was Deborah snarking about Maurice's weirdly giant hospital coffee ("Enjoy your reservoir of coffee!"); in series 2, their roles are reversed and it's Maurice sniping about the size of Shun's breakfast pastry when he really is spoiling for a fight about all the other issues between him and Deborah.

Seriously, though, I was not prepared for them to have a ridiculous custody dispute over Shun! It clearly irritates Maurice that Shun sought comfort and understanding from Deborah instead of him, but it shouldn't; Deborah and Shun had reached a nice understanding at the end of series 2, and this is consistent with that. Shun needs somebody to be a mother to him and Deborah desperately misses having somebody to nurture, while she's struggling to connect with her children as adults; it makes sense that they'd connect that way. It's also notable that Shun is well over his hero worship of Maurice, not above sassing and calling him on his bullshit. While it's good for Shun to see Maurice realistically... his overall trajectory in terms of acting out is worrying.

It's also kind of fascinating to see different sides of everybody in that fight. It's definitely fascinating to be exploring some of Maurice's flaws, now that he's more himself. I love him, but his argument style here! Self-pitying, bitter, passive-aggressive, petty... these are parts of him, just as much as all the good things. It's also a sign of how much he's recovered that he has the ego to be wounded over being called "boring." When he was deep in his depression, he probably would have just absorbed that with a shrug. Now, he has the pettiness to spend the rest of the episode trying to spite Deborah by proving how wrong she is. He is not boring! He's a cool dude! A cool dude who wears sunglasses! And tiny blue pants. It's good for our ogling pleasure, but it's also super cringey. Being truthful, I was definitely annoyed by him being so self-absorbed by the ego wounding that he seems mostly oblivious to how bad Amy is getting.

Another parallel between Series 1 and Series 2: Donald being the voice of reason and the only one who can/will call Maurice on his shit. His blunt honesty can be unlikable and occasionally cruel, but sometimes it's exactly what's needed. In Series 1, he was able to deliver the (metaphorical) slap Maurice needed to realize the impact his behavior was having on everybody else. Here, he rightfully calls Maurice out for behaving like a huuuuuuuuge asshole in his phone conversation with Deborah, pointing out that if Maurice really loves her and wants her back, treating her that way definitely doesn't show it. Donald's ideas about how to treat the person you love are surprisingly good and emotionally healthy. (Too bad he doesn't know how to actually express any of his feelings as anything other than anger and annoyance!) He's also almost painfully transparent here when he talks about wanting a person who will love him most in the whole world. Oh, Donald. He's so obnoxious, but he's so, so desperate to come first for once, to be somebody's first choice. To feel special, because he secretly thinks he's the only one who isn't. Matilda... could actually be that person, as she seems able to seem to look past most of the tactlessness and awkwardness to the person inside. But only if Donald doesn't fuck it up.

On one level, it makes sense for Amy to draw inspiration from the Baumgartner book and have the whole orchestra in 18th century dress, but it also just highlights the degree to which her fantasies are bleeding into reality and she's increasingly failing to distinguish between the two.

DEBORAH. Her phone conversation with Donald broke my heart! She is so miserable and lonely, and she misses her family so much. You can just see her longing for connection, relishing the little bits of it, warming up to open up and talk longer... but then Donald's got a date, he has to go, and it's just crushingly sad. On the one hand, it's good that her kids are more independent, and she knows that, but... she misses them. She misses being important to them. She doesn't quite know how to relate to them now and is feeling very left behind.

AMY'S FIGHT WITH HYLDA, oh my god. It hurts, it's so painful, because Hylda can clearly see something going very wrong; she has the life experience to recognize these things when she sees them. And she loves Amy and wants her to be okay, but Amy is not having it, and she says some terribly cruel things here, because she can be. (As Cully observed, she clearly inherited her argument style from Maurice.) But Hylda's single shout ("I NEED TO BREATHE!") hits me harder than anything else, because Hylda is ordinarily defined by her calmness. The thing about Hylda is that that calm, her stillness, is so powerful because it is *intentional*. It is a choice. It's not naturally occurring; she has worked damned hard to get here, and it is a practice. So seeing that slip, a flash of the intensity beneath, of HOW hard she works to contain it... it's electrifying. Excruciating. Her outburst here is a reminder that, more than anything, Hylda does the work. Addiction doesn't ever, ever go away; her recovery and present contentment and peace are built on the fact that she is always, always working. Which leads to my next point.

Deborah's book signing is horrible and uncomfortable in many different ways, but obviously the most important one is the woman who confronts her about how Deborah doesn't get to tell her how to feel about depression or her late husband's experience with it, how there is no magic cure or correct method to solve the problem. It doesn't ever go away, mental illness; it can only be managed. Hylda is a success story, but her success is possible because she's made a religion of that discipline. (Not even a little surprising, really, that she was drawn to actual religion, as an extension of the discipline and ruthless self-examination.) It's a brutal, unromantic truth, and you see the way it hits Deborah like a ton of bricks.

BARRY SERIOUSLY WHY WOULD YOU GIVE AMY A BABY. This is SO STRESSFUL, god.

Spare thought: remember that in the last series, Amy could barely ride a regular bike. She had training wheels! And now she's zipping around on a motorbike. It's a clear symbol of her progress... but also of the fact that she needs to go faster faster faster and is rapidly getting to a place where that's dangerous. ESPECIALLY WITH A BABY OH MY GOD.

[news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog]

It turns out purposely messing with your targeted ads isn't a good idea

Facebook is convinced that I am a young mother with a love of kraken-themed decor. 

Unless you count my cat, who is 11-years-old and the animal equivalent of the grumpy old man from Up, I absolutely do not have a child. But for the last six months, my feed has been inundated with ads for baby products, from nasal suction devices to teething toys that look like plush versions of a bad acid trip. 

Over the summer, my cat underwent a veterinary procedure that, to spare the nasty details for the faint of heart, required me to dab antibiotic ointment on his butt twice a day. Because he had a knack for getting out of his cone of shame and getting ointment everywhere, I put him in diapers for the day after the surgery. But diapers made specifically for pets are absurdly expensive, so I bought a pack of (human) infant diapers online and went on my cat owner way. I started seeing ads for baby products that night. 

I know big tech companies have too much on me already. I've been on social media since I was 10-years-old, entering my email and date of birth on Neopets and Club Penguin, so my data has likely been tracked for more than half of my life. I'm online for a majority of my day, and I've accepted the fact that my digital footprint runs too deep for me to ever truly go off the grid. 

Which is exactly why I've started fucking with my ads. 

It's not just weird baby products. I've been curating my ads to show me extremely specific cephalopod-shaped home decor. After months of carefully engaging with ads, I've finally cultivated what I want to see on my Facebook feed. 

Image: screenshot/morgan sung

Image: screenshot/morgan sung

SEE ALSO: All the social media opt-outs you need to activate right now

I'm not the only one. Caroline, a Twitter user who tweets under the handle @defundpoppunk, also curates their ads. After clicking on specific Facebook ads, they managed to prune their feed like an artisanal algorithm — a concept first floated by Twitter user @JanelleCShane — into a masterpiece: Unreasonably baggy pants.

It's like a cursed personal data-laden bonsai tree. 

I click every ad I see on Facebook for weird pants in an effort to train Facebook to show me the weirdest pants. I think it's finally starting to pay off: pic.twitter.com/nS1oMl1Mv7

— olivia colman's oscar (@defundpoppunk) March 12, 2019

Caroline says they searched for jogger-style pants before, and has been getting ads for them ever since. For weeks, they've been clicking on any ad featuring "vaguely interesting-looking" pants. 

Like me, Caroline is fed up with the unending lack of privacy we have, and started engaging with their ads just to mess with them. 

"So at first it was a little bit of private trolling just because I know e-comm [e-commerce] people take their click through rates really seriously," they told Mashable through Twitter DM. "But then once I started my targeted ads actually changing, I got a little more deliberate about it out of curiosity." 

Aside from being an "amusing reminder that everyone is being tracked online constantly," as Caroline said, playing with targeted ads is like playing a game. 

There's something deeply satisfying about knowing that even though I as an individual can't really stop power hungry tech giants, I'm giving them a digital middle finger by engaging with the "wrong" ads. It's the online version of the Florida man who runs into hurricanes with heavy metal and American flags. Realistically, messing with my ads won't shroud me from the inevitable tracking that comes from being online, but it feels like I'm making it slightly more inconvenient for large corporations to know everything about the real me. 

Shoshana Wodinsky, a tech reporter at Adweek, gets why deliberately polluting your targeted ads is entertaining. 

"These kinds of big tech platforms are really powerful," she said during a Skype call. "They're like multibillion dollar companies and the fact that they screw up sometimes is kind of funny. Part of it's definitely punching up, but part of it's like, even these behemoths are somewhat fucked up."

Wodinsky has also experimented with purposely muddling her digital presence; she once changed her Bitmoji to be pregnant to see if it would affect her targeted ads. (She told Mashable that she is very much not pregnant, and during her interview, she said that the only children she has are her two cats.) Although she said it started "as a joke," she wondered how far she could take it.

"Realistically, I know that me pretending to be pregnant isn't going to do anything, but it's kind of like looking outside of the fishbowl," she said. "It's fucking over the big businesses, and who doesn't like to do that." 

i gave myself a pregnant bitmoji to see if it would screw with the way ads are targeted toward me and..... im here to tell you that nothings changed pic.twitter.com/SmfWkpRGys

— שוש (@swodinsky) February 13, 2019

fb thinks im preggers,,,,,, success

— שוש (@swodinsky) February 13, 2019

Less than half an hour after creating the Bitmoji, her ad interests included "motherhood" and "breastfeeding."

It's unclear what prompted Facebook to include those options in her interests — it could have been her Bitmoji, or it could have been the fact that she tweeted about it. 

Realistically, just clicking on and engaging with specific ads won't do much to your digital footprint; if you really wanted to go deep, you'd have to change your entire online behavior. Your ads aren't just targeted based on what you interact with on specific social media platforms, but what you search and interact with across the entire internet. Thanks to the cookies Facebook uses to track users, regardless of whether or not you're logged in, you can leave fingerprints all over the web. Truly tricking the algorithm would mean a complete overhaul of your search habits, your social media, and whatever personal information is publicly available. 

Meddling with your ad preferences by intentionally engaging with them sounds like a harmless prank, but it might have a dark side. Dr. Russell Newman, a professor at Emerson College who specializes in internet privacy, surveillance, and political communication, worries that any engagement with ads can have long term consequences. 

"You might feel like you're exercising some bit of control, but in fact, you have none," he said during a phone interview. "There are unknown ways that the game you are playing right now will affect your future existence, and you won't really be able to know."

Newman stresses that we really have no idea what information can be pulled from our online interactions, and how it can be used in the future. Because internet users are "seen in a particular way, quantified in a particular way, and identified in a particular way," he says, engaging with certain ads and showing a preference for certain ads can preclude certain options. He worries that engagement like this can affect life-altering factors like credit score. It sounds far fetched, but Newman said convincing advertisers that my cat is actually my baby, for example, could possibly affect my future health insurance premiums without me even knowing. 

"All the decisions that are going to be made about you going forward," Newman said. "Or the rest of your existence, are going to be based on the truth provided digitally."

Washington Post editor Gillian Brockell experienced the insidious side of online advertising last year. Shortly after she delivered her son, who was stillborn, the credit company Experian sent her an email prompting her to "finish registering" her child to track his credit for life. She noted in a viral Twitter thread that she had never even started registering her baby, and it was particularly cruel that companies wanted his information after his death.

I find this hard to believe. I'd been using Experian to check my credit regularly, & I'd never received any spam like this from them before, just a monthly email saying my report was updated. + the ad didn't say “family protection solution.” it said “register your child.” 3/ pic.twitter.com/dUPRxyWRKH

— Gillian Brockell (@gbrockell) March 12, 2019

"These tech companies triggered that on their own, based on information we shared, Brockell wrote in a piece reflecting on how she never asked to be targeted with parenting ads. "So what I’m asking is that there be similar triggers to turn this stuff off on its own, based on information we’ve shared."

Newman emphasizes that while Google, Facebook, and Amazon market themselves as a search engine, social media network, and online marketplace, respectively, the companies have a greater goal: advertising. 

"It's notable that you're saying, 'My privacy is gone, so I'm just going to roll with it,'" Newman said during a phone interview. "The problem isn't that your privacy is gone, the problem is that we don't actually have a nationwide regime set in place in regards to privacy."

Luckily, there are a number of ways to scale back on ad tracking, from opting out of social media data collection to using private browsers. 

Here's the bottom line: It turns out messing with my targeted ads probably wasn't a good idea. As satisfying as it is to make it slightly more inconvenient for advertisers, purposely engaging with ads for kraken-specific products is less damaging than limiting the data that advertisers can hold over me. Since my conversation with Newman, I've stopped haphazardly clicking on strange ads and opted out of sharing across my social media presence. 

But old habits are hard to break, and I admit that when I'm scrolling through Facebook before bed, I'll still linger on ads that include octopi. 

WATCH: BTS' 'Boy With Luv' shatters viewing records on YouTube

[w0wsignal]

here’s my oscar winners review that absolutely no one asked for:

i’ve specified which films won and which were my personal choice, and if there was a category that i really knew nothing about, it will not be included. also we’re saving the best for last so if you want my hottest and fully developed takes you might as well go to the end of this post

also to preface: i’ve got a lot of opinions

Best Animated Short: Bao (WINNER, MY PICK), Animal Behaviour, Late Afternoon, One Small Step, Weekends

i did not see any of the other animated shorts on this list but bao, which maybe says something, but i remember seeing this in theaters along with many other trailers/adverts while waiting to see Bohemian Rhapsody (wow…) and it was so, very emotional. perhaps it even took the spotlight of that whole movie experience? the animation was beautiful, the story was heart-wrenching, and i believe every parent and those who want to become a parent one day should take the time to watch this.

Best Animated Feature: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (WINNER, MY PICK), Incredibles 2, Isle of Dogs, Mirai, Ralph Breaks the Internet

well deserved, the animation in this movie was— and i’m being very serious when i say this— groundbreaking. in the least, it has shown animators that realism is not always the goal, and being experimental can certainly pay off. the concept this movie has with all the inter-dimensional spidermans joining our protagonist miles was genius, and when i realized that there would be multiples of them due to the multiple sets of intros we were given, it was hilarious and perfectly entertaining. i don’t think anyone can go into this movie and not enjoy it. i honestly thought incredibles 2 was going to win, just simply due to my lack of faith in the academy, but thankfully that did not happen. as far as the others, they were all definitely deserving of their oscar nomination, but the oscar win had to go to spider-verse.

Best Film Editing: Bohemian Rhapsody (WINNER), BlacKkKlansman, The Favourite (MY PICK), Green Book, Vice

i mean… bohemian rhapsody? surely there’s something else… that was maybe even a little bit more deserving… than that. surely academy, surely you can do better. or can you? bohemian rhapsody had some of the worst editing in a major film that i’ve seen. i mean, did you just like how the movie made you FEEL, academy?! be honest you can say it. i loved we will rock you. but that’s not editing! i mean, this alone gave me vertigo: https://twitter.com/jesssetaylor/status/1097712834643984390. i would’ve loved to see the favourite win, as the editing in that movie represented it so well. the editing created a fully immersive experience, and the short, witty, snappy quips that were highlighted by the editing made the viewing experience all the more hilarious. the title sequences alone that were edited in gave me a purpose to watch the scenes a bit more closer than i initially would’ve; searching for the line that was given the status of the title for that section. i haven’t seen blacKkKlansman but if that had won, i wouldn’t have been mad about it, as i’ve heard great things. but ultimately, the favourite deserved this oscar.

Best Visual Effects: First Man (WINNER, MY PICK), Avengers: Infinity War, Christopher Robin, Ready Player One, Solo: A Star Wars Story

i’m just glad avengers didn’t get this

Best Sound Mixing: Bohemian Rhapsody (WINNER, MY PICK), Black Panther, First Man, Roma, A Star Is Born

now best sound mixing, i suppose i can understand. the sound in this movie WAS the movie. i felt like i was actually in concert, experiencing queen live, so i understand. it was very good. i could have seen ASIB taking this oscar as well, due to everyone raving about the music, but perhaps this was the one oscar that bohemian rhapsody actually deserved.

Best Sound Editing: Bohemian Rhapsody (WINNER), Black Panther, First Man, A Quiet Place, Roma (MY PICK)

nope, nope, nope. again, mixing i understand, but editing? all they did was edit in the songs mate… roma should have won this. the sounds in that movie made me feel like i was actually there, experiencing the water dripping down from the buildings, creating a puddle. washing the floor, witnessing a protest, being outside when i’m actually inside— watching the movie with my family. it was so realistic; i was completely taken. dissatisfied completely with this one!

Best Original Score: Black Panther (WINNER), BlacKkKlansman, If Beale Street Could Talk (MY PICK), Isle of Dogs, Mary Poppins Returns

nicholas britell i’m so, so sorry. everyone was talking about how great the score was for black panther, and while there were some good songs, i don’t think it deserved the oscar win. definitely deserved a nomination, but a win? i’m not so sure. if beale street could talk, now that was a score that was truly deserving of this. very disappointed that if beale street could talk’s only win was for regina king’s performance. it definitely at least deserved this oscar as well.

Best Production Design: Black Panther (WINNER, MY PICK), The Favourite, First Man, Mary Poppins Returns, Roma

i definitely understand this win, black panther was breathtaking in terms of the beauty of the production. congratulations hannah beachler and jay hart! i would’ve been happy to see the favourite also win this category, but black panther deserved it!

Best Foreign-Language Film: Roma (WINNER, MY PICK), Capernaum, Cold War, Never Look Away, Shoplifters

now, at first, BEFORE best picture was announced, i was confused as to why roma was even in this category. should a foreign-language film that is also nominated for best picture even be in this category? i mean, obviously it would win! and it did. i fully expected roma to win best picture (more on that later) but due to it not winning best picture, i’m very glad that it at least won best foreign-language film. but cuarón, just go ahead and give the oscar to yalitza aparicio!

Best Costume Design: Black Panther (WINNER, MY PICK), The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, The Favourite, Mary Poppins Returns, Mary Queen of Scots

again, the costume design was amazing in black panther, and this was a win that was very deserving. but would i have liked to see the favourite win? yeah, but that’s just my own selfish gay opinion— black panther winning was definitely the right choice

Best Cinematography: Roma (WINNER, MY PICK), The Favourite, Never Look Away, A Star Is Born, Cold War

roma deserved this, period! the cinematography was immersive, it was emotional, it was everything that it needed to be. do i even need to say more?

Best Original Screenplay: Green Book (WINNER), The Favourite (MY PICK), First Reformed, Roma, Vice

okay, i didn’t even see first reformed and i know that it should’ve won. i mean, first reformed should have been nominated for best picture. i also would have been completely happy with the favourite winning. roma, i should mention, i would not have wanted to win because cuarón really just stole a woman’s story and made it his own, completely disregarding the feelings of the woman it was based on

Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali (WINNER, MY PICK) (Green Book), Adam Driver (BlacKkKlansman), Sam Elliott (A Star Is Born), Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?), Sam Rockwell (Vice)

i mean, best supporting actor? mahershala ali? he should be considered the lead actor of green book, but due to the movie just being terrible and racist and inaccurate, i guess he’s the supporting actor! other than that, i love mahershala ali so i’m just glad he got an oscar.

Best Supporting Actress: Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk) (WINNER, MY PICK), Amy Adams (Vice), Marina de Tavira (Roma), Emma Stone (The Favourite), Rachel Weisz (The Favourite)

well deserved! i would have loved to also see stone or weisz take this as well, but i think the fact that they were both nominated from the same movie just goes to show that this movie had amazing acting, which makes me happy. i’m glad if beale street could talk and regina king’s superb acting abilities are being recognized, as well, therefore i’m pretty happy with this.

Best Actor: Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody) (WINNER), Christian Bale (Vice), Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born), Willem Dafoe (At Eternity’s Gate) (MY PICK), Viggo Mortensen (Green Book)

willem dafoe… maybe next year, huh? i don’t understand the appeal for rami malek winning. i used to love the man, but things he has done has shown his arrogance, so i’m a bit unsure of him recently. i’m not mad that he won, and it’s a great win for the MENA community (that i am apart of), so for that reason i’m satisfied.

Best Actress: Olivia Colman (The Favourite) (WINNER, MY PICK), Glenn Close (The Wife), Yalitza Aparicio (Roma), Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born), Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)

olivia colman you earned it, fair and square. this was the big win for the favourite last night. as the night got closer to this announcment, i was losing faith and just expected gaga or aparicio to go ahead and take it. and as it got even closer, i just thought aparicio would win. but olivia colman, whew. her acting was stunning in the favourite. her character consumed the movie, as she should have, and she depicted queen anne’s tragedy perfectly. yalitza aparicio’s performance in roma was very good, but i did not feel the emotion from her character as viscerally as i did from olivia colman’s performance. i really thought the night would go on with the favourite winning absolutely nothing, so thank god that they got this, because olivia colman was the clear choice! that film was fantastic, and i’m glad it got a least a little bit of recognition, even though it definitely deserved at least one other oscar (cough) best flim editing (cough). queen anne was hilarious, she was maddening, she was infuriating, she was miserable, she was everything. also sorry glenn close… maybe next time?

Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón (Roma) (WINNER), Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite) (MY PICK), Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman), Adam McKay (Vice), Pawel Pawlikowski (Cold War)

okay cuarón, just give your oscar to yalitza aparicio. no? okay. well then, yorgos lanthimos you deserved it. the favourite was edited perfectly. the delivery of the lines was perfect. the panning from one character to the next, everything about it was done with eloquence. and don’t get me started on the music— every time viola d’amore concerto in a minor, rv. 397 i. vivace started playing just as weisz or stone did something to piss off the other, it was SO SATISFYING! of course i was only rooting for only one of them (especially by the end), but either way i felt what they were feeling in those moments. the music, the editing, the camerawork, the acting, the script… it all worked harmoniously in order to create the masterpiece that was the favourite. also, from a viola player, thank you for making the main theme a viola concerto, yorgos. also in a minor? that’s taste. this directing deserved an oscar win, not just a nomination.

Best Picture: Green Book (WINNER), Black Panther, BlacKkKlansman (MY PICK), Bohemian Rhapsody, The Favourite (MY PICK), Roma (MY PICK), A Star Is Born, Vice

okay here we go… here we go. green book? GREEN BOOK? no. nope. literally any film besides this one please. okay let’s get started… green book is inaccurate, it’s a white savior story, it was a movie that was supposed to be about don shirley, the world class pianist, but instead is about this random fucking cab driver? and don shirley’s family have said that it was inaccurate and that it poorly represented actual events of shirley’s life. as a piano player… i am disgusted. also if you were going to give the oscar to a flim depicting racism… why not give it to blacKkKlansman? you know, the movie talking about racism that was actually created by black people and not just a team of white men? fuck you, green book! i fully expected roma to win, and oh, how wrong was i. roma deserved best picture. green book is a joke. i obviously would have liked to see the favourite win, because a gay movie about GIRLS! would have been nice to actually get some recognition. roma, the favourite, blacKkKlansman. these were the choices that should have gotten best picture. the others, eh. also why was black panther even in the nominations? like, seriously… that should have been replaced with if beale street could talk. and also, since they had ten slots anyway, first reformed should have gotten a nomination as well. this was by far the most disappointing win of the night AND confusing, for me personally (more confusing than bohemian rhapsody winning best film editing, which says something). just a terrible choice. this movie should not have even been nominated, but the academy is dumb. seriously though, NOT roma?

okay that’s it folks, those are my opinions. all in all, not a great oscars. some really good wins, though, like olivia colman’s win and spider-verse. also roma for best foreign. basically everything that was bolded and italics on this post were pretty good wins. but despite that, there were some VERY bad ones.

[hiemshiemis]

films 2019

 1. bird box (susanne bier, 2018)

my mum wanted to watch this film with me, but i didnt feel like watching it at the first time. finally we watched it together the other day on netflix. its not an amazing film, but its actually very entertaining, and i really enjoyed it, although there are some parts where my anxiety showed up. also i had to say the plot has some holes, so at this point i think they shoud have worked more on that. the best thing is that it lasts two hours but it seems like one hour.

(sorry for my mistakes, i havent written in english for a long time)

6/10

2. roma (alfonso cuarón, 2018)

it’s hard for me at first starting a film, and i didnt find the moment to watch it but i really wanted. today i didnt know what to do with my life. it was the moment. i really liked this film for a lot of reasons, maybe the main one is the representation it gives of how life was in Mexico in 1970, and how it was for women and poor people. 

the main character’s acting is amazing, although they dont talk a lot, you just see what happens without the people saying anything. the photography is so realistic but at the same time is elegant and delicate, plus it is in black and white. maybe the plot is a little slow in the first hour basically because of how the scenes are shot. and i have loved the plot, the children and the women.

8/10

3. the favourite (yorgos lanthimos, 2019)

I LOVED THIS FILM. omg i didnt expect i was going to like it like that but i really do (im sorry i just realize i say ‘’really’’ a lot and im really sorry). i went to the cinema with some friends, and the only one that liked the film was me. the other people were like: “i didnt understand the meaning...”, “what a waste of time”, “it was just entertaining”, etc. but you know what, you dont actually have to look for a meaning, i mean, it is what it is. and it’s MARVELOUS. 

to be honest i dont know who i would rather to crush my head, if rachel weisz or emma stone (obviously i have to mention olivia colman’s interpretation). i guess i would probably say rachel weisz because what an interpretation and because she is gorgeous? as well as emma stone, her character is remarkable. all of them are. that’s the best thing about it: the main characters are women, and men only appear in five scenes or so and less than five minutes. the important character are women, and very powerful women, smart, brave, and algo a little silly like the queen. it’s so realistic.

plus the setting is awesome. it shows how women were treated: like shit, like nothing. they didn’t care about women at all. they hit them, rape them, and it is shown how normal it was. also is very ironic and hilarious, i mean, it’s funny but not because it’s a comedy; it’s made for you to laugh at some parts. the plot is very well treated too. i didn’t get bored and it lasts two hours.

i have tried to organize my thoughts, but it doesnt seem very organized i guess. the thing is: everyone has to watch this film n o w.

9/10

4. her (spike jonze, 2013)

i have wanted to watch this movie for a long time, but i guess i just didn’t find the moment or i didn’t feel like watching it. finally i did.

the idea of falling in love with a machine was something i didn’t know how they were going to treat it. it’s very original i guess because not every day you see someone falling in love with a machine. at first i was like wtf i am going to watch. but i liked it a lot. 

probably what i liked the most is the photography. it tells you the story of theodore and katherine but with flashbacks, and those scenes are so lovely and beautiful. also the quotes are amazing and very deep (and very true). i love how the plot is taken: the developmente of theodore’s love towards samantha is slow but deep and realistic. i swear i almost felt like the one that was falling in love with her was me and not him. 

this is a very nice film and i recommend everyone to watch it.

8/10

5. the grave of the fireflies (isao takahata, 1988)

i didn’t want to watch this film because i didn’t want to suffer. it was horrible, not the film, but the feeling. it is a sad story that shows the worst part of the war. i have to say i thought it was going to be worse, i didn’t even cry. 

6,5/10

[6. the chorus (christophe barratier, 2004)] - los chicos del coro

one of my favourite films ever.

9/10

7. on the basis of sex (mimi leder, 2018)

at first i didn’t expect anything to be honest, but it wasn’t that dissapointing. i thought it was going to be worse, focusing more on liberal feminism. the idea and the intention were good but the result... mmm let me tell you it isn’t.

if the plot was focused on how the protagonist became a lawyer, since the first moment she got in harvard, it would have been a better film. instead it focuses on a case that it’s like wtf????

the message is good, and that’s important, but it could have been better. and this sucks because i dont know anymore how to express myself in english or i dont know.

8. manchester by the sea (kenneth lodergan, 2016)

my cousin recommended me this film because i wanted to cry and she said she cried a lot because of this film at the end.

the story is sad, really sad, and very pessimistic. i dont think there is anything good in this film. it’s so cold? how the plot, the characters interact with each other, is cold. i don’t know. anyway, i really liked it.

7/10

9. billy elliot (stephen daldry, 2000)

if i think about it im still crying. it was so moving, i loved it. i’ve cried a lot and how can you not? mira estoy cansada voy a escribir en español. no me esperaba que me fuese a gustar tanto pero se me rompió el corazón de lo bonita que es y del sentimiento que te deja nada más acabar. casi da ganas de vivir. en serio todo el mundo debería verla. además me alegro mucho de no haber nacido en los años 80 la verdad. 

8/10

10. your name (makoto shinkai, 2016)

netflix la calificaba como “lacrimógena”. bueno. se me cayó alguna lágrima y no fue precisamente en el final. aún así, muy bonita, con unos dibujos preciosos y muy realistas. me ha gustado mucho y acaba bien la historia.

(al final voy a hablar menos en español que en inglés)

7/10

11. little miss sunshine (valerie faris, jonathan dayton; 2006)

the first time i saw this film was in second of ESO when i was 13 i think? i loved it but i didn’t remember almost anything. i was afraid to watching it again knowing i may not like it in the same way. i didn’t like it as it was the first time watching it but i enjoyed it.

6,5/10

12. mamma mia! (phyllida lloyd, 2008)

quisiera poner algo más que “me ha gustado” o “no me ha gustado ha sido una mierda” pero es que de verdad no sé.

sé que es un clásico y he tardado unos cuantos años en verla. no sabía qué esperar pero partía de que a todo el mundo le gusta esta peli así que iba más o menos tranquila. me ha gustado bastante, se pasa rápido el tiempo viéndola aunque todavía siga sin saber quién es el padre.

por cierto encoñada me hallo de amanda seyfried.

7,5/10

13. bridget jones’s diary (sharon maguire, 2001)

tengo una amiga que describe esta película como orgullo y prejuicio pero en el siglo xxi. la verdad es que is kinda like that.

pensé que me iba a reír más y que me gustaría más, la verdad. pero aun así me ha gustado, me ha divertido y entretenido aunque hay escenas para mí algo más flojas que otras. ha estado bien.

6,5/10

[14. juno (jason reitman, 2007)]

i can’t explain how much i love this film, and i dont even know why. it just kinda happened. probably my favourite film? i know the plot isn’t something extraordinary either the photography. i know it isn’t a winning oscar film, but do you think i care? i don’t. it’s special for me, and even i know it isn’t that good, it’s a really good film, and i love it omg. i also love ellen page please marry me.

btw i always cry at the end, i mean, how can you not?

9/10

15. aladdin (guy ritchie, 2019)

i usually dont like this type of films, but the truth is i actually enjoy it.

6/10

16. el autor (manuel martín cuenca, 2017)

la verdad es que me ha gustado bastante, es entretenida y no muy larga, realmente lo único que quieres es saber cómo acaba, así que eso está guay. los personajes dejan mucho que desear, pero tampoco están tan mal.

7/10

17. coco (lee unkrich, adrián molina; 2017)

preciosa película, más que bonita, vaya llorera

8,5/10

[18. harry potter y la piedra filosofal] (chris columbus, 2001)

5/10 (es la que menos me gusta y todavía la quiero)

[19. harry potter y la cámara secreta] (chris columbus, 2002)

6/10 (menos mal que este señor se fue)

[20. harry potter y el prisionero de azkaban] (alfonso cuarón, 2004)

8,5/10 (cinematográficamente increíble)

[21. harry potter y el cáliz de fuego] (mike newell, 2005)

7/10

[22. harry potter y la orden del fénix] (david yates, 2007)

8/10

[23. harry potter y el misterio del príncipe] (david yates, 2009)

9/10

[24. harry potter y las reliquias de la muerte: parte 1] (david yates, 2010)

7,5/10

[25. harry potter y las reliquias de la muerte: parte 2] (david yates, 2011)

7,5/10 (me gustaría más si no fuese el final y eso no me gusta nada.........)

[cynthiajayusa]

‘Disobedience’ Star Rachel Weisz Talks Her New Sapphic Tales

Rachel Weisz has strong feelings about makers of queer films discussing their work with queer media. To not do so, she says, would be “ridiculous and wrong and unthinkable.”

As producer and star of Disobedience, a tale of forbidden love between women, Weisz is definitely talking to LGBTQ media. The 48-year-old British actress had been on a quest to tell more female-centric stories, which led her to an array of feminist books, including Naomi Alderman’s 2006 novel. She optioned the film rights to Disobedience, then found her director: Sebastián Lelio, the Chilean filmmaker behind 2013’s Gloria and A Fantastic Woman, the 2018 Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film.

In Disobedience, Weisz portrays Ronit, a lapsed Jew now living as a photographer in New York City who returns to the Orthodox Jewish London enclave she grew up in to attend her rabbi father’s funeral. There, her childhood friend and lover Esti (Rachel McAdams), now married to Ronit’s father’s protégé Dovid (Alessandro Nivola), is emboldened by her rekindled passion for Ronit to pursue her own path to self-discovery and, ultimately, religious freedom.

Weisz — known for her roles in About a Boy and The Constant Gardener, which won her a Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 2006 — has further feminist ambitions: She’ll play a queer woman in the upcoming historical drama The Favourite before portraying British military surgeon Dr. James Barry, a 19th-century woman born Margaret Ann Bulkley, who disguised herself as a man to become a doctor.

Can you just produce queer stories for the rest of your career?

Yes, please. Do you have any books to point me toward?

I think you’re probably up on lesbian lit more than I am. I hear you got deep into it.

I read a few books.

The team behind Call Me By Your Name did almost no LGBTQ media. But you’ve been everywhere talking about Disobedience: mainstream press, queer press. I feel like some marketers think we’re living in a time when gay is mainstream, so niche media sometimes get overlooked. So, thank you for not overlooking us. As a producer, why is it important to reach out to queer media with a film like Disobedience?

If you’re queer, your subjectivity is not in the margins — it’s front and center for the life you’re leading. But mainstream stories have pushed queer stories into the margins — and I think that’s what’s so wonderful about Sebastián.

His film [Gloria] before A Fantastic Woman wasn’t a queer story, but it was about a 58-year-old woman’s dating life and her sex life — again, something that in storytelling is not front and center. A Fantastic Woman was about the experience of a trans woman. And this film is about two queer women struggling to be free to love who they want to love. So, I’ve gotta say, hats off to Sebastián. He does the opposite of objectifying things; he subjectivizes things.

And yeah, in terms of speaking to queer outlets? It’s essential. How could we make this film and then push you into the margins? That would be ridiculous and wrong and unthinkable.

What measures did you take to avoid falling into the male-fantasy trap that so many lesbian films end up in?

I can’t claim that I did anything apart from entrust[ing] myself to Sebastián’s point of view. I knew he doesn’t objectify women or men, or anybody. He has empathy, and he makes [characters] into real people. Rachel McAdams and I just trusted him.

The male gaze doesn’t always have to be objectifying. [Sebastián’s] point of view on how these women desire each other, I find it beautiful. He’s the auteur. He authored the whole film, and the story; I can’t claim anything apart from being clever enough to trust him. [Laughs.]

Some people felt the gaze in Blue is the Warmest Color, the critically acclaimed 2013 lesbian love story, was male and, therefore, problematic. Are there any problematic lesbian or queer films you’d seen prior to Disobedience that were on your mind while shooting?

No. I did see Blue is the Warmest Color, and I enjoyed it. Listen, just to see a woman loving a woman being represented was very exciting. I liked the film very much.

But no — I didn’t have a “To Do or Not to Do” list, and I certainly didn’t research lesbian films. I looked into my heart and how I love this person. It was very emotional and vulnerable, full of yearning. I didn’t have any other references in my mind. I don’t believe Rachel McAdams did either. We certainly never talked about it. I just loved this person, this woman.

What parts of yourself did you tap into for a role that centers on same-sex desire?

It doesn’t feel any different. It felt different in that it’s softer and more vulnerable. That might not be true with all women, but certainly with Esti it was. [Our characters] had been childhood friends and we’d known each other. We had a huge history and we were in love. She was my first love, and yeah, it felt like love. I didn’t have to open a different door in my brain; she’s just the person I loved. So, I didn’t really think of it in those terms.

WATCH:

Let’s talk about how liberating their sex scene is: Do you hope it might influence other queer people who feel pressure to live an inauthentic life?

I hope this film is inspiring to anyone who feels like they’re not free to love who they want to love. We’re saying that love can be an act of defiance, and sometimes one has to be disobedient to the social norms around us. To be free, sometimes it costs a lot; it’s not always easy.

So, I’m not going to glibly say, “Just do it.” It’s hard. It’s really hard. But I hope the film is inspiring, but also realistic. It shows the incredible struggle that Esti goes through with her sexual identity. I hope it will inspire people.

Prior to Disobedience, what’s the closest you’d come to playing a lesbian character?

I’ve never played a queer character at all.

Have scripts come your way and you’ve turned them down?

Oh, great question! I’ve been offered very few. Maybe there are more being written now, but in my career, I think I was offered once a script about a straight woman who had an affair [with a woman], but the story didn’t — I mean, I loved the politics of it and the queerness of it, but the story wasn’t quite deep enough, somehow. But I would love to play more queer women. So, yeah, anyone who has any ideas…

Aren’t you playing actress Olivia Colman’s lover in the period drama, The Favourite?

Oh yeah, in my next film. She’s a married woman, but she’s also my lover and confidant and best friend and adviser, and really is actually running England. [Laughs.] Or so she thinks. But yeah, they’re lovers. They’ve been lovers for years.

Before all these queer-oriented roles, you played the Wicked Witch of the East in Oz the Great and Powerful. What do you think that did for your gay following?

I didn’t know it did anything for a gay following! I’d love for that to be true. Is that true?

It’s Oz, so I’d say so.

Oh, that’s fantastic! She’s a strong kind, yeah. That’s fabulous. Thank you. I actually wanted to play her like Tim Curry in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I thought she was kind of a man in drag. I felt like she was Frank-N-Furter, and I talked to [director] Sam Raimi, but he had never seen Rocky Horror.

Growing up with Jewish and Catholic parents, what were you taught to believe about the LGBTQ community?

My ma’s passed away now; she died in her 80s. And my dad is nearly 90. They had me in their 40s. They had gay friends — homosexual male friends — but I wouldn’t say they understood in the way that my generation understands queerness. I guess they were kind of sheltered, I would say.

How are you raising your 11-year-old son, Henry?

He is just of a generation where he’s kind of — [it’s as if] he’s colorblind. He just doesn’t think in categories. He thinks in a very free way, that people should just love who they love. He sees everyone as just part of the human race. He doesn’t really see difference at all, so that’s good.

You have another child on the way, with your husband Daniel Craig. If one of your children came out to you one day as queer, how do you imagine you would respond?

I’d be very happy for anyone I know and love… to love whomever they want to love.

source https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2018/05/16/disobedience-star-rachel-weisz-talks-her-new-sapphic-tales/ from Hot Spots Magazine https://hotspotsmagazin.blogspot.com/2018/05/disobedience-star-rachel-weisz-talks.html