#I've seen a lot of folks say they want more seasonal characters to be introduced and I guess that could work in the context of a show

[pinksilvace]

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[fatherramiro]

going to be a little fun, a little snarky, on the dash tonight but since i don't think ive ever publicly talked about this before (with regards to Boat Show Fandom) we're gonna get a little insight into one of the reasons i don't ship a certain ship (and im really trying to keep this out of the tag soooo)

listen like you know what if you want to ship krester and ángel, im not about to say you can't do that or whatever, like im not your dad! follow your heart! but like the reason i know that i wouldn't be able to personally, no matter what could've happened on the show, is that it kind of leaves ramiro in the dust.

a refrain from a lot of folks has always been "ramiro deserves better" and yeah, he shouldn't have to put up with bullshit! but the fact is is that, deserving better or not, ramiro wants ángel. he's in love with him. and ángel is in love with him too, despite posts claiming that he was trying to break up with ramiro in their final scene together in episode seven. the show kind of drives home the fact that despite the drama and messiness of it all, they're both equally invested in being together. so if the show suddenly pivots from that to "oh but ángel really doesn't love ramiro as much as he loves krester" or "krester is secretly ángel's soulmate," it almost feels like what was the point of ramiro and ángel in the back half of season one? if they wanted to set up ángel's affections being elsewhere, there were plenty of opportunities to do so - have ángel care that krester died, or have there be tension between him and ramiro, for example. but the writing specifically is of ramiro and ángel fully committed to each other. and if ángel suddenly dumps him, then that leaves ramiro with what exactly?

the idea of ramiro deserving a better boyfriend is also predicated on a character who does not exist in the show. if ramiro deserves better, where are fics shipping him with any other male character who would do better? or even fics where he finds love with an oc? there is no one else on the show for ramiro, and while love is not the only story a character can aspire to, he starts the show in a love story and there's no indication that his character wants to be single. maybe we would've gotten a new character introduced in season two who was ramiro's real love but like.... i doubt it?

there's more story for krester outside of ángel - he has his family, and his closest and most important relationship is the one he has with tove. but ramiro and ángel are a package deal; to suddenly drop ramiro in favor of krester means that ramiro doesn't have as much of a driving motivation in the story any longer, unless he's going to be pining after ángel the whole time, which would be a Choice. and maybe bo and jantje could write that story successfully but it doesn't fit with the story they seemed to be telling in season one.

there's also the idea i've seen in many posts, mostly from when the show first aired, that basically said "it's okay that ángel treats ramiro badly, because he won't do that to krester!" and like... okay. but if ángel really is a toxic fuckboy, i doubt he's going to treat krester any better than he treated ramiro? like the whole thing just feels like it's mean towards ramiro, and as a ramiro girlie (gender neutral) i just can't vibe with it.

this is not meant to shame anyone either, like you can ship whatever the hell you want. but this is just me thinking about it and verbalizing it so like... yay for me?

[yurisorcerer]

some thoughts on Hanako & The Terror of Allegory

On a Discord server I'm in, some folks are doing a manga-swap challenge. I have six manga from this challenge to read in 2024, and I've just finished the first one. I don't have enough thoughts to warrant a full review, but I did want to say a few things.

This is Hanako & The Terror of Allegory. Also called Hanako & The Teller of Allegory---the name has an intentional double meaning that doesn't translate super well, I think.

This one is pretty obscure, it was recommended to me by my buddy AftershockWolf (@theokamiproject).

To be honest, I didn't love it. The series is in that "urban legend horror" genre, of a sort that's since been perfected by the likes of Otherside Picnic or, say, something like Mysterious Disappearances (which, that's getting an anime next season, isn't that weird?). The innate disadvantage something like this has is because there's such a small pool of source material, it can very much feel like you've read every take on every idea before, and furthermore, this manga is from 2004 (into 2005. Ran for about a year, from what I can tell), so I've seen a lot of different spins on the stories it mines for most of its chapters---Hanako of the Toilet, Mary the Doll, Kokkuri-san, Red Paper / Blue Paper, the Slit-Mouthed Woman, etc.---and in many cases I've seen them done better. Again, it's kind of unfair to this manga since it was written quite a while ago, so I suppose you'd call this a case of something aging poorly.

It's also bad in a few other more mundane ways; the sense of humor is absolutely daft as fuck, lots of very basic stock jokes with zero originality to them. Most of these were getting old in 2004. Reading them 20 years later makes them kind of insufferable. Occasionally it'll be funny *by accident*, but that's a different thing and doesn't really count IMO.

It's also not actually great at really getting under my skin in the way that the truly great stuff in this genre (again like Otherside Picnic) can, and has a bad habit of pulling plot twists out of its ass when it doesn't really need to. Most of this will not stick with me, and to top it all off the art is very middle of the road and of its time. Although there are occasional cool splash panels that make up for that somewhat.

However, all is not lost. The weakpoints of this manga are mostly not that interesting, what is interesting is where it goes in its final act, where it introduces a (to my knowledge) completely-original antagonist, and the manga starts essentially collapsing in on itself as the characters very directly fight for control of the narrative against said antagonist, a villainous authorial figure who herself might not really exist. It's a rather sudden shift, but it's a welcome one, and I think if more of the manga had been like this I would probably have enjoyed it a lot more.

I have a sneaking suspicion that this series got axed from whatever magazine it was running in, and that's the culprit for the swift change in direction, but in this case it saves a bad manga from itself and makes reading the thing not a complete loss. Also, said character is attractive, I'll say it. (Wolf happened to tell me that this character was the whole reason they recommended me the manga. Given that she carries this last arc hard, I will say that was a good call.)

If you can put up with everything I mentioned in order to get to the fairly compelling final act, I might tentatively recommend it, since Terror of Allegory here is only 19 chapters long. Still, I don't think anyone's hugely missing out by not reading this thing, the genre has evolved *a lot* over the past 20 years and this is not exactly a foundational release.

Interesting side note; on the scanlation page the translator actually recommends a few similar works, one of which is the MUCH better Dusk Maiden of Amnesia, which came out only a few years after this. Another reminder that even at the time this was solidly middle of the pack.

[constantvariations]

Rwby V9C2. This time i decided to put all my thoughts down as i watched the episode (i know most folks do this as a massive series of reblogs. No thanks lol)

You know its gonna be a gr8 episode when the very first line is a disingenuous trope aware quip. No wonder at the new world, no anxiety about how to get home. Nope! Just... bland disinterest. Did Joss Whedon join crwby?

I hate Little so goddamn much. Idk if yall read that one teaboot post where they talk about their hatred of Olaf from Frozen but I am reaching that level of irrational fury

As much as I like the uses of sweat drops and pop animation and frustration speech bubbles because they're delightful anime visual tropes... it's wayyy to late to be introducing those now. This would be like adding farting unicorns to The Walking Dead after half the cast was eaten. Again. Once more, I am asking what the fuck the tone is supposed to be here

Why is it called the Ever After? Wonderland rolls off the tongue way better and makes more sense for the name of a new world/dimension/whatever

So glad to be getting the exposition on the girl who fell through the world now instead of any organic weaving into dialogue prior. I love getting my information shoved down my throat all at once

I do actually like them discussing the tale. Different takeaways from the same story are always fun. Wish it could've lasted longer, I really want more conversations between these guys that aren't always directly about the plot

Okay, Weiss's doubts are good to hear. Sound like a lot of the stuff we've been saying, which may or may not be on purpose. Strange she doesn't mention her family at all, though, just the downfall of Atlas. Would've been really interesting to hear her thoughts on her parents and brother

Little needs to die. Now.

Weiss going back and forth between freaking out about the impracticality of their situation and taking charge when impracticality occurs is jarring. Maybe it's the smaller nonsense she can handle and not the big, abstract stuff? Guess we'll see

"I've always wanted to be long, but I'm still small." That's the funniest thing crwby has written in the last 5 seasons and it goes to the worst character. Typical rwby lol

Yang is absolutely intolerable in this auction bit. Knowing she's in a strange and illogical world, her first instinct is to be a cop? I've seen children act less petulant than her. Also, any item bought is probably more easily stolen from the buyer than the racoon, so why isn't that even on the table right now?

Did these idiot townsfolk really not know the gimmick? He's been at this long enough to be immortalized in a fairy tale, and I highly doubt there's enough space in Wonderland for him to never visit the same place twice. Unless everyone's memories get reset after a certain point, they should damn well know the coon is a con

Also that sword looks like it should be in Halo. Guess old habits die hard

Not this fucking Scooby Doo shit again. Can these characters stop interacting with the loop de loop sections before I throw my computer into the sun?

Wait that's Penny's sword? It's ugly as shit why you gotta do Penny dirty like that again

I find Ruby's expression of depression to be highly unbelievable. The excuse for so long has been that she's been hiding her emotions for the sake of everyone else, which is a fair enough point, but now there's not even a token effort. No obviously painful smiles, no jokes she breaks partway through, no overcompensating by hyping up too much. Ruby might as well be the goth girl at the top of the skyscraper from the All Star Superman comic for all the characteristically realistic depiction of depression she has

It worked well enough when she was alone and didn't have to fake for anyone - which is why everyone was so excited for Ruby to finally be free to break - but that was nipped right in the bud, and nothing has grown in its place. It's just... disappointing

[noblechaton]

so I watched the fourth Code Geass movie and I have a lot more thoughts about it - and this entire "brand" of movies - than I thought I would

I am going to ramble about this to an audience of 3 for a short period of time!

really I'm kind of fascinated by this entire situation, the decision to make these remakes/rebuilds/reedits of Code Geass while changing things both substantially and less so - it feels very much like those involved love Code Geass, but wished to amend things they deemed as mistakes or missed opportunities, which I'd say is pretty admirable given I feel R2 in particular carried a lot of issues that could have been resolved with some adjustments. I haven't seen the trilogy of movies that do this, so I don't have all the nuance and knowledge, but the whole thing kind of reminds me of the FF7 Remake stuff in some ways, folks involved with the original coming back and doing things again, if only to see what they'd change if they could do so

but beyond just that it also feels as if they wanted more Code Geass - and who doesn't? - and they rightfully realized that you can't really do that without Lelouch; in a lot of ways, he is the show, and without the character you could easily struggle to find any sort of magic again. not an impossible task, but one made very difficult without setting up something of a different world from that of the original run

hence, these remakes/rebuilds/etc., wherein they condense and shift things to ensure that they could, in fact, do more Code Geass in some form or another, in a canonical way that didn't futz with the original ending - which brings us to this movie, Re;surrection

so does it work? ehhhh

on one hand it's really blatant. like, again, those involved wanted more Geass, they knew they couldn't do it without the guy, they went in and changed things to ensure they had him. this utterly ruins the climax of the series, of course, and the ending to this fourth movie further strains things in some ways - he's just. back. going around and doing whatever with C.C. forever I guess

on the other though, I honestly don't feel the aforementioned resurrection is too out of the ballpark? there were already near-immortals in the show, a lot of mystical, magical stuff, and I can buy him coming back even if it kind of destroys whatever impact his death had beforehand. like, it doesn't hit as terribly egregious thanks to the World of C stuff being what it was - for better or worse

as for the movie itself? it feels like it was meant to launch a new series - to be a new series. there's two huge storylines vying for attention and neither really get the time they need or deserve, with the second one revolving around Nunnally and her capture feeling like it'd been a mid-season/season finale type arc, while Lelouch and his return is largely handled okay but doesn't get near enough time on screen as I'd wanted (which, to be fair, was always gonna be hard for a movie to get to, given how much I'd want)

it's definitely like, fine. the pacing is its worst enemy, the new "bad guy" faction/nation/etc. introduced doesn't really do much for me - though I said on call that it'd been interesting if the main Geass-using villainess had been the cause for things shifting in these remakes as they had, bit of a missed chance to tie things together imo - and in basically undoing the biggest, best part of the end of the series, it leaves a lot of things just sort of dangling without a clear pathway to address any of them (as of yet - more on that later)

but it's also really, really fun seeing all of these characters again. Lelouch is just such a good, fun character, Kallen has been sorely missed, even just the bit players like Jeremiah or Anya were nice to see, even if only one more time. and again, I feel the actual resurrection stuff is, at least, sensible - I don't know the full details of it, to be fair, I've not seen the previous three movies yet, but it didn't feel super egregious or poorly done; it was done for reasons that were admittedly kinda shameless, but didn't feel super insulting as far as methodology went

personally I do believe that this and Roze of the Recapture are building to something (this is later, btw), if only because I can't imagine you undo one of the biggest elements of this beloved series just to never really do anything with it going forward in some way; whether it's another movie, series, I don't know, but I feel there's been too much effort made to unite the characters of Code Geass across media - the anime/main guys, Roze's guys, the video game folk, etc. - for this to not go somewhere. and hell, I feel that way on the simple basis that leaving a guy like Lelouch alive in a series and never picking back up on it just wouldn't make sense

but on the whole, regarding this movie, I think it's fine overall. just kinda fine, a bit middling in places - at times it felt like an apology for some of the worst elements of R2, and at others it just felt like the worst elements of R2 again lmao. and in a lot of ways I found it a blend of the original series - a lot of highs that reminded me of R1, and some lows that reminded me of R2, which when together make for a perfectly decent, serviceable, fun if not entirely fantastic experience

it's generally just like. more Code Geass, for better and for worse, but some issues and questionable elements aside, I still largely enjoyed my time with it!

[sextonsharpwinhalstead]

Yeah, I was trying to say without saying and being more long-winded than I already was. That there are a lot of men in the Med writer's room. And that was the quickest thing they could do without completely damaging her character. But it was just enough that it would tack on to everything else they already had planned and I refuse to believe the writers and showrunners don't understand how negative storylines will also get a character trashed especially black and other nonblack poc characters. Because there's no way they thought their writing in 5 made sense. From her and Choi openly flirting in the ED for the first time in what 3 seasons. Then her random crush on Marcel, the kiss. Then her not exactly apologizing for it and being sort of callous when she's still working with CM and Ethans offended. And lord Ethan crying to Ms. Goodwin yeah that will really get to the fans, especially the anti-Chexton fans who want to make it clear they're not anti-the actress they're just so ToXiC. While forgetting that Halstead was a total asshat to Natalie in the beginning and they fought and broke up for dumb sxxt too. And all the people still crying over Ava and Rhodes all these years later as if it isn't weird that all Ava did was basically neg Connor and Robin in the beginning. How is that not toxic? And if April is a B like everyone claims then Choi needs to were an asshole hat too.

I search the tags when I can't sleep and the number of fans losing their shit here and on Twitter when April probably has been on the screen for longer than 30 minutes in the 2 episodes we've actually seen her face is insane. Many of them are mad because their fave isn't back, so that's one aspect. The others are laughing because her show was canceled and basically doing everything but calling her u---ty for daring to leave. And swearing that she's only back because of that when there is evidence to the contrary. We can't hold our breath but if the spoilers I've seen aren't OC trolling us with pictures from scrapped storylines, then these haters better prepare to be sick of me. Because I won't rest if Chexton gets the happy ending Brian wanted in 2020.

There are always too many men. That's it that's the thought lol. The way they play in our face like we don't notice is wild.

The more I thougut about it the more I think that they added Marcel because they remembered that April started the show with a fling with Kelly. Which meant that she was capable of that kind of fun hookup. The problem is they didn't do ANYTHING to further that in six seasons. Neither before or after Ethan. And they are capable of it because we've watched Will and Connor bone their way through Chicago. Like a common problem with One Chicago is they forget to write anyone who isn't white a love interest/personal lives. They forget that many fans find them desirable.

Back when they introduced the Marcel/April story and everyone was crying and whining in my f*cking inbox about poor Ethan I wanted to make a meme of Vicki sipping tea because ETHAN CHEATED ON HER WITH APRIL and NEVER came clean. It was just kiss for both of them but you'd think that April murdered his sister the way people act. Or that Ethan wasn't capable of the same. I guess because it was in service to Chexton no one cared. 🤷🏾‍♀️

I truly believe Chexton is going to get a hopeful ending. Yaya is on her way to joining the cast of The Lincoln Lawyer, it's Netflix which is about as bad as Fox so I hope it works out but I think Yaya was interested in giving her character the closure she deserved and Ethan too. I just like knowing April finished her program and works independently. Now she gets love too and folks can die mad about it.

You don't have to like Chexton but folks might wanna check why they are so bitter seeing these two characters happy in a farewell, KNOWING Ethan has grown is... telling.

And yes it's wild that ppl still bitch about Ava and Rhodes and Manst*ad. Those ships were toxic AF. You have to be an Ava apologist to pretend you didn't see how batshit she was the ENTIRE time, people are like "you ruined her" and I'm like, "Are yall okay?!" Natalie was snotty AF to Will and Will was misogynistic AF to Natalie. Everyone hated her and only cared about her in that ship. Mess.

[measuringbliss]

So I watched The Suicide Squad last night and the first episode of Peacemaker this morning. Here are my Thoughts.

First of all HARLEY'S ROCKING THE FUCK OUT OF THIS OUTFIT!!!!

Now that I've said it. Onto the rest.

I absolutely loved TSS. I hadn't seen the first, but I did watch Birds of Prey twice in theaters. The James Gunn vibe is definitely there. Too much there, maybe? The old pop songs were vaguely justified in Guardians of the Galaxy since the protagonist is absolutely passionate about them, and it's in the narrative and it kind of became a GotG trademark, you know? They're introduced with Rubberband Man in Infinity War. It's their thing. So it does sound weird for TSS to have so much of them too. I feel like it was part of the contract; the execs wanted James Gunn, not only the man but the full treatment: colors, good comedy and songs. But I feel like now, it's really overdone. Umbrella Academy had that annoying "oh this fight scene is funny because there's a song in the background" thing in one of the first episodes, and then the absolutely ridiculous Run Boy Run scene made me quit the show because even though those moments irritated the hell out of me, they still were the highlight of my viewing experience until then because the rest was just. so. boring.

The lyrics are at least appropriate and not too much on the nose in TSS, so there's that. But it really wasn't necessary.

There were a lot of great ideas. Harley's flowers fight is wonderful, it looks like an ad for perfume you'd see on TV in the 2000s. The anachronistic order is nice. Comedy is mostly good. The opening act is absolutely hilarious and I really love Weasel. I'd already played both seasons of Telltale's Batman so I knew Amanda Waller is an asshole and wow, she was great. She was incredible. Loved her. All the actors are great, actually. John Cena was very surprising, but his scenes after the hard drive is found? Heartbreaking as fuck. Fuck that fight scene was so raw, I gasped. I gasped multiple times throughout the movie, I just wasn't ready.

Mickey Rourke's wig is awful, part of the fun obviously just as Weasel's dubious CGI.

"If I die 'cause I gambled on love... It will be a worthy death." FUCK, that quote is so GOOD. ALSO THE RATS. THEY'RE SO ADORABLE. I WANT TO PET THEM.

If anyone asks, yes of course I shipped Peacemaker and Flag, two guys trying to kill each other? Yes that's the good stuff. Also Taika Waititi was hot. Absolutely nobody is surprised.

I did think the music was overdone in the climax, with the flashback to both Ratcatchers and Harley helping killing Starro. It was... too much. But the moment itself was sweet as hell. Fuck, this movie is great. So many great stuff about it.

OKAY BUT JUST BEFORE WE MOVE ON TO PEACEMAKER EP 1

I feel like the "pop song everywhere in superhero movies" might eventually become even more commonplace and it would make sense, really, because comics are a pop thing too, you know what I'm saying? Pop songs are probably an appropriate soundtrack. Doesn't mean I *like* it, but it does make sense.

OKAY PEACEMAKER EP 1

FIRST. OMG A GAY COUPLE. FUCK YEAH. I love them. I love them so much. I hope they don't die, either of them.

okay now here is where I insert an entire paragraph about my thirst for John Economos. But I'm too lazy so you'll have to imagine it. but. yeah.

anyway DID YOU KNOW I LOVE HUGS? AND I LOVE IT WHEN CHARACTERS HUG EACH OTHER??? well it happens in both the movie and the first episode. loved it.

look. about Robert Patrick. I'm tired of seeing him play terrible guys I don't like. but also you have to admit he has the perfect face for that.

ALSO VIGILANTE IS SUCH A PUPPY. HE'S SUUUUCH A PUPPY. Freddie Stroma, I had you on my radar for HP6 and it's now confirmed: you're a certified snack.

what else, what else... I WAS SO ANNOYED I COULDN'T WATCH THE FOLLOWING EPISODES RIGHT NOW. I'M HOOKED, FOLKS. I'M SO HOOKED IT'S NOT EVEN FUNNY.

okay I think I've said most of what I wanted to say. thanks for reading my ridiculous ramblings!

[darkfinch]

Do u like redemption and are just grumpy right now bc of the the parts you didn’t like as much or do you not like it and just think some parts were good?

Did redemption ruin leverage for you? Should I not watch?

!!! these are very good questions. i'm uhhhh a little conflicted about the whole thing, here's too many words about it (under a readmore for folks who are avoiding redemption talk):

honestly i think the main reason i was initially so negatively affected by redemption is that i watched it all in one day, and a lot of the things that bothered me were in the last couple of episodes. so it all felt REALLY condensed, and the disappointing things were the most fresh in my mind when i was finished. oof. if i could do it over, i would take my time with it instead.

overall, i actually really loved 1b of redemption!! i had a ton of fun with it and it felt a lot more like og leverage vibes-wise than 1a. I love harry and i LOVE breanna and i really really enjoyed a lot of the episode premises in this half (there were a few where i was like...this is exactly the kind of thing i've been wishing there was a leverage ep about and i am Experiencing Catharsis)

the season as a whole was really enjoyable for me, and there are a few episodes that i think might be as rewatchable as original leverage, which is cool. it was more big picture character arc/characterization stuff that genuinely bothered me, and due to the nature of what redemption was really focusing on this season (introducing new characters, finding their footing again, etc) those parts were really not a huge part of the actual viewing experience, percentage-of-content-wise.

deep sigh. that being said.

i don't think it Ruined Leverage for me...but for a few days afterwards i definitely did have a bit of a spiral about it. just lyin on the floor like...does this ruin these characters for me. does this lessen my enjoyment of the original series. do i still want my nanowrimo project to be leverage-based. do i want to keep writing fic for this television show at all

the parts i'm grumpy about were small, but they were important to Me. leverage has been such a joy and a comfort since i stumbled upon it, and has been getting me through quarantine, and got me to try writing fic for the first time because it gave me Big Thoughts And Feelings the first time i watched it

and while i really tried to keep my expectations very low for redemption, there was a vague feeling of like...oh. i feel kind of? stupid? for having put energy into this? and for expecting more than this? because what they're making is not going to be like what fandom has built together out of love. the cautious first season of an amazon prime reboot is not necessarily going to have the same depth and feeling and love behind it as an old show that has—in part due to being Over and available for Endless Nostalgic Analysis And Interpretation—been very stable ground to build upon for years, or as the fanon that's come from that.

(this feeling is not 100% gone, and i don't think i'm alone in struggling with redemption; i'd never seen a fix-it-fic for leverage Until This Week, and i'm sure there are going to be more to follow.)

anyway. i've been conflicted about it!!!!

what i've settled on is that it very much does not Ruin Leverage for me, because original leverage is always going to be there, and so is the decade of fan content that's come after it, and so is the fandom. i've gone the comics fandom route of Seeing the Separation. it's not More Original Leverage; it's one creative team's well-meaning (if clumsy) take on post-canon content that got put into production. it can't ruin leverage any more than a really popular ooc fanfic can ruin leverage.

there are genuinely a lot of really Good, solid, touching moments in redemption, and even if some parts are...bewilderingly executed and irritating and just Unfortunately Done, i would still say that if there's any part of you that wants to watch it, 4 fun and enjoyment, you should watch it. it's fun, it's a good show, it's still enjoyable, and fandom's already picking it apart for Useful Scraps as we speak.

if u actually read all of that...you're very cool and i wish you luck. i would just say go into it with realistic expectations; it's not 100% old leverage, it's not fanon, it's coming to the table with the buckwild takes of a creative team that had these ideas for season 6 character arcs 8 years ago and thinks they're still 1) relevant 2) necessary and 3) fitting with the trajectory of the original series despite this.

@ leverage team i am on your lawn i am explaining eliot spencer through a megaphone please do not call the cops <3

[bargainmatinee]

Stealing Chaplin

2020.37

Loosely based on the true story of a couple of grave robbers digging up the corpse of silent film star Charlie Chaplin and holding it for ransom, and apparently not even recognized by box office mojo as having been released. True story. I was perusing the showtimes at my local theater here in Las Vegas for the weekend and saw this. Never heard of it (admittedly not uncommon in the COVID age, as most of the flicks I've seen the past few months were very much under the radar), so I clicked on the link to watch the trailer. Good enough for me, and off I went. As I started watching, this felt VERY low budget. Like, fresh out of performing arts school level acting. Not saying it was bad, just that it was readily apparent that at least some of these folks weren't seasoned professionals. Also, it was filmed locally, so it's always nice seeing some familiar sights; lots of scenes were in a 50s diner that I Googled afterwards, so one of these days I'll have to head down there and check it out because it has really good reviews. But I digress.

The movie itself? Not bad. They definitely took some liberties, because Chaplin is actually buried in Switzerland, so it's kind of odd to have a movie based on true events that is grounded in reality, but then have the central fact be completely fabricated. It doesn't detract from the film, though. The biggest problem that keeps this from being great as opposed to just "not bad" is that it's trying very hard to be a Guy Ritchie movie. Not surprising considering co-stars/co-writers/brothers Doug and Simon Phillips are British. They play really bad (bad as in inept, not evil) con men who owe some really bad (bad as in evil, not inept) people a lot of money. Their solution? Steal Chaplin's corpse, ransom it off, profit. Not the most genius plan, granted. But then here's where it veers into Guy Ritchie territory. We get introduced to TOO MANY side characters, all with their own motivations but not enough backstory. Ritchie is great at giving a large cast lots of room to live and breathe. Sadly, most of those people here are no more than cardboard cutouts inserted precisely to make this feel like a Ritchie movie. Then when everyone comes together in what should be a really tense final act stand-off that really pays off, this just kinda fizzles out and ends abruptly. Very unsatisfying.

Back to Box Office Mojo. When I got home, I did a deep dive on imdb and saw not a lot of experience among the cast, as I suspected. Then I saw the leading lady had this as her only credit. Curious, I googled her. Turns out...Las Vegas local. Then I wanted to see how much this made over the weekend. Check Box Office Mojo for last weekend (11/15/20); go ahead, I'll wait. This. Movie. Isn't. Even. Listed. It's not like this was too small of a movie; the site liste every movie that was screened. The last place movie played on only 1 screen and made a whopping $157 for the weekend.

Here's my best guess: locally shot, with local talent, I bet they just stuck it in a couple of Vegas theaters just so the people who made it could see it. So I got to see possibly one of the most limited releases of all time in the theater, and no one will ever even know it existed. I think that's kinda cool.