#Lawrence’s Cinematic Universe

[blacksupremacy86]

The Dynamic Dopes

The Great Center of Gotham City is in frenzy of an uproar bombs blowing up the entirety of the city fire explosions, bombs and so much more.

Batman is midst of the insanity is lost in all the absurdity he happens to walk into with a massive bat symbol in the sky covering all the dark clouds.

Batman uses his batarang to shoot in to the sky he flows into the air swinging away on and off building to building forever taking down bad guys.

The city is lit up in a lunacy of crazy coming to a holt he stops with one man standing in his way with a gun in hand.

The man looms in the shadow so he thrust up in to a ball spinning out of control he does a super hero landing and throws a batarang.

The man catches it in excitement pushing it to the side with little effort on his part the man cracks up in the darkness.

He snaps his fingers a radiating light shines forth through the sky onto the fair grounds of the park forming some sort of figure who brings in to the light.

“It’s time to light him up in flair style but you don’t kill him.” the man instructs the figure.

“This is a honor of my king.” Green Arrow steps from out the shadow to serve me.

“You don’t have to do this just fight him” The Bat states.

“Oh yeah! I do Bats you will succumb” Green stares proudly.

“Fine buddy! It will be your doom.” Batman says in a state of disbelief.

In a fight or flight moment Bruce races down the road climbing to the top of the roof with his arrow.

Green Arrow cracks removing his steel type of quiver from his shoulder he yanks an arrow from his basket.

Near misses as shots thrown consistently hit him head on shooting Batman one after the other.

The Batman shows his amazing acrobatic ability flipping from leg to hand backwards in time.

“Why are you working for him? He is a villain Oliver? His actions will only lead to his down fall and yours.” Batman wars.

“Well you will never for sure. Will you?” The Green Arrow admits shooting the arrow hit him in the chest and Bruce is out.

“Don’t worry Alfred Batman will be found I am a hero will not let anything happen to Bruce.”

“Yes Master Dick be careful.”

“Ok signing off.”

“Time to go in and crack some eggs.”

“What exactly do you think you are doing?”

“Beating on some fiends”

“This will be too easy”

“You think so?”

“Let me call in a friend”

“Join us please”

“I will end you fool”

“Bucky?”

“You beloved Bruce is safe and sound”

“Says who?”

“Your future Master”

“Get him!”

“Woooohooo Mwahahaha “

“Oooohhhhh! Fuck you “

The end

Model Hero Behavior

“Welcome to Gotham City!”

“Bruce and Dick!”

“What happened to you?”

“We have been freed from burden”

“From human bondage”

“He has drove you insane”

“Is that what you believe?”

“So sweet! I own you now”

“Remove your hand”

“Or what? Fall to your death”

“Better that than being his.”

“Fool! You are a choose one and lucky”

“Do you seek to truly live life?”

“I’ll smash you in two.”

“Bring your skull to him.”

“Mmmm..that sounds nice”

“Wait! What am I saying?”

“You love Kryptonite”

“Superboy I assume.”

“Master’s will is my command”

“Why are you doing this?”

“ProtectIng my love”

“What about Lois?”

“Fuck her Connor “

“Fuck you!”

“I own your ass”

“You will obey”

“Sir Yes Sir”

“Try this on for size”

“What the? Kryptonite “

“Deeply influenced with his power”

“You can’t fight it”

“I will force you to submit”

“He is your God now”

“Sir Yes Sir”

“Take me to him”

The end

[self-aware-sawtrap]

saw sitcom episode pitch: saw x alternate perspective that’s just lawrence & amanda’s 42 hour road trip from new jersey to mexico city. lawrence was supposed to stay behind to watch hoffman so they didn’t have a home alone situation on their hands but they just locked him in the trunk and took him with them. hijinks ensue. halfway through they hit a speed bump, knocking hoffman out & leading amanda to think that she killed him. lawrence knows how to check his pulse but allows her to continue thinking he’s dead to punish her for what she did to adam. this backfires when neither of them end up giving a shit. hoffman continues screaming for the rest of the episode, but neither of them notice (they’re too busy arguing over how they’re going to break the news to john). at one point he breaks through the tail light with his fist and amanda’s like. what’s that. and lawrence without looking up from the road says they probably just hit a squirrel. on the second day amanda’s driving and lawrence tries to jump out of the car like in lady bird but she just keeps driving and leaves him stranded in texas (this is actually the canon reason he wasn’t in saw x). b plot: strahm investigates hoffman’s sudden disappearance. he calls lawrence halfway through the road trip & hears hoffman screaming in the background, clearly being held captive. this confuses him, since he’s certain lawrence & hoffman are both jigsaw apprentices. obviously, he thinks, if they were on the same side they wouldn’t be trying to kill each other. he concludes that because of this they can’t both be apprentices and begins to question his entire worldview as he tries to figure out which one is really working for jigsaw.

[winterfieldfrontiers]

cary elwes IS EVERYTHING.

[littlechaoticpeep]

Ssso,,,I decided to read tcu again and then decided to draw poor Lawrence out of boredom.(basically what I’d think he’d look like :’3)

Toasty cinematic universe by @onebizarrekai and @freyfall

[theomenmedia]

Raghava Lawrence Joins The Lokesh Cinematic Universe

Big news for cinema lovers! Raghava Lawrence steps into the Lokesh Cinematic Universe. Expect the unexpected with this thrilling collaboration!

Read the full article right here: https://www.theomenmedia.com/post/raghava-lawrence-steps-into-lokesh-cinematic-universe-the-dance-of-thrills-begins

[quinngefail]

Been thinking lately about Adam and Lar both having problems with eating after the bathroom trap,, gonna put my ramblings under the cut, fair warning if descriptions about eating struggles are uncomfortable for you!!

(And also just warning for ((vague-ish)) descriptions about gore and such)

Like baseline. You have just The General Nastiness of the bathroom itself. I think either of them even vaguely thinking about the smells (and all the memories it brings) would be enough to make them lose their appetites 😩

Then they would both just have their own specific ordeals. Like okay in the QSCU (Quinn Saw Cinematic Universe™️)((just my headcanons I base my Saw stuff around lmao)) Adam spent at least two days alone in that bathroom before being found and saved. And y’know I just think I too would have just a few problems with eating after spending that time with front row seats to an actively rotting corpse 😩😩😩 I just. Imagine him being very susceptible to nausea after all that, and the thought of eating meat specifically makes him want to hurl... And he's just bombarded with these thoughts of what if this was the body. What if this was the body. What if this was the dead body. What if this was the dead, rotting body. What if this was the dead, rotting body being chewed and swallowed in your mouth right now.

It would simply make him sick to his stomach, I feel-

Then I just have to imagine Lawrence also has problems with meat going forward. Problems with cutting into it, and running a knife through it again, and again. And like with Adam, the thought of putting that in his mouth makes him feel so ill. He's just very prone to getting nauseated as well 😔

(Gotta mention too that Adam can't get the imagery of Lawrence sawing off his foot out of his head either and that's definitely a big point of Ick for him as well-)

And of course, sometimes their eating problems aren't even because of all that. Sometimes, they're both just in such a horrid state of mind that they simply cannot bring themselves to eat, or do much of anything, really. It's worse for Adam, and it inevitably, and concerningly, starts to show its consequences on his body,,

...But then I also have to think about nice things in regards to all of this, where once the two have reconnected and all that, they have to sit down together and try and figure out what sorts of things are 'safe foods' for making meals and such, y’know. And it's just this bittersweet sort of like ha ha yeah this sucks, but it's kinda funny that we both ended up dealing with this shit. And that we're both sitting here now, trying to figure out what we can and can't eat for dinner.

And they just gotta hold onto that thought of with time, everything will get easier.

...And when that happens, they are going out and getting the biggest, juiciest steaks this side of the planet 😤😤😤 Date night!! 😋

[theburialofstrawberries]

"1987’s Fatal Attraction is generally credited with kicking off the erotic thriller craze proper, though the format had been germinating in mainstream cinema since the start of the decade via Brian de Palma’s Hitchcockian 1980 thriller Dressed to Kill and Lawrence Kasdan’s 1981 steamfest Body Heat. In her 2008 memoir Send Yourself Roses, Body Heat star Kathleen Turner argues that it was precisely because they were working in an old-Hollywood framework that they were able to get away with the sexual explicitness that would set the tone for the ensuing decade: “Film noir has a formality and shape to it. Its very familiar form allowed people to accept more readily the daring content that we were presenting.”

Williams writes that erotic thrillers “operate with a constant awareness of masturbation as a prime audience response and index of the film’s success,” and it only follows that they thrived on home video. A 1993 USA Today article called the erotic thriller “one of the fastest-growing genres in video stores,” reporting that these “dressed-up and sexed-up B-movies,” could be made cheaply and quickly. But while the direct-to-video market was an important part of the overall narrative of the erotic thriller, I’m much more interested in what Hollywood got away with in the light of day (which is to say, the glow of the multiplex’s silver screen).

“The best thing to me about the erotic thriller is it takes everything that is usually sort of treated in ellipses and film and just looks at it directly for as long as it takes,” Dr. Veronica Fitzpatrick told me recently by phone. Fitzpatrick is a Mellon postdoctoral fellow in modern culture and media at Brown University, an erotic thrillers enthusiast, and a contributor to the online magazine Bright Wall/Dark Room, whose July issue focuses on the erotic thriller. Fitzpatrick recalled being “blown away” by the camera lingering on the sex between Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke during a recent viewing of 9 1/2 Weeks. “It just goes on so much past the duration of what it takes for you to understand, OK, they’re having sex now,” she said."

[blacksupremacy86]

The Mask Hero’s 1 & 2

It’s a a ridiculously stormy night in the dark city street Hells Kitchen, New York City home of Daredevil.

He pounces around the city street tops with a grimace on his face throwing his billy club across the streets.

He knelt down staring into the city streets of his home city a gang of crooks race out of

the bank.

A scowl covers his face forcing him to stand up on the roof top he opens his arms taking a dive off the roof.

Leaving forward down he dives deep doing a black flip to land on the get away care he yanks his billy clubs.

He does another flip landing on the ground throwing a punch, a spin kick and a second punch.

Four goons fly into the ally wall of in time to see Daredevil grab a pair of ropes to tie them up.

He smirks pulling on the string he begins to set them up back to back tightly they tied down.

Daredevil is blind as we all know yet he has many powerful main senses which are all of them.

He tilts his head down sliding his ears to the side he follows the sound of pounding on the wall.

His bat like echo location skills track on to in a blurry vision he is seeing a strange man at the wall hitting it with a bat.

“Who are you? Declare yourself now.” Matt is standing up defiantly but he is in awe.

“I think not because we all know I am in all, everywhere and so much control.” The man yells.

Matt is furious gritting his teeth he throws his billy clubs up and starts to flip in the air catching them in mid air.

The man sighs blocking each punch and kick as the two go at it in a fierce fight there is no end.

The man reaches out grabbing his arm tight as he bends it in twist and throws him onto the wall.

The man laughs a bit moving forward in a tough lean onto Matt his mouth touches his ear.

The man licks his ear causing him to shiver in excitement and fear. He shoves Matt to his front again, back facing the wall and he kisses Matt.

“You get it now, you will never defeat me Matt, give in and submit.”

Matt Murdock can’t help himself after being swoop up by Master Lawrence his leader the man of his dreams who loves him.

Matt has been on a one man mission to take over Hells Kitchen quickly becoming a 2nd handed lynchpin.

My boi King Pin has follow him to his home in a deep methodical Matt is on his attack mode.

Matt dashes to the point he runs on the wall giving one large punch to the face sending him flying.

King Pin is out like a light beaten senseless

Matt is smiling wild with abandonment in his eyes.

His Master would be proud to see him give into his inner darkness consuming only him for a lifetime.

“Oh My! Master Lawrence my move”

“Soon I will bring you him”

“Peter Parker”

“I already know his identity”

“Such a naive lost soul”

“Indeed”

“Now to put the plan in to motion”

“Tracking him now”

“Sir Yes Sir”

Peter Benjamin Parker receives a message loud and clear from Daredevil swinging in to a roof top.

It is a strange night the a voice is in the air,

a chill that sends a chilling cool down his spine and broke him.

A man lands on the roof top standing up from his superhero position in a frantic like state Peter backs up.

“Who are you? State your name”

“It’s me Peter”

“My lawyer”

“I am Daredevil”

“No! It can’t be”

“I’m bringing him in sire”

“Nnnnnoooooo”

“Hell yes!”

“Mwahahahahaha “

The end

[nerdypuddincup]

So theory/headcanon time.

I'm reading through the Novelization of Wolfman 2010 because I love that film and I want more of it. But one thing caught my eye as I'm reading it. The old man who gifts Lawrence the iconic silver wolf head cane is an enigmatic figure in the film, but in the book there's something more to him. He feels a kinship with Lawrence. And when he offers Talbot his cane, their fingers touch for a moment. Lawrence physically moves his hand away from how deathly cold the man's touch is. And instantly my mind went to the cane's appearance in last year's underrated Last Voyage of the Demeter where the cane was in Dracula's possession.

So my theory now is that Last Voyage was an older script that was going to use the cane as connective tissue to the Wolfman and try to give the Universal Monsters another attempt at a cinematic universe. But due to the poor return on Wolfman they held off on the script.

And my headcanon shall now forever be that the old man was indeed Dracula sensing the kindred darkness in Lawrence, gifts him his cane. And that Wolfman 2010 and Last Voyage take place in the same universe.

[themousefromfantasyland]

I watched the crossover films of the Universal Monsters today, and I realized how one of the biggest mistakes of the Dark Universe was not starting with the Wolf Man.

Lawrence Talbot is probably the true protagonist of the Universal Monsters Universe. All crossover films revolve around him seeking a cure for his lycanthropy and facing the other creatures.

Talbot is the perfect protagonist. Not only he is one of few monsters who is unambiguously heroic despite his monstrous werewolf side, but he's firmly against Dracula and company.

I think he would the best character to start a cinematic universe, a tragic hero dragged to a universe of monster and demons that he knows nothing about. He is the perfect character to serve as the audiences' point of view.

@thealmightyemprex @ariel-seagull-wings @mask131 @the-blue-fairie @princesssarisa

[natequarter]

[id: gifs of becket (1964) interlaced with gifs of lawrence of arabia (1962). in the gifs from becket, henry ii says, "thomas..." bishop folliot says, "you love him, don't you? you still love him. that imposter saxon guttersnipe, that mitered hog." henry bows his head, nearly crying, before looking back up at the bishop. he grabs the bishop by the throat, choking him. he says, "holds your tongue, priest. all i confided to you was my hate, not my love." in the gifs from becket, howeitat says, "he is your friend?" "take your hand away," lawrence replies, pushing him away. howeitat says, "you love him." lawrence says, "no, i fear him." "then why do you weep?" asks howeitat. lawrence jumps away from him, pulling out a knife. he says, "take your hand away, howeitat!" /end id]

[plaintext: BECKET (1964) // LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962)]

BECKET (1964) // LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962)

[centaurianthropology]

Hammer Horror-a-thon: 'Dracula A.D. 1972'

I know I said that I would skip this one, but after I posted, my conscience nagged at me. I had said I wanted to see Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing face off again. I had said I might enjoy the worse and hornier sequels to 'Horror of Dracula' even more than I enjoyed the original.

And yet I didn't want to watch the terrible, horny sequel? Weak! Did I fall at the first shitty movie hurdle? NO!

Anyway, tonight I inflict upon myself and all of you ... 'Dracula A.D. 1972'.

From the off this movie commits a massive crime in my book: it implies that Dracula was already resurrected and faced off with van Helsing at least one other time, but probably often. Like, a full lifetime of cat-and-mouse between them. AND WE NEVER GOT TO SEE IT! Yes, I know I skipped all the sequels between the original and this one (I am here for this duo, and owe the Hammer cinematic universe nothing), because none of them had both Cushing and Lee in them, but this movie has the gall to imply that there is some other, parallel universe where there were like five other movies where these two tried to homoerotically murder one another?? And we were denied????

Crimes! Unspeakable crimes!

Anyway, we open with what is the final confrontation between the original van Helsing (whose name was apparently Lawrence rather than Abraham? I completely missed that in 'Horror of Dracula'). Both are killed. It's like Romeo and Juliet, but with a broken carriage wheel and blunt force trauma.

Look at them and imagine so many more movies of this. We could have had it alllllllll ...

But Dracula, who always comes back, is once again resurrected! How does this happen?

A groupie. Dracula got his ass a groupie, who calls himself 'Jonny Alucard', because Hammer Horror has never been about subtlety.

Wait, did 'Castlevania' steal Alucard from 'Dracula A.D. 1972'?? Because that's hilarious if true.

So groupie Alucard buries Dracula's ashes with van Helsing, which is fucking romantic in a creepy way, I guess, and then we flash forward to the swinging tunes of 1972. And I have to say, the cinematography in this film is coming on strong. It's dynamic, colorful, looks interesting, there's cool shots ... the director of photography, Dick Bush (yes, that is his actual name) is doing a lot with his little budget.

We arrive at a party in full swing. If there was ever a stereotypical counterculture party of 1972, it is this one. We have a band. We have sex. We have dancing. We have probable drug use. We have definite alcohol use. We are free of the Hayes Code, baby, and we are making the most of it. And in the middle of the color and the music and the abundance of varying-degrees-removed-from-hippie, we have Alucard (Christopher Neame in one of his very first roles!). The pretentious goth boy at the party, in his ruffles and black velvet and fedora. Before there ever were fedora-tippers, there was this lad.

You can practically hear the 'milady'

And I have to say, with our first real taste of it, the script is sort of solid? There's a fun patter to the dialogue, the characters come across as lively and snappy, and the whole thing feels way more fresh and fun than I was expecting after the fairly sedate writing in 'The Horror of Dracula'. The acting is also bouncier, with all the actors seeming to have quite a bit of fun in the scene. It's goofy, but it's in on the joke.

Turns out, he's a part of a group of counter-culture kids. You've got Alucard (same one? Descendent? Who knows, since grandkids have a tendency to have the same actor as the original, more on that later.), The Monk (I forget his name, but he spends the entire movie in a monk robe making wisecracks, so we're calling him The Monk), a few random cannon-fodder kids, and ... Jess (Stephanie Beacham).

She's got 'final girl' written all over her!

Alucard, to stave off the boredom of endless parties, suggests demonic rites, as one does. Everyone initially laughs, but they're young, dumb, bored, and, most importantly, the teenagers in a proto-slasher flick. So you know they're going to go along with it after they've given him some rightful shit for his continued pretentions. And again, the writing is a bit schlocky, but does genuinely capture the vibe of a friend group, ranging from people eager to give it a try to some who think it's silly to Jess, the most reluctant of the bunch. She thinks there might be some danger involved in trying to do demonic rituals in a soon-to-be-demolished church. And while in real life that's called being a killjoy, in this universe she has reasons to be concerned.

Reasons like her anthropology professor grandfather, Lorrimer van Helsing. Yep! We have another descendent-played-by-the-same-actor, and Peter Cushing is back as a new van Helsing for a modern era. Jessica is well aware of her family history, but both of them seem convinced it's a little more research-based, and she thinks it's fairly similar to any other new-age trip.

I have to say, I love what Stephanie Beacham does with this role. Jessica is young and hip, but also friendly and relatable. She's got a sense of humor, and with her delivering her lines in an easy, naturalistic manner as Cushing is a bit more old-school, you get a great sense of the generational gap between grandfather and graddaughter (no mention of her parents, but she seems to be living with her graddad).

I'm sort of blown away by how fun this movie is so far?

So the group of kids all show up to the soon-to-be-demolished church, which also happens to be where Lawrence van Helsing was buried. Jessica's more than a bit pissed, realizing they were arriving on the date of her great-grandfather's death (which makes Lorrimer Lawrence's child?? I don't think those dates work, but okay). But she ends up deciding that it's a coincidence, and is convinced to stick around by a fast-talking Monk.

The Black Mass scene is pure schlock, and it's hilarious. Christopher Neame really leans into the scenery chewing, and we finally kick off the horror part of this horror movie with gouts of magically conjured fake blood. It's a deeply stupid scene, and exactly the sort of thing I wanted from this movie.

It's so fucking dumb!

The kids scatter, leaving one of their friends behind (RIP Laura, you were great at screaming and getting covered in blood), and Alucard gets his groupie on as Dracula rises from the grave once more. Not that Dracula seems to give much of a damn about him. Poor Alucard, you go to all that work, are that dramatic, bleed all over a lady, and he doesn't even want to bite you. He goes for Laura instead.

So with Laura 'dead' (probably a vampire), Alucard goes about trying to convince his friends that it was all just a hoax, that Laura's fine, and they should definitely stick around to get picked off one by one.

Meanwhile, because we're now in the 1970s, Laura's death prompts an actual police investigation, and since Jess was one of her friends, the police want to talk to both her and her grandfather, who had apparently helped them before with blackmailing witches (can we see the white collar crime witchcraft movie, please??).

While the police are investigating, cannon-fodder teen #2 gets lured to Alucard's flat with the promise of jazz (RIP Gaynor, all we know about you is that you have good musical taste). Once again, she gets bit. Once again, Alucard gets nothing but a telling-off that he still hasn't managed to lure in Jessica (because Dracula is already fixated on the van Helsings). You'd think Alucard's going to start getting pissy about the lack of bisexual vampirism.

When will senpai notice him?

Van Helsing, much like his ancestor, can at least put the pieces together quickly enough (although one wonders why he hadn't already realized that 'Alucard' is 'Dracula' spelled backward, but he's on the trail. Was he trained to hunt vampires, or is he literally just a professor of anthropology in his 60s who's going to have to learn on the fly? We're about to find out!

Lorrimar van Helsing, Scrabble champion

Alucard throws a proper fit about once again being passed over, demanding to be turned. Dracula is not best pleased, but also clearly sort of into the begging. So in the end do we get bisexual vampirism? We do! We cut before it happens (boo), but Alucard finally has his vampire groupie dreams fulfilled.

Good for him

Van Helsing starts his investigation in earnest, grabbing a crucifix, a silver knife (does he know how to knife-fight??), and a bottle of holy water. And it turns out that the cops just believe him. No need to try to convince them about vampires, they're on-board, because we're int he Hammer universe, baby! At some level, everyone in this universe seems to already know that vampires and whatever else are real. He infodumps to the police inspector, who remains totally chill with this information and letting van Helsing run the investigation from here on out so long as they keep it on the DL.

Meanwhile, while he's playing detective, Jess is lured into a trap, since her boyfriend Bob has been turned into Bob the vampire by a newly-vamped Alucard. And unfortunately, she was not trained to be Buffy, so the best she can do is burn the shit out of Alucard with a crucifix before fainting. I'm not judging Lorrimar's parenting skills, but if he thought that that one obsessive vampire constantly trying to bite him and his entire family over multiple resurrections could, you know, get resurrected again, it might have been a good idea to teach her to at least carry a silver knife and a bottle of holy water around with her.

This is 100% an L for van Helsing parenting

Van Helsing realizes that Jessica's gone missing and starts trying his hand at vampire hunting in earnest as the baby vamps drag poor Jess off to Dracula. Luckily, one of the other cannon-fodder teens, Anna, reveals that she got high at Alucard's place once! Hooray for convenient info!

Van Helsing gets to cut his teeth at vampire hunting with a really fun fight-sequence against Alucard. And I have to say, I feel like horniness for the van Helsings runs in Dracula's bloodline, because Jonny really wants a bite of that old man. Luckily, goofy vampire deaths remain a mainstay of this series, as van Helsing takes him down with a mirror reflecting sunlight and a fucking shower of running water. It's so dumb. It's SO. DUMB, and Christopher Neame absolutely crushes it at the hammiest of vampire deaths. Positively gnawing on every inch of that scenery. I love him.

We get multiple vampire fights, and we start off with this? We are truly spoiled.

Tragically, we don't also have time for a fight with Bob, and we've sort of lost track of the other girls, because we're once more pelting madly toward that point of the movie we've all been waiting for: watching those old men fling each other around a room for a bit!

We kick off with some truly unhinged scene setup, as Van Helsing gets his whittling badge by digging a massive pit, carving a ton of stakes, and setting up and honest-to-God pit trap. Meanwhile, he also plants a crucifix on Jessica, who he finds in some sort of magical sleep, so at least Dracula won't be able to bite her before they can have their confrontation. Dracula manages to rip off the necklace, but van Helsing turns up, and its time for a good old lover's tiff.

Van Helsing demands Dracula remember him, and from that point on, Dracula only has (bloodshot) eyes for one man.

The disheveled nemesis ex bitch is back!

The expression of a man seeing his ex for the first time in a century, and the ex is still hot.

The ex is still hot!

And they get an actual verbal confrontation this time (at least Christopher Lee gets some really hammy lines!)! It's over-the-top! It's hammy! The fight choreography is deeply iffy. It's exactly what I wanted! Rough one another up some more!

Luckily for us, a hypnotized Jessica keeps this fight from ending too soon, and that ridiculous spike trap actually gets used, continuing the tradition of very silly vampire deaths. Seriously, does Dracula ever get a dignified badass death? Or does every movie end like a Loony Toons cartoon?

Alas, it's only a five-minute confrontation (I could have done with a lot more), and we end with the spell broken, Jessica fine, and perhaps a massive training montage in store for both the van Helsings.

So you know what? I am so pleased I watched this movie I almost avoided. Yes, it was ridiculous cheese. Yes, it was really silly, and you know what? I really fucking enjoyed it. I could still do with more Dracula/van Helsing fights (only five minutes??), but damn that was fun. Solid B-movie acting, an honestly fun musical score, and Dick Bush (did you forget about him?) really set up some great shots and got a really solid atmosphere going on a tight budget.

I really, unironically, enjoyed this movie!

And next time, we finish out the Dracula movies with 'The Satanic Rites of Dracula', this movie's direct sequel!

[shapelytimber]

Welcome to my insane rant about Van Helsing, in the Dracula Hammer movies (with art)

*Quick* explaination of @quijicroix 's and I headcanons for Helsing, and why we think Lawrence (thought it was Abraham but no it's Lawrence in the Hammer cinematic universe) and Lorrimer Van Helsing are the same person (/!\ spoilers for the Hammer's Dracula movies obviously) :

At the end of Brides of Dracula (the second film in the timeline), we see Lawrence get bitten by a Vampire, not Dracula btw, and to remedy the curse he burns his neck and pour holy water on it. And ig by the power of jesus he doesn't get turned into a vampire (boring Hammer resolution) (and he doesn't even get a cool scar).

But we call bullshit on this ! Van Helsing definetly got turned into a (half) vampire !!

1) Lawrence and Lorrimer are both played by Peter Cushing and have the same face. Now I know what your probably thinking "this argument is lazy af", and if we stopped there, yes it would be. But we see Lawrence's son in 7 Golden Vampires (the last film in the serie, but not the timeline) !! And he looks NOTHING like Peter Cushing. So either the Cushing face skipped a generation (whitch is funny to imagine), or his son, who stays in china and never returns to england, serves as a way to help him hide his immortality by taking the identity of his own son, then his grandson Lorrimer.

2) Time for maths everyone ! In Dracula AD 1972, we learn Lawrence died in 1872. BUT !! In 7 Golden Vampires that takes place in 1904 (because the begining of the film is set in 1804 and these movies are obsessed with the 100 years later trope), who is still perfectly healthy and visiting his son in China more than twenty years after his death ?? Lawrence fucking Van Helsing. The only two explainations I see are either Vampirism or tax fraud.

And that would mean his son (Leyland Van Helsing btw) had to fuck very quickly after the movie for Lorrimer to be in his 70s (?) in 1972.

3) If curing vampirism was this easy, why kill the other people who got turned into vampires later in the timeline (rip a lot of the women and Johnny Alucard) ?? It paints Van Helsing in a way better light if you assume his miraculous cure didn't work *in the second film of this 9 movie saga*, and he doesn't just kill people he could cure.

4) it would be a very interesting take on the character, the renown vampire hunter himself becoming a monster, fighting to keep his humanity (but the Hammer didn't have the balls. And we thought about these movies way more than anyone involved in writting them-).

And the circle of violence theme is not between Dracula and the Helsing family anymore, but between him and Lawrence, whitch is way more personnal. And !! raises the stakes in both Dracula AD 1972 (already the best movie out of the 9 by far btw) and Satanic Rites since Dracula isn't the vampire his grandad fought, but his century long ennemy that keeps coming back.

And the scene at the end of Satanic Rites, where Dracula (for the first time in 9 movies) manage to align two sentences and basicly say he wants to end the world because he is tired of dying and coming back !!!!! Whitch is very heartbreaking already, but if he says it to the man who killed him (nearly) everytime ??? (We don't talk about that time Quatermass got him) Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Ok I lied this was not quick but this!!!!!! Is something that has been haunting us for months, and in the words of Quiji : "People need to know."

I'm also working on an illustration in whitch this headcanon of ours is pretty central <3

[angelsdean]

in the dean killed john pre-series cinematic universe, 1x09 Home is thee turning point. it's the first time we see john on screen since Lawrence 22 Years Ago.

now this is obviously the point where the original idea to have john actually be dead was scrapped, like there's no going back, they made their choice, he's alive on screen in front of us. but in my little headcanon this is the point where we see john has been brought back. and it kinda works really well because john is avoiding them (dean specifically in this AU).

missouri asks him why he won't see his kids and john says he wants to but he can't until he knows the truth. and obvs in the show he's referring to everything with azazel but in my little dean killed john AU this line is about figuring out what happened to him. maybe he doesn't remember that he actually died, maybe chuck wiped the memories from john when he brought him back (but let dean keep his memories of doing the killing). maybe john just remembers a fight that got too heated. dean fighting back for once. maybe he wakes up with a whole lot of missing time. days or weeks later. and so he goes back to missouri, not sure what happened to him, but trusting that maybe she can help him uncover the truth like she did for him all those years ago.

this also fits in line with missouri acting "off" with dean. she's notably more sympathetic to sam and very dismissive of dean throughout the episode. in the dean killed john AU i interpret this as her maybe sensing something about dean, maybe not directly that he killed john, but definitely some energy that's raising some red flags. maybe she senses that he's been lying and is not actually all that worried about john being missing.

then there's dean's phone call to john. the dean that killed john would be trying to cover his tracks. eventually the "search" for john will have to come to an end, but he'll prolong it as long as possible. in the meantime, he'll lay down stuff like this, voicemails that they'll later find on john's phone, with a dead john. things that show dean totally had no idea john was dead. and hell, part of dean IS genuine in that call. because dean's feelings towards john are complicated. yes he killed him (and maybe it was even an accident), yes he misses him and is scared and doesn't know what to do. yes he wishes john were here to just tell him what to do next and help them confront their old house and trauma. yes he knows if john were there it wouldn't help much at all. he contains multitudes<3

anyway, so he leaves that voicemail, not knowing john's been brought back. john gets that voicemail and he's confused, he's suspicious of dean, and now he's just been reminded of lawrence and missouri and figures she might be able to help him so he hightails it over there but keeps himself at a distance until he can figure out what happened to him (part of him isn't even suspecting dean. a big part of him genuinely thinks the missing time and memories have something to do with Thee Demon aka Yellow Eyes).

[themosleyreview]

The Mosley Review: Best Films of 2024

2024 was one hell of a year for film! We saw the upswing in quality of the horror genre, the second part of a complete story set in the sands of another world and the first part of beloved musical come to life. I truly loved that the world of the stunt industry got the love it deserved for they are the true artist of cinema. Most years when I put my list together, I tend have an average of 10. Then again, its my list of what I loved so in the end, its up to me if I want to add that many each year. This year there were only 8 films that I loved the most and would consider owning on 4K Disc. As always, just click the title of each film to read the full reviews. So without further ado, here's my list of the best films of 2024!

First up...

Bad Boys: Ride or Die: It is a miracle that this franchise still is running strong without Michael Bay and its better for it. Not many franchises have the guts nor the right direction to reinvent themselves mid stream without straying too far away from what made it great in the first place. That's what these films have done so well and everytime, they keep getting more exciting and hilarious. The chemistry between Will Smith and Martin Lawrence is always at the heart of these film and they continued hot streak here. They are getting older and I loved that they fully embrace it. The action was invigorating and even though not all the comedy landed, it still was a blast. There is one character in the film that finally got the respect he deserved and it was the showstopping scene of the film. I can't get enough of the Bad Boys franchise and if there's one more on the way, give it to me, but if they want to stop here, its a great ending.

Deadpool & Wolverine: If wish fulfillment was a movie, then this is it. Not only was this film based on a long lasting idea and joke, but it was the convergence of 2 of the greatest Marvel characters and it went exactly the way you expected. The constant quiping and innuendos of Deadpool balanced against the many insanely violent and annoyed retorts from Wolverine was the strength of this film. It was a bloody match made in heaven and from beginning to end as we finally get to see the comic book accurate costume of Wolverine on full display. Hugh Jackman continued to shine as the best Logan we've ever had so far and especially in a montage that was another love letter to the character's lineage. This film was also a somber thank you and goodbye to the Fox/Marvel universe of films and a special thank you to the one character that got us to this point in history. What a introduction to a new addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Abigail: Now here's something that was a bit of a surprise. The premise is straight forward and the trailer almost ruined all the blood soaked twist and turns. The directing team behind Radio Silence have really carved out their niche corner of energetic and fun horror. Their take on the Daughter of Dracula tale was updated to modern day tech and it worked so beautifully. With a cast of talented actors like this, it can be easy to short change a few for the sake of the story. Luckily that didn't happen here. Melissa Barrera has solidified her status as this generation's Scream Queen and Dan Stevens is the Scream King. Alisha Weir was amazing with her playful and devilish smile as the titular character. Even though she's a blood sucking monster, she gave the character such personality and at one point, a soul. This film was just a pure bloody delight.

The Fall Guy: Like I said before, the was for the real heroes of the film industry as they take the heaviest falls and serious bumps for the lead stars that aren't Jackie Chan or Tom Cruise. It was a crime that this film didn't get the love it deserved box office wise. This was not only a loving look into the stunt world, but it was a heartfelt love story that also had a murder mystery vibe to it too. The banter between Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling in a particular scene involving fire, was the highlight of the film. It was an inventive way to capture the moment we've all seen where two former lovers reunite and air out their pain to one another. Aaron Taylor-Johnson was having a ball as well and really played up the Hollywood cliche of actors being overly self centered. The action sequences alone were the best practical set pieces I've seen in a long time. Gawd I loved this movie.

Nosferatu: Bram Stoker's Dracula was the defining novel that truly made you understand the psychology of a tortured soul that is cursed to live forever consuming blood. There was a romantic nature to it that brought his humanity back for a bit. Many have taken that story and adapted it into similar stories derived from that masterpiece. This film, like the 1922 version, gave us an even more iconic take on the legend. This version was handled with such care and mastery in its cinematography, lighting and sound design. It was a nightmarish dream that was unrelenting in its nature and was a true vampire horror story that took the genre back to its more gothic and operatic roots. Lily-Rose Depp delivers a unforgettable breakout performance that is both emotional and physically astounding. Nicolas Hoult knows how to deliver the innocence of a young and hard working man that becomes tormented by visions and a true demon sucking away at his vitality. Bill Skarsgård was truly unrecognizable and creepy as the titular creature also named Count Orlock. His voice and movement was inhuman and I loved every second that he was on screen. Robert Eggers is a true visionary and now his films have become an event to not be missed.

Wicked: Part 1: This was one of those shows as a thespian that is on the list of must see on stage. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened for me yet. It will, but for now, this cinematic experience was everything I have been missing in film musicals. I have missed the grandiose scale of not only impressive musical numbers, but the jaw dropping set design and costumes. This was truly the definition of how to bring back the seemingly lost art of musical filmmaking, but that's not the only thing achieved here. The transfer from stage to screen is immaculate in my humble opinion. I felt I was watching the power of the stage working together with the transformative nature of cinema and it was pure magic. Ariana Grande surprised me as I'm not as familiar with her acting career as I am her singing career. She was hilarious as Galinda and I loved that in the opening scene, before we go back in time, there is a heaviness on her heart. The rest of the time she was just a delight to witness. Cynthia Erivo is a powerhouse in her own right and as Elphaba, she brings that same strength to the character and her voice in not only her redefining rendition of Defying Gravity, but the The King and I. Johnathan Bailey as Fiyero was the MVP of the film for me though. His performance and the entire set design of Dancing Through Life was mind blowing.

Dune: Part Two: After the amazing first part of this epic story, I couldn't wait to see the next half. There aren't many book to film adaptations that have gotten the visual care and epic treatment the story demands. This film continued to receive the same care the first part did and oh my what a satisfying and stunning film. I haven't been so inraptured by a universe that was so vast and yet so intimate in its portrayal. What I loved so much is the fact that each character has many layers and the hero of the film is flawed in knowing his fate and how it will effect the universe. Timothee Chalamet was great and became a badass as Paul Atreides in my eyes. The man is a reluctant hero that knows the weight of his decisions and had no choice, but to accept it. I loved that aspect of the character as it is rarely handled with this much class. Austin Butler was unflinching and menacing as Feyd-Rautha. He was the biggest standout for me and he was almost alien in his approach to the animalistic nature of the character. What a cast and what an adventure.

Now comes the moment you've been waiting for the most. My choice for the best film of the year is unexpected by most and probably lower on other people's list. The best film of 2024 is........

Saturday Night: As a youth, I grew up in the late 80's and all through out the 90's era of the greatest comedy sketch show on television. Chris Farely, Mike Myers, Molly Shannon, Will Farrell, Cheri Oteri and many more were among the line up of talent I came to know and love. The Blues Brothers, Coneheads, and Tommy Boy were always playing in my home. As I got older, I ventured back to the early days of the Saturday Night Live and began hearing all the stories about how it began. It was a real chaotic mess that should not have worked and some how, here we are 50 years later. As a fellow stage performer, I know exactly that feeling of anxiety, worry of forgetting lines, getting the timing right for costume changes and having the props in the right places. This film captures all of that and on a corporate nature as the network wants to know if their investment will pay off. Many legends were to appear on that historic broadcast and the cast brought to life that fateful night and the personalities of the every comedian. Gabriel LaBelle was amazing and endearing as Lorne Michaels. The amount of stress and on your feet thinking flowing through him was staggering and Gabriel did it perfectly. Dylan O'Brien was perfection as he captured not only the cadence of Dan Aykroyd's speech pattern, but also his gift of gab, his walk and attention to detail. Cory Michael Smith blew me away as Chevy Chase. He capture his charisma, comedic timing and sarcastic attitude. This was a fun, stressful and expertly filmed love letter to the fans of SNL and the legacy of the show. DO. NOT. MISS. THIS. ONE!

And that's it ladies and gentleman. That is my list of the best films of 2024. There were alot of other films I enjoyed that almost made the list, but I either ran out of time or I just missed their theatrical run entirely. Here's to 2025 and I hope it produces yet another list of this caliber or better. Thanks for reading!

[steelbluehome]

Collider

On 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier's Curiously Iffy Relationship With Therapy

By Gregory Lawrence

Mar 28, 2021

I’ve been going to therapy for many years, and if you’re reading this, I suggest you do, too. It’s an exceptional tool in the ongoing journey of one’s mental health, a place where you can speak and be listened to without agenda. The therapists I’ve spoken with in my life have one common trait: Unflappability. They are professionals at navigating the complicated emotional lives of their clients while not becoming destructively emotional themselves. They don’t pursue anything but giving you a runway to find your truth.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is a welcomely grounded Marvel Cinematic Universe series, one less interested in the “big three” of supernatural baddies (“androids, aliens, and wizards,” as Anthony Mackie’s Falcon phrases it) and more interested in the traumas and struggles of getting chewed up and spit out by the systems of regular-ass life. Yes, Mackie’s Sam and Sebastian Stan’s Bucky are fierce warriors who have used state-of-the-art tech and super-soldier serums respectively to battle all kinds of strange folks. But two episodes in, the series’ fights are human-to-human, full of shades and nuance, and often hamstrung by the cruel machinations of a society so determined to make life hard for people (especially returning veterans).

That’s why I was happy to see Amy Aquino show up as Dr. Christina Raynor, Bucky’s court-ordered therapist, in the very first episode. As made evident by Bucky’s nightmare of the merciless acts of violence he took while under Hydra mind control (rendered with shocking horror-tinged brutality by series director Kari Skogland), he needs therapy badly. In their initial sequence together, we see Bucky behave the way we often see troubled protagonists behave in therapy scenes: He plays the silent treatment at best and is openly antagonistic at worst. He baldly lies to his mental health professional about his own mental health. I understand that our (anti)hero can’t suddenly be enlightened and peaceful and ready to move on from his inner conflict; I want to see him go through this journey over the season of television. But I still couldn’t help but want to scream through the TV at him, “Just tell her the truth! You’re only hurting yourself!”

Depiction doesn’t equal endorsement, especially when it comes to a complicated character like Bucky who has objectively committed murders, but there’s something that continues to be complicated about seeing the center of our journey, the person we’re to align ourselves with being so resistant toward mental health wellness, perhaps to provoke a response of “Aw, I understand, I’d behave the same way. Therapy is weird!”

Then again, Dr. Christina Raynor might not be the best therapist for Bucky, or any client. Dramatic license must be taken in any depiction of real life. Unlike the often aimless moments of regular-ass life, dramatic scenes must involve conflict, intention, agency, and a visible drive toward a visible goal. Thus Dr. Raynor, like many film and television therapists before her, takes an aggressive approach toward “meeting the goal of making Bucky well,” poking and prodding at him, trying her best to “get him there.” She simply drips with derision and disdain at every level of her interaction with poor Bucky, even snarkily acting out his past tendencies to commit brainwashed murders. On the one hand, she needs to behave like this for the function of the scene; to watch a character be a blank slate of non-provocation without any goal of her own would likely make a boring scene. The way the scene plays is a strong visualization of Bucky’s resistance and Dr. Raynor’s (and the audience’s) desire for him to know peace. But as she kept poking and prodding and needling and frowning, even while insisting that Bucky needs to trust her, I thought to myself, “Of course he’s not speaking up. Who’d want to spill their innermost secrets to this force who obviously has an aggressive agenda?” The scene attempts to justify some of this behavior by reminding us that Dr. Raynor is a soldier who’s seen combat herself. But the moment a therapist tells you “That’s utter bullshit” is the moment you find a new therapist, dramatic license or not.

Episode 2 pumps up some of the oddness of this therapy dynamic by injecting it with one of the key secrets to the MCU’s sauce: Tension-cutting banter. After Bucky is arrested for not showing up to one of his court-mandated sessions (another complicated moment of positioning the viewer as finding therapy to be an impediment to the characters’, and show’s, action), Dr. Raynor forces both Bucky and Sam to sit down in front of her and figure out what’s tearing them apart. Surprisingly, and quite touchingly, Stan and Mackie play this scene earnestly, the pain they feel toward each other and themselves seeping from the corners of their eyes into their full figures, even as they do bantery things like move their chairs close together without knocking their knees together.

But Dr. Raynor is over here roasting and toasting them like a damn Friars Club gala. She glibly but stridently positions the exercises she wants them to do as normally being done by romantic couples, not giving them any chance to breathe at the slightest moment of resistance, cutting her patients off at the knees under the auspices of helping them stand. She is sarcastic throughout, saying things like “No volunteers? How surprising,” and “Sweet Jesus” with the tenor of a middle school gym teacher ragging on the math nerd who’s getting whomped in dodgeball. And yes, there’s an attempt at fun and bravado in these back-and-forths, the way we see all kinds of other fun back-and-forths in other “serious” MCU moments, the way we see Sam and Bucky constantly treat each other like bickering children. But not every single moment of the MCU needs to possess this kind of tone, especially not when we’re trying to watch a mental health professional deal with such clearly damaged clients.

All of this, this brevity and impatience and snarkiness, is perhaps more understandable and better played in this episode, given the emotional states of our title characters and the fact that it’s framed by an increasingly sleazy, dehumanizing new Captain America (Wyatt Russell, simply throwing away the line, “He’s too valuable of an asset to have tied up, so just do whatever you gotta do with him, then send him off to me”). But it’s still odd and brittle in a way I find unnecessary, even unhelpful. The sequence ends with a genuine moment of clarity and understanding — a breakthrough, even — between Sam and Bucky, even though it ends with Sam leaving the room. Dr. Raynor’s response, simply, is a sarcastic, “Thank you. That was really great.”

“No bullshit tough love,” to use a word Dr. Raynor is fond of, is a sensible stylistic choice for any character in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but I worry it comes at the cost of actual human connection, change, or empathy in these very sensitive moments. And I worry it all comes at a cost of further demonizing seeking therapy as a viable option for anyone watching. I love the way The Falcon and the Winter Soldier pushes forward in its darker-than-usual plottings, but I really love the way it stands still in its darker-than-usual emotional explorations. I don’t want Dr. Raynor, nor performer Amy Aquino, to suddenly become clipped or dampened or in any way made less of a human being. I just hope Dr. Raynor’s own in-universe therapist tells her to get out of the way of her own bullshit and let the characters explore themselves in future episodes.