#Powder movie review

[last-starry-sky]

why do i have the feeling kyle would be the most insufferable roommate . . .

like . . . he can't not investigate a sound. Drop something in the shower? He's bursting in, asking if you split your head open. (You def screamed the first time that happened) Same if you drop something in the sink while you’re cleaning the kitchen. You thought you were safe because he was napping on the couch, but one fork hits the sink and seal team six is rolling in. 💀

In the same vein: will fall asleep on you and will NOT let you leave! at first it’s on the couch while watching a movie, but moves to yours/his bed “bc it’s more comfortable 🥺”

totally fucking snores in your ear too

He's so warm though, you almost don't mind.

will absolutely get hard and rut against you while spooning. he'd own up to it if you called him out, but it's been over a year now and you haven't said shit.

His car and his room reek of cigarettes. Because you've complained about it, he actually takes enough care to not smell like it around you (if he can help it).

INSUFFERABLE GYM RAT/GYM BRO

Messy!! So messy!! Leaves his fucking protein powder all over the counters you just wiped up!! Won't throw his fucking sweaty-ass socks in the hamper!! Treats you like his damn housewife!!!

Just fucking . . . disappears on you. Doesn't want you worrying when he gets deployed. It breaks his heart when he sees how much you try to contact him on extra long missions. Problematically (and paradoxically), he won't call you to tell you when he's back. Especially when it's super late. He just wants to get his crusty clothes off, take a nice hot shower, and slip in behind you in your bed. ❤️

He can, will, and has used sweet talk and those big, brown eyes of his to convince you to agree to a multitude of things that, upon later review, you realize you'd have to be fucking stupid to go along with.

[denimbex1986]

'Before I saw the Barbie movie, I was resolutely against ever seeing the Barbie movie. Despite the fact that as a child I loved Barbie, who I interviewed regularly for important radio segments in her coral peach ball gown, I decided that the last thing I needed was 90 neon-coloured-Margot-Robbie-filled minutes of a film which would obviously have nothing new to offer me; a grown-up feminist woman who stopped idealising the problematic Barbie aesthetic decades ago.

But then the reviews from angry men started rolling in. You only had to be vaguely near the internet after Barbie’s release to hear the resounding roars of the mostly middle-aged; outraged that such an abomination against “all men” could even be allowed to exist. The reviews began to read like dreamy promotional soundbites: “An alienating, dangerous and perverse film”, “They won’t be happy until we are all gay”.

These men were really, really wound up about this film. They loathed it. They were spitting fury at Greta Gerwig for creating a piece of such obvious, glaring, “anti-men, feminist propaganda”.

And so, when I was asked by one of my teenage children if I would be up for a day of “Barbenheimer”, I said “yes”: newly salivating at the potential of a project that could cause this much delicious backlash.

I decided I would swallow my aversion towards sustained exposure to powder pink, get Barbie watched, then chase it all away with a good dose of brooding grey, historically accurate cinema. Despite the promise of those furious reviews, I still expected to enter and exit the cinema despising Barbie and in awe of Oppenheimer.

During the five hours of media and popcorn consumption that followed, a chain reaction set in motion that left me changed. It made the vitriolic reviews of Barbie, calling Greta Gerwig’s masterpiece “anti-men”, even more comical. The irony was bright and clear to me: Oppenheimer is anti-women.

And the thing is that Oppenheimer is not different to most films. Because most films are anti-women.

We just don’t take to the internet to rage about it because we’re used to it; desensitised by the decades of cinematic women who exist only to paint their lips red, bare their breasts and give the important male protagonists something to play with.

Is Barbie anti-men? Oh, I hope so (it isn’t, it’s anti-patriarchy), but also, frankly, I don’t care. Because if it is – after decades of movies made by male directors like Oppenheimer’s Christopher Nolan, it has good reason to be.

And it does what it so brilliantly does within the sparkly, imaginary bubble of an entirely fictional world where the male characters it side-lines are literally plastic dolls, all called Ken (except Alan); fake toys who simply can’t even breathe. Anti-women films like Oppenheimer on the other hand, sideline or completely erase very real, flesh-and-blood women who lived whole lives and made significant contributions to our world.

So, if you’re a man who has watched Barbie and felt angry or irritated or just plain strange while watching the depiction and treatment of the Kens – then welcome to cinema. That is what it feels like to be a woman watching Hollywood movies most of the time.

But here’s the thing – that poor Ken doll you’re lamenting over, is not Leona Woods; who at 23 was one of the youngest female scientists the Manhattan project employed. Ken, unlike Leona, was not present at the first nuclear chain reaction and Ken did not have to do what Leona did – which was to conceal her pregnancy until two days before her baby was born. Ken is also not Elizabeth Graves; a scientist entirely essential to the project’s success who was completing an experiment when she went into labour and did not stop the experiment until it was finished, timing her contractions with a stopwatch. Let’s see Christopher Nolan make a three-hour-long film about that.

Neither Woods nor Graves feature in Oppenheimer, which, like so many anti-women films, manages to assume such an air of authority that it can leave us assuming that its astounding lack of female representation must be down to its admirable commitment to historical accuracy. I’ve heard the cries – “It is called Oppenheimer after all. How much do you expect it to worry about its women?” And perhaps it’s true – you can’t very well expect a film about the very intelligent physicists who tackled the science behind creating the atomic bomb to change facts just for representation can you?

No. But you can and should expect such a film to accurately and fairly represent the female scientists who were, in fact, right there – alongside Oppenheimer and his men, ensuring the Manhattan Project’s success. Perhaps it might have been appropriate if viewers left the three-hour epic clear in the knowledge that Kitty Oppenheimer didn’t only drink herself to distraction while taking care of screaming children and dropping a hip flask out of her handbag at every possible moment; she was also a trained botanist who was employed at Los Alamos to take blood and test the levels of radiation exposure of her colleagues.

More than 600 women worked on the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos alone, yet the only female scientist given any recognition in Nolan’s world is Lilli Hornig, who speaks only briefly, mostly in opposition to the bomb’s use. And what about Charlotte Serber? Who Nolan depicts as Oppenheimer’s secretary, completely erasing her vital work as scientific librarian for the project’s “secret library” and who, with no formal training, became the only female group leader, overseeing a staff of 12 people while also risking her safety in counter-espionage efforts.

Oppenheimer doesn’t only fail the Bechdel test, it fails to represent the real women who contributed so significantly to that morally fraught turning point in history. Those women were physicists, engineers, chemists, mathematicians. They existed. And, as is so often the case, many of their achievements have been forgotten and remain unrecognised, by both history and cinema.

As I continue to emerge from my Barbenheimer experience, researching the lost women of the Manhattan project and occasionally still basking in the disgust of all those angry men who need to hate the work of art that is Barbie, it becomes ever clearer: anti-women is the benchmark of mainstream filmmaking and some people are simply unable to deal with the plastic Manolo Blahnik being on the other foot.'

[wheelsgoroundincircles]

Repo Man – Chevy Malibu

Alex Cox’s Repo Man is one weird, satirical ��80s classic. That it centers on car repossession (in addition to government conspiracies, rampant criminality, and radioactive alien corpses) makes it a car movie, of sorts. A lot of cars get broken into, stolen, and repossessed over the course of the film, but the most important car plot-wise is a beige Chevy Malibu driven by a sweaty, one-eyed mad scientist. What makes this Malibu one of the worst cars in movie history? For one, it is super hot inside even with the windows down and AC cranked up. And two, the decaying alien corpses in the trunk are so radioactive that anyone unfortunate enough to open the back end is instantly fried to powder, leaving nothing but a pair of smoldering shoes to tell the tale. For the final scene, the car was painted in 3M reflective paint (at $600 a can!) and hit with spotlights to give it that ghostly glow.

Maximum Overdrive – Happy Toyz Semi

It turns out Emilo Esteves has a knack for appearing in bad car movies as he followed up Repo Man by starring in Stephen King’s Maximum Overdrive. Tired of Hollywood directors butchering his ideas, King directed the movie himself (his first and last attempt at directing). Maximum Overdrive kicks off a consistent theme on this list: killer cars. The premise is hokey and never actually scary (seriously, 1974’s Killdozer is about a killer bulldozer that stalks its victims at 5 mph). In the case of Maximum Overdrive, it isn’t just cars, but all mechanical objects become possessed and homicidal, including one very grumpy toaster. A marauding group of killer semis is led by a Happy Toyz truck with a big fiberglass Green Goblin face on the radiator. Why Marvel’s Green Goblin? We’d ask Stephen King, but the author says he was drinking too much at the time to remember much of anything about the filming.

The Car – Lincoln Continental Mk III

Within the genre of killer cars, The Car ranks … among them. This low budget 1977 horror flick stars James Brolin as Deputy Wade Parent and a very dower looking 1971 Lincoln Continental Mk III. The car of The Car (inventive title, no?) is barely recognizable as a Lincoln thanks to extensive custom work by George Barris, famed customizer of the Hirohata Merc and the 1960s TV Batmobile. Barris added a high belt line, blacked out windows to match a black paint job, massive fenders, and a lowered roof line that gives the car a menacing glower. But rather than scary, the car of The Car ends up looking as corny as the movie’s dialogue, earning it a spot on our list.

Jeepers Creepers – Chevy COE

Far scarier than a possessed car is a car driven by a people-eating demon as seen in Jeepers Creepers. The grim rust bucket in question is a 1941 Chevy cab-over-engine (COE) with a blaring horn and a gnarly cowcatcher used to ram unsuspecting motorists off the road. This being the horror genre, there’s a little bit of tongue-in-cheek humor with the addition of a vanity license plate that reads BEATNU. The Creeper’s Chevy COE is simultaneously one of the best scary movies cars of all time and one of the worst cars to see in your review mirror.

Corvette Summer – C3 Corvette

In between iconic performances in Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back Mark Hamill starred in a little movie called Corvette Summer. The “adventure comedy,” as it was billed, follows a California teenager as he travels to Las Vegas in search of his stolen customized Corvette. Like many custom cars, the Corvette in question has clearly been an ambitious labor of love that got wildly out of control. The elaborate customization included a fiberglass nose shell, candy red paint with flame decals, side pipe exhaust, and a custom rear end with a large Chevy bowtie logo brake light. The car’s custom clamshell hood arrived before the feature debuted on the next-generation (fourth) Corvette. The car was also swapped from left hand to right hand drive to make it easier for the ladies’ man Hamill to chat up girls on the sidewalk while cruising. It boggles the mind how anyone could get a date driving this Hot Wheels-in-real-life monstrosity, but hey, the ‘70s were a weird time.

Dumb and Dumber – Mutts Cutts Van

In Dumb and Dumber, Harry (Jeff Daniels) and Lloyd (Jim Carey) travel from Rhode Island to Aspen, Colorado to deliver a “lost” briefcase. A good many of the miles are covered in Harry’s Ford Ecoline panel van customized for his work as a dog groomer. Like all committed dog groomers, Harry fitted his car with end-to-end shag carpeting, a nose, mouth (with tongue), ears, legs, and a tail. And that isn’t even the extent of the Mutts Cutts van, it also includes free samples of the most annoying sound in the world, plenty bottles of warm “beer,” and $200 car alarm. The duo ends up out of gas and desperate enough to trade the van for a minibike aka the perfect mode of transport for high-elevation mountain travel. What makes this one of the worst movie cars of all time? Just image the smell once you take it through the car wash…

[eptodaytommorowforever]

Events In The History And The Life Of Elvis Presley Today On The 21st Of March In 1976

Concert Review By Cliff Radel The Cincinnati Enquirer

By Cliff Radel : The Cincinnati Enquirer : Concert Date : March 21, 1976 (2:30pm)

Only Elvis Presley could elicit screams just by singing 'America, the Beautiful'. As he sang about 'amber waves of grain', at his Sunday afternoon Riverfront Coliseum, a chorus of girlish screams shot up from the sold-out audience of 17,540. The crowd's reaction to the next line was wilder. 'For purple mountains' majesty above the fruited plains', Elvis Presley sang. Upon reaching 'fruited' he momentarily let his gaze drop to the women seated in the first row. He quickly flashed them the patented Elvis Presley sneer. The women jumped out of their seats. Shrieking, they reached out with one hand toward the stage and with the other hit their heads in ecstasy. No performer, 20 years after attaining stardom, receives the response Elvis Presley does. If audience adulation was the determining factor, his title to the Ultimate Showman would be unquestioned.

The years have not been kind to Elvis Presley His eyes are puffy. His ample cheeks and fleshy neck overemphasize his surly lips. If he gains any more weight, they may be squeezed from his face.

Elvis Presley's girth is regal in the manner of Henry VIII. The man's legendary hip gyrations are there in spirit, but not in action. The enormous six inch wide belt which before Elvis Presley split a rear seam in his powder-blue pants was a matching blue number encircled with the Presidential Seal - and the equally enormous paunch drastically restrict his movements. The hips that once could never be shown on television are now only a memory.

The Singer takes these signs of being mortal in stride. Only a true star would be able to laugh at his physical flaws. After his third song, 'Amen', featuring the contrabass vocal glisses of J.D. Sumner, he held up a copy of Jerry Dowling's caricature which appeared in Sunday Enquirer 'This picture of me appeared in this morning's paper', Elvis Presley drawled. 'They captured me just perfect' he added, running his finger across his image's distended stomach. 'All I want to say is whoever drew this', the Singer paused and then said laughingly, 'I hate the (expletive deleted)', And then he broke into 'Love Me' with the opening line, 'Treat me like a fool...' 'Love Me' also ushered in another Elvis Presley tradition, the awarding of scarves to the outstretched hands of his loyal followers. In all he gave out 38 scarves throughout the afternoon.

What Elvis Presley gave the audience musically was mostly memories. He did 'Hound Dog' and 'Heartbreak Hotel', 'Love Me Tender', 'Burning Love', 'All Shook Up', and 'Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear.' In all he appeared disinterested and on 'Burning Love' he forgot the lyrics. He seemed to delight in garnering screams with the slightest lift of an eyebrow. He only played acoustic guitar in the concerts first three songs. He did not even touch the instrument, the electric guitar, with which he started a revolution. Despite the jokes about his weight and ambivalent delivery, Elvis Presley is still capable of putting across a song. His renditions of 'This Time You Gave Me a Mountain' and his new single 'Hurt' revealed a powerful voice and wide range all too often tragically obscured by the kind of events that occurred at the concert's conclusion.

As Elvis Presley sang his traditional closer, 'Can't Help Falling in Love', from his 1961 movie 'Blue Hawaii', hordes of women rushed down the aisles. Yellow-jacketed Coliseum ushers were sent sprawling.

private policemen tried in vain to stop the onslaught. With the crowd rushing the stage and reaching for those scarves, Elvis Presley cautioned them to 'take it easy and don't get hurt'.

Outside the Coliseum after Elvis Presley's 65-minute show the crowd, clutching Elvis Presley scarves, posters, buttons, and Souvenir folios, poured onto Cincinnati's streets. Lashed to the building's side was an immense banner proclaiming the 'Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus - Alone in it's gratness'. To 17,500 people the circus they had just witnessed was for them the greatest show on earth.By The Greatest Entertainer In History Elvis Presley

Rare Candid Photos Taken Here Of Elvis Presley Wearing The Rainfall Jumpsuit From This Show By Reporter Cliff Radel For The Cincinnati Enquirer Newspaper

[l0ves1ckf0ol]

wenclair headcannons

tags: @gwynrr

astringent - platonic

gift giving as their love language will forever remain canon to ME

"im going to die." "enid, the wifi had just been cut off for a few minutes."

both kinda lazy to go out on plans so they have movie nights

wednesday forces enid to listen to a horror or a true crime podcast, until eventually enid can't sleep anymore and wednesday stops this hobby.

in revenge, enid watches clueless and mean girls with wednesday.

both unironically love musicals, especially heathers (maybe enid more than wednesday bc she sings songs from it nonstop)

homework freak (wednesday) x couldnt give two shits (enid) unless homework freak lists an amount of stuff that could happen in the future if they don't do their homework.

enid dressed up as coraline, wednesday dressed up as wybie

matching pjs

thing sneaks in food for their movie nights that he also gets to crash in

enid loves to do wednesday's makeup but its only strictly powder, eyeliner, dark eyeshadow and dark lipstick (due to her allergies) which saddens her but makes wednesday rest in peace.

sweet - fluff

wednesday = little spoon

enid = big spoon

wednesday would do anything, and i mean ANYTHING for enid.

can't focus on exams? she already made notes for enid so she can study

study sessions with thing holding up flash cards as they both review

wednesday despises pda but when provoked she will do thr little things (cheek kisses, holdinf hands, waist pulling)

theyre a converse x doc martens shoes kinda couple

"how tf can u walk in those? "

she tells enid to stop blogging gossip, enid thinks abt it, stops for a while then returns after a 3 week hiatus

enid eats dark chocolate w wednesdsy, pretendinf to like it- in reality she spits it out in the bathroom sink.

enid's pet names are "luv" or "sweetie" or "baby"

wednesday acts like she despises them (secretly loves them)

enid KNOWS that she does.

she falls asleep to wednesday playing the cello

wednesday reminds her that she can't use her cello sessions as a flaw in her character while arguing cus enid actually likes it.

they dont do dates bc wednesday is not like yk used to going out w a lover but theyre doing progress (hence DRAGGING her out the dorm)

bitter - angst

almost never fights but if they do its sumn BIG.

enid loves attention and can't live without wednesday's so when frustration builds more and more...

boom goes enid, screaming her lungs off at wedneeday and then saying sorry afterwards cus she thought SHE was being mean

wednesday thinks its cute but then realizes her mistake and then she has difficulty apologizing bc their fights are always somehow against her morals and philosophy

enid gives her the silent treatment if it takes her a long time to apologize

though shes always remind her of her own faults, subtly.

mk ive run out of ideas

[hockeynoses]

and baby, baby, you can see me

Snz fic: Kurt from Sp/ree

Summary: Kurt is sick and does a chhinkni review for his followers. 1k.

Warnings: MESS. (You know me by now.)

Notes: Getting back in the game with a little variation on a theme. I wrote this this morning, so please forgive any mistakes!

For those of you that don’t know the movie/character - his dialog is supposed to be cringe, so that’s why it’s... like that. 😂

(Title from Digital Get Down~🎵)

~*~

“Hey, whad’s up guys - it’s Kurt here, from Kurt’s World.” He gives a futile sniffle and swipes a finger under his nose. He’s sitting on his bed, facing the camera on its stand, figuring he would need both hands for this. “I thought I’d do a product review for you guys today. I’b kind of sick but,” he gives an awkward chuckle, “ndo days off, right?  I always wadda have dnew condent for you guys.”

He’s so stuffed up that he has to breathe through his mouth, his nostrils already pink and slightly shining with moisture.

“I got sobe of this stuff called…” he looks at the tube, “Chhinkni? Ab I saying that right?  Idt’s like a kind of sdeezing powder. Subbosed to clear your siduses.” Giving another clogged sniff, he barely manages to get any air through, his sinuses sounding like they’re packed with wet cement.

“Which, ha, clearly I dneed right dnow.” A crooked smile pulls at his mouth, just before his eyes go hazy, a tickle buzzing to life deep in his nose. “Huh… Oh by god, it’s li-hiiiih-ke,” he says, turning his face up to stare at the light, “I haven’t beed able to sdeeze all – ehhh- SNF. All day.”  Blinking for a moment, he waits, frustrated.

“It’s like it’s all just stuck indside by dnose and it won’t combe out. Fuck.” He shakes his head, incessant buzzing still there, and tries to refocus. “So I’b hoping this will help. SNF.”

Twisting the cap off the small vial in his hand, he says, “This bmight be a bit gross, but you guys know I’b willing to try it for you!  Godda get the inforbation oudt there.” He taps out a small pile of brown powder into his palm. "Hmm... I guess I just… snort idt?  Here… here goes dnothing!”  Pressing his damp nostrils over the powder, he snorts it up as best he can into his already packed nasal passages. He tilts his head back as his eyes start to water.

“Whoa… that definitely…” He adjusts to the sensation as the tickle buzzes with renewed vigor. “I can definitely feel that. Idt sbells like menthol, I thiiiink- heh – ha-EXXXSH!” It takes him by surprise, spraying down onto his lap before he has time to cover. He sniffs up a bit of liquid that escaped onto his cupid’s bow, swiping the rest up with the back of his hand.

“Ugh,” a relieved exhale, “Well, that worked for sure.”  He waits, getting nothing more than an annoying, prickling itch. “Baybe I need to take bmore.” This time he pours out a larger pile onto his hand, determined. “It’s hard to judge with this stuff, you know?” he says, leaning forward and snorting the powder, rubbing his raw nostrils back and forth on his palm to make sure he gets it all. “There. If that isn’t enough, then this stuff is weak as shiii-hih- oh fuck-”

His head rears back, eyes scrunching shut. He holds his hands out, several inches away from his face in a pathetic attempt to cover, before exploding with a loud, “hah-AEESSHOO! Hih-RRSSHH’IUE!” He groans, blinking his heavy eyelids in a daze. The spray from his fit glitters in the air, caught in the rays of sunlight filtering in through the bedroom window. Droplets cover his palms as well, and there’s a glossy mess coating his upper lip.

“As you guys can see- heh – it’s – heh-IIRSSSHHoo!” This time he cups his hand over his nose and mouth, bending forward with the force of it. “It’s… hih’GSSHHOO! Ugh. It’s helbing with the congestion- ESSSHH! ITTCCH! Oh by god.” Pulling his hand back from his face, there are cords of gleaming mess clinging to him. He barely has time to feel embarrassed before- “hhh’RRISSSH-AH! Heh-kkxxSH! Guh… huh’ESSSHHUH!”

Now he’s too far gone, and he keeps his hand tight to his face. He can feel the entire lower part of his face covered in the muck that had been forced out of him. “I have to – ESSSH’UU!  I godda get a tissue.” Getting out of bed, his hand still plastered to his face, he scurries off camera for a moment. A crackling noseblow fills the air, the bed still empty. A pause, then the sound of another squelching blow, the rest of the congestion gushing into the soft cotton.

Kurt pops back into frame, settling himself onto the bed again, the box of tissues clutched in his hand. “Sorry about that, guys. Wow, that stuff really works, huh? Hah-ESSHOOO!” More spray is released into the air, twirling in the afternoon light. He pulls a fresh tissue from the box, pressing it to his raw nose and blowing weakly before he’s surprised by another – “hih-ERSSSHH’iue!” that’s muffled into the crumpled tissue.

He tosses it to the floor and gets a new one, folding it and holding it a couple inches from his face, waiting. “Heh… oh combe on – ehhh… hiiih’IITTSSSHUU!” Head snapping forward, he buries his nose into the tissue, immediately soaking it with the sheer amount of congestion that’s dislodged. “Gross,” he says with a weak laugh, pulling back to look at the mess in the cotton. “You guys probably don’t wadda see that.” He sniffles thickly and mops his face up with the soggy tissue.

“Well, now we know it works and – hih’ERSSSHH! EH-TSSUU! God, I don’t think these are godda stob – hah-GHSHOO!” Collecting a handful of tissues, he presses the bundle to his face and unleashes a wet, bubbling blow.

“I think I’d rate this uhh, an A+? It – heh – it for sure clears your sinuses, although I think in mby case there’s just too buch to clear out. Hiiiih…eh-TTSSHOO! SNF. I’d better sign off dnow,” he says, still holding a tissue under his nose. “Thangs for watching and don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share!” Leaning forward to stop the recording, his face contorts once again, nostrils flaring. The video blips off with a – “hih-EHH-”

[lifesarchive]

THE SHARDS by BRET EASTON ELLIS (REVIEW)

quickly: a group of rich white friends are too high to notice that the new kid may be a serial killer (an imaginative young writer / a vain but popular group of friends / a new kid with a dark past / valium for breakfast, weed for lunch, ‘ludes for dinner, cocaine for dessert / boys, boys, boys / endless supplies of sex, drugs, and rock and roll / hippie cults hiding in the hills / blood sacrifices and bodily ‘arrangements’ / ‘there’s someone in the house’ / where are the adults??!)

For just a moment, I was a young, hot, high, and wealthy white seventeen-year-old in ’70s-’80s Los Angeles… My parents are never home, every day is an orgasm, and I have all the drugs and euphoria I want. In my endless pharmaceutical high, a serial killer is playing mind games with my friends and me, and I’m barely sober enough to notice it is happening.

That is THE SHARDS. I am confident that if I were to give this hardcover copy a good shake, either a quaalude, a Valium, or a mist of fine white powder may loosen itself from the bindings. These are the substances that seem to hold the story and its characters together. There’s also a hearty scoop of graphic, disturbing, deranged, stomach-churning violence… a stark contrast to the ultra-sweet lives of these young rich kids. The reality of these brutal slayings is what makes the kids’ dissociation all the more real.

★ ★ ★ ★

more thoughts: SPOILERS!

Some personal context… this isn’t the book I originally planned on reading after “HUMAN SACRIFICES” by María Ampeuro, but it was actually the perfect follow-up. The world of the characters in María’s stories was soaked in the harsh realities of capitalism, white supremacy, and patriarchy. What better pairing than a story on the other end of the spectrum… rich white kids with Daddy’s money made from exploiting others!

This is my first Bret Easton Ellis book. All I knew about the guy before reading this was that he wrote AMERICAN PSYCHO. I’ve seen the movie, but I’ve never read the book. I actually owned the book for years, and it was destroyed in a flooded storage facility. Nevertheless, I ended up meeting Bret Easton Ellis’s work anyways. Not because I sought out his penmanship, but because, as tends to happen, I just had a good feeling about the book based on the cover, description, and number of reviews.

This book made me feel poor and ugly, and I think that was the point!

This is a story about a story. The book opens with a prelude in present-day LA as our narrator, Bret Easton Ellis, is driving around and sees an old classmate, which ignites panic within him. 

From there we are sent back to the summer before Bret’s senior year begins. He is a closeted bisexual man in love with his best friend Sarah, who is dating his good friend Thom (whom he is also in love with). He doesn’t seem to be in love with his girlfriend Debbie at all. An idyllic summer spent third wheeling with Susan and Thom ends once school starts and a new guy is introduced at the morning assembly… Robert Mallory. 

Immediately, Robert gets under Bret’s skin. Bret remembers seeing Robert months before he moved to L.A., at a movie theater, but Robert’s consistent denial of this drives Bret crazy. Taking time off from the different guys at school he is secretly intimate with, he decides to follow Robert after school one day. Robert catches him in the act of tailing him and any chance they had at a friendship is ruined. From here on out, it’s a game of cat and mouse between the two. (Or maybe mouse and mouse?)

The first major OMG moment is the death of Matt (a consistently stoned hottie), one of Bret’s ‘intimate friends’. 

As Bret watches Robert ease his way into the various friend groups on campus, he begins to see a side of Robert that is only noticeable from a distance… he notices the silent calculations that Robert is constantly making as if Robert is devising some secret masterplan. It’s then that Robert begins taunting Bret, dropping hints that he knows about the relationship between Bret and Matt. It’s also then that Matt starts receiving mysterious phone calls and notices that someone has stolen his pet fish and rearranged his room. In a state of psychological anguish, he accuses Bret of being behind it, due to some ‘gay’ obsession with Matt. Soon after, Matt turns up dead. Missing for several days, then found dead and mutilated in his own backyard. 

Bret meets with Matt’s father and learns the horrid details of Matt’s death. This makes the outlines of what Bret may be dealing with become more real now. No one cares about Matt’s death enough to notice the pattern that is forming. News articles begin to appear, daily, about missing girls, missing pets, mysterious home break-ins with furniture being rearranged, and late-night attacks. The police eventually put together a profile for a killer they are calling The Trawler. There are hints that he may be connected to a roving group of Manson-esque murder hippies that are terrorizing LA.

Bret makes the decision to divide himself between a true, hidden Bret, and a false, public Bret. Public Bret will play the role of a model student and boyfriend, while private Bret investigates Robert Mallory, whom he believes to be The Trawler. Valium, Quaaludes, and marijuana form the wall between the real and fake Brets. (Imagine someone breaking into your home, and you pop a pill and hide in a closet, falling asleep, and just hoping they pass you by.) Cue an endless string of parties, conversations, car rides, class assignments, and missed calls from Debbie (and The Trawler) that Bret floats through.

Fast forward past more missing women, Bret following Robert Mallory through the streets of LA, Bret being followed by a mysterious van through the streets of LA, Bret being taunted by The Trawler, Bret meeting with Robert’s aunt and finding out about Robert’s dark past, Bret breaking into Robert’s second home, Bret sleeping with Debbie’s dad, and Bret’s numerous attempts at telling someone what may be happening with Robert and being called crazy, etc. 

Eventually, we reach the foggy climax. After Debbie goes missing, Bret is convinced that Susan is the Trawler’s next victim. Robert’s next victim. He decides to take matters into his own hands. That night, Susan and Thom are attacked at Susan’s home by a masked assailant. Susan bites the assailant and he runs out (but not before disfiguring Susan’s breast, and Thom’s leg). Robert comes to the rescue, getting them help, and then heads back to his apartment. Bret arrives at Robert’s apartment soon after and a fight ensues that leads to Robert jumping to his death. Bret is alive and tells a version of the story that exonerates himself, and there is no one to dispute it. 

It is only in the denouement that it is revealed that Bret was the attacker that night of Susan and Thom’s attempted killing… and this is where I started to come down off the story’s canna/lude/coke/valium high… We find out that Bret is Susan and Thom’s attacker after Susan recognizes the bite mark she left on her attacker’s arm, casually peeking out from Bret’s long sleeve Polo. He breaks her hand and threatens her, to keep her quiet. (It’s only years later that Bret finds out Susan immediately told Thom about what she saw on Bret’s arm).

Coupled with this jarring reveal, we are also told (through a letter written to the press) that The Trawler is neither Bret nor Robert. The Trawler is independent of both young men but is indeed a part of the cult roaming the hills of LA. They claim that Robert Mallory was ‘their God’, and the mutilated bodies were ’sacrifices’ given to ‘the God’. Then I just sat with the book closed and wondered what I had just read.

I went back and forth on whether I felt this deserved 4 or 5 stars (like my opinion matters LOL). What gives me doubt is the execution of the ending. As bulky of a book as THE SHARDS is, the writing was actually pretty easy to follow. It flowed frictionlessly from one page to the next. I didn’t even mind all the extraneous storylines because they flowed, and added flesh to the characters. However, the last few chapters ended in such an odd package of revelations and reveals that it almost seemed as if a different writer had tried to finish the story with Bret’s voice.

Now, I must also say, that after reading the book I did a lite Google search on Bret Easton Ellis, just to see what he’s up to today. Unsurprisingly, he seems to be exactly the man I’d expect him to be after growing up as a well-to-do SoCal private school kid (i.e., his book White, 2019). He has not escaped the haze of privilege and wealth, that tends to blind those with his upbringing, from the complex harsh multi-ethnic multi-cultural struggles of the world. I wasn’t disappointed though. Just confirmed. Only a privileged asshole could write so excellently about vanity, insecurity, and recreational pharmaceuticals. 

[itsmoonia]

Review of Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes movie

Spoilers below!!

WHERE IS THE POWDER LEFT FROM THE COMPACT??? I WANTED TO SEE IT CRUMBLE AND FOR HIS PICTURES TO BE RUINED BY THE RAIN AND THEN FOR THE ONLY THING HE HAS LEFT AFTER THE RAIN TO BE HIS FATHER’S COMPASS (AND HE IS JUST LIKE HIS FATHER NOW, NO LONGER HIS MOTHER OR HIS OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS). other than that great movie, made me angry at young snow with the slutty little waist and eminem hair cut.

[fancoloredglasses]

The Funny Feline Felonies/The Joke's on Catwoman (Roses are red/Violets are blue/If you want your head to hurt/Just read this review)

[All images are owned by DC Comics and 20th Century Fox Disney. Please don’t sue me]

(Thanks to batgirlspain for the inspiration)

In Season 3 of Batman, the producers cut the number of episodes in half (airing once a week instead of twice) as a cost-cutting measure…and ratings suffered as a result. As such, the producers did some crazy ideas, including a surf-off between Batman and the Joker, a three-part story in the UK (in the city of “Londinium”), bringing in Ethel Merman, Milton Berle, and Joan Collins as villains, and recasting Catwoman when Julie Newmar became unavailable.

One thing they also did was do an episode in which 2 of their most popular villains team up (they did do a team-up story in Season 2 with Penguin and the Joker, but Penguin was in more a supporting role, appearing in 2 episodes of the 3-part story) Now, I know these days having 2 (or more) villains teaming up is commonplace in the movies (but seeing as the villains of superhero films don’t survive the film over 75% of the time, that tends to run through the A and B-List villains quickly. How long until we have a Batman film where he goes up against Kite Man and Condiment King?), but this was a novelty in the 60s (hell, having Batman face FOUR villains must have been box office gold! I honestly have no idea, as I can’t find a record of ticket sales for the film)

Anyway, on to the episode! If you would like to watch it, it’s available on Max or behind your favorite paywall.

We open at Gotham State Prison where…

…the Joker is being released on parole for good behavior (but it’s only been 6 episodes since he was last arrested. No wonder Batman has job security!) Joker thanks the warden and Bruce Wayne (who, in addition to being the head of the Wayne Corporation and the Wayne Foundation (not to mention his night job), is the head of the parole board. Does he wash the dishes too?)

Wait, seriously?! Anyway, the Joker leaves the prison and encounters…

(Thanks to m1thousand1000)

Bruce suggests the warden get his guards after Catwoman while he uses the warden’s phone to Alfred, who plugs him into the Bat-phone as Commissioner Gordon calls “Batman”.

How the hell does Gordon know? No one has had a chance to inform him yet!

Bruce immediately heads back to Gotham City as the opening credits roll.

Batman and Robin arrive at GCPD HQ. Meanwhile across the street at the Sleazy Hotel (I’m hoping that’s the owner’s last name, otherwise they should consider moving to a different part of the city)

(Thanks to jj lucia-wright)

As the Dynamic Duo cross the street and enter Catwoman’s now-empty room. As they search for clues (they found Joker’s suit he left the prison in and a scrap of paper), who should appear but…

Batgirl touches base with the Caped Crusaders, but since they seem to have hit a dead end, she leaves. Then Robin notices the paper he found earlier has vanished.

Batman admires her ingenuity and figures their paths would cross again and they can compare notes.

Later at Catwoman’s hideout (which has been decked out with Joker’s tastes mixed in), Catwoman briefs Joker on her scheme, which centers around a 200 year-old poem written by a criminal.

Naturally, the stash is hidden somewhere in Gotham City (because of course it is). Once they find the powder, part two is to use it to break into the gold depository and steal the contents (one would think that much gunpowder would level the building, not just blow a hole in it)

Let’s look at that poem, shall we?

Great, limericks. Still, you can’t expect the writers an 18th century thief to come up with Shakespeare.

Catwoman has a line on the crib and nightshirt mentioned. She has also left a clue (namely, a certain scrap of paper, which was part of the parchment) to lure the Terrific Trio into a purr-fect trap.

The next day, Barbara Gordon finds out more about the scrap of parchment. Later, Batgirl sneaks into Commissioner Gordon’s office to use the phone.

Batgirl tells Batman to meet her at the apartment of a gentleman known as Little Louie Groovy (can you tell this was made in the 60s?), a famous record producer.

Later at Louie Groovy’s “pad”…

…there’s a break-in! Louie puts up a valiant…oh hell, he flails his arms and feet pretending to know karate until he winds himself, then is overpowered. Then the goons strip Louie of his nightshirt.

(At least he wears boxers to bed) Fortunately for Louie, the Caped Crusaders show up. Cue the fight music!

(Thanks to Jacob Dombroski)

Joker throws Catwoman under the Cat-Bus.

(Thanks to Complex)

…I meant the metaphorical one.

Joker spins a bullshit story about being roped into stealing Louie’s nightshirt as a practical joke, and wants to shake the Dynamic Duo’s hands and be on his way so they can deal with the real criminal, Catwoman.

…yeah, I knew this would be a “joy buzzer” moment.

After that, they will stop breathing!

With that, the Joker and Catwoman take their leave (will Gotham City’s villains NEVER learn?)

Fortunately, just as the villains leave, Batgirl arrives (where was she earlier?)

How is an antidote supposed to help against electrocution? Whatever, it works.

Batgirl catches Batman up about the poem. Batman asks about the crib.

…of course it is. Katz (this theft has a certain feline-themed villain’s pawprints all over it!) is a British clothing designer.

Later, at Katz’s mansion, the villains have come and gone. Actually, they’re waiting outside the mansion to ambush the Terrific Trio.

Normally, you’d have to wait a week (since this is season 3) to see the conclusion. However, I don’t wanna wait that long, so…

As the Terrific Trio leave Karnaby Katz’s mansion…

(Thanks to jedburgh01)

(Seriously, they NEVER learn!)

Later, back at the Batcave, the Caped Crusaders get a message from Batgirl via Commissioner Gordon (so the GCPD is reduced to Batman’s answering service now?) to meet her on the corner of Cattail Lane and Nine Lives Alley. On the corner is the Grimalkin Novelty Company. What is a Grimalkin, you might ask?

(Wow, how did they figure out that’s likely Catwoman’s hideout? Or, more to the point, why did they not have that intersection staked out the moment it was built?)

And at said novelty company (do they make cat toys?) Catwoman pieces the puzzle of the nightshirt and the crib. The shirt’s pattern is the map, while the crib is the directions (backward and in French; and no one bothered to translate it before now? This is some National Treasure-level shit here)

With the directions (doing the opposite, since the poem said the instructions were lying) in hand, Our Villains are off!

Meanwhile, the Dynamic Duo meet Batgirl at the novelty company.

Batman has programmed the Bat-Sonar to track Catwoman’s car (you’d think they could ask the GCPD to watch out for it and let them know…or maybe even put a radio transmitter on the car, but nooooooooo, they have to give a Bat-shit reason they can do this!)

With that, the Terrific Trio all pile into the Batmobile and off they go!

The map leads Our Villains to a lighthouse, where they confront the lighthouse keeper and his wife (named Mr. and Mrs. Keeper, naturally; they even refer to each other that way!)

The henchgoons capture Mr. and Mrs. Keeper, which is probable cause enough for the Terrific Trio (lurking outside) to burst onto the scene. The villains move to flee, but the Joker accidentally twists the knob on the lighthouse’s banister and…

…opens the secret passage containing the gunpowder (you mean Mrs. Keeper didn’t move that knob once while she was doing her hourly cleaning of the lighthouse? Hey, don’t look at me that way! Mrs. Keeper is constantly complained that there's nothing to do in the lighthouse BUT clean!)

The Joker lights a match for a better look, but Batman bats it out of his hand, accidentally knocking it into the room! The resulting explosion destroys the lighthouse…but doesn’t blow up the room everyone is in? It turns out the Bat-shit explanation is that Batman coated the room using a canister of…

And here I thought the Shark-Repellant Bat Spray was bad!

As Batman goes to arrest Joker and Catwoman…

…Catwoman lawyers up. I mean, unless they confess they should get a trial. Catwoman then makes a call to criminal attorney “Lucky Pierre,” who has never lost a case (if that’s the case (no pun intended), why don’t all of Gotham City’s villains have him on retainer?)

Later, the trial is in full swing, with Batman as the lead prosecutor (is there nothing he can’t do? I guess since this version of Gotham City doesn’t have Harvey Dent…)

Batman examines every individual affected in this case: Little Louie Groovy, Karnaby Katz, and Mr. and Mrs. Keeper. In each case, Lucky Pierre declines cross examination. The Joker is beside himself, but Catwoman tells him to stay calm. With Batman’s case laid out, it’s time for Lucky Pierre to take the floor, but Lucky Pierre declines.

As Batman gives his summation (and Lucky Pierre declines to do so), the judge sends the jury away to deliberate, but the foreman announces the verdict immediately:

The judge reads the jury the riot act.

(Thanks to Jacob Dombroski)

At least the fight got a ZOWIE!

This being season 3, the final scene reveals next week’s villain:

Louie the Lilac (played by legendary comedian Milton Berle)

But that’s the subject of another episode (and, perhaps in the future, another review)

[blossom765]

RED, WHITE, & ROYAL BLUE MOVIE REVIEW

SPOILERS FOR THE MOVIE AND BOOK!

So, i just saw Red, White, and Royal Blue movie and it waaaaaaaaaassss

Disappointing. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It wasn't bad. It wasn't abhorrent. But, it had one too many scenes that made me go "Aw. Oh come on! Why?!"

I'll preface this by saying I read the book a long time ago and yet I still remember it as one of my favorites. I obviously was not expecting them to make a complete copy of the book for the movie. I don't really care if a movie is a one to one retelling of a book. But, when your changes are, instead of improvements, detriments, that is when I wish you had either used something from the source material or thought a little more about how you could make a good change.

Let's get this started so I can explain in detail.

First, what I liked. And by liked, I mean loved. The sexy scene in the Paris hotel. And I'm not saying this because of smut and I love smut. I'm saying I loved this because this looks like an actual fairytale. This sensual scene looks like what I've been looking for. A queer movie with a fairytale storybook atmosphere. The lighting, the bedding ( as if they were making love in a king bed in a palace ). How quiet and soothing the characters voices are. How slow their movements are. It felt like this could have come out of Disney golden age. Movies like Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty have this art, music, character movements that feel so graceful. Like it was water moving. I swear if Cinderella had an intimate scene, it would look just like the Paris scene. That scene was might be the epitome of romantic sensual scenes. I hope more romances take notes, especially if they are going for a fairytale vibe.

And now, what I didn't like.

June/Nora. If you didn't know, June, who was Alex's sister in the books, is now Nora, Alex's friend and granddaughter to the vice president. I'm still not sure why this change was made. Some have theorized was because Henry already had a sister and they didn't want to do the same with Alex. Well, whatever the reason, it seems unnecessary considering how little Nora had to do. I've been a yaoi anime fan for years and I've witnessed that some of the biggest criticism is how bad the female characters are. They're either scheming or just cheer leaders and nothing else. I appears that only Nora but, Bea, fell into this trope. In the book, June might still have been a secondary character but she still has more to do. She was working as a journalist and as she was also the child of Ellen and Oscar, she felt some the stress that Alex had ( in the book ) from their parents divorce. She also took part in the pr stunt and dated Henry when the emails were leaked. Bea's backstory of being a drug addict and being called "powder princess" was also removed. And I just hate it. These female characters had their own history and lives. They were not just there to tell Alex and Henry "oh, you love him" "oh go for it", they actually existed outside of them. If people hate female characters being boring cheerleaders in action movies, in romcoms, they aren't going to like it just because its a queer rom com this time. Bea went into drugs after her father's death. She still gets bullied by it. She has her own life and struggles to live through in the book, even as a secondary character. The only reason she went to rehab was because Henry was so scared to lose another family member and be more alone in the world after he told her it was gay. This was a way for Bea to be supportive without her character being reduced to boring cheerleader. Lord, she even sat far away from the meeting with Henry's grandfather. That is how far removed she is and how little she needed to be there and it's just so frustrating. There's also Bea's and Henry's mom who is only mentioned once and that is when Henry says he can't talk to her because she's either hunting elephants or doing some charity for elephants. I genuinely do not remember. I think that was her one mention in the movie. In the book, she was detached from kids but she had a good relationship with them before her husband died. And she steps up and stands up to her mother to protect her kids. She changed as a person. Even if it was off-screen ( well, off-page ) she had her own development as a character. And it showed just how Henry and Alex's relationship changed the people around them for the better. Their relationship was changing the world and right in front of us, it changed his mother. June/Nora, Bea, and Bea's and Henry's mom just had nothing. This change was most definitely not an improvement. 

It also drove me crazy just how fast this movie was. There are montages where there really shouldn't be. Like the hospital montage or the getting to know each other montage. I would much prefer if there were less montages and more more on screen developments. Show conversations between Henry and Alex growing as friends. Show the book convo where Henry is talking to a cancer patient about star wars instead of just showing Alex watching him talk to a cancer patient in a conversation we can't hear. Small things like that show more about Henry and show Alex, and thervy, the audience that Henry is more caring towards people than he lets on. A montage does not do a good enough job of that. It just feels your trying to skip through matieral. I get that this is a movie and you don't have much time to work with but could really not afford a few more conversations. Ugh, seriously, Amazon should have just made this into a mini series or something. And how a lot of changes in the characters just felt so random. Let's take Alex's confusion after Henry kissed him on New Year's. He has a talk with Nora and she asks him if he liked it. And this makes him question if he likes Henry. Then Henry and him meet again at a party and the White House and they start making out. What I can't figure out is what Alex wants out of the situation. Is it love? Is it exploration? It just moved so fast that it's hard to pick up on what kind fo realization Alex reached. If it was love, even with the little time they had, they could have showed Alex realizing he might be romantically into Henry. Let's say before he talks to Nora, Alex goes for a quiet walk in the park. He wonders what that kiss was. And he imagines Henry walking right next to him. And he really enjoys Henry's company. He likes when Henry smiles, when he laughs, when he teases him, etc. After that scene quiets down, he goes to Nora and tells her about the kids and there they have a talk about Alex liking the kiss. Because we just established how he would love to walk with Henry just canoodling, we can understand that he clearly liked Henry kissing him. You can't just say he liked the kiss, you have to show. Show don't tell, is one of the biggest rules in romance. I'd argue more than most genres. Because romance is often about internal feelings and realizations. You have to make the audience feel with your character. You can't just say the character felt something, especially at something as pivotal as the first kiss. You have to show us the realization.

There's also another realization they didn't put. When Henry is singing karaoke and then we shoot back to Alex. All they needed to do was slow things down and focus on a change of expression from Alex, showing he's reached a realization. This scene is supposed to be after his mom tells him he needs to know whether or not it's forever with Henry. All you needed was a few seconds of quiet and slowness. And there is also another scene where the movie went too fast. When Alex confronted Henry and when Henry comes to a realization he wants Alex. In the book, Alex is yelling at Henry until he gets quiet and tells Henry that if he wants Alex to leave, he has ro tell him to leave. We go though a lot of emotions in this book scene. It waits for a few seconds. With Henry in Alex's face and Alex telling Henry, nice and slow, to tell him to leave until Henry starts kissing him. In the movie, Alex says Henry has to tell him to leave but there's no big voice changes, no emotions like anger and intense stubbornness. The characters feel like they are exercising the same amount of emotion throigh the whole movie. Alex and Henry cry ( not yell, very little push and tug, just sad, not really a spectacle of emotions from a scene that supposed to be about getting everything out ), Alex says tell me to leave, Henry says please don't, and theygo to the museum. This scene does show how Henry wants a private life without people gawking at him but then Alex plays their song, they start dancing, and Henry says he's in. That's it. There's no reason he's in after saying how much he wants a more private life, he just says he's in. Then we follow with Alex getting on the plane and Henry giving him his ring and Alex giving him his key. I don't know what to say for this other than it's just so boring. At the very least, they could have soared a few minutes to do that scene from the book with Henry holding Alex's hand and saying he 100% in and Alex unfolding his hand to find the ring. If a romance scene actually includes swapping important valuables, you need to actually show that this is a big deal. Not just, here's something to remember me by, which can also be a sweet heart felt scene but this scene just felt like they were trying to finish it up. Just slow down a little bit.

Now on to Philip. You know, the one who did get to sit in for the meeting and say something while Bea sat away like a child that didn't know anything. Anyway, he didn't have much to do in the book either. However, without him knowing, he convinced Henry to start a real relationship with Alex. After Alex storms the palace ( yes, it was a storming in the book and I love that because it actually shows this scene is supposed to be different from the others and signal that these characters are about to reach a different stage in their story and romance) and Henry and him make love, Henry goes out for a jog and runs into Phillip. They have a talk about how Philip has to start working on the heirs he and his wife need to create even though he doesn't like children. And Henry realizes Phillip's not even miserable, he's fine with all of it. He's completely fine. And Henry realizes he doesn't want to live that lofe of just being "fine". That whole thing is summed up in Alex saying "nothing will ever happen to you". I guess they figured if he said it twice it would be as good as that scene. Could have at least added a voice crack from the actor and pulling Henry in closer to say that last "nothing will happen to you" if they wanred to hammer something home. Even that wouldn't have been as good as the book because again, show don't tell ( actually this would have been something the movie could have improved upon by using a flashback. Book Henry just relayed the talk with Philip. Ironically, that still had more impact than Alex saying "nothing will ever happen to you" twice and yet it was something they could have improved ) but at least it wouldn't have been so 'blah'.

I'd also like to mention how Henry saying he's liked Alex since the first time he met him was so dull. In the movie, he just says it when they are having s**. In the book, it's when they are in bed joking and Henry is just like "yeees, the whole time. Nothing gets past you" and they just joke around playing with pillows. I love moments like these. Moments when couples are just laying in bed and just talking and learning about each other. Learning about things that never came up and are finally coming out. 

Now to one of my biggest turn offs from the movie. The absence of Luna. Luna was a queer senator that Alex teased but admired. He turned over to the opponents team and Alex felt like it was a betrayal for all that he stood for. Alex saw this guy that looked like him working hard to do good and it inspired Alex. But, when Luna goes over to the other side, Alex cries to Henry that maybe there's no point to it all. But, Henry calms him and tells Alex that he is good and he works hard to be good. This whole conversation about Alex's fear that he might not be able to do anything and Henry comforting, those moments are the reason why I love seeing the relationship on screen. I like the will they won't they parts of romance but I also like when we finally see the characters in a relationship. The moments when we see what they are like as boyfriends. How they support each other through trying times. Those are wonderful moments in on screen relationships. And we barely got anything of them just talking to each other or going through romantic moments as boyfriends! Luna also tells everyone that Richards was the one who hacked the emails. Again, we see how Alex and Henry's relationship is already changing the people around them and inspiring determination in Luna. I know. I know. Luna had a lot to do in the book and this is a movie and we're strapped for time. Seriously, Amazon, mini series would have been the way to go. 

They also changed Alex's parents from being divorced to still be being married. Why, though? Having divorced parents would added an interesting layer to Alex as a character and his relationship with Henry. Seeing how his parents fought always made him upset. He knows that a relationship could end in a break up. Yet, he still dates Henry because love was worth it. This is what romances thrive on. That even with the obstacles, love is worth it. And his love with Henry was worth fighting for. 

They also didn't include that pr date with, I believe, Alex being with Zahra and Henry being with June. When rumors started circling that Alex and Henry were together, they had to try to debunk that. And Alex and Henry were distraught because they had to hide their love and two women were being used for this. I like this. There are consequences in this romance. It shows just how big their relationship is. And it shows their remorse in having to use two human women as chess pieces. Because these women are actually people not just their cheerleaders. 

I'll just finish this off with something that more of a pet peeves to me. Henry's utter surprise when he hears "sweat dropped down my balls". Come on, honey, child, you heard American songs before. Don't pretend, darling. But seriously, at the end of the book, Henry ( or Alex, I don't remember which one ) reveals to Alex ( or Henry ) that he wants to move in an apartment together. It's super sweet. And shows they can finally move on int heir relationship and be together. In the movie, if looks more like Alex is just showing Henry his house and showing him where he grew up and less about moving in together. I don't even know if he mentioned anything about moving in together. Also, at the end of the book, they notice a mural painted on a wall to celebrate their queer love. I think that would have been a much better note to end on. To show what this movie was about. A gay love story where things just worked out and it didn't end in pain and instead ended with the world celebrating this love story. Some might argue that would have been cheesy, but cheesy is romance's best friend. Romance is where you can have all the cheesiness you want. Just enjoy things about the heart. 

As you can, I take my romance seriously.

I don't think this is a bad movie. Not at all. I think it's good. I think the actors did a good job and took their roles seriously. But, I can say that the book is definitely better. I would recommend watching this movie. Especially the Paris scene. I still can't get over how much it felt like it was ripped out of a storybook. I recommend the movie. It's nice. But, I would highly, HIGHLY, recommend reading the book afterwards. It just is better. At least in my opinion. And read it with the audiobook, it's pretty good. 

( Wish these audiobooks would have some background music and different voice actors for different characters. That would just make them just a whole new genre within themselves. Somebody, anybody, please get in that! )

[steelbluehome]

The Wrap

The Apprentice’ Review: Donald Trump Movie Starring Sebastian Stan Plays Like a Tragic Frankenstein Tale (click for article)

Cannes 2024: With Stan as a young Trump and Jeremy Strong as lawyer Roy Cohn, the film is amusing at times and disturbing at others

STEVE POND May 20, 2024 @ 10:05 AM

There’s not much in Ali Abbasi’s filmography to make you think that he’d want to make a movie about a young Donald Trump and his mentor Roy Cohn. But there’s a lot in the Iranian-born, Copenhagen-based filmmaker’s work to suggest that if he did make such a movie, it could be both fascinating and terrifying.

And in a way, “The Apprentice,” which premiered in the Main Competition at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday, is both of those things. It’s a true-life horror story in some ways, and Abbasi approaches it as a Frankenstein tale in which the mad doctor creates a monster and then loses control of it. But after years of Trump imitations (and the real thing), it also can’t help but feel a little cartoonish, and maybe not the best use of the director’s particular talents.

Abbasi’s feature debut was a 2016 horror film about surrogacy; his second was the 2018 Cannes sensation “Border,” which drew screams and squeals with its scene of troll sex; and his third was the visceral drama “Holy Spider,” about a real-life case in which an Iranian serial killer who preyed on sex workers and was applauded by many in the conservative society.

To put that skill set – an uncompromising, often dark vision, a taste for horror and an outsider’s perspective – in the service of a film about the young would-be mogul and the conniving lawyer who taught him how to win at all costs wasn’t a sure thing by any means, but it was awfully intriguing.

And to call that film “The Apprentice,” swiping that title from the TV show that helped give Trump the profile to run for president, suggested a sense of humor that might be necessary to survive this particular project.

There’s humor in the film, mostly in the knowing chuckles elicited when a key moment of the Trump bio clicks into place:

Here’s where Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong) introduces Trump (Sebastian Stan) to Rupert Murdoch and says “he could really help you” … here’s a young Roger Stone showing Trump a Ronald Reagan campaign button that says, “Let’s Make American Great Again” … Here’s Cohn taking Trump clothes shopping and advising him on the kind of suits that will help hide his “big ass.”

These are the building blocks of the Trump we think we know, with the movie’s opening title card saying that the film is “based on real events” but also includes fictionalized elements. And make no mistake, if Trump and his supporters get any idea of what’s in “The Apprentice,” the cries of “fake news!” will be resounding, because this semi-biopic begins with mockery and ends with dread.

At the start of the film, which adopts a 1970s style for its shots of the New York City of that era, Trump is a guy who trudges door to door in a rundown apartment building (“Trump Village”) built by his father, collecting rent checks from struggling tenants who clearly don’t like him.

In New York City, meanwhile, Trump has been admitted to an exclusive private club, where he regales a date with descriptions of the powerful men who surround them. “Why are you so obsessed with these people?” she asks, and he offers a weak “I’m not obsessed, I’m just curious” defense that isn’t enough to keep her from heading to the powder room and then out the door.

From the next room in the club, an imperious lawyer Roy Cohn invites the poor guy to come sit at the table Cohn is sharing with a couple of mobster clients and some other people he deems unworthy of introduction. Everybody at the table laughs at Trump, with his timid manner and his order of ice water — but if the young Donald is essentially presented as a socially awkward, vaguely pathetic wannabe unable to get out from under a domineering father, Cohn sees something he likes in the little bit of empty bravado Trump can summon up.

“I like the kid,” he says at one point. “I feel sorry for him.”

Or maybe he sees something he can mold in the clueless waif with family money. Cohn, who was instrumental in sending convicted spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg to the electric chair in the 1950s, spouts “America first” speeches that are echoed in Trump’s stump rhetoric to this day. And he offers his three rules for winning: “attack attack attack,” “admit nothing, deny everything” and “no matter what happens, claim victory and never admit defeat.”

Strong nails a certain blank, slack-jawed, morally vacant look that Cohn had, even if he’s hardly a dead ringer for the vicious fixer who dropped homophobic slurs and insisted until the end that he was dying of liver cancer rather than AIDS. Stan has a tougher job of it — because despite the makeup and hair, it’s impossible to compete with the real thing that has dominated media for the past decade.

The movie essentially shows Trump learning to lie, ineptly wooing his first wife, Ivana (Maria Bakalova), building the Commodore Hotel and Trump Tower, making an ill-advised foray into Atlantic City and gulping diet pills to keep himself going. It’s the construction of the Trump persona, with help from the slimy advisor who has the keys to “winning.”

And it’d play like a tragedy if we didn’t know what happened after the movie ends. The movie has the feel of a rise-and-fall saga, with Trump growing increasingly unhinged and out of control — and with Stan increasingly adopting the vocal and physical mannerisms we see on social media and the news today. It’s most horrifying — and most Abbasi-like — in an extended scene that cuts between a memorial service for Cohn and Trump on the operating table getting liposuction and a scalp reduction, all set to the strains of “My Country Tis of Thee.”

That sequence might be the one that makes the most of Abbasi’s uncompromising gifts, and suggests that the director’s heart might be in a truly wild movie not quite so tethered to biographical details. “The Apprentice” is amusing at times and disturbing at others, but it’s hard not to think that Ali Abbasi could have done something weirder, wilder and more satisfying if he’d found a way to bring in more magic and less MAGA.

[denimbex1986]

'The behind-the-scenes details of Oppenheimer’s production demonstrate the craftsmanship and commitment that went into making the film a success. Christopher Nolan’s three-hour biopic of the father of the nuclear bomb J. Robert Oppenheimer has proven a hit with critics and audiences. The film has earned over $240 million at the box office and currently sits at 93% on Rotten Tomatoes. Reviews demonstrate a widespread appreciation for the movie’s numerous winning aspects, including its thoughtful script, powerhouse cast, and stunning visuals.

As one of the biggest directors working today, Christopher Nolan boasts a thoughtful vision, as well as the resources to pull it off. As such, the story of Oppenheimer’s production is a rich one. The ways in which Nolan chooses to challenge the conventions and standards of filmmaking demonstrate the director’s ambition and skill. However, the film also benefits from the keen insights and creative generosity of the director’s collaborators. Much like the film itself, Oppenheimer’s production paints the picture of a unique and staggering work brought to life by a creative visionary and his diligent team.

10. Oppenheimer's Atomic Bomb Explosion Was Done Practically

The defining moment of Oppenheimer is the successful detonation of the atomic bomb at the Trinity test. For Christopher Nolan, it was important that the Oppenheimer explosion was captured without CGI so that it could be “beautiful and terrifying in equal measure.” For Nolan, this effect can’t be achieved with CGI, something which “inherently is quite comfortable to look at.” Instead, the director chose to detonate a smaller real bomb, using a mixture that involved gasoline, petroleum, aluminum powder, and magnesium flares to produce the blinding light, plumes of fire, and mushrooming effect typical of an atomic bomb. Nolan used forced perspective to give the detonation a sense of scale.

9. Oppenheimer Features No CGI Shots

Oppenheimer’s dramatic explosion isn’t the only surprising use of practical effects. Christopher Nolan even made headlines in the lead-up to the film’s release by remarking that there are “No CGI shots in Oppenheimer”. However, this doesn’t mean that the film employs no CGI at all. Rather, not a single shot in the biopic is made up entirely of CGI. This is no mean feat, since some of the images, particularly the visualizations of atomic particles, would be far easier to render as fully CG creations. In the production of the film, these visualizations were created through a blend of VFX and practical filmmaking that gives the moments real, tangible weight.

8. Cillian Murphy's Oppenheimer Look Was Inspired By David Bowie

Cillian Murphy strikes a vivid figure in Oppenheimer. It’s hard to express exactly what sets Oppenheimer’s look apart from the dozens of other suit-wearing physicists in the movie, but there’s certainly an ephemeral quality to the look that makes it feel distinct. Christopher Nolan used David Bowie as an influence for the scientist’s appearance. According to Murphy (via Vulture), the director would send him photos of the rock star in the 1970s, “when he was so skinny and kind of emaciated but had these wonderfully tailored suits with the trousers, that was the Oppenheimer silhouette.”

7. RDJ, Emily Blunt, & Matt Damon Took Pay Cuts To Be In Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer boasts a shockingly stacked cast, from top-tier character actors to screen veterans and even current A-listers in supporting roles. While the movie’s budget of $100 million is high for a dramatic biopic, it wouldn’t be sufficient to pay the usual salaries of some of its biggest stars. Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, and Robert Downey Jr. are all big box office draws who could easily demand $10-20 million for a film appearance. However, Variety reports that an eagerness to work with Christopher Nolan encouraged the stars to drop their quote dramatically, although the stars all have deals for a share of the film’s backend profits.

6. Oppenheimer Required The Invention Of A New Kind Of Film Stock

One of the trademarks of the latter part of Christopher Nolan’s career has been the director’s employment of IMAX technology. The director meets the scale of his work by suiting its presentation to the largest screen possible. This commitment created a challenge with the black-and-white sequences of Oppenheimer since black-and-white IMAX film stock did not exist when Nolan began developing the film. Instead of compromising on his use of IMAX or the use of grayscale sequences in the film, Nolan had film stock manufacturer Kodak develop the first-ever black-and-white film stock for IMAX (via Collider).

5. Oppenheimer Is (Almost) Too Big For IMAX

Black-and-white stock isn’t the only new IMAX ground Christopher Nolan broke with Oppenheimer. Around the time of the film’s release, Nolan treated the internet to a look at the IMAX film print for Oppenheimer, which is the biggest ever. The reel is over 11 miles long and weighs over 600 lbs. The director is no stranger to pushing the limits of IMAX projectors; his previous IMAX epic Interstellar required a widening of the standard projector platter to accommodate the size of the 167-minute film. However, Nolan reports (via Collider) that the projector is now at its absolute limit with Oppenheimer since the projector’s arm can’t physically bear any more weight.

4. Oppenheimer's Kyoto Bombing Line Was Unscripted

For many viewers, one of the most harrowing moments in Oppenheimer isn’t a dramatic visual, but an offhanded comment made by a minor character. In the scene where US Secretary of War Stimson (James Remar) discusses which Japanese cities should be targets for the atomic bomb, he crosses Kyoto off the list, remarking that he and his wife honeymooned there. It’s a chilling moment based on actual history that powerfully skewers the calculating remoteness of those involved with the bombing. According to Nolan, the devastating Oppenheimer line was suggested by Remar himself, who had learned the fact while conducting his own research into the character.

3. Robert Pattinson Inspired Oppenheimer

Christopher Nolan credits Robert Pattinson, star of his previous blockbuster Tenet, with igniting his interest in the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer. According to CBR, Pattinson gifted Nolan with a book of Oppenheimer’s speeches towards the end of production on Tenet. Nolan became fascinated with the character of Oppenheimer and began to envisage a film that would tell the story. Unfortunately, Nolan wasn’t able to fit Pattinson into Oppenheimer, explaining (via Digital Spy) that the actor is “very much in demand these days”.

2. Most Of Oppenheimer’s Script Is Written In The First Person

Christopher Nolan has long held a reputation as a director who defies conventions, from the backward chronology of Memento to the alternating timeframes of Dunkirk. The director recently revealed to THR that he broke a major screenwriting convention with his Oppenheimer script, by writing large portions in the first person. Nolan explains that, in order to help differentiate the script’s timelines, everything in the film which takes place from Oppenheimer’s own perspective is told in the first person. In the film, this distinction is shown through color grading, with everything outside of Oppenheimer’s perspective shown in stark black-and-white.

1. Cillian Murphy Nearly Played Oppenheimer In A TV Show

Cillian Murphy has rightly seen a deluge of critical praise for his performance in Oppenheimer. Not only does the actor bear a physical resemblance to the real figure, he brings a riveting sense of alienated pathos to the role that effortlessly maintains audience engagement. However, this isn’t the first time Cillian Murphy was considered to play Oppenheimer. In 2014, the series Manhattan, another dramatization of the creation of the atomic bomb, featured the nuclear scientist as a secondary character. According to the series’ creator, Sam Shaw “We wanted Oppenheimer […] to feel alien, or other, in some ways. A thousand percent, Cillian Murphy was on that list.”'

[looseferrets]

A Raccoon's Fragmented Audiobook Reviews 2023-ish: Part 2

[Art of my raccoon self Geo Holms realizing that Tumblr posts had a picture limit of 30. Art by @reoisready]

Oops, found out when adding covers to this that there's only 30 pictures per entry, so here be the second part of my fragmented audiobook reviews. May you find the rest insightful, vaguely amusing, or confusing. Raccoon sounds of approval and all that.

Hollow Kingdom by by Kira Jane Buxton

Premise: A pet crow attempts to find his way in a zombie post apocalypse.

Brief Raccoon Thoughts: The premise is interesting, this book frustrated the hell out of me to the point I gave up on it, picked it up months later, then almost gave up on it again. Plays with the frustrating trope of zombie stories where "anyone can die" in narratively unsatisfying ways. Plus the narrative feels as if its spinning its wheels for much of the book. Bah. I really wish I liked this book more. At least the crow is non-metaphorical.

Recommended for: Zombie fans, corvids.

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

Premise: A nesting doll narrative of six different characters in six different eras/genres.

Brief Raccoon Thoughts: Greatly enjoyed the movie and wanted to check out the source material. The audiobook has six different narrators (one for each character in book) which really helps sell the nesting-doll nature. In the end, I like the movie more, which in some ways lands the themes of the book better than the book does, though this still good book to visit.

Recommended for: Souls on a journey.

Open Throat by Henry Hoke

Premise: A queer (???) mountain lion waxes about Los Angeles culture.

Brief Raccoon Thoughts: Literary pretentiousness to the point of being insufferable with occasional moments of brilliance. The main character being called "queer" is a bit of a stretch. He's a male cougar who once daydreamed about getting it on with another male cougar. That's the extent of it. There's also a very weird extended daydream of the cougar visiting Disneyland.

Recommended for: Queer-ish cats.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Premise: A spaceship of quirky characters travel a long way to a small, angry planet. Relationship fluff along the way.

Brief Raccoon Thoughts: This is pretty light and frothy sort of sci-fi, focused more on the interpersonal interactions of a crew on a long journey, interrupted by occasional sci-fi conflict along the way. I admit I enjoyed this greatly because I turned to this when frustrated with the crow-surviving-zombies book.

Recommended for: those who wanted Firefly to be more soft and fluffy.

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Premise: A woman visits a v cursed mansion to save her cousin from a v cursed marriage.

Brief Raccoon Thoughts: Pure absurd gothic horror grounded by a sensible main character who does her darnest to escape those gothic horror trope clutches. And I was totally here for it. Great book.

Recommended for: Those looking for the slow burn gothic horror vibes

Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree

Premise: An orc retires from adventuring to open a coffee shop.

Brief Raccoon Thoughts: Pure fantasy fluff and love it. Yeah, there be some conflict along the way, but this mostly about an orc opening a small business, and opening herself up to new friends to assist her along the way (and maybe looooooove?) Also: Thimble is <33333333

Recommended for: Coffee connoisseurs.

Temeraire (1-6) by Naomi Novik

His Majesty's Dragon

Throne of Jade

Black Powder War

Empire of Ivory

Victory of Eagles

Tongues of Serpents

Premise: Napoleonic war with dragons.

Brief Raccoon Thoughts: Read the first three or four books of this many years back, wanted to revisit. The series has dragged at times, but overall has been a treat. Mostly for the dragons. The dragons are the best. I'm a sucker for dragons who talk and have actual personalities, and this series has those in spades. (Beware of Tongues of Serpents though, damn that book dragged. Needed to take a break for a few months after that one.)

Recommended for: Cows, just come closer, yep, that's right...

Freelance Familiars (1-3) by Daniel Potter

Off Leash

Marking Territory

High Steaks

Premise: A man is turned into a cougar and enters the magical realms as a familiar freelancer.

Brief Raccoon Thoughts: This is very Dresden Files, for the better AND the worse. Thomas is an engaging and fun main character to see this world through. I read the books a while back, and was fun to go back through via audiobook. Will def read through the back half of the series soon to see where it all goes.

Recommended for: Those waking up on four paws.

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

Premise: After their parents' unexpected death, a brother and sister attempt to sell their parents' (haunted) house.

Brief Raccoon Thoughts: Nitpicking raccoon here: this isn't so much a "haunted house" story as it is a "haunted puppet" story. I guess the puppet mostly haunts the house, but not exclusively. Just wanted to get that out there in case you were looking for a haunted house tale. The book as it is pretty entertaining (the brother's backstory with the puppet legit the best part of the book), with some mixed execution at times.

Recommended for: Taxidermists(?)

Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat by Lynne Jonell

Premise: A girl finds a talking rat.

Brief Raccoon Thoughts: Really hits those Roald Dahl vibes well, including a pretty fun karmic justice ending for the villains.

Recommended for: Those looking for YA Roald Dahl vibes

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

Premise: An orc is waylaid by an injury, helps out a foul-mouthed ratkin bookshop owner in meantime.

Brief Raccoon Thoughts: This being a prequel to Legends & Lattes, manages to hit the same fluffy vibes of that one, focusing on the main character from that one at a much different place in her life, giving some perspective on her character journey. Also the foul-mouthed ratkin is <3333333

Recommended for: Those looking for swearing rodents

Welcome to NightVale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor (unfinished)

Premise: Uh...weird stuff happens at Nightvale.

Brief Raccoon Thoughts: I didn't finish this one. I was used to the NightVale podcast, but listening to a NightVale novel was a dash...overwhelming. May try it again later. Wouldn't say the novel was bad, just more than I was willing to handle at the time.

Recommended for: Those looking for longer episode of Welcome to NightVale.

Odder by Katherine Applegate

Premise: Collection of poems following an otter named Odder.

Brief Raccoon Thoughts: Since I listened to this, I didn't know until AFTER that it was actually a collection of poems. I just thought all the chapters were weirdly short. Still, was pretty neat way to tell the story of a sea otter's life.

Recommended for: Otters!

Starter Villain by John Scalzi

Premise: A man inherits his uncle's villain enterprise.

Brief Raccoon Thoughts: This book reads as 95% setup with 5% percent payoff (if even that). There is legit a LOT of clever ideas presented in this book, and it keeps pretty darn entertaining, but it really never commits to his core conceit, much to the book's overall detriment. I kept looking forward to what the main character did with his newfound villain resources/reputation, and I still be waiting.

Recommended for: Would-be villains

Top Five Audiobooks of 2023

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

Legends and Lattes by by Travis Baldree

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

In case you ran across part two first, here is link to Part 1.

[lazerv4]

Thoughts on Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

Just my raw thoughts not a review or anything

If dumb movies/shows/etc are junk food then the monsterverse is chocolate, incredibly delicious/fun but it can also be disappointing, this is one of those cases. While Godzilla vs Kong was a nice bar of Tony’s Chocolonely this is more like a mediocre Milka bar, trying so hard to be tasty with a lower quality that it basically just tastes like oil textured sugar with some cocoa powder on top, in this case the sugar is the amount of Kong in the movie which is around I wanna say 70% which is a lot of kong but the coca powder is Godzilla which in like no joke maybe 10% of the movie or maybe even less. I know for marketing reasons calling it Godzilla x Kong is immediately gonna make the movie perform better than just calling it Kong 2 since I also believe the least successful movie and show in the monsterverse are both the Kong ones but it still feels like they cheated you out of an actual second Godzilla and Kong movie while also making less of what could have been a cool Godzilla cameo at the end of a second Kong movie. Besides my issues with the title and how little Godzilla the literal first word of the title is in the movie we also have to talk about the movie itself, to make things brief the movie is fine, it’s similar to Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom in that it feels very sidequesty and non important overall even if it has world ending consequences, maybe a better way to say it is that it’s just another Kong adventure that would normally be referenced as something he did at one point but this time we got to see it. The plot itself centers around an exiled tribe of orangutan titans that were exiled to the hollow earth inside the hollow earth (yeah it's getting kinda stupid) by Godzilla thousands of years ago and now Kong finds them and accidentally unleashes them on hollow earth (Kong’s domain) so that they can find a way to get to actual earth (Godzilla’s domain) and take it over? They do have this ice titan as a slave that is pretty strong but I still don’t think they could have crossed Godzilla with how easily he defeated Kong in the previous crossover and with how decently Kong did in his first fight with them, it’s not quite the hydrogen bomb vs coughing baby analogy but it is like a Sukuna vs Naruto kind of deal, sure Sukuna can land a few hits but he is gonna get crushed by Naruto in a few minutes. I don’t know what else to say, sure I had some fun watching the movie like with Argylle but I doubt it would translate well to a second watch unless I’ve forgotten most of it or if I’m exclusively revisiting the weird 0 gravity anime ass fight they have prior to the final showdown where who could have guessed it, Godzilla turbo stomps while Kong and mini kong who I forgot to talk about distract beat up the orangutan boss and before I forget because it happens a lot with this movie, the scene were Kong uses mini kong as a weapon because he is being a little shit is hilarious and I hope it become a popular gif and for the humans that I never mentioned through this whole thing, what did you expect? Did you watch any other monsterverse movies? It is what it is. 

And we end as abruptly as the orangutan's life.

[weepingwillows-sweethibiscustea]

OKAY. RWRB MOVIE REVIEW.

(Disclaimer that these are all only my opinions)

I imagined Philip as looking more like Philza Minecraft, to be completely honest. So tell me why they made him kinda..???

THEY FUCKED UP HIS CHARACTERIZATION (imo). In the book, he’s just a victim of what he was born into as well. He’s rigid & kinda a dick because it was what he was taught to be to survive, the movie completely took that away, giving him literally two scenes.

AND THEN THEY GIVE GOOD GRACE TO THE KING? Bro. No. Stop it.

I feel as though they were afraid to criticize the British monarchy too hard, which is why they gave the king the good grace they did (plus other changes done, I don’t think they included the cliticization of the British Museum stealing all those artifacts either)

Frothing at the mouth over the fact they not only took away Luna, but completely got rid of the fucking sex abuse scandal in favor of a jealousy plot. Explodes you with my mind.

Going back to my point above that one, I feel they might not have wanted to add that seeing how many Richards are out there. Can’t fan too many flames, huh?

They also gave Bea way less screen time, & took away the whole “Powder Princess” thing, I think the way they talked about their dad passing & how it effects the family was kind of cheap.

AND they fucked up Henry’s moms characterization. She just straight up wasn’t in it, only mentioned, & in a negative light. Again, they really didn’t give the dad passing the attention it deserved.

The beginning went by pretty damn fast. But in all fairness for that & I suppose a lot of points, the movies already two hours long with all that missing, so I suppose I can give some leniency on some of these points.

June obviously wasn’t there either, but it at least doesn’t feel like anybody’s missing. I guess they managed the Nora & June merge well. THEY DID NOT MANAGE THE LIAM & LUNA MERGE WELL.

Seriously fuck them for taking away Luna & subsequently his character arc

THEY UN-DIVORCED ELLEN & OSCAR. I UNDERSTAND IT WOULD HAVE ADDED A LOT OF SCREEN TIME THEY DIDN’T HAVE BUT COME ON.

Do love all the terms of endearment Henry uses, honestly don’t remember if that’s in the book or not.

Can we circle back around to how attractive Philip is. Sorry who said that.

I like the way they handled the cake scene better, definitely feels more realistic.

Admittedly also kinda happy the Henry magazine photo thing wasn’t added, kind of made me cringe reading about it lmao

OH YEA THEY TOOK OUT THE SCENE WHERE ALEX CALLS HENRY TO VENT ABOUT HIS PARENTS(?), IT WAS SUCH AN IMPORTANT MOMENT FOR THEIR RELATIONSHIP BOO

Is there a copy right reason they couldn’t include Henry being a Star Wars fan? If they just simply choose not to then I am Disappointed.

Really liked how they did the phone calls, with them appearing in front & them as though they’re in the same room, together. Great touch.

Edit to add this bullet point because it’s really important to me. Alex says he’s bisexual, Henry says he’s gay. Ellen asks if Alex is gay, fluid, bi, pan. Ellen references transgender people. They talk about the LGBT+ community. They say all these words, they don’t whisper them, or talk around them. They say them loud & clear as day. Idk, this just makes me really happy because of how often you’ll see people talk around these words like they’re bad or dirty words (yes I’m aware this is a movie where they have gay sex multiple times on screen but it’s still important to me shut up)

FINAL THOUGHTS.

It was alright. I don’t regret watching it. It was entertaining, but admittedly not the type of movie I’d usually watch, so I think other people could enjoy it way more then I did. But I definitely still enjoyed it despite all my criticisms.

Definitely not as good as the book, but not bad at all. I’d say it’s absolutely worth the watch.

I’m sure you can also find posts that can better articulate why this movie is so groundbreaking & important as well, which is something I didn’t particularly touch on in this post.

[khaleesiofalicante]

Hey, Dani. I am trying to incorporate more culturally diverse backgrounds into my writing (which is partly thanks to you, so thank you) and I was wondering if I could ask for some advise. I am writing a short fic where two characters meet at a Holi festival. The concentration won't be the actual festival rather than the characters' conversation, but I want to set an accurate background. I have done my research, but as I have no experience with Holi festivals and don't want to accidentally write anything inaccurate or offensive, do you have any tips on how to accurately describe the setting? I hope this isn't perceived as me being an ignorant idiot or treating you as a Wikipedia page. Anyway, I love your stories, keep going!

This is wonderful to hear and kudos to you!

I think the first and best step is to ask help if you don't know something and want to do better - so you already got that covered 😇

I'm going to start by saying I am not Indian (Holi is an Indian festival even though it is celebrated by Indians everywhere) so I've never been to one either. But I can guide you on how to write a scene about a different culture/festival if that helps.

If it's for a setting/event, things that really help is:

For descriptions - watch a lot of videos. Like actual videos of people celebrating (not scenes from movies as they can have stereotypes) as it can give you ideas about what it looks like and how to capture it. This always helps to describe the scene/atmosphere well.

Any desi festival (to the best of my knowledge) has its own food. There are special food that we make and is popular during certain festivals so look into this. See what kind of sweets people make to celebrate holi and having it incorporated in the background (like a simple mention of something eating something like that) goes a long way in terms of making your story more diverse and inclusive.

Language - Now this is a very important one but also tricky and requires a lot of research. If one of your characters is Indian (or is talking to an Indian) remember that they WILL use their own language to refer to certain things. For example, when referring to the colourful stuff people throw at each other during Holi, even though we might call it 'powder' or whatever, an Indian is very unlikely to call it that. They will probably say Gulal (or something else depending on their language since India is very diverse). For example, in my stories, Cami (when referring to her mother) always says Amma (or mother). She never says mom (even when referring to Anjali to someone else) because it's not part of her vocabulary. It's the same way Achilles always calls Rafael 'Rafa' (because I've been told that;s the common nickname among Mexicans for Rafael, not Rafe). These little things always help and if an Indian is reading your story, these are the little things they will appreciate.

Peer review - if you have an Indian friend, do ask them to read it after you write it. No one can give you better feedback than them!

Be open to criticism - I still make mistakes when I portray these characters and that's because despite how much research you do, you can't know everything because cultures are so complex! One of the things I always struggle with is language (I get feedback on what kind of words are popular in what regions etc) and this is actually very useful. So always make sure to be a writer who welcomes feedback and is willing to learn. Your readers will appreciate that a lot!

I hope this helps and good luck with your story!!