#They ended playing pirates in the DC dimension

[nelkcats]

Captain Phantom

Since the ghost invasion of Amity stopped, Danny had become close to many of the ghosts he was once enemies with, so it was not uncommon to find him attending Ember concerts or competing with Johnny.

Then, it was also not uncommon to find him playing with Youngblood, who was always up for playing pirates. The halfa knew that the ghost boy was lonely and not all ghosts paid attention to him, so he made sure to play with him whenever he could.

Of course, he and Youngblood noticed that they could no longer play in his home dimension (too much risk; as much as the adults didn't see Youngblood, Danny preferred not to risk creating a second GIW), so they chose a random dimension to play pirates. The halfa even invited more ghosts to be each other's "crew."

When everyone agreed to the proposal, they traveled through a natural portal to the new dimension, they wouldn't stay too long for it to matter.

Happy with the arrangement, no one noticed how the people in the "new" dimension freaked out at the sight of two pirate ships floating in the sky, everyone on the ships were too busy having fun to notice. Batman grunted at the thought of another magical stupidity in Gotham.

Determined to explore the strange phenomenon, Red Hood and Nightwing offered to use the Jet to get to one of the ships, to which Batman agreed. When they reached the first ship, they found a fierce fight between...aliens? spirits? None of the brothers were sure, but they all glowed in a familiar green. It seemed that the pirate ships were clashing.

Jason was about to speak to draw the attention of the people in the battle, but before he could a boy with bright green eyes, white hair and a Captain's hat on his head came, he immediately noticed them and shouted, "Argh! Intruders!"

Dick swore he saw a boy in a Captain's hat (the rival ship?) pouting and about to complain about something but he couldn't pay any more attention to the event because the "crew" circled them and before he knew it they were tying them up with ropes (also glowing?) and calling them "prisoners". Dick wondered if he would have to jump off the plank, while Danny hesitated about what to do with his "prisoners", Youngblood didn't appreciate people interrupting their games.

[detectivemaker]

It's a au time once again

It's a DC / Gravity Falls Fusion, obviously the mystery twins have been usurped by my own favorite set of twins

Lewis and  lenore  was sent to spend the summer with their Uncle William(the clock game who's the head was brother in the old Adam West show), or at least someone they think is their  uncle William but it's actually uncle James( head Cannon name for the copycat Hatter who in this is another one of jervis siblings) who's pretending to be his twin brother after the man was sucked into a portal

Now that we have the two sets of twins how about I told you a bit about this ciphers

The poison  tooth clan are the big bads of the show, the baddest of all being the ruling   patriarch William, vincent acts as the initial bill Cipher stand in but as soon joined by his lovely nephew Michael,  and the rest of his lovely  niece and nephews coming to play during weirdmageddon 

So Mike and his family come from the dimension that's a fusion between the original OC Mike's home dimension and euclidia,  say the rules are the chimeric creatures can see up, but William wanted  do more than just see up to feel Superior

So he went up with his family, and that caused the rest of the world to burn like a painting  on fire, it's safe to say everyone other than William was completely traumatized by this

They appear in the dream realm as humanoid but I'll have a piece of headwear covering their eyes

Vince has the usual top hat, michael has a fedora, elizabeth has a son hat, peter has a  a Newsboy hat, Philip(with an F has a pirate hat), david has a 10 gallon cowboy hat, gregor is just straight up wearing a blindfold, william has it oversized crown

They all have unique alterations to the pupils of the people they possess

Vincent once again is the usual Cipher yellow with a slit, michael and William both have purple whole eye and slit as well, elizabeth is pink with a heart pupil, peter is blue with a teardrop,  philip is red with I guess a fire i'm still thinking about it,  gregor is  silver with a cog, and David has a goat like people much like  the demon version of Tad strange

Grego and David only show up doing weird again near the very end , for the big party 

doing weirdmageddon Lizzy and Michael are quite enthusiastic to play  with  their cousins, as dear Uncle Vincent prepares to celebrate his wedding anniversary,  yeah sure Clocky he wasn't entirely conscious for it but it's still legally binding

But then his brother has to Rush In  users his throne, and start rambling all about how this is his Triumph and just being a glory stealing douche

Williams the one who gets twin tricked and sent to the therapy dimension for time out,  and everything  ends happily ever after though Gotham is left a little bit weirder than it usually is

And  dorothy's there too but she's usually just texting in the background

[queerlyvictorian]

MY FANDOMS (in roughly reverse chronological order of when I joined them*):

*I have wildly different relationships to each of these fandoms, but I want to keep my options open for when a post sparks joy.

☆ = Frequently post about

Squid Game (TV Show)

Gen V (TV Show)

The Boys (TV Show)

Dimension 20: Pirates of Leviathan (TTRPG Actual Play Show)

Dimension 20: Fantasy High: Sophomore Year (TTRPG Actual Play Show)

Dimension 20: Fantasy High (TTRPG Actual Play Show)

Dimension 20: Never Stop Blowing Up (TTRPG Actual Play Show)

Gravity Falls (TV Show)

Dimension 20: Misfits and Magic (TTRPG Actual Play Show)

Mary and George (Limited Series)

Challengers (Film)

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (Film)

Dead Boy Detectives (TV Show)

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (Film)

Dimension 20: A Starstruck Odyssey (TTRPG Actual Play Show)

Dimension 20: Burrow’s End (TRRPG Actual Play Show)

Dimension 20: The Ravening War (TTRPG Actual Play Show)

Dimension 20: A Crown of Candy (TTRPG Actual Play Show)

Dimension 20: A Court of Fey and Flowers (TTRPG Actual Play Show)

Hazbin Hotel (TV Show)

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2024-) (TV Show)

Ms. Marvel (TV Show)

Bottoms (Film)

Saltburn (Film)

WandaVision (Limited Series)

Smosh (YouTube Channel Group) [*mostly Smosh Pit and Smosh Games]

Battle for Beyond (TTRPG Actual Play Vodcast)

Nimona (Film)

XO, Kitty (TV Show)

Worlds Beyond Number (TTRPG Actual Play Podcast) ☆

Secret Sleepover Society (Twitch Channel)

The Benoit Blanc mystery series (Film Franchise)

Exandria Unlimited: Calamity (DnD Actual Play Limited Series Vodcast)

Shadow and Bone (TV Show)

Heartstopper (Graphic Novel/Webcomic Series and TV Show)

Bridgerton (TV Show)

Invincible (TV Show)

Rolling with Difficulty (DnD Actual Play Podcast)

Young Royals (TV Show) ☆

The Song of Achilles (Novel)

EPIC: The Musical (Concept Album)

The Politician (TV Show)

Heathers (Film)

Dungeons and Dragons (Tabletop Roleplaying Game)

Drawfee Show (YouTube and Twitch Channel)

The Sims 4 (Life Simulator Video Game)

The Magicians (TV Show)

The Good Place (TV Show)

BBC’s Merlin (TV Show)

DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV Show)

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (TV Show)

Gilmore Girls (TV Show)

Musical theatre (Music/Performance Genre)

Overly Sarcastic Productions (YouTube Channel and Aftershow Podcast)

Glee (TV Show)

The Originals (TV Show)

The Vampire Diaries (TV Show)

The Fosters (TV Show)

The Shadowhunter Chronicles (Novel Series)

Into the Woods (Broadway Musical)

The Secrets of Droon (Novel Series)

The Rick Riordanverse (Novel Series)

The Ben 10 universe (TV Show Franchise)

The Avatar: The Last Airbender universe (TV Show Franchise)

Greek mythology (Real-Life Mythos)

The Scooby-Doo multiverse (TV Show and Movie Franchise)

[demigodgooglesearches]

"too young to be a 90s kid but close" (aka 00s kid) aesthetic:

-nyan cat, llams with hats

-owls. everybody loves owls--

-minecraft before the jungle biome. minecraft hunger game servers.

-slap bracelets

-long sleves under tank tops...jean skirts with... leggings.... dc shoes... shell shoes...

those 60 seconds multiplication tables. the big blocks with 100 squares, but the strips of ten squares, the single squares? also shape wooden blocks. yellow hexagons, green triangles, blue diamonds, youd make pictures with them.

-morning circle. playing 7 up at school. FOUR CORNERS

-u knew the cookout was lit when they had huggies those juice barrel drinks that u bite the top foil

-sillybands

-nintendogs on your grey ds plus cooking mama

-remembering vaguely having to use a cd player as a kid, then an mp3, than an ipod-

-zebra. print. everything.

-japanese erasers

-duct tape purses

-the justin bieber sounds like a girl debate

-yo danny phantom hE wAS JUST 14

-shark boy and lava girl. sky high. stewart little. minutemen. halloweentown. the thirteenth year (mermaid). smart house. spy kids. twitches. princess protection program (bonus points if you watched it live and counted how many times they said princess). lemonade mouth.

-staying up late enough to see george lopez start to play

- "mom how do you spell cartoonnetwork whats the website"

- that weird fosters home for imaginary friends mmo

- fucking TOONTOWN

- "disney!! three six five!!!!!"

- microsoft paint created MASTERPIECES

- was... was kidpix a thing

-bill nye the science guy and liberty kids

-alvin and the chipmunks covers.

- school store! get me a pencil grip for a quarter.

-crimp your hair bitch... or straighten it. or clip in feathers. or strands of dye-

-bakugan and tech decks

-wheezers 'beverly hills' on the playground. we will rock you on the bus.

-camp rock. highschool musical. epic disney crossovers.

-if you didnt have a blog on blogspot.com you weren't shit (with the extension where you could feed the fish)

-lisa frank folders or those folders with close up of dogs and cat faces

-having to learn the fucking recorder. hot crossed buns... hOt croSssED BUNS,,,,

-did anyone play that weird wizard typing quest

-SMENCILS

-clUb PENGUIN. wizard 101. pirates of the carribean online. webkinz.

-everything is not what it seems when u can get all you wanted in ur wildest dreams

-popular snacks at snack time,,,: gritz, gogurt, fruit roll ups tongue tattoos, zebra cakes, cheese dip crackers, those cookie crackers where u took the red stick and spread it... gushers

-in the wee hours of the night you could hear... hear the chia pets taunting you

-orbeez. monster gummies. hotwheels beat that. fur real friends. pillow pets. littlest pet shop. yugioh. bop it. floam. tamagotchis.

-iDog

-HAVING THE KICKASS SCOOTER THENN KNOCKING UR FUCKING KNEES OFF WITH IT FUCK THAT SHIT

- "HERE I AM IN UR LIFE... HERE U ARE IN MINE... YEAH WE GOT THE SWEET LIFE... MOSTT OF THE TIME"

-underdog. undeRDOG. UNDERDOG!

-when you were playing on the ps2 and u fucking lost the fucking MEMORY CARD

-SPYRO

-playing gta the one where the guy wears the blue shirt (liberty city? ) with the sound off... memorizing cheat codes... square circle square-

-the fucking wii... making miis for literally everyone in ur class and sending the ones you didnt like to the parade

-slap slap slap... clap clap clap... SLAP SLAP SLAP.... CLAP CLAP CLAP (i.e 3... 2... 1... BLAST OFF from here to the stars,)

-when the teacher rolled out the elmo projector and those transparent plastic papers

-megan, MEGAN! (i.e i ran over oprah.....)

-the dell computers took over

-bruh message me on msn... then skype

-making a facebook page. liking all the fucking dumb facebook pages you could

-pokemon

-Z̵͖͂Ô̶̘Ö̴͔́. ̵͉͊Z̷̭̊O̷̻͒Ô̸̟ ̴̛̞Z̸̭̕Ȏ̸̗O̴͎̊ ̴̡͑. P̵̧̈Ȃ̷͖L̴̞̚S̶̰̐

-okay those weird ass beads u always got for Christmas that you had to iron to make shapes

-the fortune tellers... pick a color... blue? okay b-l-u-e. OK now pick a number... ok ur gonna marry lindsay lohan and have 80 kids

-WHAT YHR FUCK ARE THOSE GHOST THEMED CEREALS CALLED??? BOOBERRY??? AH SHIT

-team edward vs team jacob determined your survival

-thE yEar tHree THOusAnD

-black eyed peas

-fucking angry birds and flappy bird murdered everyone

-HEELYS OH DEAR GOD HEELYS I ALMOST FELL AND SLIPPED INTO ANOTHER DIMENSION

-that rabits game... let them go to the moon

-THE PS2 SOUND UP NOISE. THE DOOOOOOOSH

-every dvd had that coming soon bullshit

-stealing ur cousins gameboy

-Sugar. Spice. And everything nice.

-that fucking monkey at some of some fucking tv shows what the fuck was that fucking- hi im paul,,

-asdf videos! (desmond the moon bear.. i like trians)

-if you didnt flip ur shit everytime u saw a yellow car and yell BUMBLEBEE

-when the phone rings in school "THE PHONE... THE PHONE IS RI N G ING"

-"WAZZZZUUPPP!!" "WHAZZAAAAHHP!!"

-kidz bop. wholet the dogs out... who who? who?

-We all want to forget .... annoying orange and fred but god wont let us..

-MY SHINY Teeth and ME.

-that weird ass spongebob half time episode where theyre in the dome... or the spongebob episode with wormy... or the spongebob episode with the hooks (dont touch the hooks) or david hasslehof in the spongebob movie...

-invader zim

-FLAPJACK THAT FUCKING NIGHTMARE SHOW. And chowder. Coraline gave me NIGHTMARES fuck!

- I LIke to move it move it...

-POPTROPICA

-where the sidewalk ends from the school library... with goosebumps and diary of a whimpy kid.. BOOK FAIRS

-leapfrog

-THOSE GYM SCOOTERS. FOUR SQUARE. KICKBALL. THE PARACHUTE THING.

-no one knew how to use a fucking green screen

-🎶 we the peoplee... in order to form a more perfect union...🎶 conjunction junction whats ur function 🎶 puff the magic dragon 🎶

THERES A HUNDRED AND FOUR DAYS OF SUMMER VACATION-

the original teen titans

teach me how to dougie. soldier boy. the hoedown throwdown. the hannah montana movie 3d they were giving 3d glasses away literally in walmart

bILLY MAYS AND SHAMWOW

[wlwfiction]

hello! i just saw a post you reblogged about racism in femslash fandom. and i was wondering if you could give me some recommendation about tv shows with diverse lesbian chararcters??

Here’sthe post 

I’m presuming by diverse you mean non-White? Thepost lists several shows already, including Queen Sugar (which I’ve seen andhighly recommend), Rosewood, The Fosters and NoTomorrow.

Others I’d recommend include:

RevolutionaryGirl Utena: A weird anime about duelling and so much more. Almost everycharacter is LGB+ and since it’s an anime almost all are Japanese. The maincharacters are a Japanese woman and an Indian Hindu woman who become a couple.However, major warnings for abuse (including rape) and incest. They’revery much shown to be wrong within the show but are examined in graphic detail.Here is a very helpful warnings guide(contains spoilers).

The‘Other’ Love Story: A webseries about two Indian girls falling in love.There are twelve episodes which go for approximately ten minutes each, so youcan binge the entire thing in about two hours. It also has a happy ending!

BlackMirror: ‘San Junipero’: With the sci-fi show Black Mirror, every episode is aseparate story, so you can watch any episode without needing to have seen anyothers. San Junipero centres around an f/f couple including a biracial Black/Whitebisexual woman and a White lesbian.

BrooklynNine-Nine: Police comedy show. In season 5, main character RosaDiaz comes out as bisexual. She’s Latina and her actressStephanie Beatriz is also bisexual (Beatriz is of Bolivian and Colombian descent). Her love interest is played by Gina Rodriguez, who is Puerto Rican American and attracted to multiple genders. The main cast also includes an AshkenaziJewish man as the protagonist, a Cuban American woman as his love interest, andtwo Black men, one of whom is gay and married. However, I can understand anyonenot wanting to watch the show due to the police themes - it’s absolutely cop propaganda.

TheLegend of Korra: A fantasy cartoon and the sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender.All characters are Asian and/or Indigenous American. The protagonist is an Inuitbisexual woman and her love interest is a Japanese bisexual woman. Theirrelationship is made more explicit in the comic sequels, where the artist isIrene Koh, a Korean American bisexual woman. A couple of other characters havebeen revealed to be a bisexual woman and an unspecified WLW in the comics.

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power: Side characters Spinerella and Netossa are an f/f couple and Netossa is Black. It’s hoped that a few other characters, particularly the protagonist, will be canonically LGBTQ+ in future seasons. 

SailorMoon: The classic magical girl anime and again, since it’s an anime almost allcharacters are Japanese. Season 3 introduces two new main characters, Harukaand Michiru (Uranus and Neptune), who are a butch/femme lesbian couple.

How toGet Away With Murder: I’m unsure if I’d really recommend this one anymore sinceI loved the first season and the first half of the second season, but I feelthe show’s really gone downhill since then. However, the protagonist Annaliseis a bisexual Black American woman and a fascinating character.

Black Sails: Show about pirates in the 1700s. One of the main characters is a biracial Black/White lesbian. The main cast also includes a White lesbian (her love interest), a White bisexual woman (another potential love interest) and the main protagonist is a White gay man. I was spoiled on who dies and who ends up together, so I’ll just say that one out of five LGBT characters dies but the others end up in happy relationships. Message me if you’d prefer to be spoiled as the bury your gays can certainly be harmful to viewers.

Easy: ‘Vegan Cinderella’ and ‘Lady Cha Cha’: As with Black Mirror, each episode of Easy is a standalone. These two are about an f/f couple, one of whom is biracial Black American/White. She’s played by Kiersey Clemons who is a WLW.

Dimension 404: ‘Bob’: As with Black Mirror, each episode is a standalone. In the episode Bob, the main character is a Taiwanese American woman married to a Black American woman. They have a child together.

Black Lightning: DC show about a Black American superhero family, including a lesbian daughter whose love interest is a Chinese American bisexual woman.

Sidetrack: A webseries about eight WLW, including a Japanese American bisexual girl, a Black American nonbinary lesbian, an Indian American lesbian, an unspecified Latine lesbian and a Muslim lesbian of unspecified ethnicity as well as three White lesbians. It does end on a slight cliffhanger and unfortunately there’s no season 2 :/

Shadowhunters: Aline Penhallow is a biracial Chinese British/White lesbian but she’s only appeared in one episode so far.

Some I plan to watch include:

One Dayat a Time: Comedy show about a Cuban American family. The teenage daughter is alesbian and her love interest is a White nonbinary lesbian. However, this is US military propaganda in the same way that B99 is cop propaganda.

AmericanGods: Based on the book of the same name by Neil Gaiman about gods in themodern world. The protagonist is a Black man and the main cast includesBilquis, a Black bisexual woman.

Brujos:12 episode webseries about LGBT Latine witches. The main characters are fourgay guys but there’s also some WLW characters.

BrownGirls: Webseries about two female friends, a Black American girl and aPakistani American and Muslim WLW.

Dyke Central: Webseries about WLWOC.

Couple-ish:Webseries about LGBT romance and friendship. One main character is a Black WLW.

195Lewis: Webseries about a Black f/f couple, one lesbian and one bisexual.

TheNewtown Girls: Webseries about four WLW, one of whom is Asian Australian.

Leslieville:Another webseries, but I couldn’t find much info about this one.

TheSlope: Webseries about an Iranian American bisexual woman (played by DesireeAkhavan who is also an Iranian American bisexual woman) and a White lesbian.

Entangled With You: Webseries about an f/f couple who I thinkare both Black American.

That’s My DJ: Webseries where the main character is an AsianCanadian lesbian.

Retail Rejects: A webseries about being a retail employee,with no straight main characters. A few of the leads are Asian Canadian.

Pot Luck: New Zealand’s first WLW webseries, with three maincharacters, one Maori and one Samoan.

The Peculiar Kind: Webseries about WLWOC.

That’s What She Said: Webseries about Asian American WLW.

Strangers: Webseries where the main character is a biracial Chinese American/White bisexual woman, as is her actress Zoe Chao.

CardcaptorSakura: Another magical girl anime. Protagonist Sakura is Japanese and bisexual,her male love interest is Chinese and bisexual, her best friend is a Japaneselesbian with a lesbian mother, and her brother is gay and in a relationship. Warning for m/f pedophilia with some of the side characters though.

Other f/fanime on my to-watch list include Sweet Blue Flowers, Maria Watches Over Us, ToMy Dearest Brother, Bloom Into You and Whispered Words.

SeonamGirls High School Investigators is a Korean show about five girls solvingmysteries. One episode involves a lesbian couple and featured the first f/fkiss on Korean TV.

Vida: Two Mexican American sisters mourn the death of their mother, who was a WLW and married to a woman. One of the sisters is a WLW too.

Others (I don’t know a huge amount about these so Ican’t say how good the representation is):

The Bold Type: Contemporary drama about three female friends who work for a magazine. One of the trio is a biracial Black/White bisexual woman and her love interest is an Iranian American Muslim lesbian. However, read this on how good the Black representation is.

Degrassi:Apparently has some WLWOC characters but there’s so much info about the show Igot confused quickly.

DoctorWho: In Season 10 the Doctor’s companion is Bill Potts, a Black Britishlesbian.

The GoodWife: A main character is an Indian American bisexual woman.

Grey’sAnatomy: Callie Torres is a Mexican American bisexual woman, a recurringcharacter in Season 2 and a main character in Seasons 3-12. Her actress Sara Ramirez is also bisexual.

Lucifer:The main cast includes Mazikeen, a bisexual Black woman. In addition, the maincharacter is a White bisexual man.

Master ofNone: A main character is a Black American lesbian, played by Lena Waithe whois also a Black American lesbian. Obvious warning for Aziz Ansari though.

Person ofInterest: Main cast includes an Iranian American WLW.

She’sGotta Have It: The main character is a Black bisexual woman.

StillStar Crossed: Romeo and Juliet retelling, about Rosaline and Benvolio afterRomeo and Juliet’s deaths. Rosaline and various other characters are Black.Unfortunately the show was cancelled after one season of seven episodes, butone of the main characters, Isabella, an Iranian woman, was confirmed to be a lesbian by heractress andwould’ve had a love interest if the show hadn’t been cancelled.

From Dusk Till Dawn: Main character Kisa is a Mexican American bisexual woman.

I’ve left off shows which kill off WLWOC or are blatantly racist in other ways (Pretty Little Liars, Orange is the New Black, Sense8, The Catch, Riverdale, Glee, True Blood, Scream Queens, The Magicians, Empire, Scream, The Handmaid’s Tale, Gotham) though I may have missed some.

[filligan-universe]

Movie Review: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (2017)

By my off-the-cuff count, Disney has made 7 live action remakes of their animated classics: -101 Dalmatians -Alice in Wonderland -The Jungle Book -Cinderella -Maleficent (I guess?) -Pete’s Dragon (if you call that a classic)

And now Beauty and the Beast. Until now, Disney has steered away from their “Renaissance” era, and the final product of their latest remake gives good reasons why they should’ve continued to do so. 

I genuinely like Disney as a company. They’ve been in the news lately for continuing their almost aggressively pro-LGBT stance by pulling Beauty and the Beast from Malaysian theatres rather than recut around Josh Gad’s (delightful) performance as LeFou. I like them because they, for the most part, seem to be putting the work into earning half of the industry’s annual profits. They’re going to slay this year in particular: already a live action remake that will probably break $1B, three Marvels films, a Cars film (those always play well with kids), Episode VIII, another Pirates film. Shit, that’s just what I can remember off the top of my head. 

They buy up expensive properties and, remarkably, understand that long-term dividends will come if they ensure they’re always putting out a quality product. Force Awakens proved Star Wars could be resuscitated, Rogue One proved they could explore and take chances with the franchise. They seem to mostly let their Marvel directors exact a certain vision so long as the film hits certain cinematic universe marks. And they keep raking in the billions because people are still, for the most part, having a good time watching their films. Disney seems to only intervene these days when a project is going tragically off course. Otherwise, they want what people will think is enjoyable because, in the long term, that’s a more profitable approach. WB/DC is going to prove Disney’s model true soon enough. Few people think DC is producing good stuff, and soon enough they’re gonna sputter and catch on fire. Ben Affleck already looks dead inside. 

This isn’t to say Disney always hits the mark, but they’re impressively consistent with it, and even when they miss they rarely stumble hard enough to sprain anything. This analogy is getting out of hand; they know how to make good movies!

Enter Beauty and the Beast. This film is resoundingly competent. Bill Condon is a good director, the cast is exquisite, the visuals do justice to the material; there’s a palpable desire to grasp the enchantment that the original cast on everybody in 1991.

But here’s my problem: at least with the endless Marvel/Star Wars/Pixar/Pirates/Etc. sequels, there’s new stories for those films to tell. With these live action remakes of animated films, the Rules of the Remake apply: Does the film add/change/do something new with this material? Does the film have a different perspective? Does it seek to show us something else, avoid striving to make us feel what we’ve already felt? Because if a remake isn’t going to try to be as new as possible, what good is it? Remakes were all the rage last decade. They were made for money, but people have mostly stopped responding. Now remakes are more successful if they’re reboots, if they’re origin stories that can be branched into franchises (looking at you, Apes movies).

But Disney has capital. Years of nostalgic, insufferable dolts like me who collect their goddamn-expensive-as-hell films and store them in chronological order. Who grew up on VHS copies of their full animated library and hold the “Renaissance” era of 1989-1999 in the highest regard because those were the ones we got to see in theatres (and also they’re just objectively fantastic). So Disney knew they could do live action remakes and make a buck. Alice in Wonderland made a billion dollars for some fucking reason in an era where a billion was still a real accomplishment. 

But Disney is also the company I like! They venture to make great films because that’s how we keep coming back! Hard to argue with. And it would take a cynic with a mouthful of sour key gummies to call Beauty of the Beast a bad film. But so much of it downright copies the original film, to the point where it tries to pin down the original’s scene pacing and regurgitates dialogue exchanges we’ve heard already. This is the problem with remakes, and the original film is still the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture (before they increased the nominee limit in 2009), so of course they weren’t going to touch it much. Hell, even if they had tried to -- why?! The original is kind of perfect. A different take would be guaranteed to be inferior. But a shot-for-shot live action remake would be too! Boy, talk about being stuck between an enchantress’s spell and true love. 

In truth, Beauty and the Beast adds character backstory to Belle’s and the Beast’s respective families, and that ultimately gives them more depth and is a welcome addition. The film adds more songs (I assume from the broadway show), and they’re bad songs either, but they have to compete against bonafide cultural keystones like “Be Our Guest” and “Tale as Old as Time” -- they simply don’t have a chance to stick in anyone’s memory, and really they don’t do much else for the emotional development of the plot. One exception is Kevin Kline’s opening poem, which was a striking little moment, but even so I can’t remember the melody. 

So what the hell is this film doing, Disney? It’s not doing enough that’s new, it’s showing an old story in a different light. It often feels like it’s pining for that magic, but can’t quite reach it and ends up feeling porcelain, flashy and delicate, afraid to get dirty. I remember being actually scared of the Beast in the original film, and then the wondrous transformation my understanding went through as Beast himself transformed was unique to the film. But he’s not scary enough here. Evans and Gad are highlights: they both nail the characters and add real world dimensions to them. In a great scene midway through, Gaston’s unstable temperament is put to the test and we get a nice image of how his mind ticks without any expository dialogue. Likewise, Gad’s LeFou goes from comic relief to actually sympathetic rather than remaining the one-sided sidekick for Gaston to kick around. Stuff like this that twists the story to make it feel of the real world (it is live action, after all) is more of what this film needed. There’s another moment when Beast shows Belle the library and makes a joke, which Belle calls out. Small character moments that work because they’re real actors (mostly) and we need to see charisma between them, whereas in an animated film all of that can be constructed through drawings. Unfortunately, most sections in the castle are ripped verbatim from the original, and like I said, the film ends up acquiring a quality not unlike Mrs. Potts’ weird-ass face: lacking humanity and expression.

These live action remakes are so frustrating because they work against what I often like Disney for. They don’t exist to do something new. They don’t need to do something different, just be good enough for general audiences to give it a thumbs up. This film was always going to do well, but word of mouth will probably push it past the $1B mark. Like I said, I’m frustrated! It’s a good movie. It’s not a bad way to spend a couple hours. But it just has no reason to exist. If you don’t know this story, you’ll be much better served by the 1991 classic. It just doesn’t justify its existence. It exists solely to make money. And there’s no dressing (”It’s the next episode!”/”It’s the next Marvel adventure!”) to shroud the fact that this is a cash grab. I guess it’s for the best. I shouldn’t get too comfortable with a company that’s getting dangerously close to owning a monopoly on the film industry. I approve of their practices, but with the twenty-odd live action remakes on the horizon (including, inexplicably, The Lion King, a movie with no fucking people in it), I’ll have to set myself for a little Disney Deflation once or twice a year. These movies are too empty for me.

[rtscrndr53704]

'Cars 3' Roars Past 'Wonder Woman' To Finish At The Top Of The Box Office

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) - This weekend featured a heated race between four new films that opened in wide release. As of Sunday morning, it appears some have fared better than others.

The big winner is Disney and Pixar’s “Cars 3,” which is speeding to $53.5 million from 4,256 locations, putting it in first place. That’s a lower opening than “Cars” ($60.1 million) and “Cars 2” ($66.1 million), but still enough to win the weekend. The first two “Cars” movies combined have made more than $435 million in the U.S. and $1 billion globally. The “Cars” films are far from Disney and Pixar’s highest earners, but “Cars 3” is another example that even a decent opening for the duo is a victory in the big picture.

The movie comes from director Brian Fee, who was a storyboard artist on the first two “Cars” films, as well as “Ratatouille” and “Wall-E.” The ensemble voice cast of “Cars 3” includes Owen Wilson, Cristela Alonzo, Armie Hammer, Larry the Cable Guy, Bonnie Hunt, Nathan Fillion, Kerry Washington, and Lea DeLaria.

“Cars 3” bumps “Wonder Woman” out of first place, but the superhero movie continues to show strong. With an estimated $40.7 million from 4,018 locations, the Warner Bros. and DC Comics film is seeing another extremely low drop of 32% from last weekend.

Otherwise, Tupac biopic “All Eyez on Me” from Lionsgate and Summit is beating out expectations with an estimated $27.1 million from 2,471 locations. Demetrius Shipp Jr. plays the mythologized rapper. Benny Bloom ― who has two feature films and a long list of music videos on his resume ― directed the film that explores Shakur’s origins, rise, and imprisonment. The release date aligns with what would have been Shakur’s 46th birthday.

“47 Meters Down” is opening to $11.5 million from 2,270 locations. It’s the first major release from Entertainment Studios, which acquired the project from its original distributor, Dimension Films. Mandy Moore and Claire Holt star as sisters who decide to go cage diving, and end up at risk of being attacked by sharks.

Finally, “Rough Night,” a raunchy, fem-centric R-rated comedy from Sony, is on track to earn only $8.1 million from 3,162 locations. The project combines the talents of director and co-writer Lucia Aniello, co-writer and actor Paul W. Downs, and star Ilana Glazer ― the three are frequent collaborators on Comedy Central’s “Broad City” and “Time Traveling Bong.” Scarlett Johansson, Kate McKinnon, Jillian Bell, Zoe Kravitz, and Glazer make up a rowdy girl gang who reunite for a bachelorette weekend that goes horribly wrong.

“It is genuinely a funny movie that was made at the right price, and there is a place for Rough Night as summer counter-programming in the coming weeks,” said Sony’s distribution chief Adrian Smith.

“Rough Night” will land in seventh for the weekend behind its fellow newcomers, “Wonder Woman,” the second weekend of “The Mummy” ($13.9 million) and “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” ($8.5 million).

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2sJ9HcT

[rtawngs20815]

'Cars 3' Roars Past 'Wonder Woman' To Finish At The Top Of The Box Office

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) - This weekend featured a heated race between four new films that opened in wide release. As of Sunday morning, it appears some have fared better than others.

The big winner is Disney and Pixar’s “Cars 3,” which is speeding to $53.5 million from 4,256 locations, putting it in first place. That’s a lower opening than “Cars” ($60.1 million) and “Cars 2” ($66.1 million), but still enough to win the weekend. The first two “Cars” movies combined have made more than $435 million in the U.S. and $1 billion globally. The “Cars” films are far from Disney and Pixar’s highest earners, but “Cars 3” is another example that even a decent opening for the duo is a victory in the big picture.

The movie comes from director Brian Fee, who was a storyboard artist on the first two “Cars” films, as well as “Ratatouille” and “Wall-E.” The ensemble voice cast of “Cars 3” includes Owen Wilson, Cristela Alonzo, Armie Hammer, Larry the Cable Guy, Bonnie Hunt, Nathan Fillion, Kerry Washington, and Lea DeLaria.

“Cars 3” bumps “Wonder Woman” out of first place, but the superhero movie continues to show strong. With an estimated $40.7 million from 4,018 locations, the Warner Bros. and DC Comics film is seeing another extremely low drop of 32% from last weekend.

Otherwise, Tupac biopic “All Eyez on Me” from Lionsgate and Summit is beating out expectations with an estimated $27.1 million from 2,471 locations. Demetrius Shipp Jr. plays the mythologized rapper. Benny Bloom ― who has two feature films and a long list of music videos on his resume ― directed the film that explores Shakur’s origins, rise, and imprisonment. The release date aligns with what would have been Shakur’s 46th birthday.

“47 Meters Down” is opening to $11.5 million from 2,270 locations. It’s the first major release from Entertainment Studios, which acquired the project from its original distributor, Dimension Films. Mandy Moore and Claire Holt star as sisters who decide to go cage diving, and end up at risk of being attacked by sharks.

Finally, “Rough Night,” a raunchy, fem-centric R-rated comedy from Sony, is on track to earn only $8.1 million from 3,162 locations. The project combines the talents of director and co-writer Lucia Aniello, co-writer and actor Paul W. Downs, and star Ilana Glazer ― the three are frequent collaborators on Comedy Central’s “Broad City” and “Time Traveling Bong.” Scarlett Johansson, Kate McKinnon, Jillian Bell, Zoe Kravitz, and Glazer make up a rowdy girl gang who reunite for a bachelorette weekend that goes horribly wrong.

“It is genuinely a funny movie that was made at the right price, and there is a place for Rough Night as summer counter-programming in the coming weeks,” said Sony’s distribution chief Adrian Smith.

“Rough Night” will land in seventh for the weekend behind its fellow newcomers, “Wonder Woman,” the second weekend of “The Mummy” ($13.9 million) and “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” ($8.5 million).

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2sJ9HcT

[grgedoors02142]

'Cars 3' Roars Past 'Wonder Woman' To Finish At The Top Of The Box Office

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) - This weekend featured a heated race between four new films that opened in wide release. As of Sunday morning, it appears some have fared better than others.

The big winner is Disney and Pixar’s “Cars 3,” which is speeding to $53.5 million from 4,256 locations, putting it in first place. That’s a lower opening than “Cars” ($60.1 million) and “Cars 2” ($66.1 million), but still enough to win the weekend. The first two “Cars” movies combined have made more than $435 million in the U.S. and $1 billion globally. The “Cars” films are far from Disney and Pixar’s highest earners, but “Cars 3” is another example that even a decent opening for the duo is a victory in the big picture.

The movie comes from director Brian Fee, who was a storyboard artist on the first two “Cars” films, as well as “Ratatouille” and “Wall-E.” The ensemble voice cast of “Cars 3” includes Owen Wilson, Cristela Alonzo, Armie Hammer, Larry the Cable Guy, Bonnie Hunt, Nathan Fillion, Kerry Washington, and Lea DeLaria.

“Cars 3” bumps “Wonder Woman” out of first place, but the superhero movie continues to show strong. With an estimated $40.7 million from 4,018 locations, the Warner Bros. and DC Comics film is seeing another extremely low drop of 32% from last weekend.

Otherwise, Tupac biopic “All Eyez on Me” from Lionsgate and Summit is beating out expectations with an estimated $27.1 million from 2,471 locations. Demetrius Shipp Jr. plays the mythologized rapper. Benny Bloom ― who has two feature films and a long list of music videos on his resume ― directed the film that explores Shakur’s origins, rise, and imprisonment. The release date aligns with what would have been Shakur’s 46th birthday.

“47 Meters Down” is opening to $11.5 million from 2,270 locations. It’s the first major release from Entertainment Studios, which acquired the project from its original distributor, Dimension Films. Mandy Moore and Claire Holt star as sisters who decide to go cage diving, and end up at risk of being attacked by sharks.

Finally, “Rough Night,” a raunchy, fem-centric R-rated comedy from Sony, is on track to earn only $8.1 million from 3,162 locations. The project combines the talents of director and co-writer Lucia Aniello, co-writer and actor Paul W. Downs, and star Ilana Glazer ― the three are frequent collaborators on Comedy Central’s “Broad City” and “Time Traveling Bong.” Scarlett Johansson, Kate McKinnon, Jillian Bell, Zoe Kravitz, and Glazer make up a rowdy girl gang who reunite for a bachelorette weekend that goes horribly wrong.

“It is genuinely a funny movie that was made at the right price, and there is a place for Rough Night as summer counter-programming in the coming weeks,” said Sony’s distribution chief Adrian Smith.

“Rough Night” will land in seventh for the weekend behind its fellow newcomers, “Wonder Woman,” the second weekend of “The Mummy” ($13.9 million) and “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” ($8.5 million).

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2sJ9HcT

[porchenclose10019]

'Cars 3' Roars Past 'Wonder Woman' To Finish At The Top Of The Box Office

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) - This weekend featured a heated race between four new films that opened in wide release. As of Sunday morning, it appears some have fared better than others.

The big winner is Disney and Pixar’s “Cars 3,” which is speeding to $53.5 million from 4,256 locations, putting it in first place. That’s a lower opening than “Cars” ($60.1 million) and “Cars 2” ($66.1 million), but still enough to win the weekend. The first two “Cars” movies combined have made more than $435 million in the U.S. and $1 billion globally. The “Cars” films are far from Disney and Pixar’s highest earners, but “Cars 3” is another example that even a decent opening for the duo is a victory in the big picture.

The movie comes from director Brian Fee, who was a storyboard artist on the first two “Cars” films, as well as “Ratatouille” and “Wall-E.” The ensemble voice cast of “Cars 3” includes Owen Wilson, Cristela Alonzo, Armie Hammer, Larry the Cable Guy, Bonnie Hunt, Nathan Fillion, Kerry Washington, and Lea DeLaria.

“Cars 3” bumps “Wonder Woman” out of first place, but the superhero movie continues to show strong. With an estimated $40.7 million from 4,018 locations, the Warner Bros. and DC Comics film is seeing another extremely low drop of 32% from last weekend.

Otherwise, Tupac biopic “All Eyez on Me” from Lionsgate and Summit is beating out expectations with an estimated $27.1 million from 2,471 locations. Demetrius Shipp Jr. plays the mythologized rapper. Benny Bloom ― who has two feature films and a long list of music videos on his resume ― directed the film that explores Shakur’s origins, rise, and imprisonment. The release date aligns with what would have been Shakur’s 46th birthday.

“47 Meters Down” is opening to $11.5 million from 2,270 locations. It’s the first major release from Entertainment Studios, which acquired the project from its original distributor, Dimension Films. Mandy Moore and Claire Holt star as sisters who decide to go cage diving, and end up at risk of being attacked by sharks.

Finally, “Rough Night,” a raunchy, fem-centric R-rated comedy from Sony, is on track to earn only $8.1 million from 3,162 locations. The project combines the talents of director and co-writer Lucia Aniello, co-writer and actor Paul W. Downs, and star Ilana Glazer ― the three are frequent collaborators on Comedy Central’s “Broad City” and “Time Traveling Bong.” Scarlett Johansson, Kate McKinnon, Jillian Bell, Zoe Kravitz, and Glazer make up a rowdy girl gang who reunite for a bachelorette weekend that goes horribly wrong.

“It is genuinely a funny movie that was made at the right price, and there is a place for Rough Night as summer counter-programming in the coming weeks,” said Sony’s distribution chief Adrian Smith.

“Rough Night” will land in seventh for the weekend behind its fellow newcomers, “Wonder Woman,” the second weekend of “The Mummy” ($13.9 million) and “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” ($8.5 million).

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2sJ9HcT

[gokinjeespot]

off the rack #1152

Monday, February 20, 2017

 Happy Family Day. Some folks will have this day off but it's too bad that the warm weather has forced the Rideau Canal Skateway to close down. I walked by it yesterday on my urban hike and it was a stretch of puddles. It was a beautiful warm sunny day as I walked home along Bank Street from Waverley to just south of Heron Road lugging a bunch of books that I borrowed from my partner Chris. It was so nice that not even an oblivious driver splashing me head to toe could wipe the smile off of my face for long.

 Gamora #3 - Nicole Perlman (writer) Marco Checchetto (art) Andres Mossa (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). Nicole pulls out a deus ex machina to make me want to read the next issue. So now Gamora has something in common with L'Wit, the last member of the Badoon Royal Family. Made me wonder if Gamora will let the princess live. We'll see.

 Super Sons #1 - Peter J. Tomasi (writer) Jorge Jimenez (art) Alejandro Sanchez (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). I would have called this new book World's Tweenest. I was happy to see this team-up of Damian Wayne/Robin and Jonathan Kent/Superboy hit the racks because I'm a fan of Peter's stint on Batman and Robin. The first two pages piqued my curiosity before showing us what trouble the two boys have gotten themselves into. I was still wondering what those first two pages were about by the time I got to the last page uh-oh moment. I hope this doesn't wind up with Batman and Superman coming to the rescue. That would disappoint me. I really like these two kids and hope they have a long run.

 Cerebus in Hell? #1 - Dave Sim (writer) Gustave Dore (pencils) Dante Alighieri (inks) Sandeep Atwal (colours) Dave Sim (letters). I moved to Vancouver in late 1979 and one of the first comic books that I bought at The Comicshop was Cerebus #1. I remember picking it off the spinner rack and looking at that red cover with Cerebus drawn like Conan by Dave Sim. I sold my copy years later to a kid from Gibsons during the counterfeit Cerebus number ones scams. My big selling point was that it was authentic and probably one of the very few copies that Dave Sim had not autographed. I faithfully read every issue of Cerebus until the book got too political for me even though I loved Dave and Gerhard's art. I never did finish the run. Here we have Cerebus back on the racks forty years after issue #1 hit and Dave uses Gustav's Dante's Inferno prints with Cerebus superimposed to tell some jokes. I kind of snickered once. There are three more issues to come out and I will read those too just to support poor old Dave.

 Mighty Thor #16 - Jason Aaron (writer) Russell Dauterman (art) Matthew Wilson (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). Part two of "The Asgard/Shi'Ar War" had Thor being challenged by the Shi'Ar gods Sharra and K'ythri and the Asgardian Bor being challenged by the Lady Sif. I love the massive scale of Jason's stories in this book. It's befitting a comic book about mythical gods. Russell's art is just beautiful to behold.

 Batwoman #1 - Marguerite Bennett  & James Tynion IV (writer) Steve Epting (art) Jeromy Cox (colours) Deron Bennett (letters). This is a fantastic first issue introducing the hero to fans old and new. If you've been reading the latest Detective Comics you'll already know what Kate Kane is up to but still the last page surprised me. This new Bat book is going on my "must read" list.

 Kill or be Killed #6 - Ed Brubaker (writer) Sean Phillips (art) Elizabeth Breitweiser (colours). Quite a clever way that Ed came up with for Dylan to deal with the surprise of being seen by the police. I like how the dominoes are being set up for them to eventually fall all over Dylan's life.

 Monsters Unleashed #3 - Cullen Bunn (writer) Leinil Francis Yu (pencils) Gerry Alanguilan & Michael Jason Paz (inks) David Curiel (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). Well then, that explains everything. We find out why monsters are falling from the sky and given a hint to how the heroes are going to save the planet. The Inhumans play a big part in the plot.

 Batman #17 - Tom King (writer) David Finch (pencils) Danny Miki (inks) Jordie Bellaire (colours) John Workman (letters). How the heck did Damian, Dick and Jason wind up there? I hate when stuff isn't explained from one issue to the next. In part 2 of "I Am Bane" Batman finds out that he can't protect everyone he cares for when Bane gets to Gotham City. The bad guy wants the Psycho Pirate back and he will stop at nothing to achieve that goal. This is intense.

 Wild Storm #1 - Warren Ellis (writer) John Davis-Hunt (art) Ivan Plascencia (colours) Simon Bowland (letters). We haven't seen these Wildstorm characters on the racks for quite a while now so it's okay for Warren to take them and make them into something new. I used to be a big fan of Jim Lee's line of comic books so all these people seem familiar but they have been changed enough to make me interested to see how different they are. I would describe this book as corporate warfare. I want to see how the good guys and bad guys shake out so I'm going to keep reading.

 Doctor Strange #17 - Jason Aaron (writer) Frazer Irving (art) VC's Cory Petit (letters). This is an issue of "Where's Wong?". The inscrutable manservant is missing and the sanctum is in disarray. Poor Steve is worried sick.

 Superman #17 - Peter J. Tomas & Patrick Gleason (writers) Sebastian Fiumara (art) Dave Stewart (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). This is a great one issue story but Superman fans may be disappointed because the big guy isn't in it. Young Jonathan Kent helps his friend Kathy look for her grandpa in Deadman's Swamp. Boston Brand does not show up but something spooky this way comes. I really like Jon and I'm glad they feature him solo every now and then. I don't think that he should have his own book though, but I won't be surprised to see DC put out a Superboy comic book on the racks some day.

 Clone Conspiracy #5 - Dan Slott (writer) Jim Cheung (pencils) John Dell, Jay Leisten & Jim Cheung (inks) Justin Ponsor (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). "Dead No More" ends with some of the bad guys alive no more. Sure as web shootin' Peter and Anna save the day. Now we'll see what the fallout to the Jackal's nefarious scheme will be.

 Invincible Iron Man #4 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Stefano Caselli (art) Marte Gracia (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). This is a super fantastic all out action issue with Riri and Pepper Potts fighting Tomoe the Techno Golem and her ninjas. The bad guy is an Inhuman who can take over tech and she has control of both girls' armour. This issue goes a mile a minute but it's paced so well that you don't feel like you got ripped off with a five minute read. Stefano draws the best eyes.

 Punisher #9 - Becky Cloonan (writer) Matt Horak (art) Frank Martin (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Here's another comic book where the star is hardly in it. This issue features DEA agent Ortiz and the bad guy Face. I'm excited for the next issue because Frank goes to Canada, our home and native land.

 Spider-Man #13 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Sara Pichelli (art) Justin Ponsor (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). We find out more about what happened in Spider-Gwen's dimension in "Sitting in a Tree" part 3. The suspense would normally be killing me but Miles is telling the story to Ganke and Fabio so we know that he's okay. I still want to know if he and Earth-65 Gwen have a thing. This is turning out to be a major crossover with Spider-Gwen so I will be reading the next two issues of that book to get the full story. As Brian is fond of making his characters say, "aargg!".