#a TWOL special

[twenty-words-or-less]

The Zone of Interest

Summary: Rudolph and Hedwig Höss (Christian Freidel and Susanna Hüller) and their five children attempt to build a perfect life in their new home... directly attached to Auschwitz.

This is not a review. At least, not in the usual TWOL style.

I saw this with my partner last night at a one-off screening. I presume that this screening was in part because the director, Jonathan Glazer, is something of a darling in the British film industry, someone who has been working for over twenty years and has dropped four films during that time, all of which have received acclaim. This is no different.

The Zone of Interest marked a first in my adult filmgoing life: I walked out after 45 minutes. Not because it was terrible in quality, but in subject matter. The film focuses on the Höss family, their comings and goings, their friends. You see nothing about what's happening in the camp. You hear gunshots, people screaming, industrial chimneys smoking, dogs barking. Plans for the cremation centres are drawn up and discussed as casually as if they were for a new community centre. The older teenage son studies the teeth taken from Jewish prisoners, gold fillings glinting in the light. Hedwig asks her husband for "chocolate. And any other goodies you can get", and takes great delight in looking at and trying on confiscated clothes. Human remains pour into the river the family are playing and fishing in on a beautiful day, along with what looked like a small skull.

I felt sick and angry at the film's proceedings, and started weeping quietly. It was another five or ten minutes before I left. My partner very kindly offered to come home with me even though they were happy to stay to the end. Even once away from the cinema and watching a couple of films that were significantly lighter in every way, I couldn't shake the film. I could believe that this was Glazer's intention. If it was, it worked.

This isn't - formally - a review. It would be unfair to classify it as such, due to its subject matter and my not watching the whole thing. But it is something I wanted to say.

~ Mikey

[whateverisbeautiful]

Part of the epic reunion in TWOL was driven by after almost 8 years apart, Rick nor Michonne moved on and the yearning for their soulmate persisted despite all the barriers. Are there scenarios that you could imagine where both experiment with intimacy or a different type of connection and still find their way back to one another? I’m not imagining a love triangle but something like Siddiq and Michonne having a brief moment (instead of what played out with him and Rosita) deeper than great friendship ? Other thoughts?

Thank you for asking. 😊 While I think there isn't much that could stop Rick and Michonne from finding their way back to each other, I can't imagine a scenario where they try to briefly experiment with intimacy with other people. And I am super super glad that they didn’t enter into anything romantic with anyone else. To me, Rick and Michonne not moving on with anyone else in any way was the absolute right choice for those characters.

By spending all those years yearning only for each other, it really hammered home how profound Rick and Michonne’s connection is. To the point that even when they had to seriously consider that they may never see each other again they still wanted to spend the rest of their life committed to and in love with one another. I love that they both waited for each other for years and operated every day like they were still actively married.  

It also feels so full circle that both of them stayed so loyal to each other after their experiences with their past partners. They were let down immensely by Mike and Lori while they were away for a far briefer time. Michonne went on a run and Mike couldn’t keep their son alive when she was away. And Rick was in a coma for a few months and Lori had already fallen for and got pregnant by Shane. So it means a lot that now, even with their prolonged distance, Rick and Michonne get to see just how special they are to their partner and how loyal their partner wants to be to them, even when the time spent apart is not just a run or a few months, but nearly a decade.

I have pictured a scenario where during the post-Rick era of TWD, Judith asks Michonne if she’d ever date or let a new man in and she basically tells Judith that the few years with her dad were better than a lifetime with anyone else. I feel like that was both Rick and Michonne’s mentality. 

But while I would not have wanted to watch either Rick or Michonne explore new romantic relationships even if brief, it would have been interesting to see others take an interest in them. Because as beautiful as they are inside and out it’s just realistic that people would be interested in them, even tho they'd all get turned down. I think more men should have and would have tried to pursue Michonne during those six or seven years. And I just know that around the CRM, Rick was known as the hot man who doesn't talk to anybody. In TOWL, I did want to see how both Michonne and Rick would react to some guy in the CRM hitting on Dana.

Overall tho I’m just really grateful for how TOWL confirmed that what Richonne has is no ordinary love. I think they both knew any connection with someone new would greatly pale in comparison to what they found with each other because Rick and Michonne’s irreplaceable connection really is the epitome of deeply intertwined soulmates.

[scoutsketchbook]

spoilers no context:

[yingtaiscb]

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[randomnameless]

To add, Hegelgard being unable twol follow-up conditions also works in reverse, i.e. if she initiates on a unit that has a guaranteed follow-up the unit she initiates on only has to win the speed check (which is really easy since Hegelgard is so slow) in order to double. My Brave Dimitri consistently tanks and kills her as long as his defense is higher than hers - his B prf gives him a guaranteed follow-up if foe initiates and his defense is higher, and he easily outspeeds her.

Aah, okay.

Did you pit her against Brave!Mitri per chance or... ?

It's always her special activating that wrecks my tanks tbf, but I've been trying to compete agains the powercreep with poor Gen3 units with minimum skill inheritence so... it is bound to fail.

[twenty-words-or-less]

Fast X

Summary: Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) must protect his family from Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa), who is seeking revenge for the death of his father over a decade earlier.

Stunning three-hour thrill ride with deft direction, coherent camerawork, and strong performances across the board. Excited for sequel.

Rating: 4.5/5

Photo credit: Polygon

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Thanks to my donors, this is your fault. True opinion of the film coming up.

[twenty-words-or-less]

The Holiday

Summary: English Iris Simpkins (Kate Winslet) and American Amanda Woods (Cameron Diaz) arrange a home exchange to take a break from their romantic woes, if only for a few weeks. Or that's what they think will happen...

Pared-back performance from Jack Black, beautiful scenery, and some funny moments with a surprise cameo make up this Christmas feature with Jude Law being the only weak link in the cast. Not It’s A Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol, but a solid entry in the Christmas movie pantheon nonetheless.

Rating: 2.75/5

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Thanks to Caroline O. for requesting this. If you want a longer-than-usual film review of your own, click here to find out how you can do that.

[whateverisbeautiful]

First. I love your breakdowns. After reading your analysis something has came up that I’ve never considered. As much as I want there to be rainbows and unicorns after the ending of TWOL, I actually think Richonne has their work cut out for them… specifically with RJ. RJ is a little boy, and has always loved his dad. Like Maggie rightfully grieved Glenn , Michonne loved that man so much she made sure their child knew about him as if he never disappeared; nevertheless, I could see the mental breakdowns Rick would have seeing baby pictures of the child he wanted so badly. I could see Rick and Rick Junior instantly having that parental bond that comes with father and child, but I do think Rick would be possessive in a way that anytime RJ would want to ask for help outside of Rick, even if it’s to Michonne, he’d take it personally. I love how the generally consensus in the Richonne fandom is that Rick calls RJ “ junior” and only he is allowed to call him that, and based on the way RJ was hugging his daddy, no one in the world is coming near those two. Do you think Rick is the jealous type, in the case of raising his Junior?

Thank you for reading the breakdowns! Every time I think about Rick calling RJ “Junior” it makes my heart happy. 😊 I wrote out my thoughts on the rest below ⬇️💗:

I don’t think Rick would be possessive or jealous when it comes to RJ’s relationship with Michonne or take it personally if RJ gravitates more toward Michonne at first. I think Rick would understand why that is. And he would of course feel some heartbreak that he wasn’t able to establish a relationship with RJ for as long as Michonne got to, but I think he actually would be really happy seeing that RJ is close to his mom.

Because just like Rick would be in awe of RJ as the little boy he created, he’d also be in awe of RJ as the little boy Michonne created and Rick would love that RJ gets to call the woman he loves ‘mom’ and have qualities like her and have a special bond with her. I think that would be one of the more uplifting things in Rick’s life, knowing his mini-me loves and trusts Michonne just like he does.

When it comes to RJ turning to others, if it ever felt like RJ was consistently seeming closer to other people it would be a very natural human response for Rick to feel jealous of that. But like you mentioned, Rick and RJ’s bond took root pretty instantly and Michonne did ensure her kids still felt a connection with Rick even in his absence, so I don’t imagine that it would take all that long for RJ to start turning to Rick more often than he turns to others outside the family.

Certain things would take time of course and it wouldn't just be a perfectly smooth road but as Rick and RJ’s bond strengthens more and more, like you also said, nothing in the world would come between them and cause Rick to have to feel jealous or possessive. I think about how even when Shane was practically trying to replace Rick in Carl’s life, while Rick was very protective of his family he also didn’t allow Shane to really ever make him feel threatened that he could legitimately take Carl from him because he knew Carl is his son no matter what. So while circumstances are different with Rick not getting to raise RJ from birth, I think Rick still felt such an undeniable connection to RJ that even if jealousy or possessive thoughts crossed his mind he'd ultimately land on knowing RJ's his son no matter what and nothing can truly infringe on that.

[whateverisbeautiful]

I think it’s fair to say that TWOL has given us license to claim Rick and Michonne been soulmates since the very beginning (which is different than when they may have consciously realized they were in love), simply because this series has been so intensely romantic that it almost seems to be encouraging us to read them this way. Which makes all your romantic interpretations of their scenes as canon lol it’s amazing cause I remember some posts where you were like ‘maybe I’m reading too much into this’ but Andy and Danai said nope! You’re absolutely correct! Knowing how much pain and silent suffering they carried alone before they met each other (and still endured), it never fails to move me that they found intrinsic understanding and the kind of devotional love they had probably only dreamt about, in each other.

‘They found intrinsic understanding and devotional love they had probably only dreamt about, in each other’ 👏🏽👏🏽😭

First, just had to highlight that quote because what you wrote was beautiful and spot on. 🔥 I agree, I love that TOWL confirmed Rick and Michonne’s soulmate status at every turn. Andy and Danai made sure it was clear that so much of what fuels their characters is Richonne’s love and not only was it great to watch, it’s true to the characters and how they operated in twd too.

And your words really made me smile because I remember a couple of those past posts where I wondered if I was drawing more from certain scenes than was there. (Like when Rick asks if Michonne needs help in season 4 and she says do your thing - now I'm confident he was out there that morning deliberately to get time with her) I don’t doubt those richonne details anymore because their journey has been an epic love story from day one, so each scene really is a special thread in the fabric of their romance.

One of the many gifts TOWL gave us is how now we get to watch every scene from the mothership with fresh eyes and a heightened awareness that these two soulmates have always been drawn to each other on a cosmic level. 🙌🏽

[twenty-words-or-less]

West Side Story (2021)

Originally a stage play conceived by Jerome Robbins in the late 1950s (actually, if we’re being really facetious here, it was a stage play conceived by William Shakespeare in the 1590s), it was first adapted in 1961 as a film directed by Robbins and Robert Wise. It went on to win ten Oscars and is now hailed as one of the greatest film musicals of all time, if not one of the greatest films of all time. Stephen Spielberg has professed a love for the musical since his youth, and apparently has been desperate to create his own adaptation for years. It was finally released exactly sixty years after the original (something I find VERY satisfying if I’m being honest), and due to the reasons above, has some MASSIVE shoes to fill.

Quick disclaimer before I begin my review proper: this is going to be a LONG one. I will try and keep this as spoiler free as possible, and please note I have never seen the stage version (here referred to as ‘the original’) – any references I make to that will be things I have looked up beforehand.

Spielberg’s version has been perceived as a remake of the Robbins/Wise version – rather erroneously, as it turns out. Of course, there are recognisable elements from the latter, but this one is pretty much its own beast. The song order and lyrical changes are largely taken from the original. “I Feel Pretty”, one of the songs that would absolutely score points if it was an answer on Pointless, comes after the rumble, bringing with it a sense of dramatic irony that is painful to watch as we see Maria (Rachel Zegler) dance around the shop she works in with her sister-in-common-law Anita (Ariana DeBose). Unhampered by the draconian Hayes Code that was abolished in the late 1960s, Spielberg and Stephen Sondheim (may his memory be a blessing) also evidently felt that some of the naughtier lines present in the original could be brought back, and they add to the slightly sharper edge this version has in comparison to the first one.

The sharper edge I speak of is keenly felt in the visuals and themes running through the film – it opens with a scene of a performing arts centre being demolished, a reference of sorts to the treatment of arts and humanities outside of academia. “Life is alright in America/ If you’re all white in America” unfortunately resonates today as much as it did in the late ‘50s/early ‘60s. The infamous rumble takes place in a sanitation centre as if the city hopes that the gang problem will be ‘cleaned up’ there and then, the boys surrounded by heaps of salt as they create wounds of the physical and mental kind. There are open uses of racial slurs against the Puerto Ricans. “Somewhere” is given to Rita Moreno’s Valentina, the widow of Doc, and is played over a montage of the Puerto Rican characters wrapped in the fallout of the rumble, easily the highlight of the film. I am also not ashamed to say I wept at that.

There are plenty more positive things to say about the film aside from (most of) the above. Zegler – who pretty much walked straight out of her high school graduation ceremony onto the set – is an absolute find, imbuing her Maria with the youthful naivete and optimism befitting of the character. The timbre of her singing voice is slightly deeper than Marni Nixon’s, a classically trained soprano who sung for Natalie Wood’s Maria, and pares back on the vibrato, keeping it simple and straightforward. DeBose and David Alvarez are superb as Anita and Bernardo, effortlessly losing themselves in their respective characters as easily as if they had played them before. Mike Faist’s wiry, angular, exhausted Riff, covered in dust and blood, adds fire to an already flammable story, and lights up (so to speak) the screen whenever he is on it. The orchestral arrangements successfully modernise the songs without moving too far from their ‘50s roots, the cinematography is BEAUTIFUL, and the costumes are striking in many ways, some of which do indeed echo the ones used in the ’61 version. And again, the “Somewhere” sequence is outstanding.

However, the film’s (biggest) fault is its star. Tony as a character is fleshed out more, given a dark backstory which should ground him. However, Ansel Elgort – and this is the only time I’ll refer to him by his actual name because he is a shitty human being who gives off bad vibes and I am petty – is just woefully miscast. He’s fresh-faced enough to look like a teenager, but too fresh-faced to be believable to fit his backstory, and too emotionless for us to really root for him. He is on pitch with his singing, but does not seem to know that dynamics exist, going from chest voice to head voice without much by way of a smooth transition. I know from experience that West Side Story’s songs are bastard hard to sing but come on. Jimmy Bryant – the singing voice for Richard Beymer’s Tony – managed to convey the optimism, hope and excitement of “Something’s Coming”, and the awe and euphoria in “Tonight”, meshing with Beymer’s body language, and they were two separate people! Not Richard Beymer Or Jimmy Bryant fails at both. His voice does not blend well with the others, which just adds to the sense of miscasting. Given that he is part of the emotional lynchpin of the story, this is a MAJOR issue. I wonder if The Guy From “The Goldfinch” saw a vocal coach before filming began. Maybe Spielberg wanted a bigger name to contrast with the newcomers, who act and sing circles around him, collectively murdering his career like the suspects in Murder on the Orient Express. I just want to know why he picked Incel Igor.

There are a few more flaws, but they are comparatively minor. Some of the musical rearrangements of the songs aren’t too convincing (parts of "Gee Officer Krupke" are quiet when they should be louder), and the grip of the 12A rating can be felt at times. But then again, not everything has to be dark and gritty, and we do get enough of that in the cinema.

I have been waiting for this film for months, not predominantly as an excited film fan or someone with a deeply personal history with West Side Story, but as a predator waiting for the right time to go for the jugular of its prey. It’s been eight months since the trailer was released, so thank God the ultimate product is good. You’re alright, Spielberg. Carry on. Just stop enabling Tinsel Yoghurt’s career.

Rating: 4.25/5

Photo credit: Deadline

[yingtaiscb]

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