#also YES i just bought a buffy dvd box set and i am having such fun

[laddersmp3]

last chance to post this before phard launch

things its from plus a bonus buffy because i just started watching and i cant believe ive lived my whole life without her

[nettlestonenell]

Armie Hammer wants a sequel to The Man From U.N.C.L.E.—shouldn’t you?

This post is a long time in coming, Gentle Readers and @jammeke​, but now, though it might be here, before your very eyes, to think it will be well-laid out would be a mistake. It’s set to be just about as messy as Ilya’s misplaced loyalties and murky motivations.

How dare!

I probably first watched this film well over a year ago (courtesy @jammeke​ posting things about it). I used Sling OnDemand (I think on TNT). In the ensuing viewings I also watched it in that way, but as I was sitting down for a fourth(?) viewing, it kept coming to me that I was tired of watching it with commercials I couldn’t skip, and I had a sneaking suspicion that it had been edited for time and I was missing out on scenes. [pointless aside: I was also watching the film in chunks, and never as a whole]

Where is she now? What’s the time stamp? How far along did she get? Are you shagging the hotel hostess yet?

So, I, uh, set out to buy it on DVD—without any luck! In the sense that copies I could find cost more (w/ shipping) than buying it to stream. So, I bought it to stream on Amazon. Do I regret my choice, Gentle Readers? No, no I don’t. I do regret burden of knowledge in learning that TNT was already playing the entirety of the film. That was a hard pill to swallow.

Nope, I’ve looked. That’s absolutely everything. Nothing additional lurking around here...

So here it is, as it is, @jammeke, “My Notes on The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”

Look, I don’t know what this film is. I probably can’t fully articulate its appeal. Or maybe I can--certainly after transcribing four page I’ve tried. Number One thing to know about me and fiction/films is that a top draw for me is seeing something out of the ordinary, such as beautiful locations, a historical era, delicious costumes. There are times, frankly, this can trump weak story and undefined character for me. (The best films, of course, combine all three) Certainly, The Man... delivers in the delight of the eyes. Additionally, I must confess that growing up as a person older than @reblogginhood​ but younger than Miss Fisher, so much of what was on TV was essentially reruns of this film’s iconic Look(tm). So, when I see women dressed like Gaby I am just another three-to-seven-year-old overcome with the drop dead glamour of it all.

Darling, tell me how you really feel...

Some questions I have:

·         IS Armie Hammer a hulk of a man? Everyone in this film seems to think so, yet he always tracks to me as trim (rather than hulking)

·         Why translate via captions some Russian speaking, but not all?

·         IS Napoleon’s backstory directly cribbed from USA’s White Collar?

·         DOES Gaby have a German accent?

·         Does Ilya get preternaturally attached to all the people he’s ordered to look after? Also, what is his bonding rate with kittens?

Sorry, wrong iteration. 

 ·         If Lady Villain knows the lens is wrong—if her technical understanding is that in-depth--does she really need Gaby’s dad to make the bomb?

·         How old was Gaby during the war?

·         What happens when Ilya gets a NEW puppy assigned to him? (please let this be addressed in film #2)

Hooray for:

·         That bathroom fight! *all the Burn Notice feels!

·         Gaby is her own lady, and chooses sides as necessary—not always unilateral in her support for either male character. Case in point: she sides with Ilya over the clothes, and Napoleon over the incident of the wallet.

·         That delicious (speaking as Rusty, here) Ocean’s 11-stylized action. It’s pretty, so I’m not bored with it. Sometimes a sandwiched montage gets shown, so I’m REALLY not bored. I’ve got 18 tiny moving boxes of things to look at!

·         Pinkie rings. There, you’ve told me everything I need to know about that character.

·         Solo in a beret. English has not yet found a word for the feeling it evoked in this viewer. Somewhere between ‘precious’ and ‘oh, no’.

See, there? Now you’ve felt it too.

·         Goggles! All the accessories! Dune Buggies! (I mean, that’s what I’m calling Napoleon’s chase-scene ride)

Things I adore:

·         It seems (after some research) that more than a few folks view Gaby as a third wheel, and though she’s not exactly a Princess Leia commandeering her own rescue and exuding competence and a deserved take-charge-attitude at every corner, she IS a foci for both male characters (though romantically it would seem only for one), just as Ilya is a foci for both her and Napoleon [no one seems to worry about Napoleon, though they should--film #2, anyone?]

·         Mechanic Gaby not needing a beauty makeover, or being dragged into one. She gets some nice clothes, but it’s never suggested that she’s not attractive or acceptable before putting them on, and I respect, nay, embrace it.

Oh, my heart. She’s still not as tall as them!

·         Ilya, drab pigeon Ilya, knowing fashion

·         Oh man, don’t even get me started on the power of the statement, “it doesn’t have to match”

·         You knew it was coming on this sublist: the wrestle-fight. I mean, c’mon. Poor little Gaby, locked behind the Iron Curtain, living a life of always being watched. She’s in the swankest hotel (I mean, Napoleon chose it, so we can be sure it’s swank with an E). She’s trying to celebrate her freedom, her liberation. She’s playing verboten music, she’s drinking to excess. Girl wants—and deserves—a party. And Ilya is…not built for that (that he knows of). For some fun, just imagine if she had been given Napoleon to room with instead.

                            o   I will say that this scene, and some of their other interactions have what I would call early (non-sibling) Luke and Leia energy. Ilya seems to have moments of being struck by Gaby in a way Luke is struck by Leia in the early part of the trilogy. When Leia takes charge, and Luke accepts it. When Leia does something incredible, and Luke is left open-mouthed. *no, I don’t see OT Star Wars in everything. Shut up.

·         “He fixed the glitch.”

·         Again, shout-out to the non-action action.

·         “I left my jacket in there.”

·         The whole race to rescue Gaby I am in love with beyond words. [I have noted it as “Crazy Jeep Drive with Warhead!”] Probably b/c it comes across as totally egalitarian. Both men want her rescued. They’re no longer in competition. It’s just as important to Napoleon as it is to Ilya to catch up to her. Also, it is bonkers, like some sort of X-games version of a commercial for the vehicles they’re driving. And screaming Willie Scott does not make an appearance.

         Someone says “winkle” out.

·         Look! Another note about the screen divisions and how I love it, shout-outs to the original Steve McQueen The Thomas Crown Affair (a contemporary of when this movie is meant to be set), and TV’s 24.

Things that get a great, big NOPE:

·         Jerrod Harris: you’ve been in so much streamable content in the last decade I can’t hate you, but frankly, you’re terrible here—unless you’re supposed to be giving a mannered, not-campy-enough-to-be-enjoyable performance here. Your American English puts me in the mind of Alex Hawaii 5-0′Loughlin where it feels you’re concentrating so hard on your accent that you fail to convince anyone that you’re a harried, over-worked and exasperated spy handler. Your performance is at odds with every bit of dialogue you’re given to say.

·         That awful, mishandled title that doesn’t even connect to the film until the final moments (a sequel set-up, for sure)

·         Look, you don’t introduce Hugh Grant casually mid-way through your film in a throwaway appearance. I mean, he’s HUGH GRANT we all know something’s up now.

·         This is not exactly a great big NOPE, b/c I love a flat cap, Tommy Shelby—but I feel like a less tall man with a far rounder face in a flat cap would track more as Russian to me that AH does. To me, he just looks like he’s about to go golfing.

Over par? Unacceptable!

·         Is Victoria a British-accented Italian? A British woman who married—what? Gaby’s uncle isn’t Italian!? An Italian who went to school in Britain? My head hurts. Also, is her hair meant to be unconvincingly bleached?

Other commentary:

·         Napoleon’s adult ne’er-do-well backstory is so far from being emotionally equivalent to Ilya’s childhood trauma [and his enslavement to the USSR] it seems bestial when he calls it out on multiple occasions. Badly done, Solo.

·         Gaby is the film’s key (sorry, Buffy fans). Everyone is connected to her. Yes, she could have been given a bit more on the character front, but I don’t see her as as much of a flaw in the film as some others/reviewers seem to.

·         Look, essentially (and not very nuanced-ly), Ilya is a stalker. I think the film goes a certain distance in establishing that his early behavior toward Gaby is not normal, but concurrently it does not truly call him out on it. He’s essentially viewed as an odd-duck, sure, but not a true threat to her (should she not reciprocate or tolerate his intensity toward her). I think I might be able to cite his behavior when Gaby comes on to him (that he doesn’t jump at a chance with her) that maybe he’s given a little more nuance than a straight-on stalker, and it helps that he and Napoleon never get into a pissing match over Gaby’s person, only over her new clothes. But overall the film has to walk a fine line (and the jury is still out on how successful it is, I’d say) between playing Ilya’s laser-like attention to Gaby for its humor, and calling it out for the unsettling, threatening behavior it is.

·         Honestly, it wasn’t until I engaged the Closed Captioning that I understood Napoleon was calling Ilya the ‘Red Peril’. So, that was nearly three viewings in.

·         I give the screen credits A+, on both ends. Not to mention the end credits are actually INTERESTING with lots to see and learn! (Certainly we learn more about HG in them than we do at any time during the film)

Things I would have liked:

·         More of fish-out-of-the-Iron-Curtain Gaby moments

·         A better dichotomy shown of East vs. West Berlin/Germany. There’s nothing easy either visually or otherwise to distinguish the two.

·         HC being given a more specific American accent (from an actual locality). This, for an American viewer, works better than the flat, unlocated American accent many a British actor will bust out. *Mind you, HC does a generally good job, but he fails utterly on both “Immediate” which he pronounces at least twice as “immeedeejt” [rather than imm-E-deeot] and “Nazi” as “NAHT-zee” [rather than “NOT-zee”]. And let’s not get started on that late in the film use of ‘earnt’, a word that—well, it’s just not in the American English twentieth century lexicon.

·         C’mon. You gotta tease the Hugh Grant more.

·         Solo is a blank before the war. I’ve read thoughts on the film calling out Gaby as the blank character, but they’re wrong. Solo is the blank. He’s the ‘made’ man, his identity seemingly assembled during the war and after. For example, he doesn’t go into the war a thief, nor (it would seem) a particularly educated or urbane individual. Now THAT’s a juicy backstory I’d love to learn about, perhaps in film #2--or #3? What creates a Napoleon Solo? What would he be doing if he weren’t on the government’s leash/incarcerated? Is anyone left caring about him back wherever he calls home? I mean, who doesn’t love a gender-flipped 60s-era Holly Golightly backstory? [And yes, I would love there to be an ex-wife or even a current wife mixed up in his origins as well—Guy Ritchie, call me!]

Notes I have that I’m not sure if they still make sense to me:

·         Only mom calls me Napoleon (do he say it ‘mum’?) Is he a secret Canadian?

·         Solo’s torture, 1st view recall Napoleon’s childhood? *I think this means that after watching the first time I somehow erroneously believed that during the torture Napoleon’s childhood was a topic gone over. This was wrong. HOWEVER, this would have made far more story-sense than the backstory we’re given on an easily disposeable villain.

·         “Even the average Russian agent. You’re special.” ?

·         Uncle is Baddie (*so glad I made this note to myself)

·         Ilya’s dad IS an embarrassment. I’m not sure what genius commentary I had in my mind, here. Perhaps that Ilya himself is embarrassed of him? Not just Ilya’s handler’s? [Also, aside: Napoleon totally slut-shames Ilya’s mom, which is the doublest of double standards from ‘I got myself the biggest and most ornate suite b/c I-wanted-plenty-of-space-for-my-random-seductions’ and I really wish Ilya had thrown that back in his face] *yes, of course I know that Ilya and Napoleon would not likely equate a wife/mother’s sexual exploits with that of Solo’s, but let’s be honest, this film tweaks the nose of (I won’t say reverses, it doesn’t go that far) plenty of tropes and gender expectations, and this certainly seems like a missed opportunity to call Solo on the carpet (which I hope film #2 does far more)

Things I wrote down so long ago I don’t recall what they mean:

·         CC-save

In conclusion:

What does film #2 look like? What title does it get? Will the Peter/Neil White Collar dynamic continue to grow? *note that I have no confidence a second film will ever come to pass...

In the end, all I know is, “It didn't help when American Tom Cruise, who was slated to play U.S. spy Napoleon Solo, dropped out, prompting the casting of Cavill (who had previously read for the Russian role).“ I would not have watched that film.

[missmaxime]

Yes yes, thank you @mego42​ for tagging me, you can guess at least one of these shows on the list. Also I’m gonna go with shows that are finished (or at least, had an end to it years ago) so that’s why Good Girls isn’t on the list.  RULES: list five television shows that always make you feel better, then tag ten other blogs to do the same.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Look this show is the backbone of my whole fan existence. I still have the VHS tapes I recorded the episodes on in the back of my storage. This show has brought me so much joy, learned me a lot about storytelling (good and bad) and really improved my English back when I was a little bean. I’ve rewatched it fully twice since the early 00s and it still gave me new insights into myself, in television, and visual choices. It’s just amazing. 

Leverage

I just bought a DVD box of this show because there was a 3 for 1 sale at a store and that’s how I usually got into new shows back in the days. And it is still one of my happy places. The cast is amazing, and while I’m weak for monster-of-the-week shows all round this one really has great storytelling arcs all around. It has a great balance between comedy and drama, and the characters are really well fleshed out even though some storylines can be a bit slapstick. I am absolutely psyched that they’re in production for a new season now after they got cut in 2012. 

GLOW

I AM SO SO SO SAD I HAVE NO WORDS K. I love this show so much, and the fact that it suddenly got cut after being renewed almost a year ago is really a slap in the face. When I develop new (non-fiction) shows for work this is one of the shows I keep in mind. Because it both shows the blatant racist, homophobic and sexist way media was portraying these women in the 80s, but also the way they handled and just embraced this ugh situation. And, not gonna lie, hot women in leotards k. 

Carnivále

Look, this is not a happy show, it’s a pretty bleak show actually. But I’m a big sucker for period pieces, and this one is set in 30s USA, and with a traveling carnival, ánd it’s got supernatural elements. So that’s like right up my alley. Even outside of the story, it’s so amazing in terms of setdressing and costume design. I could watch the only two seasons it got for all eternity, It’s one of the first shows I watched (I was 14) that didn’t hinge on ‘pretty people’ as a main cast and it really opened my eyes. Also the music score! The intro! Ughhhhh.

Desperate Housewives

I was debating if I’d put Sex and the City or Desperate Housewives down for my final pick, but I ended up picking this one. Yes, they are both also flawed in lots of ways, but I this one I watched much much more. In the end it’s a soap opera with a gazillion dollar production value, but that is also what I love! And I will never forgive them for Edie (Rip, love you). But it had and has still such an unapologetic balance of drama and camp. I could watch this on my deathbed and be happy. I know I only listed fiction, and while I love non-fiction as well (I mean, it’s like, my job), fiction is where I go for happy places and get away from work! Yes, tagging 10 people so here goes: @foxmagpie​ @fairhairedkings​ @lanafannabanana​ @briosgina​ @elixir448​ @mamey2422​ @medievalraven​ @delicatelingon​ @dancingsynapses​ and @bethsuglywigs​

[shanie-the-toyaddict]

Who Here Asked For Pictures of  “CASA DEL SHANIE”??

Nobody? Nobody at all? TOUGH!

Have some pictures of my freshly cleaned apartment because dammit it took a month to get it this way, I’m gonna show it off!

We start off with my primary figure shelf and entertainment stand. Notice the ass-old CRT TV. No it isn’t getting replaced anytime soon. I’ve showed off the figure setup already (I believe) but since they are really tiny here, I’ll just let you know that those bitty figures on top of the JVC Monstrosity are Japanese Final Fantasy X Coca-Cola figures. I can’t begin to afford full sized Final Fantasy ANYTHING!

Moving to the other side of that end of the living room, we have the giant Young Simba plush (If you get it, you get it, I’m not explaining), my line of Doctors (along the banister) and my precious sword, hung over a Doctor Who poster. That sword was the first sharp ‘n’ shiny I ever bought for myself. I was 15 and had to buy it though my boyfriend at the time since I was under age. It is, in fact, a women’s sword, but it’s for display only. It can’t cut for shit. There’s also a random Boxed GoT Dany figure there too. It’s the only GoT figure I have and it was a gift.

The pit on the left of the photo are the steps leading down. I live on the second floor.

My kitchen table. Nothing fancy here other than the plastic candelabra, some nifty bottles and some posters. That DW Six/Peri poster is not my only one of them (you’ll see) and yes, I do ship them. They are my guilty pleasure Classic Who ship. The grumpy one is soft for the whiny one. It’s a thing.

Also, two different Pokemon posters here. Oh, and that recycling bin? I yoinked that from my college dorm nearly 20 years ago, Had it ever since.

Wall of Shane and looking into the bedroom. I’ve shown off that wall before, but notice that the centerpiece is a poem. It’s “Footsteps” in case you were wondering. I am a Christian. Also, that sketched looking photo up top is Sarah Jane Smith. That wall used to be a Doctor Who tribute wall. I took down all the DW photos except her. And yes there’s a photo missing where the gap in the center of the photo is. It keeps coming out because I can’t pin the sides. The wood art was a gift from my high school sweetheart.That plush sunflower on the back wall was a gift from a lady at church. She was so nice. I miss her.

This is my kitchen. It is tiny and cramped and I hate everything about it except for my kettle and coffee maker.

Looking out of the bathroom door. Being an adult means nobody can bitch over the SpongeBob wood painting you have hanging on your wall. He brings me great joy. Best thing I ever bought from Hot Topic in my life. And he was on clearance!

Oh, and that’s my old besom hanging above it. There’s remnants of my pagan days all around my place. I just never got rid of the stuff.

You don’t get to see my bathroom because who the fuck wants to see the bathroom. Instead, have a look at my bathmat. Four dollars on Wish.

The one corner of my bedroom by the door. See, I told you there was another Six/Peri poster! Also, an Eleven/Amy/Rory poster. I’m proud of that one. i don’t think you can even buy that one anymore. Also, there’s another wood art, a Sherlock poster (don’t judge me) and a dollar store decorative fan.

The bookshelf is a random assortment. Except for the top two shelves which contain the entirety of my Classic Who DVD collection. I have a bunch of those, including some rare ones!

Oh, and the painting under Six and Peri was a Christmas gift from a friend. It reads “You Are Fearfully And Wonderfully Made”

MORE POSTERS! YES! I DO HAVE A SHANE O MAC POSTER!

For the record, that’s the second copy I have owned of that poster. The first one I got directly from a bar in college after the PPV. It hung in my dorm room until I went home on med leave and it got destroyed in the interim. So I had to rebuy it and, guess what, it just got hung today! 

Oh, and also, random Tenth Doctor poster there as well. The curtains are also new. 

Plus Lizzie. Lizzie says hi.

Finally, my Xena Wall. I want to put up more photos there but I just haven’t gotten to it yet. That bookshelf is my TV Series/Musicals/MCU bookshelf. I have almost all of the MCU films, all of Fringe, and almost all of NuWho on there. I’m missing the Season 12 set. 

Oh, and yes, that’s an entire setup of McMahon figures on top of the shelf. I just set those up yesterday. As you can see, there is plenty of room for more McMahon figures!

Oh, and the dreamcatcher was a gift. I have no idea if it’s native sourced or not. Try not to judge me for having it.

It just occurred to me I missed a wall. This is standing by my staircase looking toward the kitchen. Important notes here include another shot of SpongeBob, the Dark Willow photo top right, several Doctor Who postcards, a Star Trek Generations mini-poster, another witchy leftover, my glorious Kit Rae dagger (my FAVORITE sharp ‘n’ shiny), a M&M’s Gumball Machine, and finally, my last shelving unit that has Buffy, Xena, Star Wars, and my full McMahon Family Master Set. Also, yes that is a sconce on the wall. It was supposed to be for my keys, but I’m too disorganized to ever put them there.

Really though. I love that SpongeBob hanging. It’s awesome and he smiles at me every time I walk by.

Well, that about covers it. If you stuck through to the end, grats. I probably wouldn’t have. But I just feel like there’s so much fun stuff in my place that absolutely NOBODY ever gets to see. It’s mi casa and now es tu casa.

Hope you enjoyed!