#also casting wesley makes so much sense now

[pinazee]

Bless the writers for giving Kirk his inherent romanticism and not the f*ckboy reputation that developed over time

[thegeminisage]

STAR TREK UPDATE TIME. we have finally watched the voyager pilot! short verdict: nothing will ever be as good as ds9 but i enjoyed it!!

longer verdict: i will go through it character by character, in order of appearance, saving the maquis crew for when they have more than .5 seconds of screentime in the little opening. this feels like a REALLY big cast, by the way?? am i counting right? 11 recurring characters and we don't even have seven yet? tos has 7 with chapel and rand appearing sometimes, tng had 8 with o'brien and guinan sometimes, ds9 has seven with...man, jake nog rom garak AND keiko as recurring extras, and we don't even have worf yet. so i guess ds9's is technically bigger! anyway.

JANEWAY: i was surprised at how janeway sounded...her voice is different than i expected even though i've heard her be flemeth in dragon age. i was also kind of surprised to see her in the bun and her head looked So Big. like dax's in season 1-2 of ds9. i'm used to seeing her with it down in gifs which looks better but personally i also think she could have rocked the kira cut. that said, i like her so SO much. she has a couple of speeches that remind me VERY strongly of kirk - when she's lamenting harry left his clarinet behind and not getting to know him, when she decided she couldn't sacrifice an entire people to get one ship home. she's got the kind of compassion kirk did - when she pulled up a stool to listen to the caretaker's troubles, when she held his horrible little corpse, she was genuinely filled with real sadness for what had happened there. (as a side note, speaking of tos, the ship voyager also reminds me of the original enterprise WAY more than the tng enterprise was - especially their little cafeteria.) i was really surprised she had a boyfriend, because i feel like i've heard she gets with chakotay! sorry to her bf, she is gonna cheat on you (and i support women's wrongs), but the worst part is the dog. if they pull some odyssey shit with the dog i'm gonna be so upset. ALSO, i love that she insists on "ma'am" instead of sir (that always bugged me) and even that will only do in a pinch. YOU WILL ADDRESS HER AS CAPTAIN. even when her hair fell down she fixed it on her way down the hallway. she's such a badass. when she says she's gonna get them home I BELIEVE HER. she's got an iron fucking nerve and balls made of titanium.

TOM PARIS: i hate this man so much it's insane. i googled to see whether he died and found out he was played by one of those cadets wesley got in trouble with...girl, he was in prison, why not just make him the same guy?? anyway, he was kind of shitty to both harry and chakotay (oh boy we are already being racist to chakotay) and i cannot believe THIS is the man janeway is gonna have salamander babies with. he's extremely obnoxious all the time (him harassing that betazoid lady...fuck off lol) and i just KNOW people are writing paris/chakotay slash because of their whole deal which makes him more annoying. the "your life is mine now" thing is racist as hell. i'm not prepared to sympathetically see this man's hidden depths bc i know that as a snarky white man he already has half of whatever voyager fandom happens to exist doing that for him already. sadly, we will have to put up with him for all seven seasons. LUCKILY, aside from the racism, half of which came from this guy anyway, he was my only real sour note.

HARRY KIM: love this dude. i like how he managed to talk sense into b'elanna when she was wigging out and despite my wishing he didn't have to be friends with tom paris him going "i can pick my own friends" was a great way to show that he's not afraid to stand up for himself. i wish i wasn't feeling so anti-quark lately bc otherwise his scene in the bar with quark (and why is it always quark doing these surprise cameos!!) would've been pretty funny. i think it was a nice touch that harry, on his first EVER mission, got to be the one to deliver the news about how far from home they were. i absolutely love his whole deal of being completely green and meeting everything head-on anyway, he is so brave. as i said before, the way he is just charging through despite being out of his depth reminds me a little of chekov, if chekov had brain cells. he's very charming. i think he and b'elanna could get it also.

HOLOGRAM DOCTOR: he is so funny, i love him. like, i don't really know how he works? is all of medbay a holodeck? but it's kind of hilarious that he's sentient enough to get annoyed when people are randomly beamed away and when people forget to shut him off (he needs a nap!)

CHAKOTAY: oh i am already feeling how rough this is going to be. that "can't you use some magic to turn into a bird and fly away" and also the "your life is mine now" were rrrracist. (that said, "you're too heavy" was a really good comeback.) can we please be normal. that aside: i really like him. i like how quickly he came to grips with the situation and i like how much he hates tom paris (NOT SEXUAL!!! NO!!!!!! i just agree with him) and i especially like that he has a set of titanium balls to match janeway's like did we SEE that doomsday machine-esque suicide run he almost went on? he cut it even closer than kirk did and kirk cut it that close ON ACCIDENT chakotay was yelling at them not to beam his ass back until his ship was already on fucking fire. also, he's very handsome. ALSO, when tom paris asked him "you'd rather die than let me rescue you?" i had to laugh because quite literally 10 seconds prior out of mine own mouth was "if it was death or tom paris i might let go." i really hope there's more to chakotay than "tom paris's antagonistic buddy" because 1. a fate worse than death 2. this is not humans and vulcans this is real life racism you cannot spock and bones this. STOP THAT.

TUVOK: ALSO VERY HANDSOME. very like. he reminds me of spock so much because he's extremely bitchy but also very dialed down about it. i like that leonard nimoy was like yeah im gonna go stupid crazy and all vulcan will be like this from now on, including my funny little eyebrow thing, in which girlies will still see spock long after i'm dead. like what misha collins tried to do with cas but it actually worked. tuvok strikes that perfect balance of dignified and kind of above everyone else without feeling stuck up or prissy (though his scene where he tries so hard not to look at neelix's junk was great, he was justifiably a little prissy there), and with that undercurrent of wryness that nevertheless doesn't truly betray any emotion - you don't get the same sense of repression/unease with the self from him (at least in the pilot, who knows what will happen later) that you do from spock so it doesn't feel like voyager is copying tos's homework, and it feels nice to get to know another vulcan who's gonna be a main character instead of a one-off. i hope they are more normal about a black vulcan than they have been about chakotay so far bc we have got to get out from under all of that. i am a little worried janeway might kill him. i feel like i see people on reddit criticizing her all the time for killing some dude who i am pretty sure is tuvok and like. can someone tell me if he dies if he dies i will be SO mad

B'ELANNA TORRES: she is stupid hot. i'm a little "lol" when she's like yeah my klingon half is HARD TO CONTROL!!! (super saiyan scream of rage) bc like worf does fine (most of the time...) but i will never turn down a chance to watch a beautiful woman be insane with rage. i like how she calls harry kim "starfleet" derisively and then goes out of her way to give him breaks when he needs them and help him up the stairs when he can't make it. big tsundere energy. also like that she was questioning janeway's decisions. not that i disagree with janeway's decisions necessarily i just like that janeway will have to earn her respect from some people the way any male captain would. equality. also, potentially, girlfights.

NEELIX: i forgot to add him to "the things i know about voyager" post because i had only heard him mentioned a couple of times and got the idea he was just a horrible little gremlin there for comic relief. a rygel, if you will. a quark, if you won't. was pleasantly surprised to like him better than rygel and quark combined, though that's a pretty low bar. not only is he clever enough to outsmart the slavers, he was brave and caring enough to go back and rescue his girl. HE RESPECTS WOMEN. also, his water indulgence was pretty hilarious, as was, again, his scene with tuvok. i feel like those two could do straight man funny guy all day long. a dynamic duo. i hope they wind up having screentime together. i don't mind horrible little gremlins so much when they're charming and when they aren't trying to take holosuite videos of kira.

KES: i feel like kes hasn't done much yet except lecture her people on the dangers of having a cult-like mentality. but i like her! she's sweet and compassionate and pretty brave. she does a lot to humanize neelix, at least! maybe it's just me but i feel like she was barely in this. for now i am trusting that they do more with her later. or, idk, maybe they don't. we DO have janeway AND b'elanna AND seven eventually so i can't be too mad about it as long as they're not turning her into a holodeck sex toy like poor deanna

other things of note:

BANJOS? i counted three different southern accents in this section. it would have been offensive if it wasn't so funny. the people holding hands and jumping around in a circle like animated robin hood characters was a great touch. so was the corn on the cob. the emotional whiplash from an otherwise very serious episode was. certainly something.

the empty barn reminded me of this side of paradise <3 i love, in general, how voyager just FEELS a little bit like tos. certainly more than tng did, even more than ds9 does. like this FEELS like it's set in the same universe, it kind of bridges a mental gap between ds9/tng and tos for me, worldbuilding wise.

water thing reminded me of mad max. really good.

slaver aliens.......are these guys really our antagonists?? i thought our antagonists were the borg but maybe we don't do that until seven gets here. i feel like possibly a bunch of semi-primitive people in the desert who enslaved and beat (potentially raped, depending on how you want to interpret that dialogue) a pretty blonde girl is maybe um. not the best idea. maybe they'll get written down into side villains and eventually just guys. like the ferengi. siiigh, the ferengi.

that said, i kind of loved the story of the caretaker and the ocampa, enough that i almost forgot the caretaker was choosing to appear as a banjo-playing hillbilly. i like to think him and his wife were from andromeda like those guys from tos...and it's very nuanced that even after he fucked their planet forever he still didn't really learn to value life because he's kidnapping people and letting them die or stay stranded in order to attempt to procreate. NONETHELESS he is filled with remorse, and janeway's scene with him, comforting him that children could learn to grow on their own, was really sweet. i also like that when he died his little horrible goop body shrank down until it looked like a hunk of dried snot. do not take that to the ocampa.

i just like the PREMISE of voyager. a 75-year journey that they have to cut down by any means possible...it's like the odyssey, but it space. in tos and tng they wandered from place to place but always over the same stomping grounds in general. we have the same old players, like klingons and romulans and vulcans and andorians etc etc. in ds9 we stay in one single place and it's to our benefit because we get deep character work. but voyager is going in a straight line back to earth, and we've never been out here before, so whether or not it lives up to the potential right now it feels like anything truly could happen. we don't be running into the neutral zone and we can't call the klingons for help or stop by quark's for another cameo. we are just out here. it's VERY neat.

major concerns so far include of course tom paris and potentially him being handcuffed to chakotay as banter buddies. racism in general but also with chakotay in particular. and perhaps a lack of interesting points re: kes. rip girl.

stuff i'm looking forward to is janeway getting to be a person instead of A Woman, seven eventually, getting to know chakotay and tuvok better, and the salamander episode, someday.

okay. this concludes my voyager pilot write-up. TONIGHT: "parallax" and "time and again."

[theflyindutchwoman]

I'm not sure if Tim and Lopez are "besties". I believe they are good friends and co-workes, but not the super best friends like the fandom thinks they are.

A recent exemple is in ep. 5x07 when Lopez and Grey got served on roll call about the Elijah Stone case. At no point we see Tim support Lopez through that. The one who supported her was Harper and that's the friendship I see being set up.

And Lopez teasing Tim about Lucy in episodes 5x01 and 5x02 seemed just that, teasing for a comedic bit. We never saw Lopez actually helping Tim navigate his situation with Lucy post Vegas.

Of course it all can change in the next episodes, but so far Tim and Lopez don't seem super close, and seem to interact only when convenient for the story.

Hi Anon,

Well, technically, since they are all characters, they will interact only when the writer thinks it's convenient ;)

Seriously though, since it has never been made canon, that is up to your interpretation. I personally just love their friendship and see them as best friends, who will tease and call lovingly the other dumb but will fight for each other. But that's just that, an opinion. Or a headcanon.

You underlined the problem with TV shows that have a huge ensemble cast. You have so many characters to fit in 42 minutes/episode. And at least 1/3 is going to be focused on the main character, Nolan. That means that as a writer, you have to streamline and pair up the characters in a way that makes sense for your story. Right now, the writers need Angela with either Wesley (her husband) or Nyla (partner at work). Hence them having more scenes together.

Now that's just season 05. The idea of Tim and Angela being besties far predates that. We did have important moments that highlighted their friendship throughout the serie. Admittedly, not as much recently. But that doesn't diminish the previous moments. Angela was there during the whole Isabel ordeal, to pick him up at the hospital after his gunshot injury, to be with him when Isabel was a CI… He was the one who always defended her when her career was in jeopardy after Jackson froze during a shooting or after he barely passed his 6 months exam. She was the first person he consulted on whether he should try to take the sergeant's exam. Or the first person he called for help when Lucy was missing. He's also the only one who picked on the fact Wesley was not fully OK when he showed up to help. He was there for her when everybody was trying to hijack her wedding and nobody was listening to her. He made sure she got the wedding she wanted and so she made him her man of honor. He didn't hesitate to go to Guatemala to rescue her (along with Nyla). Now all these elements were made possible because they were still working directly together (both being TOs). Once he got promoted to sergeant and she came back from maternity leave, their storylines diverged and that made any potential scenes harder to include. But she was still the one he confided after kissing Lucy. And she made sure to tease him for it. As best friends tend to do.

The reason we haven't seen Tim in the Elijah Stone case is because he was never involved in it to begin with : when Angela was made aware of the threat he posed to her family, Tim was on his day-off dealing with his own family drama. Since the 5x07 plot is a direct result of that, there was no reason to add him. On the other hand, Harper was part of the surveillance team and she had made a promise to Angela to make sure nothing happened to Wesley. So that made more sense to have her present and have Tim focused on the other plot. Now, yes, the show could have included a scene at the beginning / end with Tim comforting Angela (and not gonna lie, I wish they had)… But we're back at the original issue : too many stories for too little time.

Do I wish we'd see more of them? Yes! 100%. And hopefully we will. I also agree that they have started developing the Angela x Nyla friendship since mid-season 04. They are both working together, their husbands worked together for a while, they're both mothers… They just have more in common, but that doesn't necessarily make them besties either. Unless you see it that way.

I can't speak for the whole fandom. Like I said, I love Tim and Angela's friendship. And I'm sure a lot of people just started developing their own headcanons to fill the (many) gaps. However you can absolutely see them as just friends or co-workers. At the end of the day, those are just interpretations, there's no right or wrong answer.

I hope that helps.

[ploppythespaceship]

Strange New Worlds (Season 2) - Thoughts & Review

I don't think I've been so mixed on a season of Star Trek as I am with this one. The things this show does well, it does extraordinarily well, and when it's on point, it's some excellent television. Unfortunately, the things this show does wrong are doing their damnedest to drag everything else down. Most of those issues stem from the fact that this is a prequel, and the things they're doing with established characters are really fighting against their original characterization. The individual episode quality is also wildly all over the place.

As a result, I can't come to any one conclusion. I liked some parts, I hated other parts, and it's all just a bit of a mess.

Spoilers under the cut.

What I Liked

The show is very well-produced. It looks great -- the production design continues to find a perfect balance between honoring the TOS look while updating and modernizing it -- it's well-directed, well-cast, etc.

Speaking of the cast, this is one of Trek's strongest group of actors. I particularly want to shout out Christina Chong as La'an -- I frankly didn't like her character much in season one, but she won me over this season, and that's largely due to the performance. Ethan Peck also did an excellent job, especially with some of the more comedic scenes.

Whoever decided that Carol Kane should play the ship's weird ass immortal engineer is a genius. Please give them a raise.

It was only a few scenes in the last episode, but I liked the guy playing Scotty. I was not expecting him to show up at all, but I couldn't stop grinning.

One of the advantages of being a more episodic series is the ability to easily explore many different tones and genres, and this season takes full advantage of that. One episode will be very silly and comedic, and the next will be a dramatic character study, and it just pings back and forth. I love that it has the freedom to explore that much variety.

What I Didn't Like

Spock and Chapel are the single worst thing about this season, and their relationship is definitely something I am going to pointedly ignore going forward. It makes sense to take their TOS dynamic and flesh it out more, but what the writers came up with makes both characters into the worst possible versions of themselves. Now Spock is canonically an adulterer, and someone who's chosen his emotionless affect because a woman broke his heart -- which uproots all of his characterization for the rest of the franchise. And Chapel just comes across as a bitch, particularly in the musical episode. I really hate that for her. It's deeply unfair to both characters.

I am sorry to say that I still don't care for Paul Wesley's Kirk. I appreciate what he's trying to do, playing more to Kirk's intellectual side, but there's a certain level of charm that's just not there. I think he's just miscast.

Number One continues to be incredibly boring, and the weakest link in the cast. I regularly forget that she exists and am surprised when she shows up.

Ortegas desperately needs a spotlight episode. She's the only main cast member who hasn't had any kind of focus or development, and she really sticks out as a result. The few tidbits of development she does get are repetitive -- she flies the ship, and she fought in the war. I know that her role was likely reduced this season due to the death of her partner, but they could have at least tried to add variety to the small moments she does get.

I love that this show is committed to the more old-school episodic style, which gives everything a more classic Trek feel. But with such a short season, I feel you need to be much pickier about which episodes you produce. The shorter seasons mean that bad or even underwhelming episodes have a much greater impact. If three episodes of a twenty-two episode season aren't up to par, that's easy to shrug off. But if it's three episodes of a ten episode season, that's two-thirds of your content. And this season unfortunately had quite a few episodes with major issues holding them back.

Individual Episode Thoughts

This season really does come down to its individual episodes, which as I mentioned are wildly all over the place.

The Broken Circle — This season did not get off on the right foot for me. This one wanted so badly to be the big, action-packed season opener, and everything about it felt incredibly forced as a result. Everything from Spock's abrupt decision to steal the Enterprise, to the threat of war that came from nowhere and was immediately forgotten about, to watching the medical characters take drugs and start beating the shit out of people... it all just felt off, and never clicked into place.

Ad Astra Per Aspera — Much better! This one should have been the season opener. It's a modern take on the classic Trek court episode, which immediately invites comparisons to some of the franchise's best. And while it doesn't live up to something like "The Measure of a Man" or "The Drumhead," it's still pretty solid. It has important things to say, and it says them well. It's simply held back by its resolution being complete nonsense. I understand that as a prequel, the writers can't fully resolve the augmentation debate without completely undermining future series. But I thought they'd find a more coherent loophole than "she requested asylum." She did not request asylum, that makes absolutely no sense, and it sort of makes things fall apart.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow — I loved the time travel plot, I loved the great focus on La'an as a character, and I am actually okay with them subtly changing the franchise's timeline around by re-dating the Eugenics Wars. It was clearly something done intentionally to give the writers some greater freedom, and I can appreciate it. Unfortunately, I just wasn't sold on the romance between La'an and Kirk, which felt incredibly rushed. Without that to tie everything together, the episode never quite clicks into place. But I still respect what it tried to do and don't take too many major issues with it.

Among the Lotus Eaters — Easily the one I have the least to say on. Decent enough premise, competently executed. Not a standout as either good or bad.

Charades — Absolutely hated this one. The writers took a great concept and fumbled it. The direction they chose to go with human Spock baffles me, and doesn't make sense within their own canon. If Vulcan emotions are stronger than human ones, why does Spock becoming human suddenly make him too emotional to function? And why would he forget his Vulcan upbringing and need to be reminded how to act Vulcan? Then of course all of this is just done to further the Spock/Chapel relationship, rather than be the obvious Spock character study it should be. It's awful. Least favorite episode of the whole show, by far.

Lost in Translation — I really like the premise and overall vibes of this one, as well as the greater focus on Uhura (who might be the only legacy character that I take no issue with). Sadly, this episode is let down by some pretty poor pacing. Everything drags for longer than it needs to, and plenty of scenes felt like padding. It could have used another pass in either the writing or editing room.

Those Old Scientists — I was fully prepared to hate this one. I don't like Lower Decks, so I figured the crossover would be more of the same. But to my great surprise, this episode was excellent. Jack Quaid and Tawny Newsome perfectly translated their characters to live-action, and the characters are much funnier when they have regular people to bounce off of. I laughed out loud multiple times. But it's not just a jokefest, and has some good character beats as well. A very pleasant surprise.

Under the Cloak of War — Ehhhh. I appreciate what they were trying to do, but it never quite clicked. The Klingon general turned ambassador simply isn't fleshed out enough for the debate of whether he's truly reformed to have any weight. And M'Benga calling himself the Butcher of J'Gal just confuses things unnecessarily. I actually had to look up an episode summary to understand the ending, and when I did, I kinda hated it. For them to act like M'Benga killing a few enemy Klingons in an effort to stop mass bloodshed is on the same level as someone ordering the genocide of civilians, including children... that's frankly insulting. There was a good story somewhere in here, but it needed a couple more passes in the writing room. (Or you could just watch DS9's "Duet" instead.)

Subspace Rhapsody — The musical episode! I won't mince words. This is arguably the best episode of the show, and one of the best musical episodes I've ever seen, second only to the Buffy episode which so clearly inspired it. The songs are largely excellent, well tailored to fit both the characters and actors, and the cast is fairly talented. But it's not just silly songs for the sake of being fun. The writers understand that musical episodes should take advantage of the format to explore characters in a very unique way, and as such, most of the songs are character-driven. And the final resolution being that music needs to bring the crew together, in an ensemble number led by Uhura... that's so perfect. Only the Spock/Chapel stupidity brings this one down. Otherwise it's an A+ all-around. I've had "Status Report," "How Would That Feel," "I'm the X," and "Keep Us Connected" basically on repeat since seeing it.

Hegemony — An action-packed finale that I really enjoyed. They've done a fairly good job reimagining the Gorn to be actually threatening, and this episode expertly keeps the tension high. I've been seeing a lot of comparisons to "The Best of Both Worlds," and while it wouldn't go that far, it's certainly a solid finale.

[thegreaterlink]

Reviewing Star Trek TNG - S3E1 "Evolution"

^ I admit this image doesn't have much to do with the episode's plot, but it looks really damn cool, so it's staying.

Look, I know I did this one already, but I accidentally deleted it a while ago, then Tumblr pulled some fuckery where it was in some weird limbo of existing and not existing, so I decided to repost it just to be safe.

THE PREMISE

The Enterprise approaches the Kavis Alpha binary star system to perform astrophysics research under the guidance of Dr Paul Stubbs, analysing the decay of neutronium as a result of a stellar explosion which occurs once every 196 years and is due to occur again in a few hours. Stubbs plans to launch a probe, dubbed "the Egg," to gather the data.

As the explosion nears, the ship starts to malfunction, and the issue is traced back to the computer core. Wesley Crusher realises that he may have accidentally released two nanites from his school experiments loose on the ship.

WHAT'S TO SEE IN SEASON 3?

The changes are nowhere near as numerous as season 2, but they're still enough to show that the series is continuing to evolve.

Doctor Beverly Crusher, once again played by Gates McFadden, has returned as the ship's Chief Medical Officer after a year at Starfleet Medical. Not so coincidentally, this is immediately after the departure of Maurice Hurley, who had fired her in the first place.

Also, since we now once again have two Crushers on the ship, I'm probably going to be calling her Beverly in episodes where she and Wesley both appear.

I want to make it absolutely clear that I have no animosity towards Diana Muldaur, who unfortunately left the series on less-than-amicable terms (though I can't say for certain if she was fired) and did not seem to enjoy her time playing Dr Pulaski. I think she's a talented actress with a character who has really grown on me despite a somewhat shaky debut. I'm glad she has fans who appreciate her character all these years later, and I wish her all the best.

The crew's uniforms have been redesigned from one-piece spandex to two-piece wool after complaints of fatigue and back pain from the main cast. The uniforms are now slightly baggier, but at least Data and Wesley don't have to slump all the way down in their chairs anymore.

The opening credits have been given a complete visual overhaul and now look much better in my opinion. I was going to include a clip, but the last time I did that Tumblr threw a hissy fit and kinda deleted the whole review, so we’re not doing that.

In fact, the entire series seems to have taken a step-up in lighting and cinematography.

Let's take a look at the actual episode now, shall we?

MY REVIEW

It was only a matter of time before this science fiction series explored the concept of nanotechnology. The nanites were programmed to find ways to work together and evolve, and a scan reveals that they have infiltrated the computer core and found a way to replicate themselves.

In other words... Wesley Crusher is to blame for most of the problems in this episode. His haters must have had a field day with this one. Also, by "problems" I mean complications in the plot, not the episode's actual flaws. This episode is much better than "Shades of Gray," even though that's a very low bar to clear.

But while the idea of nanotechnology is certainly interesting, it feels somewhat underdeveloped here. The ship-wide system malfunctions are essentially a re-tread of the virus from "Contagion," only with an origin that makes more sense. It's like they were just looking for another way to have the ship stop working.

Speaking of which, Picard tells Stubbs that the experiment will only go ahead as long as it is safe to do so, and that the safety of the Enterprise and its crew come first.

Now, Dr Paul Stubbs (played by Ken Jenkins, who played another doctor, Bob Kelso, on Scrubs) is a pretty standard visionary scientist type to start off with, but he's likable enough I suppose. But when Picard gives him this update... let's just say he doesn't take it well. He wants the nanites destroyed, but Picard is against destroying what may be sentient life.

But the scene that pushes him over the edge is when Stubbs goes down to the computer core, where they're attempting to slow down the nanites' productivity with low-energy gamma bursts. Knowing that a high-energy burst will kill the nanites, he fires directly upon the core, killing a bunch of the nanites and prompting them to release nitrogen oxide gas to protect themselves. It's here that Stubbs crosses the line from determined scientist to self-righteous prick, smugly telling Picard that now his only option is to destroy the nanites to save the crew. Picard tells him as formally as possible where to shove it and that he'll have his head if any of the crew are harmed.

I suppose I should also mention that Picard and Stubbs' differing views on the nanites' sentience is similar to the central argument of "The Measure of a Man," but it's less of a central theme here and more so a way to ramp up the conflict between them. Picard has Stubbs confined to his quarters, and Troi visits him to offer her help, but it just devolves into a discussion about how much of a self-centred twat he is. Fortunately he gets his comeuppance when the nanites screw with the electronics in his quarters and electrocute him.

Just as it looks like they'll have to resort to exterminating the nanites, Data succeeds in establishing contact with them. He allows them to inhabit his body for proper communication. While he acknowledges the risk of it, it would also be a sign of trust. Picard agrees. The nanites start to speak through Data. Long story short: they were looking for materials to continue the replication process and meant no harm, and interpreted Stubbs' actions as an attack, which only happened because the crew mistook their actions for attack, so the whole thing was just a big misunderstanding.

Stubbs apologises, they repair the damage to the core, Picard agrees to relocate the nanites to a safer space, and the experiment goes ahead as planned.

But even though this review is already long as hell, I'm still not done. I wouldn’t blame you if you just want to skip to the end at this point.

Basically, the episode loosely revolves around Wesley Crusher (when I'm done reviewing this series, I'm going to tally up the amount of episodes focused on each character, because I feel like Wesley is cropping up way more than he has any right to) and his mother's return to the ship.

Beverly is concerned about how Wesley has been progressing in her absence and whether a Federation Starship is a good environment for a teenage boy, while Wesley somewhat resents his mother for being absent - it's not her fault, dude. She was fired. Anyway, it's also shown that Wesley is working himself to the bone, subtly foreshadowed at the beginning of the episode, which implies that Wesley had fallen asleep at his desk and overslept.

Of course they manage to work out their problems with some help from Guinan, and the episode ends with Beverly happily watching her son from afar as he socialises with some other teenagers, with a girl seemingly taking a special interest in him. Let's hope that goes better than his last romance...

7/10 - A decent enough start to the new season.

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[popentertainment-moviereviews]

RED ONE (2024)

Starring Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, Lucy Liu, JK Simmons, Kiernan Shipka, Bonnie Hunt, Kristofer Hivju, Nick Kroll, Wesley Kimmel, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Marc Evan Jackson, Jenna Kanell, Clayton Cooper, Lanz Duffy, Makana David, Samantha Benson, Ashleigh Domangue, Cody Easterbrook, Nikki Garza, Abel Arias and the voice of Reinaldo Faberlle.

Screenplay by Chris Morgan.

Directed by Jake Kasdan.

Distributed by Amazon MGM Studios. 123 minutes. Rated PG-13.

Once upon a time, in the movies, Santa Claus was just a hefty, jolly, bearded guy in a red and white suit who went about doing good deeds and distributing toys and was a good friend to reindeer. Somewhere along the line, though – probably about the time of How the Grinch Stole Christmas in the 1966 TV special – Hollywood decided to make him darker. However, the Grinch wasn’t really Santa, he was a bad guy who was masquerading as the St. Nick.

The real dark quirky times probably started early in the millennium with the Billy Bob Thornton starrer Bad Santa. But, again, this wasn’t the real Santa, it was just an alcoholic con artist running a scam as a mall Santa.

Soon enough the movies started making the questionable choices and ethics about the real Santa, though, and Christmas movies are just turning into genre pastiches. Forget peace, goodwill and joy to the world. Even the commercial aspects of the holiday, like presents, are now just getting cursory glances.

Just last year, Santa was portrayed as a dirty, homeless alcoholic who was more than willing to savagely mow through some naughty criminals in Violent Night. Now, less than a year after slasher Santa, why not make him a ripped and unpredictable action star, and slip him into a film that seems like an unholy merge of Fast and Furious, a particularly obnoxious mythological Marvel movie and Santa Claus Conquers the Martians?

Which brings us to Red One.

Now, actually, Santa is not in a huge chunk of Red One, because the film is about Santa being kidnapped just days before Christmas. This is actually a real shame, because casting JK Simmons as Santa is by far the smartest decision made in this film, even if they play up some of the wrong things about the character. Simmons has an enviable physique for a man of his age, but showing how buff Santa is goes in direct contradiction of holiday lore. Still, Simmons is the best thing in Red One, and when he is not on screen the film suffers for it.

So, if this film is only tangentially about Santa, what is it about? Well, mostly a mish mash of vague holiday ideas pureed through tired action tropes that have been done better – and made much more sense – in many other movies.

In the world of Red One, the North Pole and the toy factory are like a military operation, full of regulations, cutting edge technology, and a strange amount of odd alien creatures. (Walking talking grizzly bears, for example, or elves which look like undercooked versions of Harry Potter’s Dobby. Even the half-brother of Santa is an evil looking goat troll.)

The real stars here, though, are Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans, both slumming for a relatively easy paycheck.

Johnson plays Cal, Santa’s stone-faced head bodyguard, the leader of Enforcement Logistics and Fortification (E.L.F., get it? Okay, it isn’t funny.) He has just decided to retire from his job after hundreds of years, because of course he did. Getting ready for his final trip, he is thrown into saving Santa (code name: Red One) from an evil Icelandic shape-shifting witch (Kiernan Shipka, taking advantage of her witch experience from The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) who is determined to take over the holiday and punish everyone on the naughty list.

Evans is Jack, a “level four naughty lister,” who we are introduced to in a prologue where when he was a child, he was charging his cousins for what he called proof that Santa wasn’t real. He has grown up to be an alcoholic, gambling, thieving deadbeat dad who also just happens to be the greatest hacker on the dark web.

When one of his hacks shows the kidnappers how to find Santa, Jack is hunted down by M.O.R.A., the Mythological Oversight and Restoration Authority (lots of weird agencies in this movie). In fact, they do it surprisingly easily considering he is supposed to be an impossible-to-identify specter on the dark web. Jack is forced to help find the big guy with them, taken on a whirlwind tour of tropical islands with killer snowmen, a medieval castle that seems to have been populated by the random alien characters from the Star Wars cantina band sequence, and several other supposedly life-threatening experiences.

Not surprisingly, Cal and Jack, who are immediately antagonistic, grow a grudging respect for each other. And then, completely out of the blue, the film drops a completely gratuitous speech about love, family and the holiday spirit, because they suddenly remembered this was supposed to be a Christmas movie.

I’m not sure who this film is supposed to be for. It is too violent and has too much foul language for kids but is too ridiculous and disjointed for adults. But perhaps that is the answer. Maybe Red One is for no one.

Put Red One on the naughty list and leave a lump of coal in its stocking.

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©2024 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: November 14, 2024.

[raybizzle]

"Uptight" (1968) is a drama film based on the novel, "The Informer" by Liam O'Flaherty. There is also a movie called "The Informer," released in 1935 and directed by John Ford, and "Uptight" is an updated version of that movie. "Uptight" is an outstanding film with an incredible cast. Cleveland, Ohio, is the setting for the movie, which takes place right after the assassination of Martin Luther King. This film also gives an authentic look into Cleveland throughout the movie, showing you a great sense of the environment. The film star, Julian Mayfield, was only debuting in his 2nd film and first lead role. Still, he was with an incredible supporting cast of actors, including Max Julien, Raymond St. Jacques, Ruby Dee, Frank Silvera, and Roscoe Lee Browne.

The timing of this movie was before the burst of Black films in the 70s, known as the Blaxploitation era. "Uptight" takes a concrete revolutionary stance unheard of in black cinema then. So, there is no denying its influence on black films in the 70s, when several actors saw successful careers during that decade. Booker T. and the M.G.s produced the soundtrack for the movie. This soundtrack is potentially the first of its kind for black films. Using funk and soul bands to make a soundtrack was a significant player in black cinema in the 70s. It's arguable that "Uptight" was a trendsetting movie on multiple levels.

The social commentary within the film is powerful. The film touches on black issues of economics, education, revolution, the justice system, sexuality, the welfare process, unemployment, politics, and much more. Each character in the film represents an aspect of those issues and is responsible for bringing these issues to life.

"Uptight" is a fantastic movie. I highly recommend it for viewing. The high-definition version of the film is very detailed, and the cinematography is brilliant, especially in the surroundings of 1968 Cleveland, Ohio. Also, make sure to do some additional research on Julian Mayfield. His compelling life story helped him write a portion of this movie.

Director: Jules Dassin Writers: Jules Dassin (screenplay), Ruby Dee (screenplay), Julian Mayfield (screenplay)

Starring Julian Mayfield, Max Julien, Raymond St. Jacques, Ruby Dee, Frank Silvera, Roscoe Lee Browne, Janet MacLachlan, Juanita Moore, Dick Anthony Williams, Michael Baseleon, John Wesley, Ji-Tu Cumbuka, Ketty Lester, Robert DoQui, James McEachin, Joel Fluellen, Bill Walker

Storyline Tank (Julian Mayfield) is down on his luck after being fired from his steel job. After hearing about Martin Luther King's assassination, Tank reverts to drinking after swearing it off to his fellow revolutionary members. In need of his help to steal weapons, Johnny Wells (Max Julian) cannot convince Tank to join them, leading to Johnny committing the crime that leads to the death of a security guard. Now, the Cleveland police department is seeking a $ 1,000 reward for the whereabouts of Johnny Wells. In sorrow and distress, Tank betrays his revolutionary crew and rats out Wells to the police for the money. Now, Tank must live his decision and face the people who trusted him.

This movie is available on Blu-ray and streaming services

[dumbfuck-mojave]

Warm: To Do and To Feel

Characters from the Buffyverse (Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel: The Series) 

 Main Pair: Angel and Spike (Spangel) 

Also Featured: Wesley, Gunn, Fred, very disgruntled mall worker, tired™ apartment receptionist.

Warnings: It’s just that good ol’ fluff. Spike is himself but it’s really nothing serious. Way too much italicizing and use of “onto”. Switches POVS but it’s made clear when it does. Retconning but it's expected in fanfic let's be real.

A/N: A gift for my beloved friend @highonbandcandy as part of the @buffyversegiftexchange . When I found out it was you, I freaked out. Then freaked out a little more knowing I couldn’t tell you for a whole month. Anyways, this was such a fun event and I’m so glad it got organized. Gif made by me, also posted on my own gif blog (@sidgifs) because I made a few extra goodies for this :). 

Word Count: 1,834 

-Spike POV-

Thank God for 24 hour shopping malls. Or, in actuality, thank God for the store employee that was letting Spike roam around the store 9 minutes before closing. She was getting more and more agitated as Spike hummed to some 80’s song playing on the retail radio, completely ignoring the time and stretching his head up to see the novelty items lining the top shelves. Wasn’t his fault the mall opened during the day.

“What?”

“Hey, can you just make a choice already so I can close up and go home.” She hissed near the end of the sentence, but Spike didn’t even look her way when answering. 

“What? Don’t have the night shift?” 

“We’re in a 24 hour mall, love. Perhaps you didn’t realize that.”

The girl looked at him with a confused “Are you stupid?” expression, “ This isn’t a 24 hour mall.” 

Spike turned around then, “What.”

“Uh, yeah. This store closes in 5 minutes and the whole thing closes about a half an hour from now.” 

Spike smiled, “Yes, I did. Thank you for the enormous amount of help you didn’t give me.” 

Spike paused for a moment, then jumped to swipe something off the top shelf. He picked up the various bags on the ground surrounding him. Walking up to the counter, he placed a wooden craft owl down. 

The worker sighed, “Did you find everything alright.. after you spent 40 minutes in here-”

“Didn’t know who you were shopping for. I was being ignored for Run-D.M.C featuring Aerosmith on the radio.”

“Is that book store down a way open any later than you are? Need to pick up somethin’ I saw earlier.”

“You going to annoy more retail workers?” The woman handed him a neatly wrapped box, which Spike put into one of his bigger bags, “They’re open until the mall closes and knowing how long you took here, you better get a move on, less you become distracted by a shiny bookmark or something.” 

“You’ve got spunk, I like you.” Spike paid and made his way towards the door, “Also, it’s lest. Lest you forget that.”

-Angel POV-

Truth of it was, Angel was deeply upset with the way things were in the present. He wanted Spike, desperately. In the romantic sense. He tried to articulate it into words but every time he fell flat. The sentences were too short. He got flustered too easily. Blah. 

Since Spike had become corporeal again, he and Angel had been sharing an apartment. Angel can’t quite recall how it was agreed upon, or any of the details after for that matter, but it was nice to have Spike around. Despite it all, it was nice to have someone who’s seen all of you there. All of you. Angel cast that thought out of his mind rather quickly. They both got along just fine, despite the tension.

Which is why, of course, Angel was in the kitchen struggling to finish up a romantic meal for Spike’s homecoming. 

The gang had come over a bit earlier, just after Spike had left, trying their best to help their inarticulate friend not make a fool of himself. He wanted it to be perfect. A perfect dinner and a perfect confession. He’s had Spike in the past, but this time he wanted it to be different. Needed it to be different. Which was what he was trying to explain to Wesley as Fred and Gunn started cooking those fucking onion things Spike loved so badly. 

“I know we don’t technically need to eat but I just think-”

“Angel, that’s the third time you’ve said that. I know you’re nervous, but trust me. We’ve all noticed what’s going on between the two of you. Quite frankly, it’s surprising nothing has happened before this. Even for you and Spike.”

“The will they/won’t they is getting embarrassing at this point.” Gunn piped in, just as Fred screeched, “She dropped it into the fryer too fast.” 

“Sorry.” Fred shot an embarrassed smile towards Gunn, who smiled back at her. She stepped back and took a seat at the table, “I think it’s going to go great! Oh, maybe you could write some poetry for him! Wait, maybe he won’t like that, are we not supposed to talk about it? I know you told me about it, but that was before he actually came back and I don’t know if it would be appropriate if I suggested that. Unless you just took the credit, which I assumed you would do anyway. Not like that! Not in that bad way…..I’m rambling, I’ll stop now.” 

Wesley was looking at Fred with a small smile on his face, then turned back to Angel. 

“It’s going to be alright.”

-Spike POV-

It was almost pitch black out by the time Spike returned home. On his way back from the mall, he may have gotten a bit distracted by a few more stores. Just a few. Okay, he bought a full backseat worth of gifts between them and the mall. Wasn’t his fault he wanted the best for his man. 

“And I keep ignoring you! Now come on, help me with this.” 

“Axel, my main man, can I get some help with a trolley!” Spike poked his head into the front door of his apartment building. The receptionist looked up, noticing the pile of presents near pouring out of Spike’s car. 

“I keep telling you not to park your car in front of the door.”

One long trolley packing period later, and the removal of Spike’s car from almost being in the front lobby, he stood tapping his foot impatiently while bright red letters changed before him. 

Thoughts whirled through his head. What if he says no? What if he laughs at me? What if, what if, what if. It was almost too much to bear. But he couldn’t back down now. After years of aching to have Angel back, he finally did and this was the time. The perfect moment. Maybe after he gets showered with his thoughtfully picked out gifts, Spike could take him out for a blooming onion. Yeah, this was about to be the best night ever.

At last, the elevator dinged and opened onto his floor. The sound of the wheels on the trolley rolling was dampened by the thin layer of carpet laid in the hallway, only to fade out completely as it rolled to a soft stop behind him. Standing right in front of his door, he took a deep, unnecessary breath before gripping the door handle. Now or never. Would be really embarrassing if the door was locked right now, he didn’t bring his keys. He began to turn the knob.

-Angel POV-

As he heard the door start to open, Angel fumbled with the lighter in his hand. Quickly slapping it down onto the kitchen counter, Angel turned right as Spike entered their shared apartment. 

“Surprise!” Angel exclaimed, shaking his hands over the table for dramatic effect. A full meal was laid out on the kitchen table, with candles replacing the normal lighting. Soft music played from somewhere hidden, and Spike stood frozen in the living room. Well, this was unexpected. 

“Do you like it?” Angel’s voice wavered, eyes looking to the side awkwardly. 

There were a few more moments of poignant silence until Spike started laughing out. Laughing hard, so hard that he started skipping breaths and had to focus on slowing it down. Angel was staring in shock as Spike straightened up and met Angel’s eyes, a bright gleam in his own. Then, he moved towards the kitchen, only stopping when he was mere inches away from Angel, who had just knocked a fork to the floor with his shocked stumbling. It clanged on the tile as Spike smiled up at him. 

“You, you-” Spike gave up on words, instead opting to smash his lips onto Angel’s own, one hand coming up to hold his neck while the other wrapped around his middle. Angel snapped out of his trance then, his own hands slowly wrapping around Spike as well.

 In that spot they stood for what felt like eternity, illuminated by the low light of the candles scattered around the room. They could’ve stayed like that for much longer, theoretically, but Spike pulled away suddenly, Angel trailing after him. Spike moved his hand slightly up and grabbed the back of Angel’s head, pressing their foreheads together. 

“I had a whole speech planned.” Angel whispered. 

Spike chortled breathlessly, looking a little surprised himself, “Me too.”

He gestured to the door, “Was gonna present you with those, give a whole lovey-dovey speech about how much you matter to me, whatever, see how it went.”

Confused about what Spike was pointing at, Angel looked at Spike and noticed his brow starting to crease. He put his hands to Spike’s cheeks, rubbing his thumbs on his prominent cheekbones, “Hey, look at me. This is fine. This is perfect. God, I can’t believe this actually happened.”

Spike looked into his eyes once more, and how beautiful they were. Like two blue gemstones, Angel wanted to look into them forever. Until Spike sniffed and those eyes snapped past him. 

“You made blooming onions?!’ Spike smacked himself on the chest, “A man after my own undead heart.” 

“Anything for you.” Angel said sweetly as his hands loosened from around Spike’s chest. Spike moved to sit down at the table and gestured for Angel to do the same. Everything seemed settled until Spike shot up, running to the still open door and rolling in the large trolley of gifts. 

“Oh, no. No!” Angel shook his head as Spike grinned and mimicked his earlier hand action. He reached into the top bag and pulled out something, holding it behind his back. 

“Jus’.... I want you to see this one at least.”

Angel sighed and held out his hands, waiting for his gift. Spike nodded towards his eyes, and he closed them. He felt something get pushed near his hands, gripping the weight accordingly. 

“It’s special editions of Sherlock Holmes. Gold pages, leather cover. I know you like them.” Spike shrugged. “I love them, I love you. Thank you.” 

“Okay, open.” 

As candlelight entered his vision once more, he looked down at his hands. Three books, neatly bound together. He moved to the table, setting them down and pulled the binding away. 

Spike leaned in for a quick peck and pulled away smirking. He looked at the table.

 “Well, let’s tuck in then. Then, we can have some more ~fun~ after.” Spike wiggled his eyes as Angel rolled his eyes and sat down, a small smirk on his face. 

Later that night, when all the presents had been opened, the money spent chastised, and at least parts of original confessions whispered quietly, Angel laid in bed with Spike in his arms. Warm. Somehow, two dead bodies made each other warm. Maybe it was the souls. Regardless, Angel never wanted this feeling to go away. It never would. 

[unravelingthread]

Who out of the entire TNG cast do you think YOU personally think is the BEST character and who is the WORST character in your opinion >:) difficult question.

Also also skenen worst and best vary in definitions, I'm basically just asking for your favorite and least favorite character

One more question though.

If you could give yourself ONE. SINGLE. superpower. What superpower would you give yourself and would you use your power for good and be an actual hero??? Or would you just use the power for like basic human fun stuff. Does this make sense. I hope it doesn't ANYWAYS I LOVE YOU

oooo this is a difficult question! obviously data is the best character facing absolutely no competition but worst is Hard to decide! if we’re going for main cast i have to say picard because when i first watched the show i took his hatred of children REALLY personally and i still think he was too mean to wesley :(

i’ve also thought about the superpower one Way too Much in my life and have decided that i want to be able to make illusions!! i would use this for minor evil like making people see one less stair than there actually is because that would be really funny. also for illustrating things during conversations because there have been so many times i’ve wanted to be able to just supernaturally create like a picture of wtf i’m talking about. this would not be some world ending power but i’m attached to it now

(((LOVE YOU TOO)))

[greensaplinggrace]

For character ask, Faith and Drusilla from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

(Give Me a Character!)

Faith

How I feel about this character: Sad and conflicted. At the time I was really involved in the btvs fandom, I was very young and very invested, and Faith’s character bothered me for a number of reasons. Initially it was her relationship with Xander, then the way she treated Buffy. Then, in later seasons, the thing with stealing Buffy’s body and sleeping with Riley in it (which classifies as rape), had me very out of sorts. Her erratic behavior reminded me of other people in my life, and it was difficult for me to understand her character. Now, I just feel kind of sad for her. Conflicted because I’ve grown so much I understand her now, and her history and her character is tragic to me, and I pity her and sympathize with her but she hit me too hard when I was young for me to truly like her. At the same time I actually kind of do like her. Just not in the way I usually like characters. It’s very hard for me to engage in fanmade content for her, but it’s easy for me to see why people love her character so much, and sometimes I’ll even look at their reasoning and go ‘yeah, I could like her character because of that too’.

Like I said lol, very conflicted. The reasoning is actually a bit more complicated than this, but I doubt people want to read an entire essay on it 😅

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Buffy! That’s about it. I think the ship has such potential for recovery and passion and a sense of true understanding.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Wesley and Faith had some great scenes in Angel and I really adored their platonic relationship. Perhaps even Willow? I think a reformed Faith would get along quite well with a post-dark Willow

My unpopular opinion about this character: As I said before, many of her actions are unforgiveable to me, and my opinion of her character now is so informed by my mindset at the time of watching btvs that much of what I think of her isn’t positive. From what I’ve seen of a lot of the fandom now, many people seem to hold the opposite opinions, so mine are probably pretty unpopular.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: Nothing much. I think Faith got a good character arc to be honest. There were a few things I wish had happened at the end of BtVS regarding her and Buffy’s relationship. I never liked the way Faith acted towards the other slayers and especially toward Buffy. But also I really do need to rewatch the show lol.

Drusilla

How I feel about this character: I think she’s adorable and chaotic and I love her despite everything lol. Drusilla and Spike owning up to their emotional and loving vampire states to other vampires was the highlight of the show for me. Drusilla was just so enchanting and intriguing. Very mysterious, too, and her absentmindedness and very floaty, light personality in a cast full of incredibly down to earth and action oriented characters was very striking. I quite liked her character, especially in relation to Spike. She’s very wicked, very smart, but she acts so non-threatening, floating through the world in a haze, that when she actually does take action, its very jarring and very interesting.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Only Spike! Their relationship was so great, especially when they were villains. It was a lot more complex than people assume at first glance, too, which I liked.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Angel? But honestly I don’t really have one.

My unpopular opinion about this character: She’s smarter than she appears, but I hardly think that’s too unpopular. I also think she felt more for Spike than people give her credit for. She was quite interesting, imo, though many at the time I watched the show seemed very determined to dumb her down and make her out to be boring.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: More screen time!! And more of an in-depth look at her relationship with Spike! I think it would have been great to explore the more intricate details of their connection and what he provided for her both as she was healing and in her addled state and before then, when she was a lot more aware and vicious. More exploration into Drusilla as a character would have been stellar.

[agentnico]

Coming 2 America (2021) Review

ZAMUNDA FOREVER!!

Plot: The African monarch Akeem learns he has a long-lost son in the United States and must return to America to meet this unexpected heir and build a relationship with his son.

In line with Hollywood’s agenda to cash in on older properties by releasing sequels and remakes years after the original, Coming to America is next to receive such a treatment. Do we need a sequel to Coming to America? No, of course we do not. The original was a pleasant romantic comedy about the good guy who gets the girl, delivered through a fish-out-of-water narrative, and though it may have not aged too well due to some sexist and racist quirks, it is otherwise a perfectly enjoyable little film. However that movie ends in the way where all characters get their deserved conclusions and the story is, well, ended. So a sequel really wasn’t necessary yet here we are, courtesy of the underpaid Amazon warehouse workers. The result? 

In a way it’s like a high school reunion. It’s good to see everyone again and have a little catch up with each person, but afterwards you’re likely to forget the entire event quite swiftly and move on. That is how this movie is. If you’re a fan of the original, you are sure to enjoy the call-backs and rehashed gags that played so well in the first one, as well as the abundance of cameos and returning characters, but as a whole this movie doesn’t bring anything new to the table nor is the story that interesting. In fact, the plot is as generic as one gets, where Eddie Murphy’s Akeem discovers he has a son, so he goes to find him and then they bond. Along the way everyone learns a bunch of life lessons. Its predictable in every sense of the word, however as a casual watch it’s fairly entertaining. Though one thing I have to mention is the misleading title. One assumes folks will be coming to America again, and they do, but only for 5 minutes! That’s right, there’s much coming to America in Coming 2 America! I need to get Cinema Sins on this!

One thing that did stand out to me as I was watching the movie was how much it reminded me of Black Panther. The entire visual palette felt like it came straight out of that film, and honestly all that was missing was Kendrick Lamar’s booming tunes! I wondered why this was the case, so I got out my magnifying glass and investigated. The investigation lasted less than 10 seconds as a simple Google search provided me with the answer - Ruth E. Carter. What, you have no clue who Ruth E. Carter is? Shame on you! How can you not know who Ruth E. Carter is? Everyone knows her! She’s like so popular like oh my gosh..... Okay, in reality I had no clue who she was either, but she’s the lucky lady who won an Oscar for creating the fashions of Wakanda. That’s right, she was the costume designer on Black Panther. And as it happens she’s on same duty in Coming 2 America and it shows. Under her masterful guidance everyone in this film look spectacular. The results are hypnotic; you can’t take your eyes off the screen lest you miss some majestic pattern or a finely crafted angle of fabric rising in the air with true fierceness. There’s so much colour and unique designs that it would impress even Miranda Priestly! Apologies, I recently rewatched The Devil Wears Prada so now I’m all in on that Streep action and her “Truth is, there's no one who can do what I do”. Ah, so good!! Anyway, back to the subject at hand, the costumes in this film look amazing and alone are worth the price of admission. It’s like walking through a fashion museum. I felt so vogue watching this movie, and boy you know I mean business as I don’t drop my ‘vogues’ lightly!

The cast all seem to be having great fun here, however all the returning cast members seem to be acting way over the top. Of course in the original everyone overacted too, however in the sequel everyone seems to making a caricature of a caricature, if you know what I mean. Any eccentric characteristics that characters had in the original are dialled up even more and it does distract a little. Nevertheless as a whole it’s nice to see everyone return, with Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall once again playing multiple roles, with the return of the barbershop boys being the most pleasant if not fleeting comeback. Also, James Earl Jones appears in this movie for a prolonged cameo for absolutely no reason besides getting a paycheck. Don’t get me wrong, it’s always great to hear Mufasa’s strong powerful voice, but his appearance in this movie turns out to be completely unnecessary. On the other hand Wesley Snipes as an evil general half steals the entire show, being fully aware how ridiculous his character is, so he plays it broader than the side of a barn. He relishes in chewing up every piece of scenery he’s in and to be honest its a lot of fun watching him do so. Also a shout-out to KiKi Layne who very much reminded me of a younger Michonne of The Walking Dead and it was nice to see her challenge the aged gender politics of the original.

Coming 2 America lacks any reason to exist, and not all jokes hit, however it’s nice to see these characters again and fashionistas may rejoice, as since lockdown has stopped fashion shows from going full speed ahead, Coming 2 America is here to give you the show!

Overall score: 5/10

[jajanvm-imbi]

Things that I’m looking forward/I want to see in The Two Princes podcast season 3

rumir content, obviously 

specifically domestic rumir, like maybe after the wedding scene we get like a fast forward to like 5-10 years into the future and we see them happy ruling their kingdom and being cute, maybe a family and kids running around the castle. Them being great dads to their kids. (maybe even an anniversary or something) Just plEASE give me domestic and happy Rumir!!!!!

speaking of rumir, are we just getting a wedding scene or are we getting some reception content too? Cause since this is a musical I can 100% see them have a like happily-ever-after party song and it would be the greatest thing ever. 

Also now that we’re on the topic of the fact that this is a musical I am 10000% absolutely expecting Rumir to sing their wedding vows. Can you imagine an incredibly soft duet between the boys just singing about how much they love each other and that even after all they’ve been through they are so excited to spend the rest of their lives together and no matter what the world throws at them next they’re always gonna stick by each other’s side and love each other and be there for each other? Cause I can and I’m sobbing just thinking about it. (think of like “Come What May” from Moulin Rouge or “One Hand, One Heart” from West Side Story) 

moving on

Joan and Cecily!!!!!! I can’t wait to see where they’re at in their relationship! Did Cecily win over Joan? Are they dating? Are they in the Rumir wedding????????? (like I can totally see Cecily being the flower girl or something) THESE ARE THINGS I N E E D TO KNOW!!!!!!! 

Percy Jr. How’s my obnoxious lil rat boy doing? How is he getting along with the Princes? (I feel like Rumir would’ve adopted him at this point. Like I can totally see them being dads to him and I love it) is he h A P P Y???? I NEED TO KNOW

SAM AND DIANE. DID SAM MAKE HIS MOVE???? ARE THEY TOGETHER????? ARE WE GOING TO ACTUALLY SEE THEM INTERACT WITH OUR MAIN CAST????? H O W A R E T H E Y?????

We better see Barabbas, Cedric and Crazy Tooth this season. They’re iconic please let them be in this season. 

The Wine Mom Queens. I wanna know how they’re doing. What was their role in planning the wedding? (besides Lavinia complaining about Rupert’s outfit) What’s their role in the wedding? Like pLEASE tell me they get to walk their boys down the aisle, cause that would absolutely adorable and wholesome. How do the boys interact with they’re soon to be mother-in-laws? Like we know Atossa likes Rupert, but how does Lavinia interact with Amir? Does she spoil him like she does with Rupert, or is she protective of Rupert and annoys Amir? (in like a loving-way of course. I can’t imagine Lavinia being a toxic mother-in-law) 

Going back to how this season is a musical I am 10000000% expecting a kick-ass cool villain song. According to this article about season 3, Wesley Taylor is in this season (if you don’t know who that is its the guy who played Lucas in the The Addams Family musical and Plankton in Spongebob Squarepants: The Musical) and according to the synopsis of this season there’s gonna be a “handsome new prince who’s rolled into town and only has eyes for Rupert“, (I’m assuming Wesley Taylor is playing him cause that just makes sense) and that obviously means trouble so I better get an amazing “Poor Unfortunate Souls-Hellfire-Mother Knows Best (reprise)” villain song. 

Also speaking of  a “handsome new prince who’s rolled into town and only has eyes for Rupert”, I’M SO EXCITED TO GET JEALOUS AMIR THAT’S GONNA BE GREAT!!!! After seeing jealous Rupert in season 2, its gonna be great to see things from Amir’s point of view for change. 

I need Amir and Rupert to have solos. Thats it. Give them solos, please. Like I love them singing together, but I want them to shine on their own, too. 

I can’t really think of anything else I’m just so overwhelmingly excited for this season I CAN’T WAIT!!!!!!!!

[crowdvscritic]

round up // NOVEMBER 20

Hi, I’m tired. Actually, my friend Celeste created a piece of art that puts the emphasis needed on that sentiment:

I’m very tired. November felt like it was three years and also felt like it went by in a blink and also I’m not sure where October ended and November began—how does time work like that? (I’ve yet to see Tenet, but maybe that will explain it.) But like Michael Scott, somehow I manage, and lately it’s been like this:

Late-night Etsy scrolling. Browsing beautiful, non-big-box-store artwork is very calming just before I go to bed. I’d recommend Etsy stores like Celeste’s chr paperie shop, which I know from experience is full of great Christmas gift ideas. 

Taking a day off of work to do laundry. I’m not sure if it’s more #adulting that I did that or that I was excited to do that.

Eating Ghiradelli chocolate chips straight from the bag. I actually don’t recommend this as a healthy option, but this is also not a health blog.

Watching lots and lots of ‘80s movies. One day I’ll ask a therapist why this decade of films is so comforting for me despite its many flaws, but for now I’m just rolling with it.

Reading. Have you heard of this? It’s a form of entertainment but doesn’t require screens—wild!

Memes. All good Pippin “Fool of a” Took jokes are welcome here.

Leaning into the Christmas spirit by ordering that Starbucks peppermint mocha, making plans to watch everything in that TCM Christmas book I haven’t seen, and keeping the lights on my hot pink tinsel tree on all day as I work from home.

This month’s Round Up is full of stuff that made me smile and stuff that sucked me into its world—I think they’ll do the same for you, too.

November Crowd-Pleasers

Sister Act (1992)

If in four years you aren’t in an emotional state to watch election results roll in, I recommend watching Whoopi Goldberg pretend to be a nun for 100 minutes. (Though, incidentally, if you want to watch that clip edited to specifically depict how the results came in this year, you’ll need to watch Sister Act 2.) This musical-comedy is about as feel-good as it gets, meaning there’s no reason you should wait four more years to watch it. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 7.5/10

Nevada Memes

Speaking of election results, Nevada memes. That’s it—that’s the tweet. Vulture has a round up of some of the best.

SNL Round Up

Laugh and enjoy!

“Cinema Classics: The Birds” (4605 with John Mulaney)

“Uncle Ben” (4606 with Dave Chappelle)

RoboCop (1987)

I’m not surprised I liked RoboCop, but I am surprised at why I liked RoboCop. Not only is this a boss action blockbuster, it’s an investigation into consumerism and the commodification of the human body. It’s also a critique of institutions that treat crime like statistics instead of actions done by people that impact people. That said, it’s also movie about a guy who’s fused with a robot and melts another guy’s face off with toxic sludge, so there’s a reason I’m not listing this under the Critic section. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 8/10

Double Feature – ‘80s Comedies: National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983) + Major League (1989)

The ‘80s-palooza is in full swing! In Vacation (Crowd: 9.5/10 // Critic: 8/10), Chevy Chase just wants to spend time with his family on a vacation to Wally World, but wouldn’t you know it, Murphy’s Law kicks into gear as soon as the Griswold family shifts from out of Park. The brilliance of the movie is that every one of these terrible things is plausible, but the Griswolds create the biggest problems themselves. In Major League (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 6.5/10), Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, and Wesley Snipes are Cleveland’s last hope for a winning baseball team. Like the Griswolds, mishaps and hijinks ensue in their attempt to prevent their greedy owner from moving the Indians to Miami, but the real win is this movie totally gets baseball fans. Like most ‘80s movies, not everything in this pair has aged well, but they brought some laughs when I needed them most.

This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens (2020)

They’re born a minute apart in the same hospital, but they don’t meet until their 30th birthday on New Year’s Day. So, yes, it’s a little bit Serendipity, and it’s a little bit sappy, but those are both marks in this book’s favor. This Time Next Year is a time-hopping rom-com with lots of almost-meet-cutes that will have you laughing, believing in romantic twists of fate, and finding hope for the new year.

Double Feature – ‘80s Angsty Teens: Teen Wolf (1985) + Uncle Buck (1989)

In the ‘80s, Hollywood finally understood the angsty teen, and this pair of comedies isn’t interested in the melodrama earlier movies like Rebel Without a Cause were depicting. (I’d recommend Rebel, but not if you want to look back on your teen years with any sense of humor.) In Teen Wolf (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 5/10), Michael J. Fox discovers he’s a werewolf.one that looks more like the kid in Jumanji than any other portrayal of a werewolf you’ve seen. It’s a plot so ‘80s and so bizarre you won’t believe this movie was greenlit.

In Uncle Buck (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 7.5/10), John Candy is attempting to connect with the nieces and nephew he hasn’t seen in years, including one moody high schooler. (Plus, baby Gaby Hoffman and pre-Home Alone Macauley Culkin!) This is my second pick from one of my all-time fave filmmakers, John Hughes (along with National Lampoon’s Vacation, above), and it’s one more entry that balances heart and humor in a way only he could do. You can see where I rank this movie in Hughes’s pantheon on Letterboxd.

Lord of the Rings memes

This month on SO IT’S A SHOW?, Kyla and I revisited The Lord of the Rings, a trilogy we love almost as much as we love Gilmore Girls. You can listen to our episode about the series on your fave podcast app, and you can laugh through hundreds of memes like I did for “research” on Twitter.

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson (2019)

Most adults are afraid of children’s temper tantrums, but can you imagine how terrified you’d be if they caught on fire in their fits of rage? That’s the premise of this novel, which begins when an aimless twentysomething becomes the nanny of a Tennessee politician’s twins who burst into flames when they get emotional. The book is filled with laugh-out-loud moments but never leaves behind the human emotion you need to make a magical realistic story.

An Officer and a Gentlemen (1982)

Speaking of aimless twentysomethings and emotion, feel free to laugh, cry, and swoon through this melodrama in the ‘80s canon. Richard Gere meanders his way into the Navy when he has nowhere else to go, and he tries to survive basic training, work through his family issues, and figure out his future as he also falls in love with Debra Winger. So, yeah, it’s a schamltzier version of Top Gun, but it’s schmaltz at its finest. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7.5/10

November Critic Picks

Double Feature – ‘40s Amensia Romances: Random Harvest (1942) + The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)

Speaking of schmaltz at its finest, let me share a few more titles fitting that description. In Random Harvest (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 8.5/10), Greer Garson falls in love with a veteran who can’t remember his life before he left for war. In The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 8.5/10), Gene Tierney discovers a ghost played by a crotchety Rex Harrison in her new home. Mild spoiler: Both feature amnesiac plot developments, and while amnesia has become a cliché in the long history of romance films, Harvest is moving enough and Mr. Muir is charming enough that you won’t roll your eyes. You can see these and more romances complicated by forced forgetfulness in this Letterboxd round up.

The African Queen (1951)

It’s Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn directed by John Huston—I mean, I don’t feel like I need to explain why this is a winner. Bogart (in his Oscar-winning role) and Hepburn star in a two-hander script, dominating the screen time except for a select few scenes with supporting cast. The pair fight for survival while cruising on a small boat called The African Queen during World War I (in Africa, natch), and the two make this small story feel grand and epic. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 9/10

Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)

A young man’s (Dennis Price) mother is disowned from their wealthy family because she marries for love. After her death, he seeks vengeance by killing all of the family members ahead of him in line to be the Duke D'Ascoyne. The twist? All of his victims are played by Sir Alec Guinness! Almost every character in this black comedy is a terrible person, so you won’t be too sorry to see them go—you can just enjoy the creative “accidents” he stages and stay in suspense on whether our “hero” gets his comeuppance. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 8.5/10

Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife (1937)

What would you do if you found out you were to be someone’s eighth wife? Well, it’s probably not what Claudette Colbert does in this screwball comedy that reminds me a bit of Love Crazy. This isn’t the first time I’ve recommended Colbert, Gary Cooper, or Ernst Lubitsch films, so it’s no surprise these stars and this director can make magic together in this hilarious battle of the wills. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 8.5/10

The Red Shoes (1948)

I love stories about the competition between your life and your art, and The Red Shoes makes that competition literal. Moira Shearer plays a ballerina who feels life is meaningless without dancing—then she falls in love. That’s an oversimplification of a rich character study and some of the most beautiful ballet on film, but I can’t do it justice in a short paragraph. Just watch (perhaps while you’re putting up your hot pink tinsel tree?) and soak in all the goodness. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 10/10

The Third Man (1949)

Everybody loves to talk about Citizen Kane, and with the release of Mank on Netflix, it’s newsworthy again. But don’t miss this other ‘40s team up of Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles. Cotten is a writer digging for the truth of his friend’s (Welles) death in a mysterious car accident. Eyewitness accounts differ on what happened, and who was the third man at the scene only one witness remembers? 71 years later, this movie is still tense, and this actor pairing is still electric. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 9/10

The Untouchables (1987)

At the end of October, we lost Sean Connery. I looked back on his career first by writing a remembrance for ZekeFilm and then by watching The Untouchables. (In a perfect world I would’ve reversed that order, but c’est la vie.) In my last selection from the ‘80s, Connery and Kevin Costner attempt to convict Robert De Niro’s Al Capone of anything that will stick and end his reign of crime in Chicago. Directed by Brian De Palma and set to an Ennio Morricone soundtrack, this film is both an exciting action flick and an artistic achievement that we literally discussed in one of my college film classes. Connery won his Oscar, and K. Cos is giving one of the best of his career, too. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 9.5/10

Remember the Night (1940)

Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck in my favorite team up yet! Double Indemnity may be the bona fide classic in the canon, but this Christmas story—with MacMurray as a district attorney prosecuting shoplifter Stanwyck— is a charmer. I’ve added it to my list of must-watch Christmas movies—watch for some holiday cheer and rom-com feels. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 8.5/10

Photo credits: chr paperie. Books my own. All others IMDb.com.

[calliecat93]

ST: The Next Generation S3 Watchthrough Episodes 22-25

The Most Toys: Dear TNG writers, I know that the show has been over for about 30 years now and this is therefore redundant to say, but… can you please quit doing bad things to Data?! He doesn’t deserve bad things! So Data gets kidnapped by a manchild/lunatic to add to his ‘collection’. Kinda reminds me of that two-parter in Superman: TAS that introduced Lobo… except Fajo somehow pisses me off even more than the bad guy there. Kinda makes me think of the bad guy from The Squire of Gothos in TOS except somehow more detestable. At least that guy was more or less a spoiled child, Fajo has no excuse. Anyways, Fajo’s obsession with Data comes of as… insanely creepy. It gives me very bad vibes and I was thoroughly uncomfortable. Though at least Data, in his Data way, wasn’t at all complacent and remained as inquisitive as ever, so at least he maintained some sense of agency unlike in say The Schizoid Man. That all said, the episode was good. The crew’s reactions to thinking that Data was dead all made sense and scenes like Geordi and Wesley going through his things and Picard giving an order to Data before remembering that he’s not there anymore… those were heavy. And again as painful as it was to watch, Data at least trying to retain any agency was appreciated especially at the end. I’m glad that he didn’t have to kill, but seeing him finally put Fajo in his place was especially after he killed Varria as callously as he did was extremely gratifying. Another solid episode overall… but again, please let Data have happier things up ahead. 3.5/5.

Sarek: You can only imagine how wide my eyes got when I was going down the episode list and saw this one. I know that Sarek has mixed reception due to the issues between him and Spock and IDK if Discovery is going to change my opinion or not, but I find him to be a very interesting character. Journey to Babel kind of had this sense that he’s a hardass not that different from his son tbh, and those similarities and being displeased with Spock’s life choices made things difficult. but Sarek did still care about him, IDT he’d have gone through the effort of going to Kirk in hopes of recovering Spock’s katra when he had no reason to believe that Spock did the transfer and even outright saying at the end that his logic is more or less impaired when Spock is concerned if he didn’t, and The Voyage Home had him outright finally tell him that he made the right choice and that he was wrong in the way only Vulcans can say things. There was just kind of this feeling that he realized that he had been wrong and regretted it and wanted to make amends… but didn’t know how and it took Spock dying to finally do so. He’s not necessarily a good parent, a lot of Spock’s issues are due to him not understanding his struggles, and yeah more or less disowning him for several years was shitty, but he’s not even close to the worst and he at least tried to make it right and I can respect that. If anything though, Sarek was at least shown to be a capable ambassador and genuinely loved and was good to Amanda. So seeing him in TNG and thankfully still played by Mark Lenard, I was interested to see what they’d do with him and how he’d interact with the new cast. The result?

Sarek, did hiding your heart condition in Journey to Babel teaches you nothing about revealing vital medical information?! Is this just a Vulcan thing?! Anyways, the revelations here were… sad. Sarek has essentially the Vulcan version of Alzheimer’s which is causing him to be unable to control his emotions. Which for a Vulcan… that has to be outright horrific. Not to mention it’s causing rising, unprovoked violent responses from the crew like Crusher outright slapping her own son. To no one’s surprise, Sarek’s the reason why, albeit he’s causing it unintentionally. While Mark Lenard has been excellent as Sarek alll across the board especially in the films, he gets to do a lot more here due to Sarek’s unstable emotional control and he is just fantastic. The whole confrontation with Picard was truly excellent acting from both him and Patrick Stewart. Sarek truly feels unhinged and it is both horrifying and just sad to watch especially to how dignified and composed he was in TOS. The mind-meld with Picard may help in the short-term, but... it’s likely inevitable that he won’t last much longer. My only real complaint is that Spock and Amanda are saved as a brief mention and technically not even by Sarek but by Picard enduring the aftereffects of the mind-meld, though it does reflect Sarek’s mindset/emotions. Seriously Picard-as-Sarek reflecting how much he loved them and regretting not being able to ever truly express it or outright say it… it’s just heart-breaking, thoug it does confirm everything I had already thought so that’s good~ Still, this was a great episode! I’m glad to finally have some Vulcans again, Sarek was very well done, and the entire episode is very well acted especially the previously mentioned confrontation and everything involving the mind-meld especially after when Picard loses it. I know that Spock will show up at some point in TNG so I hope that this episode comes back up because Dear Lord please allow Spock that closure before he has to be sent to AOS. Regardless this was excellent~! Thanks for reaching my expectaitons TNG~! 4.5/5.

Menage a Troi: Oh great, another Lwaxana episode… albeit she actually has my sympathy in this one cause a Ferengi is pursuing her. I might find the woman annoying, but considering what we know of how Ferengi treat women, no one deserves that. So… if anything I am fair or at least try to be, so I will say that Lwaxana is better in this episode. She’s still obnoxious, but with the aforementioned horrid way that Ferengi treats women (seriously the nudity part was an utterly unnecessary show), refusing to be treated as property, and her genuine love and concern for Deanna make her much more likable. She certainly didn’t deserve to be treated the way she did. Troi being sick of being talked down to as a child and her mother butting into her romantic life no matter how well-intentioned instead of just letting her take it at her own pace and when she’s content as she is now is very relatable as well. Look I’ve grown to like Riker/Troi and I’m all for them getting back together… but they should do so if and when they’re ready, not be pushed into that direction. Still overall, didn’t care for this one. It’s better than Lwaxana’s first two episodes, but still makes me uncomfortable in other ways that aren’t funny, and the fact that she’s still pursuing Picard and he gets forced to go along with it at the end (albeit Patrick Stewart getting to go full Shakespearian was the funniest part of the whole episode) still doesn’t sit right with me. The Wesley subplot was also utterly wasted, feeling like it was just shoved in there and he did nothing to deserve promotion to Ensign. Yes, he gave up his chance to go to the Academy when he has his aha moment, but he did barely anything all season or the last two seasons to have earned it, or at least shoving it into this episode made it feel undeserved. Wesley himself is fine as a character, he’s nowhere near as bad as some make him out to be, but the concept of his character is just… not suited for ST. But the was funnier than the past two and Lwaxana has her better traits higlighted such as her intelligence and acting skills. If anything she does genuienly love her daughter and is not a helpless victim. Majel Barrett also owns it, I can respect that. 2.5/5.

Transfiguration: Okay, so we have an injured alien known only as John Doe wo is both amnesic and has some impressive regenererative abilities. He also turns out to have mass power such as powerful healing abilities as his body is udnergoign some kind of rapid change,. Meanwhile, Geordi gets some kid of sudden confidence boost and is finally making progress with his love life. If I’m gonna be honest… I don’t have anything to really say on this one. It was fine, but I don’t really have any thoughts regarding it otherwise. There’s this sense of spirituality in there and the ending makes it feel like religious opression. The Zalkonians killing their own kind who undergo the transformation just to maintian their power… yeah that was… yeah. Anyway, it was fine. I felt bad for John Doe and Crusher was good. All I’ve really got to say for this one. 3/5.

Alright, one more to go! Next time I’ll only be covering two episodes, the S3 finale and the S4 premiere. But they’re the same story so…. I’ve heard good things about this one, so we’ll see if it delivers.

[stjudesfandom]

i'm curious so give me your honest opinion about the disney princesses!

here’s my honest opinion on the cast in general. just mine remember! other fans might feel differently: THE PRINCES

cameron as flynn - completely yes. he has a boyish charm that would work so well. people who say “actors should/can play anything” are completely wrong and will never work in the industry for that reason. actors have to fit the part to the extent and this is probs the most exciting casting for me. he’ll do so well. alex as aladdin - undecided...i don’t think he’s going to play him in the way we know aladdin. i think he’ll have a more serious spin on the character but i definitely dont HATE it.  oliver as prince charming - yes, yes, yes. charming isn’t exciting so they NEEDED someone who was going to give him some personality. i think this could really elevate oliver’s career too. we need more of him. harvey as eric - an actor we don’t know much about but again. YES. i think he’s the perfect fit and it’s great to see some new faces getting the chance to go big.  danny as prince phillip - yes! i like it and we know danny will be able to give us prince vibes. he’s very talented. what i like about these castings is there’s a perfect balance between big names to draw people in (like danny) and lots of up and coming talent too. ezra as naveen - i don’t hate it but it’s my least favourite prince casting...the energy people wasted trying to say zara was a predictable rapunzel should have been given to this. i think he’ll kill it but idk, it doesn’t excite me as much.  leo as kristofer - I DONT KNOW HOW TO FEEL. it’ll either be amazing or a trainwreck. i just cant visualise it. again, im not saying i hate it. i just need some time to sit with it. i think when we get trailers and sneak peaks, it’ll make more sense. it was just a big surprise.  luke as li shang - also known as the perfect casting. he’s the perfect li shang. 

THE SIDEKICKS 

natalie as the fairy godmother - YES but she really needs to embrace it because this could become an iconic role for her. i think it’s perfect, i just hope she gives it her all.  florence as tinkerbell - this is her first acting gig, so i haven’t got much to go off of...HOWEVER, im always very sceptical when hamiltons go into something new...because their family is so powerful in entertainment it always smells of nepotism. i love her for tinkerbell but now i hope she can actually act and has talent/wasnt just cast for who shes related to. matt as the genie - NOT A SINGLE OTHER ACTOR could do it. i’m so glad this is what he got and he wasn’t lumped with a prince or something. he has the range, we know he’s going to be reeling off those punch lines. yes.  duyi as mushu - another actor i havent seen MUCH of. i think it’s accurate though and i’m intrigued to see where he goes with it. 

THE VILLAINS 

i’m not going to get into an individual breakdown of the villains because i agree with it all. i love that every single one is an established and known actor. i love that every single one has proved themselves already. THEY are going to be the ones who reel the audience in because names like wesley higgins, gisele collins, disney hamilton etc. are so linked to st judes. i think this was such a smart move. 

THE PRINCESSES 

autumn as snow - hm...i don’t know much about autumn. she has the look, definitely, but i don’t know what she’s like in terms of acting. BUT i can get behind it because acting is her main career choice so at least we know she has talent/is serious and she’ll be elevated to a new level of relevance in her career.  natasha as aurora - YES YES YES i cannot stress how much i was hoping aurora wasn’t cast as someone very traditionally princess-y like mal or zara. aurora is easily the most boring and passive princess and she needed someone with a bit of edge, especially bc this is a modern franchise. a VERY underrated choice but the perfect one!  mallory as cinderella - love it. i think cinderella is more relevant/important than she gets credit for so i hope mallory takes it seriously and really does her justice. looks wise, it couldn’t be more perfect. this could be a great performance if the work is put in.  ruby as belle - i really love it. i didn’t at first because ruby is a singer and with franchises like this, you kind of want ALL of the cast to be very serious actors but she has had broadway experience and been in her fair share of projects so i’ve warmed to it and she just looks like belle, doesn’t she? i think she’ll do well.  maelyn as ariel - i was NOT expecting it. i don’t know who i thought was going to get this tbh. i feel the same as i do about autumn...i haven’t seen much of her and ariel is SUCH a big character, i’m worried she might not do her the justice she deserves.  rosalie as jasmine - YES YES YES. rosalie is the next big actress in st judes. she can do film just as well as she can do stage and this will totally prove it.  harper as pocahontas - i love it! she has the look 100%. i think the only thing people will moan about is age but honestly? i think it’ll be fine. harper could easily pull off a college student (because that’s who pocahontas is in this?) and it’ll be nice to see her in something big.  elodie as mulan - YES. I WAS HOPING FOR THIS. 10/10. cassidy as merida - see autumn/harper! i don’t have any complaints but hope she can do the role justice as we haven’t seen much of her.  kobi as tiana - kobi is the perfect tiana. we’ve seen her do tiana before, but not a modernised version? i’m really happy we get to have her again. mason did well to not just go for “unpredictable” people and actually consider actors who would be convincing LOOKS WISE as well as acting range wise.  zara as rapunzel - i will defend this casting till i die. i feel like everyone who said it was predictable lowkey wanted mal to be rapunzel and imo that would’ve been a weaker casting. when it comes to disney, you definitely have to LOOK like the character you’re portraying, zara looks the most like her AND her acting ability is insane. idk where all the arguments were coming from about actors ‘can play people they’re not necessarily like’ as well because she’s not exactly like rapunzel irl but people can already see she’d be amazing as her, so that kind of defeats what the people who dont like the casting are saying? long story short, a perfect casting and the right choice. i just hope she isnt disheartened and brings her A-game. mackenzie as elsa - YES YES elsa is supposed to be slightly older than most of the princesses and have a sophisticated air about her. mackenzie will give us the elsa we deserve. she looks enough like her to make this a recognisable disney franchise but also has the acting range to show different sides to elsa’s character that haven’t been portrayed in the original movies.  heidi as anna - THIS IS CUTE. i approve!  christelle as moana - the same as ruby, pretty much! i hope there’re musical elements too though because imagine if we get a “how far i’ll go” cover from christelle? yes pleaaase?

[letterboxd]

Satisfied?

We examine what Letterboxd reviews of Hamilton reveal about the musical’s cultural currency in 2020.

In this absolutely insane year, when our love of movies feels helpless in the face of pandemic-induced economic collapse, some extremely good decisions are being made on behalf of audiences. Studio Ghibli on streaming platforms. Virtual screenings to support art house cinemas. Free streaming of many important films about Black experience. And: Disney+ releasing the filmed version of Hamilton: An American Musical—recorded at the Richard Rodgers Theater in 2016 with most of its original Broadway cast—a year ahead of schedule, on Independence Day weekend.

“Superlative pop art,” writes Wesley of the filmed musical. “Hamilton wears its influences and themes on its sleeve, and it’s all the better for it. Lin-Manuel Miranda and his team employ an unlikely cocktail of not only hip-hop and showtunes, but also jazz (‘What’d I Miss?’), British-Invasion pop-rock (‘You’ll Be Back’), folk music (‘Dear Theodosia’) and Shakespeare (‘Take a Break’) in service of developing an impressively vast array of themes. This is a testament to the power of writing, an immigrant narrative, a cautionary tale about ambition, a tragic family drama, and a reevaluation of who decides the narrative of history.”

2016 may only be a half-decade ago, but it feels like an eon in American political years. With theaters dark and America’s long record of racism under urgent scrutiny, the complex smash-hit lands back in the spotlight at an interesting time. Is Hamilton “the most offensive cultural artefact of the last decade”, as Lee writes? Or “timeless and wholly of the moment”, as Tom suggests? The answer, according to a deep read of your Letterboxd reviews, is “all of the above”.

First things first: why now?

Sophie has a theory:

“Disney executive: Hey we’re losing a lot of money because our parks are closed. How do we start making money again?

Other Disney executive: It might be nice, it might be nice… to get Hamilton on our side.”

Sure, business. Still, it’s historically unprecedented that a Broadway show of this caliber (a record-setting sixteen Tony nominations, eleven wins, plus a Grammy and a Pulitzer) would be filmed and released to the public while it’s still, in a Covid-free universe, capable of filling theaters every night. Will people stay away when Broadway reopens because they’re all Disney+’d out?

No chance, reckons Erika. “I’d still kill to see Hamilton live with any cast… I get why producers are afraid that these videos might hurt ticket sales, but I’m fucking ready to buy a ticket and fly to NY one day just to see as many shows as I can after watching this.”

Not every musical fan has the resources to travel, often waiting years for a touring version to come near their hometown. And even if you do live in a town with Hamilton, the ticket price is beyond many; a daily lottery the only way some of us get to go. So Holly-Beth speaks for many when she writes: “I entered the Hamilton lottery every day for almost two years but I never got to be in the room where it happens… however, this 4K recording of the original cast will do very nicely for now! Finally getting to see the context and performances after obsessing over the music for years was so, so satisfying.”

“Finally” is a common theme. Sydnie writes, “I love this musical with every fiber of my body and it was an extraordinary experience finally getting to watch it in Australia”. Flogic: “To finally be able to put the intended visuals to a soundtrack that I’ve had on repeat for such a long time: goosebumps for 160 minutes.” Newt Potter: “Now I fully understand people’s love for this masterpiece of a musical!”

I’ve got a small query for you.

Where’s the motherfucking swearing? Unsurprisingly, Disney+ comes with some limitations. For Hamilton, it’s the loss of a perfectly placed F-word.

“I know Disney is ‘too pure’ to let a couple of ‘fucks’ slip by,” writes Fernando, “but come on, it’s kind of distracting having the sound go out completely when they sing the very satisfying ‘Southern Motherfucking Democratic Republicans!’ line.”

Will agrees: “Disney cutting ‘motherfucking’ from ‘Washington on Your Side’ felt like sacrilege akin to Mickey Mouse taking an eyebrow pencil to the Mona Lisa.”

Nevertheless, sings Allison:

“Even tho Disney stripped the story of its f***s, Don’t think for a moment that it sucks.”

(Yes, she has a vegan alert for Hamilton.)

Does it throw away its shot?

The crew filmed two regular shows in front of live audiences, with additional audience-less sessions for a dolly, crane and Steadicam to capture specific numbers. The vast majority of you are satisfied. “It’s the most engaging and expertly crafted life filming I’ve seen since Stop Making Sense,” writes ArtPig. “The film does an incredible job of placing you right in the action. It feels like the best seat you could get in the theater. You can see the sweat and spit.”

“Translates perfectly onto the small screen,” agrees Ollie. “There’s a level of intimacy that feels hard to replicate in any other filmed production. We see those close ups, the passion and gusto behind every actor’s performance.”

“Shockingly cinematic for something filmed on such a small stage,” is Technerd’s succinct summary, while Paul praises director Thomas Kail: “He knows when to back away along with moving nearer when appropriate, and the choices always serve to govern the power and stamina of the performances.”

Though cast members’ voices were recorded on individual audio tracks, Noah had a few quibbles with the sound quality. “Some of the audio capture is off in the recording, sometimes voices being too soft or too loud. It’s not immersion breaking, but it is noticeable enough to irk me a little in pivotal moments. Some of the shot composition doesn’t fully work either. Of course nothing is going to be as good as seeing it in person.”

Robert, recalling another recent cinematic escapade of musical theater, lets his poetry do the talking:

“This will do for now until the true movie’s made, Though if Hooper directs, there’ll be an angry tirade.”

I think your pants look hot.

Hamilton fans have their cast favorites, but something about being able to see Jonathan Groff’s spittle and Leslie Odom Jr’s scowls in 4K has you losing it all over again. Several specific shout-outs we enjoyed:

“Daveed Diggs the Legend! Go watch Blindspotting (2018), it’s one of the best movies ever!” —Kyle

“It’s hard to believe anyone will ever top Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr. I already loved him from the original cast recording, but seeing his full performance in all its glory was just godly.” —Erika

“Thankful that it was made possible for me to view with such clarity the phenomenon that is Renée Elise Goldsberry and spectacular Phillipa Soo.” —Thea

“Daveed Diggs was electrifying and Jonathan Groff was absolutely hilarious. If they interacted together the stage would’ve combusted from the sheer will of their talent.” —Nick

This is not a game.

On one hand, the release of Hamilton is sweet relief for music theater nerds riding out the pandemic. A generation of kids knows every word by heart, rapping (this version of) American history like it’s no thing. On the other, the Obama-era musical already feels behind-the-times, even for many Hamilton lovers, and the filmed version has brought that into sharp focus.

“I listened to the OG cast album about 50 times when it came out, the production is about as good as I’d always hoped,” writes Josh. “Since then however there’s been a very important and broader reckoning with the failures of neoliberalism and the Obama years ([from] which this has to be the most emblematic piece of art) and for me personally a drifting further to the left that has resulted in a very different relationship with the material. So my feelings today are a bit more complicated.”

“Hamilton is extremely non-committal about its politics,” writes Sting. “It doesn’t examine much of what Hamilton dictated besides ‘he wants complete financial control of the country’ (which would sound like a fucking supervillain in any other context, including reality).”

That lack of political commitment, reckons Morgan, is what helped Hamilton as a musical become so popular: “It’s fun. It’s catchy. It interweaves trendy and socially relevant artistic tools to infer a subversive subtext, while simultaneously sanitizing and, at times, flat out fabricating the historical narrative and downplaying the brutality of the true origin story, for the sake of appeasing those in power. Classic Bill Shakespeare stuff.”

History has its eyes on you.

Much criticism lies with the fundamental storytelling decision to make a modern ruckus about America’s Founding Fathers, the men (including Alexander Hamilton) who in the late eighteenth century united the thirteen colonies and co-wrote the Constitution. Undisputed titans of history, they also have blood on their hands, and HoneyRose writes that the musical “glorifies these men, and paints them as self-sacrificing heroes, and honestly normalizes and validates slavery, as well as the behavior of slave owners.”

Stevie, who saw the Broadway production as well as the filmed version, confesses: “I’ve tried (I’ve really tried) to understand what makes people lose their minds over this but I’m still completely baffled by the hype… These were horrible men and a romanticism of them through song and dance just seems entirely misguided.”

Sean is not convinced that Hamilton is a hagiography. “I can’t imagine anyone watching all of this and thinking it paints a portrait of the Founding Fathers as anything other than childish, greedy, venal and self-aggrandizing.” Wesley agrees: “I don’t think Hamilton is trying to be a history lesson, so much as a lesson about how we think about history. It’s a compelling human story told in a revolutionary way.”

That “revolutionary way” is the musical’s central conceit: that of a cast-of-color playing the white founding fathers as they bumble towards independence. Journalist Jamelle Bouie, who regards the musical as “fun, exciting, innovative and, at points, genuinely moving,” wrestles with the “celebratory narrative in which the Framers are men to admire without reservation. Through its casting, it invites audiences of color to take ownership of that narrative, as if they should want to take ownership of a narrative that white-washes the history of the revolution under the guise of inclusion.”

It’s complicated for Matt, too: “It’s widely agreed upon that the show encapsulates the Obama era better than anything, how it coddles white liberals with a post-racial vision of history in a superficial sense, overlooking the insidious and oppressive systems that they benefit from (hearing the audience clap to ‘Immigrants, we get the job done’ unsettled me). Of course hopefully its legacy will be that it opened up more Broadway roles for POC. But I really think that the show doesn’t make Broadway more appealing and accessible to POC, it just makes hip hop more accessible to white people, a launching pad of course to listening to Watsky or something.

“No hate though to anyone that’s completely in love with this, it’s definitely worth seeing despite any hang ups.”

I wanna build something that’s gonna outlive me.

The story doesn’t end, just because the music does. Kai_Kenn has a suggestion: “I have been a part of discussions that dissect the culture that created Hamilton, as well as the culture that Hamilton created, and whether or not Hamilton appropriately addresses the modern issues [that] the cult following proposes it does.

“This is an ongoing discussion that I am trying to be an active listener in and, if you consider yourself to be a conscientious consumer of art, you should too.”

Noah is on board with that: “Reflecting on the past and focusing on the future are not two mutually exclusive actions. Both are a must, regardless of who you are or what you do. A five-star experience in a four-and-a-half-star film. I think that’s just fine.”

Related content

Want to see more of the key cast? Watch Daveed Diggs in ‘Blindspotting’; Renée Elise Goldsberry in ‘Waves’, Jonathan Groff repeat his role as Kristoff in ‘Frozen 2’, Lin-Manuel Miranda in ‘Mary Poppins Returns’, Leslie Odom Jr. in ‘Harriet’, Phillipa Soo in the forthcoming ‘Broken Hearts Gallery’, Christopher Jackson in the forthcoming ‘In The Heights’, Jasmine Cephas Jones in ‘The Photograph’, Okiereriete Onaodowan in ‘A Quiet Place II’ and Anthony Ramos in ‘Monsters and Men’ and ‘A Star is Born’.

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