#also the cinematography is gorgeous and the music is on point

[theleakypen]

Peaky Blinders and Black Sails have such similar vibes istg

all these horrible, desperate people beating their fists against the cage of history

[xxgothchatonxx]

So, I watched Joker: Folie a Deux, and i enjoyed it... but, oh boy, is this gonna be divisive...

The cinematography was still great, Hildur's score was hauntingly gorgeous, and the musical element plays into the theme of fantasy vs. reality.

This film gets meta as fuck because I'm pretty sure I heard every single "yikes, you missed the point" argument for and against the 2019 film said in this sequel. Yes, the fans who clearly didn't get that Arthur descending violent madness was a BAD THING... and the critics who clearly didn't get that Arthur was a damaged, abused victim and just saw a violent maniac. And judging by the "haha, fans are gonna hate this film, stupid incels!1!1!" reaction from the same critics who hated the first film... looks like they still don't fucking get it! Because the film "hates" them too! Does Todd Phillips have to literally pause the film and explain the plot a la Hitchcock- actually no, they still wouldn't get it.

Also the bit about court trials and the media not giving a shit about the actual people (ESPECIALLY the victims - that whole bit with Sophie made me go "wow, Harvey, you're a piece of shit") and just wanting sensationalism? Totally not relevant now(!)

Soooo... yep, depressing, kind of a chaotic mess, but I thought it was a pretty solid film. And a fascinating and hilarious meta analysis that's basically a PSA for media literacy.

[yukipri]

So, I binged The Acolyte last night.

I had a mental block and couldn't get myself to start while it was coming out, and I also haven't touched any High Republic era media before which made me hesitant. But the spoilers/gifs/fanart etc I saw convinced me I should give it a try.

I'm not a huge fan of binging, I like sitting and thinking with each episode, so I expected to just watch an episode or two, give it a day or so, then continue if I liked it.

But, to my great surprise, once I started, I couldn't really stop (aaand stayed up till 7 AM, oops).

I think it had several things going for it:

-The acting was genuinely phenomenal. I feel like I would have felt completely differently about the show if different actors had been involved, and i mean that more strongly than I usually do. Their delivery in certain moments really sold me.

-It's not your usual Star Wars genre. I'd consider it mystery/suspense with a touch of horror, and it really does come together. Some of the characters are experience a more stereotypical Star Wars action/adventure story, but are jerked out of their genre at certain moments. It's pretty neat, and makes the twists fun and interesting (even if you were completely spoiled beforehand, like me lol)

-The costumes were gorgeous and unique.

-Some truly gorgeous cinematography, shots that have beautiful composition and lighting.

-It was rich in lore and references, some from Legends that I caught, many from the High Republic that I didn't catch but appreciated nonetheless. It felt deeply connected to the SW Universe.

-While cynical, the writing says things that I've thought about but never really thought Star Wars would have the guts to say. The writing is also Tight, meaning that little moments of character interactions bring up things that will be necessary/helpful to the plot later, and I appreciated that. There felt like very little waste.

-There are genuinely no "good" or "bad" guys. Every character makes mistakes or has horrible qualities, yet also positive ones. We see and understand motives, even if we don't agree with them, and see the fallout of those actions. This made almost everyone compelling. The narrative and writing gives the audience space to think.

Things that I wasn't as much a fan of:

-I felt like most of the sets felt kind of generic and Earth-like, especially in comparison to the rich costumes and alien characters.

-There are some fantastic fight scenes and emotional scenes, where the acting and cinematography was fantastic, but I wish the music had been a bit more memorable. I can't really recall any of it, and I feel like there were scenes that could have been truly iconic had the music resounded more with me.

Now, some more specific thoughts, SPOILERS below:

On Sol:

Sol is a character who, I believe in most cases, I would have absolutely despised. But holy shit, Lee Jung-jae. I am not exaggerating when I say that his performance is perhaps one of the best, if not THE best performances I've ever seen in live action Star Wars. He played this character so tenderly, so genuinely.

Despite being misguided, having made terrible decisions, and making mistakes that even he acknowledges, Sol himself always truly thought he was doing what was right, and loved Osha with his whole being even at the end, and it Shows. The way he looks at Osha was so sincere.

This is why I can't get myself to hate Sol as a character. It makes me feel so conflicted, like how can a guy with so much love and genuine desire to help and do good go so wrong? And that, I think, is one of the major points of the show, and Lee Jung-jae absolutely sells it. What a phenomenal actor. You could genuinely watch this show for him alone.

On Osha/Mae:

When the first info/promos for Acolyte came out and Amandla Stenberg was announced as the main character, I admit I was a bit confused. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't that I thought she couldn't act, but it's just that her face is so kind. She looks so warm (and gosh, she's so beautiful), but it made me go hmm, she looks like a Good Guy Protag, a Hero, so I was a bit confused as to how she was going to lead "the Acolyte," which from the title, I assumed she'd be Dark Side. Even with the early promo scenes of Mae fighting Indara, I wasn't really sold on her being "Dark."

And it turns out, that was exactly the point of the casting.

Amandla was perfect, and was brilliant at portraying two characters who not only have different and distinct personalities, but also both shift and change throughout the show. Mae never came off as "Dark" to me, because she isn't. Osha's not necessarily Light OR Dark, but she's independent. They are balanced, yet cycling, reminiscent of that little palm-to-palm circling ritual that the girls do. Amandla's portrayal of them was poetry, and made me so very invested in them.

I think if there's one thing I really wish the show had included more of, it's both Osha and Mae's pasts between their tragic separation and their reunion in the present. What was Osha's Padawan-ship actually like? I feel like the exact reason for the timing of her leaving the Order was ambiguous, and I wanted to know more. And was Mae with "the Master" the entire time?

I truly wish Osha could have heard the full story from Sol, because of his many crimes, ironically, killing her mother really was a genuine accident. There are things I wish he could have apologized to her for, or that she could have understood about him, such as how that night at the coven was largely driven by how Sol felt connected to her. This is one part where, while I get how the writers went this way, I do wish I could have felt more closure to their relationship.

I found it so tragic that Qimir erased Mae's memories and they had to be separated so soon after finally understanding each other. I really hope that if there's a season 2, they can be reunited.

On Qimir:

Preface by saying I was spoiled regarding his identity long before I started, by all those thirsty posts/tweets. And man, I GET IT.

But thirst magnet aside, I found him a genuinely fascinating character. For one thing, he's kind of an ironic character to *be* a Darksider. He seems so chill and laid-back, is honorable (or at least keeps his word), and despite his words about using emotions to harness energy, we don't really see him passionately mad/anything really. In contrast, the Jedi we see around him are furious, scared, sad. It's interesting that he almost seems more calm, but not necessarily because he's trying: he just doesn't care.

Manny Jacinto's portrayal of the character made him so damn Likable. Which, is pretty hard to reconcile with the fact that I genuinely liked Jecki and Yord, but a lot of his lines make me just go, y'know he's got a point. Like the whole, "She was a child," "You brought her here." Like yeah. Honestly, fair. His little quips, the delivery, the I'm-just-a-chill-dude attitude, actually keeps his word, and on the flip side, undeniable ruthless skill and viciousness that took down a whole team of Jedi single-handedly. It's a very BRRRRRR combo.

In general, I don't really get too attached to "Dark Side" characters, and don't really have a favorite Sith. Or at least, I didn't, but I think Qimir (or whatever his actually name is) might claim that spot now. Truly peak character, I truly hope we get to see more with him.

And this is kind of an aside, but can I just say, it felt unreal to have entire fight sequences focussing on just two Asian actors, with the other protagonist we see a black girl, for huge chunks of the show? No white people except comparatively brief side characters? In a Star Wars show?!?? All of them unique and well fleshed out and phenomenally written and acted?? None of it felt like "forced diversity," it's all so natural, that when I step back and thought about it in these terms it just...again, feels unreal. I'm so grateful for these characters, and hope we get more like them.

On Jecki and Yord:

Honestly given what I saw about Yord before hand, I was expecting him to be far more annoying than he was. Sure, he was a little stiff, but he felt like a young Jedi Knight who was trying to prove himself and do his best, and I think he very clearly did care for Osha.

Jecki, gosh I loved her. She felt very similar to Ahsoka, if a bit more by the book. She was very wise for her youth. I loved the budding friendship between her and Osha, how they helped each other and weren't jealous.

The thing about both of these characters, which I think the writers did so well, is that they felt like protagonists. In another story, they would have been the main characters, the heroes. Both of them were so young, so early in their training/careers. They could have become Obi-Wans, Ahsokas. Jecki especially was bursting with so much potential.

But alas, this was not that story. It makes it that much shocking when their lives are cut so abruptly short. We were given time to get to know these characters, to care for them, and then without much fanfare, boom. Gone.

On one hand, I sorta Hate That. On the other, I deeply respect the writers for going there, because I think it did have an Impact on the story and show.

On the Witches/Mother Aniseya:

Admittedly I was a little ehhhhh on some of the world-building regarding the witches, just the use of the words "witch" and "coven" and some of the chanting with gasping cackling women etc felt a bit caricature. I do get that they wanted us to have a vibe for this group and to get one with limited screentime, and sometimes stereotypes are the way to do that. I didn't love it, but also didn't mind it too much.

I actually really loved Mother Aniseya. For one thing, the actress is Gorgeous, her costume stunning, and she really sold the whole otherworldly ethereal immortal goddess vibe well, in a way that still felt Star Wars. For the other, I liked how she was the soft, empathetic one, it kinda contrasted with expectation of her position.

I also loved Mother Koril, and how again, she was designed as a character foil to Mother Aniseya. I love how we didn't see too much of them, but could still see that they were partners who loved and respected each other (I hesitate to say "wives," because I feel like their society may not exactly have the same concept of marriage, but partners was undeniable). I think it was a neat Oh moment when they stated that Mother Koril is the one who carried the twins. Love them.

I know I'll have more thoughts, but yeah, to sum it up, I enjoyed Acolyte a ton more than I thought i would, and am so glad I gave it a chance.

Other things:

-Mentioned earlier that I love "little moments of character interactions bring up things that will be necessary/helpful to the plot later." Some actual examples of this: When we see Sol noticing Osha's tattoo and Osha saying he must hate it, which in the moment, shows the kind of guardian-student relationship they have, and how little seems to have changed for them in the time they've been a part. Later, it's shown to clearly identify Osha after Mae steals her clothes. Another is the rolly polly moth things, which at first seem just like a way to show This Forest Dangerous, but then are a plot point to temporarily escape from Qimir, and later on, to show Vernestra's connection to the Force (and also her light whip). Stuff like that, I really like.

-I so appreciated Qimir's Cortosis helmet. For one thing, it's neat that it's not just cool-looking or a disguise, but actually is Force-blocking. I think an official SW account factoid said that this is also how beskar works, though beskar is stronger. The two effects this has: when the user is wearing it, they're forced to confront what's inside of them. The other, is that it hides the wearer's identity from Force users who would otherwise recognize them. The latter is my personal headcanon for beskar helmets, so it's very gratifying to see it in canon! The former has some interesting implications for Force-users who wear beskar.

-The cynical view of the Jedi Order as an Institution, and all the politics, corruption, and obscuring of dirt that that entails. Admittedly this may be because of my own increasingly cynical perspective on the Order, but it felt honest and I agreed with most of it. The fact that individuals are trying their best to do "good" does not negate the fact that they are pretty much acting as Space Cops. This line by Senator Rayencourt felt especially raw:

"I think the Jedi are a massive system of unchecked power, posing as a religion, a delusional cult that claims to claim the uncontrollable. [] Your emotions."

Framed as a religion having unchecked power—that feels uncomfortably realistic! And also zeroing in on how for all their power, the Jedi are still people, and just as fallible (and therefore, must necessarily be held just as accountable).

Also:

I can see how this portrayal of the Jedi may make some folks uncomfortable, especially if you love the Jedi, but I long hold that the Jedi as an organization are deeply flawed. It's part of why I personally like the "fall of the Republic" era; both the Galactic Republic and Jedi Order have deep, fatal flaws, and this is an era where that all comes to a head—one where they must fall, or fix themselves.

So in conclusion, my favorite parts: the characters, and the moral grayness of almost everyone. Many stories may claim there's no good/evil dichotomy, but few ever truly show it, but this one did.

I'm not sure yet if I want to "fandom" over this or if I'm pretty satisfied with having just watched it, but it was definitely worth the watch and I'm glad I gave it a try!

~~

~~

I also kept a lil document of live reaction notes as I was watching, which I'll copy below:

Episode 1

UEDA?? The planet is just, UEDA?? A pretty common Japanese surname?? That's like. Naming a planet Johnson or somethin...

Loving the costumes 'n set

Oh wait I recognize this scene, it's the one they played as a preview at the AMC Star Wars marathon

Idk how to feel about the Space Generic T-Shirt

Ooh Neimoidians (thank you for no horrendously exaggerated Evil Japanese Accent TM), and interesting Jedi ship shape

Oh interesting interesting they intentionally paralleling TPM eh

Hrmn not a positive first impression of Master Vernestra, her lines are so mechanical

Very cool pilot chair droids and tentacle alien

Osha says practice vehicle safety and wear seatbelts and protect your head!

Oh Osha has Trauma I see. Girl ain't getting good sleep

Oh wow Sol Loves Osha, oh no is this going to lead to Padawan Jealousy Trauma between Osha and Jecki. How much are we heavily paralleling TPM here

Kill the dream eh?

Episode 2

Oh there are multiple Jedi temples, that's nice

Jedi Temple using same security system as Jabba is...uh

Mae tips, good for her

Master Torbin just sittin' there, lookin like some random youtuber. why tabi socks

Man I dig Mae's patchwork cloak with massive princess hood.

It's pronounced KAI-meer??? My Chinese ass thought it was Chee-mir

Barash Vow

Ohhh so Mae doesn't know that Qimir...? (was spoiled)

Episode 3

ooh i like the fairy clione things

Ohhh village all women??

Mother Aniseya is stunning

Oh she and Koril blatantly lesbian, fantastic

Oh gosh the Jedi are NOT looking good here. They don't have the right to train children?? WTF

You must let the children take the test?? And if they pass the Jedi will take them away??? That does NOT sound very consensual!!

Oh gosh, selling "you are special" to a child, after separating her from her community...

Really feel like "how does taking a child away affect their community" should be factored into jedi stuff

Mae that is...sudden and violent wtf

Kinda not trusting Sol here

Episode 4

Wow Kelnacca looks...mentally stable

Ohhh Qimir's ship? Looks suspiciously Kylo Ren-ish

Qimir really suspicious eh

Oh wow not using the Force or anything, just using a sniffy guy

They're really doing a Fellowship of the Ring walk huh

Look I absolutely adore Mae's long gorgeous cloak but that is going to drag half the forest floor with her

Not liking those tree bulbs. looks spider eggy

Osha don't Touch the Thing, that's such a Pippin move

oh no, not spider eggs...rolly polly moth vampire thing

Really enjoying Osha and Jecki's friendship, I'm so glad it's not former Padawan jealousy

Oh, Mae, oh no....knowing spoilers...oh...

The red lightsaber igniting next to Osha's head...dang what fantastic composition

The lil hand twitch and head snap. I Get It.

I remember when "Darth Teeth" was trending

And wow that's a Cliffhanger

Episode 5

Oh no Osha knocked out that doesn't bode well

How many against one is that damn

The double spear through then hidden head lop...wow

holy shit booma-saber

Oooooh the cut treeeeees damn

all that death before even the opening title

Honestly GO JECKI, that's very impressive, her win against Mae AND double saber against Darth Teeth, Anakin level spinning and drama

Holy shit Jecki's death was brutal...

She was a child - You brought her here - FAIR

Why risk discovery - I did wear a mask LMAO

Damn did he just casually break Mae's leg

I don't make the rules - the Jedi do

The Jedi say I can't exist...wow

Holy shit Yord's death

Damn full on brawl

I've accepted my darkness, what have you done with yours

Damn really yeeted Qimir from the fight by sticking a light on his back

Pip tho ;_; killin droids feels like killin pets...

They've turned you against me - really Anakin quotin

Wow Sol, not even going to see Jecki????

And wtf how can Sol not tell that Mae's switched them??? Has fandom been grossly misunderstanding how the Jedi use the Force....how the fuck can any Jedi tell apart any clones eh...

While not exactly subtle, I appreciate how lil details in character interactions have had pay offs. Like the tree bugs and Osha's tattoo being a way to identify her

Episode 6

He really just makin a hot pot

his lair kinda looks like sequels Luke's island

Not sure how I feel about the elephant rock bird things

Honestly glad we get to see Sol upset and affected by everyone's deaths. Might explain part of why he can't tell apart the twins?

Oh he's really wearing hakama hakama

Wow Qimir really just getting in buck naked eh. Is this the scene that Manny froze his balls off for

His line about it being fine in a fight but vengeance a few hours later

Oh he brought a change of clothes

Damn the Jedi are taught "it fades"???

Aww Osha, u aren't tempted by the soup??

Oh wow we revisiting bodies, that feels...u usual for SW. Oh there's a Kel Dor... (why are there no flies buzzing yet. or are there no flies yet)

Mae wakes up so peacefully compared to Osha

Oooh sensory deprivation mask, all dark, nothing but breathing, evocative of Darth Vader even if breathing is not similar

Episode 7

Vergence....iiiiinteresting

Sol, stalking lil kids is creepy af

Oh my god you're just gonna break in???

See - You cannot deny the Jedi have a right to test potential Padawans - Why the fuck not???? You don't have the right to stalk, spy on, break into random people's homes, and talk directly to their children without permission from guardians??

Guh Sol....

Interrogation after isolation from guardians....

Oh, the Jedi Council is right for once??

Do not alter this little girl's destiny because you have formed an emotional attachment to her

Gosh I thought Indara was the most innocent in this buuuuut

Episode 8

I'm surprised they never added Darth Teeth's mask to the front credits

"See you in hell" Oh I know Han mentioned Hell like once but I thought they were avoiding mentioning it in newer media

Holy shit Rayencourt: I think the Jedi are a massive system of unchecked power, posing as a religion, a delusional cult that claims to claim the uncontrollable. - Kinda uncomfortably real!!

-We don't control the Force - no, your emotions - OOF

I didn't realize till this ep how the cool Brendok eclipse got that line, it's the comet ring. super neat

oof Mae climbing out of the scene of Trauma...

Oh that is some Wu Xia shit

"I will destroy you if i must" really??

Nice dagger saber

Okay Sol that is Cool

oh gosh, the plot-relevant inversion of clothes resulting in it reflecting how they swapped light/dark is SO cool

very yin yang fighting

Damn it keeps coming down to the unarmed opponent thing

Damn, Mae going the justice route

Damn, just Damn

Gosh the thing about Sol is that he is SO well acted, so sincere in his love and devotion, it's hard to hate him

I'm glad the helmets block the Force identity like that tho, fits headcanon

Glad Basil continues to shine

Oh no. Vernestra...I thought you were doing the right thing revealing the truth, but instead you're continuing the cycle of covering up crimes

Oh...use Mae to find Vernestra's former Padawan...that's a cycle alright

And ends with Yoda okay

[phenixy-dunnhart]

WARNING ! SPOILERS for TLOVM season 3 and Campaign 1

I'm a bit sad with all the negativity in the tlovm tags following this new batch of episodes. Because all the usual appreciation and fun details pointing is drown in it. So I'll do my part and draw some light and appreciation for the following things:

"Allura can't teleport us 'cause we mind wind up in the ocean" Nice nod

The beauty of Glintshore sand? crystals ? I mean, I know the entire island isn't covered in it, but it's there and it's gorgeous

Vax and Grog banter, Pike and Vax friendship when she stole his badass line. Who says that the friendships in tlovm are not showed ? It's smaller because they're running out of time but if you keep both eyes open, you can catch the small moments.

How good was the delirium gas ?

Percy having bad Ripley PTSD ?Check.

Orthax forcing the (gas) mask on Percy's face ? Oh f*ck me that was so good.

Elaina's first appearence and Vex's heart torment ? Check

Vex fighting the gas messing with her mind and seeing Percy getting kidnapped ? Great

Her seeing Percy devoured by some hellish pain ? Awesome foreshadowing for Orthax feeding on Percy's soul

I won't dwell too much on ep 7 because I'm Perc'ahlia trash and this was pure gold but ALL their scenes.

And these two shots:

They're the last thing they think about before passing out. And look at them, they're looking at each other. Great parallels, great cinematography

You want more parallels ? You're not in enough pain ? I've got more ! How about this ?:

Percy cradling Vex because he doesn't want to lose her.

Vex cradling Percy because she lost him

MY HEART !!!!!!

Anyways back to our regular program: The color scheme in the factory is on point. Predominance of green during all Ripley's discussion with percy, some blasts of orange for Orthax.

This shot when they want to make us think Percy will go dark but also because he sincerly understand. He sees with her (green) eyes

Culminating in theses shots:

In the end, the true Percy is good (he's blue which is both his color and Vex's)

Then we got some nice Pike and Kiki character development with the delirium gas

Percy's fight with Ripley is pure display of his capacities and wits, not unlike Vex's fight against Saundor or Grog's fight against Kevdak. The fights with nemesis are always awesome, well choreographed and both characters and animators flexing.

And I like Grog's delirium both beacause it brings a bit of comic relief in this big painful episode but that's not all there is. Because when he gets out of it, he asks Pike if he hurt her again and you can't convince me that he didn't saw Craven Edge and the pain he inflicted Pike in his PTSD (not showed but we know)

Onto episode 8, love the Stilben flashback and the dead mystic cult leader being Taliesin.

The funeral was powerful and beautiful. The highlights being Cassandra crying her last family member and Vex'ahlia not saying the prayer despite being one of the Dawnfather.

Scanlan putting Kaylie's song music sheet on the altar for Percy breaks my heart. For him, he lost both of them and also he traded the life of his friend for moments with Kaylie (which he didn't even had, that's so sad)

Vox Machina assembling all of their allies with the beautiful OST was awesome while conserving this... heaviness. We're still grieving (at least I'm still am)

Vex and Syldor whole convesrsation. Laura Bailey, the talented woman you are and Troy Baker did a great job at humanizing him. though he's still a prick.

Vaxleth and Pikelan scenes were cute

We've got LARKIN mentioned and by Vax nonetheless !

Earthbreaker Groon and Grog doing the slapping hands/muscles flexing meme !

How brutal Thordak's attacks are in ep 8 and 9, all the people dying to rise up the stakes worked really well in my opinion.

Travis smarts piercing through Grog's 6 INT just like in the campaign

Earthbreaker Groon being a BAMF with that suplex

The teamwork going strong during all the fight

Zahra and Kash coming in to save the day. I love them your honor

My jaw dropped at Kashaw's badass magical attack. THAT WAS AWESOME and dropped further at his death. I couldn't believe it at first and as bold as a choice it was, I really liked it. Because it's a thing to kill NPC nameless army guys but killing a beloved character: that take some balls . And because of the unpredictability, the shock hit. I'm always here for the drama and it was beautifully done (the visuals for the Raven Queen and her powers are always as gorgeous as ominous).

Mary Elizabeth McGlynn also showing off her VA talent

In the end, every VM members getting his moment of glory :

Vex with getting the Syngorn army while being at her lowest/rock bottom ("The truth is the only bargaining chip at rock bottom", really nice parallels with the Stillben flashback + her using Percy's philosophy)

Grog destroying the lair

Scanlan getting them out of there at the peril at his life and ending up in a coma (nice subversion so there are not two dead party members followed up by two ressurections)

Keyleth being her badass elemental self (with her two gorgeous muscial leitmotives "blinded by the light" + "passing through the fire")

Pike being able to absorb Thordak -not red but- blue fire/laser which we saw went through Emon like butter. That's one MONSTAH move with beautiful beautiful colors (red yellow and blue mixing) look at this shot:

And Vax having the last kill, thinking of his mother doing this for Emon sure but most important for his mom, Vex and himself and what a beautiful shot and power move with the twisting golden and black torpedo that he is.

A great powerful death for a great powerful foe

And then some sorrow and sweetness. The Vaxleth back hug was adorable.

And that last shot of Keyleth after the confrontation with Raishan makes me long for more and to already be next week.

And that's some positivity and appreciation of CR work because they pour their heart and soul into these series and these characters and it's beautiful and I see it. I hope I could put some light on it at my small scale.

Have a great day and let's wait impatiently for next week and end of season 3

[oddygaul]

Arcane, S2

I feel the same way about Arcane’s second season as I did about its first: absolutely gorgeous, groundbreaking animation and art, hand-in-hand with incredibly uneven pacing & character writing. But I want to be absolutely clear, here, because sometimes I think I tend to emphasize the negative: Arcane is so consistently and gobsmackingly visually stunning that it’s a treat to watch, no matter my misgivings about its other aspects.

Seriously, it’s still hard for me to fathom that this show looks this good, and is this consistent. To produce 8 feature films worth of animation, and look better than nearly every feature film, is a staggering feat. Given that Arcane S1 dropped in 2021, it’d be easy to peg it as another work inspired by 2018’s breakout Into the Spider-Verse – it certainly shares a lot of visual similarities with that style. But while it’s definitely a part of this movement, and has similar aesthetic goals to the Spider-verse films or Alberto Mielgo’s work, Fortiche has been honing in on this style for nearly a decade.

2013’s Get Jinxed already features Fortiche’s trademark heavy 2D effects animation, as well as matte painted environments; the biggest difference is that the models are rendered in a more traditional 3D style, with more realistic soft lighting and less stylized texturing. Their Rocket & Groot shows experimentation with a more saturated palette and flat lighting, while 2018’s Pop/Stars short applies those same efforts to character models more in line with their current style. The music video for Rise, released later that year, stylistically, might as well be from Arcane: the 2D FX take center stage, the cinematography employs a much more dramatic approach, and the compositing work that manages to corral Fortiche’s 3D models, flat environment painting, modeled backgrounds, and effects into one cohesive look has reached its apex. Right on time for production of Arcane to get fully underway!

Anyway, I just think it’s neat that the two titans of this emerging school of 3D animation seem to be a case of convergent evolution, rather than chasing each other's success.

Is there any point to enumerating why Arcane's visuals are so amazing? I can give it a shot, I guess.

All of the models are great, and the flat textures + lighting trick is still unmatched. The layouts are incredibly clean – even in the midst of the thickest action, what’s going on is never unclear. The background work is drop-dead gorgeous, whether it’s the frequent, lavish matte paintings or the 3D environments with some of the best damn compositing I’ve ever seen. The action animation is kinetic as hell, with energetic, exaggerated keyframes and creative choreography; these are further bolstered by Fortiche’s stellar 2D effects work, which is omnipresent and adds a fluid, organic touch to the aesthetic. The impressive action sequences are not done at the expense of the rest of the show, though, as even the most staid dialogue scenes are filled with interesting camerawork and emotive character acting. And as if nailing their own incredible house style wasn’t enough, in S2 the team has decided to take on a whole litany of alternate styles and techniques, from charcoal and watercolor montages, to the duplication realspace glitching of anomaly-afflicted hextech, to the wild galactic vistas and monolithic demon fortresses of Viktor’s subconscious.

This season also really makes me appreciate how much leeway Fortiche was given with the character designs. Viktor, for example, is almost early-2000s-comic-adaptation level different from his source material, but he now fits into the world more seamlessly, both visually and narratively, than the half-baked cyborg mad scientist ever did. Outside of Vander, whose transformation into a pseudo-Warwick feels incredibly forced, all the character designs feel more cohesive and mature than they ever did in the game. Plus, it’s wild to see women from League of Legends that actually have distinct, recognizable faces. Turns out all Riot needed to do to get rid of sameface once and for all was produce a multimillion dollar animated series.

even the background characters are cool as hell! look at this smoldering bat man!

it's unconscionable how hot they made Viktor this season btw. I think it's all the emotional availability that really does it for me

As for the rest, well… as before, it’s a mixed bag. The characterization is better than it was in the back half of season one, at least, in that each character’s motivations don’t wildly vacillate from scene to scene. The dialogue, while not particularly memorable outside of occasional quips like “bitchmittens”, is decent enough. The pacing and plotting in this season, though, holy shit… it’s absolutely lightning-fast, and rarely does any narrative development feel like it’s given the time it needs to make sense.

Entire plotlines are wrapped up without much ado so that new ones can be started. After Jinx and Vi’s big confrontation in Act 1, they more or less make up over the course of an in-universe hour the very next time they run into each other. The pivot from Viktor as wizard Jesus to Viktor as world-ending villain is not sold well at all – this is the sort of shift that, in a typical story, would have an inciting incident or tragedy to prove to all involved parties that he must be taken seriously. Instead, Jayce holds one council meeting and tells the gathered citizens that he was attacked by a single robot; after hearing this, everyone collectively agrees the threat is so dire, they’ll need to forget Piltover and Zaun’s long-bubbling enmity and impending war, and band together. Arcane is simply trying to fit too many characters and too many arcs into too little time; characters like Singed and Vanderwick, in particular, feel like they were included as a reference to fans rather than to serve the narrative.

The wild thing is, despite such slapdash plotting, the big emotional beats almost always land. Even if there isn’t appropriate build-up, even if what’s going on doesn’t make much sense, the story’s most climactic moments are always girded by such strong animation, impactful cinematography, and vibey music that you feel what they wanted you to feel anyway. It’s funny; much has been said about the comical lack of subtlety in Arcane’s music sequences, and while these complaints are totally valid, the simple fact is that often Arcane is at its best when it drops the melodramatic dialogue scenes and just decides to be a music video for five minutes.

Somewhat gallingly, Fortiche also proves that they know exactly how to fix these storytelling issues, if only they had the time to do so: in Pretend Like It’s the First Time, the season’s stellar seventh episode, the pace is slowed way down, the scope is narrowed to just two points of view, and the characters and narrative are given much-needed room to breathe. This is what Arcane is missing, I think. The big moments always land, but it’s the small moments in between, the moments that let us take it easy and get to know the characters during their day-to-day lives, that Arcane could use more of.

Anyway, this show is a visual feast, and I appreciate the obsessive levels of care and craft put into it by the creators. As far as I’m concerned, League’s lore, concept art, and worldbuilding have always been more interesting than the game itself ever was, so it’s nice to see a project that’s finally leveraging those strengths.

[zecarnevilcat]

Thoughts after watching Joker folie à deux...

So I watched Joker sequel yesterday, and like many others I didn't like it... It left me with a bad taste in my mouth. The closest thing I could compare it to is when you stumble upon a really bad fanfiction where the author got the wrong interpretation of the themes and characters (and storytelling isn't that great). I had to repeatedly remind myself that I was (unfortunately) watching a canon story and not some bad fantasy from an edgy teenager with too much time on his hands.

(Important note : Speaking of fanfictions, watching that movie reminded me of all the wonderful stories I read, written by fans that did a far greater job at writing what Joker 2 could have been, so kudos to them)

As a disclaimer, I absolutely loved the first movie. I saw it 4 times at the cinema, something I've never done before in my entire life. It was raw but subtle. It was tragically beautiful. It was sad and depressing and revolting and inspiring all at once. It was perfect as a single story. It didn't need any elaboration or sequel. Todd Philips admitted they told everything they had to say in one movie... And I totally agreed. I really hoped they wouldn't make a sequel, that they wouldn’t fall for the cash grab. But then, Folie a Deux was announced... And it would be a musical comedy, on top of that. Of all possible movie genres, they had to choose my least favorite one... But hey, let's not judge before I see it. After all, it the same team with the same actors, writers, director, and musical composer. Even Joaquin returns, although he usually never does sequels... The first movie was already absolutely perfect in my opinion. Catching lightning in a bottle once is already extremely rare, so doing it twice is extremely unlikely. Unfortunately, Folie a Deux never matches the energy of the first Joker. It's messy, and it has nothing really new to tell. (Heavy spoilers under the cut)

I lack time and talent to elaborate properly but here's a list of thoughts I have after watching Joker 2

General observations :

The pacing of the movie is awful. First Joker had that powerful crescendo that led to Arthur's snapping and full transformation into Joker. I never sensed something as powerful and enthralling in the sequel.

The musical aspect was not such a big deal in the end, at least for me. Most of the time it happens in Arthur's head, as his fantasized interpretation of reality. It could have been done way better though, with a better choice of songs.

Music wise, I was also kinda disappointed. I love the OST, but I heard lots of reuses from the first movie and no new composition from Hildur Guðnadóttir ???

That movie loves to quote the first one. Parallels can be really interesting if done well. Unfortunately, here it felt like gratuitous, obnoxious fan service that goes nowhere.  

Cinematography was absolutely gorgeous, like the first movie, I loved it.

Acting was on point. I have nothing to complain about here. Joaquin is still at the top of his craft.

Regarding the plot:

WTF that animated short at the beginning was supposed to be? A foreshadowing of the ending? A recap of Joker? I mean, yeah, we get it, Joker gets all the fame and Arthur all the hate. Was it really necessary to spell it out? Also (personal opinion here) but the animation/style used was terrible. It's a poor imitation of old animated cartoons, done by someone who vaguely understands the vibe of Tex Avery's masterwork.

The love story feels forced and artificial. I get that Arthur is a "romantic at heart" and he never had any romantic relationship before, but it feels so rushed and artificial... The dynamic between him and Harley however was quite refreshing, compared to the usual story between these two.

The plot feels empty and bloated at the same time. There are lots of interesting ideas, but they are never fully developed (barely scraped at best). It’s infuriating really.

All the subtlety, mystery and ambiguity of the first movie is gone. Joker made you read between the lines, Folie à Deux painfully points everything out for the dumbass with a 3 seconds attention span

Something I really appreciated in Joker was the relative freedom it took from Batman’s lore. If you’re familiar with it, you can understand some things on a whole new level (i.e. when Arthur meets Bruce Wayne). But if you’re not, it doesn’t ruin the story. Again, subtlety. What bothers me most is that criticism some (obtuse) people had about this take on Joker: “He CaN’T Be ThE JokEr, He’D Be ToO OlD tO fIGhT BAtMAn” or “ThIS LOsEr Is ToO StUpID To BecOmE A CriME GeniUS”… Yeah, well guess what? I don’t care. The Joker has been interpretated in various ways since his first appearance: goofy murder clown, crime genius, agent of chaos, failed comedian… with a great variety of background stories and motivations. So, twisting the arm of the lore to get a original take on the character doesn’t bother me at all. That’s just the change in continuity. That’s a great part of why I hate the ending.

Arthur decides to finally do what seems right and suppress his Joker persona to face the consequences of his actions. Ok, that’s a bold move, but what leads to that decision??? Him being assaulted and then hearing his cellmate being choked to death? A re-enactment of one of his worst memories? The one that might have given birth to Joker? Sorry I fail to see the logic here. Be Joker=be punished, but be Arthur=be punished too???

The courtroom explosion. From that moment on, the movie goes completely off rails. We never see the riots or feel the tension outside the courtroom. And then it goes boom. And then Arthur conveniently goes back to the stairs, and conveniently find Harley standing there. Boy, what a convoluted way to bring him back to the stairs… Remember the stairs? Remember that iconic element in Joker? Remember how climbing up the stairs symbolizes the pain and suffering Arthur is enduring to stay on the right path? Remember him going down dancing and laughing in his flamboyant Joker outfit symbolizing his descent into madness? Yeah, well he’s back climbing up the stairs. “Aren’T wE SmArT?”

And then, Harley dumps him. Because she loved his Joker persona, not Arthur. Wow, never saw that coming. And then, he’s stabbed to death by a random guy. And he smashes his skull against the wall in the process, in case there was a little hope left in you. And then, you realize all of this was made to build that twist: Arthur wasn’t the Joker, it’s the psycho who stabbed him and who’s cutting open his own mouth to become Ledger’s Joker. Also, Harley may or may not be pregnant with Arthur’s son, but who cares. TUM DUM DUM. Everything is connected. The lore is preserved, everything’s back into place, welcome to the DC multiverse!

Which brings me to my final point. Todd Philips actually hates Arthur’s Fleck. Must admit he fooled me here. One of the main themes of Joker was love. Empathy. More of the lack-of actually. What consequences it brings to a poor soul struggling to stay on the right path. To be good. To be nice. “To bring happiness into the world” even if his own life is a shitshow where happiness is nowhere to be found. The lack of empathy is what gave birth to the Joker. Then the plot of the sequel was revealed: the story between Joker and Harley. Although I’m fully aware of the controversy regarding their relationship in the comics, I was really excited to discover their take on the subject with Arthur’s character. Again, love seemed to be a central theme in Folie à deux (with the wild hope it had something a little bit better in store for Arthur… Well, I couldn’t have been more wrong) Was it bad to root for Arthur? Apparently so. It seems you never should have felt any empathy for him in the first place. He’s pathetic, and he’ll never be anything more than that. The script takes a sadistic pleasure in humiliating him every time it gets the chance. It was already the case in Joker, but Arthur dealt with it by letting his Joker persona out. In Folie à deux, Arthur takes the bravest decision ever by metaphorically killing the Joker and facing the consequences of his actions. Even if he knows he’s f*cked for doing so. And what does he get for that? Nothing. The guy murdered 6 people. He’s a killer. He deserves to die. We don’t care about the rest. He’s meaningless. What. The. F. Be Joker=get f*, be Arthur=well, get f* harder! What are we supposed to get out of this?! It's actually impressive how Folie à deux throws out the window all the nuance and subtlety it established so masterfully in Joker. You made us sympathize with this guy even though we knew he was going a slippery slope. You made people question their morality. That’s no small feat. And now you go completely backwards. What a waste. Folie a deux could have been so much better, and that’s what you chose to do. What a waste indeed.

[heyitschartic]

If you're going to see a movie this weekend, you have to see Cuckoo before it's gone from theatre's.

I'm the dying breed of person who goes to see movies in theaters if they have an actress I like in them, so when I saw this was Hunter Schafers movie, of course I had to see it. I expected mediocre horror, but this was really damn good. Hunter is acting her ass off in this and playing off a cast of so many freaks and fun weirdos. Even the child actress did an amazing job.

The cinematography is also just gorgeous. My god, it's been so long since it's felt like a movie I've seen in theatres has had focused and purposeful lighting choices. Everything is just really well shot and well done in a world where that feels less and less the norm. The way some of the colors would just pop out of the screen was fantastic, especially since those moments felt chosen carefully. Sound mixing was also fantastic with a lot of purposeful and well integrated musical backings. Some of those background songs were so good I might be listening to them when I just drive around.

Now for the movie itself, this feels like something straight out of the 70s, with even some of the film grain still on it. The entire movie is just this building crescendo of dread that wraps up in a flourish at the end. And god, that ending scene is absolutely killer and super engaging all the way through, though that isn't to say the movie drags elsewhere. I was locked in throughout pretty much the whole thing, if not by the horror, then the weirdos and fun byplay and jokes. This film integrates horror and comedy really well to hit you with some more human moments when it needs to. There's really only one moment that felt jump scare-y but the rest just were so perfectly executed that I forgive it. Pretty silly, and a little dumb, but it's got style for days and a knock out punch of horror.

So yeah, if you're thinking about a movie definitely check this out. It was great seeing in theatres and I'd highly recommend.

Also, at one point there's a postcard from Minnesota and I literally pointed to the screen, turned to my friend, and pogged.

[no-where-new-hero]

✣ Blake Wrapped: KDrama Edition 📹

Almost exactly a year ago, I watched Goblin for the first time and loved it, as I knew I would (I am so very much the target audience for that show it’s not even funny). And when I started retagging the gifs and stuff I had reposted from that time, I saw that I tagged something with “I’m not in a kdrama phase per se, but…” Reader, I lied. The kdrama phase was just waiting dormant for its moment to overtake my life. Here’s my rough ranking of what I saw this year.

#1: Coffee Prince (2007)

It’s a little dated, but it also has worn tremendously well considering its contemporaries, and the bones are flawless: great writing with well-rounded characters, a gorgeously evocative soundtrack, a lovable cast. It has recognizable tropes (rich boy/poor girl, second leads, deceptions, etc) but never feels cliche. Also, it’s incredibly queer. Yes, the endgame of the main pair is happily heterosexual but the male lead works through a gay awakening and the female lead is basically non-binary. Even the second couple challenge gender roles in a refreshing way. I’ve only seen it twice because of platform difficulties, but it has compelling rewatch value.

#1’ : Goblin/Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (2016)

This show is a masterpiece. It has its weak moments here and there (one dreepy song in the OST, the female leads could be fleshed out more, some of the mythology is spit and string), but it’s such a stunning production in the whole that you don’t really get stuck on that. The cinematography is some of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen in any piece of film ever, the instrumental music is unmatched, it engages with deep themes, and the interpersonal dynamics are gorgeous (I love the three-of-us-in-this-marriage feel among the mains). It’s also incredibly moving, especially in parts that you don’t expect. I’ve seen this five times and I’m still not bored of it.

#1.5: Tale of the Nine Tailed (2020)

Considering how much I’ve yelled about this, you’d think it would be higher, and I think my overall complaint about it is that, on a craft level, it’s telling two stories: the overt story is an immortal romance, but the underneath story is about family and redemption, and that’s the story that’s the compelling one. Unfortunately, unlike the first two I listed, the theme and plot don’t always cohere as well as they could. That being said, the characters are top-notch, the cinematography and effects are great, and the atmosphere always feels just a little bit off to be properly otherworldly. It gave me my OTP and set off an obsession. I need to rewatch it and suffer all over again.

#2: Hidden Identity (2015)

Of course, this drama is flawed, as viewers always seem to like pointing out, but I also did watch all sixteen episodes in less than 48 hours during a school week, which tells you something about its gripping pacing and structure. The episodes are, well, episodic, but the cliffhangers are fantastic, the various threads build well to the final boss, and It was also just a really well-produced show? The cinematography and fight choreography were masterfully executed, the cast really made the most of their roles, and the theme music was addictive. I was also, of course, watching it for the Plot (Kim Beom).

#2.5: Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938 (2023)

It’s hard for me to evaluate this objectively because so much of it was fan-service, but since I was the fan being serviced, how could I not like it? It lacked the chic sexiness of the first season, but it was full of sincerity and incredible characters making heart-breaking and meaningful connections with each other—the writing improved, thank goodness—and the mix of fantasy, historical drama, and western made for a really fun setting. I enjoyed the shortened structure of having only 12 episodes instead of the standard 16 since it seemed to hold the pacing to a tighter rhythm.

#3: Special Labor Inspector Mr. Jo (2019)

Would I rewatch this? Probably not. Did I enjoy the heck out of it the first time? Absolutely. It’s a sharp, smart satire whose virtue lies in its breezy ability to entertain as a tall tale while keeping the themes and social commentary incredibly grounded. It’s amazing how a show with such cynicism could also be such fun. The cast was excellent and the plot deliberately uses familiar tropes of rich families, hired gangs, and love struggles to push through its message: Power destroys. Heroism is kindness. Sometimes all you need is one very angry and very tired gym teacher turned bureaucrat to make life better.

#4: Boys Over Flowers (2008)

This should not be as high as it is, but there were moments I still haven’t stopped thinking about and want to see again, which means it must have had something going on, even though I’m not sure what it was. I could never tell whether it was being ridiculous and outlandish on purpose or the show runners really thought they were making serious television. Exactly two songs in the soundtrack were good, and you also had that theme song as proper paratextual warning, and the outfits were what conservative people probably thing Queer Eye is. I do see why people like it. It’s just the kind of liking you have to do while mildly intoxicated.

#5: That Winter, the Wind Blows (2013)

This one was melodramatic to the hilt, but somehow weirdly compelling, both through the elaborate ruse that sets up the plot and through the outrageous beauty of the two leads. This is the kind of overdramatic and indulgent nonsense you sometimes want in fiction, especially when its gorgeous to look at. The male lead goes around in suspenders and nice pants looking like a 1930s gangster. His sidekick’s hair and outfit anticipates David Tennant’s Crowley by six years. The female lead’s disability was pretty sensitively portrayed. Sometimes that’s all you can ask for.

Bonus (movies): You all know my thoughts about Flight. Also going to mention Hellcats, which was absurd but also deserves full points for having a main character come out as gay for her best friend).

[gusucloud]

I’m finally all caught up with 18 eps of In Blossom and maaaan, this drama is sooo good !!! I recommend it to everyone !! It has everything : great GREAT casting, awesome secondary characters, relationships, plot, pace, gorgeous cinematography, and the music is also so on point !

[melodiclune]

Sooooooo… */claps hand together*

How’s the jjk fandom atm for ya CC? 0v0;

Have ya been catching wind of what’s been happening lately?

Because I have despite not being part of the jjk fandom atm lol~ (the curiosity got to me due to the echos of the jjk fandom’s reactions so I checked out the spoiler kek)

If ya have no idea what I’m talking about… Then good! Keep it that way lmaooo! XD

Uhhh honestly I haven't kept up with the manga even though I know what's going on atm because escaping jjk leaks rn is impossible. But I don't particularly... Care?

It sounds callous but my favourite parts of JJK are the earlier sections of story, until the end of the Shibuya Incident. I tend to take that and use it to fuel my ideas, thoughts, headcanons and character imagines and what not. The plot is fine and all but at this point I'm moreso here for the early story. ALSO the anime cinematography and the music is done so so so well I could write ESSAYYSSSSS on the gorgeous things S2 animators have accomplished in their crunch time. I don't mean to endorse the disgusting work culture, I'm just saying what they achieved in such disgusting conditions is commendable.

Tbf tho Nona my fandom experience and enjoyment has always been different from yours so I'm probably not going to answer the way you want me to ahaha

Uhh.

I rambled. Oops?

[denimbex1986]

One of my favorite movies of all time is the 1999 adaptation of one of my favorite books of all time, Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley. The book and film both follow grifter Tom Ripley when he goes to Italy to convince Dickie Greenleaf to return home after Dickie’s father believes Tom to have been his friend. Tom goes to Italy for the money, but finds himself obsessed with Dickie, leading to him murdering him and stealing his identity.

Netflix recently released season one of Ripley, which follows the same book, with the intention of subsequent seasons following the other books of the Ripliad. Andrew Scott (All of Us Strangers, Fleabag) stars as Tom Ripley with Johnny Flynn (One Life, EMMA.) as Dickie and Dakota Fanning (Man on Fire, War of the Worlds) as his girlfriend Marge Sherwood. It was created, adapted, and directed by Steven Zaillian, screenwriter of films such as Schindler’s List, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Irishman, and All the King’s Men, the final of which he also directed. Just those four are an exciting group of people—I was particularly excited about Scott and Zaillian—that I was looking forward to making one of my favorite novels into a series, which it suited quite well.

But let’s get into the actual show. It is shot in a noir-style black and white that is genuinely the most stunning show I have ever seen. The visual motifs are also very strong, with Ripley’s cunning work frequently compared to the masterful Caravaggio, with the light and dark contrast of the camera also mirroring the paintings and sculptures. I also quite like the use of seagulls against a white sky looking like crows flying, which is especially impactful at various points after Dickie’s murder. The numerous shots through doorframes and out from under tables add to the feeling of Tom being watched, especially when we are peering over the bloodstained bathtub as he is questioned by the police. We are what Tom is paranoid about. The screenplay is also good, as are most of the actors, though the only things that really make it stand out are the visuals, from the cinematography to the production design to the gorgeous Italian streets, with the black and white adding to it rather than making things feel duller. The whole vibe of the show is much darker than that of the movie, which is deeply unsettling, but the show is also fun in a lot of moments, until it’s really, really not.

The show tries to be a more faithful adaptation than the 1999 film, which is exciting. As I said, I love the movie, but there is always something wonderful about a well-done faithful adaptation. The problem with this is that in its faithfulness, every digression is very noticeable, and most of them make little sense. The biggest example is that Marge is Dickie’s girlfriend. This makes a lot of sense in the movie, but I don’t understand why the show does the same thing. The uncertainty of their relationship followed by it turning romantic is one of Ripley’s main motivators to kill Dickie as it is one of the things that he feels betrayed by. If Marge is already dating Dickie, the moment of betrayal when Tom finds out is simply not there, a moment which was a major turning point in the book.

One scene that is a major moment in the book, film, and show is the moment when Tom wears Dickie’s clothing and impersonates him in the mirror. In the film, there is no real dialogue, just singing along to music. In the book, the scene drags on for a long time and it truly makes your skin crawl. Tom not only impersonates Dickie, but pretends to reject and then murder Marge, refuting an imaginary accusation that the Dickie and Tom are lovers. Both are ended by Dickie coming in and asking “What are you doing?” The show seems to want to be more true to the book, having Tom enact breaking up with Marge, but it lacks the murder. While this moment in the book is deeply disturbing, the show is clearly leaning into a more disturbing angle than the movie and the pretending to murder Marge would fit right into the tone. While it feels natural to not include it in the movie, it really added to Tom’s characterization in the book and I missed it when watching an adaptation that was presenting itself as more faithful.

There was also a frankly unnecessary sequence of Tom nearly drowning from falling off of the boat after killing Dickie. It was more high-energy than the actual murder scene and dragged on for far too long. That scene is perfectly representative of most of my problems with the show: what Zaillian chose to emphasize. Some characters seemed to have THE IMPORTANT THING ABOUT THEM and other character traits were flat-out ignored, particularly smaller parts like Freddie, though it unfortunately transferred into the leads on occasion, particularly Marge.

Visual emphases on the motifs of water and Caravaggio were effective, but some scenes would drag on for a long time. There’s a difference between “slow” and “tedious” and this show occasionally went a little too close to “tedious,” though I will say that these are typically the moments that demonstrate the chilling apathy of Scott’s Tom Ripley. I wanted these moments to end and go on forever. Scott is able to do so much in the silence and he along with the cinematography make the moments both hard to watch and impossible to look away from. How can moments be both tedious and riveting? I both wish that they were gone and wish that there had been a whole episode of Andrew Scott in complete silence. The problem was typically the timing—this would be interesting, but he just committed murder. I don’t care about the boat. I know that Tom isn’t about to die, we’re not even halfway through the season.

The characters can feel like shells of themselves at times. They seem to know that they live in a black-and-white Italy. Marge is reduced to the simple character trait of “doesn’t like Tom” and Fanning plays her like someone who has taken a single semester of Acting I. Flynn’s Dickie is good, but it’s impossible to stop comparing him to the masterful and charismatic performance by Jude Law in 1999. And then there’s Andrew Scott’s mostly critically acclaimed Tom Ripley.

Andrew Scott is doing a tremendous job at what he’s doing. He’s terrifying and mesmerizing at the same time. But the problem is that his Tom has no charisma. I can’t watch him and say “I would let this man live in my house.” I especially can’t imagine letting him live in my house after he put on my clothes in my room and impersonated me in my mirror. The show makes a point of Dickie’s naivety, but there’s a point when I’m practically screaming at him to listen to his girlfriend and kick Tom out of the house. Where’s Tom’s one-man show? Where’s his funny way of telling stories? Why on earth does Dickie like him?

The thing that makes me sad is that I know that Andrew Scott could have done a book-accurate Tom Ripley justice, and a book-accurate Tom Ripley is the only way that a mostly faithful show could possibly work. The quieter, more genuine scenes hit home much better than any social interaction that was supposed to be positive or convincingly charming. None of the acting choices that I disagreed with happened in the final episode, however. Fanning was suddenly believable and Scott’s Ripley was perfect. I wish that this energy had translated prior to the final episode.

Zaillian being director, screenwriter, and producer is what truly hurt the show in the end. It feels like it was all his ideas and nobody to edit, meaning that every idea that made little sense was kept in. I am of the general opinion that, if the director is the screenwriter, there needs to be another screenwriter, or at least a different producer. This is just Zaillian. It feels like Zaillian’s project where he has certain views of the characters and the actors did those. Tom Ripley, one of the most fascinating characters in 20th-century literature, regularly falls flat despite being played by one of the best currently working actors in film and television. Seeing the credits ending with Zaillian’s name over and over gives the vibe of a passion project more than it does a fully realized show. There is so much potential there—both Scott and Zaillian are very talented people—and it is being squandered by the lack of creative diversity on the storytelling side. I want to love it, but I just like it, which is somehow worse than hating it. I want to have a strong opinion on an adaptation of one of my favorite novels, but aside from the visuals and some of Scott’s acting choices, no daring choices were made until episode eight. There are eight episodes.

So… do I like Ripley? Despite all of my criticisms, yes. Do I hope that this show gets renewed and we get to see more of the Ripliad adapted? Absolutely. A lot of the show was quite good. I’ve recommended it to multiple people and would watch it again with them. I hope that it gets better when Scott is acting alongside different actors and there isn’t a masterpiece of a film hanging over it, because no matter how hard you try, it’s hard not to think of the 1999 adaptation when watching Ripley. I will say one thing, though: Mr. Scott is certainly talented, but I am left wondering:

Is he Mr. Ripley?'

[the-most-adorkable-smile]

1, 3 and 12 for the fun asks please :) Get well soon.

Thank you for the ask ^-^ And I shall try :')

what are 3 things you’d say shaped you into who you are?

Oooh, tricky question. A lot has helped shape me into who I am, and not all of it has been positive. I think the three biggest influences on my life have got to be:

Bullying: I was bullied a lot in my youth, and it's affected how I see myself and how I hold myself. A lot of my anxiety and self-reliance comes from being bullied, gaslit, and generally traumatised as a kid - there were no real authority figures I could trust, and I got in trouble when I retaliated against my bullies, so I ended up going through life feeling like I couldn't trust or rely on a lot of people. Which brings me to:

Therapy: Let's go for a happier one. I used to have terrible panic attacks at the thought of failing people, or from being in crowds or from trying to make phone calls. It's taken a whole-ass decade and a bunch of different therapies, counselling services, and dudes whose stock response to mental illness is "have you tried weed?" (No and I'm not going to. It's not for me.) but I'm at the point now where I can hold conversations, stand up for myself, and say "no" to the occasional ridiculous request. A lot of that is down to talking things out and finding things out through one-to-one counselling.

My wife: I met @helenmarie95 on this hellsite, and we've been together for a while now. She's been super strong when I've had low moments (like quitting my job bc it was the worst thing for me and then taking a few months to find another) to points where I started questioning my gender and began identifying as non-binary. She's taught me a lot about mental illness, specifically autism and ADHD, and she's been accommodating when I've said stupid shit. And she has shown me some awesome movies and music ^-^

Alright that was a super long answer let's try for a short one next!

3. 3 films you could watch for the rest of your life and not get bored of?

Alright real quick:

Kung Fu Panda 2 (it's the best one! And there's always something new to spot!)

Booksmart (It's fun! It's funny! And I know my wife loves it :3 )

Oblivion (Yes it's kinda generic, but it's an interesting sci-fi premise with a heavyweight cast and some drop-dead gorgeous cinematography, so I feel confident I'd never get bored of it)

12. what’s some good advice you want to share?

So we've kinda covered it already, but: learn how to say no. Also join your union at work. Also if you've got a bad cold, eating four Kinder Bueno bars in a row isn't a good idea.

It'll feel like it's a good idea, but it's not!

That's all I got. Thank you for the questions!

[bobbyinthegarden]

My Review of The Secret Garden (2020)

Spoilers for The Secret Garden (both the book, and this film), and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë.  

I said that I wanted to do some in-depth reviews of the various different adaptations of The Secret Garden (the film versions and other retellings), and I thought it might be fun to work my way (roughly) back in time, beginning with the most recent adaptations, and working my way back in time. I do plan on also reading some of the sequels/retellings/graphic novels that exists as well, but I’m going to start with the film adaptations.

So… I re-watched The Secret Garden (2020) and I have some thoughts.

Before I get into all of my opinions, I’d like to highlight this clip of Mark Kermode talking about the film, I think he hits the nail on the head and is very fair about the film, I agree with him, here’s a link.

There were some things that I liked, which really stood out to me about the film, it is gorgeous, the aesthetics, set design and costumes are all really great, both for the interiors and the exteriors. The film looks beautiful, cinematography and editing were also good, the camera movements feel very dynamic and the editing around many of the more fantastical elements in the film was also clever. Likewise with the performances; nobody here is going to win any acting awards for this film specifically, but none of the performances are bad. There’s an Aurora song in the closing credits. I’m an Aurora fan, so that was nice.

There are things to like here, and I’m sure if I were a child watching this film with no prior knowledge of The Secret Garden, that I would have enjoyed it well enough, though I don’t think that it would have stuck with me in the way that The Secret Garden has stuck with me since I was a child.

The films has made A LOT of changes to the source material. I said in my review of the 2015 adaptation of Heidi that I’m not of the opinion that absolute fidelity to the source materials is necessarily the best way to adapt a novel to the screen. There are plenty of adaptations that I like which deviate significantly from their source material, either in tone or plot, Bladerunner and The Shining are both good examples of this, and in my Heidi review I also mentioned Anne with an E, which alters the tone of the original Anne of Green Gables to great effect. So the fact that this adaptation of the story makes changes to the original is not a great sin in itself, I simply feel that a lot of the changes that they do make are underthought and, in some cases, confusing.

For example, the events of the book have been moved forward in time, taking place in 1947, rather than the Edwardian Era. This could be an interesting change, as 1947 was the year that India gained its independence from Great Britain, and so could be used to serve as a commentary on the colonialism that is present in the book. It doesn’t though. The updated setting adds nothing to the story. @marysfoxmask​ made a really interesting post about this which I’ll link here, and I entirely agree, and I don’t think I need to add anymore commentary on the topic.

@isfjmel-phleg​ also wrote an interesting post unpacking her thoughts about this adaption and I agree with many of her points too. Here’s a snippet from that post:

Making Mrs. Lennox and Mrs. Craven sisters/twins is straight out of the musical and 1993 film, and it’s overdone. Lilias was Mary’s father’s sister, which actually is more thematically appropriate (of course she’s unrelated to the woman who’s the book’s worst example of parenting), and I’d like to see a version where this is the case. What if it’s Mary’s father who’s distant from grief over losing a sibling? There’s room in the text for that interpretation; he’s said to be “always busy and ill.”

And I completely agree with that as well. Mary’s character arc shifting from a story about a neglected and emotionally stunted child finding spiritual and emotional growth through the cultivation of a garden, into the story of a child who needs to reconcile with her dead, neglectful mother, seems like an extremely odd interpretation to me. Both Mary and Colin’s parents get way too much focus here and are framed much more sympathetically (they even show up as ghosts), to the point where the relationship between the two sisters feels like a more significant presence than the relationship between Mary and Colin. As a consequence of giving the parents more emphasis, there are a number of characters from the book whose roles are reduced, particularly Ben, who is not present in the film at all, and Dickon, whose role in the story is greatly diminished, we don’t even meet him until 50 minutes into a film - and we meet Colin at 25 minutes in (which annoys me personally, since Dickon is my favourite character in the book). All of this leaves Dickon feeling like a mostly superfluous addition to the story, which is a shame because I know Amir Wilson can turn in a good performance when he needs to.

One thing that Mark Kermode talked about in the video that I linked above is the framing of the ‘magic’ in the story. Here’s a quote from that:

“When we find the magical garden itself (…) what you get more of is the sense that this is the garden of [Mary’s] imagination, the garden of her dreams, and there is a magical element, which is played the up […]. What you lose is the central theme that is in the novel which is that toiling in the garden, it’s working in the garden, that makes the garden have it’s restorative powers.”

Here the ‘magic’ is much more literal, treated more like a mystical forest or fantasy realm (like Narnia) rather than a place that the characters might care for. This, to me, is the fundamental most flaw of the film, as it just completely disregards the themes of its source material, opting instead for a story that is significantly more escapist and fantastical in tone, rather than the grounded story of the novel.

Okay, heading into very spoiler-y territory now, so if you don’t want to know what happens in the end of the film, stop reading now. I’m also going to spoil the ending of Jane Eyre, so be aware of that.

Final warning.

So, in this version of the story, the house burns down at the end. On a level, I do understand why this change was made, it gives the third act a greater sense of danger and ups the stakes quite a lot. I very firmly believe that Frances Hodgson Burnett was heavily influenced by the Brontë sisters when writing The Secret Garden, there are a number of similarities between both Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre, and I plan on writing a whole post about that at some point. For now, we’re just going to focus on Jane Eyre. Jane, like Mary, is an orphan, who goes to live at Thornfield Hall, a vast house in the moors. During her stay, she frequently hears mysterious wailing and crying in the night. In The Secret Garden, this is revealed to be coming from Mary’s sick cousin Colin, while in Jane Eyre, it is revealed to be a woman named Bertha, who is the wife of the master of the house, Mr Rochester, and who is plagued by violent insanity. At the climax of Jane Eyre, Bertha sets fire to  Thornfield Hall, burning the house to the ground. I am almost 100% certain, that  Misselthwaite being set on fire in this adaptation, is a nod to the influence of Jane Eyre on the original book – in this case, it is Mr Craven who sets fire to his own house, in a fit of drunken confusion and grief. As an element of the story, I don’t hate it, but I don’t think it was set up very well either. It just kind of happens randomly. Fire isn’t established within the narrative at all, it’s not set up, and it’s not part of a motif either. It’s Chekov’s gun, but you never see the gun before it goes off. In Jane Eyre it works since fire is a frequent motif within the story, often used as a metaphor for Jane herself, as the narrative repeatedly associates her with images of fire, brightness, and warmth. It could have worked here, but it mostly just feels random and not very well thought out.

With all of these underthought changes, I think that the thing this film suffers most from is the fact that it is an adaptation of The Secret Garden. The film disregards many elements the plot, themes, setting and characters of the original book, but fails to truly divorce itself from the source material. I think that the resulting film would have been better if they had simply disregarded the book entirely  and instead used the story as inspiration to create something new and original. But that’s just my opinion.

I’m sure that I’ll have more to say about this film in the future, but I’ll sign off with another quote from Mark Kermode’s review, which sums up a lot of my feelings quite well:

“It’s a strange mix. It’s perfectly fine. I don’t think it’s one of the classic, timeless adaptations, but it is a story that will always work if you treat it with a certain degree of respect […]. It’s not great, but it’s not bad, it’s a perfectly workable adaptation of something which I’ve seen adapted better.”

I couldn’t agree more.

[thatonekreachur]

So here is the story of how I got into elemental, I have no idea what I should say for the introduction, except that you can reblog this so other people can see it.

The story begins somewhere in late june or early july, I don't even know the date for when I watched it but I remember that it was before the Fourth of July. I was on a summer vacation to my grandma's house, and she decided we can go an watch this movie in the theater. At first, before I watched the movie, I thought it looked decent, judging by the trailers that literally made the movie look like some generic boring Zootopia rip-off that is only gonna be visually pleasing and nothing else. Let's just say the actual movie isn't like what I said before.

So then me, my grandma, and my two siblings went to see Elemental, and lucky for me, I didn't know that it will change my whole life, and my whole point of view of things.

Like where do I even start to begin with??? First off, how gorgeous those visuals look. I can't even explain these visuals!! Let me try... It is like getting your eyes assaulted by the most colorful most vibrant thing you have ever seen in your life, and these visuals really stick out during the sunset and night scenes. Like, even the cinematography is amazing, that beach scene still has me in awe to this day.

And these visuals, combined with the believable character personalities, that serious undertone, that well executed romance story with these other subplots, interesting backstories for our mcs, the score which I can't describe with words alone, and the worldbuilding, especially the worldbuilding...

So, if you took a peek into my account, you can probably see that I have a non human worldbuilding project blog that is very new. I am a big worldbuilding enthusiast, especially when it comes to non humans, or at least creatures that vaguely resemble humans, and this movie is no exception. Like, the worldbuilding in this is pretty unique and interesting, and because of it, I am literally hungry for MORE at this point.

I know there's the unlikely friends book, I have heard that it has more tasty info for me, but my anxious ass unfortunately does not let me have it for myself 😢

Lets also talk about the phenomenal score itself. Like, I have never heard such beautiful music before in my life, and guess what? It fits with the theme of this movie. I don't really have much left to say about the score, so there.

There's also the character personalities. Each character has their own unique quirks, backstories, and other stuff that really makes them feel like individuals in the movie. Heck, even the background characters all look unique from each other. Go ahead, you can make an oc out of these background characters, I'm all in for it.

I also like the serious tone this movie is going for. The first few minutes into this movie and I was like "wow! I kinda like how pretty serious this looks!". I am a sucker for animated movies that always focus on the plot and they don't need any potty jokes or any other kinds of childish humor to move it forward. (well, the exception is captain underpants, or any other movie that had a good story..). Because then, it would prove to the Oscars or any other person or company that animation is not just for babies, one year olds, and little kids, but for people to enjoy from all ages.

There is also the racism subplot somewhere in the movie. I heard some say that this subplot that I mentioned felt kinda forced, and that they tried to shove it down our throats in a "hey, this happened, and now your supposed to care about it!" kinda way. But for me, I would say no. You see, it also had at least some buildup even from the beginning too.

And finally, I haven't told you about this before, but I unironically love credits scenes. I know that the purpose of the credits scene is to tell the audience "hey we made this movie!", but... there are some animated movies that have moving 2d pictures with text while the most banger song you have ever heard plays in the background, and this movie has it all. Like, for some reason it makes me happy and relaxed...

Anyways the movie is over, and we walked out of the theater booth. This movie has changed so much of me that I needed to go pee afterwards (I held it in because turns out I love this movie so much and I needed to watch all of it and I won't miss some important scenes). Now, let me say this: elemental was the perfect movie for me, this movie gave me a reason to live, a reason to be happy that I'm alive on this earth right now. I wouldn't imagine not having eyes or ears, because I wouldn't be able to see or hear the beautiful things in this movie if I don't have either.

This was on the poster for the theater booth we walked out. I don't know why I included this, maybe it's because my hyperfixation is kicking in...

Anyways, happy new year everyone.

[scattered-winter]

tagged by @soleadita im kissing u on the cheek like a mob boss

top 15 tv shows in no particular order !!

911 on abc (found family. whump. angst. absolute batshit insane shenanigans. jennifer love hewitt and angela bassett. ryan guzman getting blood all over him on multiple occasions. what's not to love)

gen:LOCK (season 1 only) (there is no season 2 in ba sing se) (found family and robots and cool animation and cool music and found family and coolest fucking dichotomy between hero and villain and and and)

rwby (the WORLDBUILDING. the WRITING. the CHARACTERS. the WEAPONS. GENUINELY IT GOES SOOO SO SO CRAZY.)

the bear (im not done with it yet and lack of actual real bears ASIDE. this show is so so beautiful and masterfully done. im literally obsessed)

supernatural (UNFORTUNATELY some of the episodes do kinda go hard.)

daredevil (the CINEMATOGRAPHY the DEPRESSED BLOODIED CATHOLIC BOY the INSANE WOMEN the JOHN PAESANO SOUNDTRACK truly this show is unmatched)

zoo netflix. (is it GOOD? no. but it is very fun and involves found family living on a plane solving mysteries and trying to stop the apocalypse so truly. does it even NEED to be good)

agents of shield (again i havent finished it but ouhghgoughhghh......found family.....whump.....literally this show was GAME CHANGING for me. i would not be the whump enjoyer i am today if it weren't for the scene where daisy gets shot point blank and lovingly lowered to the ground by the man who shot her. truly. also huge fan of the asian american female lead who is a complex multifaceted character. love her.)

dc's legends of tomorrow (THEEE goofysilly funtimes show of the century. queer found family superheroes who live on a time traveling spaceship and try to protect the timestream from anomalies. they are very, very bad at their job. a zombie apocalypse breaks out in the middle of the american civil war. a giant fluffy teddy bear named beebo fistfights an ancient time demon. they have to save college student barack obama from gorilla grodd. a unicorn bites one of the character's nipples off. truly the most show ever. perhaps of all time.)

kingdom (netflix) (kdrama) (GENUINELY the best zombie media i have ever seen in my life. barring train to busan maybe. the costume design is gorgeous and the camerawork is gorgeous and the characters are complex and multifaceted and the zombies are fascinating and the entire thing is a commentary on class and poverty. and it's set in medieval korea so they have to fight zombies with SWORDS)

carmen sandiego (fun characters. u learn lots of cool things about lots of cool places. found family. heists. nonexistent romance subplots so it's a HUGE win for the aros. stupid little french detective who wears a banana suit onscreen. et cetera.)

leverage (LITERALLY THE SHOW OF ALL TIME. anti capitalist. found family. heists. the government is a corrupt system that only serves the people in power. christian kane beating people up. multifaceted characters. autistic character that's actually like. presented respectfully. and realistically. alec hardison. insane people.)

avatar the last airbender/legend of korra (they KINDA WENT OFF WITH BENDING.)

arcane (the animation......the tragic sisters.......the music.....)

green lantern the animated series (the animation kinda sucks unfortuantely. however. HOWEVER. it has my boy of all time. with the character arc of all time. and learning how rage and vengeance are harmful to everyone including yourself. and how grief and rage go hand in hand and the only way to heal from it is hope. and and and and and)

leo already tagged the gc so im gonna tag @frigidboy and anyone else who wants to do it :]

[bluedalahorse]

7, 8, 19 for the yr asks? ✨

7. What’s your favorite scene in season 1?

Ahaha so as I explained here, it can be really hard for me to pick a single scene in a season. If I had to choose one I think I’d go with the Lucia sequence. The cinematography is beautiful and choir’s harmonies are haunting and gorgeous in a way that sort of… maybe this is extremely corny of me to say, but, it makes me feel connected to my deceased Swedish family members.

(The scenes with choir music often have this effect on me. My family’s a few generations away from Sweden, and I am quite American. But, I was named after my grandfather and thus have a very Swedish name, and a lot of my dad’s parenting and behavior and the way he goes about loving music such seems to have a vibe of… ghosts of the Scandinavian culture he and I are descended from? A lot of little moments in YR feel a bit like a “homecoming” for me even if I can’t always pinpoint why.)

8. What’s your favorite scene in season 2?

I did favorite overall last time and mentioned the field scene last time. So, I will share another moment I love—Simon with the dodgeball. My child.

19. What’s a headcanon you have about any of the characters?

New headcanon time! As I said, headcanons are an unlimited resource. I think the August who showed up to Hillerska first year was quite different than the one we see third year. I don’t mean he was a perfect little cinnamon roll—there was definitely some toxicity there already due to the nobility upbringing. But he wasn’t on top of the social hierarchy yet or in any of the leadership roles we see him in during YR season 1.

I suspect Kristina pointed August out to Erik as someone Erik should be nice to/look out for, since Carl Johan’s death was still fairly recent and he at one point had been Kristina’s favorite cousin. Erik responded by essentially making August his Alexander figure, and August knocked on Erik’s door every morning at 7:15 and helped him with various other tasks. I imagine this gave August a sense of structure and purpose that he desperately craved. I also am fairly sure that first year August had zero idea how to dress himself, even if he had a fairly nice assortment of clothes, because let’s face it—the statistics are generally against sixteen-year-old straight boys in the fashion department. Erik probably had to help with that, too.