#and I long lost the drawing of Elliot that's my icon so this is all I have left of my fave picture

[dachi-chan25]

Are there any fairly obscure books, movies, plays, historical events etc. that haven’t been made into musicals yet that you would love to see made into musicals?

Well idk if they are obscure but I have TONS of things I would like to see as musicals. Honestly this question is so exciting.

First off I was gonna include "Como agua para chocolate" de Laura Esquivel but I found out throughPlaybill that is gonna happen so I am super excited to see how that turns out.

So yeah here is my list:

BOOKS:

"Mas rápido que el deseo" by Laura Esquivel. (This is a beautiful love story told from a dying father to her only daughter, and the way sound is used in the book always made me think how beautiful it would be to see it as a musical)

"Aura" by Carlos Fuentes (this one made me think how few "thriller" musicals we have and Aura would be incredibly easy to produce cuz there are very few characters and you wouldn't need a big production. It tells the story of a young man who comes to leave with a Window and her niece with whom he falls in love only to discover a reeaaaally creepy secret)

"Amor en tiempos de cólera" by Gabriel Garcia Marqués (This one is an epic and long love story, I think it has the potential to be as legendary as Le Mis or Phantom)

"Leonora" by Elena Poniatowska (this is the novelization of Leonora Carrington's life, she has a lot of contact with diverse artist of her time such as Miró, and deals w her struggles w mental illness)

"Duerme" by Carmen Boullosa (this one is about a young woman during Colonial era in México, she dresses as a man is quite unconventional . It's historical background is also super intresting )

"Northanger Abbey" by Jane Austen (according to Google there has been a musical adaptation but I would like it if this was given more of a SIX or &Juliet approach, I mean c'mon Catherine is pretty young and has these wild fantasies cuz she is such a bookworm they would be so funny to see on stage)

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden (this would be kinda hard to adapt but I just think it would be visually gorgeous)

"Middlemarch" by George Elliot (I think it has so much potential to be an amazing musical i just imagine the selfrighteous Dorothea singing about how she wants a pious and intelligent men who guides her and opposes her ideas at the beginning of the musical and then a reprise trying to pretend she has got her way in marrying Casaubon. Kind of like a "Thank Goodness" moment.)

"Foul is fair" by Hannah Capin (this one is quite a recent book, it's a retelling of Macbeth and it blew me away. It would be more of an edgy musical like Heathers, but the message is more about rape culture )

"Like a Love Story" by Abdi Nazemian (this one tells the story of 3 teens meeting on 1989 and bending through Madonna while fighting for LGTBQ+ rights. Ofc this would have to be a jukbox musical and honestly I can't think of a better way to make a musical w Madonna songs)

"The Queen of the Night" by Alexander Chee (maybe a bit too on the nose, cuz it already has a musical element, but honestly the story is just amazing and pretty dynamic)

"Space Opera" by Catherynne M. Valente (again quite a recent book but it draws so heavily from the Eurovision song contest, and it's fun and campy. Also why aren't there more Sci-fi musicals???)

MOVIES

"Ladyhawke" (I used to love this movie when i was younger and would love to see it as a musical)

"10 things I hate about you" (why isn't this a musical already??? The movie is iconic, it's a fun Shakespeare retelling, would have such fun songs)

"The lost boys" (ok so I know vampire musicals haven't fared well, but I think that's cuz the approach is waaay to serious, honestly this would make for a campy fun musical with some amazing costumes)

"Rocketman" (C'mon this writes itself. Like it would work perfectly for a stage adaptation)

"The corpse bride" (it already has a couple of songs and honestly it would be so cool visually)

"Twilight " (HEAR ME OUT!!! This one should only be made by Starkid cuz it shouldn't be taken seriously it should be a fun parody of the YA literature at the time with lots of selfawareness, and sarcástic humor. I put this one on the movie category cuz let's be honest the movies had some killer soundtrack)

"My Best friend's wedding" (I mean the Pretty woman musical was ok i guess but this one already has an iconic music scene, and I think the story work better for a musical)

"Dirty Dancing" (again c'mon why isn't this a musical but Ratatouille got so much hype on tiktok???? Like this would have gorgeous dance numbers, humor, heartbreaking scenes)

"Dangerous Liaisons" (I know there is a musical based on the modern adaptation "Cruel Intentions" but this movie was amazing! Like i think this version would work better for the stage)

PLAYS

"A Streetcar named desire" by Tennessee Williams (so there is an opera and that hillarious Simpson's episode but I really would love to see this one as a musical )

"El burlador de Sevilla" by Tirso de Molina (I am a fan of Don Juan Tenorio, but I think El burlador would work better for a musical, the ending works better and it's female characters are waaaaay more intresting and fleshed out)

"La casa de Bernarda Alba" (I think this would be amazing, I picture Bernarda as an alto the story is super character driven and there is a lot of internal monologues that could translate perfectly into songs)

"Turandot" (so this is an opera but I think this one would be an amazing option for a musical, the main themes of the show are love an revenge , ofc it would have to be re worked as much of the names and settings reek of Orientalism , like idk what Puccini was doing giving characters names like Ping, Pang, Pong but yeah it has the potential)

"Machinal" by Sophie Treadwell (this is one of my favorite plays, it's set on the 20's and I think it would make a great musical with a tragic ending we all see coming)

"Uncommon women and others" by Wendy Wesserstein (this is about a bunch of woman who reconect at a lunch and they start talking about their time as college students during the second-wave feminism and how they discovered themselves through it )

"Awake and Sing!" By Clifford Odetts (first off the title rocks so fitting for a musical, then we have the story of Jewish immigrants on the Bronx pursuing the American Dream)

HISTORICAL EVENTS

- I would love to see a musical about the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema, like most productions back then were musicals and it would reintroduce to the world iconic mexican actors such as Pedro Infante, Silvia Pinal, Jorge Negrete, Dolores del Río, etc etc.

-A musical about the artists of the Italian renaissance. I would do this in the style/tone of Something Rotten!

-A musical about Leona Vicario .

-A musical about real pirates like Madame Cheng

-I know it's a Biblical story so maybe not true but I think it'd be cool to see a musical about King Ahasuerus, Vashti and Esther .

And that’s all I can think of the top off my head.

[goldenmusicmoments]

Ariana Grande - Sweetener (Review):

Raindrops - A beautiful acoustic opening to the album with this short cover of a track titled ‘An Angel Cried’. There is nothing more than her showcasing her stunning voice. It takes me back to the dreamy and magical intro of her second studio album ‘My Everything’.

Blazed (Ft. Pharrell Williams) - This groovy track is one that will surely get your body moving and would work really well in a dim lit club. The production on her vocals on this track is the standout moment on the track. On this track Pharrell’s production is actually tolerable.

The Light Is Coming (Ft. Nicki Minaj) - On the first listen this track was a huge disappointment. Seeing as ‘Side To Side’ & ‘Get On Your Knees’ were two great collaborations between Ariana and Nicki Minaj, so the expectations for this and ‘Bed’ were quite high and were not met at all. The beat in the beginning hurts your ears and the unbearable sample of the reporter that is used throughout the track makes listening to the track even more painful. Pharrell may have tried to aim for something way too high above his capability when trying to be innovative with the production on this track, as it is an intolerable moment on the album, even Nicki’s verse fails to do anything significant to save the track.

R.E.M. - This mellow track has quite the interesting production. It has a chilled vibe with her laid back vocals. The production isn’t overbearing and the odd breathing sounds in the background really make the production on this track standout. This maybe Pharrell’s most redeemable moment on the album so far. The final minute of this track is beautiful with the vocal layering and provides us with one of the most dreamiest moments on the album. One thing though the beat seems to be a different interpretation to that of Tinashe’s album cut ‘Ooh La La’. Up to this moment this track provides the album with its first strong moment after the intro.

God Is A Woman - I have done a post on this track before (do check it out for a thorough discussion on this track and what I feel in relation to it). The track is a stunning track and the showcase of her vocals here is magnificent. The choir like moment during the end really elevates the track to a different level.

Sweetener - This is a cute track that uses sweeteners being added to something bitter to make the taste change to something sweet as a metaphor for what the presence of the guy who she’s with does. It isn’t one of the strongest tracks on the album and it doesn’t bring much to the table. It feels like a filler track, on top of that the production does get a little annoying with the constant noises Pharrell is making in the background. The noises don’t add anything interesting to the track, if they were eliminated the track would be a little more bearable. Pharrell so far seems to have a similar pattern in which his two key bullet points are: one a groovy beat and secondly odd breathing noises in the background.

Successful - A quirky opening to the track that makes the track sound like an opening theme to a children’s TV show. In an odd way its dated sound feels like it could have fitted well on her debut album ‘Yours Truly’. It lyrically revolves around her boasting about how she is so successful. Certain instrumentation moments give you a tropical vibe. Another filler on the album in which it seems like Pharrell just wasn’t that bothered during the creative process. It is a track that you wouldn’t seek out, however if you are listening to the album as a whole then you’d sit through it. The breathing noises that both she and Pharrell are making in the background aren’t even in sync with each other giving the beat a very cluttered feel.

Everytime - The moment this track starts makes you scream ‘FINALLY’, as we finally get the moment we all wanted an iconic track from Ariana Grande and it seems that eliminating Pharrell Williams from the the equation is all it took to make that happen. This track draws you in from the get go. One of the standout moments on the track, God maybe drawing Ariana back to the guy of topic, however ‘Everytime’ is what keeps me coming back for more. The ‘Back to you, back to you’ moment on the track kind of reminds me of Mollie King’s track ‘Back To You’. The chilled vibe of the track and her vocals on this track are really captivating. The song is about always being drawn back to the same person. It also feels like a track that would sound perfect being played during a night drive. I kind of feel like the transition from the intro to the next track would have worked better if this was placed right after the intro rather than ‘Blazed’.

Breathin -  Again just like the previous track the opening immediately captivates you. Ariana stated that the song is about her having anxiety. The chorus lets you know that in a moment of anxiety, try not to forget to breathe. She is singing about feeling anxious, however the track has an upbeat vibe which is an unexpected combination that works really well here. The moment near the end where the beat stops and she sings ‘Just keep breathing and breathing…’ and then takes a breathe after which the beat kicks in again is a standout moment that depicts the meaning behind the lyrics in a literal way. Another one of the standout tracks on the album. This track and ‘Everytime’ being one after the other make for a great combination.

No Tears Left To Cry - The lead single which caught many of us by surprise. The opening gives you a totally different vibe and once we get into the first verse it takes a whole different vibe. The track is a decent track that grows on you more and more with every listen. Although for me the verses didn’t do much and it was the chorus that was the drawing moment on the track.

Boarderline (Ft. Missy Elliot) - An upbeat track that will surely be a hit in the clubs as it gets you in the mood to dance. Again Pharrell gives the production of the song his typical groovy feel. It kind of has a Justin Timberlake feel to it, through the production on the vocals and beat. Missy Elliot doesn’t really provide with a long enough verse for her moment on the track to be truly classified as a feature, however what she does offer works well with the feel of the track. Giving you that being in space and talking through the radios that you use to communicate with the team back at the space station feel.

Better Off - A mesmerising track in which her vocals are beautifully restrained, she lets the listeners know that she can still deliver a great track without doing all the runs and big vocal moments. Here she is singing about being better off without the guy of topic. This track is so dreamy that you seem to get lost in it. A highlight on the album.

Goodnight N Go - She keeps hold of the dreamy vibe continuing on from the previous track, and her vocals are so beautiful on this track. The structure of the track is on point with the slow build to the sudden beat drop. The track samples Imogen Heaps track of the same name. This track will surely provide with a magical moment on tour when performed live.

Pete Davidson - This short track serves as a dedication to her fiancé of the same name. She sings about what being with him feels like and he seems to have made her very happy. I feel like she could have this play during the final credits of her wedding video. The track does provide us with a beautiful moment.

Get Well Soon - Now this track is said to be about the tragic event that took place during her concert in Manchester. The track is a stunning one and this is where Pharrell finally gets it right (his approach to how he went about the production on this album is like a student who doesn’t bother revising for his exams until the day before the exam, and that is when they put in the most effort). Her restrained vocals work really well here and allow the full focus to be on the lyrics of the track. The track also is about her suffering with anxiety and how it got even worse after what happened during her concert and she even stated that getting her feelings out through her music has helped her healing process. The track timing of five minutes and twenty-two seconds serves to honour those that suffered during that dark moment as the date of the show was 22nd May. I kind of feel that this track could have worked better if it was track 14 and the track Pete Davidson was the closing moment of the album. As it would have provided the album with a full circle moment of feeling down and ending on a note at which she is now out of that dark place and finally happy.

Overall the album isn’t her strongest body of work, Pharrell’s production on the album for most part of it lets the album down. I do give Ariana props for experimenting with the production on this album even if it didn’t work out as well. However the album does have a bunch of standout moments that prove that she is capable of creating tracks that are phenomenal.

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[spideycentral]

Anxiety about Playing Spider Man

Tom Holland: I was not worried, because from reading the script and working on “Civil War” it was very obvious that we were taking the character down a very different route, so it was very different than anything we had seen before.  The fact that there are two Spiderman’s previous to me helped me massively, because I was able to watch their movies and decide what I would like to keep and things I wouldn’t necessarily like to do again.  So I had five movies to just basically sort of cheat from.  I was very lucky in that respect.

Nerd as a Kid? Into Comic Books and Superheroes

TH: I didn’t love comics but I was definitely a huge fan of superheroes.  And I really connected with Spiderman especially and I just recently posted a picture on my Instagram of me dressed up as Superman.  Throughout my whole childhood, I was always dressing up as superheroes.

Connection to Spider Man

TH: Spiderman was always my favorite and I connected with him the most because he goes through everything that a kid goes through in high school, so whether I am struggling with doing my chemistry homework or asking a girl on a date, Spiderman is also going through the same sort of problems.  It’s just encouraging to know that even a superhero goes through those problems, so you are not on your own.

Words of Wisdom from Other Marvel Actors

Chris Hemsworth’s word of advice was keep your family close and your friends close and keep everyone around you and remain grounded.  It’s very easy to get caught up in this sort of high life of this industry.  And I think the most valuable piece of advice that I learned from my fellow Avengers is from Robert.  He was on the set of Spiderman and I was watching him work, and he is someone at the top of his game, at his peak.  He is 10 minutes early every day, he shakes everyone’s hand before working, he’s polite and he’s kind and he’s hard working and above all else, he’s respectful.  For me, it was an eye-opener that it doesn’t matter how successful you get, you should always remain the same and respect others.

Being Dancer and Making Physical Movie

TH: I trained everyday for the movie, in boxing, and just regular sort of gym workout sort of stuff.  The biggest challenge was actually the flexibility and even though I was a dancer when I was a kid, that was a long time ago, and I am so un-flexible that I can’t even touch my toes now.  So I had to work on really getting more flexible so I could land in the iconic Spidey poses.  The first couple weeks, it was pretty tough.  But we managed to get there in the end and figure out all the poses that were best for the movie.

The Wires?

TH: I actually loved the wires.  They had hard time getting me down from the wires.  For me, it was like going to a theme park every day, but just lucky enough that I was paid to be there.

Playing Billy Elliott

I did get the lead in “Billy Elliott.’  I originally played Michael because I was so young. I was the youngest kid they put on stage as Bill,  and they put me on stage as Michael to give me some stage experience.  So I originally trained as Billy’s best friend, and then eventually after months of training, I did go on as Billy.  I did 176 shows as “Billy Elliot.”

Stepping Stone for Rest of Career?

TH: It definitely was a huge help.  I have learned so much from being on stage and from working with adults and being mature in a working environment.  The biggest thing for me was working with Naomi Watts.  That was the first time that I really realized that acting was what I wanted to do and the career I had chosen.

Being Cast in Visible Role

TH: It was probably the most stressful thing I have ever been through.  Because they started off, there was a big press release that they were recasting Spiderman and I rang my agent saying just get me an audition, just at least get me in front of them and show them who I am.  Three weeks later, they rang me up and said look, they have requested for you to do an audition.  You have to do a self-take where you sit in front of a camera, do your own audition and send it off, and I did five of those.  I did two in Canada, with Joel Kinnaman, and then I did two in Ireland with Jon Berenthal, and then another one in Belgium with Jon Berenthal.  I then flew to LA for an in-room audition with the casting director Sarah Finn, and then after that, I went to Atlanta to do a screen test with Robert Downey Jr, and then after that again, I went back to Atlanta to do a test with Chris Evans.  And after every single audition, for some reason, I was told that I was going to find out the final news in the next couple of days.  And then months later, they were like oh, we need you to audition again. We need you come in and screen test, we need you to come and try this costume on and blah, blah, blah.  It was a really long process, which had been promised to be a very short one.  I remember after my final audition, I was supposed to find out that day if I had gotten the part, and I ended up finding out six weeks later. I had come to the conclusion that I hadn’t gotten the part.  And I was just scrolling through Instagram one day, I played golf with my dad and lost, which is always a bad day for me, and Marvel just posted it on Instagram, and it was like, go to our website to find out who the new Spiderman is.  And obviously I did.

Final Audition?

TH: The final audition was a movement test and it was funny. I had been sending videos to Marvel constantly of me doing back flips and stuff. I got to the movement test and I met the choreographer and he taught me this fight routine, which was very simple and very basic, and obviously if there is a time to show off, now is the time.  I was like look dude, I can fight, I can do gymnastics, stretch me a little bit, give me something a little harder to do.  So we elaborated on the fight choreography, and I told him that I could do back flips.  And he said to me, look dude, legally, I can’t ask you to do a back flip, because you are not insured, and if you hurt yourself, then it falls on me and I will get sued.  But if you want to do a back flip, I will just pretend that I don’t know anything about it.  So as soon as I got in the audition room, the scene was between Chris Evans and I, and it said Spiderman flips into frame, and delivers his first line.  And I remember saying to the Russo Brothers hey guys, do you want me to do a flip?  And they were like no man, don’t worry about that dude.  Can you do a flip?  Yeah, I have been sending you videos of me doing a flip like every day for the last six months. I did the flip and Chris forgot his line, and it was such a cool moment, it was really cool. And then they said, so you can do back flips?  And I was like well yeah guys, have you not been getting my videos?  And I guess they hadn’t. So then I did a whole series of back flips and I found out only yesterday that they still have the footage from my audition, so I am trying to get hold of it.  And I will not leak it Sony, but I will let you guys see it when I get it.

Acting in The Current War Movie?

TH: I was actually shooting “Avengers Infinity War” at the same time as shooting “A Current War.” Shooting two war films at the same time that were very different, one is a space movie and one is a period piece.  But we would shoot two days in London and then two days in Atlanta. We were back and forth all the time, and it was confusing, because I was going from wearing Lycra to wearing fake sideburns.  But “The Current War” was really a great movie for me and I had a really good time.  Alfonso the director was such an amazing director to work with.  And working with Benedict Cumberbatch has been a dream of mine since I first saw him on screen.  The thing I can draw from the most with “A Current War” is my granddad has been a carpenter all his life, so I have spent a lot of time in workshops and my character Samuel Insull runs Edison’s workshop and is his assistant. So I was able to draw from my history with my granddad in his workshops and bring it to life in the workshop with Thomas Edison.

[tinykawaiisatan]

85 Statements Tag!

Alright so i was tagged by several people a couple days ago, but i was too lazy to complete this at the time. bUT IM NOT NOW SO HERE WE GOOOO

The Last :

1.) drink: Dr Pepper 2.) phone call: A Discord call with a friend while we watched Noragami Aragato together 3.) text message: @batmans-sister 4.) song you listened to:  Diamond Sky - Elliot Berger

5.) time you cried: It was recent but idr why I cried???

6.)dated someone twice: Never .w. If we broke up there was a reason. 7.) kissed someone and regretted it: Uhhhh back in middle school I think? Dude was a prick. 8.) been cheated on:  :> Yupp. 9.) lost someone special: Yes. 10.) been depressed: Middle School and High School was rough. 11.) gotten drunk and thrown up: Not of age, and I don’t plan on drinking, so..

3 favorite colors:

12.) Emerald Green 13.) Black 14.) Light Blue

In the Last year have you:

15. made new friends: Yea .w. 16. fallen out of love: Nah. Haven’t bothered with dating since Junior year. 17. laughed until you cried: Yes quite often haha 18. found out someone was talking about you: This morning actually :> 19. met someone who changed you: .... e.e Not really. 20. found out who your friends are: I’ve known. 21. kissed someone on your Facebook list: I’m sure.

General

22. how many of your Facebook friends do you know in real life: I don’t have Facebook friends that I don’t know irl 23. do you have any pets: My cat and my parents’ dog. I used to have a dog and another cat, plus two leopard geckos, and 3 bettas. But they all passed away before we moved ... 24. do you want to change your name: Never~ 25. what did you do for your last birthday: I slept. It was just a normal day tbh. 26. what time did you wake up: About 11 AM I think. 27. what were you doing at midnight last night: Drawing I think. 28. name something you can’t wait for the announcement for: New season of Servamp. that’ll be a while tho. 29. when was the last time you saw your mom: 9pm. So like 5 hours ago. 31. what are you listening to right now:  Yellow - Coldplay 32. have you ever talked to a person named Tom: Nope. 33. something that is getting on your nerves: People on Overwatch and other games. but eh. It happens. 34. most visited website: Tumblr, Discord, and Youtube. 35. hair color: Purple and black. (Black roots, purple ends) 36. long or short hair: Short 37. do you have a crush on someone: Nope~ Well sorta but not in the traditional way I suppose.   38. what do you like about yourself: I try my best to be a good firend. 39. piercings: None. Can’t be bothered to mess with them tbh. 40. blood type: No clue :3 41. nickname: the list could go on forever. (Stan, Satan, Tiny, Kawaii, Karma, Sleepy, Dying... depends on the site I’m on.) 42. relationship status: Single and ready to stay that way. 43. zodiac: Cancer 44. pronouns: She/Her .w. 45. favourite tv show: I don’t watch T.V. But I watch an ass ton of anime so... I can’t pick one tbh. 46. tattoos: None 47. right or left handed: Right handed. 48. surgery: Tonsils :P 50. sport: I was in dance, then soccer, then swimming, then realized I hated sports. 51. vacation: What about it? 52. pair of trainers: I wear boots.

MORE GENERAL

53. eating: ...String cheese... 54. drinking: water 55. about to: upload my new icon 56. waiting for: my ass to get tired enough to sleep 57. want: More Kuro and other SERVAMP merch. (And the new Mercy and Sombra Skins >A<) 58. get married: Idk maybe. 59. career: I want to design videogame characters :3

WHICH IS BETTER

60. hugs or kisses: Hugs. I’m not a kissy person. 61. lips or eyes: Eyes. I love eyes. Theres so many variations and theyre all so cool. Have you heard of heterochromia? It’s a rare genetic--- 62. shorter or taller: Short. I’m fun to hug. 63. older or younger: I prefer being older despite the responsibilities 64. nice arms or nice stomach: ... On myself or other people??? 65. hook up or relationship: ..... Neither? Not rn at least... I’m too busy.  66. troublemaker or hesitant: Ehe... Depends on where I’m at. Discord I’m a trouble maker....

HAVE YOU EVER:

67. kissed a stranger: Fuck no 68. drank hard liquor: Not 21 yet 69. lost glasses/contact lenses: Nope. One of the few things I’ve never misplaced. 70. turned someone down: Yeh. A good few times. 71. sex on the first date: You’re gonna have to kill me first. I’m not a very sexual person in relationships. 72. broken someone’s heart: Unfortunately. 73. had your heart broken: Hm... yeah once.

74. been arrested: I’m an angel, how dare you accuse me of something like misconduct. 75. cried when someone died: I cry over every fuckin thing, are you kidding me 76. fallen for a friend: e.e ..... Once? I think? No. Nvm he didn’t know I existed xD

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:

77. yourself: On good days 78. miracles: Definitely 79. love at first sight: Nah. 80. santa clause: At one point yea  81. kiss on the first date: Maybe? You’d gotta prove yo’self worthy bb. 82. angels: Yes

OTHER:

84. eye color: Green with slight gold centers.  85. favorite movies: Everything Marvel, and Harry Potter was good.

Done~ I’m just gonna say... I tag you if you wanna do it. :>

[glenngaylord]

THE SEMICIRCLE OF LIFE - My Review of ROCKETMAN (4 Stars)

[Excerpted from https://thequeerreview.com/ ]

My mother took me to my first concert when I was a young teen.  Ever the stylish trailblazer, she wore a halter top, hot pants, go-go boots and a cape as she led me into a giant arena in Cleveland to see none other than Elton John.  She stood and sang the whole time and frequently would yell to him, “You’re the king!  You’re the king!”  When surprise guest Kiki Dee hit the stage to perform their iconic duet, “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”, I swear my mom lost her shit.  She couldn’t find it.  It was gone!  Around that time, Elton had just come out as bisexual, which cemented his icon status with me even further.  Here was this masterful singer, pianist, and songwriter who embraced his own fabulosity and had bravely for the time tip-toed towards his queerness. He was, and has always been, my favorite.  It’s my way of saying that I came into Rocketman predisposed to loving it.  

Director Dexter Fletcher (who, with his taking over the reins on Bohemian Rhapsody, knows a thing or two about gay rock icons) and screenwriter Lee Hall (Billy Elliot) have turned Elton’s life story into a phantasmagorical, full-blown musical, which, while riddled with the usual rock star cliches, manages to evoke the feeling of his music, and it’s an exhilarating experience.  Additionally, when not bursting with kaleidoscopic energy, the film brings us the painful and intimate story of a young boy whose demons seem to stem from a lack of parental love.  Despite achieving superstardom, Elton, with his crippling shyness as a child turning to drug, sex and alcohol excesses as an adult, along with a diva’s temperament, seems to cut to the heart of Jennifer North’s famous statement in Valley Of The Dolls, “You know how bitchy fags can be!”  This film, in its quieter scenes, painfully shows us how the judgment and coldness Elton experienced can lead to anger, depression, addiction, and suicide.  

Taron Egerton gives a brilliant performance as Elton.  Unlike Rami Malek’s Freddy Mercury, Egerton does his own singing, realizing a similar tone and a gorgeous, wistful energy to a couple dozen songs from a remarkable catalog.  We first meet him sporting an outrageous orange devil’s outfit as he bursts through the doors of a rehab center.  Faster than you can say, It’s A Wonderful Life, Elton talks about his 1950s English childhood, as a full-blown song and dance number to “The Bitch Is Back” erupts on the screen.  Following his younger self through his old neighborhood, we’re then treated to a quieter series of scenes in which we explore his lonely home life and emerging talent as a natural piano player.  While his distant father (Steven Mackintosh) and indulgent, uncaring mother (Bryce Dallas Howard) find ways to denigrate him, his grandmother (Gemma Jones) recognizes and nurtures the specialness in him.

From here, we witness Elton’s rise to the pop stratosphere, including his chance meeting with Bernie Taupin (a warm, engaging Jamie Bell), who will become his lifelong lyricist and great friend. He meets John Reid, who will eventually take over as Elton’s manager and boyfriend, until the usual betrayals and ugliness ensues.  Between how Aidan Gillen played the role in Bohemian Rhapsody and by Richard Madden’s commanding turn here, you get the sense that Reid himself hasn’t had a very good year.  For me, he seemed like the harsh voice of reason, but I’m willing to bet audiences will hiss him.

Some sequences work better than others.  The songs tend to serve the narrative rather than adhere to chronology, so we breeze through his younger years with a fun, trippy number set to “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting”. When Egerton makes his first young Elton appearance in this number, it’s a knockout blast.  Later, we watch him literally levitate, along with the audience, in a career-launching stint at the Troubadour to “Crocodile Rock”, despite the song being written years later.  It doesn’t matter, as these sequences have fluidity, grace, and a rush of energy.  Rocketman has been billed as ‘Based On A True Fantasy”, and this approach goes a long way towards smoothing over some of the film’s clunkier aspects.  Many of the events of Elton’s life feel cookie cutter, but through the filmmakers’ almost abstract interpretation of it, we get a propulsive, exhilarating ride nonetheless.  He may yada-yada through key moments, such as Elton’s meteoric rise, but Fletcher stays focused on Elton’s internal struggles. It’s not the deepest of biopics, since it really doesn’t go too far into all of the known story beats, opting instead to give us an experience through pure musical feeling.  

At times, I felt like Fletcher was simultaneously tipping his hat to Ken Russell’s Tommy, Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge, and in its early scenes, John Boorman’s Hope And Glory, yet the controlled rage of Egerton’s performance, especially in some devastating silent glances, make this its own unique experience.  Try not to die a little inside when adult Elton visits his father and sees that he dotes on his new children, having never done the same with him.  Egerton’s work here broke my heart.  As much as I loved the splashy numbers, the quiet ones, such as a goosebump inducing scene in which Elton writes his classic “Your Song”, moved me more.  

Some collaborators worth mentioning include a hilarious turn by Tate Donovan as the Troubadour owner, Doug Weston, Julian Day’s splashy, spot-on costume design, and George Richmond’s 70’s perfect cinematography.  From London to Los Angeles, on private jets and inside gaudy mansion drawing rooms, the film provides a rush of visuals.  It may feel like a messy hodgepodge of looks and tones, but doesn’t that describe Elton’s life?  He went from one musical style to another, sometimes forgetting what day it was or what town he was in, but he wrote a lot of amazing melodies.

Yes, people break out in song and dance throughout the film, or things turn surreal, such as in one sequence which starts out at the bottom of a swimming pool and culminates in Elton literally blasting off into space.  As such, the film benefits from its fearlessness in never shying away from being a musical.  Some numbers fall flat, such as Elton’s kinda lame “walk and talk” as he sings “Tiny Dancer” at a Hollywood party.  Other moments get the music video treatment, while a song like “I Need Love” gets sung by various characters who, quite obviously, could use a little more of it.  A key moment in the film begs for his classic “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” but instead goes with his upbeat “I’m Still Standing”.  I understand the decision, but felt the former would have resonated on a deeper level and put a nice capper on his beautiful relationship with Taupin.  The film also suffers by never allowing any of the songs to be sung in their entirety.  Some get as little as one line whereas others get cut too short.  A little breathing room, especially on the title track would have been nice. But with songs this great, and with Egerton’s fearless, sometimes vicious, sometimes delicate performance, Rocketman soars. I wish my mother was still around to see it, as she would have risen from her movie theater seat, thrown a go-go boot at the screen and screamed “You’re the king!” one last time.  

[cinnab3an]

been thinking about changing url/icon and I don’t know if i’m ready but I kind of want to

[shirlleycoyle]

A Roundtable of Hackers Dissects ‘Mr. Robot’ Season 4 Episode 4: ‘File Not Found’

The fourth episode of Mr. Robot’s final season left a lot to be desired, but still gave us a little bit to talk about. We discussed [SPOILERS, obvs] social engineering, audio surveillance, signal jamming, operational security, encrypted chat rooms, and more. (The chat transcript has been edited for brevity, clarity, and chronology.) This week’s team of experts includes:

Emma Best: a former hacker and current journalist and transparency advocate with a specialty in counterintelligence and national security.

Jason Hernandez: Solutions Architect for Bishop Fox, an offensive security firm. He also does research into surveillance technology and has presented work on aerial surveillance.

Harlo Holmes: Director of Digital Security at Freedom of the Press Foundation.

Trammell Hudson: a security researcher who likes to take things apart.

Micah Lee: a technologist with a focus on operational security, source protection, privacy and cryptography, as well as Director of Information Security at The Intercept.

Dark Army Surveillance

Yael: So, uh, how obvious is that white van?

Harlo: I'd just like to say, really appreciate that Audacity hasn't changed in over a decade. Van guy definitely had it open.

Yael: So the best way to get audio surveillance is to put a bug in the actual room and then sit in a white van outside the building?

Jason: Yeah, seems like the kind of wireless microphone setup you can buy at a spy shop.

Harlo: We're seeing some terminal stuff for rtl_tcp, which is SDR (software defined radio) software. So yeah, it's a bug.

Yael: I guess one would think that if you were going to do this, you'd be discreet, so maybe it’d be less obvious breaking and entering and hanging out in a blue van or a green van or something. Something other than a white or black van. But maybe the point was for him to know he was being listened to?

Jason: I once had a chat with a DEA agent about surveillance and he said he preferred minivans—"nobody pays attention to minivans."

Emma: If you wanted to be discreet, you wouldn't even break and enter. You don't need to plant bugs inside buildings anymore.

Yael: How would you bug them?

Emma: For Elliot's situation, the window is a perfect vector. It's glass, I'm sure. Dark Army has access to the kinds of lasers and sensors needed to bug the room from that alone.

Yael: It sounded like when the "mic went out" they just had the bug too close to the speaker, but it's really hard to find bugs.

Micah: I think maybe while Elliot was talking, he was starting to jam signals at the same time to cause the Dark Army guy to get out of the van and investigate.

Yael: How do you do that?

Micah: Well, he'd have to know what frequency to jam, which you're right, isn't easy. But he could use an SDR radio himself to do the actual jamming.

Trammell: Maybe he was messing with the antenna. I think he had pulled the bug out from somewhere. It was sitting on the table with the note "they're listening. " So when Darlene came into the room, she saw the note and the bug.

Yael: I thought if he pulled the bug and brought it closer to the recording device, it could make that noise, but not if he left the bug there. And also I don’t know if that's true; I just know it happens sometimes with mics too close to recorders.

Harlo: I want to look at the man pages for that program, because if I recall correctly, the only options supplied were an IP address and a port for listening.

Cyprus Bank Op

Yael: So Darlene said Olivia was not authorized to transfer anything— “all their authentication goes through a proxy and everything else in their domain is read-only.” So they need to break into Virtual Realty. But I didn’t quite get what Virtual Realty was.

Emma: They didn’t say what Virtual Realty is yet. That was dangerously brief surveillance—only one day. Darlene only saw one shift of security officers; you can't generalize schedules off of that. And no prediction for Xmas, really. It's blind faith. Not that they have a choice.

Trammell: What was going on with Darlene’s OpSec? I realize she was venting and planned to erase the voicemail, but screaming the entire plan to the world while standing on the street was a serious WTF.

Harlo: VOICEMAIL. That's our lil OpSec fail. Maybe she’s on coke? Thus the rant? Then she realizes what she said was really really mean…

Trammell: V O I C E M A I L? Even in 2015, that's such a faux pas.

Harlo: LET'S TALK ABOUT OUR CRIMES ON AT&T'S VOICEMAIL PROGRAM. Like, I have never even left carrier metadata between me and my best friends. Because that's why Signal exists.

Emma: The whole thing was very poorly done on Darlene’s part, but realistically so, given the circumstances. They're all cracking, and they're not playing a long game anymore. They know they aren't getting away clean.

Yael: Yeah, I kind of feel like they're careless because they have nothing left to lose.

Emma: Nothing to lose and they HAVE to proceed, it's now or never.

Encrypted Chat

Yael: Do we, uh, want to talk about Dom’s Adium chat room?

Micah: Dom was using Adium as an IRC [Internet Relay Chat] client, but it also used to be a popular Jabber client for Mac that people would use for OTR-encrypted chats. But she was talking to the person on IRC, which doesn't have built-in encryption, and there was no sign of her using OTR in her private messages

Jason: Yeah, I think she connected to Freenode, which has publicly available/searchable chat logs.

Harlo: The screen shows a little lock icon.

Lost in the Woods

Micah: This was very much a 404 File Not Found themed episode. Mr. Robot had this monologue: “Seems like we're always thinking of ourselves when looking for something that's lost. But we never think much about the lost. Whatever, whoever is unable to be found. Whether it’s a set of keys left somewhere and forgotten, a couple guys wandering aimlessly in the woods, or someone who's disappeared inside himself. What if that's what they wanted all along? Not to be found?”

Emma: Can we talk about the attempted social engineering at the gas station and the three different tactics they each used? Desperate and reserved, straightforward and insistent, and finally just snapping and losing his patience.

Yael: I feel like they COULD'VE used some social engineering. She totally would've given them a ride.

Trammell: There was an interesting minor point about what happens in a cashless society when the internet goes down. Always online systems fail in very brittle ways.

Harlo: I kind of like the idea of overusing the term “social engineering.” Like, where does one draw the line between social engineering, and saying-whatever-because-I-just-want-you-to-shut-up?

Yael: WHAT IS THE GODDAMN SHORTCUT?

Trammell: The shortcut was a bit tropy…

Yael: I just have to say that Tyrell telling Elliot he “didn't care” because he was wearing the standard hacker uniform (black hoodie) instead of an overpriced suit really pissed me off. As if everybody in expensive work clothes gives a shit.

Emma: I got the sentiment. I just think it was expressed poorly. To me it was Tyrell talking about how he thought he and Elliot/Mr. Robot were a team. But Elliot was never of that mindset and would never see Tyrell as his equal—which I felt was the other betrayal. Tyrell has always presented himself as someone with technical chops. In his first appearance, there's the bit about him still using Linux and surprising Elliot. But while he's far from incompetent, he's not on Elliot's level. And that realization hurt, along with learning that he didn't get the E-Corp position on his own. It was because of Elliot.

Yael: Oh, did he figure that out?

Emma: I thought he did from the discussion with Elliot, that it's Whiterose’s maneuvering, not him being recognized as valuable. And at this point he knows he's going to die. He's lost everything. His wife is dead, his son is gone…

Yael: I don’t even know what to say about this scene. Even before he got shot. Like… learn some survival skills? You're probably not going to die because it's cold out and you're walking for an hour? Also one of the things they teach in survival schools is "what's going to kill you first." You make decisions based on what will kill you first—so like, yes you might drink possibly contaminated water if the alternative is dying of dehydration. So, like, you don't bleed to death because you're worried about Dark Army at the hospital and how they'd kill you. Also, you're telling me there's no first aid supplies in that van? Like what the fuck.

Emma: The metrics of success are different here than in the usual survival situations. In the survival situations that those schools cover, your ONLY goal is to survive and help your cohorts survive. The remnants of FSociety see it as a struggle to save the world. Survival becomes secondary to success.

Yael: I think it was just badly written for Tyrell to go from "you don't care!" to, like, not caring.

Emma: Definitely a rushed final arc for Tyrell that could’ve been handled and explored better.

A Roundtable of Hackers Dissects ‘Mr. Robot’ Season 4 Episode 4: ‘File Not Found’ syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/