#and also New Asian Cinema but we already knew that

[starbuck]

me: i should really be listening to the more recent mountain goats albums so i can recognize everything they’re likely to play at the concert

also me: what if they play Water Song II?

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - a shocking upset to the rankings

Organized, in each category, by ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

Nov 2023 Wk 4

Ongoing Series - Thai

My Dear Gangster Oppa (Thurs iQIYI) ep 5 of 8 - It remains absolutely delightful. We already knew this pair does boyfriends damn near perfectly. It’s a pleasure to watch them as a couple, coupling all over our screen. The relationship does feel a bit rushed but frankly I like the pacing, it’s kind of Korean style which makes sense considering the original IP. 

The Sign (Sat YT) ep 1 of 10 - You know what this is? It’s FUN is what it is. I haven’t felt this way about a BL in a while. Sure is has an uneven story, fight sequences, pacing, and acting but still… yay! Billy is great, he very good at thirst. It’s a crime Lee Long Shi isn’t in this, but otherwise weeeeeeeeee!

(Also was that Bangsean I spotted?)

Last Twilight (Fri YT) ep 3 of 12 - The montage of them learning and training together was so stinking cute I can hardly contain myself. Plus a little language play? (Did you catch the added “na” on to thank you? Gah! So sweet.) Have mercy. I love the banter that these two can execute so smoothly. It reminds me the most of TayNew back in their Kiss days. Or Nanon & Ohm in Bad Buddy.

There’s this breezy casualness to friendships and long-term relationships that Asian BLs seem to find really hard to execute (I’m thinking about something like Hospital Playlist as the best example). It’s more a friend chemistry than a lover chemistry, although of course it can morph into that.

Anyway, I am waffling, but I’m loving this show. (The bit with the teacher made me cry.) I also really love how much actual Bangkok we’re getting from it for a change. 

Finally... how much did @respectthepetty and I love the pink milk shirt moment? SO MUCH. Color theory, plot devise, fashion, food, and a trope reference all in one. Well done GMMTV! Very well done.

Twins the series (Fri GaGa) ep 4 of 10 - I would like it if we got onto the BL section of this BL. Please and thank you. 

Pit Babe (Fri iQIYI) ep 2 of 14 - it's delightfully trashy, btu slightly less trashy than last week because they introduced AlanJeff who are my new babies of age gap delight and you cannot have them. THEY ARE MINE. Also Way. WAY IS MINE. Also, I decided to do a trash watch.

Bake Me Please (Mon Gaga) ep 1 of 6 - It’s nice. It’s fine. Atmospheric and pretty and full of deserts. What’s not to love? Is it inspired? No. Definitely has an Antique Bakery (play it again, BL). But I do love food based cinema. 

Middleman’s Love (Fri YT & iQIYI ep 3 of 8 - What’s annoying is that this could’ve been so good. It’s a poster child for squandered potential. 

Absolute Zero (Weds iQIYI) ep 9 of 12 - Because of the temporal paradox, and Thai BL not being all that great on narrative consistency anyway, this is a confusing piece as well as a painful one. Now Ongsa seems to be nothing more than a stalker who cries all the time. 

Playboyy (Thurs Gaga) 2 of 14(!) eps - This really feels like Thailand is trying to relive the gory days of Japan's pinks. I wasn’t into it then and I’m certainly not into it now. It’s a mess and weirdly mechanically not sexy. I’ll stay watching it but, like Only Friends, I don’t think I’m gonna warm to it. I just don’t like shows where there are no likable characters. 

Also imma say it, so plug your assears. This is about as deep as a dildo can go. Which is to say, the size queens seem to be finding it more deep than the rest of us who are already bottoming out. Just make sure you're taking adequate lube prep with your psyches.

My Universe (Sun iQIYI) Friends Forever ep 14 of 24 - No thank you. 1/10 

I've decided, for spreadsheet reasons, that each of these is going to be tracked as its own 2 part show.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

A Breeze of Love (Korea iQIYI) eps 5-6 of 8 - The shopping together scene was absolutely darling. But I’m getting a little frustrated not knowing exactly what happened in the past.

VIP Only (Taiwan Fri Gaga) ep 1-2 of 10 - Of course it starts with the crash into me trope, oh Taiwan. It’s cute enough, I love the support cast, and it’s always nice to have something from my favorite tiny island on my dash. 

You tell me: is it safe?

One Room Angel (Japan Gaga) 6 eps - This one finished. It's an adaptation of Harada’s manga (which I did not like and dnf'd) about a clerk who nearly dies and ends up cohabitating with an angel. Thoughts? Is it sad? Is it meh? TELL ME!

It's Airing But...

The Whisperer (Sun ????) 1 of 10 - Thai horror BL that ALSO involves cheating (what joy is mine). He has dimples (My Ride) but I don't think even that gives me the will. You can tell me how this goes if you can find it.

SHADOW (Thai Gaga) 14 eps - I'm not wild about Thai horror (or horror at all) even one featuring Singto and Fluke. I'm holding off. If told it's good, I'll binge.

7 Days Before Valentine (Weds WeTV) ep 1 of 10 - trailer here, horror-esk. Adapted from y-novel of the same name, directed by Tu (180 Degree) stars Jet (Why You… Y Me?). Giving me Luminous Solution vibes, so I'm waiting to binge if told it's safe.

Beyond The Star (Weds iQIYI) 8 eps - House of Stars meets Boyband. I was NOT impressed with ep one. Waiting to be told if I should bother.

What Did You Eat Yesterday Season 2 AKA Kinou Nani Tabeta? Season 2 (Japan Gaga) 10 eps - I find this series more fun to binge, so I'm waiting until it completes its run.

In case you missed it

I posted 20 BLs with the BEST Thirst! and decided to distinguish the different type son need in BL as follows:

Thirst wants to slide a hand under his waistband right tf now and grind.

Horny wants to rip his clothes off, and probably pop buttons and laugh about it.

Yearning wants to run both hands up his back while they kiss deeply.

Hunger wants to lift him by the ass and slam him against the wall.

Next Week Looks Like This

(Today) 11/26 Cooking Crush (Sun YT) 1 of 12 - OffGun are back, trailer here. Adapted from the novel “Love Course! เสื้อกาวน์รุกเสื้อกุ๊กรับ” by iJune4S this is about Prem who runs a not-so-popular restaurant with 2 friends. About to go on a cooking competition with a huge reward, Prem gets involved with Ten, a stressed-out med student who wants Prem to teach him to cook.

11/30 For Him (Thurs iQIYI) ep 1 of 10 - high heat trailer From the people who brought us Unforgotten Night (please no) based on a y-novel, man nursing a heartbreak has a one-night stand, but the other boy didn't want it to end. It looks terribly trashy so I'm in!

Original 2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED).

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Look at how gd cute they are!

Ah yes... (both Last Twilight)

We stan a supportive bestie/brother (orphans together? - not sure on the backstory)

It is a rule universally aknowledged that an cutie in a baceball cap must get his brim tweaked. (all from The Sign)

Way is the best.

I kinda love the BTS for Pit Babe.

(Last week)

[fandom]

Marvel on the Big (and Small) Screen

2021 was the year Marvel tried its hand at television in a way we hadn’t really seen before. The first few episodes of WandaVision seemed a little dicey, but that silly sitcom eventually transformed into something lore-filled and foreboding that would pave the way for MCU TV shows and films to come. Speculation is Tumblr’s bread and butter, but the miniseries turned regular fans with theories and text posts into full-blown detectives. You knew Agnes was Agatha Harkness before she even knew herself, but you loved her anyway. She was Tumblr’s third favorite WandaVision character, right behind the titular characters. Pretty impressive for an ancient, morally grey sorceress.

The dust had barely settled before The Falcon and the Winter Soldier dropped. The return of Bucky lit Tumblr up in the way only James Buchanan Barnes can. This time, his Captain America was an entirely different man but no less a best friend or lover, depending on which Sambucky fics you’re reading. But Sam Wilson’s transition to his new role as the first Black Captain America wasn’t a smooth one. This series tackled a lot of real-world issues like racism and morality, but the discussion wasn’t limited to plot alone. When hatred for temporary Cap John Walker became real-world hatred for actor Wyatt Russell, fans took to the tags to combat the harassment, urging each other to remember that fiction is fiction. A text post by @thecinematicalgorithm​ says it best: John Walker is a good soldier, but Sam Wilson is a good man, and that’s why the shield was always meant to be his.

Then came Loki and his Nexus Event. Loki Laufeyson has and always will be an enigma, and his miniseries was no different. Anticipation started last December after we got our first glimpse of the series and it was so strong, the #loki series made its first appearance in Week in Review. In June, the first episode finally dropped, and the sleuthing began. You came together to decipher a very complicated title sequence and ponder the repercussions of tampering with time. The show’s impact is still rippling all around us, its effects already taking shape in upcoming Marvel projects. Chatter around Loki’s love life also grew to an all-time high, and the confirmation of bisexual Loki as canon was a huge win for us all. His affection for Mobius and Sylvie leaped off the screen and into chapters of fanfiction. Lokius went on to become the 6th most popular ship on Tumblr this year with a stunning 411% more engagements than Sylki. Loki ended this year as Tumblr’s favorite Marvel series with 78.8% more engagements than runner-up The Falcon and the Winter Soldier—it was so popular, in fact, that you made TOMBLR happen, calling the God of Mischief himself to answer your questions.

If Loki and the multiverse tore us apart, then Shang-Chi pieced us back together again. The release of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was an incredible piece of history we all got to be a part of, but important to none more than the Asian-American community. Fans felt seen—their family traditions and cultures were reflected on screen in a way we don’t often see in Hollywood. Shang-Chi also gave us our first taste of Tony Leung in American cinema after decades of legendary performances in Asia. But fans also noticed the film’s shortcomings. The English subtitles often failed to do the translations justice in situations where their actual sentiment held more meaning to native Mandarin speakers. Those conversations took shape in a really meaningful way and in high volume—Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings topped our Movies list three weeks in a row and would continue to be a major topic of discussion in the weeks following. Some of you even got the chance to ask Simu Liu about his own connections to the film and his character during his Answer Time—portraying a fully-fleshed out, three-dimensional Asian-American character straddling the line between two vastly different cultures is something he’s really proud of, and something that resonated with so many of us. 

In an age of instant gratification, Marvel reminded a lot of us of how TV used to work and gave us something new to look forward to every week. They introduced an inclusive, new wave of childhood heroes and pushed the boundaries of your typical box office hit. In this post, we focused on the Marvel releases you engaged with the most here on Tumblr, but this is in no way an exhaustive list of the MCU timeline in 2021. You loved Black Widow—probably Yelena more than the rest—and reimagined the Marvel Universe each week with What If…? We can’t even begin to imagine what next year will bring, but we know we’re not ready.

[sapphirefallschronicles]

- ̥۪͙۪˚┊❛ Welcome to Sapphire Falls - New Years Special #2 ❜┊˚̥۪͙۪◌

Basketballer!Chris Evans x Abigail Syverson (plus size!ofc) & Farmer!Syverson x Livia Darmandi (Asian ofc)

Summary: How is Chris doing a year later?

Word count: 1.5k

Warnings: None

The Advent Calendar (a.k.a. the masterlist)

Life with Abigail in Chicago is everything I ever dreamed of and so much more. I can’t even imagine my life without her anymore. 

After last Christmas, Abigail joined me in Chicago soon after. Although we said we’d take it slow, she moved in with me right away for multiple reasons. One, she didn’t know anyone here except for me. Two, the amount of rent you have to pay for a decent apartment is insane. And most importantly, three, we wanted to be with each other whenever we could. 

We did however take our time exploring our relationship. We went on countless dates: getting breakfast, catching a movie at the cinema, taking a cooking class, and so much more. 

We took our time, and we needed it. The start of our relationship had not been as easy as Sy and Livia’s for example. Abigail and I had some bumps in the road. Ourselves. 

For her entire life, Abigail had felt like she needed to do everything by herself. She’d never ask for help, or share what she really felt. Back when we were younger, I had been there for her. I helped her whenever I could, whenever I saw she needed me. But after all this time, Abigail and I had grown apart for a bit. And we needed time to reconnect. I needed time to get to know her again, and get to know who she is now, so I knew when she needed me, just like then.

Abigail on the other hand needed to learn how to let me in, really in. She had built up these walls around her, and she needed to break them down for me. We both knew that it wasn't done overnight, but with patience, tears, and love, we got there. 

I also had to overcome some bumps. After a miserable relationship, I had to learn how an actual loveable relationship worked. I had to accept Abigail was there for me, like I was for her. That she wanted to help me too, that I had someone to rely on. Something I didn’t have before. 

But we put in the work. And after a few months, everything fell into place. 

My injury healed, and I got back on the court soon after. Abigail had already been adopted by my teammates, and their partners. The entire team is absolutely in love with my girl and rightly so. She gets along great with the other wives and girlfriends of my teammates, however I still hear her late at night calling with Livia, who will forever remain her number one friend. 

The Chicago Bulls hired her instantly as their photographer, after they saw the upgrade of my Instagram page when I started dating her. It’s nice having her around me when we play, dare I even say that I’m playing better with her around. Taking the best pictures for our team and it warms my heart to see her excitement when she gains a few more followers.

Besides that, she had started freelancing. She got a few jobs immediately, and it has been an immense success ever since. I couldn’t be more proud. 

I take a sip of my coffee, and overlook the skyline of Chicago out of the window of our apartment. Once Abigail started to feel at home here, she wasted no time to put her stamp on it. So, I got a hundred more plants, much more accessories, and an increased amount of candles. But I love it. 

Oh, and I had to build her a new closet. Which she is now rummaging through. 

‘Are you almost done?’ I yell, looking at my own, ready, suitcase near the door. In a few hours we will fly to Sapphire Falls, to spend New Years with Sy and Livia.

‘Almost!’ I hear something fall down, and I make my way towards the bedroom. ‘Where is it, where is it?’ I hear Abigail whispering. 

‘What are you looking for?’ I ask, once I have her in my sight. She is sitting on the floor, in the middle of what looks like the entire content of her closet. 

‘Mhm,’ she answers, searching for something in the puddle of clothes. ‘This!’ she exclaims, holding up a pair of Adidas sweatpants. 

I put aside my now empty cup of coffee, and crouch down next to her. I take her face in my hands and say: ‘You are the weirdest person on this planet. What’s wrong with the sweatpants you’re wearing now?’ I peck her lips, and she playfully rolls her eyes before I help her stand up. 

‘I told you, I got my niece or nephew a matching Adidas set like mine, so it’s obvious we’re best friends. I even got them those cute little sneakers.’ Abigail lights up when she talks about Sy and Livia’s baby. Sometimes I think she is even more excited than the parents to be themselves. But I’m not going to lie, that baby is going to be spoiled rotten by me as well. 

‘You got them 5 pairs of sneakers, babe. That kid has already grown out of them before they even wore them.’

‘Thankfully we’re flying private,’ Abigail says, kissing my cheek, ‘because with the amount of baby clothes I bought for my niece or nephew, I think I need an extra suitcase.’ She looks up and smiles innocently. ‘Am I too excited? Will that scare Sy and Livia?’

For a few moments I’m just lost in her eyes, especially because I realize that during this trip, I’m gonna propose.

Pop the question.

Getting down on one knee.

I’m going to marry this woman. 

‘No,’ I say, finally answering her question. ‘That will not scare Sy and Livia.’

‘Good,’ she smiles, and continues packing her enormous suitcase. I sit down on the bed, watching her. 

I had been thinking about proposing to her for quite some time now and I finally decided to let the two people I trust the most–besides Abigail of course–in on my plan. Thanks to the wonders that is FaceTime, they helped me with picking out a ring. I knew they couldn’t leave the farm, so through FaceTime, they helped me decide on the perfect ring.

I knew from the start she was the one for me. She had always been. But we needed time to be ready for a big step like this. 

One night I just knew. We had had a long day. I had a big game with the Chicago Bulls, and Abigail ran around all day. Taking pictures of the team in the dressing room, during warm up, the game, and after we won. We had to celebrate of course, and I had been so tired once we came back home. Normally I wanted to be alone when I felt like that. 

But when the door closed behind me, and I looked at Abigail kicking off her shoes, smiling softly at me, before taking me with her to the bedroom to get all cozied up in bed, I knew I never wanted to be apart from her ever again. 

She is my safe haven, my rock. And all I want to do is to take our relationship to the next level. To show her, she will always be mine, like I’ll be hers. 

You could say that since I proposed once, it’s gonna be a piece of cake now, however I can safely say I am experiencing some difficulty. Maybe because the stakes are higher. Maybe because I really don’t want to screw up. 

Thankfully Livia always knows what to do. Secretly we came up with a plan, and I can’t wait for it. I’m nervous, but not because I’m scared she’ll say no, but because I want it to be perfect. For Abigail.

She is done packing, and currently trying to close her suitcase. Which won’t close because it’s way too full. 

‘You can sit there, or help me,’ she sasses, lifting an eyebrow at me. I chuckle, but get up to help her. With quite some force from both of us, we manage to close it.

‘Please tell me you haven’t forgotten anything,’ I joke. 

‘Oh, god.’ Abigail gasps. ‘My toiletries!’

With wide open eyes I look at her. ‘You’re kidding, I hope?’

For a second, she keeps the innocent look on her face, but then she breaks. ‘I’m kidding hun.’ 

I roll my eyes, and wrap my arms around her frame. I lift her up, and throw her on the bed, landing on top of her. ‘You’re very lucky I love you,’ I say. 

‘And I love you,’ Abigail smiles, before her lips meet mine. Within seconds we have shredded ourselves of our clothing. 

Luckily I have a private jet, so we can determine when it leaves.

●・○・●・○・●

[ladyonfire28]

Came back from my little break for that new article ! Here is the translation of Adèle and Aïssa’s interview for Libération. It’s a very long, but very interesting one. So i recommend to read it. There may be a lot of incoherencies so please tell me if something doesn’t make sense ! 

Aïssa Maïga and Adèle Haenel : «Finally there’s something political happening»

They stood up together at the César and have since been striving to invent a common front against all forms of discrimination. For "Libération", actresses Adèle Haenel and Aïssa Maïga retrace the journey of generational awareness.

Some kind of symbol. A large mural, in tribute to George Floyd, a 46-year-old black American who died on 25 May when he was arrested by a white policeman, and to Adama Traoré, who died at the age of 24 on the floor of the "caserne de Persan" (Val-d'Oise) following an arrest in 2016, was painted at the beginning of the week on the façade of a building in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. Close by, the Adama Committee organized a press conference on Tuesday. Words, demands and the announcement of a new march to fight against police violence. It takes place this Saturday in the capital, from the Place de la République to the Place de l'Opéra. The organizers dream of seeing a huge crowd come together. This demonstration comes at the heart of a tense period. Young people are demanding answers and action, while many police officers feel that the Minister of the Interior is letting his troops down in the face of the scolding.

In the street, we will find associations, politicians and many people. Adèle Haenel and Aïssa Maïga will be there. Not a first. They were already present on  June 2nd at the rally in front of the Paris high court. The actresses didn't really know each other before the last César ceremony, marked by the speech of one and the shattering departure of the other. Since then, they have never left each other. Both describe the moment as a "turning point". The fights converge.

When the idea of a cross-exchange came on the table to put words to their commitments, they did not hesitate. On Thursday, in a roadstead near Belleville, Adèle Haenel arrived first, followed by Aïssa Maïga. They are not of the same generation, the journeys and paths are different. The styles too. The one who got up at the announcement of the prize awarded to Polanski goes up and down, talks with her body. The one who, at the same ceremony, invited to count the black people in the room appears calmer, stays seated on her chair, speaks in a low voice. Adèle Haenel and Aïssa Maïga complement each other.

From where are you speaking?

Adèle Haenel: I speak from my personal political background, rooted in feminism, a background that is shaken by the worldwide movement around police violence and by the French movement around the Adama Committee. I would say that taking charge of my own history has given me the ability to deal with other broader issues that do not immediately affect me. I'm talking about a kind of political awakening. This desire to show my support for the families of the victims, for the political movement against racism and police violence in France, and for the actors who take a stand. I'm thinking of Omar Sy, Camélia Jordana and you, Aïssa.

Aïssa Maïga: This intersectional awakening evoked by Adèle is a place where I have been for a long time without necessarily being able to name it. For a long time, the racial question in cinema was so pervasive in my life that it cannibalized everything else. I felt that it was less difficult to be a woman, in a world that discriminates women, than it was to be a black woman. The work done by Afrofeminists in France and abroad put the words in my mouth that I didn't have because I didn't have that heritage. I am speaking from a place that is on the move and that is not made up of certainties, that is made of interrogations, especially about the fact that I can implement changes on my own scale. And I'm also speaking from a place that is purely civic and is tinged with various influences. I didn't grow up in a poor suburb, I didn't live in financial precariousness, I come from a rather intellectual middle class, it gave me certain tools, and yet I haven't escaped this very French thing, a soft racism, rarely seen but which is haunting... because it's omnipresent.

Why did you get involved with the Adama Committee?

A.M.: Because this is a fight for justice. It was Assa Traoré who came to meet me during the release of the collective book Noire n'est pas mon métier ("Black is not my job"). I knew her from afar, I knew her struggle, and she appeared. The support became obvious and it has really taken shape in the last few months. I was immediately impressed by this woman, her quiet strength, and this ability to forge a bond, to think of her family drama in political terms. Her voice matters. She's not just an icon: she allows a movement to emerge.

A.H.: For me, it's even more recent, I had to go through a problem that was going through me, that involved my body in discrimination in order to mingle with other injustices. I was listening to what Assa Traoré was saying and I was struck by her determination and intelligence. But it is only very recently that I also became physically aware that I could not fail to support this woman and the whole fight against police violence and racism, in the same way that I am taking up the fight for feminism and against sexual violence. I can't have it two-tiered.

On June 2nd, more than 20,000 people gathered in front of the High Court of Paris, at the request of the Adama Committee. An unprecedented turnout, with many young people, why?

A.M.: The Adama Committee saw very well the link between George Floyd's drama and their own. The death of Adama Traoré, choked under three gendarmes, was materialized before our eyes with the unbearable images of Floyd's death. The French youth who look at these images cannot fail to make the connection, it is obvious. There is also a form of accessible activism that is developing via social networks. Activists will involve others through simple, accessible sentences: if you are not a POC, you are still involved, it is your responsibility to listen and take an active part, at your level, in the fight for equality. There is also the idea that we need to establish a link between police violence, the racism that can be found in other social spaces, the issue of gender equality, the environment, and the urgency of dealing with these problems now. There is also a form of anxiety among young people: they are told that in fifty years' time there will be no more water. And finally the feeling of injustice, which is omnipresent and linked to the circulation of images on social networks. Police violence follows one after the other, and this creates an accumulation effect. It is not just a dogmatic political vision, but a reality that is lived or perceived as real.

A.H.: There is a turning point in the effectiveness of the movement as well. This feeling carried by Assa Traoré that we are powerful. It's not just ideas that go around the world, it's ideas that make the world happen. It gives hope and responsibility to a whole generation.

During Aïssa's speech at the Césars, in which she confronts the profession with the near-invisibility of actors, filmmakers and producers from French overseas territories and African and Asian immigrants in French cinema, you are in the room, Adèle. You don't know each other yet. Do you understand her speech immediately?

A.H.: It's obvious, but it's not immediate, it takes a little time to understand the extent of the racist mechanism when you, yourself, haven't been forced to see how it works. I was brought back to particular assignments, but not to this one. So it takes a long time before it becomes unbearable evidence. When Aïssa takes the floor, it's courageous because the room is very cold and it's making it even colder. I thought it was funny and I thought "finally, something political is happening".

Did you both understand that people find it violent to count black people in the room, and even that they might find it paradoxical to split the audience?

A.M.: Counting isn't splitting, it's measuring the gap between us and equality. When it comes to inequality, to be blind to color is to be blind to the social burdens that come from our history and the imagination that flows from it. I am fighting for art and culture to deconstruct racial fictions. In our field, cinema, there is a tendency to believe that when a few exceptions appear, the problem of racial discrimination is solved. I do not think that my presence, that of Omar Sy, Ladj Ly or Frédéric Chau, Leïla Bekhti, for example, however gifted they may be, exonerates French cinema from an examination of conscience. There is always an over-representation of people perceived as non-white in roles with negative connotations - and it's not me saying this, it's the CSA, through its diversity barometer. There are still too few opportunities for younger people, who today in 2020 deplore what I deplored when I was starting out. Still too few non-whites behind the camera and almost no one in decision-making positions. I started this job when I was 20 years old. I am 45. A generation, not a few exceptions, should have risen. It hasn't. And it's unbearable as a citizen, a mother and an artist.

At the César ceremony, I deliberately used a inflammable symbol. If we refuse to measure differences in access to opportunities in terms of racial discrimination, perhaps we are accepting the status quo. Today, we need concrete action by decision-makers and numerical targets in order to measure progress. A few personal successes, however brilliant they may be, cannot justify the violence of large-scale unequal treatment.

A.H.: The substance of what Aïssa said to the César is relevant, it speaks to the moment, and being shocking has the virtue of awakening. The criticisms that followed were "I agree but"... In fact, it means that even when the substance is right, the form is never the right one. It's a form of censorship, there are people who have the right to speak and others who don't.

A.M.: Allowing oneself to express anger head-on is taboo because we are actresses and we are supposed to preserve the desire that others project on us. And also because it highlights the precarious nature of this profession: are you able to overcome your fear, to express your opinion, with the risk of losing something?

A.H.: From my point of view, that of a white woman - forgive me for putting myself in this position, but it's still unfortunately an assignment - I see that when I spoke about what happened to me personally, I received a lot of support, especially from people who are not especially on our side. However, as soon as I spoke up, politically, to say that giving the prize to a rapist fleeing from justice was an insult, all of a sudden I was really overstepping what I was entitled to do, what I could interfere in...

Do you think there's a "white privilege"?

A.M.: Words are so tricky...

A.H.: When Virginie Despentes uses the term "white privilege", it's a bit related to Aïssa's gesture when she counts the black people in the room. It's a question of pointing out, by calling up words that should be those of the past, the gap between the evolution of universalist ideals and the facts of manifest exclusion at work. Provocation points out this flaw and invites us to close it.

Is there state racism?

A.M.: I don't know about "state" racism, it would have to be written into the laws to say that. The right word is systemic: it means that there is something that does not allow for real equality, something in the established rules that allows a small number of people to discriminate without being worried. What also raises the question is the inertia of the state in the face of the continuation of systemic inequalities.

From what you say, we are at a turning point in the struggle against racial, gender, social and other forms of discrimination...

A.M.: I felt the turning point in 2018 with #MeToo, Time's Up, and when I saw all these women from such diverse backgrounds (in the streets) after Trump's election. It was an image I had never seen before in my generation. It was in the United States, and yet something happened to me in France, because I had been dreaming of this convergence for a long time. I'm not here to defend my chapel. I'm not going to be satisfied with a breakthrough if blacks have more roles while Arabs and Asians are still in a degraded situation in French cinema. The convergence I'm talking about didn't quite take place at the time of #MeToo, which quickly became a white women's movement in my eyes. In French cinema, there is also the "50-50 for 2020" movement [collective for parity and inclusion founded in 2018, editor's note] that I saw coming like the guerrilla movement we had been waiting for for a long time, pragmatic, quick, positively impatient, very constructive. The work done in favor of parity is colossal. On the other hand, I regret that diversity is the next program. But it cannot be the next program for me, that is the mistake. I've talked about it very openly, and frankly in a fairly relaxed way with some of them.

A.H.: Much more relaxed than I was, by the way!

A.M.: And then I said to myself that the battles are progressing on different levels and that we're going to have to find some kind of alignment. The fight for women's rights is not just a women's issue, it's a men's issue, just as the fight against racism is not just about POC. And it wasn't until 2020 and the murder of George Floyd that there were those voices, especially white voices, that said, "This is my problem too." Including in France, where this awakening of consciousness is made possible by the work done by the families of victims of police violence.

A.H.: In my political journey so far, I had forgotten to understand the places where I am not just in a situation of domination. I am also, as a white woman who is not in a precarious position, in a dominant position in certain aspects. Understanding that, feeling that, is essential. My political agenda was focused on feminism, and I didn't realize that it was implicitly white feminism, unintentionally excluding. What Aïssa says seems fundamental to me: the agenda that would order one cause after another is not conceivable and leads to inertia. It leagues us against each other in identity issues that are sterile, since they reiterate the terms of oppression. This is a major issue in the effectiveness of political struggles: how can we mobilize without reiterating the categorization we are fighting against? This implies understanding that there is a deep articulation between all systems of domination and that there is a need to defend these causes in a cross-cutting manner.

Aïssa's speech on June 2nd, during the demonstration initiated by the Adama Committee, called for a fair, dignified and positive representation of minorities in the media. But who can judge what is dignified and fair? Only the ones who are affected ?

A.H.: Today, in France, female characters in films are implicitly white women: I have a much wider range of possible jobs than that offered to a black actress. But in my field of so-called universal women, very often, women are offered satellite roles around male characters. These roles take up what is considered to be the normal white female nature, of restraint and reification. What appears natural here is a cultural construction of identity that is done precisely through stories. This is one of the reasons why the political stakes of representations in the cinema are so important.

Is this a criterion for assessing or rejecting a work? What should be done with existing works that have been reassessed as problematic?

A.H.: Works must be recontextualized. They are not created out of nowhere, out of time. Let's question them! That doesn't mean that we stop watching them, but that we ask ourselves what their political substratum is and what they convey. Questioning representations is a sign of vitality. And that does not mean that we would no longer have the right to see these works.

A.M.: With this waltz of statues of slavery figures in the United States or in the French overseas departments at the moment, the citizens gives their answer. Either the work must be contextualized, in a museum or in a place with a historical explanatory note, or it must stand out.

Is it women, more willingly than men, who carry this convergence of fights ?

A.M.: I feel a change in the scale of our lives, a major turning point in the way we perceive each other and allow ourselves to hybridize in these battles. Regarding the massive presence of women from cinema in front of the High Court on June 2, I wonder. In particular about my own capacity to build bridges... while guaranteeing the visibility of the fights against discrimination against women or POC. How do we ensure that the fight against discrimination, for equality and equity, is as visible as the rest? I am not at all sure how to do this. But it has to be done. When, the day after the César, I received a text message from Adèle, even though we don't know each other, and she writes to me to say "I heard you. I'm here. Let's meet", it can be as simple as that.

Why did you send that text?

A.H.: Because of the solitude in this room. And the brave gesture of saying what she said on stage. We'd met the same evening and maybe I hadn't caught the moment, I was captivated by our own event... That is, what had happened after we'd, let's say..., gone to get our coats a bit earlier in the dressing room... (Aïssa Maïga laughs) And I thought, let's not forget the constructed gesture, the political intentionality of Aïssa in there. I wanted to get closer to her courage. So I think that we shouldn't talk about masculinity by saying "men", that we should consider masculinity as a field of organization of power with its own complexities, and its intersectional repercussions. I refer to Angela Davis' book, Women, Race & Class, on the issue of the difficult articulation between the civil rights movement in the United States and the emerging white feminist movements where there was a lot of racism. Why don't we think of ourselves as spontaneous and necessary allies between categories of discrimination, racial, social and gendered? We need to take the history of this division seriously in order to work on it and overcome it. As Assa Traoré does in an ultra-intelligent way when she says "Whatever your religion, your sexual orientation, wherever you come from, whatever your skin color". It is an invitation to self-criticism of our own movement. This is my discovery at the beginning of this year: the self-criticism of my history as a white feminist.

When you get up during the César, is it thoughtful or impulsive?

A.H.: This award was a claim to the right to do whatever you want as long as you are at the top. That is to say: rich white men who don't feel concerned when we talk about violence. What it means beyond sexual violence is that there are people to whom repressive laws do not apply. It's as if the police and the laws shouldn't act against them, but around them... And that's what you feel in that moment in the room. What happened on César night was a dissolution of the status quo. Now it's either you stay in the room or you don't stay in the room.

A.M.: And it was important to be there at the César, because I read a lot about boycotting that evening, but for me there was no question of backing out. A boycott is not just staying at home behind your television, not being there without anyone really noticing. It was important to say that the home of cinema is also our home, our space, our place of expression. We are in a position to speak out and for that to have the virtue of provoking discussion. When that person wins that award, it's the time of the turkey, where someone praises the rapist grandfather, when everyone knows. And you're breathless, you can't move, time becomes elastic, everything is extremely heavy, it's unreal. You enter another dimension. And the fact that a person manages to regain possession of time, to become master of their time and master of their body by standing up and saying no, it put oxygen back in, it woke us up. Adèle and I looked at each other two or three times during the evening, we knew we were together. There was something like a physical experience. We boarded the ship together.

We're spotting the allies.

A.M.: That's right. And time returned to normal when Adèle, Céline Sciamma and others, including me, got up. It was a coherent political gesture in which many people recognized themselves.

Do you think that your political positions, formalized at the César, can have an impact on your career?

A.M.: The question is how do you break a family secret? Festen is one of my favorite films. (Laughs) I wasn't born at the time of the 2020 César, it's the result of a personal journey and a legacy. Others before me have spoken, for example Luc Saint-Eloy and Calixthe Beyala on the same issues at the Césars in 2000. When Canal + and the César invited me to come and give an award, I said "yes, but I want complete freedom". Blowing up a family secret is a movement for self-liberation, it's an essential meeting with yourself. Choosing to be on the side of silence, of the status quo and therefore of injustices with full knowledge of the facts is something I was quite incapable of doing. The consequences for one's profession are not that one doesn't care, but spitting out what one has to say is a top priority. The question of what it is going to cost behind it is resolved by the feeling of freeing the word, provoking debate, making a generational contribution to the fight for equality, which in essence concerns us all. I have an appointment with myself around 60, 65, the age when my children will be about the same age as I am today. There is something about transmission. I want to be able to look at myself in the mirror. I don't want to tell myself that I haven't taken advantage of my little privilege of being a POC exception in French cinema to the detriment of all those young people I meet on the street, who aren't white and who say to me with fear in their stomachs, "Do you think I can still do this job?"

What about you, Adèle?

A.H.: The message that was sent to me very clearly by a casting director is that I will never work again. Obviously, this person was very sure of himself, since he wrote it in print capital letters about a dozen times. What do you say when you ask for respect and silence? They say, "Don't speak out politically because it's not your role". But also: "Don't take the lead artistically either because you're an actress, you have to follow the genius of your director". This whole structure is part of this culture where you shouldn't listen to yourself but to submit. I don't know what the consequences will be for my job. What is certain is that I will never regret it. We did something that night that freed the voices of a lot of people. That is worth much more than all the threats to my career, which in any case is always fragile, because it is a precarious environment. If I totally respected the rules and said, "Yes, yes, you have to separate the man from the artist", that wouldn't stop me from being able to get out of the game. It's as much about inventing one's life as trying to open up the future.

Written by Cécile Daumas , Rachid Laïreche and Sandra Onana. Photo by Lucile Boiron

[aion-rsa]

Summer Movie Preview: From Black Widow to The Suicide Squad and Beyond

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The summer movie season has returned. Finally. Once something we all just took for granted, like handshakes and indoor dining, a summertime season stuffed with pricy Hollywood blockbusters and cinematic escapism suddenly feels like a long lost friend. But, rest assured, the summer movie season is genuinely and truly here. It’s maybe a little later than normal, yet it’s still in time for Memorial Day in the States.

This is of course happy news since many of the big screen events of this year have been 12 months or more in the offing. A Quiet Place Part II was supposed to open two Marches ago, and In the Heights is opening almost an exact year to the day from its original release. They’re here now, as is an impressive assortment of new films. There are genre fans’ long lost superhero spectacles, with Black Widow and The Suicide Squad leading the pack (and Shang-Chi closing out the season unusually late in time for Labor Day weekend), and there are also horror movies like The Conjuring 3 and M. Night Shyamalan’s Old, aforementioned musicals, family adventures in Jungle Cruise, psychedelic Arthurian legends via The Green Knight, and a few legitimately original projects like Stillwater and Reminiscence. Imagine that!

So sit back, put your feet in the pool, or up by the grill pit, and toast with us the summer movie’s resurrection.

A Quiet Place Part II

May 28 (June 3 in the UK)

Fourteen months after its original release date, the first movie delayed by the pandemic is finally coming to theaters for Memorial Day weekend. And despite what some critics say (even our own), most of us would argue it’s worth the wait. As a movie about a family enduring after a global crisis that has left their lives in tatters, and marred by personal tragedy, A Quiet Place Part II hits differently in 2021 than it would have a year ago. And it’s undeniably optimistic view of humanity feels like a warm balm now.

But beyond the meta context, writer-director John Krasinski (flying solo as screenwriter this time) has engineered a series of intelligent and highly suspenseful set pieces which puts Millicent Simmonds’ Regan front and center. Also buoyed by subtle and affecting work by Emily Blunt and Cillian Murphy, here as a neighbor they knew a few years and a lifetime ago, this is one worth dipping your toe back into cinema for, especially if you liked the first movie.

Cruella

May 28

We’ll admit it, we had the same initial skepticism you’re probably feeling about a Cruella de Vil origin story set in punk rock’s 1970s London. But put your cynicism aside, Disney’s Cruella is a decadent blast and the rarest of things: a live-action Disney remake that both honors its source material and does something creative with it. Neither a soulless scene-by-scene remake of a better animated film, or a lazy Maleficent like re-imagining, Cruella more often than not rocks, thanks in large part to its lead performance by Emma Stone.

Also a producer on the picture, Stone takes on the role of Cruella de Vil like it’ll be on an awards reel and absolutely flaunts the character’s madness and devilish charm. She also finds an excellent sparring partner via Emma Thompson, young Cruella’s very own Miranda Priestly. Once these two start their verbal battle at the end of the first act, the movie is elevated into an electric period comedy (with plenty of heavy handed period music). It’s a pseudo-thriller for all ages, enjoying some very sharp elbows for a kids movie.

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

June 4 (May 26 in the UK)

The latest big-screen adventure for real-life ghostbusters Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) sees the two drawn into the unusual case of the first ever U.S. murder trial where the defendant claimed he was innocent because he was possessed by a demon. This is the eighth movie in The Conjuring expanded universe—director Michael Chaves has already made a foray into this supernatural world with The Curse of La Llorona—and as with all the main Conjuring films, the hook is that it’s (very loosely) based on a true case that the Warrens were involved with.

Peter Safran and James Wan are back on board as producers, although with this being the first time Wan isn’t directing one of the main Ed and Lorraine investigations, we’re a little cautious about this return to the haunted museum.

In the Heights

June 11 (June 18 in the UK)

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first Tony award winning musical is getting the proper big screen treatment in In the Heights. A full-fledged movie musical—as opposed to a taped series of performances, a la Disney+’s Hamilton—In the Heights is like a sweet summer drink (or Piragua) and love letter to the Latino community of New York City’s Washington Heights neighborhood.

Read more

Movies

Best Movie Musicals of the 21st Century

By David Crow

Movies

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It and the Perils of Taking on a Real Life Murder

By Rosie Fletcher

Closer in spirit to the feel-good summertime joy of Grease than the narratively complex Hamilton, this is perfect multiplex escapism (which will also be on HBO Max if you’re so inclined). Directed by Crazy Rich Asians’ Jon M. Chu, In the Heights has a euphoric sense of movement and dance as it transfers Miranda’s hybrid blend of freestyle rap, salsa rhythm, and Caribbean musical cues to the actual city blocks the show was written about. On one of those corners lives Usnavi (Anthony Ramos), a bodega owner with big dreams. He’s about to have the summer of his life. You might too.

Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard

June 16 (June 21 in the UK)

You know Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard is a throwback when even its trailer brings back the “trailer voice.” But then the appeal of the 2017 B-action comedy, The Hitman’s Bodyguard, was its very throwback nature: a violent, raunchy R-rated buddy comedy that starred Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds, who exchanged quips as much as bullets between some genuinely entertaining stunts.

Hopefully the sequel can also be as much lowbrow fun as it doubles down on the premise, with Reynolds’ Michael Bryce now guarding Samla Hayek’s Sonia, the wife of Jackson’s Darius. All three are on a road trip through Italy as they’re chased by Antonio Banderas in what is sure to be a series of bloody, explosive set pieces. Probably a few “motherf***ers” will be dropped too.

Luca

June 18

Pixar Studios’ hit rate is frankly incredible. With each new film seemingly comes a catchy song, an Oscar nomination, and a flood of tears from anyone with a heart—and there’s no reason to believe that its next offering will be any different. Luca is a coming-of-age tale set on the Italian Riviera about a pair of young lads who become best friends and have a terrific summer getting into adventures in the sun. The slight catch is that they’re both sea monsters.

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Movies

How Luca Became the First Pixar Movie Made at Home

By Don Kaye

Movies

Pixar, Italian Style: Why Luca is Set in 1950s Italy

By Don Kaye

This is the feature directorial debut of Enrico Casarosa, who says the movie is a celebration of friendship with nods to the work of Federico Fellini and Hayao Miyazaki. The writers are Jesse Andrews and Mike Jones—Andrews is new to Pixar but has experience with coming-of-agers, having penned Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, while Jones co-wrote Soul. Jacob Tremblay and Jack Dylan Grazer voice the young boys (sea monsters)—13-year-old Luca and his older teenager friend Alberto—with Maya Rudolph as Luca’s sea monster mom. After a year of lockdown, this could be the summer movie we all need.

F9

June 25

You better start firing up the grill, because the Fast and Furious crew is finally ready to have another summer barbecue. And this time, it’s not only the folks whom Dom Toretto calls “mi familia” in attendance. The big new addition to F9 is 

John Cena as Jakob Toretto. As the long-lost little brother we didn’t know Vin Diesel’s Dom had, Jakob is revealed to be a superspy, assassin, and performance driver working for Dom’s arch-nemesis, Cypher (Charlize Theron). Everything the Family does together, Jakob does alone, as a one-man wrecking crew, and he’s coming in hot.

Fans will probably be happier, though, to see Sung Kang back as Han Seoul-Oh, the wheelman who was murdered in Fast & Furious 6, and then pretty much forgotten in The Fate of the Furious when his killer got invited to the cookout. It’s an injustice that brought veteran series director Justin Lin back to  the franchise to resurrect the dead. So it’s safe to assume he won’t be asking Cypher to bring the potato salad.

The Forever Purge

July 2 (July 16 in the UK)

We know what you’re thinking: Didn’t The Purge: Election Year end the Purge forever? That or “are they really still making these?” The answer to both questions is yes. Nevertheless, here we are with The Forever Purge, a movie which asks what happens if Purgers just, you know, committed extravagant holiday crime on the other 364 days of the year? You get what is hopefully the grand finale of this increasingly tired concept.

The Tomorrow War

July 2

Hear me out: What if it’s like The Terminator but in reverse? That had to be the pitch for this one, right? In The Tomorrow War, instead of evil cyborgs time traveling to the past to kill our future savior, soldiers from the future time travel to the past to enlist our current best warrior and take him to a world on the brink 30 years from now.

It’s a crazy premise, and the kind of high-concept popcorn that one imagines Chris Pratt excels at. Hence Pratt’s casting as Dan, one of the best soldiers of the early 21st century who’ll go into the future to stop an alien invasion. The supporting cast, which includes Oscar winner J.K. Simmons and Yvonne Strahovski, Betty Gilpin, and Sam Richardson, is also nothing to sneeze at.

Black Widow

July 9

The idea of making a Black Widow movie has been around since long before the Marvel Cinematic Universe first lifted into the sky on Tony Stark’s repulsors. The character has been onscreen for more than a decade now, and Marvel Studios has for too long danced around making a solo Widow, at least in part due to the machinations of Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter.

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Movies

How Black Widow Could Build The MCU’s Future

By Kayti Burt

Movies

Upcoming Marvel Movies Release Dates: MCU Phase 4 Schedule, Cast, and Story Details

By Mike Cecchini and 1 other

But the standalone Black Widow adventure is here at last, and it now serves as a sort-of coda to the story of Natasha Romanoff, since we already know her tragic fate in Avengers: Endgame. Directed by Cate Shortland (Berlin Syndrome, Lore), the movie will spell out how Natasha (Scarlett Johansson) kept herself busy between the events of Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, primarily with a trip home to Russia to clear some of that red from her ledger.

There, she will reunite with figures from her dark past, including fellow Red Room alumnus Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Russian would-be superhero Alexei Shostakov, aka the Red Guardian (David Harbour), and Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz), another survivor of the Black Widow program and a maternal figure to Natasha and Yelena.

It’s a chance to say goodbye to Nat and see Johansson as the beloved Avengers one more time. But this being Marvel, we suspect that the studio has a few tricks up its sleeve and in this movie about the future of Phase 4.

Space Jam: A New Legacy

July 16

In the annals of synergistic branding, Space Jam: A New Legacy might be one for the record books. A sequel to an older millennials’ 1990s touchstones—the thoroughly mediocre Michael Jordan meets Bugs Bunny movie, Space Jam—this sequel sees LeBron James now trapped in Looney Tunes world… but wait, there’s more! Instead of only charmingly interacting with WB’s classic stable of cartoon characters, King James will also be in the larger “WB universe” where the studio will resurrect from the dead every property they own the copyright to, from MGM’s classic 1939 The Wizard of Oz to, uh, the murderous rapists in A Clockwork Orange.

… yay for easter eggs?

Old

July 23

Though he might be accused of being a little bit hit-and-miss in the past, the release of a new M. Night Shyamalan movie should always be cause for celebration. Especially one with such a deeply creepy premise. Based on the graphic novel Sandcastle by Pierre Oscar Levy and Frederik Peeters, Old sees a family on vacation discover that the beach they are on causes them to age extremely rapidly and live out their entire lives in a day.

This is surely perfect fodder for Shyamalan, who does high-concept horror like no one else. The cast is absolute quality, featuring Gael García Bernal, Hereditary’s Alex Wolff, Jo Jo Rabbit’s Thomasin McKenzie, Phantom Thread’s Vicky Krieps, Little Women’s Eliza Scanlen, and many more. The trailer is pleasingly disturbing too as children become teenagers, a young woman is suddenly full-term pregnant, and adults seem to be decaying in front of their own eyes. Harrowing in the best possible way.

Snake Eyes

July 23 (August 20 in the UK)

Snake Eyes will finally bring us the origin story of the G.I. Joe franchise’s most iconic and beloved member. Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians) stars in the title role, with Warrior’s Andrew Koji as his nemesis—conflicted baddie (and similar fan fave) Storm Shadow. Expect a tale heavy on martial arts badassery, especially with The Raid’s Iko Uwais on board as the pair’s ninja master. Samara Weaving will play G.I. Joe staple Scarlett after her breakout a few years ago in Ready or Not, while Úrsula Corberó has been cast as Cobra’s Baroness. Robert Schwentke (The Time Traveler’s Wife, Red) directs.

Jungle Cruise

July 30

Jungle Cruise director Jaume Collet-Serra is best known for making slightly dodgy actioners starring Liam Neeson (Unknown, Non-Stop, Run All Night) and half-decent horror movies (Orphan, The Shallows), so exactly which direction this family adventure based on a theme park ride will take remains to be seen.

Borrowing a page and premise from Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn in The African Queen (1951), Jungle Cruise stars the ever-charismatic Dwayne Johnson as a riverboat captain taking Emily Blunt’s scientist and her brother (Jack Whitehall) to visit the fabled Tree of Life in the early 20th century. Like the ride, the gang will have to watch out for wild animals along the way.

Unlike the ride, they’re competing with a German expedition team who are heading for the same goal. A solid supporting cast (Jesse Plemons, Édgar Ramírez, Paul Giamatti, Andy Nyman) and a script with rewrites by Michael Green (Logan, Blade Runner 2049) might mean Disney has another hit on its hands. Either way, a lovely boat trip with The Rock should be diverting at worst.

The Green Knight

July 30 (August 6 in the UK)

There have been several major Hollywood reimaginings of Arthurian legends in the 21st century. And every one of them has been thoroughly rotten for one reason or another. Luckily, David Lowery’s The Green Knight looks poised to break the trend with a trippy, but twistedly faithful, interpretation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Dev Patel stars as Sir Gawain, a chivalrous knight in King Arthur’s court who takes up the challenge of the mysterious Green Knight (The Witch’s Ralph Ineson under mountains of makeup): He’ll swing a blow and risk receiving a returning strike in a year’s time. Gawain attempts to cheat the devil by cutting his head clean off, yet when the Green Knight lifts his severed head from Camelot’s floors, things start to get weird. As clearly one of A24’s biggest visual fever dreams to date, this is one we’re highly anticipating.

Stillwater

July 30 (August 6 in the UK)

The Oscar winning-writer director behind Spotlight, Tom McCarthy, returns to the big screen with a fictional story that feels awfully similar to real world events. In this film, Matt Damon plays Bill, a proud father who saw his daughter Allison (Abigail Breslin) go abroad to study in France. After she’s accused of murdering her roommate by local authorities, the deeply Southern and deeply Oklahoman father must travel to a foreign land to try and prove his daughter’s innocence.

It obviously has some parallels with the Amanda Knox story but it also looks like a potentially hard hitting original drama with a talented cast. Fingers crossed.

The Suicide Squad

August 6 (July 30 in the UK)

You might have seen a Suicide Squad movie in the past, but you’ve never seen James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad. With a liberating R-rating and an old school vision from the Guardians of the Galaxy director—who likens this to 1960s war capers, such as The Dirty Dozen or Where Eagles Dare—this Suicide Squad is absolutely stacked with talented actors wallowing in DC weirdness. One of the key players in this is Polka-Dot Man, another is a walking, talking Great White Shark, voiced by Sylvester Stallone. The villain is a Godzilla-sized starfish from space!

Read more

Movies

Margot Robbie Wants Poison Ivy to Join Harley Quinn in the DCEU

By Kayti Burt

Movies

What to Expect from the Candyman Reimagining

By David Crow

So like it’s namesake, there’s probably a lot of characters who aren’t going to pull through this one. Even so, we can rest easy knowing that Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn will be as winsome than ever, and the likes of Idris Elba and John Cena will add some dynamic gravitas to the eccentric DC Extended Universe.

Free Guy

August 13

Perhaps pitched as The Truman Show for the video game age, Free Guy stars Ryan Reynolds as an easygoing, happy-go-lucky “Guy” who discovers… he’s a video game NPC living inside the equivalent of a Grand Theft Auto video game. This might explain why the bank he works at keeps getting robbed all the time. But as a virtual sprite who’s developed sentiency, he just might be able to win over enough gamers to not shoot him, and make love not war.

It’s an amusing premise, and hopefully director Shawn Levy can bring to it the same level of charm he achieved with the very first Night at the Museum movie.

Respect

August 13 (September 10 in the UK)

Before her passing in 2018, Aretha Franklin gave her blessing to Jennifer Hudson to play the Queen of Soul. Now that musical biopic is here with Hudson hitting the same high notes of the legend who sang such standards as “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” “Think,” “I Say a Little Prayer,” and of course “Respect.”

The film comes with a lot of expectation and a lot of pedigree, with Forest Whitaker and Audra McDonald in the cast. Most of all though, it comes with that rich musical library, which will surely take center stage. And if movies like Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman have taught us anything, it’s that moviegoers love when you play the hits.

Reminiscence

August 20 (August 18 in the UK)

Lisa Joy is one of the most exciting voices on television today. One-half of the creative team behind Westworld, Joy steps into her own with her directorial debut (and as the solo writer) in Reminiscence, a science fiction film with a reliably knotty premise.

Hugh Jackman plays Nick Bannister, a man who lives in a dystopian future where the oceans have risen and the cities are crumbling. In a declining Miami, he sells a risky new technology that allows you to relive your past (and possibly change it, at least fancifully?). But when he discovers the lost love of his life (Rebecca Ferguson) is cropping up in other peoples’ memories, which seem to implicate her in a murder, well… things are bound to start getting weird. We don’t know a whole lot more, but we cannot wait to find out more.

Candyman

August 27

Announced back in 2018, this spiritual sequel to Bernard Rose’s 1992 original is one of the most exciting and anticipated movies on the calendar. Produced by Jordan Peele and directed by Nia DaCosta, the film takes place in the present day and about a decade after Chicago’s Cabrini-Green housing projects have been torn down. Watchmen’s Yahya Abdul-Mateen II plays an up-and-coming visual artist who moves to the now-gentrified area with his partner and is inspired by the legend of Candyman, an apparition with a hook for a hand, to create new work about the subject. But in doing so, he risks unleashing a dark history and a new wave of violence.

Tony Todd, the star of the original movie, will also reprise his role in a reboot that aims to inspire fear for only the right reasons.

The Beatles: Get Back

August 27

Director Peter Jackson thinks folks have a poisoned idea about the Beatles in their final days. Often portrayed as divided and antagonistic toward one another during the recordings of their last albums, particularly Let It Be (which was their penultimate studio recording and final release), Jackson insists this misconception is influenced by Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s 1970 documentary named after the album.

So, after going through the reams of footage Lindsay-Hogg shot but didn’t use, Jackson has crafted this new documentary about the album’s recording which is intended to paint a fuller (and more feel-good) portrait of the band which changed the world. Plus, the music’s going to be great… 

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

September 3

The greatest fighter in Marvel history finally hits the big screen with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Simu Liu (Kim’s Convenience) takes on the title role of a character destined for a bright future in the MCU. Marvel fans might note that the “Ten Rings” of the title is the same organization that first appeared all the way back in Iron Man, and Tony Leung will finally bring their villainous leader, The Mandarin, to life. Awkwafina of The Farewell and Crazy Rich Asians fame also stars. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (Short Term 12), this should deliver martial arts action unlike anything we’ve seen so far in the MCU.

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[purplesurveys]

1160

survey by pandaphant

What was your first kiss like, and who was it with? It was with my ex-girlfriend; she was spending the night and the time just came for us to kiss. It was scary, but they were very encouraging so I felt a whole lot comfortable in the end.

Do you have to be in love with someone to sleep with them? In my case, yes. I know this isn’t a prerequisite for a lot of people though, and that’s okay too.

What's your favorite kind of bear? Not too obsessed with bears but I like polar bears and pandas, heehee.

Would you rather see a movie at a theater or at home on DVD? At this point? A theater. Pre-pandemic me would’ve preferred to watch movies at home because I find the cinemas too loud and too dark – and movie tickets cost like a bitch – but now I just want that life back.

Have you ever sent a FWD because you were afraid? I have no idea what this is. I’m reading this as ‘forward,’ as in sending forwarded messages; but I’m not sure if I’m accurate.

Are you still madly in love with that *someone*? No. There’s still love in there, but it’s no longer the in-love kind of love; and the love I do have is also considerably tinged with resentment.

Have you ever waited for someone? Like...in relationships? I’ve never been in that kind of situation before.

You've been given access to a time machine. Where and when do you go? I’d love to go back to an early point in my last relationship and end it off as soon as I saw the first red flag, instead of ignoring and tolerating the next 487897839473 that followed.

Would you ever date more than one person at a time? I would never be in an open relationship. I’m cool with it and I have friends who are in one, but it’s not my preference.

Would you rather have pancakes or waffles? Waffles. We have pancakes pretty often at home already; I also find waffles a lot more versatile as well.

Do you hate any of your friend's S.O.s? No. Hans is a delight; I’m friends with both Andi and Leigh so that works out well for me; and I’ve never met Jo’s girlfriend but I bet I’ll like her anyway.

What do you eat on your waffles? Either with bacon or fried chicken. Then with maple syrup and whipped cream on top of the waffles too, yum.

Have you ever had a major crush on someone that never found out? I had a happy crush on JM that never went out within Kate, Jo, and myself. He was objectively physically attractive and it was just nice to look at him sometimes, but it never developed into anything emotional and I definitely did not have any intention to flirt or cheat, because bleck.

What is one thing that has changed your life, either good or bad? I think this pandemic has brought about a lot of changes.

What is a juggalo? A juggalo is someone who is a fan of Insane Clown Posse. I only know this because I’ve confused it for gigolo a billion times.

Do you like to cuddle? Only with the right person.

Have you ever drank alcohol? Yes.

Which is your favorite punctation mark? Semicolon and em dash. So basically I like hacks to make my sentences longer.

What is one trait you could not put up with in another person? Refusing to acknowledge their toxic habits or actions and staying the way they are because “this is who I am.” That shit makes me absolutely nauseous.

If you could have any super power, what would it be and why? I’d love to time travel just to satisfy the budding historian in me.

Have you ever worn leg warmers? No. I’m not sure what those are, either.

What's your favorite way to wear your hair? These days I style it in either a very high ponytail, almost like Ariana Grande-esque; on more relaxed days it’s in a low side ponytail.

If someone made a movie about your life, what would you want it to be named? Y’all know how much I dislike questions like this that force me to get creative, so I’m moving on.

What makes you really mad? All shapes and forms of injustice.

What do you like to do for fun? Trying out new things – I’m always down to try hiking, attending a cooking class, rock climbing, archery, etc, as long as I’m with at least one person.

What eye color do you prefer in a significant other? No preference but seeing as how most Asians have dark brown eyes anyway, I’d go with that because I doubt I’d end up with someone from a different race.

American Eagle, Hollister, or Abercrombie? Eugh, none of these.

What's your favorite ice cream topping? Hot fudge and/or chocolate chips.

Have you ever rebounded...or been someone's rebound? No.

Why is your best friend your best friend? They both understand me and my needs, and we simply click insanely well in our respective relationships.

If there was one thing you could do differently, what would it be? If the pandemic never happened, I could be driving to the office everyday, experiencing nightlife, meeting new people and expanding my circles, and overall making the most out of my 20s. That kind of life would have been nice.

Do you have commitment issues? Commitment was never an issue to me. It’s trust that’s been ruined for me.

What do you do when the lights go out in a thunderstorm? Groan out in frustration and gather with my siblings in the living room.

If you knew you were going to die tomorrow, what would you do today? Just buy a crap ton of food and share it with loved ones. Then spend most of the time with my dogs.

Where do you live? Philippines.

Are you scared of spiders? Not as much as most people are.

What's your favorite band? Paramore.

If you had to do one which would it be, skydiving or bungee jumping? Skydiving. I’ve already done bungee jumping so it would be cool to try something completely new.

Do you answer your phone when it's your mother? I’d say it’s 50/50. If I have nothing much going on I’ll pick it up; but if I’m busy at work I’d have to reject it.

Do you own anything with peace signs on it? I don’t think so, but maybe. Idk it’s always possible.

Do you every buy anything at Bath & Body Works? I don’t, but this question is very timely since I had just watched Safiya Nygaard’s vlog about buying every single Bath & Body Works scented candle in existence and combining them into one candle. I had no idea they had SO many candles??? And all of them have pretty names and notes??? Thanks to her I literally placed a couple of their candles in my shopping cart at like 2 AM last night hahaha.

Do you like candles? I do now. I definitely see the hype haha.

What'd all you wear this week? House/loungewear.

Do you know any hippies? No.

Do you refuse to use public bathrooms? Yeah, even before the pandemic I refused to use them unless I absolutely had to go. The idea of sharing a toilet with hundreds of other people is just so icky, even though I don’t let my butt touch the toilet seat.

Do you know anyone that had Swine Flu? I don’t think so. I now know people who’ve gotten Covid, though – both from family and my circle of friends.

How'd you get your last booboo? Cooper’s leash, when he was tugging on it.

[highandlowculture]

MEET THE NEW WEST, SAME AS THE OLD WEST

In the second act of Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood, washed-up actor Rick Dalton is on the set of a TV western as his stuntman and best buddy, Cliff Booth is revisiting Spahn Ranch, a former set for movie westerns. The ranch has been taken over by a bunch of hippies who follow some guy name “Charlie”. The heavy of the hippies is a fella by the name of Tex Watson. When conflict arises between Cliff and the hippies, one of the girls runs off to fetch Tex, who’s busy showing a tourist couple around the ranch. Hearing that there’s trouble brewing, Tex snaps to it, galloping across the western landscape on horseback and wearing a black hat. It’s a sweeping shot straight out of a John Ford film. That’s when it clicked for me…

Tarantino has made his third western.

Although there were always spaghetti western elements in his films (especially in Kill Bill vol. 2), QT hadn’t made a full-fledged western until 2012’s Django Unchained. Though entertaining and with an African-American lead, the film is his most straight-forward movie. We know who the heroes are, we know who the villains are. Wrongs are righted with a six-shooter and a hero’s grin. Its followup was another western, 2015‘s The Hateful Eight, a much darker and far less heroic film. All of the characters are flawed if not outrightly fucked-up. If Django Unchained was the sumptuously shot crowd pleaser, The Hateful Eight was the claustrophobic, nihilistic reversal. The western myth of heroes and villains is subverted by an unsavory group of characters who drag each other through snow, blood and racial slurs. Maybe the Old West was a pretty rough place to live in after all!

And now, in 2019, QT transports us to another Old West: 1969 Hollywood.

Fifty years ago. Half a century. Pretty old, right?

Already contentious with reviewers, one of the main debates surrounding Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood is its handling of Sharon Tate and the Manson Family. In the summer of ’69, when Tate, her unborn baby and her houseguests were brutally murdered by three members of the Manson Family, it sent shockwaves throughout Hollywood and America. The utopian dream of the 1960s was over. That’s the sanitized, less complicated history anyway. At the time many people were blaming satanism and Tate’s husband Roman Polanski for his hedonistic ways. Plus anyone deep in the trenches of late 60s hipdom knew that some of the peace-and-love spouting Flower Children might be psychopaths that could turn on a dime. Such darkness was foreshadowed in the music of The Doors and Velvet Underground. As Joan Didion recalled in her seminal work The White Album:

“Black masses were imagined, and bad trips blamed. I remembered all of the day’s misinformation very clearly, and I also remember this, and wish I did not: I remember that no one was surprised.”

Knowing this I find it disappointing just how many reviewers fail to see how sympathetic QT is to Sharon and her friends. They’re shown as cool people with a good vibe (only Roman is shown to be prickish when he speaks rudely to a dog). Sharon and Jay Sebring like to listen to records and enjoy life. No satanism. No orgies. And Sharon’s a generous person. She picks up hippie hitchhikers and buys her husband a Thomas Hardy novel. She relishes the communal experience of watching herself in the Dean Martin film The Wrecking Crew. It’s not just about her. She’s enjoying the connection she’s making with the theater’s audience. On the infamous August night, the film’s narrator talks about how Sharon, in the late stage of her pregnancy, was feeling hot and anxious. In short, Sharon is humanized. She’s a thoughtful, spirited and benevolent presence throughout the film. I think reviewers who view her just as “a Barbie doll” are revealing more of their own lack of empathy than QT’s. And people getting hung-up on how many lines her character speaks have some skewed priorities. As if the only way a person has worth is if they talk a lot. Talking. Talking. Talking. There are so many empty vessels running at the mouth these days. Social media voices bombard us constantly. There’s something to be said for some quiet dignity every once in awhile. Regardless, Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood isn’t Sharon’s film and it’s not a biopic. It’s Rick and Cliff’s film and it’s a western.

If comedy is “tragedy plus time”, then the same can be said for any work of art. The mythology of the Old West often mixed historical and fictional characters. Whether they were Billy The Kid, Wyatt Earp or Butch Cassidy, we’ve seen countless retellings of their exploits, never exactly the same, never entirely accurate. That’s what makes it a myth. A good portion is made-up. Going back to Homeric and Arthurian legends, the foundation of storytelling has always been a collision of fact and fiction, chronicle and embellishment. People make too much of QT altering historic events. Are the Nazis of Inglourious Basterds and the Manson Family of Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood any different than any other mythical villains of earlier works of art? If a filmmaker can’t riff on a fifty-year-old historical event, then what are we really doing here? Do we just want the cinema of Marvel Comics and discreet biopics? QT doesn’t treat history any different than the filmmakers of the 1960s treated the events of the 1860s. Tex Watson, galloping away in his black hat, is a signpost for this. It’s QT’s way of saying: “Every time has its myths, every time has its black hats and white hats”. And the Manson Family, filled with bloodlust and megalomania from the top down, fulfill the role of black-hatted villains quite perfectly.

Does this make Rick and Cliff, two middle-aged white guys who love booze and hate hippies, our white-hatted heroes? Hell, no. With the exception of Django Unchained, that was never QT’s bag. He’s all about the anti heroes of spaghetti westerns and Sam Peckinpah films. Men who have done plenty of bad, sometimes unspeakable, things. They’re only the hero because they wrestle with their past and because there’s always a meaner, badder fella waiting to shoot it out with ‘em. Clint Eastwood’s character in the The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is only “Good” because Lee Van Cleef is so clearly “Bad” (and Eli Wallach “Ugly”). In 1992’s The Unforgiven, Eastwood’s character talks of killing “women and children” in his past. Yet he’s still clearly our hero. The Old West is a morally complex time in which one’s heroism is often defined by a greater and competing villainy.

So when it’s revealed that Cliff possibly murdered his wife and got away with it, he’s stepping into the role of anti hero with a dark past. Is Cliff haunted by his past? Not seemingly. He’s more inclined to shrug it off with a smirk and swig of beer. Shit happens y’know. This makes him exactly the type of guy murderous hippies shouldn’t fuck with. They justify their bloodlust with a self-serving philosophical bent: Entertainers taught them to kill via TV and movies, so it’s okay to kill the people who are involved in making TV and movies. QT makes the bold and provocative choice to not confirm whether Cliff did or didn’t kill his wife, but if he did, he probably wouldn’t dress it up as anything other than a burst of brutish violence that he was lucky to get away with. He loves his dog though, and he’s a good friend. In real life that might not justify liking the guy, but in a western that’s usually enough. Ultimately these character choices made by QT are to set up a mythic showdown between Cliff and the Manson Family. He’s good because they’re bad. It’s the same reason Cliff was shown going head-to-head with Bruce Lee. Masked racism by QT, a known lover of Asian and martial arts films, or a way of building up Cliff’s status to mythical proportions? There was once this ex war hero, who became a stuntman and maybe killed his wife, and he once threw Bruce Lee into a car door on the set of The Green Hornet! Cliff is Paul Bunyan. He’s Bill Brasky. A folk hero for stuntmen and for his time.

And did you hear that one tale about Cliff and the Manson Family…?

Rick’s bread and butter is now guest-starring on various TV shows in which he plays the heavy and gets his ass kicked by the show’s star at the end of the episode. Rick is a boozy, bloated hot mess of a man who’s prone to crying. A lot. His first burst of tears in the film is at the Musso & Frank parking lot, after an agent gives Rick a harsh dose of reality regarding the state of his career. Cliff, always keeping his cool, gives Rick his sunglasses and says, “Don’t cry in front of the Mexicans.” Remember — this is a western. Anyway, if Cliff fills the role of macho, gives no fucks, murderous outlaw, Rick is the contrasting “modern man” or, to use a western term, “tenderfoot”. The film begins with a behind the scenes segment for Rick’s old show Bounty Law. In it an interviewer talks to Rick and Cliff about what a stuntman does. During the interview there’s a quip about Cliff carrying Rick’s load. So right out of the gate, QT brings our attention to the idea that Cliff is the real deal and Rick’s the actor playing a role. This notion is repeated throughout the film (even one of the Manson Girls, “Pussy”, makes reference to Cliff being more authentic because he’s a stuntman rather than an actor). Regardless of whether Cliff murdered his wife or not, he’s an ex military man and war hero, so obviously he’s killed people before. So in addition to taking falls and performing dangerous stunts for Rick, he’s more of a bona fide western anti hero than Rick ever could be. Fittingly, while Cliff and the Manson Family black hats are sizing each other up at Spahn Ranch, Rick is busy acting in a TV western. And Rick keeps crying. A lot. He even cries in front of a little girl who simultaneously coddles and reprimands him. No doubt, Cliff would view this as potentially worse than crying in front of Mexicans. But Rick can’t help himself. He’s both a man of his time and out of time. He can’t roll with the hippies and spaghetti westerns but he’d never last a day in Cliff’s shoes let alone the wild frontier. Even at the end, in which Rick finally gets the chance to become an avenging hero (involving possibly the greatest payoff in cinematic history) if one steps back and thinks of the climactic set-piece, Rick is merely stepping in at the end to grab all the glory after Cliff and his wonderful dog Brandy did most of the heavy lifting. Thus Cliff is yet again carrying Rick’s load.

But this doesn’t mean Rick doesn’t have a victory. He does. It just comes at the midpoint, and it’s the closest thing to a real-life victory in the film. When Rick shows up to play the heavy in the TV western, he’s reached his low-point. Like a different part of the anatomy going into ice-water in Raging Bull, Rick is submerging his face into ice-water in his trailer, struggling with a hangover and hopelessness. Making matters worse, the artsy director shows up and tells Rick he wants him to play a hippie-style outlaw with a fringe jacket, mustache and long hair. The only thing Rick does more than drink and cry is insult hippies. He’s living his worst nightmare as an actor. QT makes another one of his most interesting choices by showing the subsequent scenes from the TV show in the same film stock and style as the main narrative. Thus when juxtaposed to Cliff at Spahn Ranch, Rick’s battle with his growing irrelevance as an actor is given the same cinematic weight. This isn’t just a TV show within the movie — it is the movie! This battle or showdown is just as important as Cliff’s eventual showdown with the Manson Family. Rick struggles. He fucks up his lines. He comes totally unglued in his trailer. This looks like the end of the road for him as an actor. He eventually gets his shit together, embraces the role and goes for broke. It’s a credit to both QT as a filmmaker and Leo DiCaprio as an actor that the villain Rick plays in the TV show ends up being more intense and visceral than the one he played in the main narrative of Django Unchained. Rick’s chops as an actor are restored and he decides to go to Italy and star in spaghetti westerns. He learns to maximize his talent in order to roll with the times.

A protagonist who is at odds with changing times might seem regressive or even reactionary to some people today, but it’s also a hallmark of westerns, especially the westerns of the late 1960s and early 1970s. From Once Upon a Time in the West to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, an impending future of railroads and industrialization is always treated with uneasiness by the heroes. These changing times aren’t going to include them. Their wild and free ways will soon come to an end. Nowhere is this theme most prominent than in the work of Sam Peckinpah. In many of his westerns, The Wild Bunch, The Ballad of Cable Hogue, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, the heroes are viewed as endangered creatures who are all too aware of their fate. The character of Cable Hogue even meets his end when a motor car rolls over him. He’s killed by the modern age! Another Peckinpah film from this era, Junior Bonner, is set in 1972 Arizona but can also be considered a western (creating a template for QT’s western that’s not set in the canonical “Old West”). The protagonist and title character is an aging rodeo star (brilliantly played by Steve McQueen, who perhaps not so coincidentally also appears in QT’s film). In Peckinpah’s film, Junior has lost his edge and returns home to take a breather and maybe get his chops back. His struggle is not unlike Rick Dalton’s. They’re both aging entertainers and they both fear they’re washed-up. And as with all of Peckinpah’s westerns, encroaching progress is a threat to Junior’s simple cowboy ways. All of these above mentioned westerns are filled with a bittersweet quality; a nostalgic snapshot that’s destined to become yellow and brittle. The power of myths is they suggest immortality for our heroes.They might be long gone but they live through these tales. Whether’s it’s the Old West of outlaws in dusty little towns or the Old West of ’69 Hollywood, people once lived in these places and they lived vibrant, foolhardy and sometimes dangerous lives. Maybe they didn’t live or die exactly as the tale accounts, but they did indeed live and they did indeed die.

In his film QT references another “man out of time” western: The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean. Written by John Milius, directed by John Huston and starring Paul Newman, the film is a highly-fictionalized account of the life of Judge Roy Bean. At the climax an elderly Roy Bean reemerges from a self-imposed exile to have a showdown with businessmen who have surrounded his beloved town with oil rigs. When his enemies ask who he is, Roy Bean shouts “Justice, you sons of bitches!” This is immediately followed by a shootout in which Roy defeats his foes, blows up the surrounding oil rigs and goes out in a blaze of glory. In real life Roy Bean died in his bed after a heavy bout of drinking. What’s most interesting is how QT referenced The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean. After the climax of Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood there’s a triumphant but wistful epilogue in which one of our heroes is faced with a future that we all know is a fantasy. Over this scene is an evocative piece of music that sounds like it’s from a fairytale and it plays over the end credits. The piece of music is entitled “Miss Lillie Langtry” and it’s the main theme from The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean. Lillie Langtry was a British-American socialite Roy Bean was enamored with and he even went so far to name the saloon in his town after her. “Miss Lille Langtry” plays over the end credits of Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood and the opening credits of The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean. But before the credits in Roy Bean we see written in storybook fashion:

“Near the turn of the last century the Pecos River marked the boundaries of civilization in western Texas. West of the Pecos there was no law, no order, and only bad men and rattlesnakes lived there.

…Maybe this isn’t the way it was… it’s the way it should be.”

With Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino pays homage to a socialite/actress who was tragically murdered before her time and two endangered heroes—one an outlaw stuntman, the other an entertainer—neither of who existed but men like them did. For two hours and forty-five minutes, the onward march of tragedy and time is defeated through a spirited, Old West mix of bravado and audacity. Maybe it’s not the way it was…

But it’s the way it should be.

[watchinglikeafangirl]

The falcon and winter soldier episode 2 - analysis

Of course, I am not only watching Asian BLs, I'm also watching Marvel and to be honest I was a huge fan but since Endgame was over, I had no motivation to keep track of what's been going on and I probably won't return to the cinema for phase 4 and 5. But I still love "the old generation", so I watch Falcon and the Winter Soldier like everyone else and also to be able to talk with my friends about it cause they are all watching it. So, here' a short analysis...

Kind of at the beginning, we see John Walker as the new Captain America giving an interview during a huge ceremony only held for him. Before I say anything further, I have a question: Did Steve also attend this kind of publicity in the present? Because they never said anything about such things before...

Like I said Captain America was Steve's identity. If he wouldn't've been Cap, he would've been nothing, no one. He build up his image, fonding on Captain America because he was everything that defined him but he had a personality before, only Bucky knows of. This shield and this suit remind Bucky so much of Steve, it hurts and to see some other guy wear it and make jokes is even more painful. Wearing the clothes of a lost one is not cool and I don't believe people need a new Captain America because they are totally fine, but the government saw cash, so they brought up a new one. It literally seems like this was the only reason and they cover up their true motivation by saying the people need someone to bring them hope. They have hope with or without him, it's just a cult...

Moving on, we see Bucky watching the interview on TV. He looks really mad and sad because some random guy not only pops up out of nowhere and took over the role his best friend was always filling, no, this guy also pretends like he has known Steve, the person behind Captain America and that's like an insult against the dead. Bucky has always been and will always be the one who knew Steve right from the beginning until the inevitable end and knew the Steve behind the mask.

Captain America was Steve but Steve wasn't Captain America, if you know what I mean.

Of course, Captain America defined Steve and was his identity but there was more to him than only fighting for his justice. And John Walker talks like he knows all of this. Like he knew Steve in person. No wonder Bucky and Sam don't like him...

But if you want to stick to the idea of hope, you can see it as Steve bringing hope to the poeple during a very hard time (WW2) and Sam as Cap would bring hope for the dream of equality actually coming true.

Talking about equality, they address the problem of racism in the US in a, I supposed, relatively realistic manner. It starts right at the beginning and is mentioned more than once. It begins with Sam rejecting the shield, it goes on in the bank and later with the police officers and it's not gonna stop. Sam doesn't feel worthy of the shield. He is part of the black communjty which is not respected as it should be and was confronted with racism all his life. It would be ironic to carry a shield of a man who represents the state and its society which was not kind to the people of color. It is something he can't do. His pride would suffer and he doesn't want to relie on his reputation. He already does and hates it very, very much. The officer didn't arrest him because he's Falcon and Sam hates this kind of mindset. He detests it and Bucky is no help. Sam really struggles with that and I'm glad they address that matter properly and send out the signal that even though you might be famous, you can very much still be a victim of racism and nothing changed for you. And that's just extremely sad.

For Sam, being Captain America is not an option right now because it wouldn't change anything, it wouldn't mean anything and he can just let it be.

Bucky is working through his trauma on his own, so he doesn't even try to understand Sam. The death of the only person who could remind him of his old self really affects him and he's lost. Losing Steve meant a loss of identity for him and Bucky has a hard time processing it plus coming clean with his past - which he clearly hasn't - and punishes himself for all the time. He is in denial. He is grieving. He seeks redemption. And maybe Sam can help him find it.

The color scheme is not that special or something but it's used to underline their differences. This is pretty clear at the end when Sam and Bucky are walking on the streets and talk about what they are going tk do now. The light is devided into a blue and yellow one. The half of the screen where Bucky is shown, is blue, showing his trauma and how much it defines him right now. He is lost, sad and looking for meaning. He still holds on to the past and first needs to let go. As for the other part of the screen is in yellow light, showing that Sam has a great journey to face and will be the new Captain America once he gets over what is holding him back.

I have to say, this show surprised me a lot. Sam and Bucky finally have character traits tnat go deeper than before and the show is well made. I know, it's just for fanservice, but it's good fanservice, so I'm gonna keep watching until the end.

What I really like is how they implie that Bucky and Sam form their unity and their own side because John Walker doesn't seem like one of the bad guys but is also not on their side. So, they are more or less their own side which is a really powerful metaphor for two people who have been so close to Steve. They are an alligance against the new Captain America that still tries to find his way. Bucky as the old best friend of Steve and Sam as the new Cap form a unity in memory of Steve and continue his legacy. It's a great dedication to Steve and they honour him in the best way possible.

Their friendship will go deeper and will help both of them to accept themselves. It will all be solved but until then, we're surely gonna see some more bickering and grumpy Bucky and I will love it from beginning until end.

[rachelking2819]

Jumanji: The Next Level

Welcome to my first review! I had a lot of fun writing this and watching the movie. Read my thoughts below and let me know what you think. Did I miss anything worth mentioning, let me know!

SPOILER ALERT  SPOILER  ALERT  SPOILER ALERT   SPOILER  ALERT  SPOILER ALERT   SPOILER ALERT   SPOILER ALERT   SPOILER ALERT  

Jumanji: The Next Level is the sequel to 2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. The movie stars the familiar faces from the first movie, but we meet some new as well like Awkwafina from Crazy Rich Asians and Danny DeVito known for Matilda and Batman Returns, more about them later.

The movie follows Spencer, Martha, Fridge and Bethany back into Jumanji. They are not the only ones there though as Spencer’s grandfather Eddie and his former friend Milo are also transported into the game. To once again exit the game, they must complete the next level of Jumanji, hence the title.

The movie starts with the four friends from the last movie in four different places getting ready to go home for the holidays.  Everyone seems excited to go and meet up, except for Spencer who seems miserable in New York. Upon arrival his mood doesn’t get any better. The night before he is supposed to meet Bethany, Fridge and Martha, Spencer decides to fix the old gaming console which got destroyed in the previous movie and goes into Jumanji. Breaking his promise to his friends to never go back. Later in the movie Spencer explains that he went back because he wanted to feel like Dr. Braveheart again, have no fears and be confident. I can get that, but that is hardly the way to go about it. The last time he got stuck in the game it almost got him killed and they were with four then. Also do not forget about Alex, he was alone and stuck for decades, unable to move forward in the game until the group of friends came along. So that Spencer thought it to be a great idea to go into the game alone???, is above me.

Anyway, while Spencer is playing Dora the explorer, Fridge, Martha and Bethany meet up and discuss Spencer and Martha’s relationship which has become a situationship as to neither knows what the situation is between them. Previous movie ended with them as a new couple, now though they are together but haven’t spoken for a while. At this point I almost rolled my eyes, thinking this was going to be some melodramatic subplot. This was luckily not the case. While there is a noticeable awkwardness around when they see each other for the first time in Jumanji, it is not something that is shoved in our faces and highlighted again and again. It is quite funny and fitting to their personality with the side-eyeing and the respective signature awkwardness. One could call it adorkable.

The official make-up talk/reunion happens about 20-30 minutes to the end on the side of a steep mountain. Let me paint the picture. In order to escape Jumanji, the final level is to get a jewel from Jurgen the Brutal. He is the main antagonist and stole the jewel from some sacred villagers. The jewel is what keeps Jumanji looking alive and beautiful and keeps the soils fertile for good harvests. Back to Spencer and Martha. To get to Jurgen’s fortress they must climb an icy mountain. On the side of this mountain, nowhere near the top, they find it appropriate to have a talk about what has been and why. Like really? Time is ticking y’all, everybody and their mom is counting on you to climb that mountain and execute your part of the plan, nobody has time for this. Finally, on the mountain and inside the fortress they share their signature “do-not-know-how-to-kiss” kiss, which made me chuckle.

Well, since I have mentioned Spencer and Martha’s first meeting in this movie, I might as well explain that Spencer was not in the body of Dwayne Johnson’s Dr. Braveheart. Instead he was a character we hadn’t met before yet: Ming, a cat-burglar and master lockpicker. Actress Awkwafina did a great job portraying Spencer as this character. With the nervous talking and twitching, it was no mistake neurotic Spencer was stuck as Ming instead of the presumed Dr. Braveheart. At some point it is possible for the adventurers to switch character by jumping in some magical lake. This is where Grandpa Eddie and Spencer switch character. Grandpa Eddie who was earlier Dr. Braveheart, now possesses Ming’s skill set. Again, Awkwafina shows what great actress she is as she takes on the persona of the older man.

Of course, the performances of the other actors can not be ignored. Dwayne Johnson portraying Grandpa Eddie was for sure very funny. Kevin Hart portraying Milo as Mouse Finbar has had to have been one of the highlights tho. Milo is known to be a very slow talker and gets to the point whenever he feels like it. I had genuine belly laughs anytime this character spoke. Also, Johnson and Hart together makes for a great duo every time. Jack Black applause to you once again. I believe that in your previous you were a gangster jock, not taking ish from anyone. Loved your portrayal of Fridge. Black was also iconic as ever as he brought out his inner teenage girl. Karen Gillan did not have much new going on, so she was just as great as she was in the previous movie.

Black also gave me the most relatable scene ever. Seeing as Fridge is a college jock and cannot handle not being able to move as fast as he normally does in the body of professor Shelly, he decides to do burpees to work on his characters stamina. Well three guesses as to how that went… The most dramatic burpees I have ever seen. But if I said “that ain’t me”, I’d be lying.

My only irritation on Grandpa Eddie was that he gets cocky almost every 5 minutes and therefor puts everyone in danger. I mean I get it, who wouldn’t get cocky when in control of such a powerful character as Dr. Braveheart. But when everybody is telling you to stay put and not make a scene or to run because that guy is your weakness, you better do what you have been told. Less fuss that way and everybody lives. But now, thanks to you everyone has lost a live, bringing them to one or two lives each.

Action wise, this movie really knew how to pace it properly. Every time you just feel the urgency of the situation, which I kind of missed last time. The very first action sequence I already knew that this movie was a step up from the first. It had beautiful visuals and the urgency just hit differently.

Talking about visuals. Wow wow wow, such beautiful sights in this movie. The movie takes us through the desert, an oasis, a little bit jungle and snowy wastelands and mountains. The settings were truly a sight to behold.

Also, the movie brings you heart and emotions aplenty. Now when I say this I am probably exaggerating, ‘cause I’m that overemotional. I could be watching a thirty seconds clip of a baby laughing with their parent and I am done for. While it wasn’t exactly waterworks, I did need a moment to compose myself. Especially when Milo told Eddie that he is sick, does not have long to live and that that is the reason he came to visit Eddie after decades of not speaking to one another. I hate these kinds of plots. They get me every single time. Aside from the potential tearjerker, the four original friends share a few heartfelt moments and are like “you are perfect as you are”, not those exact words, but you get it.

After rescuing Jumanji once more, the group of seven (Alex was at some point also part of the rescue op in the game) gets ready to leave Jumanji behind and never return. However, Milo wants to stay following his impending death and wants to see so much more in life. Again, a part that made me choke up a bit.

Now finally home sans Milo, the initial meet-up continues. As the day ends, the group of friends is met with a herd of ostriches like the ones they encountered on Jumanji running through the streets. And this is where the movie ends, giving as the assumption for a next movie where Jumanji comes to the real world.

Overall Jumanji: The Next Level is a fun movie for families. I personally liked it more than the first movie. Lots of laughs and action, that’s always a win for me. Almost made me cry, but that is not a difficult task. Casting keeps being great and great visuals. The first movie I thought was eyerolling funny, filled with dead jokes and overacting. That is why I didn’t have very high hopes for this one, but I went anyway because I was curious for the way it was showed at the cinema (ScreenX: all-round screens in the theater). This movie has certainly exceeded my expectation and I am glad it did. Definitely one I will be recommending to others.

What did you think of Jumanji: The Next Level?

‘Till Next Review!

[bi-dazai]

The wachowski thing is insanely complicated, not in that the wachowskis came out as trans or whatever, that's simple, but in the response. I'd also like to bring up that had they come out nowadays they'd be "stanned" and much of their previous instances of racism would be swept under the rug, when their racism has been one of the forefront criticisms of their work. Furthermore they were some of the first celebrities to come out as trans to have that actually respected by the industry - the box set names were changed and film credits rewritten for new releases. The media also mostly referred to them by their new names when they opted to. However there is a great deal of transphobia, particularly in deadnaming, that has occurred, with a rather blasé attitude abt the wachowskis names. It's considered fine to deadname them by many film studies - in fact, my film studies intro textbook has a section where the chapter author refers to them as the wachowski brothers. This book was a fifth edition, but the chapter was up to date and was released in 2012, meaning that the way to credit them was as "the wachowskis". I'm not afraid to drop the name - William Whittington - of who wrote this chapter, which included analyses on Avatar and District 9 which were not available in the previous edition of the book, meaning he had time to update his referencing.

Furthermore, Lana IS credited by her actual name in a later chapter (by a different author) referencing Bound as a piece of lesbian film (the chapter is by Chris Jones, thank you)

The textbook has an editor - Jill Nelmes - and in the publication of books an editor seeks to keep consistency in all chapters. Yet the idea of fluctuating Lana into her deadname in an earlier chapter and then properly naming her isn't seen as an inconsistency, it's seen as something that's acceptable to do, that people will get. And it WAS like that - studying film even now will get you fluctuating accreditations of the wachowskis, and nobody criticises it because this is seen as the normal. Accrediting the wachowskis by their actual names and not using their deadnames is considered going above and beyond instead of just...referencing the correct person.

This is what I mean by the wachowskis occupying a strange space in cinema studies. Their work has a lot of gay and trans undertones and tones that is incredibly important to analysing gay and trans rep in Hollywood cinema and television (ie sense8). But the misnaming of them isn't considered an important issue to correct, and to younger gay and trans people their identities as well as the (very famous) trans analysis of the matrix is almost totally erased. Maybe it's because the film isnt relevant on the technical scale it presented itself as, but it's still a relevant trans text. Yet if people - especially young online white gay culture - knew about it we would have this "stan" culture, and an inability to recognise a creator's flaws and criticisms. I've seen this happen a lot with white gays and transes - attaching to an lgbt creator/actor and praising everything they do without recognising or even bullying down the criticisms of poc and qpoc. We've already seen this with sense8's cancellation being equivalised with the cancellation of shows like the get down by creators of colour. The wachowskis and their work has been criticised for bad and misrepresentations of diversity, and the matrix itself has been criticised by some for stealing Japanese and other Asian aesthetics and ideas and populating it with mostly white faces. Sense8 received criticism for its treatment of its non-white characters, resorting to misrepresentations of black characters and stereotypical presentations of its non-european characters. Cloud Atlas is infamous for its modern update on yellow face. Had the wachowskis been relevant and present trans figures to the online white gay/trans youth culture of today we would inevitably have this stan culture - we almost did with sense8 - which upholds the wachowskis transness above their whiteness and uses it and their struggles as trans women as a device to silence criticism of their work from poc. It's why I'm not sohappy allowing ppl who engage in this weird dani-midsommar-stan behaviour find out the wachowskis ae trans, because I am fearful that the consistent aspects of racism that have followed with almost every work they have put out will be stifled under the feet of a thousand racist white gays.

[going-ollin-blog]

TASK 002 || ABOUT THE MUN !!

01. what’s your name/alias you go by ??

I go by Euriel.

02. what’s your age ??

‘Quarter of a century’ makes me sound older than 25.

03. what’s your zodiac sign ??

Aquarius / Dog

04. what’s your ethnicity ??

Throw some East & South East Asian countries into a blender, and you’ll get me! (Filipino, Chinese, Japanese)

05. what’s your nationality ??

American, British

06. what’s your favorite band and/or musical artist ??

Epik High, Magnetic North

07. what’s your dream job ??

Haute couture fashion designer & stylist --- for suits, particularly.

08. what’s one place you would love to visit ??

I have not yet been to Italy, so there.

09. what’s your favorite tv show ??

I don’t watch TV for entertainment that often anymore, but I remember enjoying Avatar the Last Airbender when I was younger, so maybe that.

10. what’s your favorite movie ??

Kiki’s Delivery Service

11. what’s your favorite song ??

Home is Far Away by Epik High ft. Hyukoh Home:Word by Magnetic North & Taiyo Na ft. Sam Kang Without you by Michelle Lee

12. what’s your favorite sport ??

Figure skating

13. what’s your favorite food ??

Sweets

14. what’s your favorite face claim to use ??

When I choose FCs, I tend to bond them to a character ‘for life.’ (Tyler Posey would always be Ollie to me, for example.) So this question to me is moreso who is my fave character and FC. But if I had to choose a favourite... ugh this is hard... uh... maybe... fuck I can’t choose lol.

15. what’s your least favorite face claim ??

Not sure if this makes sense, but my least favourite FC is if the face doesn’t believably fit the character??? So it’s not any one FC, just... ill-fitting ones. Idk lol.

16. what’s your favorite character of yours to play ?? which do you think you’re most like ??

Well, I only play Ollie here, and in general, he isn’t really like me except for wanting to make everyone happy. Fun fact: Ollie is my newest character in my muse family and I made him exclusively for Pandemonium. (I usually just carry over characters into different RPs instead of making new ones. >_>)

I play an Earth/plant warlock in another RP who is one of my longtime characters that I’m quite attached to. And I don’t think I’m extremely like any one of my characters, but I greatly empathise with them (perhaps too much so).

17. what’s your sexuality ??

I’m attracted to people regardless of gender, and preferably, we have a connection going.

18. what’s the last movie you saw in a cinema/theater ??

Detective Pikachu at the movies. I was also able to catch Betrayal in the West End before it ended.

19. what’s the worst injury you’ve ever had ??

A few torn muscles and sprains here and there. Nothing too serious, but I’m prone to getting sick fml lol.

20. what’s a random or interesting fact about you ??

I’ve lived in over 14 different countries. I was also born four months early.

21. do you listen to music while you write ??

Sometimes.

22. are you a morning, day, evening, or night writer ??

Whenever-I-have-the-time writer lol. Sometimes it’s ten minutes in between meetings, on the train home, or 2am when I should be sleeping.  ...Sometimes it’s a week later.

23. have you ever roleplayed intoxicated ??

Yes, but those never got too far along lmao (thankfully). And I’ve stopped drinking since then. Those were fun times, though ngl. xD

24. what language or languages do you speak ??

Fluently - English, Tagalog (Filipino), Japanese Conversationally - Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Spanish, French

25. how long have you roleplayed ??

Since I was in... elementary/middle school, I think. So at least over ten years?

26. favorite roleplay genre ??

Supernatural. Although Political/Royalty ones are fun to mess around in lmao.

27. one sound you hate & one you love ??

Hate: Sudden, loud noises (booms, thunder, fireworks, doors slamming, etc.) 

Love: Bells ringing

28. do you believe in ghosts ??

Yes.

29. do you believe in aliens ??

Yes.

30. do you believe in true love ??

Yes and it already came and went.

31. do you hold grudges ??

Yes, but very few. You’d have to have fucked up big time for me to do so.

32. do you have any obsessions right now ??

I’m quite fond of the colour blue.

33. do you drive & if so, have you ever been in a crash ??

No, but yes.

34. do you like the smell of gasoline ??

Nope. It makes me nauseous.

35. do you prefer writing fluff, angst, or smut ??

Depends on my mood, but leaning towards angst because suffering = character development LOL.

36. are you in a relationship ??

Trying that whole ‘self-love’ and ‘getting my shit together’ before I put myself out there again.

37. grab the nearest book to you and turn to page 23, what is the 17th line ??

“Like I was a threat,” Rita said. “Their eyes narrowed for a second and I knew. I know it’s silly, but I knew what they were thinking: ‘Here’s a threat to our daughter.’ And the worst part is I’m afraid of it being true.” --- Silk Moth (in Undercities: an anthology) by Xian Mao

(Highly recommend picking up Undercities if you’re into queer magic realism! It’s through an indie publisher though, so it might be hard to find. :c)

38. put your playlist on shuffle and list the first four songs that pop up:

I... don’t have a playlist. I just usually search for whatever I want to hear in that point in time. >_>

[imjustthemechanic]

Glockenspiel

Part 1/? - Transmission Part 2/? - The Sandhill Hotel Part 3/? - Piccadilly Part 4/? - The Future

“Isn’t it obvious?” asked Howard.

“No, it’s not obvious at all,” Peggy told him.  HYDRA having a time machine opened up enough cans of worms to fill a grocery store.  They might go back and murder Steve before he could become Captain America.  They might steal the secrets of the atom bombs and deliver them to Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan.  Peggy could probably fill a book with the awful possibilities, and these escaped HYDRA operatives doubtless knew things she didn’t.

“Sure it is,” said Howard.  “All we have to do is go back, and we can stop this from ever happening in the first place.  It shouldn’t be hard.  We’ve got seventy years to do it.”

“Or!”  Toulouse held up a finger.  “You might create the very future you’re trying to avoid!  That happens in movies all the time!”

“I’ve got a headache already,” sighed Peggy.  This was too much to take, even for her – she needed to sit down.  The hotel room Toulouse had gotten them was spacious and nicely furnished, with a sofa and chair at one end, facing a black glass panel mounted on the wall that Peggy could only assume was an extremely pretentious piece of art.  At the other were a pair of enormous beds.  Peggy went and sat down on the sofa, and took a deep breath.

“The first thing to do,” she decided, “is to find whoever’s running the SSR these days.  Toulouse, do you happen to know?”  She probably didn’t.  It was an American organization and Toulouse was British, and anyway, the SSR liked to keep out of the spotlight.  Many people seemed to think it had disbanded after the war.

“There isn’t an SSR anymore,” Toulouse replied  “There was SHIELD, but they’re gone now.  It was run by a guy named Fury, but he’s dead.  Mysterious car accident,” she added.  “Everybody knows it was an assassination, though.”

Peggy frowned, thinking.  “Zola was in SSR custody.  The man we met in there must be from at least a little while in our own future, because he couldn't have gotten away from his escorts to use the machine again... he might even be from a few years ahead.  So we do have to return to our own time, and make sure he doesn't get the opportunity.”  That would be at least a start, although the full ramifications of this would take more time to deal with.  “Do you think you can build a time machine?” she asked Howard.

“Probably,” he said, coming to lean on the sofa from behind.  “But as in the case of the Rift Generator, it'd be much easier just to steal one.”

Peggy nodded grimly.  “So we have to sneak back into that hotel.”

“Why do we have to sneak?” asked Toulouse.  “Daddy owns the hotel.  If I can just get in touch with him and tell him they’re in there, he’ll send somebody to chase those men out and we can just walk right in and use the thing.”  She picked up the slab-phone again.  “Let me ring him.”

“Wait, Toulouse,” Peggy reached out to stop her.  “Are you absolutely sure your father’s not involved in this?  I know that must be a painful question for you…”

“Daddy?  Of course not,” said Toulouse.  “He was promoted to Deputy Prime Minister because he wasn’t involved in the whole HYDRA thing while the fellow he replaced was.  They put him in charge of the investigation committee and the Queen gave him a special honour for it.  If there’s Nazis in his basement he’ll want to do something about it, I promise you.”

That sounded very reassuring, but Peggy still didn’t want to absolutely trust this man she’d never seen.  Come to that, she wasn’t sure she trusted Toulouse, either.  “Maybe don’t mention the time machine part,” she decided.

“I’ll just tell him about the cows,” Toulouse decided.  She entered a number and waited impatiently while it rang.  “Harvinder?  Oh, thank goodness.  I need to talk to Daddy.  It’s an emergency.”  There was a brief pause as whoever she was talking to replied.  “I don’t care if he’s in Honk Kong, Cape Town, or Saskatoon!” said Toulouse.  “This is important.  There is some seriously weird shit going on in the new Piccadilly!”

“I’m going to wash up,” Peggy decided.  It had been a long day, first on dusty roads in the foothills and then sweating in the warm, close environment of the walk-in safe.  She needed a shower.

“Don’t take too long,” Howard said.  “I want to go next.”

Peggy automatically expected a hotel bathroom to be tiny, but this one was huge.  There was an enormous tub, two sinks, a giant mirror, and lots of fluffy white towels.  It looked like a lovely place to relax for a evening, but even if Howard hadn’t asked her to hurry she knew they didn’t have that kind of time.  She therefore limited herself to a shower, though she ran the water scalding hot and washed her hair twice.

She emerged in a thick white robe with another towel around her hair, to find Toulouse had taken out that silver thing she’d been keeping in the walk-in safe and had opened it like a book, propping it on the desk.  One side of it was a sort of flat typewriter, while the other displayed a moving image, and Toulouse was staring intently at it as her fingers flew over the keys.  Howard, meanwhile, was mesmerized by the black glass panel on the wall, which was also showing images.  It was some kind of miniature cinema screen, Peggy realized, showing colour newsreel footage.

“Okay, here we go!” Toulouse announced.  “Good news.  Looks like both of you make it back to the 1940s just fine!  Howard Stark died in a car accident along with his wife in 1991…”

“My wife?” Howard asked, looking over his shoulder in startlement.  “I got married?”

Peggy wasn’t quite shocked, since she’d always assumed he’d have to settle down sooner or later, but it was still a surprise to get confirmation of it.  “Good heavens,” she said.  “Next you’ll be telling me…” she paused, glancing sideways at Howard.  He’d hinted that his own father hadn’t been very good at it.  Would he… she decided not to ask just yet.  “What about me?”

“You’re still alive, but you’re retired,” said Toulouse.  The text on the device in front of her was scrolling past too quickly to follow.  “You were married twice and outlived both of them, had two kids and outlived one of them, too, and helped keep everybody from dying in the Cuban Missile Crisis.”

“Good to know I continue to do my job,” said Peggy.  There was a thought, she realized – if she could find out where her older self was living, she could visit her.  Would that cause a paradox and destroy the world?  Her future self would not appreciate that after a lifetime spent saving it, so best not to go there.  She leaned to take a closer look, but then Toulouse’s little telephone, now lying on the table next to the typewriter device, started playing music.  Toulouse squeaked and grabbed it to put it to her ear, and Peggy had to straighten up in a hurry so as not to be smacked in the face.

“Daddy?” Toulouse asked.  “Oh, finally!  Listen, have I got a story to tell you!  Those men in the basement are not electricians, they’re some kind of weird conspiracy.  They’ve got a machine that’s making cows or something!”  She covered the bottom of the device and looked at Peggy.  “Should I tell him they were locking people in the safe?”

“I’d rather you didn’t,” Peggy decided.  “The fewer people know we’re here, the better.”  Even if Mr. Sandhill wasn’t a member of HYDRA himself, there was no telling who he might mention the incident to.  Somebody at his hotel company must have suggested to Zola that the men could get in under the pretense of electricians.

Toulouse nodded and put the phone back to her ear.  “No, Daddy, cows.  Yes, moo!  And there’s a car that came right through the lobby windows with no driver.”  There was a short pause.  “No, a car!  Cows don’t need drivers!”

Peggy suspected this phone call would take a while.  She went and sat down next to Howard on the couch.

“The washroom is free,” she noted.

Howard jumped a little – he’d been so wrapped up in what he was seeing on the cinema screen, he hadn’t even noticed her sit down.  “Peg, look at this!” he said, gesturing to the wall.  “It’s a personal theatre!  It can show you all kinds of things.  You can get films, you can get cartoons, newsreels, serials, all in your home!  Toulouse doesn’t know who invented it.  I hope I did.  If I didn’t, when we go back I will.”

The image on the screen showed aerial footage of a large ship, still blackened and smoking from a recent fire, being towed into a harbour not by a tugboat but by some tiny, unidentified object.  It switched, then, to a man who was recognizably a reporter with a microphone, standing on top of a building with the ship visible in the water behind him.  He turned to interview what was either an astonishingly advanced machine or else a man wearing some kind of red and gold armor.

“See that?” Howard pointed to the corner.  “It says live.  We’re watching this as it happens on the other side of the world!  This is in Canada!”

Sure enough, a caption at the bottom of the screen read LIVE: Iron Man tows burning tanker into Vancouver.  The being in the armor reached to remove its helmet.

“You tune it with this,” Howard went on, holding up an object about the size and shape of a candy bar.  He pressed a couple of buttons on it, and the image changed – from the news, to footage of sharks swimming, to South Asian people in fabulous costumes dancing, to a group of men and women sitting arguing in a restaurant.  “This is wild.  I always hoped I lived a long life, just so I could see what the future brings – now here I am, and I get to go back knowing what’s possible and maybe help it along a bit!”  He grinned.

“Here I thought you'd be disappointed in the lack of flying cars,” said Peggy.

“Only a little,” Howard assured her.  “The cars are beautiful, aren't they?  They look like they could fly, even if they don't.”

Peggy thought they were hideous, all streamlining and no elegance, but she didn't say so.  “The washroom is free,” she repeated.

“Oh, right,” he said.  “There’s another robe, right?”

“There is,” Peggy assured him.

He turned off the theatre with a look of honest regret, and went to wash up.  Peggy looked over her shoulder at Toulouse, but the young woman was still on the phone.

“Anyway,” she was saying, “I told the police there was a bomb in the hotel, because I figured they wouldn’t think cows were serious and after that thing in Sheffield they probably wouldn’t believe me if I said there was a conspiracy in the basement…”

Yes, this was going to take some time.  Peggy decided she needed a breath of fresh air.  She got up and went out on the balcony to take another look at the city.

The suite had a large terrace with a private pool, chairs and tables to sit at, and a few small garden beds.  Peggy passed them by and went to lean on the railing, the better to appreciate the view.  It was properly night now, with a half moon hanging low over the city and the whole place glittering with lights.  The last time Peggy had seen London in the dark, it had still been blacked out for fear of German bombers.  Seeing it all lit up like this was strange in itself, but still not nearly as strange as the city itself.  The giant ferris wheel and the towering glass buildings beyond didn’t even look like England, let alone London.  The skyscrapers would have been out of place even in New York.  One had a graceful spiral twist to it, looking rather like an enormous Christmas ornament.  Another resembled a pyramid stretched out to impossible proportions by a funhouse mirror.  They looked like something from the cover of one of those science fiction magazines Agent Penner liked to read.

But there was the outline of Big Ben, brightly lit against the dark sky.  There was the Waterloo Bridge, and if Peggy leaned very far forward she could just see the turrets on top of the Tower.  This was London, certainly, but it was London utterly transformed, the familiar bones wearing a new and alien skin.

This was the first real moment of quiet Peggy had been allowed since this all began in the bunker outside Los Angeles, twelve hours and seventy years ago, and now that she had the opportunity she did her best to try to digest the situation.  The future!  Seventy years was a lifetime – people who’d been small children when she’d left were now on their deathbed.  Most likely anybody she’d ever known was long dead, and from what Zola and Toulouse had said about the SSR and its successor organization SHIELD, there wasn’t even an institution they could go to for help.  A time traveler in the 1940s would have come to the SSR’s attention, to be met with either help or opposition depending on the individual’s agenda.  Who took care of such things in the 2010’s?

“Peggy!” called Toulouse’s voice.

She looked up.  Toulouse was standing in the French doors, waving at her.

“I’m coming!” Peggy said.  She took a couple of deep breaths to compose herself, and then headed back indoors.  She’d had her moment to digest, and now it was time to deal.

Back in the room, Howard was getting out of the shower, and Toulouse was back at her typewriter device, her fingers flying over the keys composing a letter to one of her professors, while at the same time her mouth chattered about their current situation.  “Somebody’s going to collect my things and bring them here,” she said, “so that’s taken care of, and I managed to wear Daddy down.  He’s gonna send Prince to investigate.”

“Prince?” asked Peggy.  Was that the name of a dog?

“Like the Artist,’ said Toulouse with a nod.  “He’s my big brother – my half-brother, to be exact.  His Mum was Daddy’s first wife  Mine was his third.”

“How many has he had?” asked Howard.  For once Peggy was glad he’d said something, because her first question would have been to ask what kind of person names their children Prince and Toulouse.

“Six,” said Toulouse, as if this were quite ordinary.  “Don’t worry, he didn’t behead any of them.  Now,” she went on, “it’s late, so he won’t bother being there until tomorrow.  That means we can get up early, go in, and send you guys back to the 1940s, done!  Then Prince and I can clean up, and Daddy can get another award from the Queen for thwarting a plot against the throne!”  She seemed to think it would be quite simple.

Peggy knew better.  “Once we’re back inside the hotel,” she said to Howard, “can you repeat whatever it is you did in California?”

“I’m not sure what I did in California,” Howard admitted.  “I think there must have been a residual charge in the coils and my touching the wire caused a short circuit.  Once I’ve had a chance to study it, I’ll be able to figure it out.”  He smiled, proud.  “You know me.  The only thing I’m better at than building stuff is figuring out how other people’s stuff works.”

“Then I just hope it’ll be that easy,” said Peggy.  Once they got back, the real work would begin – keeping tabs on Zola, and figuring out what this all had to do with die Glocke.

[sole-cuore-amore-e-droga]

Suspiria remake review from a shitty movie-goer

(this review is posted too late so excuse me for some timing inaccuracies I couldn’t be arsed to edit)

(IF YOU HATE TL;DRS JUST SKIP AHEAD TO THE “THE REVIEW” PART. YOU’RE WELCOME)

I actually hate to admit why was I interested to watch this movie in the end, but for once SOMETHING motivated me to go to a movie after countless tries from my family to get me to watch something in theatres at a “reasonable time” (daytime is what they mean, this movie was at 8pm our time, and this is when the cross-city bus transport (it goes from one big city to another) stops doing their service lmao).

I myself have a lowkey interest in moviemaking (I’m already getting there by editing my phone-recorded videos because whatever). I come up with my concepts in my head and I am mostly willing to put them down somewhere in my computer so I don’t forget it years later if I want to make that concept a thing in the end (because none of my concepts are finalized... well except for one short horror-ish story I posted on DeviantArt (see mom, I do like some horror stuff!). Reddit as of lately inspired me to edit some of my movie’s plot-lines based on irl events (not related with anything too SJW), and I’m not sure how an usual movie-goer would see this concept but I am going to try to execute it... whenever I have enough equipment to shoot my own little films or skits or whatever.

What’s that? There are people who scrolled past this and already yell at me that “YOU ONLY WENT TO SEE THIS MOVIE BECAUSE OF THE MAN WHO COMPOSED THE SOUNDTRACK~~~”? Ugh yes you exposed me, tea all over. I even had “Street Spirit (Fade Out)” on a bit of a repeat as of lately (how fucking come I wasn’t too couragerous to listen to this song before?? And “Pyramid Song”??? Man am I discovering their pearl(ie)s(*) too late). And I’m occasionally on the band’s subreddit as well. And the man himself is touring ‘round the USA, signing material of fans and have genuinely warm chats with them. Admireable.

But that’s only half truth.

I never thought I’d see Suspiria on cinema theatres in here. Until one time when I saw an ad on a completely random Lithuanian website that said this movie is coming to our theatres 14 December... I couldn’t quite believe my eyes. I made my goal to see Suspiria since then. I even dared to ask a couple of my new college ‘friends’ to see it with me, but one of them fell off the deal when I revealed that I’ll be going to see it on Saturday, and on the weekends he’s usually at home, far away from the city the college is in (he lives in college dormitory on mostly the work-weekdays). So my only movie companion ended up to be this 28-year-old coursemate (actually we both study different things but sometimes we attend some of the same lectures) who was intrigued by the Suspiria trailer herself so at least I’m gonna have her by my side of the movie, so I thought. Sweet.

I already envisioned seeing this in a mall cinema theatre but my companion offered me a cheaper alternative - her suggested cinema theatre was actually in renovation so the business is temporarily happening inside an actual drama theatre’s long theatre hall. I had to wait long until the ticket box opened and because of that I was lowkey frustrated as I finished my English test writing a little earlier, so I spent my time walking around the city until the time came and I wandered off to the old building of the cinema so then I remembered it was moved and I found the moved place. Yeah I bought the tickets before my companion could but I’ll skip ahead to the time that I almost lost the tickets because they were put down on a windowsill outside some children activity centre (Suspiria and children?? lol). I came back home late at night and was ready for the movie to happen the next day. Oh and before buying the tickets I coincidentally saw dance classes going on nearby that building... weird, as Suspiria has dance elements in there

The day came (December 15) and my family went together with me because they saw this as an opportunity to see the Christmas tree of our city (but not the movie). Needless to say, they were still visibly pissed at me orchestrating this idea, as I planned everything BUT the transport to go by. Well at least my mom and my sis. Dad was cool with it as he returned home to watch Home Alone. Aside all that, the cinema hall was cozy, Christmassy, not too small, there were a few trailers before the movie, no snack-seller places (as this is not a mall lol) - my companion was glad she wasn't at the mall as she found this place where we were at way lovelier.

Now with all that unnecessary long intro off my chest, let’s begin:

THE REVIEW

(definitely not spoiler-free, if you are sensitive to spoilers please watch the movie for yourselves before reading my review. But if you like being spoiled, I’m your friend then I guess lmao)

The intro to the movie felt like I ended up booking a wrong movie - I didn't expect that to be set somewhere in Germany, especially an American/Italian-shot one. Was that a thing in the original Suspiria? I don't know... (apparently it is, but the cities are different, never the country though)

Patricia (I didn’t know it was Chloë Grace’s role until reading the Wiki) looked like to be a really big deal here, with the dance pupils discussing her disappearance the other day and Susie overheard them, then Sara mentioned the Patricia thing to Susie after Susie revealed she was kind of chosen as the lead dancer for the Volk play... is it because Patricia was THE saviour that unfortunately knew a little too much?? Idk, it’s perhaps the reason we get to see the Klemperer guy subplot happen (I didn’t know it was Tilda Swinton behind him all the time either, must be because the way the male German accent was put on her lol). Turned out she was captured and kept under some dungeon where Sara had gone later in the movie, but looking like an almost melted and grotesquely old human being (or if Mary’s mother from “Chocolate with Nuts” was a person). Speaking of which, there is one more later in the movie, but I won’t tell just yet - we will need to get into such scenes discussion first.

Interesting deaths here, despite of them being grotesque and horrifically detailed. It almost felt like Susie, whilst doing her first dance as the probable lead dancer, temporarily turned into Olga’s voodoo doll or a violent bloodbender (that old lady from Avatar that could bloodbend was incredibly uncanny, damn) and left Olga completely fucked up, and the foam mouth later on... is this the effect myxomatosis has on a human being if it was ever humanly? She was twitching and salivating afterall. :P But no, she’s not dead until she gets to plead her death later in the movie! :O Several others occur throughout, but none is more prominent than this key scene I described, well at least according to TV Tropes.

The search for the evil person in this movie without Wiki helping me much was definitely a nice game for me to play. I kept thinking that Blanc might be that one, then I thought she’s not the one until she looked at Carolina (I think that was the tall tomboy’s name??) suspiciously and then she later passed out on the floor violently, with rabies foam and everything.

Anyway, don’t tell me Tilda Swinton wouldn’t make out a pretty good Thom Yorke post-Pablo Honey. She’s 8 years older than him, ffs! Also played a man before (e.g.: this movie I’m talking about) so the make up won’t be an unjumpable-over hurdle.

The sighs were for sure unsettling, especially because they oddly sounded like orgasm here and there. IDK why. I know fucking is referenced twice in this movie (well only fucking once and sex another time). Speaking of random things, the nightmare shots were completely random themselves, following up with some imagery we never see in the movie again, and some of that we see only a little (like the worms and bloody organs).

3 long scenes that were note-worthy for me. One is the Olga mutilation/Susie's first dancing scene that I already noted, and it was driven by music (the others will be too. Soundtrack of this movie still rules). Then there's the Volk play itself - girls go from one place to another, take poses of each other, dance individually, let their minimalistic red rope dresses flick in the air, interspersed with Sara in the underneath area and her broken leg (so broken, the bone went out of her skin!), and then the matriarchy getting her back on stage, but healing her leg with her witch powers before that. I haven't really listened to the rest of the soundtrack but I gotta check the song out so that I won't end up labeling it as a Kid A reject. No but seriously - intense dancing needed some intense drumming and painful instrument sounds just to project out the massiveness of the whole play.

Then I keep remembering the scene where Madame Blanc commands Susie to jump higher and higher in the mirror hall, up until she jumps as highest as possible. Also my companion’s favourite scene was the stare exchange between these two ladies during the part where people were singing some drinking song in a bar to celebrate ‘Volk’’s success - you hear them singing and then some chilling background noise slowly mixing and creeping its way into the atmosphere, then I think it leads into a scene where some sparkling aura entity wakes Susie up (and she’s nude) in the middle of the night and gets her to go down to this... dungeon orgy full of random stuff going on, complete with an Asian man doing something beyond explanation (I could say lewd but not quite), even more strange ritual dancing and the very much frightening Madame Helga... who looked like Jabba the Hutt for some reason. And then of course everyone slitting, slashing and twisting each other, and by the end Susie throwing us all a plot twist which makes her THE evil one who can finally let her ‘friends’ go of all that suffering they have been through thanks to the damn witches (and yeah apparently her dance friends haven’t completely died? THAT’S how they do - they tell Susie to end their suffering and she does). Also she cracks her chest open to reveal a... very graphic part of a female body that will by no doubt get this whole text review reported without consent so I refrain from any illustrations. Oh and this scene mostly has the possibly favourite this movie’s soundtrack song of mine, if not one of them, play - titled Unmade. It was a mind-boggling decision to do so but the movie editors do them I suppose, but still. I felt sad for the song having to be the background of such absurd but fair enough events? (Oh and I didn’t mention that everyone who voted for the other woman than Madame Blanc to be the leader of the witches (iirc) were rid of in this movie. Damn.)

Oh and the ending is rather an interesting detail, not talking about post-credits because as always I have to be this one movie goer who wants to do it but can’t because they’re urged to go back out of the movie theater. We turn into modern day Germany with a love heart carved on a brick wall with the letters A and L (perhaps?? at the time of finishing this review my memory towards it kind of erased some parts of the movie for me), a nice little remembrance of Lutz’s (the old man’s) love for his dear Anke, with which they have reunited during the movie, but Lutz was dragged out by some people related to the dance academy for probably wandering elsewhere than needed and somehow Lutz ended up as one of the sex dungeon victims, stripped of clothing and lying down quite powerless. That and before the modern day shot we are subjected with Lutz in hospital with Susie coming to visit, they discuss something related to the plot, Susie touches the guy speaks some more, leaves and according to the Wiki, Lutz “suffers from a violent seizure” that was nothing more than just a hard seizure. And it even erases his memories!

Anyway, as a whole, I felt more underwhelmed of this movie’s experience despite really wanting to see it. Like, “uhm yeah gore blood people getting slashed everyone’s a witch and everyone’s watched over by the witch and if you expose the witches you die” kind of underwhelmed. I didn’t want this movie to blatantly go through my head, but it did, that’s why I wanted to make notes everytime something notable happens. There was one startling moment, and it just was an innocent scene transition. And something within Olga’s mutilation scene made me chuckle (and made some other people leave the cinema hall ASAP). It’s more of a disgusting watch than scary. Also feels too dragged out in parts.

I’d only recommend it if you are gore-tolerant (there are people that can’t stand looking at blood so this might as well not be for you, especially if you’re younger than 16), like intense choreos that can impact other people literally, and... the soundtrack. Yes of course. If you dare to get through the movie with feeling its soundtrack, sometimes you might as well feel it right, but some of the soundtrack song usages might as well make you go “hmm” as much as me.

I'll remind myself to never watch a movie in theaters for soundtrack again (unless they're not THAT late). And the other 'trilogy of the three witches' movie remakes, especially if they come out at the time I haven't moved houses by now, because for sure as hell will my parents not like me going to cinema late once more. The movie is lowkey 7 out of 10 for me, can sometimes it's on the verge of falling down to 6 becaude of no completely proper comprehension of some directing choices... so 6.7/10 is good - as it still has 6 in it, but totally leans on to the 7.

Will probably watch it again. I need to remember some more of this movie sometime later. And looking for online uploads of this movie is unrecommendable - I'll wait until Lionsgate distributes it to America for wider audiences so that anything could surface 2 months (or even a few days) later from now. Though if I didn't need all that, I'd definitely not watch it again for a long time... unfortunately I want to.

Post movie feelings: my companion liked the movie, initially said to never watch it again but now wants to watch it again because it was so "wtf" she felt like re-experiencing it at some point. She liked the music (another bonus point for Yorke). She wished she could film the reactions of other people who watched this, as they mostly were confused, all being like "wtf did I just watch???". I'm already feeling bad for the 3rd companion who didn't join us but would also like to watch this - he’ll likely be one of those confused movie-goers.

[purplesurveys]

723

What do you do when you can't sleep? I pick something to watch. Usually the background noise works in making me feel sleepier. Have you ever been threatened before? Physically, verbally, emotionally... I’ve had the full package. Don't you hate being labeled? I hate if it’s done in a mocking way or to reinforce insulting stereotypes, like Catholic Filipino boomers saying all atheists are evil and in need of ‘saving.’ But there are some labels that can be a source of comfort and give me a sense of identity, like if my friends can correctly remember my sexual orientation. Are you one of those people who says sorry too much or doesn't say it often? I do say it a lot. I also get reprimanded for it a lot. Have you ever had a cute doctor/dentist/nurse? No, and I mostly don’t think of them in that way... if I’m at the doctor/dentist, that just means I want to be healed lol.

Do you swallow your gum even though it's bad for you? I’ve never done it on purpose. The few times I accidentally swallowed gum I was worried it’d fuck up my stomach, but nothing bad has ever happened. Don't you hate it when you go to the bathroom & there's no toilet paper? I mean my parents always buy tissues in bulk, so we’ve never run out of them. If I catch the roll being empty, it’s easy to replace. ^When that happens do you ever just sit there & read shampoo bottles? We have bidets in our bathrooms. For houses with no bidets, the pair of tabo/balde would do to wash ourselves, at least for Filipino culture. Going into TMI territory over here but the idea of some countries/people only using dry toilet paper to wipe their ass has always been so odd for Asians. Do you wear jelly bracelets? Do you believe in the sexual meanings of them? I wore them a few times during childhood but I wasn’t obsessed nor did I collect hundreds of them. I didn’t know they had sexual meanings – that would’ve been my last thought as a kid. Are you good at guessing things? Not guessing, but I’ve had a decent track record of picturing and predicting worst case scenarios that end up happening close to the way I imagine them. Have you ever gambled? I played Bingo when I was like 9. There was a period when my late grand-aunt’s friends would come over at her place (we lived in a duplex, so I knew whenever a game was starting and it was easy to walk over there) and play Bingo, and it lasted for a few months. When your stomach growls do you ignore it for awhile or immediately get food? I like waiting for a while before deciding I’m *really* hungry and looking for food. Have you ever thrown up on someone in front of you on a amusement park ride? OMG, never. Have you ever thought you were dreaming so you had someone actually pinch you? No. I only ever saw this in cartoons, too. When you get nervous, does your heart pound extra fast? Isn’t that kind of an important sign of being nervous though? If my heart wasn’t beating fast I’d think that everything was under control. Have you ever mowed your lawn? Do you find it fun or annoying? Our village has a staff member that’s in charge of mowing everyone’s front lawns, so we don’t really have to. Do you have a garden at your house? I wouldn’t call it a garden. We have a couple of tall trees but that’s it. Do you like making puppet figures with your shadow? I don’t hate it, but like I don’t actively seek this out. When you're on the internet does time go fast or slow? When I was 10 and the internet was still fairly new to me and there were still a billion sites to check out, time was definitely fast. I’d be on the laptop all day and suffice it to say I was addicted, which wasn’t the healthiest situation for a 10 year old. These days time just feels normally paced since we’ve grown used to the internet now... it’s literally a part of everyone’s lives and is everywhere from phones to TVs to fucking lightbulbs, so it’s all just part of everyday routine. When you're angry do you take it out on other people? I make it a point not to do this but sometimes I’ll crack under pressure and end up snapping at someone. What's the key to true happiness? Key’s different for everyone. Who do you look up to for your style? For the longest time it was Audrey Hepburn, which is why I have a ton of little black dresses piled up in my closet to this day. More recently though I’ve been wanting to dress up like Rachel Green from Friends. What was the longest phone conversation you've ever had? Ugh it’s so cringey now but when Gab and I were newly dating we once had an 8 hour Viber call. Never did it again.

How many pillows do you sleep with? Two big ones. What's your life philosophy? “You don’t have to be blood to be family” ngh I say this on surveys a lot. Soz, questions like this make me repeat it. Have you ever played strip poker or would you ever? I’ve never played it. I don’t even know how poker works and it’s so annoying cause my favorite shows tend to make at least one episode focused on a poker game, and I’m left not understanding any of the dialogue. Would you still go out with someone even if you thought they would cheat on you? These cheating questions can be so tricky but generally I wouldn’t consider dating someone who I know to be a past cheater. Would you date someone who didn't want to have sex until they were married? Yes. I mean I was already this kind of person with Gabie anyway when we started dating; she was just able to change my mind which I’m super ok with because I’ve never regretted it. How much cash do you have on you right now? I have a little over P2000 in my wallet. My school has since ordered to end the semester by April 30 so I had no idea that the P2000 my parents gave me last March was gonna be my last allowance from them ever :’( What's your favorite thing to order at a Mexican food restaurant? I haven’t really had Mexican food that’s purely Mexican, i.e. not Tex-Mex. Idk if it’s right to say fajitas and chimichangas since Google says they’re Tex-Mex, but they’re my usuals. If you got to magically make somebody disappear, who would it be and why? Can I make a virus disappear instead? Do you prefer to cook or eat out? Eat out. Because I can’t cook. Have you ever peed yourself while laughing? Never. When you don't like someone, do you let them know? I mean obviously I don’t confront them directly just to say I don’t like them, but I’ll make extra effort to avoid them and I just wouldn’t interact if we happen to be in the same room. How would you build your ultimate sundae? Not really a sundae girl so I wouldn’t know what combination works. McDo’s hot fudge sundae is satisfying enough for me. Would you date someone who went to church on a regular basis? If it came to that, and especially if I really like the person, I might give them a chance (that’s a billion plus points for my mom, anyway) on the condition that they don’t force me to attend with them, and they don’t try to convert me. What is your favorite curse word? Fuck. Would you rather see a movie at the theater or at home on DVD? Egh it depends. There are movies I can be excited enough about to wanna catch it in the cinema, and there are some that I’m not invested as much in and that I could wait for to show up at an illegal film website lol. If the police came to your door & said "you're under arrest!" what would it be for? The police in this country are the Devil and will arrest and kill anybody. That said, I can be attacked in my own home, arrested for absolutely nothing, and they will get away with it. Are you good at giving massages? Nope. What movie do you know just about every line from? Your basic white girl movies – Titanic, The Proposal, White Chicks. Oh and also my favorite Two for the Road, of course. Do you prefer cupcakes or muffins? Cupcakes. If I absolutely have to eat a muffin it has to be chocolate, otherwise I’m not touching it. I’m all about the sweet. What are the three "nevers" of your life? Doing hard drugs, drunk driving, eating fruits. What lifts your spirits when life gets you down? Good food, good movies, good friends. My dog. Is sometimes being silent more effective than having to say things? Yes. Do you smile a lot or not enough? I think I do it enough.

[d1g1t4lj0urn4l]

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE

I've consumed so much wonderful media in the last few weeks; Turning Red, The Hobbit (for the first time), and a repeat of The Nanny of course. But nothing compares to this film I saw last week. It was truly, and I dont say this lightly, the best movie I've ever seen. As you could tell from my other musings on media - I don't go out of my way to consume it all that often. Often, my girlfriend wants to watch something and I sit and watch it with her because she loves new movies and tv. But this movie seemed so special to me, I really prioritized seeing it and even arranged all of the tickets and a time where we could both go see it.

I got us tickets to see it at our favorite movie theatre here, the E Street Cinema downtown. The theatres are small, the people who go there also really love movies, and I have a lot of special memories there. A bunch of my friends and I went to see Moonlight there, a few nights before it won at the Oscars! A friend of mine who passed away loved The Room, so after he passed we went to his favorite theatre to see a showing (as E Street often does) of this older movie, and did all the fun cult movie performative choreography like throwing spoons at the screen.

All that being said, this movie was already hyped in my mind, and it was going to be seen at a place that has a lot of meaning for me. So, with our perfectly distanced from the screen seats, Katie and I settled in for the best 2.5 hours i've ever experienced in a movie theatre, possibly since Moonlight. And I've seen other movies in theatres since the pandemic like Black Widow and Zola - both which I found slapped, but this was on another level.

I knew going in that it would be a Matrix-like film, and that it would deal with a multi-verse, but I had absolutely no idea that it would be dealing with intergenerational trauma or even family trauma at all. A lot of the reasons why I don't normally like action movies is their motivations all seem really vain or shallow; like to get a girl or restore order. To me thats all bullshit. And not to mention the whole plot line of a gay daughter trying to get her mother to love her for exactly who she is? Stabbed me right through my queer heart. I think that's the core of why this movie was so compelling for me - I finally felt seen in "an action movie."

I also felt seen in the bit near the end when Waymond said "this is how I fight" [with kindness] because this also made me feel seen. I've been through some traumatic shit in my life, and I always fight with kindness. Many people have asked me why I don't fight like Evelyn or why I don't just cut people out. Like Waymond - it's just against our nature. And I know this might sound trite when thinking of the scope of life but it's truly something intrinsic about me.

I also think it's ABOUT TIME Michelle Yeoh wins an Oscar and I wouldn't be surprised if she won for this. Her performance was so absolutely impeccable but so was Stephanie Hsu's. These two women were playing absolutely insane objectives but really sold it. They are the reason this movie was so relatable - they sold their objective. It was life or death and the audience felt that. I really hope these two win, but mostly Michelle Yeoh because she made it look like women her age, heck ASIAN women her age, can and should be leading ladies.