#and also dr harrison his design its so cool

[tismperson]

who else would watch an starbase 80 show WE NEED IT

[myrandomfandomramblings]

Arrowverse Science Fair AU

~2004 National Highschool (Gr. 8-12) Science Fair

Projects:

Felicity Smoak (Gr. 9) – Computer software to detect card counters. She may or may not have hacked into online card games to test it (this wasn’t included in/on her project.)

Cisco Ramon (Gr. 8 or 9) – Piano playing robot. He thought it played better than Dante. His parents didn’t agree.

Caitlin Snow (Gr. 9) – Analysis of physiological response to various stimuli. She wanted to find stimuli that would help kids cope with traumatic experiences (say crashing their bike or losing their father.) If she was able to find something that made her mom show some/any emotion that would be a bonus.

Barry Allen (Gr. 9) – Growing crystals (lots of different and cool ones). His project started out as an attempt to make something special for Iris for her birthday but turned into an elaborate project. It ended up being a good choice because 1) it reminded Barry of his parents (the first science experiment they did together was grow Borax crystals on pipecleaner and 2) it followed Joe’s ‘your science fair project must make, not destroy things’ rule instated after Barry’s Gr. 6 project.

Alex (Gr. 9) and Kara (Gr. 8) Danvers – Birds in my Backyard. Eliza had insisted on Alex getting Kara involved in her science fair project this year. Alex was excited to show Kara the science fair experience she enjoyed but wanted to pick a topic she knew more about that Kara (her knowledge of math and science was intimidating enough without the superpowers). Seeing Kara’s interest in birds they decided to study birds in their backyard. With Alex’s design and Kara’s powers they built tall post’s and attached bird houses and feeders with differing properties. They then monitored which kinds of birds built nests and ate from where (with some help from Kara’s flight and X-ray vision). Alex also picked 5 nests from different species to chronicle the embryo and chick development. Kara enjoyed doing the project and learning about birds from Alex. The actual science fairs, not so much but those were Alex’s favourite part. Note: Streaky was locked in the house for the duration of the project so he wouldn’t eat any of the birds.

Winn Schott (Gr. 11) – Pop-up room/ room in a suitcase. Being in the foster system for the last couple years inspired Winn to design a room that collapsed to the size of a suitcase for easy transport but could expand in less than a minute into a nice-sized, fully-furnished, sound-proof room, so no matter how many times a foster kid was moved around they always had their own space and stuff. Also good for camping, travel and special short-term events (like waiting in line at conventions).

Lena Luthor (Gr. 5) – Oxygen absorbing/releasing crystal that could allow breathing underwater. After her Mum drown when Lena was four, she was determined to develop a simple way for people to breath under water. She was able to do just that by synthesizing a substance that absorbed and stored large amounts of oxygen then released it slowly (so if someone held in in their mouth, they could breathe underwater). She was happy and excited that her mom and older brother were interested in her project but a little frustrated and concerned that they were so focused on its ability to absorb all the oxygen from a room (in a big enough amount). Although she supposed it could be used in that capacity to control/extinguish fires. Note: although in elementary school, Lena got to compete against the high schoolers since her project was so advanced for her age.

Sara Lance (Gr. 11) – The Biomechanics of Dance and Martial Arts. As punishment for skipping classes, then sassing her teacher and principal when they tried to discipline her for skipping classes, Sara had to complete a science fair project. To make the best of it Sara chose something that interested her. In hindsight she wished she hadn’t. Her project was so good she was chosen to represent her school at the state and national science fair.

Ronnie Raymond (Gr. 9-12?)- Structural design to minimize Superman related damage in Metropolis. Ronnie was proud of his project and had enjoyed analyzing the powers of Metropolis’ hero, but he lost any chance he had at winning when he decided to leave his project to go flirt with Caitlin. At least Kara, whose project was next to his, seemed interested.

Hartley Rathaway – something to do with sound waves

Lily Stein (Gr. 11) – designing and comparing different miniaturized forms of renewable energy sources. She had some help from her dad.

Patty Spivot – Recreation of crime scene evidence using food models. A bunch of her friends (her whole cabin actually) from her summer camp for those interested in law enforcement came to support her.

-       Maggie Sawyer – seemed really interested in the bird project

-       Ralph Dibny – found every project that said it was OK to touch. His favourite was slime. To Patty’s surprise he didn’t break anything.

-       Dinah Drake – hung out with Patty most of the time. Talked to Hartley, beside her, about his project on sound waves for a bit (seemed kinda interested). Patty joined her when she got into a conversation with Sara, across the way, and Laurel about the implications of her biomechanics project in fighting and self-defence. The rest of the time they talked about that Vince guy from camp Dinah thought was cute.

-       Eddie Thawne – he hung out with Patty most of the time too but did do a lap of the fair with Iris, who was there supporting Barry, when she accepted his offer to buy her something at the concession.

Notable events:

- Clark came to see Alex and Kara’s project and brought James and Lois with him. Kara and Clark (very subtly) tested the models on the project beside them that had been abandoned and were said to be superman proof/resistant. They were very impressed to discover the models did indeed stand-up to heat vison, freeze breath and super-strength leading Clark to believe the student had a bright future. James spent most of his time talking to Winn about his pop-up room project because, “Don’t you think these would be way better than cubicles, the Daily Planet should definitely purchase some.”

- Cat Grant, a young reporter from the National City Tribune pushing a stroller, came around and interviewed all the contestants because, “What better place to find the next world changing innovator or innovation” as she put it when she stopped to talk to Clark (more like flirt Kara thought). Alex used Clark distracting Cat as an opportunity to play with the baby in the stroller. This was the only time during the entire science fair Alex was distracted, except maybe when Maggie had come, but they mainly talked about the project like Alex did with everyone, which left Alex wondering why it felt different. During their entire interview Cat called Kara Kira, much to her annoyance. At least the baby seemed to like her. This interview sparked a conversation between Kara, Lois and Clark about journalism which Iris overhead while she was visiting Barry and joined in.

- Graduate students Ray Palmer and Curtis Holt were volunteer judges and ticket takers. Curtis wore a varsity jacket over his shirt and tie which covered his name tag, but at every project he judged he would describe every aspect as terrific, so the contestants started calling him Mr. Terrific. While judging Barry’s project they began a discussion about their favourite elements/minerals/gems. Barry couldn’t decide so joked he liked Barium. Ray shared his love for dwarf star alloy with a ‘quick’ lecture about its rumoured properties and potential uses. Curtis listed at least 10 compounds essential for modern tech as he flip-flopped back and forth trying to decide a favourite and Lex Luthor who was visiting his sister’s project beside them interjected that he favoured kryptonite. While taking tickets Curtis witnessed the following interaction. He asked Damian Darhk, who was carrying baby Nora, what brought him to the science fair. He responded with “These are the brightest young minds in the country and being young means they are malleable. So, there is nowhere better to recruit future talent for my enterprise.” Malcolm Merlyn, who was behind, him added “I know exactly what you mean with what the world’s coming to we’re going to need a bright mind to save it.” This led Tommy, who was accompanying him, to say “I thought we were just here to support the Queen’s.” Then one of the other judges, Dr. Harrison Wells aka Eobard Thawne in disguise, added “No your Dad is right. This world’s next HERO could be in this very room. I’ve already made a list of students to keep my eye on.” He pulled out a small piece of paper from his pocket. On it Curtis saw four names: Hartley Rathaway, Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow and Ronnie Raymond. This led to a long conversation between the three men about numerous threats to society, the country and the world and the possible drastic solutions that would need to be employed to stop them. When they left Curtis turned to Ray and asked, “Was it just me or were those Doomsday Dudes really creepy?” “What” Ray replied his attention clearly being pulled from elsewhere. But before Curtis could answer a voice behind him said “Doomsday Dudes is a terrible nickname you should call them the Legion of Doom.” Curtis turned to find Cisco. “Just saying,” he continued, “anyway I heard there’s free Big Belly Burger for the contestants. When’s that coming?” Ray had missed the entire conversation Curtis was asking about because he had been making funny faces at baby Nora the whole time hoping to make her smile or laugh but she had just stared at him with her big blue eyes.

- Queen consolidated gave out a $1500 scholarship and a summer internship at the applied sciences division. This year Moira and Robert had made Oliver come and brought 9-year-old Thea. Oliver was tasked with watching Thea who ran around the entire science fair wanting to look at and touch all the projects even the ones with big ‘Do Not Touch’ signs on them. She spent at least an hour trying to get everybody around the robot pianist to sing and dance with her. Most people ignored her although she was able to get Cisco, Winn, Stein, Joe, Kara (who kept trying to get Alex to join) and to Oliver’s surprise Malcolm Merlyn all to sing with her and they were all surprisingly good. She also got many people to dance including the Lance girls. She even convinced Cisco to make the robot play some of her favourite songs from Disney movies. Barry was very happy that he was able to convince Iris to dance with him for a couple songs with just a little encouragement from Thea and despite Kara’s constant encouragement Alex only agreed to dance when Maggie asked. Oliver had to present his family’s award which went to Felicity. When her name was announced Donna yelled “Woohoo, that’s my daughter! Way to go sweetie!” which earned a whispered “Mom, ssshh” and accompanied eye roll from Felicity as she headed to the stage with her head down and cheeks flushed. When she got onstage Oliver presented her with her award and Felicity began to babble, “Thanks. This is so cool. I’m such a big fan of yours… well not yours… your company… your family’s company. But uh you seem cool too. I could be a fan of yours, but not like a creepy stalker fan just like a normal supportive fan, ya know. I’m sorry, I’m rambling, it’s just, I don’t know what to say. Your very handsome… and I just said that out loud. I’m so sorry.” She stops and whispers “come on Smoak, pull yourself together,” then takes a deep breath before addressing Oliver again, “Thank-you again for the award and I look forward to working with you, or for you. I’m just gonna go now.” Oliver couldn’t help smiling as she left and thinking that just maybe if she had been around when Thea was partnering everyone up to dance he may have just participated.

- Kara quickly got bored of standing by her project and started wandering around to talk to the other contestants. She spent a good chunk of time talking to Barry. Tried to join in on a heated debate between Felicity, Cisco and Winn about the best language to code in but quickly left when she had no idea what they were talking about. She ended up spending most of her time with Lena. They talked about their projects, their lives and interests and about dealing with new and scary situations especially when you feel different from everyone else and learnt that they were both adopted. However, the whole time they were talking Lena’s eyes kept scanning the room as if waiting for something to jump out and scare her. Kara learnt why when a woman Kara thought must be Lena’s mother showed up and menacingly questioned why she was distracting her daughter.

- J’onn came in disguise to check out the Danvers sister’s project

[lifejustgotawkward]

365 Day Movie Challenge (2017) - #348: Blade Runner 2049 (2017) - dir. Denis Villeneuve

As the end credits rolled on Blade Runner 2049 last Sunday night at the Regal Union Square multiplex, I turned to my friend and asked her my usual question, “So, what did you think?” She groaned out, “that was really boring,” and the wave of relief I felt at her response was the perfect summation of my feelings.

How did Blade Runner 2049 disappoint me? Let me count the ways.

I watched Ridley Scott’s original Blade Runner (1982) back in September. I was impressed, though not bowled over, by the theatrical cut, but I still wanted to give the final cut a chance. When I got around to watching that “definitive” version, I found that I actually missed Harrison Ford’s gruff, noiresque narration from the earlier edit of the film, but overall my appreciation for Blade Runner had grown and the second viewing allowed me to focus less on the plot and to better appreciate both the acting and the technical aspects of the production.

My expectations for Blade Runner 2049 were fairly high. I was eager to see how Denis Villeneuve built on Scott’s (and, of course, writer Philip K. Dick’s) visions of dystopian Los Angeles by pushing the narrative thirty years further into the future from the first Blade Runner’s setting in 2019. Although I missed the chance to see this new installment in IMAX - hey, those tickets are expensive when you don’t have spare cash to throw around! - I knew I still had to take the time to watch the film on the big screen. No TV could possibly do justice to an epic sci-fi tale of the Blade Runner variety, at least not for an introductory experience.

Bear with me, now, when I say that Blade Runner 2049 was a massive letdown. Yes, Roger Deakins’ stunning cinematography is practically guaranteed to earn him an Oscar nomination. And yes, the art direction, production design and set decoration further supports Denis Villeneuve‘s strengths regarding compelling visuals. I would also be totally fine with Renée April getting an Oscar nomination for costume design since the coat that Officer K (Ryan Gosling) wears throughout the film is incredible. Unfortunately, for the third year in a row (after Sicario and Arrival) my hopes for Villeneuve’s work have been dashed. For three years running he has fallen short of his ambitious ideas, whether attempting to concentrate on an idealistic DEA agent (Emily Blunt in Sicario), a linguist simultaneously mourning the death of her daughter and trying to make contact with aliens (Amy Adams in Arrival) or a Replicant Blade Runner (Ryan Gosling in Blade Runner 2049) who unravels a mystery about a female Replicant who was able to bear a child. All of these protagonists should be worthy of my undivided attention. Instead, Gosling - like one of Nexus’s new edition of Replicants - is just another in a continuing line of failed leads.

Part of the issue is Ryan Gosling’s own fault. In interviews I find him absolutely delightful, a funny and self-deprecating guy with a nicely offbeat sense of humor; in movies he is unremittingly bland. Whether we’re talking about The Notebook or Crazy, Stupid, Love or The Big Short, he never seems to have any discernible personality on film. It makes sense, then, that he would be chosen to play an android in Blade Runner 2049. But what does it say that he didn’t even play Officer K well? Replicants can be portrayed with emotion, if you recall Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Daryl Hannah, Brion James and Joanna Cassidy in the original Blade Runner. Each actor breathed life into their characters in unique styles. So why couldn’t Villeneuve and screenwriters Hampton Fancher and Michael Green find a way to inject some flavor into their film’s characters?

The posters for Blade Runner 2049 imply that Harrison Ford and Jared Leto play important roles in the film, but in actuality, Leto’s “antagonist,” Niander Wallace, barely has any screen time and Ford’s returning antihero, Rick Deckard, doesn’t show up until the last third of the film. I enjoyed every moment he was onscreen, spitting his dialogue out with the same jaded sarcasm he had in the first film, but I wish the character had had more time to develop in the film. Wallace bears an undistinguished aura of evil, but what was supposed to be so special about him? Given the spotlight often put on his sightless eyes during “creepy” closeups, was his blindness really intended to be read as part of what defined him as bad (in which case, uh, what is that saying about disabilities)?

Next we have to take a look at the women of Blade Runner 2049. There are six notable female characters: Joi (Ana de Armas), a hologram who is a product created by Niander Wallace and who functions solely as K’s live-in girlfriend; Luv (Sylvia Hoeks), a Replicant who acts as Niander Wallace’s right-hand woman; Lieutenant Joshi (Robin Wright), K’s supervisor on the police force; Mariette (Mackenzie Davis), a "pleasure model” Replicant; Dr. Ana Stelline (Carla Juri), who works for the Wallace corporation in a capacity that I shouldn’t spoil for those who have not seen the film; and Freysa (Hiam Abbass), who plays a role that I similarly should not divulge. Of these six, Joi and Ana Stelline are the most sympathetic characters, but regardless of how these women’s actions are meant to be interpreted, the designs of these ladies are problematic.

Joi is an immediately likeable character, but since she is a product (and one who does not initially have a corporeal form), she does not have autonomy. With the push of a button, K can turn her off any time he wants, which I’m sure is an option a lot of dudes wish they had available for their girlfriends. Joi exists only to serve K, telling him how wonderful he is when he gets home from a long work day and providing whatever eye candy he desires (she can shapeshift to alter her clothing, hair and makeup). Should I ignore the fact that Joi has zero character development and applaud Blade Runner 2049 anyway for highlighting the ickiness of a future society where Joi-models are prevalent (thus eliminating the need for actual human women)? Maybe, but the film doesn’t bother to make a statement about this element of social interaction, other than the fact that it exists.

K is finally able to experience physical contact with Joi when she “syncs” with Mariette, a prostitute, to combine their bodies for a sexual encounter with K, resulting in my favorite shot in the film: an unsettling image of Joi and Mariette’s four blurry hands wrapping around the back of K’s head and caressing his hair. While this interlude incorporates an interesting degree of romantic intrigue - to what extent do K, Joi and Mariette understand what love is? - there is something a little too weird in the film’s dependence on the Madonna and Whore tropes, suggesting an either/or dichotomy where the only time a woman can possess both attributes is when she finds another person (technically a Replicant) who can temporarily provide the missing skills.

Luv is probably the best-developed female character, although since she is Niander Wallace’s servant, it is impossible to say where her allegiance to him ends and her own taste for violent retribution begins. Luv seems to genuinely savor hurting people, but I suppose that attitude was programmed into her by Wallace, which somewhat minimizes the cool factor in her badass fight scenes. It’s kind of odd, though, that she manages to outshine the film’s other resident tough gal, Lt. Joshi (I didn’t think anyone could outdo Robin Wright in this department, especially after Wonder Woman). Villeneuve and his writers couldn’t settle on how best to represent Joshi, so the character fluctuates between a generically butch stereotype and a leering boss who drinks too much and flirts with K. Again, not that women have to be only one thing, but I like consistency in characters rather than mixed messages. I wonder how much of Blade Runner 2049′s muddled and archaic depictions of women are thanks to Hampton Fancher, who also co-wrote the original Blade Runner’s screenplay, which was full of troublesome approaches to womanhood, sexuality and sexual consent.

In the end, the difference between Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049 is like the distinction between a human being and a Replicant. 2049 tries to live up to the originality of that which inspired it, but it lacks the soul of its predecessor. It really says something that the most heartfelt moments in Blade Runner 2049 are two references to Ridley Scott’s film: a pivotal scene in Wallace’s lair that conjures up the memory of Rachael (Sean Young) from the film, and a moment in the penultimate scene that reuses a key piece of music from Vangelis’s original Blade Runner score. I recognize that many viewers see Blade Runner 2049 as a masterpiece, and I have tried many times in the past week to understand why, but I’m hard-pressed to comprehend why I should have spent close to three hours sitting through such an unsatisfying project, other than being able to say I bravely weathered this particular storm.

P.S. (because I couldn’t figure out where else to write this): I don’t know how many viewers will know where I’m coming from, but for the cult classic freaks out there, let me propose this theory: Blade Runner 2049 is trying to be like Paul Morrissey’s notoriously wild horror-satire Flesh for Frankenstein (1973). Check it out: a really bizarre and wealthy man (Udo Kier/Jared Leto) and his devoted assistant (Arno Juerging/Sylvia Hoeks) endeavor to construct a set of superhumans (FfF) or humanoid robots (B42049), entities that will give birth to a new generation of superbeings that will take the place of their inferior progenitors and obediently do their master’s (Kier/Leto) bidding. In fact, there are two specific scenes that reminded me of Flesh for Frankenstein while watching Blade Runner 2049: when Niander Wallace kills the naked, infertile Replicant woman (ugh, what a terrible scene), it mirrors a moment in Flesh when Arno Juerging, the loyal assistant, tries to commence sex with Baron Frankenstein’s female zombie-monster by punching her in the stomach and fatally damaging her internal organs, resulting in a grotesque display of violence similar to what we see in Blade Runner 2049.

Secondly, when Luv battles K at the sea wall and she kisses him, she is mimicking an action that Niander Wallace carried out when he killed the Replicant woman; this is also reminiscent of Flesh for Frankenstein since the Arno Juerging character often does horrible, perverse things - like conflating his lust for the female zombie with a disturbingly compulsion for violence - because he is following his master’s patterns. Take all that analysis for what it’s worth, Blade Runner fans!

P.P.S. I am also convinced that Blade Runner 2049′s Las Vegas wasteland scene was either an homage to or a ripoff of Nastassja Kinski’s desert dream sequence from another of 1982′s finest cult offerings, Cat People. Even in the slightly faded YouTube upload of the clip, the orangeness cannot be overlooked.

[bluezey]

Two Rob theories I stumbled across

I found another reason why I like Rob, and that’s he’s so full of mystery and unknown facts about him that you could accidentally or purposely pick out subtle clues that may lead to some theories and headcanons about him.  And, I dunno why, but theories and headcanons are fun.  Maybe its cause you learn more about the character or it’s just exciting when a show drops more subtle hints or flat out confirms something you thought was possible months or even years ago.

Well, through stop framing through Gumball episodes and poking around in the behind the scenes information, I managed to come up with two more theories about Rob.  And I just wanted to share them so you can see how deep I dig into a show and, who knows, maybe you’ll like them too.

Theory One:  How old is Rob?  Really?

Yes, I’m bringing this up again.  But seriously, before I found out Rob is thirteen, I thought this guy was like a teenager or at most pushing twenty.  But when I found out through fan post that he’s thirteen, I felt very awkward.  I mean you’d be too if you really liked this guy then found out he’s much too young.  

But then I began watching his episodes again and began questioning his age again.  First, in The Nemesis, he’s buying groceries and taking the bus.  I saw that first as a cute way of showing he has a life outside of trying to be the bad guy.  But, he’s alone but able to live on his own.  By my guess, the earliest age someone can live barely comfortably on his own would be about sixteen, fifteen tops.  Though admittedly some people younger than that don’t have that luxury and have to make do with what they can.  But, another thing I want to point out is he’s buying groceries, which means he has money to do so.  But, if he was spit out of the void as literally a nobody with no home, no family and no memory, it’s easy to suggest that he also has no money.  But this buying groceries suggests that he’s now earning income.  The best way I can think of earning an income is that he got some kind of small job, which at my guesstimate, again, someone as young as fifteen can get.  Now it’s also safe to assume that the poor homeless guy is begging on the streets as his income, and while that’s heartbreaking it’s also possible.  Except for later on in the episode it’s confirmed that, as Dr. Wrecker, he rented a wrecking ball!  Now I don’t know the rental price of a wrecking ball, but I do know it costs A LOT MORE than pocket change to rent one of those!

Another thing I want to throw out there does go against cartoon logic, which this show has plenty of, but I wanna throw it out there anyway.  This is in regards to Rob’s voice.  Now in the show a lot of the characters are voiced by adults, with a few exceptions such as Gumball and Darwin who are voiced by kids.  Admittedly, it’s not uncommon for adults to voice kid characters in a kids show.  But, it’s not exactly Rob’s original voice that I want to point out, but his other voices.  In The Nemesis, Gumball actually uses a remote to change the language setting on Rob (which leads to a theory that Gumball accidentally inspired Rob’s evil plan in The Disaster and The Rerun).  And when he changes Rob’s voice to the English setting, Rob’s default English voice sounds fairly feminine (which leads to another theory about Rob).  But it’s when Gumball changes the bass on the English voice that I want to point out.  Rob’s new Dr. Wrecker voice sounds perfect for a villain, but it also sounded familiar to me.  So, I looked up Rob’s voice actors on wikipedia.  The voice actor for the original Rob voice is Hugo Harrison (which may I say is a surprisingly cool name).  Now the voice actor doesn’t have his own wikipedia page, but based on the list of Gumball characters he’s also played other characters on the show such as Tobias, Alan, Idaho, Juke’s English speaking voice and one of the Eggheads.  (Damn, and a surprisingly adaptable voice actor too!).  But Dr. Wrecker’s voice actor, David Warner, does have a wikipedia page.  And first may I mention that damn does he have a long filmography!  Playing parts from Bob Cratchit in George C. Scott’s A Christmas Carol (fun fact, that’s my dad’s favorite Christmas Carol adaptation) to Nergal in The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy!  But may I point out that when David Warner voiced Rob’s new voice he was about 70 years old?  70??  I know it’s a kids show and I know that in the show’s logic its a feminine English voice with the bass maxed out, but... why is a 70 year old voicing a thirteen year old’s evil voice??  And why does The Amazing World of Gumball make that a sentence??

So while I will accept the fact that he’s thirteen, I’m still going to question it because these possible hints.

Theory Two:  Rob’s pink hand

Again, why does this show make that a sentence?  Anyway, one thing I like to do, since I found out how to do this while I was a fan of Inside Out, is go frame by frame through YouTube videos for still shots and just for fun.  And of course, I began doing this with videos of Rob.  At first it was for funny stills, but now I just like to go through frame by frame when his body glitches out, cause it can lead to moments that are either hilarious or down right terrifying!

But it’s not the stills I want to talk about, although I will be using them for reference.  It’s Rob’s character design, specifically his pink hands.  So, I knew Rob had two pink hands before the void and one pink hand after.  But while framing through what little I could find of The Nobody (why can’t I find that full episode on YouTube?) I was able to pause and look a little closer at the before and after.

Now I know one is closer and blocked off by the CN logo a bit, but first I want to go off on a quick tangent and ask why does the palm of his pink hands remind me of the palm of a hamster’s paw?  Now back on topic, notice his pink hand afterward is more or less unaltered.  There may be a slight change that I’m still debating over, but other than that it’s basically unchanged.

Then there’s this that I can’t still shot, so I have to explain it.  Again, I like to go frame by frame when Rob’s body glitches out, cause some of the frames are hilarious and some are terrifying!  But while a lot of his body parts usually glitch out, the part I see glitch out rarely, if at all, is his pink hand.  Now, I haven’t seen all of his frame by frames, so I haven’t seen if his hand glitches out more, but when it does it’s rarely and usually it’s from his wrist.  It’s like not only has his hand become more or less unchanged, but it’s also more or less unharmed.

Now maybe I’m looking too deep into this, but we do need some kind of hope for this guy, and I think that’s what we’re getting from his hand here.  While the rest of him has become broken and disfigured, his hand is more or less the same.  It’s almost a subtle sign that he hasn’t completely changed, and maybe, just maybe, in one way or another, he can repair himself or go back to who he was before the void.  Now this is more likely wishful thinking, but remember how The Rerun ended.  Oh, just in case, 

SPOILER ALERT 

Rob was given the role as the bad guy, and it was in The Rerun where he finally got that chance and then some.  But what does he do?  He instead spares Gumball and tries to fix things, even if it means no one would remember this.  But to make things more memorable about that choice, we see Rob lower his evil persona and be nice, perhaps even himself.  Perhaps this was in story form a sign of things to come, that maybe instead of keeping up his role as the bad guy Rob may try to change his role, maybe even try to befriend Gumball as he is the only one who remembers the events of The Rerun so he knows it’s possible.  And before The Rerun, we were given a hint of that in the form of Rob’s design.

Now granted we are not the writers, and especially in this amazing world we don’t know what’s going on inside their heads.  So all we have to go by is what we hypothesize on our own, and how amazed and closer we feel to the show when we get it right.  Or, in the case of Rob, we just want to give this guy a break.  I mean there’s tragic backstories, but, call me overdramatic, but tragic doesn’t even begin to explain it, and we didn’t know anything about this guy before the void except that he was a background character at best.  Also, when you see things that don’t add up, you begin to put pieces together.  But the best part about piecing together a theory, is that it opens the door to more theories   Like, it was a surprising easter egg that Rob actually was in The Void, but why was he just standing there? (outside of it would have been distracting from the episode’s plot).  And why was Rob’s default English voice feminine?  I’ve rambled too long as it is, so I’m just going to leave these two questions for you guys to pick apart.  And if you feel like it, share your theories too.  Who knows, you may find some new friends who believe in it too, and you may find one day that it becomes confirmed in the show.

[turbulenceartproject]

DOREEN GARNER

By: Kendra Jayne Patrick

An appreciation for the universality of the corporeal experience compels Doreen Garner to incorporate body parts into each of her sculptures, performances, and videos. By exploiting the aesthetic potential of our flesh, hair, sex organs, and insides, Garner viscerally tethers her audience to her explorations of the social contexts in which they exist. She uses silicone, crystals, housing insulation, anatomy books, and very much more to make humanesque objects whose grotesque complexities expose our own -- and thus our society's -- fetishes, vanities, and tendencies toward tribalism and destruction. Attracted to the rawest and least-convenient truths, Doreen Garner makes work that rattles our understandings of self.

The work rests on the way that she both approaches and handles the body-as-object. Objectification has a principal role here: in her sculptural work, it is a literal action wherein she combines craft materials into indeterminable, abject objects. 2015’s Pickled Pearl, for example, demonstrates one of Garner’s finer sculptural exercises. Suspended about three feet in the air by a plain, thin metal stand is a sac made of hand-blown glass, filled with pearls of different sizes.1 Two tubes extend from the sac: a thick, metal one that extends from the top, and a thinner, plastic one that extends from the end of the larger one. The thinner tube extends all the way down past the bottom of the sac and then back up to connect to the sac’s front. And although it is difficult to describe even the class of object to which Pickled Pearl belongs, its corporeal essence is unmistakeable. It is difficult, for example, not to associate the piece’s particular browned-yellow color with urine or bile. But, that association is directly related to the two bubblegum-pink colored baking bunts that connect the tubes to the sac, baking bunts that Garner has fashioned to resemble anuses or sphincters. Additionally, the bunt sitting on the front of the sac is surrounded by coarse, curly human hair. In turn, the thinner, plastic tube connected to it— filled with a yellowed, glittery substance— reminds of a medical IV or a catheter. All of these frame the softly-shaped sac itself, its pearl filling resembling non-specific human viscera. Thus, Pearl reveals that it is Garner’s ability to imaginatively concoct and seamlessly connect human and inanimate form that give the work it's uncanny effect.

Garner’s strategy of objectification reminds of an observation that a young Paul Thek made in 1967. Addressing the cognitively dissonant way that humans tend to understand their humanness, Thek said, “we accept our thingness intellectually, but the emotional acceptance of it can be quite a joy.” These words resound throughout Garner’s body of work, where bluntly presented corporeality provides many an opportunity to engage in this existential sort of reckoning. And although this is certainly one of Garner’s aims, it is more important that her work open space for meaningful engagement with the social and psychic experiences from which our bodies can exempt us and to which our bodies might avail us. Thus, as Paul Thek and Robert Gober illuminated human thingness to address their sexuality and mortality, as Louise Bourgeois used it to explore her own Freudian impulses, Garner also personalizes her conceptualization of thingness, using it to explore the ways that her blackness, womanness, and beauty move her throughout society.

Some of her latest work, for example, confronts slavery. More specifically, the work addresses the grisly experiments that Dr. J. Marion Sims conducted on slave women throughout the nineteenth century, and, the fact that his reputation as “the Father of Modern Gynecology” rests on a practice that is now widely-considered to be ethically disastrous. Works like Vesico Vaginal Fistula (2016) depict a debilitating birth complication on which Sims became an expert as a globular combination of brown, pink, red, yellow, and black silicone delicately suspended in a mirrored box. Layers (2016) is large, neat, cubic-shaped chunk of yellow, pink, orange and deep, dark red industrial insulation materials organized in tiers atop two rows of cinderblock. Sampled Skin Cells with Melanin I, II, and III (all 2016) are clumps of silicone, Swarovski crystals, and mica flakes shaped like mangled tissue samples and smashed between flat pieces of neon-yellow plastic.2 There are more, but the series amounts to a collection of sculptures of flesh. Sims’ victims were chosen because of their blackness and femaleness; arbitrary meanings were assigned to these attributes, and those meanings took on such social import that the women’s essential thingness was ignored. Whether viewers are descended from or entirely removed from this history, Garner’s combines of distressed, disembodied flesh unite viewers around the non-negotiableness of Sims’ victim’s corporeality; she restores their humanity with a gruesome poignance.

As we look into her performance work, we see that objectification remains an important operative. But here she offers up her thingness — her blackness, her beauty, and her womanness - as springboards for engagement with these ideas. She thus rests her performances on physical actions meant to transfer her anxieties, pressures, frustrations, and questions around these topics onto her audience. Injecting subject-hood into object-hood, then, seems a conceptual approach to conjure from the audience natural anxieties around these topics in real-time.

Consider Uniqa Revisited (2013), Garner’s most brazen performance to date. In this piece, she performs a startlingly earnest strip tease in an art gallery. As she slathers herself with whipped cream and chocolate sauce, she writhes and gyrates on her knees in a bikini so small you’re unsure if it will make it through the performance. A video compilation that includes a live birth, flowing pus and feces, a woman seductively flaunting her extreme obesity, a surgical procedure and more plays projected onto the wall behind her, while LL Cool J’s “Doin’ It” provides the score. In that four-minute span, she pummels the viewer with stereotypical black female sexuality, evokes authentic sexual arousal in the often-sterile fine art space, nods to the boldness of women who publicly expose their bodies to make a living, slyly riffs on a scene from a classic Black film, and demonstrates the significant overlap shared by disgust and desire. It is one thing to hold a panel discussion about the harms inflicted upon black women by the cultural narrative of an unslakeable sexuality, but it is quite another to mind and sort these harms while watching a titillating performance of it. It might be easy to identify with Garner’s humanity, and yet feel vastly culturally distant from her and the piece should you not have seen New Jack City, the canonical Black film containing the scene the piece references. One could assume her objective beauty immunizes her from insecurity and forget that she is the most vulnerable person in the room. The evocative performance demands strong, earnest energy from the audience, allowing Garner to see nearly as much of them as they see of her.

Ultimately, Garner’s work succeeds because it contributes in fresh, authentic, and daring ways to a number of critical cultural and art historical conversations. Her work is the offspring of those whose careers were defined by poignant explorations of abjection like Thek, Gober, Bourgeois, Kiki Smith, and Kara Walker, but it is just as closely related to sculptors who have mastered the combination of craft materials, found materials, and form like Petah Coyne and Rachel Harrison. Its dark, graphic salaciousness has its roots in works and performance by Marilyn Minter, Lynda Benglis, and Cheryl Donegan. While Garner carefully mines and minds these histories, her forms remain undeniably original, allowing her to continue these threads in meaningful ways. Further, the work's confrontational posture is intentional; she aims to carve a space where she can earnestly wrestle with her own ideas around race or gender or vanity, sometimes in incredibly personal ways3, yet still release the traumas uniquely attendant to being black, female, and American; white supremacy receives no kid-gloves-treatment here. Unafraid of what she might find in the muck of our selfishness, self-imposed barriers, and nonsensical hangups, Doreen Garner makes work that explores and challenges all senses of self.

1Garner received her MFA in Glass Blowing from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2014. 2An elegant nod to Paul Thek’s meat sculptures. 3In a video interview for BRIC and in our first interview, Garner discussed the impact that her younger sister’s stroke and disfigurement had on her conceptualization of the body and her art. Watch the interview here.

[ectheatrelife-blog]

KCATCF

bySaskia Brisa Bailey-deBruijn

Tuesday, January 10th, DAY 1

11 people piled into the shiny new Earlham van – which I had gotten certified to drive the previous day – anxious with anticipation.  Or maybe I was just nervous about driving in an unfamiliar city.  In any case, after a relatively pain-free hour and a half – some slept, some listened to music, some happened to catch my eye every single time I looked in the rearview mirror – we arrived at the Sheraton in downtown Indianapolis.  A fancy hotel, a fantastic location, and a quite frantic staff. Can you imagine being one of three hotels trying to accommodate 1300 college students (theatre students at that) as well as their professors, their personalities, and their belongings?  

The van plus two car’s worth of people pulled up to the lobby, ready to rumble.  While most of our troop could go immediately into the rooms, room 1907, the room Sarah and I were destined for, just happened to not be ready for new inhabitants yet and the room for Kharis was forgotten all together. Parking the too-tall-for-the-garage van thus became the priority; finding a nearby parking lot and understanding how to pay for it became the challenge.  Satisfied with the outcome, we trekked onward, this time in search of food. We settled for the Circle Centre Mall food court, where I enjoyed some surprisingly good sushi and fried rice.  I was taking a risk with the sushi, I know. Especially the day before my big audition…but I ran with it.  

We’d noticed the wind on the drive down (tall vans become literal sails in blustery weather), but it was really rainy and really windy and my feet were getting really cold.  Back at the hotel, our room STILL wasn’t ready.  Sarah and I killed some more time with a trip to CVS.  I was on the prowl for off-brand Dayquil and cough drops, having been infected with a phlegm-heavy head cold right at the end of winter break.  Sarah got bottled water and an umbrella.  While we waited (and waited, and waited) for the call from the front desk, Caitlin and Sage, our gracious intermediary hosts, opened their hotel room door to the poor lost ducklings. 

At around 8 pm, we FINALLY settled into our nook on the 19th floor.  Admittedly, despite the struggle to get that far, we had it pretty good (or so I thought – this is foreshadowing…ominous, ominous foreshadowing…): the view from our window looked out across Monument Circle, the beds were more comfortable than I could imagine, the lighting in the bathrooms made for perfect selfies, and the free Wi-Fi kind of worked.  

The Earlhamites gathered in the hall to briefly debrief and receive our festival passes.  Many of us realized that we wanted ice cream.  I realized I needed to know the license plate number in order to do online parking payments.  A perfect excuse to get out of the hotel, feed our stomachs AND feed the meter.  What could go wrong?  (Again, this is called foreshadowing.)  

At 10:16 pm we arrived at steak and shake, ordered our fries and shakes and played with our straws while we waited.  As 11 o’clock creeper closer and closer, Kharis and I paid for our portion and headed to the parking lot.  I was now beginning to almost recognize streets names – wow!  

Armed with the license plate, we headed back to the hotel to input the info onto the website and get a good long restful night of sleep before Irene Ryan auditions (among other things) the next day.  I soon realized that a “zone number” was needed, so back we went again.  Turns out, that wasn’t quite good enough yet. This became a frantic back and forth bonanza.  I felt like a less glamourous Cinderella – our parking expired at midnight – and yet somehow every trip we made to that parking lot ended in more mayhem.  How many trips did it turn out to be, Kharis? 4?  5?  At one point, we were running around the parking lot on the phone with Sarah who was sitting in the hotel with my laptop trying to guide us through what the website needed from us.  It was messy. It didn’t work.  Kharis and I joked that we now knew every route to that dang parking lot and back again.  

A bit after midnight, after texting Mia out of desperation and despair, I was told to forget about it and just go to bed.  I did not forget about it, but I managed to fall asleep eventually.

Wednesday, January 11th, DAY 2

At 8 am, I continued to fulfil my duty as van driver, and happily discovered we did not get towed or receive a ticket.  We transported the puppet and giant head from Facing Our Truth to the UIndy campus in order for Sage to set up her Allied Design project station.  Sage and Walter both entered their projects into the Allied competition.  

The three Irene Ryan nominees from Earlham – myself, Elijah, and Fawzia – had their time to shine Wednesday too.  Each of us had been nominated for our work in an Earlham production and had been preparing in the Fall semester for this day.  The Omni Hotel in downtown was hosting the event, with hour-long slots to perform a prepared monologue and scene with a partner and then a lot of waiting around to hear feedback.  Pro-tip: The shuttle goes all the way to UIndy first and then comes back to downtown, wasting 40 minutes of your time and resulting in the inability to watch any auditions before yours (which is the piece of advice everyone gave me). Just walk the 10-minute walk.  Do it.

Theo and I arrived at the Omni a bit after noon, and we were set to go second in the 2 pm session. Zia and Cameron were still sitting around waiting to get feedback, so we sat with them for a bit.  We got to practice for 5 minutes in a room with big windows.  There was water and candy.  We could peek into the space where the audition would be.  

And guess what?  I was a lot more nervous than I was expecting. SO many nerves.  I kept telling Theo “These people are so much more social and friendly than I am.  I don’t have the desire to interact with anyone except Earlham people.”  

As the clock dragged its hands through the mud of time, I found a smattering of songs that helped me feel better.  If you’re ever freaked out by an audition or anything that might make you nervous, and ALSO happen to share my exact same taste in music, consider listening to the following:

Any Road by George Harrison Smoke & Retribution by Flume A Little Party Never Killed Nobody by Fergie Golden Hind by Dr. Dog Come Together by The Beatles

All of a sudden, we were lining up and having our picture taken and being told where to go and when and it was too real and what if I forgot all my lines? and does my hair look okay? and do I have to pee or am I just nervous?  

Then, it was over.  Just like that.  I didn’t go over the two-minute time limit, I didn’t forget anything, and they even LAUGHED at the funny parts.  The minute it was done, I was bubbly and outgoing and happy to interact with those around me.  It was incredible.  Turns out I’m not antisocial, just really prone to self-secluding habits when nervous.

We received some reassuring and exciting feedback from the respondents, and left smiling.  With some down-time before our daily group check-in scheduled for 5, I headed back to the hotel to change and then catch a shuttle. Remember that foreshadowing? Yeah, that wasn’t just about the parking from the first night.  The drama has only just begun!

Shuttles (reportedly) ran from 8 in the morning until 5 pm every day of the festival.  At 4:27 I headed down to the lobby with seemingly perfect timing – a bus had just pulled up.  Apparently, he told aspiring bus boarders to take the next one.  So, I waited along with other festival-members. The next one comes and tells us his shift is over after this run, to get the next one.  The next one says the same, and by now it’s at least 4:50.  I text Mia, apologetic and unsure of my options.  I’m advised to take a taxi or an Uber.  Fine, cool, I’ve totally done this before and know what I’m doing.  That’s all lies.  I ask the front desk hotel staff how to call a taxi and they say there are always two sitting out front.  Perfect. Convenient.  (Maybe.)  I figured much of my discomfort was coming from having only eaten an orange all day. I get in with what I hope is enough cash to get me 6 miles out of the city during rush hour.  We’ve made it less than two blocks and we’re at $6 and it’s way past 5 pm.  I don’t know exactly where I’m going and I assume the driver and I are both thinking “I hope we end up in the right place”.  Eventually, I start to recognize where we are and I feel good.  I desperately google “Should I tip my taxi driver?” as we pull into the parking lot, pull out the $20, stuffing the loose $1 bills into my pocket and gathering my things.  I text Mia that I’m here and that I have a written receipt and where are you?  They wave and I am welcomed with an enthusiastic chorus of “You made it!” and “Kiaaa!” and “Let’s go get dinner!”.  I head to the van with Kharis – definitely my new best friend – glad to have survived my first solo taxi ride and excited to fill my belly with food.  The excitement soon disappeared as I struggled to locate my wallet.  I just had it, I just paid the taxi driver.  I just must have left it in that dumb cab.  We pick up the rest of the group and I voice my concern to Mia.  People begin to shuffle through the van and my belongings as others try to discern where we are getting food and consequently, where I am driving.  Mia desperately searches for a website and a phone number for the taxi company and I desperately search for a parking lot close to Subway but also not too far from the noodle place.  Mia finds a disconnected phone number and I find an empty lot situated pretty perfectly. Small victories, right?  I realize I’m crying a decent amount when Sage WS comforts me in silence.  The noodles are yummy, at least.  And the portion was so big I couldn’t even finish it.  Back at UIndy’s campus, we file into the auditorium to hear the keynote speaker say inspiring or important things, as those folks tend to do. Before I find my seat, I call home to sobbingly inform my parents that my debit card needs cancelling.  They remind me that it’s not my fault and to enjoy the rest of my time here.  Parents are so smart.

The keynote speaker was sick and couldn’t be at the festival, but we heard a British Broadway actor speak of his struggles and successes instead.  Mia, Kharis, Bria and I snuck downstairs to prepare for the costume parade partway through.  We got on our black pants and black hoodies and practiced maneuvering the puppet all while witnessing and admiring the elaborate and gorgeous costumes from productions including Singing in the Rain and Parade.  

The “party” back at the hotel was a place for some pretty funky and mindless dancing with good company while we awaited the announcements about Irene Ryan semi-finalists.  While no Earlhamites got through the preliminary round, I still felt proud about my audition and the work that went into it, and am happy that a group of us were able to experience the process together.  With that, it was bedtime for me.  Others were less ready for sleep, so either stayed and danced more or found somewhere in the city to enjoy the night.  

These ramblings have all been to say that my first two days at the KCACTF region three events were just that: eventful.  And emotional.  And stressful.  But I was determined to not let my desire to curl up and die and/or return to Earlham ruin the potential for networking and the fantastic opportunities I’d already paid the registration fee for.  

Thursday, January 12th, DAY 3

The following day, food trucks awaited us at the main center where workshops were held, providing a group of us with varying treasures:  a burger for Mia, green curry (that was too spicy) for Kharis, Pad Thai for me, and some Bistro food for Walter and Katlin.  Sage HW and Bria and I headed across the street to attend the Acting for the Camera workshop with James Leagre.  Bria had to leave early for her MTI intensive dance rehearsal (because Bria is bad ass), but Sage and I got to explore some techniques for being successful on camera.  I also got to hold the boom mic for some other participants running through scenes.

Friday, January 13th, DAY 4

On Friday, my new best friend and circumstantial bedmate, Kharis and I departed early in the morning the attend the “Create the Change” workshop with a woman from the Broadway Cares association.  I then went to a Thermoplastics/mask making workshop, and met up again with my BFF for a “Behind the Bard-Wire” (Shakespeare in Prisons) discussion with a pretty cool fella named Curt Tofteland.  We then decided to call it a day, and enjoyed an early dinner at the Rock Bottom tavern.  Dinner hack: eat at 4 in the afternoon to avoid disgustingly long lines and/or waits while eating delicious food.  

The festival production for the evening was Breath of Stars, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Tempest, which a good chunk of us decided to see during our 5 pm debrief.  

The shuttles worked in our favor this time around, bringing us to the gigantic theater at Butler University.  What a strange play.  Very beautifully staged and crafted, but hard to follow and a little exhausting.  

To recuperate from the mind-boggling performance, a quintet of us explored the treasures to be found in the Chocolate Café right on monument circle.  Marvelous hot chocolate, rich caramels, and delectable toffee satiated our needs and brought some peace to our evening.

Saturday, January 14th, DAY 5

Saturday morning started early for Sage HW and Bria.  A bit after 9, Sage had her presentation.  At 10 was Bria’s showcase for the dance performance she’d been

rehearsing for.  She had quite the pep squad cheering her on (as well as the other singers and dancers) in the first and second rows of the auditorium.

A collective meal in the UIndy dining hall filled our bellies nicely.  Bria and I cheered on Sage WS and Sarah at the Tech Olympics while others went to see the Devised Theatre project and 10-minute play showcase.

Packing the van, arranging rides back to campus, and filling gas tanks was the bulk of the afternoon. The crew that could be joining me in the van back to Earlham after seeing a play decided to go to Butler’s campus to find dinner.  Pita Pit fulfilled our needs and gave us a chance to meet Sarah’s sister who is a freshman at Butler (also heavily involved in the arts!).  Mr. Burns (yes, very much named after the Simpson’s character) went up at 7:30, proving once again that theatre is a great way to tell a story, and witnessing theatre is a great way to see some pretty wacky stories. Deciding not to stay for the awards ceremony, the van scooted on down the highway for a return to Earlham promptly at midnight.  Less-glamourous Cinderella, yet again.  Exhausted, but excited to see friends again, we all headed our separate ways, trying not to think about the work we had missed and would have to make up the next day.

My unfortunate stressors may have blinded me from enjoying the first portion of the festival, but the more-than-dozen of us there explored and learned, collectively, a whole lot. Multiple Shakespeare and stage combat workshops were attended, while others went to a panel to learn about actor’s unions and getting hired for summer theatre.  Many of us saw the productions “26 pebbles” and “Rabbit Hole” and acted as encouraging audience members for Elijah and Bria’s contribution to the “Evening of Scenes”.  

The most important thing I learned is that losing your wallet is not the end of the world, even if it has your house key and driver’s license in it.  Also, Kharis Murphy is best friend material.

Thanks for reading this whole mess.  ‘Till next time, Kia Bailey-de Bruijn, ‘19

[briangroth27]

Blade Runner 2049 Review

Blade Runner 2049 definitely feels like a cerebral extension of the 1982 original. However, I don't think it successfully melds its characters with the overall narrative, leaving it feeling less than the sum of its parts. On a routine mission to "retire" rogue Replicant Sapper Morton (Dave Bautista), Blade Runner K (Ryan Gosling) uncovers a mystery involving a breakthrough in Replicant biology that threatens to destroy the "wall" preserving humanity as the unquestioned master of the planet and Replicants as their inhuman slaves. At the same time, this discovery will allow corporate titan Niander Wallace (Jared Leto) to exponentially expand his Replicant production, fulfilling his dream of expanding that slave race to the point where it can finally achieve man's "destiny" of stretching throughout space.

The cinematography is beautiful and the world feels very well-constructed, but ultimately empty. Most of the settings (and sets) are barren wastelands; it feels like you could count the number of scenes showing the general population on one hand. It made me wonder who the Blade Runners are protecting anymore. I've noticed similar shifts from 80s movie grime to post-90s sheen as movies get decades-later sequels or reboots even in grim locations like Gotham City, but this looked especially uninhabited and sterile; a stark contrast to the teeming, overcrowded masses in the original. That said, the locations and sets are distinct, certainly born of the Blade Runner world, and very cool. Even if this desolation is supposed to represent characters questioning their identity—perhaps the empty world is a canvas that allows them to project their chosen meanings and definitions onto the events of their lives—I would've liked to see the world itself and the people who inhabit it, not just the main characters acting on empty sets, protecting and imperiling people we never see. Perhaps the blackout of 2022 and other tragedies of the intervening 30 years are to blame for the underpopulation, but if so, the lack of millions of Replicant slave laborers is lamented more onscreen than the loss of human life. No one voices a concern that there are so few humans left that extinction could be around any corner. It's also curious where the multi-ethnic civilization from the original went; as I've heard commented elsewhere, this future LA is exceptionally white.

The movie's pacing was very slow, making this nearly three hour movie feel even longer. Slow, long pans over settings are in line with the original movie, but I didn't like them there either: they slowed down the story too much and that film was 50 minutes shorter as it is. Here, they exaggerated the length even more without adding anything. I wouldn’t say I was bored, but I did feel like the movie could get on with things at several points. For instance, K's journey of discovery about his identity felt very slow and seemed like it could've been edited down to get to his answers (and Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford)) faster. As it is, the pacing made me leave the theater with a "that's it?" sense that not much happened. The score's sound mix was far too loud; so loud the volume was uncomfortable and the chairs in my standard showing were shaking. That said, I liked the return to the distorted electronic score of the original film. It felt very much of the world, except one chase scene where the music was far faster than anything before or after, making it feel out of place.

As empty as the world was, the special effects were fantastic! While flying cars were impressive in the original and seamless here, the true standout effect was K's holographic girlfriend, Joi (Ana de Armas). They found a perfect balance between giving her enough solidity to believe she was really interacting with her surroundings and showing us the imperfections in the holographic projection to remind us that she's not. One of the film's rare moments of humor was a perfectly executed joke where, just after a clever and touching moment of Joi feeling rain—holographic, to match the real rain—on her "skin," a romantic embrace with K was interrupted by her data stream pausing as he got an incoming call. The standout moment for the CGI surrounding Joi was a moment where she synced her movements with Mariette (Mackenzie Davis)--a physical woman--to give herself a solid presence. The filmmakers created an outstanding—and slightly unnerving; given how well they were visually mixed—blend of the two women. The CGI in that scene was seamless (except where intentional, when the sync didn't hold) and absolutely deserves an Oscar nomination.

Ultimately I think the original film has a better, more succinct story with enough discussion on the subject of what constitutes humanity—and the tragedy of the brevity of life—to be satisfying. There's also more action in the original if that's what you're looking for. However, 2049 has a much more conflicted main character (though young Deckard was far more emotive and Ford gave a livelier performance than Gosling does) and a stronger central relationship/love story than we saw between Deckard and Rachael (Sean Young). That's partially because we join 2049's lovers after they've been together for a while, but also because there's no scene between them as uncomfortable as the night Deckard and Rachael first sleep together (which absolutely seems like he rapes her). The original's villains (if they are the villains) are also much better-crafted: the struggle to live a normal lifespan is far more engaging and relatable than Niander's explicit plans to breed a slave race, even though the latter is more socially relevant. The oppression theme is far timelier, but Niander is so one-dimensional in his villainy that he isn’t engaging as an enemy; he just serves to speak for society. I also think there's a problem with the vast majority of Replicant slaves being white people, which sort of seems like saying the only way to get white people to empathize with the oppressed's strife is by making the oppressed white people rather than people of color (the actual oppressed in our society).

 Full Spoilers...

Gosling—whose K is almost immediately revealed as a Replicant—was very good at crafting a robotic manner enhanced with enough emotion to convey his feelings and sentience (though whether those emotions are programmed to give him the impression of personality may be up for debate, at least initially). This gave his robotic demeanor the gravity of someone who doesn't like their role in society or the mistreatment they receive every day because of who they are. He had a solid arc beginning as a Replicant used to hunt his own and I liked that he saw himself differently from the Replicants who ran: he was programmed to obey, after all. That was a clever parallel to "model" minorities whose good behavior is used to “prove” there’s no need for the system to change how it deals with various minority groups because some of them are doing well socioeconomically or are “behaving,” and those who aren’t are “bringing it on themselves” (and there’s no question he was constantly on thin ice as well). I also liked K's distaste for hunting down his own; there's a definite feeling that even if he tells himself he's different from the runners, he knows there's not really a difference between them and him. That emotion is the first indication he thinks for himself, because there's no reason to program it into a Replicant designed to hunt and kill other Replicants. I liked seeing his daily routine before his world spirals out of control; that was a good way to bring us into his life, show how the world works, and get a glimpse of the mistreatment and scrutiny he experiences from his neighbors and even his colleagues in the police department. The reconditioning he goes through each day was the perfect demonstration of how humans keep Replicants under control and how tenuous even well-behaved Replicant freedom is. 

I loved that K turned out not to be the Replicant miracle baby. I totally fell for the expectation that yet another white guy would be the Chosen One, so to reveal it was actually Dr. Stelline (Carla Juri) was a great twist I didn't see coming, but made total sense in hindsight. It's also cool that K faced not being special, not belonging in the traditional sense, possibly not knowing real love, losing the individual name Joi gave him, and not having the soul he believed came with natural birth, but chose to do the right thing and make a difference anyway. If we're to look at the Replicant revolutionaries as a religious order, then their call to murder Deckard to protect the miracle baby makes the argument that K is purer morally than they are without the benefit of religion. Everything he believed in is stripped away, yet he's still a hero: he purposefully walks into the nothingness Roy Batty raged against to save the day. Batty believed what he'd seen made him special and made his death a tragedy; K loses all that traditionally makes a movie hero special and does the right thing anyway, even willingly sacrificing himself. Then again, protecting people and retiring rogue Replicants—Luv (Sylvia Hoeks) in this case—is what he's been programmed to do all along, so how much of this is his choice to begin with? I don’t think that’s a narrative rabbit hole that needs to be explored; it’s a stronger story if he made the choice rather than blundered into stopping Niander because he was programmed too well.

Joi was my favorite character in the movie and I'm glad she got the exploration she did. Ironically, she felt the most human out of everyone, despite being the least "evolved" form of intelligence in the film. Her excited reaction to being able to leave the apartment (with a portable holographic projector) was a nice nod to the fact that Replicants aren't the "lowest" form of life anymore; if K were less humane, she might be used just as he is rather than given relative freedom. Another character says there "isn't much" to Joi's mind, giving the impression that Replicants have at least learned an air of superiority from their human creators if not inherited a full-on racist viewpoint. You could argue that’s a hint Joi’s humanity is all a program, but I believe the Replicants were just as wrong about her as humans were about Replicants. She seemed concerned she could die and knowledge of her existence indicates to me that she’s sentient. At one point she "pounds" on K's car and yells to wake him up as danger approaches; why would she mimic emotions that he's not conscious to experience? I believed Joi when she said she loved K, despite whatever programming may've been installed in her (after all, he’s programmed too and we’re supposed to take his emotions at face value). Just like he does, I bought into their relationship completely and really enjoyed it. I was surprised how invested I was and I liked how believable their chemistry was. Whether or not their love was just a program didn't matter to me: if a computer can perfectly emulate both humanity and love, who's to say that "emotion" isn't real? On the other hand, like K, perhaps I just don't want to believe their love was a lie.

It's interesting we didn't see Joi sexualized or exploited as K's holographic girlfriend (even during a sex scene), but the fully naked billboard version at the end absolutely was. The Joi K loves has agency, but the billboard is for sale. This may've been a play on virgin/whore classifications placed on women: the loving, humanized Joi is an idealized, loyal, movie-friendly picture of a wife, while the billboard version is the exact opposite. Though the movie wants us to believe her love was fake by repurposing her lines and the name she gives K, I don't believe it. Or don't want to. I can see the argument that she was never real: shouting to wake K up could be a safety feature or something akin to an alarm clock, which also activates whether you’re awake or not. Willing to have herself taken off the home network and put in danger could be a step to "prove" how much she loves him. Hiring a prostitute to act as her physical proxy could be part of her programming rather than a choice…but if so, why was she so possessive and curt about kicking Mariette out of the apartment instead of acting like it was a normal function? There was emotion behind her dismissal of Mariette after “they’d” slept with K and in her reaction to Mariette saying there wasn’t much in her head. If she's not real, it's a subversion of both the expectation that the hero should get the girl and the trope of a hero avenging a dead lover. On the other hand, I wonder if saying Joi isn’t who K thought she was is not only a way to subvert multiple cinematic tropes at once, but a way of saying she’s more complex than anyone thought. Why should she choose between solely being the loyal housewife or the “whore?” Who’s to say her love—even if programmed—for K/Joe isn’t every bit as genuine as the love she has for anyone else who uses her program? Perhaps the real-life parallel is not that Joi dies only for K to find out she wasn’t who he thought she was afterward, but that she breaks up with him and moves on, which would recast his reaction to the billboard as a selfish ex calling his former partner a whore for dating someone else. Are we sure no data from his household computer was sent back to the central network through the antenna he breaks, so any Joi could recognize him (perhaps something like a backup feature in the event of damage to the household mainframe)? If not—and if we’re to read the scene as though nothing his version said mattered—her depiction (and borderline vilification) as a giant naked advertisement for companionship to anyone and everyone is fairly sexist. Her love isn’t real if he’s not special? She isn’t a real person if she’s not for him alone? 

While it ultimately doesn't matter if Deckard is a Replicant or not, I absolutely would've liked to see more of Harrison Ford in the film. It takes a long time to get to Deckard and while he does get several strong moments—including a very touching moment that’s perhaps the only time I've seen Ford cry onscreen—I wanted more. At the very least, Deckard should've had a discussion with K about the legitimacy of seeing Replicants as equal to humans. No one is in a better position to answer that question than a man who either believed he was human and found out he wasn’t or who was a human and fell in love with an artificial intelligence. Couldn't they bond over their love for an "artificial" woman? Leaving their conversation at "strangers is best sometimes" felt like a massive missed opportunity. Deckard is also the best link to the way things used to be the film offers; he has nothing to say about the new state of society? About Replicants, even though he fell in love with one after killing their kind, was saved by a supposedly evil one, and he's been on the run/in hiding as one (or for abetting a runner) for 30 years?  About Replicants doing the job he used to (which could make him a foil for Gaff (Edward James Olmos))? About the similarities between Tyrell and Niander, and Niander's much more blatant slave race plan?

I think there are enough hints to say that not only is Deckard a Replicant, but that this theory is correct and he's designed with Gaff's memories. Not only do the very significant animal sculptures reference Gaff's origami, but Gaff commenting "I wanted to be alone, Deckard wanted to be alone; so we were partners and we were [alone]" strongly implies they were alone together because they're the same person. The horse sculpture Deckard carved that connects to K’s implanted memory and triggers his rebellion is similar to Deckard's unicorn dream, which proves he's a Replicant because there’s no way for Gaff to know about it unless it was implanted from either a devised memory or Gaff’s own recurring dream. When he finds the origami unicorn, Deckard realizes what he is…so he goes rogue with Rachael, just like K does when he realizes the significance of the horse. Sure, Deckard doesn’t burst through walls and couldn't break the handcuffs K easily does, but Deckard was never shown to be super-strong in the original movie (and he does punch K several times without being hurt himself). If Tyrell really did engineer Deckard and Rachael to produce a child as Niander teases, that makes their rapid love story in the original film more than a movie trope: their attraction is predetermined and planned. Perhaps their rapey love scene was programming activating within both of them instead of a moment where Deckard chooses to force Rachael to stay with him; maybe Rachael was able to fight her programming due to her existential crisis (having just learned she was a Replicant), so she didn’t know what was her thought/desire and what wasn’t, while Deckard didn’t realize what he was, so he didn’t know to fight. That’s not a happier reading of that scene, though, as she’s still forced to sleep with him against her will and he’s also forced to do what he does. Additionally, while a human/Replicant hybrid would break down the wall between the two species, a fully Replicant child would obliterate it. The ability to produce a child without any human intervention would make them a species unto themselves. I think that's the greater breakthrough, as well as a reason making Deckard a Replicant makes more sense and matters more to the “what is humanity?” question than if he's just a human.

I liked that they took the "some Replicants have open-ended lifespans" idea from the theatrical version and kept the ambiguity of whether or not Deckard is a Replicant from the Final Cut. That was a smart way to honor what most audiences have seen while continuing on from the "true" vision of the movie. That said, I really would've liked a solid answer one way or another on whether Deckard is human or not. A major theme is "is there really a difference between humans and Replicants (and holograms)?" so it doesn’t really matter, but I think they should’ve pulled the trigger on that answer. Why keep stringing us along? Why would Niander introduce that ambiguity to Deckard when interrogating him; wouldn’t that confuse the situation for Deckard instead of helping Niander get the answers he wants? The “what is humanity?” question would be much stronger given a human-seeming hero like Deckard who isn’t human. Furthermore, while the "what makes reality/humanity real" theme is interesting upon reflection, I think there's a line where ambiguity stops being clever and conversation-provoking. Instead, it becomes a tedious exercise in contorting yourself to avoid making choices. If everything is ambiguous and nothing is certain, at some point why should we care about any of it? Why tell a story that has no answers, and therefore makes no statement? How do you leave the audience with any message if you have to rely on everyone to come to the same conclusion (a near impossibility)? I want to know what the filmmakers are saying, not question whether I’m guessing their intentions correctly or not.

Jared Leto's Niander certainly had a memorable, distinct presence, but he was too obviously evil and one-dimensional. At least Tyrell, as self-important and manipulative as he was, seemed to genuinely be sorry he couldn't help Roy Batty (even if he were equally sorry that meant he wasn't God and couldn't save himself). With Niander, my first and only impression was that he was evil and needed to be stopped; with so much ambiguity in this film and world, it's odd they didn't try to make him more complex (though if you’re going to make just one thing unquestionable, it absolutely should be that slavery and oppression are evil). I would’ve liked to know why he thinks humans shouldn’t rise to the occasion and do the hard work he expects his slaves to. Just saying “all civilization is built on slavery” wasn’t enough of a reason for me. I don't think the film even needed a personification of evil; their society's disdain and lack of concern about how they use Replicants would've been enough to form an enemy bigger than anyone could fight on their own (not to mention a better representation of our real-life systemic problems). I think it would've been stronger to remove Niander, leaving K a slave to the faceless government and its systemic hatred of Replicants while simultaneously exploiting him to further their goals. That way, even well-meaning and friendly officials are implicated to a greater degree. I don't think the story needed to give evil a face which will, I assume, be ultimately and probably relatively easily overthrown in a potential sequel. As memorable as it was, at first I couldn't tell if Niander's cadence was due to him being a Replicant himself, which raised a confusing question that didn't need to happen. I did like his floating devices that acted as his eyes to counteract his blindness, though; they were cool touches of futuristic technology. 

Robin Wright was solid as K's trusting police Lieutenant Joshi. She walked the line between wanting to believe K—and maybe even liking him—and having next to no qualms about having him retired if he went too far off his baseline. She does give him two days' head start when it's apparent he'll be retired, but that's at least partially because she believes he's maintained the "wall" between humans and Replicants' social standing and feels indebted to him. That this wall is meant to keep Replicants in their place, coupled with the not at all veiled threat of a slaughter (of the Replicants, no doubt) if the wall falls, reinforces her position as an agent of the systemic oppression the Replicants find themselves manufactured into. She also continues tracking his location, so I’m not sure how long her courtesy head start would’ve extended. Even if I misread her and she is fully on his side, it’s likely the government would eventually force her into choosing to side with him or them, and I have no doubt she’d choose to maintain the order she’s so dedicated to by turning on K. Her wall would crumble if a Replicant who needed to be retired was proven innocent too, I’d imagine. I would've loved to see the complexity of their relationship—and her position as an agent of society—explored further.

Niander's right-hand-Replicant Luv was an effectively cold, intimidating enforcer.  However, she didn't get a chance to show many sides of her character and I felt there was a lot more to explore with her. Did she work for a slaver for preferential treatment or just because she was programmed to obey? It’s likely the latter, but was there a moment when she chose to continue working for him? Did she see other Replicants as lower than her or different in some way, like K did? Did she hope Niander would be successful at creating natural Replicant birth so she could play a role in leading the Replicants out of servitude? Was she shamed by her inability to give birth (a suggestion I’ve seen elsewhere interpreted Niander’s murder of a newly “born” Replicant in front of her as a shaming tactic)? I would've liked to see what her goals were—if any—beyond carrying out his interests. She certainly had an air of superiority, both making a point to tell K that she’s “the best” and boasting that she’ll lie to Niander about her reason for killing Joshi and he’ll believe her, which could’ve been capitalized on more. How long has she been lying to him, and has it just been to further his plans no matter what it takes or is it because she wants to go beyond his parameters to accomplish her own ends?

Doctor Ana Stelline, a memory maker for the Replicants, brought a warm human touch to the rest of the world. I loved that she had such an almost whimsical outlook on life, contrasting sharply with the bleakness in the rest of the world. For all the films' monolithic structures and vast open spaces, it's a woman in a glass box that cares to consider the little, personal things to perfectly craft life-defining (and altering) memories. It's fitting she had such warmth, given she created it for the Replicants. Her immune deficiency was a smart reference back to the world of the original, where humanity has not eradicated disease despite other accomplishments. Her illness also felt like a callback to JF Sebastian, one of the original film's Replicant designers who suffered from “Methuselah Syndrome,” causing him to age more rapidly than normal. It's interesting that the ill are used to create slaves with physically perfect bodies in this world. I would’ve liked to know more about what she thought of the world and Replicants’ place in it. My friend wondered if Doctor Stelline is even sick; it's plausible her records were faked and no one knows for sure. I wondered if she's building her own rebel army by seeding the horse memory into every rebellious Replicant's mind (their leader Freysa (Hiam Abbass) tells K they all wanted to be the savior). That could be a cool way of starting a rebellion, though we see next to nothing of Ana’s views of the outside world so who knows what she thinks (I would guess she’s sympathetic to Replicants since they’ve been protecting her).

Dave Bautista was great in a serene, reserved role as Sapper. This was a nice departure for him and it's good to see him flex his acting muscles in such a growing variety of roles. It would've been interesting to watch K viewing a file on Morton to let us know who he was before he witnessed a miracle. I wanted to see the impact of a miracle on someone who didn't feel personally connected to it; was Sapper a different man before he knew the greatest Replicant secret of all time? Edward James Olmos was also good in his brief cameo. Bringing Gaff back was a smart, logical nod to the original and I liked the hint he gave to whether or not Deckard is a Replicant. Likewise, Sean Young's cameo—both in clips of the original film and with a new Replicant copy (provided by CGI and performance double Loren Peta)—was well-used! It was great to see they didn't decide to only bring Harrison Ford back from the original. I also liked how they employed scenes from the first movie to manipulate Rick (and set K's investigation off).

While most of 2049's characters raise intriguing questions (even if I wanted more from many of them), the overarching plot fell short for me. The search for a Replicant savior was mildly interesting—mostly in terms of discussing whether or not K had a purpose—but neither the revolutionaries nor Niander advanced that plot at all. The Chosen One does not add to either side’s cause and we never really learn what the rebels plan to do with Ana beyond holding her up as a symbol of their species-hood. It’s not like they can breed amongst themselves anyway—Tyrell made it clear in the original that once the Replicant DNA is developed and grown, it can’t be changed—and we’re given no indication that they have access to the technology to make fertile Replicants even if they could figure out what was special about Ana, Rachael, and potentially Deckard (though they’re more than willing to sacrifice him, which I would say is the one strong hint that he’s human). It felt like that plot was a stalemate (if that, considering the two sides don't really come into conflict except through K) left hanging in hopes for a sequel. I would've preferred the Replicant rebels begin their uprising in this movie rather than remaining in a holding pattern. Either way, I didn't leave the movie stoked for a rebellion or with the feeling one was even necessarily coming (since Niander can’t create his slave race and even Deckard was no help, the rebels could conceivably just let Ana stay hidden forever). If Ana gets more to do and Deckard plays a major role I might be interested, but this movie didn't hype me up for a sequel. Perhaps it's because the rebellion felt so extraneous to any of the main characters' stories, their much more interesting personal questions, and even to finding the miracle baby that I'm not invested. I feel like HBO’s Westworld did a better job of covering an artificial intelligence’s burgeoning rebellion if not the dawn of consciousness as well. Perhaps like the memories Ana creates, the point of the movie was not to spark a full-on rebellion, but to rebel against an oppressive society by preserving the little moments; to give meaning to small connections (such as between a parent and child or a pair of lovers) that help preserve (or create) humanity in desolate loneliness.