#and mentioned how some people were saying dunk is a bad actor

[airenyah]

really tempted to rewatch both simm and hidden agenda and write up a defense of dunk's acting

[endiness]

not to go off on this again (and because of a bullshit clickbait article from screenrant as if that isn't their entire business model in the first place) but it's still so fucking mindboggling to me just how much henry cavill was able to brainwash people. like, the idea that he was the one that made the show and he was the only good thing about it and the only good casting choice when he was very noticeably the worst actor on the entire show and meanwhile the rest of the cast is extremely talented and easily acted circles around him. not to mention that he has all the charisma of a black hole sucking all of the chemistry out of the room.

and the whole idea that he is some uber fan of the franchise and the only person on the entire show that knows anything about the source material and cares about it which is also always said in conjunction with the idea that he's the one who made the show. when he didn't even know that the books existed, he only read them once after lauren told him about them, he's only played tw3 (and not even the dlc for it), and by his own admission he didn't do any research for the role. and then meanwhile you've got joey who wrote a whole ass song in ~24 hours and showed up in costume with a lute to audition and who's read the entire series at least 3 times as of 2023; therica, whose books are all annotated and she tries to go back and reread the series before each season and even goes on youtube to watch video essays to refresh her memories; cassie, who has a binder full of notes on philippa and her backstory and everything; and many, many other cast members who've done a lot of research into the books and their characters and the universe and the franchise. but somehow henry cavill is the massive superfan. because he said that a lot in interviews. while never actually giving any examples of that beyond, like, having said he played tw3 for a ton of hours. (which, duh, 'cause a playthrough of that game can easily clock in at +100 hours.)

and speaking of the idea that he just cares SO much about the source material and that's why he ragequit the show because the writers weren't following the books closely enough, likE. he is the one who made geralt's characterization book inaccurate in s1 because he would cut his lines and either just say nothing or grunt instead. (and he also gave his scene partners zero indication he was going to do this and just left them hanging and wondering what was going on and if he was actually going to say his lines and put them into the position of having to improvise and take his lines just to move the plot forward.) and the only reason why he suddenly started to advocate for a more book accurate geralt come s2 is because he got dunked on by reddit for his performance in s1. (which he also took virtually no responsibility for whatsoever and just passed all of the blame off onto the writers for HIS acting choices. wait, that's not entirely accurate. he also blamed yennefer and ciri's prominence on geralt's lack of dialogue even though ciri's scenes were the ones that were cut in s1. yennefer's, too, btw.) he also fucked up geralt and jaskier's friendship by cutting his lines in s1 (and imo there is a lot of implication that the things he was cutting in their scenes was actual affirmation on geralt's side of things that he actually cares about jaskier) and by his own admission, he didn't want to play them as being all buddy-buddy with each other. and his refusal to play geralt struggling with fatherhood and with any negative character traits in s2 led to the domino effect of eskel's death (which in itself led to vesemir trying to create new witchers and lambert's harsher attitude toward ciri), yennefer's betrayal, and voleth meir being the big bad of the season. he also cut a sex scene between geralt and yennefer in s2 because he didn't think it would be in character of them to have sex after reuniting (lolwut) and he cut a scene between geralt and triss of even them just platonically finding comfort in each other (that's what happens in the books.) but yeah, HE just cares about the source material SO MUCH. that's why everything he had a hand in went against the books.

(not to mention that the thing he was clashing with lauren over was that he was not the main character (ciri is the main character of the main books, btw) but rather co-lead with two women and he was mad that the show heavily revolves around women (the books heavily revolve around women) instead of men.) (in s2 interviews, he goes on about how important men being three dimensional characters is to him as if women being three dimensional characters on the show somehow means that men can't be. which is ironic of him to say anyway, tbh, considering he didn't want geralt to be a three dimensional character. as three dimensional characters have flaws. and he didn't want geralt to have any.) (oh, and just to mention but when talking about how violent men can be three dimensional and caring, henry cavill lists who men can be caring towards: other men, family, children. weird he doesn't mention women at all. i'm sure that's not an indication of anything especially when it's said by someone who's a self-professed nerd, lorebuff, redditor, and gamer. because they're always known for non-rancid takes about women. especially when they've already gotten flack for their "i'm afraid to flirt because i'll be accused of being a rapist" #metoo takes. 💅)

(also, just with the conspiracy theory that henry cavill ragequit the show because it wasn't following the books closely enough. like, that is just a conspiracy theory though. the only "proof" there ever was of it was henry cavill going on about how important adhering to the source material is to him. except everything he had a hand in went against the books, so that can't be true. and the thing he and lauren were clashing over was how he was not the main character (geralt is not the main character) and the prominence of women in the series (the women in the books drive the plot forward in massive ways). so that can't be true. and s3 was the closest adaption of the books anyway, so yeah. that really can't be true. and the only other thing that's "proof" is the rumor that the writers hate the source material. which was started by henry cavill's buddy, a writer who was fired from the show for allegedly being emotionally, physically, and sexually abusive. so i'm sure his word is totally trustworthy and he wouldn't have a vested interest in lying and creating a rumor to incite the fanbase against his former co-workers whom he was allegedly fired for mistreating in the first place. (btw, witin the past year, the same writer was fired again for allegedly the same kind of reasons.) also, i'm sure it's jut a coincidence how that rumor, which was started by henry cavill's friend, to disparage the show and the writers dropped about a week before henry cavill announced he was no longer going to be on the show. like, it definitely couldn't've been a coordinated effort between them or anything.) (psst, the rumor that hc was fired for being sexist actually has the most evidence supporting it. js.)

[invisiblegarters]

genuinely really curious about this: in your thk rant you mention clear favoritism and I was wondering whether that was referring to kt?

I don't actually know whether I agree or disagree with your take fully yet but I will say that his, what i used to call a work crush, on kt is pretty noticeable. similarly I feel as though you'll see a difference in how he treats his earlier actors and works and another pairing that he seems to "favor" is pondphuwin, just loosely based on how he talks on social media (you mentioned you dont have Twitter which is where i think it is most prominent). does that get into the way of his shows? I don't know. but I thought it was interesting that Ive never seen anyone discuss this before

Okay, putting a read more link here because once again, there's gonna be at least hints of THK impressions based on the novelization.

Well, yes. I am absolutely talking about KT. It's not like Jojo's tried to keep it a secret lol.

I do want to clarify that it is not necessarily a bad thing. Khaotung is a great actor, he'll do the thing very well. This is in no way meant to be a critique against him or even Jojo's very obvious work crush (love that using it forever now) on him. It just so happens that I find it personally irritating when that means that Jojo has First freaking Kanaphan right there and chooses to do absolutely nothing with him because he prefers someone else.

But also this isn't a treatise against pair brands in general or FK in particular either - I like them together a lot, they're probably my favorite cp at the moment, anyone looking through my blog should be very aware of this (although they should both be able to kiss errbody for funsies). I would still feel this way if it were a mostly gen or het ensemble and First was being relegated to the love interest and not much more (it's also why if the rumors are true and he is in Scarlet Heart I will just wait for gifs I am NOT putting myself through that for a five second cameo or whatever I love myself too much).

Because I think he's amazing but underrated. That is also extremely obvious if you go through my blog. His particular style of acting just does it for me, okay?

And yes, OF was where I first noticed it, but it's pretty obvious Jojo does it all across the board once you know what you're looking for. And that's honestly his right, and as I said before: if I dislike it enough that all I want to do is complain about it I can and will shut it off (if only so my poor mutuals don't have to listen to me go on, lol. I can think of one in particular who is probably breathing a sigh of immense relief if they're reading this). Favoring a certain actor isn't actually that big of a deal. Tons of directors have their favorites; you see it everywhere.

Basically I am heading into THK with low expectations of personal enjoyment (and to see what Dunk does as Style, because I just have a feeling that he's going to knock this kind of character right out of the park and I feel like if I keep watching this show it might be for him (is this First fangirl blasphemy? It feels like it but that doesn't make it less true)), but that by no means means I think it will be an incoherent flop. I really hope people love it even if it isn't for me.

I don't really think it gets in the way of Jojo's shows, tbh.  I think that like with a lot of other things, for some people it is a dealbreaker and for some it is not. For me personally I love a ton of his shows and rewatching I can usually point out who he likes best but it doesn't detract from them for me in general. For me, it really depends on who he's screwing over (in the lightest possible sense - either way these people are getting work and getting paid which is mercenary of me but well. A bag is important whether you like it or not. Also important: they all seem to be having a blast) to make way for his favorite. If it weren't First getting shafted I probably would notice because it's one of those things that once you see you can't stop noticing but also, my level of give a crap would probably be a lot lower, lol. I make no claims to objectivity here.

And you could argue that if there were no such thing as cps, Jojo would be free to pick whatever actors he likes to fill his shows with and there would be no discrepancy in material. But well. That's demonstrably not true because we've seen him do het (which historically gives more freedom as as far as I know there is no cp framework to adhere to) and he does the same thing. It wouldn't matter who he put in THK, because most of the meat would go to the same place.

[minyo129]

210910 Best Choice with DJ Choi Ep.2! with Park Jongyoon

Minho started with Red Velvet's Queendom.

Minho is saying how he failed 2 times in a row and after checking his punishment again, knowing that it's an aegyo set of 3, Minho asked "You guys like something like this?? Huh? The production team likes this??"Minho is supposed to complete the curling mission using the bottle caps, if he fails he will have to do upload 3 aegyos later ㅋㅋ he was like 'OUT OF A SUDDEN??!"

Minho was like this is so difficult and he was like "I thought I was going to do it with the guest!" and Minho says that he actually prepared a greeting like a sport caster but it's all gone to waste now but still he managed to do what he prepared

Minho is mentioning how because of the mistake the production team did on the first episode that he didn't get to read most of the comments sent in so he will read it today.

He was asked for his plan until the end of the year, Minho said that there isn't much left till the end of the year but he wants to finish off the year healthy and said that there will be good things/(works) coming so he will slowly spoil it to us.

He wants to end the year nicely with Best Choice too since he has started with this

Minho is reading off the script about how different the Wednesday and Friday will be mentioning that "this is all what the production teams wants but I will do it as I want"

Minho will be talking about this corner about him talking a lot about sports and he also mentioned about him taking on the role as K-League ambassador.

Minho is so fluttered when he knew that caster Park Jongyoon will be coming onto his show. He is saying how this caster shares things very interestingly, Minho can guarantee that.

Minho is praising the production team for their casting for this very first guest on his show. Playing : Bad Habits - Ed Sheeran

[Minho is telecaster] Minho is so so grateful for the caster's guesting on his show while the caster says that he is so honored because he didn't know that he was the first guest.

Minho shared that their PD is a huge fan and asked the PD to not be so obvious about it ㅋㅋㅋ Minho says that he watches the caster's broadcast a lot and says he is a fan.

Minho says that he likes the caster's way of broadcasting is because of how interestingly the caster speaks and shares about the matches.

The caster is sharing how a broadcast needs to pull up the tension in order to match the matches from K-League. Minho asked if he gets really tired after a broadcast too while the caster shares that it does and he would forget what he did and what he said.

Minho is saying how the caster's broadcast helps the audience to be more involved in the match. Minho wants to take on the position as a caster as well and he told that to the caster and the caster said that "I will move away immediately!"

Minho says that "No no that's not what I mean. I just want to sit by the 3rd position" and learn and sharing that since he is the K-League ambassador, he would like to have a chance to do a broadcast as a caster one day.

minho is just very excited right now to get his chance to be a telecaster and he also asked for the caster for his help when the time comes.

The caster mentioned about a match(?)/a player(?) in Pohang and Minho mentioned about him from Pohang and the caster was like 'Oh ya! You are from the marines!' (They are talking about K-League)

Minho was like 'There's a company that I am in called SM Entertainment, if you talk to them I think there might be some good outcome from it.' After he read comments saying that he is already in his 14th year and yet he can't do what he wants?

Minho was like 'What to do? I have where I belong to, I can't just have a company and go on doing other things with another company etc right? What to do?' (it's been a long time dumplings hands...)

Minho is saying how happy he is to know that the caster loves Arsenal and loves K-League too. He wants the caster to join him again next time on Best Choice and was carefully asking.

The caster will leave now and Minho asked for the caster to guest again on Best Choice. Playing: Thunderous - Stray Kids

Minho says that he was so immersed in his talk with caster Park Jongyoon. People might not really understand what they were saying but he will share more basic things about soccer next time.

[The BEST moment: It's right now] Minho will introduce things that he likes from the movies he likes, the food he likes etc. He says that he likes golf now so he wants to introduce golf but the production team was saying how there are no time and just ask him to finish off

BUT he was like 'I really want to share it... I really want to talk about golf...' and the production team was like 'hmmm there's no time though... we have 10 mins... go on then'

But then Minho felt that it's too short to introduce to talk about golf right now so he will give in today and talk about it next time. He says that he would like to have 2 cameras over there too and he thinks it's okay for them to share their conversations

Minho talks about Slam Dunk and how he likes the manga and how he watched it during his school days. Minho is saying how the show needs to be longer and joked that 'oh? the team's expression doesn't look so good though...'

Minho feels like he lost today but also feels like he won today... the production team might have reminded him that he got the aegyo punishment to fulfill and he was like 'I KNOW. YOU DON'T HAVE TO REMIND ME. I will do it before I leave today don't worry'

Minho asked for the production team to put on the prize for him if he wins and he will do his best to win the mission next time. Next week's guest is actor Lee Yikyung.

ending song: Melody - ASH ISLAND "2 matches 0 wins 0 draw 2 lose Just you wait and see..."

Trans cr:@iheartshinee__ watch best choice: here

[radishaur]

Sorry I already submitted this but then i realized i could submitt it this way. But whar if y/n has a celebrity crush( still dont care who) and zuko gets jealous

Hi! Firstly, I love your username. Secondly, I would love to do this! I’m going to assume that this is still in the ATLA universe. I hope you like it!

•••

Someone Famous (Zuko x Reader)

Warnings: None

Genre: Fluff

Part: 1/1

Summary: See Request

•••

“Isn’t he just the cutest? Ugh, it should be illegal to be that handsome,” you sighed, continuing to cook dinner with Katara.

Gossiping and having girl talk with Katara was something the two of you had done since the very first day you joined the Gaang. Toph was never one for that kind of thing and Suki wasn’t around for the majority of your travels, so you were a welcome addition.

“I know, right?!” Katara agreed, grinning widely, “And that was only the photo!”

Your conversation carried over into the other room where Zuko, Sokka, and Aang were all relaxing after training. Zuko felt a hint of jealousy hearing you swoon over some random guy but tried his best to hide it from the other boys. Aang seemed to miss it, but Sokka didn’t.

“Someone’s jealous,” he teased, elbowing the other teen in the side.

“No I’m not!” Zuko protested, shoving Sokka away and scowling at him.

“Jealous of what?” Aang asked innocently.

“Zuko’s eavesdropping on Katara and Y/N’s discussion in the kitchen. They’re swooning over some boy,” Sokka explaining, a cheeky grin on his face directed at Zuko.

“I’m not eavesdropping, Sokka. They’re just loud,” Zuko groaned, once again trying to defend himself.

Sokka rolled his eyes and laid back into the couch, ready to let the topic go and continue talking, but Aang seemed suddenly very interested in their conversation.

“I mean, it couldn’t hurt to listen. Maybe then you can get intel on what kind of boy’s Kata- I mean Y/N likes! ...Yea...,” Aang said, grinning sheepishly at his slip up.

Sokka sent an empty glare at Aang that still managed to make him cower, nevermind that he was the AVATAR, but conceded to eavesdrop with the other two.

All three boys sat silently, the sound of Katara and your’s talking filling the room easily. Zuko was right after all. You guys weren’t exactly quiet.

“And those eyes! Don’t get me started on those eyes,” Katara giggled.

“I know. It’s no wonder he’s famous,” you said, sending a sinking feeling in Zuko’s stomach.

This guy was famous? It was bad enough when he thought the person was some random nobody, but someone famous? How was he supposed to compete with that? He was just a banished prince with an ugly scar on his face.

Not even trying to hide his souring mood, Zuko dunk into the couch and crossed his arms. Aang and Sokka were still listening animatedly.

“Shuji has got to be one of my favorite celebrities. Not only is he a good performer, but I’ve heard he’s actually a good person,” you said.

Zuko remembered seeing a poster for a famous street dancer in the marketplace of Ember Island named Shuji. He was a performer from the colonies, using his fire bending and Earth Kingdom good looks to dance and to charm the hearts of his audience. To be honest, even Zuko had to admit he was handsome. He could never compete with him.

“He seems like such a genuine person. It’s hard to beat that combo. Handsome and kind. What a dream,” Katara swooned, a lovesick expression on her face.

Aang visibally deflated at her words, mirroring Zuko’s own crestfallen expression. Sokka seemed to notice the gloomy boys because he rolled his eyes and turned to face them.

“You guys, it’s just a celebrity crush. They don’t actually have feelings for him,” Sokka said concolingly.

Zuko just grunted and continued brooding. Aang seemed to be a little brighter at the encouragement but he still looked disappointed. Before either of the boys could respond, Katara’s question caught their attention.

“What’s your top 3 list of celebrity crushes?” she asked excitedly.

Zuko listened intently, trying to push down the feelings of jealousy he was experiencing about listening to you talk about other guys. Maybe if he listened he could figure out your type at least. Even if he never thought it would be him.

“Hmmm. Top three? That’s hard. I guess my #3 would be Shuji, my #2 would be Kichi, the actor from Omashu, and my number one would be...,” you paused, trying to think of who it could be.

Zuko was on the edge of his seat. So far, your type was Earth Kingdom boys which wasn’t anywhere close to him. He grabbed the cup of tea in front of him to hopefully calm him down and took a sip.

“Oh, I know! My #1 without a shadow of a doubt has to be the Blue Spirit!”

Zuko promptly choked on his drink, spitting it out as he began to cough out what got caught in his throat, his jealousy gone and replaced with shock. Aang was looking at him with wide eyed and a huge smile. Sokka began pounding on his back to help him clear his throat. Apparently the commotion caught your and Katara’s attention, because the two of you also ran into the room to see what was going on.

“Zuko, what happened?” you asked in concern.

Zuko was still too busy coughing to respond. Aang took that as his opportunity to answer for him.

“We were just listening to your guy’s conversation. Do you really like the Blue Spirit that much?” Aang asked, smiling innocently and ignoring the wild look of panic that crossed Zuko’s face.

You didn’t seem at all bothered by the question though, simply laughing and smiling back at him.

“I do, actually. I know that he’s had questionable ethics in the past, but he saved you from Zhao. That and I saw him once when we were in Ba Sing Se,” you admitted, the corner of your lip turning up slightly at the memory.

“You did?” Sokka asked in shock.

“I didn’t know that,” Katara said, feigning hurt at not being told the secret earlier.

“It didn’t seem that important to mention!” you argued, crossing your arms defensively.

“You’ve gotta tell us!” Aang said excitedly, bouncing in his seat.

“Well, I was just walking around the lower ring when I saw this lady getting robbed. It was getting kind of late, so it was kind of dark. I was going to jump in, but then he came out of the shadows and beat me to it. He gave the lady her belongings back before disappearing again,” you explained nonchalantly.

“He seems like a great guy,” Katara said with a small smile.

“I think so. I didn’t see him again after that, but I kept hearing stories of the Blue Spirit who would come out at night and save people from danger. Maybe they’re just rumors, but I know what I saw that night. Besides, I can respect a man who changes for the better like that. Like Zuko!” you exclaimed, turning to smile brightly at him.

It was then you noticed his face was a bright red and he was curling into himself on the couch. He averted his gaze as everyone turned to look at him, his embarrassment clear. You cocked your head to the side, not understanding what was going on at all.

“Zuko, buddy, what’s wrong with you?” Sokka asked, shaking Zuko slightly with a hand on his arm.

“I um...N-Nothing. I’m fine,” he forced out, still refusing to look at anyone but especially you.

Frowning, you made your way to the coffee table and sat down on it across from Zuko. It was pretty hard to ignore you from there, especially when your knees brushed his.

“You’re not fine. Spit it out. Why does the Blue Spirit make you so uncomfortable?” you insisted, leaning back against your arms.

Zuko flicked his gaze over to Aang who simply gave him a small thumbs up and a smile. He bit his lip before returning his gaze to you. You stared at him expectantly, but your gaze was free of judgement. He felt his heart flutter as he looked at you and decided to just admit it.

“It’s just that uh, well.... actually I’m the Blue Spirit.”

The room was silent for a moment as everyone processed the new information. You seemed the most shocked of them all and he felt his heart drop as he watched a million emotions flash across your face.

“It’s true,” Aang piped in, “I saw him when he rescued me. His mask fell off when he got hit in the face with an arrow.”

Silence once again filled the room and Zuko felt his heart sink. He was waiting silently for you to judge him and think differently of him for lying or pretending to be someone he wasn’t, but that never came. Instead, he felt you wrapping him in a warm embrace.

“That’s so cool!” you exclaimed, pulling back from your hug before asking eagerly, “Did you really save a a kid from falling out of a window or was that a rumor?”

He opened his mouth to answer, but no words came out. Sokka snickered from beside him and began cracking some joke about how Zuko was broken now. None of it reached his ears though. He was too nosy looking at you in a mix of awe and apprehension. Maybe this was all a joke?

“You’re not mad?” he managed to ask quietly.

“Mad? Of course not! I just said you were my number one idol. Why would I be anything but excited?” you asked, clearly confused.

“Actually, you said he was your celebrity crush,” Aang corrected you, innocently oblivious to the embarrassment that caused you.

Your cheeks reddened as you turned to face Zuko with a sheepish smile.

“Right. I did say that.”

Zuko’s jealousy was long gone at that point. The two of you spent the rest of the night talking about his adventures as the Blue Spirit, from how he got the mask to how he ended up becoming a savior instead of a thief. Before the two of you noticed, it was the late hours of the night and both of you were getting tired.

“I should probably go to sleep. I have a long day of training with Aang tomorrow,” Zuko said, standing up awkwardly to leave.

“Yea, I should go too,” you said, standing up as well.

There was an awkward pause as the two of you simply looked at each other. It was like the world stopped and nothing else mattered but the other person. After a few more moment, it was you who broke the silence.

“Hey Zuko?” you asked quietly, your voice barely above a whisper.

“Yeah?”

“Remember how I said you were my celebrity crush without really knowing it was you?”

“...Yes?”

“Well, I have something to confess.”

“What is it, Y/N?”

“You’re not just my celebrity crush. You’re also my actual crush.”

Zuko couldn’t stop a giddy smile from breaking out on his face. He began laughing which made you frown. You thought he was laughing at you, which made you want to take back everything you had just said and bury yourself in the ground.

“I like you too, Y/N. A lot,” Zuko admitted before you could say anything.

You smiled up at him, the full weight of his words lifting a weight off your shoulders. He actually liked you back. You actually liked him back. The two of you had the stupidest grins on your faces as you stood together.

Zuko let his hands curl around your waist and pulled you closer. You had no qualms about that, moving your arms to rest on his shoulders. Slowly, giving you time to back away if you wanted, he began to lean in to kiss you. You moved your head up to meet his and felt your lips melt into his.

If this was going to be the outcome everytime, perhaps you should talk about your celebrity crushes more often.

[skullhaver]

It's 2021, and I'm watching Buffy for the first time.

The Virgil on my Buffy journey is my long-distance girlfriend, who has loved the show for years. We just finished season 4, and I wanted to write about my favorite episodes so far. I suspect some of my faves are beloved by most fans, but others are weird, personal picks. Buffy fandom, please don't come for me.

I thought this post would be short but I was wrong.

Hono(u)rable Mentions: "Band Candy" S3E6 and "Halloween" S2E6

Both these episodes have fun premises where the Scoobies run around Sunnydale after it was upended by zany, chaotic dark forces. "Band Candy" is fun for devil-may-care teen Giles. "Halloween" is fun for 18th-century-ditz Buffy. These are both very good, and are the sorts of episode I can imagine happily rewatching in the future. I just have more to pontificate upon for the other episodes on this list.

10. "Ted" S2E11

I can’t say I enjoyed this episode, but it did take me for a wild ride. Probably nobody else has strong feelings about this weird story where Buffy's mom dates a stereotypical cheesy family man, who turns out to be a controlling abuser, who turns out to be a robot. I remember shouting at the screen, "Did Buffy just kill a human man?? Is it okay in the moral logic of this show for Buffy to kill a human if he's a direct physical threat to her??" I knew Buffy would have deeper stories than the monster of the week formula we'd seen so far, but this early in season 2, I had no idea when or how that would happen. This was the episode that finally taught me that Buffy is largely not interested in moral ambiguity, or in exploring what it means to be good or bad. Except for season-defining exceptions like Faith and Angel, evil characters are simplistically, essentially evil. But it was wild to believe for a moment that Buffy murdered her mom's abusive boyfriend and would have to live with the consequences.

9. "Helpless" S3E12

When Buffy tries to be genuinely scary, it succeeds with aplomb. The premise of this episode is dumb and contrived ("Giles has to remove Buffy's powers without her knowledge for a seeeecret test by the Watcher's Council") but the chase and fight in this episode are some of the most tense and spooky scenes of the whole series so far. Buffy's vulnerability makes the stakes feel real in a way few other episodes manage. And Buffy's victory is all the more satisfying because she can't punch her way out of this problem, she has to be smart and creative. The fridge horror, of course, is that Giles would endanger her like this in the first place, but that gets sorted out over the emotional arc of the next few episodes.

8. "I Only Have Eyes For You." S2E19

Another spooky episode, this one a classic ghost story of forbidden love ending in murder - but with the twist that the ghosts possess people's bodies to have them reenact their final moments. I love stories about breaking a doomed-to-repeat cycle. I love weird shit like the snakes manifesting in the cafeteria. And I really loved the choice to have Buffy and Angel come to understand their feelings about their own relationship by embodying these ghosts - especially how they embodied different genders than their own to better fit the "roles" of the haunting story, thus subverting the expected pattern. I found this episode clever, poignant, and effective.

7. "Who Are You?" S4E16

"Faith and Buffy switch bodies" is a wild premise, but the real joy of "Who Are You?" is watching Sarah Michelle Geller being an extremely talented actress for 45 minutes, portraying a totally different character. Watching Faith confronted by kindness and love from Buffy's mom, Riley, and her friends, then getting launched into an existential crisis over it is so great. Also, I just dig a good church fight.

6. "Hush" S4E10

As stated above, love an episode that reminds me that these people are talented actors! Featuring demons that render all of Sunnydale unable to talk, we get to watch great physical comedy right next to tense, silent fight scenes. The visual creepiness of the Gentleman and their straight-jacketed weird little helpers is hard to beat. "Hush" is such a clever episode that it ascends monster of the week status to become almost Twilight Zone-esque. Also, for the first time, Buffy sees Riley doing his Initiative thing, and Riley sees Buffy being the Slayer, but they can't talk about it?? That's good shit.

5. "The Wish" S3E9

Both "Something Blue" and "The Wish" feel like the writers decided to use fanfic premises on their own show... so obviously I like them a lot. But getting to watch a dark timeline AU with interesting world-building and attention to detail, a hilarious and horrifying Cordelia POV, AND a smirking kinky vampire Willow? Hello?? And the fact that the Wishverse comes up again in "Doppelgänger" (another truly fun episode) only improves my opinion. I imagine this is the kind of episode fans simply love coming back to.

4. "Restless" S4E22

This David Lynch-ass dream sequence was a weird choice for a season finale, but an extremely ambitious and cool episode. I should say up front that I love David Lynch-ass dream shit. There were creative and well-executed scene transitions as characters moved seamlessly from one dream room into another. Several memorably neat shots - Willow running between endless curtains as she tries to get onstage, Buffy alone in a vast desert with a weirdly high camera angle. And I got myself all excited thinking that the First Slayer would maybe become a different kind of antagonist - maybe not even fully revealed in this episode, or maybe an Id-like aspect of Buffy herself. But I forgot Whedon gonna Whedon, so the First Slayer had to be someone Buffy could punch in the end. And the First Slayer is sadly yet another primitive-themed, emotionally-stunted character of color for this show. Most of her lines in this episode are literally voiced by a white woman speaking for her, and of all the dumb quips to make, Buffy had a line about her hair being unprofessional? Also, I'm a lesbian, so the fact that the most explicit act of intimacy between Willow and Tara this show has allowed us to see occurs in Xander's horny dream sequence... it’s unforgivable, Joss. This episode was one of my favorites ever, deeply marred by some bad writing choices.

3. "Lovers Walk" S3E8

Spike, perhaps the best non-Willow character in this show, is back in Sunnydale, a hilariously heartbroken mess of a man, hell-bent on getting his former girlfriend Drusilla back. (Drusilla left him for a fungus demon.) So Spike breaks into a magic shop to get ingredients for a love spell, where he runs into Willow, who is getting ingredients for a de-lusting spell, because she is worried she and Xander will be too thirsty to behave appropriately in public with their actual partners, Oz and Cordelia. This is a hilarious moment just to exist. This is all the episode needed to do to satisfy me. But the fact that Spike then kidnaps Willow, and it ends with tragic stakes of everyone's relationships coming apart, not to mention me genuinely thinking Cordelia was dead for a minute there - wow. Chef’s kiss. The episode is balanced shockingly well between Spike being an ominous villain, and being the sort of lovable semi-evil (more gremlin-like) side character he'll become in season 4. What a wild ride.

2. "Graduation Day" S3E21-22

I'm counting this two part season finale as one because it's my list and I'll do what I want. "Graduation Day" feels like a quintessential Buffy episode executed to perfection. It has Buffy reaffirming her position as a moral heroine, sacrificing her own blood to save Angel's life even when she thought she had to kill Faith to save him. It has Buffy and Faith (or Buffy/Faith, as I prefer to think of them) getting to square off in a dramatic, tough fight. It has a lot of Mayor Wilkins, a character I truly adore for some reason. Nothing like a public administrator who plays mini golf in his office, wants you to chew with your mouth closed, and will kill a graduating class of high schoolers to gain immortality. The catharsis of the whole school getting to fight back against evil, instead of just Buffy against the world - a real joy. This episode misses the top spot for two reasons. "A special vampire poison and the only cure is the blood of a Slayer" is too contrived for me to let slide, and also I had to see Cordelia and Wesley kiss.

1. "Becoming" S2E21-22

Buffy’s season finales really do have good stories and satisfying payoff. First off, Buffy starts this episode by punching a cop and fleeing from the law. Later, Spike also punches a cop. A.k.a., Buffy said blue lives don't matter. Second - I haven't gotten a chance to comment on this yet, but all throughout season 2, evil Angel is such a joy to watch. As regular Angel, David Boreanaz makes exactly one face ("I am a kicked, angsty puppy") and bless his heart, it gets so tiresome. As evil Angel, he is so expressive, dynamic and terrifyingly creative in his badness. And I love his weird threesome energy with Spike and Drusilla. But also, it's so hard to watch Buffy suffer as she deals with her evil boyfriend doing evil things. Her ultimate choice in this episode, to kill Angel even as Willow's spell restores his soul, gave me some real big feels! Also, this episode marks the first moment of Willow doing big, plot-shifting magic on her own, solidifying her transformation from computer nerd to witch! 

Also, shout-out to the many good smaller moments in this episode: Spike making awkward small talk with Buffy's mom, Buffy constantly dunking on Principle Snyder, and Giles being tortured by visions of Miss Calendar (RIP Miss Calendar, I was your biggest fan.)

"Becoming" is an excellent season finale and the kind of Buffy episode I imagine I will want to re-watch in the future just for nostalgia's sake.

[period-dramallama]

Spanish Princess episode 7: the episode that had no right to be as good as it was

Come with meeeeeeeeee and you���ll beeeeeeeeeee in a wooooooooooooooooooorld of English Reformation~

-OK I had a lot of thoughts on how this ep handled Protestantism but the TLDR is: they misunderstood the theology of it, IMHO, but they actually were much more balanced than I was expecting.

-Maybe it’s my bias, but the printing press scenes were awesome. 

-the word ‘Protestant’ is being used 30 years too soon- but I get why they’re using it.

-”You’re dead Sassenach” some people have pointed out the guy called that is a Scot but I think the boy’s just using it as an insult and they’re play-fighting so I think he’s pretending his opponent is English Scum just as Hal Stewart’s pretending to be killed

-Accuracy! Thomas More did indeed lead a raid on the Steelyard, IIRC, though again it’s prob happening too soon, and he’s not undersheriff any more. They continue to knit sweaters out of the thread of linear time

-”the answer does not lie in here but in there,” I was highkey worried Henry was going to point at his own testicles.

-Please get Henry a barber. He has superglued a party city wig to his own face.

-”we were going after deer!” he sounds so much like a spoiled child i have to laugh

-the way Georgie says NO i love the inflection so much, I should make it my text alert for my least favourite people.

-”She creates bad humour in our land” “You mean she’s rude about your poetry?” “SO RUDE *sobs*”

-Wolsey has a reputation for relative tolerance and inaction on heresy, but historians seem to be finding that he was more invested in punishing heresy than previous histories and depictions (eg Wolf Hall) have shown. (At least so far as it was his job to do). He’s still hella villainized in this show.

-Allying with Angus? Sounds like Bad Decision #785

-CGI London looks way too big for a city of ~70,000 people

-Lina, I love you, but it has never been safe for a woman to walk around London alone at night. Not in 2020, 1820, or 1520. Especially before the invention of street lamps.

You can tell this episode was written by men

-”an army is for valiant purpose” Oviedo I love you but you’re a soldier, you’ve seen wars fought for political gain and not for moral reasons. Why you only shocked now? You should be more concerned that you’re attacking civilians instead of fellow militarymen.

-”what are you doing in the church?” “bitch i live here”

-”where are your ladies?” good question

-”it’s her own soul she risks, not mine” when you’re so selfish you accidentally become the most religiously tolerant person in the room.

-Wolsey’s face was a joy this episode. I want to make a moodboard of his beautiful sassy faces.

-the way Wolsey said “Thomas...” at More and Maggie looked angry... I think she was thinking “Really? You’re going to steal MY man now?!”

-why’s Henry Pole guarding More?? He’s a baron?? He outranks More??

-”maybe even have some lemon cake” it’s official, Margaret Pole is Sansa Stark

-”bathe me better and I will relax” she is literally a toddler omg

-”I have bathed you for years, no lady could do better” you can say that again, any other lady would have dunked katherine’s head under the water by now

-”to love the king why do you have to hate so many others” 

what happened?? the lines?? are so good?? i am SHOOKETH

-shot of the wavering compass...heavy-handed but i loved it

-Ursula geeking out over her garden :’) i get it girl i got into gardening myself this year.

-”my wife is the only sight I care for” *smooch* the second man in England to have rights! Thank god they’re so in love, given the real couple were married for 40 years. (They totally left the room to go make out, didn’t they.)

-Raiders of the Lost Inheritance Deeds

-WHERE ARE THE BOLEYN GIRLS?? THESE ARE STARTING TO BE THE YEARS THEY’RE AT COURT??

-God Stephenie was amazing this episode. I felt her pain, she became such a more well-rounded character, I’m so glad she got to speak her mind to Catherine instead of continuing to simp for her and excuse her behaviour. If she betrays her secret next episode, her character arc will be complete. Also, after whitewashing Isabella’s actions as Gurl Powah, it’s so refreshing to have Lina call out religious persecution of all flavours, not just against Lutherans. 

-”my own husband?” Lina...did you just... tell Catherine your husband isn’t Christian? Run?

-My theory was correct! TSP!KOA is indeed trying to be her mother!

-”ugly altar boys” Aardvark is on FIRE this episode. Everyone is bringing their snark game.

-good use of spooky strings

-mention of humours! Accuracy point! Also I’m glad that Katherine hanging out in her nightdress with men was called out for being hella sus in the Tudor worldview.

-the whole torture dungeon reveal reminded me of a similar scene in the 1999 movie Sleepy Hollow, but apart from that, it was perfect. No dialogue, just the camera, the props and Laura, and you tell the whole story with her face. This is why show don’t tell is so important!

-yes i am biased bc i never liked the ship, but the break up scene was great, for both their characters: More’s allowed to explain his worldview and Maggie is able to call him out. Also it answered the question “why Thomas More and not some tutor OC?” I’m not sure the bombshell justifies writing their romance, but at least it explains its existence. At least it built to some Juicy Drama. 

-poor Maggie though. The man she wants to sleep with won’t sleep with her, the man who wants to sleep with her she doesn’t want. Then she befriends both of them, only to lose their friendship when one dies of the plague and the other she wishes died of the plague because he’s terrible. Also her cousins keep being executed, her daughter’s terrified, and her son is way too fond of violence. Give the girl a hug.

-”watch your step” yeah we wouldn’t want you to get a splinter on your way to get your head lopped off. That would really suck. 

-the way the crowd groaned when henry’s letter was read out... they sounded like football fans when their team misses a goal.

-”Henry” just henry? not henry the king? No “PS: I’m so random lol” “PS: blow a kiss to Wolsey” No “Henry ex-oh-ex-oh-ex-oh”

-the obligatory gross thing obvs is the sideways beheading. His head bounces!

TLDR: By far and away, the best ep in the show so far in my opinion. It almost feels like it’s set in the sixteenth century. The history was still dodgy af, and so was much of the dialogue, but the drama was much more solid and less plot-holey, the pacing was good, and the foolish mistakes of Stafford and Catherine had actual consequences for the plot, the actors knocked it out of the park, some of the lines were accidentally brilliant. 

[mattbrothersscriptwriter]

My Top 20 Films of 2019 - Part Two

I don’t think I’ve had a year where my top ten jostled and shifted as much as this one did - these really are the best of the best and my personal favourites of 2019.

10. Toy Story 4

I think we can all agree that Toy Story 3 was a pretty much perfect conclusion to a perfect trilogy right? About as close as is likely to get, I’m sure. I shared the same trepidation when part four was announced, especially after some underwhelming sequels like Finding Dory and Cars 3 (though I do have a lot of time for Monsters University and Incredibles 2). So maybe it’s because the odds were so stacked against this being good but I thought it was wonderful. A truly existential nightmare of an epilogue that does away with Andy (and mostly kids altogether) to focus on the dreams and desires of the toys themselves - separate from their ‘duties’ as playthings to biological Gods. What is their purpose in life without an owner? Can they be their own person and carve their own path? In the case of breakout new character Forky (Tony Hale), what IS life? Big big questions for a cash grab kids films huh?

The animation is somehow yet another huge leap forward (that opening rainstorm!), Bo Peep’s return is excellently pitched and the series tradition of being unnervingly horrifying is back as well thanks to those creepy ventriloquist dolls! Keanu Reeves continues his ‘Keanuassaince‘ as the hilarious Duke Caboom and this time, hopefully, the ending at least feels finite. This series means so much to me: I think the first movie is possibly the tightest, most perfect script ever written, the third is one of my favourites of the decade and growing up with the franchise (I was 9 when the first came out, 13 for part two, 24 for part three and now 32 for this one), these characters are like old friends so of course it was great to see them again. All this film had to do was be good enough to justify its existence and while there are certainly those out there that don’t believe this one managed it, I think the fact that it went as far as it did showed that Pixar are still capable of pushing boundaries and exploring infinity and beyond when they really put their minds to it.

9. The Nightingale

Hoo boy. Already controversial with talk of mass walkouts (I witnessed a few when this screened at Sundance London), it’s not hard to see why but easy to understand. Jennifer Kent (The Babadook) is a truly fearless filmmaker following up her acclaimed suburban horror movie come grief allegory with a period revenge tale set in the Tasmanian wilderness during British colonial rule in the early 1800s. It’s rare to see the British depicted with the monstrous brutality for which they were known in the distant colonies and this unflinching drama sorely needed an Australian voice behind the camera to do it justice.

The film is front loaded with some genuinely upsetting, nasty scenes of cruel violence but its uncensored brutality and the almost casual nature of its depiction is entirely the point - this was normalised behaviour over there and by treating it so matter of factly, it doesn’t slip into gratuitous ‘movie violence’. It is what it is. And what it is is hard to watch. If anything, as Kent has often stated, it’s still toned down from the actual atrocities that occurred so it’s a delicate balance that I think Kent more than understands. Quoting from an excellent Vanity Fair interview she did about how she directs, Kent said “I think audiences have become very anaesthetised to violence on screen and it’s something I find disturbing... People say ‘these scenes are so shocking and disturbing’. Of course they are. We need to feel that. When we become so removed from violence on screen, this is a very irresponsible thing. So I wanted to put us right within the frame with that person experiencing the loss of everything they hold dear”. 

Aisling Franciosi is next level here as a woman who has her whole life torn from her, leaving her as nothing but a raging husk out for vengeance. It would be so easy to fall into odd couple tropes once she teams up with reluctant native tracker Billy (an equally impressive newcomer, Baykali Ganambarr) but the film continues to stay true to the harsh racism of the era, unafraid to depict our heroine - our point of sympathy - as horrendously racist towards her own ally. Their partnership is not easily solidified but that makes it all the stronger when they star to trust each other. Sam Claflin is also career best here, weaponizing his usual charm into dangerous menace and even after cementing himself as the year’s most evil villain, he can still draw out the humanity in such a broken and corrupt man.

Gorgeously shot in the Academy ratio, the forest landscape here is oppressive and claustrophobic. Kent also steps back into her horror roots with some mesmerising, skin crawling dream scenes that amplify the woozy nightmarish tone and overbearing sense of dread. Once seen, never forgotten, this is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea (and that’s fine) but when cinema can affect you on such a visceral level and be this powerful, reflective and honest about our own past, it’s hard to ignore. Stunning.

8. The Irishman

Aka Martin Scorsese’s magnum opus, I did manage to see this one in a cinema before the Netflix drop and absolutely loved it. I’ve watched 85 minute long movies that felt longer than this - Marty’s mastery of pace, energy and knowing when to let things play out in agonising detail is second to none. This epic tale of  the life of Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) really is the cinematic equivalent of having your cake and eating it too, allowing Scorsese to run through a greatest hits victory lap of mobster set pieces, alpha male arguments, a decades spanning life story and one (last?) truly great Joe Pesci performance before simply letting the story... continue... to a natural, depressing and tragic ending, reflecting the emptiness of a life built on violence and crime.

For a film this long, it’s impressive how much the smallest details make the biggest impacts. A stammering phone call from a man emotionally incapable of offering any sort of condolence. The cold refusal of forgiveness from a once loving daughter. A simple mirroring of a bowl of cereal or a door left slightly ajar. These are the parts of life that haunt us all and it’s what we notice the most in a deliberately lengthy biopic that shows how much these things matter when everything else is said and done. The violence explodes in sudden, sharp bursts, often capping off unbearably tense sequences filled with the everyday (a car ride, a conversation about fish, ice cream...) and this contrast between the whizz bang of classic Scorsese and the contemplative nature of Silence era Scorsese is what makes this film feel like such an accomplishment. De Niro is FINALLY back but it’s the memorably against type role for Pesci and an invigorated Al Pacino who steals this one, along with a roll call of fantastic cameos, with perhaps the most screentime given to the wonderfully petty Stephen Graham as Tony Pro, not to mention Anna Paquin’s near silent performance which says more than possibly anyone else. 

Yes, the CG de-aging is misguided at best, distracting at worst (I never really knew how old anyone was meant to be at any given time... which is kinda a problem) but like how you get used to it really quickly when it’s used well, here I kinda got past it being bad in an equally fast amount of time and just went with it. Would it have been a different beast had they cast younger actors to play them in the past? Undoubtedly. But if this gives us over three hours of Hollywood’s finest giving it their all for the last real time together, then that’s a compromise I can live with.

7. The Last Black Man in San Francisco

Wow. I was in love with this film from the moving first trailer but then the film itself surpassed all expectations. This is a true indie film success story, with lead actor Jimmie Fails developing the idea with director Joe Talbot for years before Kickstarting a proof of concept and eventually getting into Sundance with short film American Paradise, which led to the backing of this debut feature through Plan B and A24. The deeply personal and poetic drama follows a fictionalised version of Jimmie, trying to buy back an old Victorian town house he claims was built by his grandfather, in an act of rebellion against the increasingly gentrified San Francisco that both he and director Talbot call home.

The film is many things - a story of male friendship, of solidarity within our community, of how our cities can change right from underneath us - it moves to the beat of it’s own drum, with painterly cinematography full of gorgeous autumnal colours and my favourite score of the year from Emile Mosseri. The performances, mostly by newcomers or locals outside of brilliant turns from Jonathan Majors, Danny Glover and Thora Birch, are wonderful and the whole thing is such a beautiful love letter to the city that it makes you ache for a strong sense of place in your own home, even if your relationship with it is fractured or strained. As Jimmie says, “you’re not allowed to hate it unless you love it”.

For me, last year’s Blindspotting (my favourite film of the year) tackled gentrification within California more succinctly but this much more lyrical piece of work ebbs and flows through a number of themes like identity, family, memory and time. It’s a big film living inside a small, personal one and it is not to be overlooked.

6. Little Women

I had neither read the book nor seen any prior adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s 1868 novel so to me, this is by default the definitive telling of this story. If from what I hear, the non linear structure is Greta Gerwig’s addition, then it’s a total slam dunk. It works so well in breaking up the narrative and by jumping from past to present, her screenplay highlights certain moments and decisions with a palpable sense of irony, emotional weight or knowing wink. Getting to see a statement made with sincere conviction and then paid off within seconds, can be both a joy and a surefire recipe for tears. Whether it’s the devastating contrast between scenes centred around Beth’s illness or the juxtaposition of character’s attitudes to one another, it’s a massive triumph. Watching Amy angrily tell Laurie how she’s been in love with him all her life and then cutting back to her childishly making a plaster cast of her foot for him (’to remind him how small her feet are’) is so funny. 

Gerwig and her impeccable cast bring an electric energy to the period setting, capturing the big, messy realities of family life with a mix of overwhelming cross-chatter and the smallest of intimate gestures. It’s a testament to the film that every sister feels fully serviced and represented, from Beth’s quiet strength to Amy’s unforgivable sibling rivalry. Chris Cooper’s turn as a stoic man suffering almost imperceptible grief is a personal heartbreaking favourite. 

The book’s (I’m assuming) most sweeping romantic statements are wonderfully delivered, full of urgent passion and relatable heartache, from Marmie’s (Laura Dern) “I’m angry nearly every day of my life” moment to Jo’s (Saoirse Ronan) painful defiance of feminine attributes not being enough to cure her loneliness. The sheer amount of heart and warmth in this is just remarkable and I can easily see it being a film I return to again and again.

5. Booksmart

2019 has been a banner year for female directors, making their exclusion from some of the early awards conversations all the more damning. From this list alone, we have Lulu Wang, Jennifer Kent and Greta Gerwig. Not to mention Lorene Scafaria (Hustlers), Melina Matsoukas (Queen & Slim), Jocelyn DeBoer & Dawn Luebbe (Greener Grass), Sophie Hyde (Animals) and Rose Glass (Saint Maud - watch out for THIS one in 2020, it’s brilliant). Perhaps the most natural transition from in front of to behind the camera has been made by Olivia Wilde, who has created a borderline perfect teen comedy that can make you laugh till you cry, cry till you laugh and everything in-between.

Subverting the (usually male focused) ‘one last party before college’ tropes that fuel the likes of Superbad and it’s many inferior imitators, Booksmart follows two overachievers who, rather than go on a coming of age journey to get some booze or get laid, simply want to indulge in an insane night of teenage freedom after realising that all of the ‘cool kids’ who they assumed were dropouts, also managed to get a place in all of the big universities. It’s a subtly clever remix of an old favourite from the get go but the committed performances from Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein put you firmly in their shoes for the whole ride. 

It’s a genuine blast, with big laughs and a bigger heart, portraying a supportive female friendship that doesn’t rely on hokey contrivances to tear them apart, meaning that when certain repressed feelings do come to the surface, the fallout is heartbreaking. As I stated in a twitter rave after first seeing it back in May, every single character, no matter how much they might appear to be simply representing a stock role or genre trope, gets their moment to be humanised. This is an impeccably cast ensemble of young unknowns who constantly surprise and the script is a marvel - a watertight structure without a beat out of place, callbacks and payoffs to throwaway gags circle back to be hugely important and most of all, the approach taken to sexuality and representation feels so natural. I really think it is destined to be looked back on and represent 2019 the way Heathers does ‘88, Clueless ‘95 or Easy A 2010. A new high benchmark for crowd pleasing, indie comedy - teen or otherwise.

4. Ad Astra

Brad Pitt is one of my favourite actors and one who, despite still being a huge A-lister even after 30 years in the game, never seems to get enough credit for the choices he makes, the movies he stars in and also the range of stories he helps produce through his company, Plan B. 2019 was something of a comeback year for Pitt as an actor with the insanely measured and controlled lead performance seen here in Ad Astra and the more charismatic and chaotic supporting role in Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood.

I love space movies, especially those that are more about broken people blasting themselves into the unknown to search for answers within themselves... which manages to sum up a lot of recent output in this weirdly specific sub-genre. First Man was a devastating look at grief characterised by a man who would rather go to a desolate rock than have to confront what he lost, all while being packaged as a heroic biopic with a stunning score. Gravity and The Martian both find their protagonists forced to rely on their own cunning and ingenuity to survive and Interstellar looked at the lengths we go to for those we love left behind. Smaller, arty character studies like High Life or Moon are also astounding. All of this is to say that Ad Astra takes these concepts and runs with them, challenging Pitt to cross the solar system to talk some sense into his long thought dead father (Tommy Lee Jones). But within all the ‘sad dad’ stuff, there’s another film in here just daring you to try and second guess it - one that kicks things off with a terrifying free fall from space, gives us a Mad Max style buggy chase on the moon and sidesteps into horror for one particular set-piece involving a rabid baboon in zero G! It manages to feel so completely nuts, so episodic in structure, that I understand why a lot of people were turned off - feeling that the overall film was too scattershot to land the drama or too pondering to have any fun with. I get the criticisms but for me, both elements worked in tandem, propelling Pitt on this (assumed) one way journey at a crazy pace whilst sitting back and languishing in the ‘bigger themes’ more associated with a Malik or Kubrick film. Something that Pitt can sell me on in his sleep by this point.

I loved the visuals from cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema (Interstellar), loved the imagination and flair of the script from director James Gray and Ethan Gross and loved the score by Max Richter (with Lorne Balfe and Nils Frahm) but most of all, loved Pitt, proving that sometimes a lot less, is a lot more. The sting of hearing the one thing he surely knew (but hoped he wouldn’t) be destined to hear from his absent father, acted almost entirely in his eyes during a third act confrontation, summed up the movie’s brilliance for me - so much so that I can forgive some of the more outlandish ‘Mr Hyde’ moments of this thing’s alter ego... like, say, riding a piece of damaged hull like a surfboard through a meteor debris field! 

3. Avengers: Endgame

It’s no secret that I think Marvel, the MCU in particular, have been going from strength to strength in recent years, slowly but surely taking bigger risks with filmmakers (the bonkers Taika Waititi, the indie darlings of Ryan Coogler, Cate Shortland and Chloe Zhao) whilst also carefully crafting an entertaining, interconnected universe of characters and stories. But what is the point of building up any movie ‘universe’ if you’re not going to pay it off and Endgame is perhaps the strongest conclusion to eleven years of movie sequels that fans could have possibly hoped for.

Going into this thing, the hype was off the charts (and for good reason, with it now being the highest grossing film of all time) but I remember souring on the first entry of this two-parter, Infinity War, during the time between initial release and Endgame’s premiere. That film had a game-changing climax, killing off half the heroes (and indeed the universe’s population) and letting the credits role on the villain having achieved his ultimate goal. It was daring, especially for a mammoth summer blockbuster but obviously, we all knew the deaths would never be permanent, especially with so many already-announced sequels for now ‘dusted’ characters. However, it wasn’t just the feeling that everything would inevitably be alright in the end. For me, the characters themselves felt hugely under-serviced, with arguably the franchise’s main goody two shoes Captain America being little more than a beardy bloke who showed up to fight a little bit. Basically what I’m getting at is that I felt Endgame, perhaps emboldened by the giant runtime, managed to not only address these character slights but ALSO managed to deliver the most action packed, comic booky, ‘bashing your toys together’ final fight as well.

It’s a film of three parts, each pretty much broken up into one hour sections. There’s the genuinely new and interesting initial section following our heroes dealing with the fact that they lost... and it stuck. Thor angrily kills Thanos within the first fifteen minutes but it’s a meaningless action by this point - empty revenge. Cutting to five years later, we get to see how defeat has affected them, for better or worse, trying to come to terms with grief and acceptance. Cap tries to help the everyman, Black Widow is out leading an intergalactic mop up squad and Thor is wallowing in a depressive black hole. It’s a shocking and vibrantly compelling deconstruction of the whole superhero thing and it gives the actors some real meat to chew on, especially Robert Downy Jr here who goes from being utterly broken to fighting within himself to do the right thing despite now having a daughter he doesn’t want to lose too. Part two is the trip down memory lane, fan service-y time heist which is possibly the most fun section of any of these movies, paying tribute to the franchise’s past whilst teetering on a knife’s edge trying to pull off a genuine ‘mission impossible’. And then it explodes into the extended finale which pays everyone off, demonstrates some brilliantly imaginative action and sticks the landing better than it had any right to. In a year which saw the ending of a handful of massive geek properties, from Game of Thrones to Star Wars, it’s a miracle even one of them got it right at all. That Endgame managed to get it SO right is an extraordinary accomplishment and if anything, I think Marvel may have shot themselves in the foot as it’s hard to imagine anything they can give us in the future having the intense emotional weight and momentum of this huge finale.

2. Knives Out

Rian Johnson has been having a ball leaping into genre sandpits and stirring shit up, from his teen spin on noir in Brick to his quirky con man caper with The Brothers Bloom, his time travel thriller Looper and even his approach to the Star Wars mythos in The Last Jedi. Turning his attention to the relatively dead ‘whodunnit’ genre, Knives Out is a perfect example of how to celebrate everything that excites you about a genre whilst weaponizing it’s tropes against your audience’s baggage and preconceptions.

An impeccable cast have the time of their lives here, revelling in playing self obsessed narcissists who scramble to punt the blame around when the family’s patriarch, a successful crime novelist (Christopher Plummer), winds up dead. Of course there’s something fishy going on so Daniel Craig’s brilliantly dry southern detective Benoit Blanc is called in to investigate.There are plenty of standouts here, from Don Johnson’s ignorant alpha wannabe Richard to Michael Shannon’s ferocious eldest son Walt to Chris Evan’s sweater wearing jock Ransom, full of unchecked, white privilege swagger. But the surprise was the wholly sympathetic, meek, vomit prone Marta, played brilliantly by Ana de Armas, cast against her usual type of sultry bombshell (Knock Knock, Blade Runner 2049), to spearhead the biggest shake up of the genre conventions. To go into more detail would begin to tread into spoiler territory but by flipping the audience’s engagement with the detective, we’re suddenly on the receiving end of the scrutiny and the tension derived from this switcheroo is genius and opens up the second act of the story immensely.

The whole thing is so lovingly crafted and the script is one of the tightest I’ve seen in years. The amount of setup and payoff here is staggering and never not hugely satisfying, especially as it heads into it’s final stretch. It really gives you some hope that you could have such a dense, plotty, character driven idea for a story and that it could survive the transition from page to screen intact and for the finished product to work as well as it does. I really hope Johnson returns to tell another Benoit Blanc mystery and judging by the roaring box office success (currently over $200 million worldwide for a non IP original), I certainly believe he will.

1. Eighth Grade

My film of the year is another example of the power of cinema to put us in other people’s shoes and to discover the traits, fears, joys and insecurities that we all share irregardless. It may shock you to learn this but I have never been a 13 year old teenage girl trying to get by in the modern world of social media peer pressure and ‘influencer’ culture whilst crippled with personal anxiety. My school days almost literally could not have looked more different than this (less Instagram, more POGs) and yet, this is a film about struggling with oneself, with loneliness, with wanting more but not knowing how to get it without changing yourself and the careless way we treat those with our best interests at heart in our selfish attempt to impress peers and fit in. That is understandable. That is universal. And as I’m sure I’ve said a bunch of times in this list, movies that present the most specific worldview whilst tapping into universal themes are the ones that inevitably resonate the most.

Youtuber and comedian Bo Burnham has crafted an impeccable debut feature, somehow portraying a generation of teens at least a couple of generations below his own, with such laser focused insight and intimate detail. It’s no accident that this film has often been called a sort of social-horror, with cringe levels off the charts and recognisable trappings of anxiety and depression in every frame. The film’s style services this feeling at every turn, from it’s long takes and nauseous handheld camerawork to the sensory overload in it’s score (take a bow Anna Meredith) and the naturalistic performances from all involved. Burnham struck gold when he found Elsie Fisher, delivering the most painful and effortlessly real portrayal of a tweenager in crisis as Kayla. The way she glances around skittishly, the way she is completely lost in her phone, the way she talks, even the way she breathes all feeds into the illusion - the film is oftentimes less a studio style teen comedy and more a fly on the wall documentary. 

This is a film that could have coasted on being a distant, social media based cousin to more standard fare like Sex Drive or Superbad or even Easy A but it goes much deeper, unafraid to let you lower your guard and suddenly hit you with the most terrifying scene of casually attempted sexual aggression or let you watch this pure, kindhearted girl falter and question herself in ways she shouldn’t even have to worry about. And at it’s core, there is another beautiful father/daughter relationship, with Josh Hamilton stuck on the outside looking in, desperate to help Kayla with every fibre of his being but knowing there are certain things she has to figure out for herself. It absolutely had me and their scene around a backyard campfire is one of the year’s most touching.

This is a truly remarkable film that I think everyone should seek out but I’m especially excited for all the actual teenage girls who will get to watch this and feel seen. This isn’t about the popular kid, it isn’t about the dork who hangs out with his or her own band of misfits. This is about the true loner, that person trying everything to get noticed and still ending up invisible, that person trying to connect through the most disconnected means there is - the internet - and everything that comes with it. Learning that the version of yourself you ‘portray’ on a Youtube channel may act like they have all the answers but if you’re kidding yourself then how do you grow? 

When I saw this in the cinema, I watched a mother take her seat with her two daughters, aged probably at around nine and twelve. Possibly a touch young for this, I thought, and I admit I cringed a bit on their behalf during some very adult trailers but in the end, I’m glad their mum decided they were mature enough to see this because a) they had a total blast and b) life simply IS R rated for the most part, especially during our school years, and those girls being able to see someone like Kayla have her story told on the big screen felt like a huge win. I honestly can’t wait to see what Burnham or Fisher decide to do next. 2019 has absolutely been their year... and it’s been a hell of a year.

[wandering-bitch]

Annotations on I Have Always Loved the Door (pt 2)

awww yeahhh, more notes and behind-the-scenes knowledge on the critically acclaimed (by like three sapphics) mianqing work, I Have Always Loved The Door

I know this fic isn’t objectively long, but it’s longer than animal farm so im gonna keep being proud of it

ch 6: road trip road trip road trip road trip

we start out with some trusty sword content and the beginning of the fuckt up swords arc

(it’s so wild to me that i can describe this fic as “having an arc” but here we are)

fluffy little brother nie huaisang content. i decided that just like everyone looks at nie mingjue (and his actor) and says “this is my older brother now,” everyone looks at nie huaisang and says “yeah this is my little brother” 

(i also hc that because he failed @ cloud recesses multiple times, he’s actually a few years older than the main cast. this does not change his Little Brother Energy)

nie huaisang: hey mianmian, huang daiyu likes portraits of women. if that means anything. if you want to do anything with this information

nmj is the accidental biggest lesbian ally but nhs is the actual biggest lesbian ally. he wakes up every morning thinking of how 2 support lesbians

wen qing: ohhhhhh man hot baths.... mianmian: uh apropos of nothing i need to be alone now and maybe dunk my head in a river

ch 7: traumaaaaaa but there was only one bed

this has some of the writing im most proud of actually whoops?? wen qing simultaneously being underworked and overstressed and therefore coming apart in the bathtub???? not entirely unrelatable

god i need a fall-apart-stop-existing bath tonite

i want u all to know that wen qing has 100% seen mianmian’s tits, first during surgery and then in ch 2 when she checks the wounds, but that was in Medical Context so they weren’t really tiddies. seeing a girl’s bare back??? stressful!!!! 

trauma nightmare trauma nightmare trauma nightmare!!!!

i have trouble reacting to the soft gentle content i write (i have trouble reacting to any of the content i write by the time i publish it) but “mianmian was looking at her so gently it hurt” is one of my favorite lines i’ve ever written. i feel like it really uh. captures the way ur partner’s patience and empathy can feel so raw and stinging on your wounds even tho u kno it’s healing

ohhhhh yeahhhhh night hunting!!! i honestly forgot i even wrote this but im glad i did bc i love corpsebear and i love mianmian just BURSTING out of its chest

ch 8: jealousy is only fun if it in no way interferes with your intended

i did this in part bc i felt like i wanted wen qing to show off medicine again + i wanted mianmian to be more clear with wen qing that she considers her one of her people

does mianmian say “don’t worry i’ll protect u, ur one of my people” constantly? yes!!!

does wen qing believe it?? not for another eight chapters!

sword!!! content!!!

one of our emotional cores here!!! reconciling our past and our future and refusing to compromise!!

ch 9: gay shit gay shit gay shit

we start with some nice quality brother bickering bc im a lil bitch!!

and some mention of the existence of homophobia but not here in qinghe!!! no homophobia in qinghe, it’s a sect rule (this is why sect leader yao + jin guangshan never enter qinghe)

the pregnancy subplot originally was so much less important but i kept writing it to show off wen qing’s medicine tm (because so much doctoring rendered useless if ur a cultivator who just shrugs off getting stabbed on the regs), and then it became and impt part??? of wen qing’s emotional arc??? 

“Before you say anything, I came to you before I passed out” is such a good Mood of any nie cultivator, jesus

i was feeling guilty earlier in this annotation process that i’d stopped being Funny but this does in fact Crack Me Up

“nothing could make me marry a man” i’d say same, but there are a handful of men who i’d enjoy shattering

i do feel bad that mianmian has to deal with all of wen qing’s lying but what are we gonna do? tell the truth? not in this house

someone who wanted to could probably point out a similarity in how i write wen qing here and meng yao in falling in love, and maybe infer something about the writer but why would anyone do that?

ch 10 some fighting but more importantly nie mingjue being a cool bro

wish i had thought more about how not having her swords would affect mianmian bc like. that should frick her up. but that would involve writing more and i was flagging here

wen qing/nie mingjue older sibling solidarity!!!

i once spent thanksgiving dinner with my friend’s parents, a neurosurgeon and a surgical nurse, and the nurse told us gruesome medical stories while the neurosurgeon did his best to keep dinner down.

this dinner is a #mood is what i’m saying

sect politix sect politix sect politix!!! i love to write it, because im a fucking buffoon who enjoys pain

the kittens in the robes story is one i ripped from my own family but the kittens were hidden specifically in my aunt’s bloomers so her upper thighs were COVERED in itty bitty kitty scratches at the end of the day

mianmian: why u always lying wen qing: [sweats] i don’t know what u mean

next time: ch 11-15 aka the End!! 

[mor-beck-more-problems]

Phancy Pheromones || Morgan & Jeff

Before Miriam, before the endless night, Morgan went to Dell’s Tavern...

(pheromones were released, but no witches are harmed in the writing of this chatzy)

Morgan’s face was starting to ache from smiling at the woman in front of her, and not in a good way. Sure, she had a star-crossed not-girlfriend she would much rather be with, but that wasn’t happening at the moment. So to ease her sanity, or at least to feel less like a pining damsel, Morgan continued to swipe and chat and on occasion, even meet. Unfortunately, the meeting part tended to implode. 

Morgan’s date, a barely thirty admin assistant from the university with bright curls, seemed to be feeling the foreshocks for how the night was going as well. She kept checking her phone and when, at last, it sprang to life to the tune of the FRIENDS theme, she took the call faster than Morgan could say, “No worries! Do what you need to!” When she excused herself early a minute later, Morgan let her go with the lightest, most pitiful of hugs, and turned back to her margarita, ready to dunk her face right in. Maybe she was self-sabotaging, she thought glumly. Or maybe the universe really needed to remind her that, yep, still one hundred percent cursed.

She waved at the bartender. “Hey,” she said, not even hiding her pout. “Another one please?”

Jeff had watched the failing date a little painfully. He had seen it before, and he certainly would see it again, but the second hand embarrassment was always hard to watch. He was happy, though, that it at least didn’t seem like he was going to have to step in and throw anyone out. There had been far too many ‘blink twice if you need help’ or the ‘special drink order’ in his life time. He watched as the woman took a call and as he expected, dipped out as fast as humanly possible. 

He had already been making the woman another margarita before he’d been waved down for one. Jeff was not a smart man, but he knew. He placed it down in front of her, and leaned on the bar, looking at her out with  a grin. “Bad night?” he asked. “That’s alright, but maybe we should be a little careful with the margs, yeah? I’m Jeff.” 

Morgan welcomed the margarita with a dejected sigh and began to slurp straight from the sugar rim. “Was it that obvious?” She said, lifting her eyes to the bartender. He was one of those big, stupidly chiseled types, the kind that probably moonlit as actors or bouncers and got the best tips from sad moms who liked men. But he seemed kind, and his name lit something in the back of her mind. “Jeeeff…” It was a little name, but that big slurp of margarita made it hard to finish. “Are you Jeff with the dog Jeff? Wait, like fa--” She stopped herself and covered her drink with her hand while her brain sloshed back into the right position. “We maybe talked online Jeff. Which would be making meeting you so great if I was less of a mess right now.”

He gave her a wary smile. “Only a little. I’ve seen much fuckin’ worse, let me tell you. Before you two came in, one couple threw their drinks on each other and I had to toss them out. Totally fucking public and embarrassing.” It was true, someone had been filming. But he left that out as she said his name, and he brightened slightly when it looked like they actually knew each other. Or, well, he had talked about his dog with her, at least. “No shit?” Jeff asked. “I have a dog. Lettie. She’s a mastiff.” He grinned widely at her. “Ah, don’t fucking worry about it, no big deal. What’s your name. I talk a lot about Lettie, you know.”

Morgan smirked, a little prolonged by all the syrupy mix and tequila. “Lettie! That’s her name. I have a pet too, she goes on walks, but she’s a cat. Oh, but me. I’m Morgan,” She said. “Morgan Beck. I sell rocks to people who don’t know better and teach frat boys to like reading. You told me about your coin and about your umm…” She gestured clumsily around her back. “But like not really? You’re a very nice Jeff, but you’re also very obvious. I still bet they’re really cool though.” Brain sloshed back enough into place, she took a sip from the straw, smiling at him with her bright blue eyes. 

“Morgan!” Jeff said enthusiastically. “You helped me with my fuckin’ mime problem! The coin shit worked. With the coin.” He was still going to go find that stupid ass mime and beat the shit out of it, though. For Lettie. His eyebrows furrowed slightly when she gestured to her back, unsure what she meant, before his eyes widened. “Oh fuck,” he said, leaning in slightly and lowering his voice. “You figured out I have…. Well, you know.” Jeff shrugged slightly, wincing. “We can’t, uh, fucking tell people about that. Wait. How do you know about wings? Are you a fairy?” 

“JEFF!” Morgan put out a hand on his face to shush him. And in that moment of contact, she realized even his beard was ridiculously perfect, like, better product than what she used perfect. “This is you being obvious! I’m two margaritas deep and I’m not even using the...F word. And don’t your people hate that word anyway?” She looked at him incredulously, shaking her head. She took back her hand, trying not to be too obvious about giving it a sniff. Jeff’s product smell or maybe Jeff smell was...really good. “Jeff, you gotta be more careful than that. You’re way too pretty to get Warden’d-d…” Morgan waved the word away. She was confident enough he got the point.

“MORGAN!” He responded instantly, almost jumping from the sudden contact. “Ah -” Fuck. Humans and their damn body heat. Jeff was glad he had fed before this otherwise he’d be tempted to take some from Morgan. He didn’t like feeding off people he knew. At least, well, not anymore. He shook it off. “Oblivious? That’s not - oh. Yeah. Fuck, I forgot again.” He frowned. Deirdre was going to be disappointed. “I’m a little new. Sort of. And I don’t get what the big fucking deal is, it’s just a - oh. You know about Wardens?” Jeff frowned, rubbing the back of his neck slightly. “I know about Warden’s alright, don’t fuckin’ worry. They killed my father. I’m up to speed.” 

“Ob-vi-ous,” Morgan sounded out the word gently, although she was no longer confident about which one she had actually said. She wondered if by ‘new’ Jeff meant that whatever he was had been freshly activated, wings and all, but it seemed rude to ask in a busy bar. “Words have power,” she said, nursing her straw some more, eyes still fixed on Jeff. He had the brightest eyes, like little blue lanterns. “But you can reclaim things for yourself, that’s a real thing,” There was a very clever and very helpful speech to accompany that, but it fell out of Morgan’s head as Jeff frowned (it was a very pretty frown) and mentioned his father. “Oh, Jeff! I’m so sorry, that’s horrible! Did someone kill them for doing it? I probably can’t do it, but someone should. Could I do something to make you feel better instead?”

Jeff looked at Morgan a little doubtfully. He wasn’t even a real fae - well, he was, and he had the fucking wings and iron allergy to prove it. But he missed the memo where they were supposed to be better than everyone else. “I don’t think so,” he said with a shrug. “I’m supposed to remember so my fair- fae friend doesn’t get upset.” He though that was a good explanation as he looked back at Morgan, before his eyebrows shot up. “Kill them? The wardens? Fuck if I know. I was only called in to identify his body - asshole listed me as next of kin or something. We weren’t closed. You don’t have to - I mean, that’s kind of fuckin’, you know, murder.” Jeff said, thinking on it. He didn’t think the rules were the same for humans, and he wasn’t especially sympathetic to people that would murder his father just because he was Fae. Maybe murder was the right answer. He shrugged it off. “You know what would make me feel better?” He said, realized that Morgan was a little sloshed. “If you let me get you a glass of water.” 

“Equivalent exchange, Jeff,” Morgan said with fond patience. “And it’s different when you’re doing it for payback, or to protect someone, even if that someone’s you. There’s probably other good reasons, but I can’t think of them right now.” She laughed again, encouraging Jeff to smile. Jeff really should smile more. Morgan propped herself up on her elbows as he mentioned something to make him feel better. She looked at him eagerly. “Water! Because I’m this close to being sorority girl drunk, right? Aw, Jeff, you’re so sweet! For you, yes, I will have water. So much water. A whole pitcher if you want me to!”

“You can’t think of them because you’re drunk,” Jeff informed her, with a wry grin. He probably should have been more annoyed, but he wasn’t. He liked Morgan, she was clearly a sweet woman and wanted what was best for not only him but for others. He hoped that the shitty world would be kind to her and give her a better date the next time she went out. He held up one finger to her, to tell her to wait a second while he grabbed a glass and filled it with ice water. “If you were a drunk sorotiy girl, I’d make fuckin’ Marty deal with you. You’re my friend. Why don’t we try one glass, for now, and then we can call you a car. I’m sorry, but I need your keys too.” Jeff said sheepishly, putting the glass in front of her.

“One glass? That’s easy.” Morgan took it in hand and started to chug. She was halfway through when Jeff asked for her keys. She put the glass down with a pout and fished the keys out of her pockets. “But I love my car! Will you take good care of her? She’s the prettiest thing I’ve ever had. Like crazy pretty, like the girl that gave it to me. It’s a Subaru.” She plopped them into his hand with a sigh. “Do you have a pretty car, Jeff?”

“Oh! Hey! Don’t chug, it’ll upset your fucking stomach!” Jeff said, quickly, shaking his head, but he relaxed when he safely took her keys from her. “Your car will be safe, I’m sure it’s very pretty, don’t worry. Your Subaru is safe with the bar, they won’t tow - ” Jeff stopped slightly, eyes narrowing as he looked at her. Girl that gave it to her. She was on a date a girl. Subaru. Jeff had been pretty sure Morgan was giving him the drunk cow eyes a half second ago, before he realized something. He hadn’t been paying attention to his fucking pheromones. He cursed, and leaned forward. “Morgan,” he said, carefully. “Look at me a sec. You, uh…. How are you feeling right now?” 

Morgan moved down to a sip at Jeff’s insistence. Anything to make that big guy happy. She even made a show of it, holding the glass up for him to see. “Ooh, me? I’m feeling great! I’ve had so much tequila I’m not even sad anymore, and I have you! Sweet, pretty friend Jeff!” She blinked at him, lashes fluttering coyly. “And how are you feeling, Jeff? Are you feeling better yet? Because we can keep working at this if you’re not.”

Jeff stared at her a moment, before cursing again, running a hand down his face. She was definitely fucking pheromoned. Pheromones mixed with alcohol… Not great. He glanced at the clock behind him, and around the bar. It was quieting down too. Marty could survive a half hour without him. “Morgan,” he said, carefully, lowering his voice. “Fuckin’ look at me a sec - uh - you know what a Gancanagh is?” He asked. And then, “Nevermind, you’re drunk, I accidentally fucking gor you with my pheromones. I need to take you home.” 

“A gang-a-roo-huh? Is this a, you know, the f word thing?” Morgan asked. She gasped. “Are you telling me your species?” She whispered, badly. “That’s so sweet! Jeff, I don’t even know how to pay you back for something like that.” She arched a brow, laughing. “Take me home? Seriously? You know, I’m usually way too gay for this, but you’re just like--the man, Jeff. If you’re in, I’m in.”

“Fuck me,” Jeff groaned, running his hands down his face. His fellow bartender glanced over, and Jeff just waved him off. “Marty, I gotta take this ‘ne home. I’ll be back to help you close up.” Technically, he was head bartender. He could do what he wanted. And Marty wasn’t an idiot, he trusted him. He looked back at Morgan. “Yes, I am,” he said, “Lower your fuckin’ voice - and don’t get any funny ideas. We’re not doing anything, I’m taking you home because I accidentally pheromoned you. Shhh, let’s go. I’ll drive your car home and take a car back.”

“Whatever you say, Jeff!” Morgan sing-songed. She slipped off her stool, clumsily. “You are the man, I’m just along for the ride.” She made her way around to the other side of the bar, legs shaking like a baby deer and braced herself on the end to meet him, smiling big. “But, you know, if you changed your mind, you could get to say you did it with a lesbian. And you’ll be nice to the pretty car, right? She’s fae-ry magical. You see what I did there?” 

“No! No, stop that!” Jeff scolded, but he couldn't exactly be mad at her because this was his fucking fault. He almost groaned when she saw how she was walking, but he remembered his manners his mother taught him. He was going to have to help her to the car. Jeff held out his arm for her to grab. “Morgan, my friend, you will not be fucking saying that tomorrow. And also, you’re drunk,” he reminded her. “I did that. Very fuckin’ funny.” He started to very carefully lead her outside. “Subaru, right? What color?” 

“No one says the same thing tomorrow,” Morgan said, feeling very clever in the moment. “Mm, yes, pherom-men-o-menomes. You’re gonna have to explain the details on that one later, and I trust you, because you’re Jeff! And it’s the red one! She’s perfect right? I love her, but ssshhh. You’re bad at keeping secrets Jeff, but sssshh. I trust you to do the thing though. You’re a good Jeff.”

“You might be right about that, but it’s different when - ah, why the fuck am I bothering,” Jeff muttered. He couldn’t believe he had done it again. It was different when he accidentally did it to the occasional too-drunk Karen, where he could shove them in an uber and feel a little bad about it later, but Morgan was his friend. “She is a nice car,” Jeff said, rounding to the passenger side to open the door for her. “What thing? We’re not doing any fuckin’ things. And yeah, I’ll explain when you have your head on straight tomorrow.” 

“The thing thing!” Morgan said. She plopped into her seat and fumbled with the buckle and ran her hands fondly over the upholstery. “The um…” It was slipping out of her brain again, like so much margarita mix over the rim of a glass. “Well whatever it is, you got it just fine, because you’re the best, you know? Oh, but hey, can you um--?” She held the buckle over her eye, like an alder stone. “I can’t make my hands do the thing. I can’t do a lot of things without making a mess but you got me for this one, right Jeff?”

“No, no!” Jeff said, having gone round to the driver's side. “No thing thing either!” He was assuming all things were sexual in nature until specified otherwise. Abso-fucking-lately not. He glanced over at her. “Your seat belt? Ah - it’s going to make it worse,” he muttered shaking his head. Still, safety first. He turned the car on, and gingerly reached over pulling the belt across her and clicking it into place. Then he adjusted the seat so he could drive more comfortably, and pulled out of her spot. “Alright, you tell me where to go now. When I get you home , you have to drink a lot of fuckin water, alright?” 

“Aye, aye, Jeff!” Morgan said. She gave him her address and settled into the comfy seat, still fondly running her hands over the upholstery. She gave Jeff her address and let him walk her inside, where she promptly collapsed face down on the couch. It was after a massive jug of water had materialized at her side (had she peeled herself off the couch like Jeff asked? Had Jeff gotten it for her?) and after she accidentally turned on the TV by rolling on top of the remote wrong, that something cleared in her head. Something not quite the rapid intake of tequila she’d had. Morgan sat up on the couch. She looked to the door. Looked at the water jug. Looked to her car keys. “...Did I seriously hit on a guy??”

[thesporkidentity]

The a-yuan broke my heart, I was crying like the final flashback battle all over again but they were happy tears, ya know? THE LEG HUG!!! Also is it just my dumb self or was his costume slightly different between the walking and then the final playing in those final 30 seconds? Not lying it's perfect either way but oh if it's like a little while later I can't with my child. Also oh my goodness can that boy smile like a sunbeam, my heart has been restored from the PAIN, SO MUCH PAIN.

Also with bby!Nie I literally called it, I knew something was up I was screaming and hollering. Don’t get me wrong there’s enough in the flashback that yeah they’re all dumb together but there’s enough hints there, just enough. It was very well done that section. I’m being extremely vague in case the other anon’s still around. I literally love everyone on the show even though in some cases I really shouldn’t because… jsdjcsd they belong in the garbage can.             

Don’t get me wrong I sympathize with them very deeply in some cases but in other cases like dude I wanna slam dunk them in the garbage where they belong for very good reasons. They seem to have added a lot more gray into the live drama from what I hear, which makes it a bit easier in every case but the consent issues (oh god the consent issues, that’s not going to be fun). I’m glad I might still get to try the AD! Apparently it’s the same voice actors so it’s like a rewatch but more canon ;)            

THE. LEG. HUG. he’s just such a precious baby duckling! and he’s ALIVE! and my god lan zhan fucking RAISED HIS CHILD FOR HIM like that is devotion right there and he did such a good job he turned out so well like even before knowing WHO he was he was ALREADY everyone’s favorite of the juniors.

if you’re talking about between lwj and wwx walking away and then the final thirty seconds with the silence and then the music then yeah it was a different costume. so even after lwj and wwx split to fulfill their own separate duties in the end they still come back together like, lwj tracks him down and finds him again (presumably when his duties are finished and the cultivation world has recovered from that chaos) because they’re fucking cultivation partners and after they do what their honor and goodness demands they finally get their happy ending of just wandering around and doing good together and it makes my heart so full.

nei huisang!!! my little dark horse! yeah i don’t want to spoil it but hot damn.

and yeah i’m not gonna judge you for loving the garbage people like, book jin guangyao is actually one of my favorite characters. (i just find him so fascinating because so much of him is so understandably human that, a few of his crimes aside, i can actually totally understand him. so you end up asking like, what was the tipping point? what number of his mistakes or which of his crimes took him from redeemable to unforgiveable? in a universe a little bit to the left could he have been a force for good or do you side with nie mingjue’s opinion that after his first crime that he could never be anything else?) i like that in most cases the villains in this story are so very human rather than a caricature, like aside from wen ruohan and wen chao they actually have reasons behind the bad things they do besides just ‘oh well they’re an evil character.’

as for the grey morality, the live-action actually took away a lot of that in my opinion (likely due to censorship reasons, so i wouldn’t blame the production for that they very obviously tried as hard as they could to be as faithful as they could) at least as far as the leads go. it’s like they polarized it so like wwx was better and jgy was worse, but at the same time those changes made some of the minor characters a little more gray though i guess because they were minor it was okay? skip these parts if you’re wary of spoilers.

**the villains are more evil, the heroes are more pure. like the show glosses over it but in the book one of jin guangyao’s biggest contributions to the cultivation world is a watchtower project where small groups of cultivators rotate through garrisons spaced out along the countryside in order to make it easier for the people under their protection to get help and to reduce reaction times when they detect surges of resentful energy. like, he fought a lot of the sect leaders on this since setting up garrisons could (and likely was) a first step towards consolidation of power, but at the same time it did protect the commoners and rural areas that a lot of the others deemed unimportant enough to really care about. but because that distracts from his misdeeds the show left it out to make him more explicitly evil. (also the whole NOT MENTIONING THAT HIS SON WAS CONCEIVED BEFORE HE KNEW SHE WAS HIS SISTER AND THEN HE NEVER TOUCHED HER AGAIN, WHY DID THEY HAVE TO TAKE THAT OUT AND MAKE HIM COMMIT INTENTIONAL INCEST??? anyway i’m fine it’s cool whatever) but for the most part everything he does isn’t about power just for power’s sake the way it seemed to be for wen ruohan or jin guangshan, it’s the impulse of someone who was abused and powerless amassing power because maybe if he gets enough he can finally keep himself safe (and the tragic thing is that it will never be enough because he cares so much about what everyone thinks about him that he could never achieve what he would view as “safe”)

and the live-action absolves wei wuxian of…basically all his crimes except maybe having a bit of a temper and a sharp tongue. the whole ancient ancestor of a destroyed clan creating yin metal? the wens already practicing demonic cultivation with xue yang? none of that was in the book. wei wuxian wasn’t just a demonic cultivator, he was the genius who invented it. xue yang didn’t even come in until much later as an imitator. it’s like the difference between someone who uses a gun versus someone who invented the gun and introduced that kind of harm into the world. and no one interfered with his usage of the tiger seal at the pass with jin zixuan or at nightless city. wei wuxian really was just emotionally compromised and he lost control and yeah it wasn’t intentional but it did kill people and it was very much on him.**

so like, there’s a lot more grey in the novel and who you decide to hate and who you decide to forgive is very much of the “when is a monster not a monster? oh, when you love it” variety. so if that���s your bag you might really enjoy that novel.

yeah the consent issues… the consent issues feel in my opinion  like…unnegotiated kink? at least that’s kinda how i interpreted it to get through the sex scenes (and also i’ve read in this series of posts that some of those consent issues are exacerbated by the translation and were not necessarily in the original text). like from POV you can tell that what he says and what he wants are two different things and he definitely wants, but it is not something that would be okay to do in your real life as opposed to in fiction without a pre-scene negotiation and a safe word so the lack of that might be a trouble spot for some people. and if you’re sensitive to that then definitely skip the incense burner extras. if it’s something you’re worried about then i’d say read that series of posts to make an informed decision.

and the voice actor for the AD is the same for wei ying, but different for lan wangji. but the same for some other actors. the live-action took a smattering of different people from the AD and the donghua. but it’s really good and it follows the book canon super closely and the scenes they add are really good.

okay i’ve blabbed on enough at this point i apparently like hearing myself…type? that expression works less well in this context. but yeah, done now lol

[redvelvetreel]

Red Velvet Reel 9.2: Blue Ain’t (Usually) My Color

            [Fic Directory]

Pairing: [Married] Spicyhoney (Underfell Papyrus x Underswap Papyrus)

Summary: Stretch learns a little bit more about everything: parentMOOD, funeral traditions, *what Edge is probably thinking.* But at least he knows how to move forward now!

Characters: Stretch (Underswap Papyrus) & Red (Underfell Sans)& Blue (Underswap Sans)

Contains: Mpreg/Skelepreg! Candid discussions of monster funerary traditions! Different monster cultural traditions between universes!  

Rating: Teen and up! (I guess?)

Note: Additional cultural notes/elaborations available at the bottom so as to avoid spoilers! :)

“Me?!” Stretch gaped, unable to keep the surprised indignation out of his tone, “Me?!”

Before Red could say anything else, Blue kicked him under the table again, “Thank you for all that, Red!” Blue put his mouth literally against the side of his brother’s skull, saying as quietly as possible, “He’s an asshole but he’s right.”

Somehow, Red still heard him.  Still stuck his tongue out petulantly, but he was obviously flattered. Even if he kicked Blue under the table and steal his last biscotti. It was kinda cute.

Stretch shook his head free of that weird thought, focusing on his confused outrage, “What do you mean I’m freaking him out?!” Wait, he was the master of his emotions, he could ask this quietly and civilly! Think soothing thoughts, like clouds and kittens and successful science projects- “I mean, how am I putting Edge on... edge?” Hehe. “I’m doing my best to not do that?”

“Well,” Blue folded his hands under his chin, looking thoughtful, “Edge still has his intent sensitivity-“

“Parent sense!” Red chimed in helpfully, chewing noisily as he dunked his biscotti in the remaining half of Stretch’s coffee. He felt a deep pang of sadness, one that he couldn’t blame entirely on Pancake. He downed the rest of it before his brother-in-law could double-dunk.

“So, even if you tried to act like everything was fine, he would still be able to detect your intent.” Blue, trying so hard to be careful, was endearing and annoying, and it was a struggle to try and push those conflicting feelings away.

“‘N ya ain’t too good an actor!” Red swiped Blue’s mug, using the last sliver of biscotti to scrape whipped cream off the inside.

“You’re a great actor!” Blue assured him firmly, pointedly ignoring his obnoxious counterpart. “But the parentMOOD heightens your emotions, and makes it more... obvious when you are... troubled.”

“Saw ya lookin’ sad way aways.” Red had gotten a spoon from somewhere, and was using it to scrape up the dregs from his coffee cup,”‘N ya get lil’ poofs ‘a intent when yer moods swingin’.”

“Do- Do I really?!” Stretch couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “So my stupid mood swings are undermining my best attempts to play it cool? And are straining my marriage?”

“Papy.” Blue was a very patient monster, but even he looked like he might be nearing his limit, “Your marriage is fine. Edge isn’t going to divorce you over being a little moody. He’s moody!”

“Yep.” Red was playing with the spoon now, trying to balance it on the tips of his claws, “S’not his style, ‘n Fell ain’t real big on ‘divorce. ‘Fore it got bad, Boss’d prolly kill ya ‘n put ya in an osario.”

“Oh.” Stretch wasn’t sure if he was comforted or alarmed by that tidbit. Blue looked horrified, so he probably should feel more like that. Weird. “What’s that?”

“Osario’s lotsa stuff- s’box thing. Glass ‘n shit. For ya? Mm... ‘Prolly a collar.” Red’s smile stretched wider at that reaction, voice nonchalant even as he watched Blue carefully. Out of the corner of his eye. “Touchy-feely bastard’ prolly carry ya around whole damn time, too. No inventori for ya, Honey.”

“WHAT?!” Blue was aghast, looking pale, so Stretch absolutely shouldn’t have felt a little flattered at that. And certainly not pleased. “Edge regularly carries...” Blue fidgeted, lowering his voice to a strained whisper, “Monster dust?”

“Before, yeah?” Red didn’t look like he quite understood the question, “Not now. Didn’t bring none here, don’t think.”

“WhY?!” Blue rubbed at his face, “Underfell is a terrible, vicious place, I know-“ Stretch winced at that, remembering Edge’s bitter sulk after the whole bar incident. Had his little meltdown over that whole will-death talk make his husband’s insecurities worse? “But what reason could any monster possibly have to carry that around?!”

“Sos ya can honor the dead, Baby Blue.” Red gave the other skeleton a sharp look, “What else ya gonna do? Stick ‘em up like a goddamn decoration? Psh. Ain’t nothin’ sadder than being goddamn forgotten.”

Oh nooooo, this was just a huge cultural misunderstanding. Edge wasn’t being macabre! He totally hurt his hubby’s feelings! On something Edge was already sensitive about! 

“I told you like a hundred times- that’s Undertale! In Underswap, everyone who knew them puts some of monster’s dust in a pot of soil!” Red and Blue were still going at it. “Then, you plant an echo flower seed and care for it until it blooms. Then, it will have your loved one’s voice, and it feels like you can talk to them! That’s the opposite of forgotten!”

“That’s fuckin’ creepy, man.” Red shuddered, making that peace-bless hand signal over all three of them. “Dust’s dust! It havin’ a Dusted’s magic color ‘n voice just ain’t right.”

“How is carrying your friend’s dust everywhere you go any less creepy?!” Blue threw his arms up. “At least you don’t actually see the dust on an echo flower, and it’s quietly tended to! At home!”

“‘Cause we ain’t pretendin’ they ain’t dusted! Fine, look, s’diff for diff monsters ‘n shit, but here’s how Edge’d do it-“ Oh noooo, it was cultural AND something personally important to Edge! Stretch put his head in his hands. Oh, he fucked up so bad. 

“Lil’ bit of dust s’given to whatever bastard wants it, yeah? Crown takes s lil’ dusted RG go in this lil’ medal thing, ‘n their put in...” Red made a face, struggling with the phrasing, “Patria... temple...? Some bullshit place, lotsa flowers ‘n ribbon ‘n shit, s’like ‘rememberin’ the fallen’ whatever.”

Red rubbed at his face like he was getting a headache, “S’long story, but as Cap’n he was wearin’ a diff osario a day. Come in Grillby’s, pour a lil’ rum out fer the Angel ‘n the Dusted ‘n down rest. ‘Everybody’d do it, too. ‘N we’d chat about ‘em, laugh ‘n just... remember.”

He sighed deeply, tone soft and melancholic, “Ain’t nothin’ scarier for Fell than thinkin’ yer life ain’t matter. That y’ain’t make no kind of mark on no one at all.”

Blue didn’t say anything at that, watching Red carefully with veiled pity. Or was that understanding? “I guess that doesn’t sound so terrible. It’s the same principle as our Memorial Echo tradition.” He smiled, “Knowing that your loved ones will keep you alive in their memories, even as they make new ones with a piece of you at their side. It seems like it would give some monsters peace of mind.”

Damn. Stretch hadn’t mentioned what he and Edge had actually ‘fought’ about! How did Red and Blue know?! There was no way this conversation hadn’t been orchestrated- it was way too creepily relevant! At the same time, Edge probably hadn’t told them. He was always saying ‘dirty laundry is done at home,’ so how...?

“Are you ok, Papy?” Blue looked concerned, reaching out to turn his face toward the light, “You’re looking a little pale-“

He pulled away, putting his brother’s hand back on the table. “I don’t know how you both know what you know,” Stretch started warily, eyeing them both suspiciously, “And it’s still creepy- but ok. I got your message. Loud and clear.”

              [Part 1] [Part 2 - Here!] [ Part 3 ]  

Notes/Clarification:

-Osario in English is "Ossuary," but for the purposes of Underfell culture, think of it more as a "reliquary." Those are these ornate containers for venerated objects in Catholicism, and come in a variety of shapes and sizes.

-Collar is a double entendre: it's like the dog collar kind in English, but in Spanish it's just a necklace.

- The saying in spanish is, "La ropa sucia se lava en casa," or "Dirty laundry is washed at home." Meaning you don't air dirty laundry/family issues and stuff in front of people. 

-Underswap monster funerals: Echo flowers are a memorial flower, and because they're magical flowers, soil infused with monster dust gives them that monster's voice! They'll echo back whatever you tell them in the voice of the deceased, so it's customary to keep them at home and just... talk to them, hear the things you miss the most. "I love you" is the usual phrase of choice. They're pretty hardy flowers, so they live for as long as they're cared for.

[praphit]

Granny Lee Curtis vs The Perv

Sooooo, I wasn't going to go see this movie. Based off of the trailer, I just didn't think it would be any good. My first reaction to the trailer was "WHY?! Why, Mike Myers?!" Have you ever see the aging athlete who thinks he/she still has it?:

They can't dunk anymore. They can't throw a football further than my grandmother. They don't even see the fastball go over the plate anymore. They're like "What do you mean strike three? He never threw a pitch." It's just embarrassing. This is how I felt about Michael Myers trying to make another comeback.

Plus, I've always been a Friday the 13th type of guy. I feel like Mike and Jason are in the same game, so you have to pick one. It's like Twilight - Team Edward or Team Jacob. The sickly looking Edward that all of the ladies wanted vs the beefcake Jacob who fewer ladies wanted... I never understood that; you always bet on beefcake right?? Idk, but my beefcake has always been Jason Voorhees - he so much better than Mike in every way:

Jason is an artist with his kills.

Mike just uses that kitchen knife. Every now and then he'll pick up a crowbar or a hammer, but then go right back to that knife. Change it up once and a while, Mike!

Jason wouldn't simply do his thang at camp sites - he'd be adventurous and head to Hell or even outer space to do his art.

Mike just stuck with his old neighborhood.

And I never liked Mike's mask; I always thought it looked dumb. He looked like one of those Trolls.

And Mike could never catch his main prey (Jamie Lee Curtis). Jason only let people live to get them after the credits or in the first scene of his sequel (cuz he's a showman). Mike has had 40 years to catch Jamie Lee, and nothing! BUM!

Speaking of Jamie Lee, and I have to say this on the front end. Let's look at JLC

- beatiful.

I say this because this JLC is not the one we're getting in the movie.

This is the one we're getting -

I looked at the trailer and I was like "Damn, Jamie. That's dedication to your craft." THAT or Judy Greer (who is also in this flick) saw JLC and said to herself "Even kickin 60, she's too good lookin. I need more attention, so I can steal this franchise from her. Hey, producers, let's oldify her... I'm your new star!" People don't know that about Judy; she's cutthroat. She's got JLC lookin like a closet lesbian, hobo, cat lady.

I'm sorry! She doesn't look bad, I just don't know what look they were going for... she doesn't have to worry about Michael, cuz osteoporosis is right around the corner.

I wasn't about to watch a movie where two senoir citizens are fighting to the death - that's simply exploitive. BUT, JLC & Mikey must have gotten tired of me talkin shit, so they got some good writers, good actors, tons of guns... got John Carpenter to dust off his keyboard for the theme music, and word on the streets is that they made a decent flick! I couldn't pass it up -

This flick starts off with two journalist being curious about Michael and JLC's story. Mikey was chillin in a mental prison somewhere far away - hiding from bad sequels, and they had to come along and rattle the bear cage. DUMB!

Not really a spoiler, cuz most of us know that whoever messes with the monster usually gets eaten by the monster... everyone knows this except these two idiots. There's a doctor with them, when these two go to see Michael. You could see it in his eyes, he knew these two were gonna die. Big dummies.

Meanwhile, Granny Lee Curtis

Sorry... wrong pic.

There she is -

She has been living a nightmare. Her house (which Judy Greer, her daughter grew up in) looks like something out of those "Saw" movies. She turned it into a giant trap. Forget panic rooms, this is a panic house! She has turned away all community, and even her own family to prep for Michael. She has even been praying that one day Michael would escape, so that she can kill him. And she's ready!

Apparently, God was bored and granted GLC her request. Michael was being transported and somehow (they never explain) the bus turns over and everyone escapes, including Michael. Cue the Halloween theme music.

What I liked about this movie:

It feels like a solid film. They build up characters. They set mood well. There's actual acting. They have a few scenes where they explore trauma and the effects it has on the individual, the abuser, and the family. Good stuff! I also like that this movie has a retro vibe to it without really being old school. But, we ain't here for Oscar Winning BS - we want killing!

Let the battle begin!

Mikey is back to his old tricks - being crazy slow, using that tired ol kitchen knife, and chasing after dumb/clumsy people. He even gets this one woman while she's on the toilet; that just wasn't right. Mike's a perv, man! He's checking in on ladies while they're in the bathroom, while they're showering, while they're undressing, while they're sleeping. Somebody needs to stop this guy!

Maybe GLC - she has the guns to do it. There was actually contro over the guns (being so pro-shoot'em up!); you know how people are...

Wouldn't you want all the guns in the world if Michael were after you. Not to mention the fact that the police in that town are so useless. There's an actor (Will Patton) who plays the lead investigator. I feel like I see this actor play the same role over and over again. He's always playing the cop who's after a psycho... and he never catches him. Just going from movie to movie, show to show, failing miserably.

I'm not exactly a gun lover, but I'll take all the guns I can get if this is after me.

Mike ain't no joke either - he gets shot up, gets body parts blown off and still stays calm and keeps coming after you.

I have to admit, I was wrong about this movie. I thought it would suck, and it's actually really good! I mean, Mike Myers is still kind of a bore... and too old for this...

Just look at his mask... that hair line is running back scared, and y'all can't notice too much from this pic, but even the hair on the MASK is thinning.

Someone is trying to send him a message that he's just not getting. But, everything else about this movie works well!

In fact, the only complaint I have (outside of GLC being insanely strong when close up with Michael... like, normally Mike crushes you when he gets his hands on you but... anyway; maybe GLC has been in the gym and juicin). There's things in this movie that they do well, that I wanted more of -

- the sensitive scenes when they were acting their asses off.

- the killing from Mike - he crushes one dude's skull with his boot... more of that!

- and they have a little kid in this movie who steals the show

Grade: A-

Although, I dig this film, I hope the love I'm sure Mike Myers will get doesn't go to his head, and he ends up doing like 3 more sequels. He'll end up like Sylvester Stallone (who's about to do Rambo - at age older than dirt).

It'll never stop. Eventually, we'll hear that Halloween music playing, and see Mike roll out in a wheelchair to catch GLC at the nursing home - still holding that same kitchen knife, with his mask totally bald. The only thing that will stop him is a lack of ramps.

[phantom-le6]

Episode Reviews - Batman: The Animated Series Season 1 (1 of 10)

Having finished with film reviews for the time being, I’m now back to TV series, and as planned some time back, the series I’m now taking a look at is one of the iconic animated classics of the 1990’s, namely Batman: The Animated Series.

Episode 1: On Leather Wings

Plot (as given by me):

A series of break-ins occur at pharmaceutical companies across Gotham, and witness reports from the most recent theft indicate the perpetrator was some kind of bat-like creature.  While Commissioner Gordon of the Gotham City Police Department refutes speculation that Gotham’s vigilante protector the Batman is the culprit, Mayor Hill approves the request of GCPD Detective Harvey Bullock to assemble an anti-Batman task force, with Gotham District Attorney Harvey Dent promising an airtight court case against Batman if Bullock can catch him.

 The following night, Batman investigates the latest crime scene, discovering an inadvertent audio recording of the incident and some strange hairs.  However, the dark knight is spotted entering the facility, and Bullock’s anti-Batman task force soon arrives.  While a SWAT team enters to try and subdue Batman, Gordon arrives and informs Bullock that another pharmaceutical company has just been robbed on the other side of town. The detonation of a tear gas grenade amid some cans of gas foils the SWAT team’s efforts to apprehend Batman, and after saving the life of an officer while escaping the blast, Batman flees with the evidence.

 Batman, in his other identity as Bruce Wayne, takes the evidence to a team of scientists working with bats at Gotham Zoo, comprised of Dr Kirk Langstrom, his wife Francine and her father Dr March. March is highly defensive of bats almost to the point of obsession, while the Langstroms appear more reasonable. Wayne passes them off as possible signs of a bat problem at Wayne Manor.  When March calls Wayne later with an explanation, the computer in the Bat-Cave swiftly disproves it, suggesting the scientists are somehow involved.

 Returning to the zoo at night, Batman discovers that it is Langstrom, and not March, who is the thief; Langstrom has acted on theories March created and developed a formula that transforms him into a bat-like creature.  He has become addicted to the transformation and claims the creature is somehow an independent being within him.  Transforming into his Man-Bat form, Langstrom attacks Batman, but tries to flee when his wife barges in on the confrontation.  However, Batman manages to hold onto Man-Bat by way of his grapnel device, resulting in a mid-air fight across the rooftops of Gotham. Eventually, Batman subdues his foe, and along the way Gordon and Bullock see Batman and Man-Bat together, proving the two are separate individuals.

 Taking Langstrom back to the Batcave, Batman is able to deduce a cure for the transformation formula.  As dawn breaks, he returns a restored and unconscious Langstrom to the laboratory at the zoo.

Review:

There are two ways of viewing the Batman Animated Series episodes; production order or broadcast order.  Apparently, the episodes were screened out of their intended order when the show first hit TV screens, which was actually in September 1992, which adds a certain resonance to me starting my review of the series in September of this year.  As the boxed set of the series which I own puts them in production order, that’s the order I’m taking them in, so in effect this episode is the proper pilot episode from an audience point of view.

 The show as a whole is visually darker than most, which is not surprising for two reasons.  First, this is Batman we’re dealing with, so darkness comes with the territory, as comics and TV makers forgot when 1950’s McCarthyism forced Batman to be pointlessly light and cliched instead of the dark, gritty urban vigilante around which all other facets of the character revolve.  Second, the show-makers opted to establish a darker look by painting the backgrounds for the animation on black paper instead of white, while also expanding the animation colour palette available to Warner Brothers at the time into darker shades, going against the normally over-bright colour palette typically used for animation back then.

 Looking at this episode, that darker colour scheme really helps establish the now-iconic look of the show, and it works brilliantly with the subject matter.  The episode also establishes the overall style of the show in other areas as well; it’s action-packed, and dialogue is relatively scarce, with most of the story being told visually instead of verbally, so this isn’t a show you can just watch as ‘something in the background’ unless you know it extremely well.  It’s well-acted by all those involved, and for the most part it’s not a bad first episode.

 The one thing that spoils the episode is a common conceit of DC animated productions, which is to assume you know the origins of the character you’re following from the comics or previous productions like the Tim Burton Batman films.  There’s no consideration for the possibility of the totally new fan getting into this as a first-time viewer.  Granted, Marvel acted similarly with the X-Men and Spider-Man in this era, not to mention Iron Man, but the X-Men animated series has suitable exposition in its two-part pilot, and both the Spider-Man and Iron Man shows went back to do the origins of the characters in later episodes.

 Having watched the first seven episodes of this series so far, Batman’s origins haven’t yet been explicitly shown, and while I hope I’ll find a later episode where they are shown, I’m somehow doubtful on that score.  So, while this is an ok first episode, it could have been better.  I’d give it about 7 out of 10.

Episode 2: Christmas with the Joker

Plot (as given by me):

The Joker escapes from Arkham Asylum on Christmas Eve, and Batman is determined to stop him.  Robin naively suggests that even the Joker would respect the festive season, and makes a deal with Batman that if after a standard patrol of the city no crime is found, they’ll go home and watch It’s a Wonderful Life. While the patrol reveals nothing, turning on the TV back at Wayne Manor yields a surprise that confirms Batman’s suspicions; the Joker has kidnapped Commissioner Gordon, Detective Bullock and news reporter Summer Gleeson, and is challenging Batman to save them by midnight in the form of a TV Christmas Special.

 To complicate the affair in his customary style, Joker has a railway bridge blown up so Batman and Robin must divert to save its passengers, then when the dynamic duo trace the Joker’s broadcast to the Mount Gotham Observatory, they must also battle a giant cannon and other automated firearm devices.  It soon turns out the observatory is also a decoy, but the Joker gives away his position by bringing an old and unique toy doll onto his “show”.

 Reaching the Joker’s hideout, Batman and Robin manage to battle their way through Joker’s henchmen.  They then find Joker, who threatens to dunk his hostages in a vat of molten plastic if Batman doesn’t open his Christmas gift from the Joker. The gift turns out to be a harmless pie-in-the-face prank on Batman, who manages to save the hostages, then leaves them in Robin’s hands while he apprehends Joker.  With the villain caught and returned to Arkham, Batman and Robin enjoy a recording of It’s a Wonderful Life back at Wayne Manor.

Review:

Second episode in and the show’s opted to bring along Batman’s iconic arch nemesis already.  Mark Hamill of Star Wars fame provides the Joker’s voice animation, after Tim Curry (the original choice for this role) found his own Joker voice was too much of a strain on his vocal cords.  Having heard some of Curry’s later voice-acting in the Disney animated series Gargoyles, I have to say switching to Hamill was a good choice. Not that Curry is a bad voice actor, or indeed a bad actor, because honestly, he is neither.  Hamill is just the better voice actor for this specific role, although it’s hard to judge where this version of the character is meant to land. Is he just a comedic criminal, a truly psychotic villain, what?  Honestly, it’s a hard one to judge, in part because the Joker looks a bit more comedic than he does in the later Justice League animated series.

 We also get Robin in this episode, and that adds to the show’s problem with not introducing characters properly.  It’s quite a way down the line before Robin’s origins get full exploration, and while he gets a full two-part episode for the job, it’s still very back-to-front.  Almost all of Batman’s villains are given proper introductions of one sort or another throughout this show, and yet the core character and his first protégé are more or less just dumped on audiences without showing how they became these people.  It’s a bit arrogant on the part of DC and Warner Brothers to assume everyone will know this stuff going in or have the patience to wait as long as we end up waiting just to reach that information.  Add in the most cliché Christmas film reference possible, and I’m only inclined to give this episode 5 out of 10.

Episode 3: Nothing to Fear

Plot (as given by me):

As a series of thefts and acts of vandalism plague Gotham University, Bruce Wayne runs into university professor Dr Long and reporter Summer Gleeson.  Long, who attended university with Bruce’s father Dr Thomas Wayne, scolds Wayne for bringing shame on his late parents by acting as a playboy.  While Summer tries to reassure Wayne that Dr Long is just lashing out because the troubles at the university, the millionaire businessman is clearly shaken by the encounter.

 The university is then subject to another crime, as a man dressed as a scarecrow and two hired thugs break into the university’s vault.  The Scarecrow, as he later identifies himself, subdues the guard with a gas that makes people see their worst fear.  He instructs one of the men to take whatever money he can grab and set fire to the rest, stating that his goal is revenge rather than profit.  Batman arrives, a gas mask initially saving him from the Scarecrow’s gas.  However, the criminal manages to shoot Batman with a drugged dart that has the same basic effect as the gas, and as the three crooks escape the burning vault, Batman sees a vision of his father echoing Dr Long’s words about him being a disgrace.

 Batman manages to leave the scene despite the appearance of Detective Bullock, who notices Batman holding a piece of Scarecrow’s mask and accuses him of stealing evidence; only the timely arrival of Commissioner Gordon gives Batman the moment he needs to escape.  Elsewhere, Scarecrow reveals to his henchmen the reasons for his actions; since boyhood, he was fascinated by fear and became a professor of psychology specialising in fear.  However, he was fired for experiments on students that were deemed unsafe, compelling him to strike back at his former employers.

 At the Batcave, Wayne examines Scarecrow’s mask and continues to be plagued by fear-visions.  He confides what he is seeing to Alfred, who states that as he is proud of Bruce, his father would also be proud, and insists on Wayne going to bed with a bowl of chicken soup.  Later, the Scarecrow and his men attack the university again, hitting a room full of donors with fear gas and taking Dr Long hostage.  Batman arrives and gives chase; his fear visions persist, but he banishes them through sheer force of will and affirming his identity as the Batman.

 Scarecrow and his men attempt to flee in an airship, and when Batman pursues them, the ensuing fight causes the craft to crash. All on board escape in different directions, Batman returning to the Batmobile and checks his computer’s analysis of Scarecrow’s mask.  With only five companies producing the chemicals found, Batman asks the computer to cross-check with the names of former Gotham University employees; the lone commonality is Dr Johnathan Crane of Crane Chemicals, the Scarecrow’s true identity.  Batman arrives at Crane Chemicals ahead of the Scarecrow and turns on canisters of his fear gas.  The gas causes Crane to develop his own fear hallucinations of bats and the Batman as a kind of demonic bat creature, and he is easily subdued for Batman to place in police custody.

Review:

This episode is the first in the series to touch on Batman’s past, but it’s still not a proper dive into his origins, so at this point we’re still not compensating for the lack of a proper introduction to the main character in the pilot.  By comparison, we do get a very effective villain introduction for the Scarecrow, and it’s our first look in this series at a villain whose motives we can potentially understand if not necessarily empathise with.  For Man-Bat that was a stretch because it wasn’t entirely clear if he was basically an addict, a split personality in subservience to a separate persona or both, and the Joker is always supposed to be unfathomable insanity and evil when done properly.

 With Scarecrow, on the other hand, you’ve got someone who gets fired for something they feel wasn’t wrong, and while objectively what Crane was doing was wrong, his desire for revenge is probably felt just as powerfully by those who are fired for actions that are objectively right. What drives Crane to his revenge is his over-riding fascination with inflicting fear on others, which is ultimately what keeps him from being a character to be empathised with.

 Scarecrow is also a great antagonist for getting into Batman’s mind and making him doubt himself, which in turn adds to the character’s depth.  We don’t get much in this regard just because the show’s format doesn’t allow enough time, whereas a live-action series or a feature-length production could allow more airtime on the matter.  That said, it’s still a good thing to see, and the way Batman essentially banishes his fear affirms what many people believe about this character, namely that Batman is his true persona and his civilian identity is the façade, as opposed to most other heroes for whom the opposite is true.  I’d give this episode 8 out of 10.

Episode 4: The Last Laugh

Plot (as given by me):

During April Fool’s Day in Gotham City, the Joker drives a garbage barge with a submersible craft underneath along the Gotham River.  The barge is treated with a chemical that emits laughing gas, causing uncontrollable hysterics in any who inhale the gas.  Batman, hearing of this, manages to obtain a sample of the gas for analysis, and learns that prolonged exposure to the substance will result in permanent insanity.  Things go from bad to worse when it turns out some of the gas has entered Wayne Manor and affected Alfred, who had opened the windows upstairs for some spring cleaning.

 Using the Bat-Boat, Batman races to stop the Joker’s crime spree; the clown prince of crime has been using the gas as cover to commit thefts, with the police in the river-front area unable to intercede due to the gas.  Batman subdues two of the Joker’s henchmen with ease, but he is over-whelmed by the strong and silent “Captain Clown” and left to drown in a metal canister by the Joker. Freeing himself through use of the Bat-Boat via a remote control of his utility belt, Batman pursues the Joker and his crew again.  During the second confrontation, Batman unmasks Joker’s human henchmen while dousing the barge with the gas-producing chemical, rendering them unable to fight.

 The dark knight, having deduced Captain Clown to be a robot, lures the machine to a nearby trash compactor and has his robotic adversary crushed.  Batman then pursues the Joker through the myriad obstacles of the nearby garbage processing facility, eventually managing to capture and subdue his foe.  With the Joker stopped, his victims soon recover, and Batman pays Alfred back for an April Fool’s prank the butler tried to pull earlier in the day.

Review:

This is a fairly basic and simple Batman-versus-Joker story that pays a bit more homage to the events of the Tim Burton film via the use of the laughing gas concept.  It’s a better episode than the initial Joker episode this series produced, and it’s the first where Efram Zimbalist Jr. takes over the voice-acting for Alfred, an actor by the name of Clive Revill having played the role for the first three episodes.  It’s perhaps not a massively noticeable change at first, but I think it is a slight improvement in the long-run.  My only criticism is the use of my least favourite day of any year, namely April Fool’s, as the setting.  Yes, it’s appropriate for the Joker, but in general I hate the tradition and hate even more that Batman or Alfred would even consider it.  As such, I only give this episode 8 out of 10.

Episode 5: Pretty Poison

Plot (as given by me):

While Mayor Hill holds a ground-breaking ceremony for Stonegate Penitentiary with District Attorney Harvey Dent and Bruce Wayne, who is funding the project via the Wayne Foundation, an unknown individual carefully uproots and pots a wild rose before bulldozers start work levelling the land.  Five years later, the penitentiary is complete, and an inmate escapes by air.  Batman pursues and apprehends the escapee, delaying him in join Harvey Dent and his new girlfriend Pamela Isley for dinner.

 Batman later joins the couple as Bruce Wayne, and sometime later Pamela leaves after giving Harvey a rather passionate kiss. Harvey tells Bruce he intends to marry Pamela despite having only just met her, shortly after which he passes out into some chocolate mousse.  Bruce quickly deduces Harvey is ill and accompanies him in an ambulance to hospital. Commissioner Gordon and Detective Bullock also race to the hospital, and it turns out Harvey has been poisoned. Gordon orders Bullock to launch an investigation, starting with the restaurant, but Bruce manages to confirm with the doctor that it’s a deliberate poisoning rather than food poisoning, and the poison is unknown to any of the hospital’s staff.

 Analysis of the poison at the Batcave reveals the poison is derived from a species of rose now believed extinct, suggesting that there is no cure to be found.  Later, Pamela tries to visit Harvey in hospital but is denied access, and Bruce walks her to her car.  Narrowly avoiding a kiss from Pamela as he remembers the kiss she gave Harvey at the restaurant, Bruce becomes suspicious.  Alfred researches her background and learns that Miss Isley has a PhD in botany, that she works for a cosmetics company as a perfume chemist, and she also offers a weekly lecture series at Gotham University on rare and extinct plant species. The information suggests Pamela to be behind Harvey’s poisoning.

 Confronting Pamela at her greenhouse laboratory where a giant Venus Fly-Trap restrains him, Batman learns Pamela is an eco-terrorist operating by the alias Poison Ivy.  She poisoned Harvey to make him pay for “murdering” the plants that were bulldozed when the penitentiary was built, using a toxic lipstick derived from the petals of the lone rose she was able to rescue.  She also poisons Batman and teases him with the antidote.  Batman uses a concealed blade to cut the fly-trap vines holding him.  As Ivy tried to shoot Batman with a wrist-mounted crossbow, an overhead lamp falls and breaks, setting the greenhouse on fire.

 Saving Ivy from another falling lamp, Batman ends up hanging on to the edge of a trapdoor pit, and Ivy prepares to make him fall.  However, Batman reveals he has grabbed the near-extinct rose in the confusion, and his death will also result in the rose’s death.  With this leverage, Batman is able to secure the antidote from Ivy in exchange for the rose’s survival.  Batman soon recovers, and as Harvey does the same, Bruce advises him not to proceed with his relationship with Isley.  In a cell at Stonegate, Ivy vows to return.

Review:

We’re getting back into villain introduction territory on this episode, and with Poison Ivy that’s always fun just because Batman’s gallery of rogues has never been especially heavy on female characters. As such, it’s always fun to see a femme fatale as his adversary instead of it being just another male villain. We also get a bit more of Harvey Dent in his pre-Two-Face days, which is also great to see.  Dent’s transformation into Two-Face is something best built up to and not just skipped over, which is why I will always rate something like this series or the middle instalment of the Dark Knight trilogy over the infamous Batman Forever film.

 The other fun part about bringing in Poison Ivy is that, methods aside, she is motivated by an otherwise noble goal, namely the preservation of the Earth and its native plant-life.  It’s not a unique motivation for a DC villain, mind, given that Ra’s Al Ghul has the same motivation but with a wider focus than just plant-life, but at the same time Ra’s isn’t a walking toxin factory.  However, this episode seems to suggest Ivy is just a human with a talent for plant-based toxicology, but even then, the overall character remains unique and fun to watch.  Overall, I think this is the first episode of the series that doesn’t put a single step wrong, so for that I think it deserves 10 out of 10.

Episode 6: The Underdwellers

Plot (as given by me):

After rescuing two teenagers who are almost killed playing chicken on the roofs of Gotham’s overground trains, Batman tries to apprehend a thief described by witnesses as a “leprechaun”, but the thief eludes him.  The thief is actually a child, part of a large group of runaways who live beneath Gotham, where they are ruled over by a man later revealed to be known as the Sewer King.  Sewer King maintains a strict and abusive reign over the children, forbidding them from making any noise and punishing one boy for doing so by putting him in an over-bright room for several hours while the other children are sent to commit more thefts.

 Batman eventually catches up with the thief from earlier, and after identifying that he is a child, he takes him back to the Batcave.  Alfred does his best to care for the boy, but much of what he has been taught by Sewer King remains engrained.  Back in the sewers, the boy is identified as “Frog” when Sewer King asks the boy to hand him food and learns he is missing.  Outraged, Sewer King hurls the meal onto the floor and yells at the other children to find Frog, bellowing that they will not eat until the boy is found.

 Batman enlists Frog’s help in finding the Sewer King, and is enraged when he discovers the abusive regime the children are living under.  He takes photos as evidence against the villain and breaks the bell that is used to summon the children to their despotic abuser.  The Sewer King then arrives with his pet alligators in tow, and a fighting chase evolves through the sewer system, Batman overcoming or bypassing the alligators and capture Sewer King, though Batman is sorely tempted to pass judgement on the villain himself.  The children then return to the surface world where police, paramedics and social workers await to help them.

Review:

This is the first episode to feature a villain original to the Batman animated series, and it’s very much a one-shot character as except for one small cameo in the comics, this is the only time to date that Sewer King is ever seen.  Some, myself included, might hear the character’s voice and assume the voice acting for this role was done by Mark Hamill, but it’s actually an actor named Michael Pataki that provides the Sewer King’s voice.  There’s not much to the character, which is probably why he’s not broken out into other Batman media as other characters have, but then there’s not meant to be.

 The basic point of this episode is to further develop this incarnation of the Batman by revealing another aspect of his character, namely his affection for children, especially those who are suffering in some capacity.  It’s another manifestation of the psychological impact left on Bruce Wayne by the death of his parents, in that when Bruce sees children suffering, it reminds him of his own trauma and the sense of rage he felt towards his parents’ murderer adds to his anger in the present.  Granted, with parents like his, Bruce would be compassionate towards those in need and help them out even if his parents had lived, but the trauma of their deaths magnifies and focuses this aspect of who he is.

 Overall, it’s a good episode, but given the minor villain and how quickly the mute children thing gets old, it’s not exactly among the best.  On balance, I’d give it 7 out of 10.

Episode 7: P.O.V.

Plot (as given by me):

Following a botched sting operation by the GCPD, Lt. Hackle of Internal Affairs interrogates Detective Bullock and Officers Wilkes and Renee Montoya, Commissioner Gordon being present as a witness to the interrogations.  Each officer tells their story in turn.

 Bullock’s account claims Montoya and Wilkes were late, and that Bullock saw Batman entering the warehouse where the sting was to take place.  Inside, a random noise accidentally alerted the crooks to Bullock’s presence, and when they attacked him, a fire was started in the melee.  Bullock then claims Batman was overcome by the fire and he’d had to rescue the vigilante.  In reality, Bullock went in without waiting for the other officers, and inside he tripped on an empty soda can, which tipped off the criminals.  Batman then saved a knocked-Bullock from the fire, and Bullock only saw Batman when he briefly came to, giving him a convenient scapegoat to cover for himself.

 Wilkes and Montoya’s accounts both state they were not late, and found Bullock already down when they arrived.  Learning that some crooks were still inside while others were escaping, Wilkes pursued the escaping criminals while Montoya entered the burning house.  Wilkes witnessed Batman downing the escaping criminals and overhead the word “Doc” from one of them, while Montoya overheard a crook inside say the word “Hathcock”, shortly before being spotted.  Batman then saved her before being buried under a section of warehouse roof that collapsed on him.

 As the accounts of the incident don’t all match up, Hackle concludes at least one officer is lying, and orders all three officers suspended until he makes his decision; Bullock, Wilkes and Montoya all turn in their guns and badges at Hackle’s insistence.  Heading home on an overground train, Montoya realises that the word Wilkes overheard was dock, not doc, and suspects Hathcock might be a place. She investigates the area and finds a warehouse bearing the name Hathcock, inside which she finds the criminal gang from the botched sting are holding Batman prisoner.

 When the gang’s boss arrives, Batman fights his way free, and together with Montoya, he manages to subdue the whole gang in a protracting fight, Montoya using a claw crane to capture the gang’s boss. When Hackle tries to reprimand Montoya for taking action while suspended, Gordon snaps and over-rules him, closing the I.A. investigation and reinstating Montoya, Wilkes and Bullock.

Review:

Montoya is another character created for the animated series, but the comics actually managed to pick her character up and introduce her to the Batman readership prior to the animated series starting. She actually first appeared in this show back in episode 5, but this episode is very much her showcase episode, even though it doesn’t initially appear to be based on the title and the initial format of the story.  As many will be able to guess, the episode title is an acronym of the term “point of view”, and initially that’s what the episode boils down to; showing what happens either side of the opening scene from the perspectives of three different characters.

 Bullock, of course, lies through his teeth, which is reflected by his words not matching the events on screen.  Wilkes, in turn, tells a distorted version of the truth based on witnessing events on a dark night and being an impressionable, inexperienced officer, which leaves Montoya’s account as the only one that’s relatively true. This part of the episode reflects a core lesson of criminal investigation preached by the CSI franchise, which is that witnesses are fundamentally unreliable because people lie, and only evidence tells the truth.  Bullock’s lying is also a sad reflection on how “dirty” cops can often behave, and while this show plays that for comedic effect, the new in the past couple of years has showcased the more serious side of this issue.

 Once past the initial POV concept, however, the episode becomes about Montoya going off on her own to finish the job, and while Batman does help her, she is also key in helping him at the very end.  This gives us a quite effective female POV character for the show, albeit not one that would be easily recognised as such by some viewers.  Given that this show is meant to be centred on Batman, the introduction of Batgirl would have been a more recognisable, albeit over-obvious, option.  All in all, it’s a good episode, the only real issue being the lack of any notable adversaries.  I’d give this one about 8 out of 10.

[janeykath318]

The Trials Of Being A Bodyguard 10

[lorrainecparker]

ART OF THE CUT with Dylan Tichenor, ACE on Phantom Thread

Phantom Thread features a collaboration between editor Dylan Tichenor and director Paul Thomas Anderson. They had previously teamed on numerous projects, including Boogie Nights, Magnolia and There Will Be Blood, for which Tichenor was nominated for an Oscar for Best Achievement in Film Editing. Tichenor was also nominated for an Oscar for his work on Zero Dark Thirty and for ACE EDDIE Awards for his editing of There Will Be Blood, Brokeback Mountain and The Royal Tenenbaums. Phantom Thread is the story of Reynolds Woodcock (played by Daniel Day Lewis), who is a fictional ‘50s fashion designer. The story centers around his relationship with his sister, Cyril (Lesley Manville), and his latest love, Alma (Vicky Krieps).

(This interview was transcribed with SpeedScriber. Thanks to Martin Baker at Digital Heaven)

HULLFISH: I told fellow editor, Joe Walker, that I’d be talking to you and he wanted to know about a great scene where Cyril and Reynolds are talking about how Alma is bad for the House of Woodcock, and the whole time Alma is behind him. TICHENOR: Thank you, Joe! We call that the Tinker’s Curse Scene. HULLFISH: There’re three huge players in that scene. How do you make the determination of where you want to be throughout the confrontation? There are so many choices of what to reveal and when and who is critical to show at any given point. TICHENOR: Indeed. It’s pretty close to the original script. We cut some lines out, just to streamline it — to get to the moment a little faster. A couple things that we looked at: one is that, when Alma had originally walked in, Cyril’s eyes kind of flitted up, behind Reynolds, and Paul (director, Paul Thomas Anderson) said, “No. Let’s try it where she actively doesn’t look over Reynolds’ shoulder. So, that’s how the scene is now, because it works much better. It was much cooler. You can see Cyril actively locked in on Reynolds, not looking at Alma. It was one of those things where you have three excellent actors and perfect material. The only other thing I can say is, we tried several different takes of Reynolds at different points, but the one where he kind of spits and then wipes his mouth and pulls out his napkin is just great. I love scenes like this where there is such joy to be had in the reveals and tensions and holding looks and unsaid feelings. HULLFISH: I love that choice that you mentioned of not having her look up because she’s a cool character and for her to be able to keep her eyes off Alma… One of the things that I really appreciated about the movie was it didn’t lead the audience a lot. I got that idea that, “Oh my gosh! She didn’t even look up, even though she knows she’s there!” TICHENOR: Right. And WE know she knows she’s there. That’s not what she’s going to betray to Reynolds’ face. HULLFISH: Early in the film, there’s a moment where Reynolds is considering breaking up with his first girlfriend at the beginning of the movie. There’s music under most of that scene and then, just as he breaks up with her: no music. A conscious decision to go to the sound of the room and some clinking to make it just seem like… it’s kind of the cinematic version of crickets. TICHENOR: …or just the cold reality that all romance has just turned off. I’ll tell you the truth, we had music ending several different places in that scene. We definitely tried a few different ways. We had different cues in that part of the movie: one where the music came out right in the beginning, one where the music went all the way through. One where I didn’t use any backgrounds. One where I had some street background. Lots of different messing around with that. And how it fell together early on was that the music comes through and then it pulls its way out of the scene just as the coldness of the behavior and the starkness of her position is being revealed. The music just feathers out. HULLFISH: There’s a scene where Cyril says to Reynolds, “I think you should go to the country.” And there’s what could be considered shoe leather. But of course, it serves a purpose. Could you talk a little bit about those scenes of him driving out to the country instead of just cutting straight to where he’s sitting in the breakfast restaurant? TICHENOR: We couldn’t just cut to that, though it was considered. There’s more missing from that section than actually. There’re several other scenes that were in between, and as usual, we had several different versions. To be quite honest there were versions that were intercut with Alma getting ready to go to work. There were versions where Reynolds first sees Alma in a church. There were lots of different ways that that worked. The driving was always something that we liked for Reynolds’ character because it was cold and lonely. It was manly and aloof. And it just sort of visually, cinematically, represented him – and the car was cool and the shots turned out really well. So there were many versions of that. We went back and forth and there were arguments in the cutting room about how much of that should be in there. Early on we took out the Alma intercut because that didn’t work, even though we do start the film with Alma, and Alma has the voice over. Interleaving their stories at that point was not helping us focus. And it was just sort of stylistically murky. It took a long time for the other scenes to come out. And there’s more at the gas station, but his exit from the stresses of the city to the relative comfort and security of the country is a sort of dynamic in the film that we wanted to establish here, and then of course, Alma as a country bumpkin. So, you could call it shoe leather but we actually feel like it is demonstrative of Reynolds’ character. It’s kind of a lovely cinematic moment. We just enjoyed watching it and it sets you up for Reynolds as he goes from his high pressure city life to his more reflective country life where he will be in the right mindset to be open to a new person stumbling, as it were, into his life. HULLFISH: I know the term shoe-leather is kind of derogatory. But I was trying to get at the purpose of it, because the audience needs that time to get its head into a different space, right? TICHENOR: No offense taken at all. I’m the hardest on this material anyway. Yeah. It’s hard to know when you need that and when you don’t. In all honesty, lots of movies cut that kind of stuff out completely. Cut to the bone because their running time’s too long and the audience is bored. But it is a real challenge, and a skill to hone, to know when that’s needed to create a bridge between states of mind – to let the audience exhale into a mood that will set them up for where they need to be. It’s all part of the grab bag of editing tricks. It’s not always just about the next concrete morsel of story. Sometimes the journey is the story. HULLFISH: As I’ve said before: If you cut something down far enough it’s no longer art, it’s just information. You don’t have a creative movie anymore you’ve just got a plot. TICHENOR: And not only that, it might not even work. You can have all the information in there, but if you’re not setting the bed up properly to lay them down in it, they’re not going to receive it properly. Rhythm and storytelling go hand in hand. You can’t just jump right into something if what it really needs is a sort of Alley Oop up to the net before the slam dunk. So certainly we wanted the movie to move, not overstay its welcome, because it isn’t an overly complex plot. It doesn’t have a lot of story beats that you have to follow. It’s pretty clear where we are and what is happening. There’s subtle shades of power and desire and need and things like that. But we needed our moments to make sure everything works as effectively as possible. HULLFISH: Another little hold that I wanted to talk about — and again, these aren’t criticisms in any way – I thought the movie was beautifully edited, it’s just that — as one editor to another, they’re the things you notice about someone else’s control of their craft — there’s a great shot of Cyril – I think it’s the same scene where she says, “You should go to the country,” and the beginning shot is all played on her as she asks, “You want me to get rid of her?” Talk to me about that decision to not show Reynolds as she asks him this important question. TICHENOR: Again, that was done a few different ways. I certainly had a version where I went to Reynolds and we heard the second half of the line on Cyril or go to Reynolds’ reaction and come back to Cyril for the second half. Really Lesley (Cyril) is just so great to look at and we’re about to get Reynolds’ reaction. Part of what’s fun in movies is withholding the information so that the audience builds up a need to know. That can work on a really grand scale and it can also work on a very micro scale like this does, so by not showing Reynolds, we’re all wondering, “How will he react to this person saying this?” The viewer figures that it doesn’t seem like someone is allowed to say that stuff to him. Then you finally see him and he’s taking it all in stride and he just nods and considers for a moment then, “Yeah, give her the October dress.” Then the audience sees, “Oh, now I see how it is in that family.”

So it’s that kind of a dynamic where we’ve set up a mini-mystery and then we answer the mystery. It’s a micro-mystery, but it functions just the same. If you’re constantly showing every actor as they say their line and every reaction to every line, then that just becomes a kind of real-time, virtual reality cerebral feed, and that’s different from being told a story. I think Paul (director Paul Thomas Anderson) actually likes to be on people saying their lines more than I do. We had a couple back-and-forths about that. But there’s a balance. HULLFISH: There’re some great little jumps in time. One of the things that is so special about editing is the idea that you can kind of expand time at moments and then compress time. And I felt like there was definitely that idea that sometimes you lingered on a scene, like when he first meets Alma. That scene is beautiful and you spend a great amount of time just getting to know them and feeling out that this weird relationship is starting to happen. And then right after that there’re big jumps in time. TICHENOR: What happens is that we have a very long, almost real-time scene where they meet and he gives his very detailed breakfast order. She agrees to go to dinner with him. They go to dinner and they talk rather languidly about his mother and dresses and then we go to a really protracted sequence as he tells the story of making the dress for his mother and then they sit by the fire and she says, “How come you’re not married?” And then he says, “Help me” and they go upstairs to the atelier and we have a long sequence of measuring Alma and that sort of pseudo-sex scene where she’s sucked into his world. Basically, she starts to fall in love with him. There starts to be this real beating heart connection between the two of them. It has a lot to do with work. A lot to do with the art of his dressmaking and her submission or non-submission. We start to slowly thread in the beginnings of her not being just a meager, kind of roll-over-and-take-it house model. She’s got her own opinions. She’s going to fight back on a few things. And it’s just going to get bigger and bigger as we go. But we’ve spent so long in real time: very slow, very dialogue-y, very kind of languid. Then we jump forward. We jump right to dinner and she’s wearing the dress and she’s already moved to the house and basically we do a dinner and then we have some voice over and we go to the house and then the next morning she’s partaking in fittings and giving her opinion about fabrics and we’re off to the races. That’s how I feel you have to edit. You need to vary rhythms of things. One section wanted to be one way, and now we have earned ourselves or necessitated the responsibility of grabbing the reins very tightly and let’s get into a gallop a little bit, so that the energy is there and the audience will lean forward. It’s an organic rhythm kind of thing. Originally, there were many other sequences and many other scenes in that section. The atelier scene, where she gets measured, was three times the final length and the fireside chat was eight minutes long. There’s a lot of stuff coming out and one of the challenges is: What information do we need? What sidelines can we go down and what sidelines don’t we go down? How do we keep this on a tightrope of emotion and feeling? HULLFISH: You mentioned at one point that you and the director were having some discussions about whether to play something on or off. The acting and the performances were so good…. It seemed like you played a lot of things off. TICHENOR: Yeah. There are a number of times when you have actors that good and a script that’s that interesting that you can get double the value for your money. Oftentimes, when we’re off a person, I pay more attention to what they’re saying when I’m watching the reaction of the person listening to it. I think that you can have your cake and eat it too. You get information about the person who’s talking and you also get information about the person who’s listening. That’s the benefit of having such great actors that they’re in it with you real time and you can mine it to show the audience all the nuances and interesting turns and contradiction that can exist. HULLFISH: It’s interesting that you say that you pay more attention to what someone’s saying when they’re off-camera. One of the reasons I do these interviews is because every editor’s opinions are different and there are no real rules of editing, so I love differences of opinion. In my interview with Eddie Hamilton, he says that playing a line off-camera means that sometimes the audience DOESN’T pay attention to it, so he never plays important plot points off-camera. Thoughts? TICHENOR: I agree; I think if you’re talking about a capital Plot Point, yes, you can’t risk having that slip by, certainly in a faster-moving sequence, you’ll usually want to land something on camera to make it stick. Also, if there is panache, a stylistic flourish, the actor spins it with, it’s fun to see that of course; I just mean that in more dialogue-y scenes, I often feel a deeper emotional weaving together happen when I’m watching one person and hearing another, or playing a line over something else, non-character, that allows that information to float into your brain as words only, uncoupled to expression and personality.. it sometimes digs deep that way, I think. HULLFISH: It seemed like a lot of the movie was played in subtext – almost more than spoken. TICHENOR: In the atelier when he first measures her for the dress and when she meets Cyril, I’m playing a bit of dialogue off-camera on Cyril. What we’re getting that’s not in text necessarily is that Cyril is clocking Alma’s fiery attitude, the beginnings of it. You also see Alma in some off-camera dialogue and she is wondering, “What the hell this relationship between these two people can possibly be: “I guess they’re brother and sister? Seems very intimate. They’re also obviously business partners and there’s an assistant kind of a vibe or there is a partner vibe. But which one’s in charge? I’m not sure.” You see that on Alma’s face and you see Cyril being very aware of this new person’s self-possession, which is maybe unlike other people that have gone through this very same scene with Reynolds Woodcock. All that happens underneath the spoken dialogue. It’s only done in looks as subtext. HULLFISH: I thought it was very interesting that you said it’s like a sex scene. A lot of those dressing scenes are played in close-ups with expressions that seemed like they were sex scenes. TICHENOR: Purposefully. There’s a moment in that scene where Reynolds is touching her and she is basically naked. She’s standing in front of this stranger – for all intents and purposes, and he’s touching her and moving around her and doing his thing in a very quasi-sexual way. It is not a sexual scene but it is a very intimate scene and it takes the place of sex for the story essentially. Reynolds kneels down behind her and he’s tugging on the folds of the dress and I’m on her face as she smiles and it’s purposefully to say, “This is Alma feeling the glow of Reynold’s attention and Reynold’s ability to maximize her gifts.” It’s like sex. It’s a give and take: “I’m going to do this and you’re going to feel good about it.” We separately shot a lot of the big closeups and fastening and needles and all of that to make that sequence work that way. Also, with the close-ups during the dressing scenes, the truth is what we are trying to reveal: “How does this make these people feel?” This is how important clothing is and the process of fitting them is to these people. As Alma says in the voiceover, it changes the way she feels about herself completely. So that’s what we’re trying to show. Hopefully, we walked the line of showing the art of the dressmaking, but not descending into fashion-porn, as it were. HULLFISH: Do you mean that you requested these close-ups after you saw the dailies and wanted more material to complete the effect? TICHENOR: These were some things, shots like that, inserts of action, that I asked for as we went; a big list accumulated and I grabbed many of them while A-unit was doing actual scenes; and then in the last several days of the shoot we built a lot of insert sets on the stage and just popped them off one after another—inserts of sewing, cooking, books, photographs, Daniel’s eye, etc, etc. as you normally do, really. Some of them turned out really well, we were excited to get that stuff: good inserts can really ‘spice the soup’, put you in the character’s shoes, and just what’s needed to stitch together the wider angles in a nice way. I love ‘em. HULLFISH: The scene of a press conference with Barbara Rose: There’s a nice pre-lap to that scene. Were you trying to pace it up, or just make a smoother transition…? TICHENOR: Honestly, I think I do that a lot. I like pre and post laps. I like seeing something different from what I’m hearing. I like the synthesis of two different ideas coming together. I’m not consciously choosing to do that in this film or this sequence, but as I’m building things I naturally tend towards it. And yes, it does have the function of keeping the pace up, and pulling things along like rubberbands. That’s a scene that originally went on a lot longer – when he’s dressing Barbara Rose. She says, “Will you please come, Reynolds?” And he looks down in defeat. I thought, “This is the time we launch forward. So, a way to help do that is to hear the incoming audio and then it’s revealed visually what you’re hearing. HULLFISH: There’s another place I remember a pre-lap or a post-lap: I think it was somewhere right after they get married going into their honeymoon in the Alps. TICHENOR: Exactly. That is a post-lap. We’re in the wedding ceremony and we see Reynolds saying his vows and then the priest says, “And Alma….” And in your mind – as the audience member – you’re like, “Oh great. Now we’re going to hear Alma say the exact same thing.” And basically that’s boring. So it was at that point I thought, “Let’s jump forward.” So the priest says, “And Alma” but we only hear the rest of the priest as we jump visually to the honeymoon. There were other scenes in there and it got pared down to this final version. After the wedding, we cut to them having a little dinner celebration at the usual spot. That’s actually a really cute little story that’s being told underneath, because we mixed the dialogue pretty low. But it’s Alma and her sister – that is sitting with her – and she is explaining what the word for ‘turtle’ in Luxembourgish is and that it actually translates to ‘a frog with a hat’. So, that is the dialogue that’s going on under the pullback. But we’re hearing the priest over it. As I was putting that together, Paul said, “It would be great to make the priest say, ‘I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.’ and have that land right on Alma, just as she starts to make big crunchy noises.” So I did that. HULLFISH: What do you do during dailies and you’re looking at a bin full of footage and a blank timeline? TICHENOR: (laughs) HULLFISH: How do your assistants prep your bins for you? And then, what’s your approach? TICHENOR: This question always makes me think of Tim Squyres (nominated for an editing Oscar for Life of Pi), because someone once asked him, “What’s your favorite part of the process?” and he said, “The assembly because things are wide open and there are so many possibilities.” But for me, that is my least favorite, because things are so wide open and there’re so many possibilities. My process is this: I watch dailies every day. I watch them all. I watch them on the big screen. I project them in video usually. Paul shoots film and prints film, so on a Paul movie, we have some film to watch occasionally, which is great. But generally I’m watching dailies on a video projector and I take notes. I take very specific notes about things that I like: lines that are good, lines that are bad, expressions, shots, pieces of things. I fill up binders with that. Then I build a select sequence which tries to be in the order of the scene: All the selects that I’ve called out in dailies in my notes. I often have my assistants help with that, so they will take my notes and I write down time-codes or footages or whatever, or specific lines, and we build the scene in scene order with all my selects kind of stacked up. So for a three minute scene I’ll end up with maybe 35 minutes of a sequence that is multiple readings of lines, multiple starting shots, multiple ending shots: the thoughts that I had in watching the dailies. Sometimes the director will be shooting something in a way where it’s clear that, specifically, this is supposed to work for this section of the film, but often not. As I watch dailies, I’m just sort of going with my gut and being open to whatever ideas occur to me in how to build the scenes in the most dynamic and effective and interesting way. And we string all that together in a sequence of ‘dailies selects’ and then I have, for every scene in the movie, a select sequence that is many many times longer than the scene. I start with that, and usually my first step is that I go through and watch the select sequence again and I drop a bunch of stuff that I’m definitely not interested in – because my mind has changed or things feel different now or whatever it is. And I do that process once or twice through, till I end up with a shorter sequence, and then I have to make hard decisions, like, “OK, I have two or three valid ideas of how to start” or valid ideas of ways to do a certain part of the scene. So, I have to pick the one I think I like the most and commit to that and build the scene based on that and just go forward and build the scene — and then you get to a certain point where things aren’t working and you have to swap out takes for performance or for camera or for whatever is not working. As we all know, it’s a huge jigsaw puzzle. I’m not big on versions from the beginning. I’m big on “Let me commit to something.” I will remember that there’re other options here, and that’s how things start. Basically that’s my approach on every movie. Some time after shooting I have a long version of an editor’s cut that represents a lot of decisions, but is a fat, not-totally-figured-out version of the movie. Then I just start back at the beginning and fix it all. HULLFISH: …because now you’ve got the context of the scenes around it. TICHENOR: That’s right. You could watch the movie that way – even though it’s big and long and sloppy. You can feel the movie and you get a sense of the performances and of the dynamic of storytelling that, “Oh, this sequence is really going to be good.” Or “Oh my god, we don’t need that scene at all.” Or “You know what we’re missing?” Or “This should happen before that.” You start to have all those feelings. I do scene boards like I guess almost everybody now. Not too many people did it when I was starting out with Altman (director, Robert Altman) but a lot of people do scene boards now. I do picture cards usually with the scene title under them and use that to help move stuff around or figure out stuff to try to lift out. Often, if I cut a series of scenes down to a montage, then I’ll have the assistants make a new card that is a split-screen card that has representative images from the montaged scenes, but all one card. So as you’re looking at that scene there’s a correlation between space taken up on the board and time taken up in the movie so that you can start to judge relative balance. HULLFISH: On the scene board do you do anything to indicate the act breaks? TICHENOR: Generally, no. We (Paul and I) keep that in our head. We talked about it a lot on this film, truthfully, because the original assembly – with a lot of scenes in it that are now missing – pushed the action much later and that skewed our sense of “What is the first act?” And that skewed our sense of “What are the inciting incidents? What’s the first big turn?” And that in turn skewed our interpretation of “What’s the main storyline? What’s the thread that I’m basing everything on?” Truthfully, it changed over time working on the film. Deciding: “No, when she steps into the house. That is the end of the first act.” She’s committed to a relationship with Reynolds the same way as Reynolds has said, “Okay here’s another person and I’m going to let her in and she’s going to be part of the crew around here.” That’s the end of the first act. When they meet in the breakfast room, that’s at about 15 minutes. That’s essentially our inciting incident. That’s not how it came out originally. With all the scenes in it originally, all those things pushed story points much later, and you couldn’t see the forest through the trees, as it were. Breakfast was like 40 minutes in. So when you look at the scene board you go, “You know what? This is really the first big turning point.”

We don’t always talk in those terms. You don’t, in any way, stick to this number of minutes and that number of minutes, but on this film, maybe more than others – certainly more than any other with Paul – we talked about it a lot because it helped us focus what the story was trying to be, because it was such a nebulous thing from a plot point of view. It helped us focus. And that helps you decide how to cut. So it’s extremely useful. I don’t think we talked a lot about first act, second act, third act. I don’t put marks on the board for it, but we certainly do talk about structure. We talk about midpoint you know: “OK, so here we are 52 minutes in or whatever. Are we running long or we running short? Are we 15 minutes long? How are we feeling?” Because there’s a natural rhythm of storytelling that certainly American audiences have gotten used to—and we don’t have to subscribe to that or be proscribed by it— but, that said it’s nice to be aware, because you feel it in your stomach. It’s not just something in the Syd Fields book (the seminal, “Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting”). I think it’s because when Og sat around the campfire, telling stories, he’d get to about two hours and he’d think, “That’s about it for this group tonight. I’ve got to go get some shut eye.” There’s a human rhythm to it. There’s only so long you can show me images until I say, “What am I worried about here, so that I have a vested interest in this story?” That’s just a human thing. It’s not necessarily movies or American or anything like that. It’s just human communication I think. HULLFISH: Do you remember how long the first assembly of the movie was? TICHENOR: Something like 3:10. HULLFISH: Now how long is it? TICHENOR: You watched 2:10 with credits, so the story itself is about 2:03. HULLFISH: I noticed there was a music editor. How much music did you put in — either before he got there or because you wanted to do it yourself? TICHENOR: That’s not a music editor as you might typically have. Graeme (music editor, Graeme Stewart) works with our composer, Jonny Greenwood. I do most of the music editing during editing. We take a lot of songs that Jonny makes, some with picture in mind, mostly not. So we have bins of music, a hundred songs, or we’ll have 40 cues from Jonny and 50 cues from other places in the world. Nelson Riddle, Ira Gershwin, Brahms and Schubert. Lots of stuff that Paul has been listening to as he was writing, as he was thinking about stuff, just collecting music that we’ve got going in the Avid. And then we place the music as we go. The music changes a lot and then we move songs around and do a lot of editing in the picture cutting room. And then when things are starting to settle down we’ll send sequences back to Jonny so that he can make the cues work better to the picture. Graeme manages all of that as we start to get into that zone and then Graeme manages the recording of tracks with Jonny and then he does all the final edits to go to the mix stage. Usually I do quite a lot of music editing and placement. Most of the time I try to put music in late in the process. Paul likes to put it in very early, so we balance each other out a little bit. But sometimes I’ll do sequences and I will take a cue from the grab bag of cues and he’ll like it. Other times he’ll go, “No, no, no. That’s supposed to be this cue.” Then a lot of times – most of the time – it’s the two of us just trying stuff in the editing room one after another and doing edits and “What if we jump to this and put an ending on that?” HULLFISH: Another big decision with music is not just which cue to use, but when to bring it in and when to end it. TICHENOR: Absolutely. That is a big part of it. There’s tons of music in this movie. It’s wall to wall essentially. So that’s also a discussion: “Too much music. Let’s drop a cue. This doesn’t have to go on this long. Let’s try it dry.” A lot of times music glosses over problems. Cueing music — spotting it – is a big part of how well music is going to work, and it’s a big part of my job because even if a director says, “Let’s try this cue here,” he/she doesn’t necessarily say where to start or what part of the song to use. I think a lot of movies start cues too early as well; generally, I like to hold off a bit, let the emotion naturally crest and then use a cue to surf it, in a way. I think that pushes the audiences less, they are less manipulated, but still maximizes the moment. HULLFISH: A lot of the music, it seems to me, was less score than it was classical music, or jazz tunes. TICHENOR: It’s mostly Jonny by far. But he was working in a style — Paul and Johnny talked early on about Nelson Riddle – The Gershwins – that kind of big bands jazzy era, slash, full-on classical. One of our main themes is called Riddle Piano because it was inspired by Nelson Riddle. HULLFISH: There’s an interesting piece of score where Alma and Reynolds are sitting at the bottom of staircase, discussing going out for New Years. There’s like a weird whine. TICHENOR: And there’s a little bit of that when she first poisons him as well. That’s something that was inspired by a cue that Johnny did for Inherent Vice (another Paul Thomas Anderson movie from 2014). It was a synthesizer cue. It was sort of an uncomfortable “vibrate your bones, something’s really wrong in the universe” vibe that we wanted to achieve in those couple of sections. HULLFISH: Also in that scene is a radio that plays through the whole conversation. TICHENOR: It’s a New Year’s Eve broadcast from 1955 that is pretty historically accurate. The challenge was to try to get pieces of that broadcast to poke through the conversation, but not distract from the scene. It’s Bertrand Russell. It’s interesting what he’s saying. There’s some resonance that I wanted to make sure landed with the audience and a couple of things that he said where our characters are and then there’s stuff that he says that are just sort of kind of historically interesting: the way of talking about black people. There’s a fine line there and you don’t want to be distracting. I hope we did it right. Not sure, actually, (laughs). There’s always things to keep tweaking. never ends… HULLFISH: There were these great little moments where you see a twitch under an eye or the slightest little movement in a face that really made things come alive and really gave you a sense of what people were thinking. TICHENOR: We very much pay attention to that stuff. Lots of little things that are illuminating characters’ states of mind or thoughts. It’s always so exciting to me to find things to put in the scene that aren’t a word of dialogue and it’s not the sort of expected reaction. It’s something else, something more, that is just really human in the moment. We got some really great moments of Daniel Day Lewis being vulnerable in this movie in a way that he often is not. And they’re usually not related to dialogue. They’re usually just expressions and moments he has that we managed to get in here that I think really helps with the dynamic. The sort of triad of Reynolds/Alma/Cyril and how the power shifts. Having Daniel Day Lewis play a part where he is as toweringly large and commanding – as he usually is – and then is put on his back foot in a really human way where you get a glimpse under the bombast and you say, “Oh I see what’s festering away in that guy.” That’s all about finding the little flicks of an eyelid, the tremor of a lip, the averted gaze. HULLFISH: The subtleties that we talked about reminded me of one scene in the movie where Alma was eating her breakfast cereal and Reynolds’ expression as he flinches at one of her crunches. It made the audience break out into laughter like it was a punchline. TICHENOR: I’m so pleased that works. That was a scene that came together really quickly. And it’s just because Daniel’s so amazing, as is Vicky. They just gave us what we needed. We’re using every last bit of Daniel that we had for those moments. That first reaction – when he sort of gives a lip smack and a swallow at the same time – you just see everything you need to see. And it’s also about where it comes in the movie because we’ve just come off a long, emotional sequence with the visiting visions of the mom and all of that and then we land on this punchline. That’s Paul Anderson conceiving that idea and the actors just giving us exactly what we needed. Pretty great how well that worked out, I think. HULLFISH: Can you describe the choices or challenges of editing a few scenes for me?

TICHENOR: This is the scene where Alma is first working as a mannequin (model) in the city atelier and she is expressing her somewhat negative opinion on something, certainly a bit out of the ordinary for a house model. so Reynolds is taken aback but ultimately titillated and then annoyed, and Cyril is bemused. It’s the beginning of their drama, the dynamic of this new girl wedging into the staid existence of the House of Woodcock. There were several versions of this scene, naturally; cutting to coverage earlier, later; doing it more from Alma’s POV, or Cyril’s; how big Reynolds got in his reactions; some bits with the assistants coming in and out. Actually, Cyril wasn’t in the scene at the head originally, it was sort of two scenes, but we mushed it together to just get to the verb much quicker. And the scene went on with more dialogue, but I felt strongly that as soon as they bicker and Reynolds growls ‘stop’, that’s the scene, that’s the moment that says: “So this is the beginning. She’s not like everyone else. The game’s afoot,” basically. This begins a montage-y section that changed many times before we zeroed in on the length and content. there were bits of Alma sewing and trying to fit it, and more photography and other things.

TICHENOR: This is the fireside chat. This scene was originally many times this length. A lot more dialogue. Sections about his children and the baby-mamas, etc. About Alma’s desire to be a wife… a lot… minutes. But, ultimately, and from the beginning really, it was rhythmically obviously too long, but also way too many things in it. In paring down the film we took out most of this scene, so it plays as part of the falling-in-love date and not as its own chapter, which is much more what was needed. At first I over-trimmed and then we brought back a couple things like the talk about making dresses. It was a process getting it to be closer to what was needed and what the film could carry at this moment. It’s a delicate time where we ask the audience to sit and watch these people talk for a long time, but if we don’t do it enough, the characters haven’t gotten to know each other. Alma wouldn’t have the time to fall for him, etc. so, it’s a tightrope that we plucked on for quite a bit, carving it to as little as would do the trick.

TICHENOR: This is a whole conversation. All on Cyril. At this point we really felt we’ve stared at Reynolds enough, so more Lesley (Cyril). This was originally a different take, but we had to change it because of, astonishingly, continuity issues — which I never really get stuck on, I’m much more a fan of Marty/Thelma-type crash-cuts sometimes, but here we had a tea-cup-at-her-lips / tea-cup-down-on-the-table cut that just didn’t play. This was because we needed the one-and-only bit of Reynolds doing his reaction that he does in the take, so we had to go with what Lesley’s hand was doing, split screen wasn’t an option here. This was a section where we moved an idea / some action from later in the film to earlier and had to jigger stuff around to make it land properly. All on Cyril, for the love of Cyril and also for necessity of story-telling. HULLFISH: Finally, a fellow editor, Harry Yoon, asked me to have you discuss the great use of tonal shifts in the scene where Alma is making an omelet for Reynolds as they’re having a conversation. TICHENOR: Hello Harry! Thanks. That scene is a favorite. There were many shot choices and a lot of great bits to work with in dailies. It is a pas-de-deux sans dialogue, mainly, and it’s about looks and expectations and fears. It came together fairly well out of the box and mostly what was worked on was lengthening, actually, (believe it or not) the looks between them right before she talks. I had had it a bit tighter. Also, we went back and added in the bit where she pulls the mushroom book off the shelf in the very beginning so we could be very clear that Reynolds has seen this and knows, sort of, what she’s up to, or at least he’s suspicious. They are both perfect in that scene. I love the inserts we did, and the low angle CUs of Alma asking if he wants a martini… it’s very Hitchcock. The tension builds in their looks and is in the fear of the possibilities… and the expectation that he might fly off the handle or slip the noose somehow. We fear there must be some violence to come, but it’s a violence of intention, of will, not physical. and then turning that on its head and it becomes a quasi-domination role-reversal thing, and it’s revealed that this is how things need to work in this relationship. They each get what they need. Somehow, in this wacky scenario, it’s about giving up control, in an ultimate way. It’s about trust, and how that is the core of any relationship. I do love how we feel curious, nervous, excited, afraid, tense, almost giddy at moments, as we slide along with them. I hope! HULLFISH: This has been a great, enlightening conversation. Thank you. TICHENOR: Yes! Thanks, Steve, so much, I really enjoyed it.

To read more interviews in the Art of the Cut series, check out THIS LINK and follow me on Twitter @stevehullfish

The first 50 interviews in the series provided the material for the book, “Art of the Cut: Conversations with Film and TV Editors.” This is a unique book that breaks down interviews with many of the world’s best editors and organizes it into a virtual roundtable discussion centering on the topics editors care about. It is a powerful tool for experienced and aspiring editors alike. Cinemontage and CinemaEditor magazine both gave it rave reviews. No other book provides the breadth of opinion and experience. Combined, the editors featured in the book have edited for over 1,000 years on many of the most iconic, critically acclaimed and biggest box office hits in the history of cinema.

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First Found At: ART OF THE CUT with Dylan Tichenor, ACE on Phantom Thread