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dangermousie · 3 years ago

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Something Happened in Bali eps 1-2 rewatch thoughts

It's really interesting, rewatching this. God, I'd almost forgotten how much I love Jo In Sung. LOVE. I mean, I love him and his nervous energy so much that I don't even notice So Ji Sub, who normally I really like. (ide note - A Dirty Carnival was the best Korean movie I have ever seen, and what made me truly and utterly lose it for him - but it was so brutally hopeless, it made me depressed for days. Go watch!) Anyway, back to the drama. 1. I'd almost forgotten how unpleasant the two guys and Other Girl are in this, at the start. None of them are monsters (though by the end the Secondary Girl comes close, IMO, even if I end up feeling a repelled kind of pity for her) but they are all in their selfish shells - it's little things, like not helping Soo Jung with her heavy bag or treating her as an extra in their lives. Even their kindness is this thoughtless kind. It's funny because I am not sure if they change in niceness quotient that much (though both the men become much more desperately vulnerable, especially Jae Min) but I guess I get to know them so well and their reasons for being the way they are, I sort of end up not caring - I end up adoring Jae Min as a character, especially, so much. Even if he is the biggest trainwreck I have ever seen as a kdrama lead in my 15+ years of watching kdramas. 2. Soo Jung. I adore her. You could see how annoyed she is she is dealing with the tour group from hell (the other 3) but the way she pushes and carries on is WONDERFUL. So is her drunken camaraderie with Jae Min. She is in another universe from the poised, iced, controlled Young Joo. But it's interesting, she seems so (relatively) well-adjusted compared to the rest of them but as the drama unfolds, you see that this hard-earned cheerfulness is a facade and she is very broken too - between her and Jae Min, I am not sure, which one is more screwed-up. For him, it's his family, but for her, it's her poverty that has made her so. Ha Ji Won SLAYS in this role (so do the rest of the cast, of course.) She’s rough, she’s desperate, she’s grasping, she’s vulnerable, she’s irresistible - in other hands you would never get how two screwed-up, closed-off men would fall so desperately for someone so greedy, so grasping, so flawed - but here you are drawn to her vividness, to her joy, to her intensity, to her unique combo of sunshine and extreme damage. 3. You know, there are hints about her screwed-upness even this early on - the scene where Jae Min offers her $$$ for a one-night stand and she calls him a jerk (and you see by his reaction he doesn't even understand that what he said was insulting - he is puzzled. In his world, everything can be bought and sold, and there is no such thing as affection.) and then asks whether he is going to pay before or after. In her world, there is no room for the grand gesture, for throwing money in his face. She leaves only because he kicks her out (giving her money but not doing anything) telling her to buy her new shoes (hers are broken) and saying "it's not fun any more" (the first of many instances she really throws him off any usual ways he deals with things). And then she trips on her broken heels walking out, sprawling in the lobby, inelegantly grabbing and picking up money. 4. One of the biggest delights of this rewatch for me is contrasting in my head the way Jae Min is going to be with her later - utterly desperate and "brought down" and willing to beg and beg and beg, and the way he is now - emotionally detached, with all the 'power' on his side - I mean, contrast his propositioning her for that one-night stand and the scene where they finally make love, a dozen eps from now. Though she is totally rattling him even now - I love the scene where he first truly notices her - seeing her in the parking lot trying to fix her shoes, eating, and drinking. She is just so REAL and alive and immediate. No wonder he's caught (and then quickly looks away). 5. Jae Min's father needs to die in a fire after being slowly cut with a myriad of razors - the scene in his office in ep 2 where he is practicing golf in his office and Jae Min flinches any time the golf club is in his vicinity, and almost stutters, just - RAGE. Increased 1000x by what I know he does later. But I confess to being amused in the scene where he is throwing things at Jae Min during the board meeting and a flunkie keeps moving things up to him to throw - folders, bottle of water, so he won't run out of things - a definition of a brown-noser.

6. I love how oddly real this drama feels in its filming - people are not glamorized within an inch of their lives and there is no glossiness, no studied detachment, no appeal to coolness or w/e. It is what it is and it knows it. God, I love this drama!

7. (The below is spoilery for the whole thing) Bali has the distinction of having the most dysfunctional couple I have ever shipped. Years of therapy were needed for those two. Yes, my OTP was Jae Min/Soo Jung, despite the fact that the otp's end was murder/suicide. I don't care, I still shipped them - the ending of the drama is one of my favorite drama moments, in actuality - Jae Min becoming more and more unhinged because of his nightmarish family and then finally he believes Soo Jung just played him in order to scam money and ruin his family with her lover. He tracks them down to Bali and finds them in bed. Ironically, Soo Jung has just finished telling her lover that she wants to leave him and go back to Korea to look for Jae Min because it's him she wants. Jae Min, of course, does not hear her (and he is so catatonic at that point, I doubt it would have registered if he did hear). So he shoots her and her lover dead as they lie there. But while her lover is dead asap, Soo Jung has time to look at Jae Min and tell him 'saranghae' which is about the most awesome thing ever - she has never ever told him she loved him before, not through all his efforts to win her heart, not even when they made love. And now she is telling him as she is dying, because it's important to her for him to know before she dies - there are no games or conditions. And of course, Jae Min snapped out of it as soon as he shot and he is falling apart as is and then he hears her tell him she loves him and his face - oh my God. And he goes outside and kills himself and I sit there bawling and hoping his horrific family all have collective heart attacks and die.

Yes. I ship THAT. I don't care what it makes me. The drama makes no bones that Jae Min is beyond messed up - I am kinda amazed he is walking and talking, to be honest. His father wins the incontrovertible award for the worst kdrama father ever and if you know kdramas you know what a feat that is. The scene where Jae Min is on his knees in front of his father, weeping and begging to be allowed to have Soo Jung and his father beats him half into unconsciousness and then tells him it's Soo Jung's fault and he will go after her next and make her disappear and Jae Min is left pleading that he did not mean it and it's not Soo Jung's fault and he misunderstood? FLAMES. FLAMES WHEN I JUST THINK ABOUT IT. So his love for Soo Jung is no help - I don't think any woman could have 'fixed' him, and certainly the hugely messed-up despite her sunny demeanor Soo Jung, with her own major issues and fragility, was about the last person to do so. However, even if they could have worked out their happiness, with the help of some really high-priced therapy, his family made it impossible - in fact they turned the screws on even worse, not caring that their actions were plainly driving him into nonfunctionality land. But then - how else could it end with all the destruction and damage and desperation on both sides and his having no experience with any expression of love that was not entangled with violence. And in context of fiction, the OTP that has the potential for helping each other but dooms each other instead is my jam SO MUCH!

#something happened in bali #kdrama

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bottomcasbigbang · 4 years ago

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Here you can read all the stories of our second round and check out the artwork our participants have created! Thank you to everyone who was a part of this, be it as a writer, author, beta, reader, cheerleader or helping hand! Thank you so much everyone and we hope we’ll see you back for the next round! ♥

Without further ado, the BCBB 2019/2020 creations:

Wayward Sons by Substiel (Explicit, 29k)

Illustrated by bees0are0awesome

It's the year 1919 and the Wayward Sons are the most powerful criminal organization in the country. It's ruled by Dean Winchester who bares the Mark of Cain. A curse given to him when Mary Winchester made a deal with the Devil to save her dying son. Dean was always a cold blood killer who did everything for business, and he never let anyone into his heart. He didn't dare let himself get too close to someone. That was until the Roadhouse hired a new bartender.

Castiel always admired Dean from afar for helping the lower class have a voice. For some reason, the bartender knows how to get under Dean's skin. There was something different about him which led to the beginning of their newfound relationship. Two broken souls finding each other in the middle.

Archive Warning: Graphic Depiction of Violence

Art Masterpost / Fic Masterpost

My Bloody Luck by TaymeeLove (Mature, 16k)

Illustrated by Kamicom

Castiel was a struggling actor who never had luck on his side in life or his relationships. He met with an accident and his life was never the same after. Will his luck in relationships turn around this time?

Art Masterpost / Fic Masterpost

Metanoia by adestielable (Explicit, 24k)

Illustrated by Noavice

Castiel’s existence has been nothing but pain, humiliation, and degradation. He’s an omega in a world where omegas are objects for an alpha’s enjoyment.

After a brutal assault on his nineteenth birthday, Castiel began entering into beastie fights—matches where instead of people going head to head, bio and mechanically engineered beasts fight to the death. And in Castiel’s months of fights, he’s not lost once.

It’s after one of these fights where Castiel meets Dean, his supposed true mate. Castiel hates alphas, and has vowed never to let one into his life because all alphas do is inflict pain. Yet…Dean is different. And Castiel finds he can’t help being drawn to him.

Archive Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage

Art Masterpost / Fic Masterpost

Profound Kisses by BENKA79 (Explicit, 20k)

Illustrated by Gio (sketching-fox)

Dean knows he's screwed. He discovers he is in love with Castiel in Purgatory, and now he can't even have the angel in front of him, because he knows it's a one sided love. It’s Valentine's day and Dean tries very hard to hook up as always, but he can't get Cas out of his mind. So he drives back to the motel, drunk, and he finds Castiel trying to help him. Then, when Dean asks Castiel for some experimental kisses and the angel accepts, Dean starts a very dangerous game… finding in Castiel's kisses the most delicious experiences, but also, his own perdition. Will Castiel fall in love with him? Or will he stay emotionless as always?

Art Masterpost / Fic Masterpost

Sparks by DragonSgotenks (Explicit, 20k)

Illustrated by VampyRosa

Omega Cas meets Alpha Dean during one of the worst weeks of his life. Sparks fly when they realize they're truemates. But after a wild and intense night that ends with both of them sporting new mating bites, could a simple misunderstanding tear the new couple apart before they even have a chance to begin?

Art Masterpost / Fic Masterpost

Lesson Number 1: Monsters are Real by blueye22 (Explicit, 20k)

Illustrated by kuwlshadow

When Anael "Jo" Novak goes missing during a hike in the mountains with her boyfriend, worried brother, Castiel, goes in search of her. Castiel is surprised to receive the help of FBI agents, Dean and Sam. But what are they hiding?

Archive Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence

Art Masterpost / Fic Masterpost

You At the End of the Rail by spnsmile (Explicit, 30k)

Illustrated by verobatto-angelxhunter

Dean receives a text message from a new human Cas telling him of his suspicion that angels have found him in Gas n Sip. Still filled with guilt for kicking the ex-angel out of the Bunker, Dean steps up to make it up to his friend. Worried, Dean concludes the ex-angel has to disappear for many days so he asks Cas where he wants to go.

Cas’ answer?

Trains.

Fucking trains.

Archive Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence

Art Masterpost / Fic Masterpost

On Your Knees by raths_kitten (Explicit, 14k)

Illustrated by angeltortured

When Dean gets the assignment to follow the Fallen Angels on tour and write a feature article on them, he isn‘t their biggest fan. But that quickly changes when he hears them play live - and meets their charismatic lead singer Castiel in person.

Art Masterpost / Fic Masterpost

Just Like in the Movies by noxsoulmate (Explicit, 46k)

Illustrated by lotrspnfangirl

In a world where a new mark appears whenever you fall in love, Hollywood sweetheart, Castiel James, is known for his unblemished skin. Oh, he has the faint shadows of old crushes and childish infatuations, but no mark is that of something deep and true. No mark has ever stuck, no mark has ever become more than a hazy outline. Because Cas, well... Cas has never been in love.

The skin of bookshop owner Dean Winchester, however, tells another tale entirely. Dean loves freely, quickly, and deeply. He loves his family, he loves his friends, he still cares for his exes. While the first two don’t show on his skin, the latter do. All brushed over his body in various shapes and forms and colors. Of varying clarity. But even Dean has yet to get that one mark. That mark that sticks. The mark that is so deep, and so sharp, and so clear, it can only be that of a profound bond.

These two men share a common hope; a common desire. That one day, they might have a mark that means they have found a love that is as deep and true as love can be - just like in the movies.

Art Masterpost / Fic Masterpost

Granted by Andromache_42 (Explicit, 20k)

Illustrated by agusvedder

At forty-one, Dr. Castiel Novak is the proud recipient of a generous grant to fund his project on sustainability and urban farming from the Campbell Foundation, a small investing firm based out of Chicago. The night before he meets the award committee, lonely and pushed by his friend Balthazar, Castiel has the best sex of his life during a casual Grindr hook-up with “just-visiting” forty-seven-year-old Dean. Castiel’s life appears to be coming together, until he discovers that Dean is the head of the grant award committee. For the sake of professionalism, Castiel is willing to ignore the intense attraction between the two of them, but Dean turns out to be too tempting to resist.

Art Masterpost / Fic Masterpost

Finding Bigfoot by Desirae (Explicit, 22k)

Illustrated by Tamapochi

“Don’t be such a worrywart. It’s vacation time. Campfires, fishing, beer. What’s better than that?”

“Apparently a sasquatch sighting?” Castiel snarked, with an arched brow.

“Well, yeah. I mean, Sam’s a good substitute, but it’d be nice to see the real thing,” Dean grinned.

Finding Bigfoot wasn't exactly on the itinerary when Dean, Cas, and Sam planned their annual boys-only camping trip, but with his brother in a noticeable funk, Dean was prepared to do what he had to do. Even if it meant keeping quiet about a long-waited love confession from his best friend.

Determined to stay focused on distracting Sam from his troubles, and not make him feel like a third wheel, Dean and Castiel decide to keep their new relationship status to themselves, until after vacation is over.

After years of mutual pining, that shouldn’t be too hard, right?

Art Masterpost / Fic Masterpost

Meet me at Sunset by Suus_Arido (Mature, 55k)

Illustrated by celstese

Ever since the Barrier of Melaina fell and plunged the worlds of men, monsters and magic together, the Republic Elohim has kept its citizens save with help from the hunter organization the Red Circle.

Dean Winchester has never known how the world looked before the fall of the barrier. He and his family have been part of the Red Circle for generations and he knew it was his faith to die in battle. All he is supposed to want is to protect the innocents from darkness. But how can he when his soul is dark and corrupt?

As the monsters start to adapt and become more intelligent, the rise of chaos is not far behind. It’s midst this chaos that Dean meets a human with the name of an angel. Not only does this man believe in the salvation of the world but he also seems to believe that Dean is redeemable as well.

A love story may perhaps develop but Dean knows better, for it is known that the faith of a hunter is tragedy. Will Dean be able to make the right call? Even when blue eyes turn unrecognizable?

Archive Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con

Art Masterpost / Fic Masterpost

Beyond Borders by xHaruka17x (Explicit, 53k)

Illustrated by Diminuel

Sometimes doing what is right, what feels right, doesn't mean you’ll escape the consequences of those actions. Dean Winchester is the Head Alpha of one of the largest packs of the Western Hemisphere. He is days away from being a married and mated Alpha, ready for the next chapter in his life to commence, only for a horrific accident to change everything. Adam, Dean and Sam's little brother, is killed in a car accident across the globe in Russia. Dean finds out his little brother's now widowed Omega is all alone and pregnant, left to the mercy of his horrible home pack. Dean makes a decision and he knows things will explode when he gets back home, but he knows in his heart it’s the right thing to do.

Art Masterpost / Fic Masterpost

The Cleric's Birthright by Scribo_Vivere (Explicit, 34k)

Illustrated by yoyo-deano

Castiel Novak lost his husband and the love of his life, Balthazar, three years ago in a slaying no one has been able to solve. Burying himself in his work at the university as a leading anthropology professor there, he attempts to put the past behind him. When vicious murders begin to plague him in an eerie replication of Balthazar’s death, Castiel decides to find out on his own what sort of evil has descended upon them all. But the answers he’s looking for may not be so easily found, and the revelation forced upon him could destroy everything he knows - about himself, his world, and the faith he once held so dear. Complicating things is his new relationship with Dean Winchester, who may or may not be what he appears. Why is Castiel inexplicably drawn to him like a moth to the flame?

Archive Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death

Art Masterpost / Fic Masterpost

To Soar Without Grace by QuillsAndInk (Explicit)

Castiel is an alpha and a cleric serving the gods of his kingdom and wielding their power in preparation to join a holy war. When he gets taken by the heretical high prince of a rival kingdom, Castiel knows his fate is sealed. That is, until prince Dean tries to persuade him to take on a mad quest to kill his father and end the holy war. With heretical magic Castiel can’t understand forcing him away from the gods he’s always served, Castiel joins Dean. But in the mountain wilderness in the dead of winter with only his sworn enemy for company, can Dean and Castiel get past their differences or will the war swallow them up.

Archive Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Art Masterpost / Fic Masterpost

Cow Bells and Snow Globes by Pimento (Explicit)

It really doesn't matter what the gossip columns say. Dean knows the International Ski Champion Castiel Novak, aka, Casanova of the Slopes is actually just Cas. Loyal, kind, caring Cas. The same Cas he's absolutely not had a crush on since they were teenagers on the competitive circuit.

He's had two plus decade's practice at hiding his feelings, how difficult can it be to suppress them a little longer.

They just so happen to be in the same ski resort, at the same time for an entire season, so Dean is damn well gonna enjoy having his friend back in his life for a while and not screw it up. The fact that he seems to have the magic touch with the grumpy teenage daughter that Cas is trying so desperately to reconnect with is just an opportunity to ease his friends' troubles while he finds his feet again.

Art Masterpost / Fic Masterpost

#supernatural #Destiel #bottom!cas #top!dean #masterpost: 2019/2020 #BCBB

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letterboxd · 4 years ago

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The Package.

As the bonkers genre thrill-ride Shadow in the Cloud blasts into the new year, writer and director Roseanne Liang unpacks her love of Terminator 2, watching Chloë Grace Moretz’s face for hours, and the life lesson she learned from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’s Cheng Pei-Pei.

Roseanne Liang’s TIFF Midnight Madness winner Shadow in the Cloud landed with a blast of fresh genre energy on VOD platforms on New Year’s Day. It’s A-class action in a B-grade body, cramming plenty into its taut 83 minutes, including: a top-secret package, a freakish gremlin, a hostile bunch of Air Force dudes, outrageous stunts, dogfights and a fake wartime PSA that feels remarkably real.

Throughout, the camera is focused mostly on one face—Chloë Grace Moretz’s, playing British flight officer Maude Garrett—as she tackles all of the above from a claustrophobic ball turret hanging under a B-17 Flying Fortress, on a classified mission over the Pacific Ocean during World War II.

While the film’s tonal swings are confusing to some, schlock enthusiasts and genre lovers on Letterboxd have embraced the film’s intentionally outlandish sensibility, which “makes excellent use of its genre mash to create an unpredictable, guilty pleasure,” says Mirza. Fajar writes that “it felt like the people involved in this project knew how ridiculous it is and gave a hundred and ten percent to make it work. Someday, it will become a cult classic.” Mawbey agrees: “It really goes off the rails in all the best ways during the final third, and the last couple of shots are just perfect.”

Chloë Grace Moretz and her top-secret package in ‘Shadow in the Cloud’.

To most of the world, Liang is a so-called “emerging” director, when in fact, the mother-of-two, born in New Zealand to Chinese parents, has been at this game for the past two decades. She has helmed a documentary and a romantic drama, both based on her own marriage; a 2008 short called Take 3, which preceded Hollywood’s current conversation about representation and harassment; and Do No Harm, the splatter-tastic 2017 short in which her technical chops and fluid feel for action were on full display, and, as recorded in multiple Letterboxd reviews, established her as one to watch.

Do No Harm scored Liang valuable Hollywood representation, whereupon producer Brian Kavanaugh-Jones brought Shadow in the Cloud to her, thinking she might connect with the material. “It did connect with me on a level that is very personal,” Liang tells me. “As a woman of color, as a mother who juggles a lot.” She says Kavanaugh-Jones then went through the process of removing original writer Max Landis from the project. “He felt that Max was not a good fit for this project, or for how we like to run things. We like to be respectful and courteous and kind to each other…”

In several interviews, Liang has said she’s comfortable with film lovers choosing not to watch Shadow in the Cloud based on Landis’s early involvement. What she’s not comfortable with is her own contribution—and that of her cast and crew—being erased. While WGA rules have his name attached firmly to the project, the credit belies the reality: his thin script, reportedly stretched out to 70 pages by using a larger-than-usual font, was expanded and deepened by Liang and her collaborators.

Writer-director Roseanne Liang. / Photo by Dean O’Gorman

That team includes editor Tom Eagles, Oscar nominated for Jojo Rabbit, actor Nick Robinson (the titular Simon in Love, Simon) and Beulah Koale, a star of the Hawaii Five-Oh series. The opening newsreel was created by award-winning New Zealand animation studio Mukpuddy, after a small test audience got weirded out by the sight of a gremlin in a war film, despite well-documented WWI and WWII gremlin mythology. It’s an unnecessary but happy addition. The cartoon style was inspired by Private Snafu, a series of WWII educational cartoons scripted by none other than Dr. Seuss and directed by Looney Tunes legend Chuck Jones.

But the film ultimately hangs on Chloë Grace Moretz, who overcame cabin fever to drive home an adrenaline rush of screen craft, in which the very limits of what’s humanly possible in mid-air are tested (in ways, it must be said, that wouldn’t be questioned if it were Tom Cruise in the role). Liang would often send directions to Moretz’s ball turret via text, while her cast members delivered live dialogue from an off-set shipping container rigged with microphones. “I just never got sick of Chloë’s face and I’ve watched her hundreds, if not thousands of times. You feel her, you are her, she just engages you in a way that a huge fighting scene might not, if it’s not designed well. Giant empty spectacle is less interesting than one person in one spot, sometimes.”

Ambitious and nerdy about film in equal measure, it’s clear there’s much more to come from Liang, and I’m interested in what her most valuable lesson has been so far. Turns out, it’s a great story involving Chinese veteran Cheng Pei-Pei (Come Drink With Me’s Golden Swallow, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’s Jade Fox), whose film training includes a tradition of remaining on set throughout filming.

Roseanne Liang on the set of ‘Shadow in the Cloud’.

That meant that, during filming of Liang’s My Wedding and Other Secrets, Cheng would stay on set when she wasn’t required. “In New Zealand, trailers are a luxury,” Liang explains. “I said ‘Don’t you want to go to the trailer that we arranged for you?’ ‘No, I just want to sit and watch.’ ‘Why do you want to watch it, you’ve seen it hundreds of times!’ And she said ‘I learn something new every time’. To Pei-Pei, the secret of life is constant education and curiosity and learning. Movies are her work and her craft and her life, and she never gets bored. If I can be like her, that’s the life, right?”

Speaking of which, it’s time we put Liang through our Life in Film interrogation.

What’s the film that made you want to become a filmmaker? Terminator 2: Judgment Day is the movie that is at the top of the mountain that I’m climbing. To me it’s the perfect blend of spectacle, action design, smarts and heart. It poses the theory that if a robot can learn the value of humanity then maybe there’s hope for the ships that are us. That’s perennial, and possibly even more pertinent today. It holds a very special place in my heart, along with Aliens, Mad Max: Fury Road, Die Hard, La Femme Nikita and Léon: The Professional.

What’s your earliest memory of watching a film? I have a cassette tape that my dad made for my grandma in 1981 (he’d send tapes back to his mother in Hong Kong). I was three years old and he had just taken us to see The Empire Strikes Back in the cinema. And he can’t talk to my grandma because I’m just going on and on about R2-D2. I will not shut up about R2-D2 and he’s like, “Yes, yes I’m trying to talk to your grandmother,” and I’m like, “But Dad! Dad! R2-D2!” So it’s actually an archive, but it’s become my memory.

What’s the most romantic film you’ve ever seen? Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It’s not the sexiest, but it’s the most romantic. That last scene, those last words where she goes “But you’re gonna be like this forever and I’m gonna be like this forever…” and he just goes “okay”. That to me is one of the most romantic scenes I’ve ever seen. It is a perfect movie.

And the scariest? If it’s a horror movie, the most scared I’ve been is The Ring. I was watching it on a VHS and I was lying on a beanbag on the floor and I was paralyzed with fear. I couldn’t move, because I felt that if I moved she’d see me! Also, American Psycho just came to me this year. I caught the twentieth anniversary of that movie, which is a terrifying film, and again, possibly more relevant now than when it was made. The scariest film that’s not a horror is Joker. It scared me how much I liked it. When I came out of the movie, I was like, “I’m scared because I kind of love it, but it’s horrible. It’s so irresponsible. I don’t wanna like this movie but goddamn, I feel it.” Like, I wanted to go on the streets and rage. In a way we’re all the Joker, we’re all the Batman. That duality, that yin and yang, is inside everyone of us. It’s universal.

What is the film that slays you every time, leaving you in a heap of tears? This is a classic one, the opening sequence of Up. The first ten minutes of Up just destroy me every time. I also saw Soul a couple of days ago and I was with the whole family and I, just, if I wasn’t with the whole family I would have been ugly-sobbing. I had a real ache in my throat after the movie because I was trying to stop [myself] from sobbing.

Tell me your favorite coming-of-age film, the film that first gave you ‘teenage feelings’? Pump Up the Volume. Christian Slater! Off the back of Pump Up the Volume, I fancied myself as a prophet and wrote a theater piece called Lemmings. Obviously the main character was a person who could see through the façade, and everyone else was following norms. “No one understands me, I’m a prophet!” So clearly I have this shitty, Joker-style megalomaniac inside of me. It was the worst play, and I don’t know why my teachers agreed for us to do a staging of it!

Christian Slater and Samantha Mathis in ‘Pump Up the Volume’ (1990).

Is there a film that you and your family love to rewatch? We’ve tried to impose our taste on our children, but they’re too young. We showed them The Princess Bride—they didn’t get it. We literally showed our babies Star Wars in their cribs. That’s how obsessive Star Wars fans we were.

Name a director and/or writer that you deeply admire for their use of the artform. I have a slightly weird answer for this. Can I just give love to Every Frame a Painting by Tony Zhou and Taylor Ramos? They are my film school. I was thinking of my love of Edgar Wright, but then I thought of their video essay on Edgar Wright and how to film comedy, and his essay on Jackie Chan and the rhythm of action and then their essay on the Coen Brothers and Shot Reverse Shot. I must have watched that 30 times ahead of the TV show that I’m making now. I started out in editorial and Tony Zhou is an editor and he talks about when to make the cut: it’s an instinct, it’s a feeling, it’s a rhythm. I realized the one thing in common that I could mention about all the films I’ve loved is Every Frame a Painting. It’s their love of movies that comes bubbling out of every single essay that they made that I just wanna shout out at this part of my career.

Were there any crucial films that you turned to in your development for Shadow in the Cloud? Indiana Jones was something that Chloë brought up—she likes the spiffiness and the humor of Indiana Jones. Sarah Connor was our touchstone for the female character. For one-person-in-one-space type stories, I watched Locke quite a lot, to figure out how they shaped tension and story and [kept] us on the edge of our seats when it’s only one person in one space. In terms of superheroes, I came back to Aliens. Not Alien. Aliens. You know, there are two types of people in this world—people who prefer Alien over Aliens, and people who prefer Aliens over Alien. But actually I think I vacillate for different reasons.

Can there be a third type of person, who thinks they’re both great, but Alien³, just, no? Maybe that’s the best group to be in. We don’t need to fight about this, we can love both of them! I was having an argument with James Wan’s company about this, because there’s a rift inside the company of people who prefer Alien over Aliens.

Okay, program a triple feature with your film as one of the three. I don’t know. Ask Ant Timpson!

I’ll ask Ant Timpson. [We did, and he replied: “Well, one has to be the Twilight Zone episode with William Shatner: Nightmare at 20,000 Feet. And then either Life (2017) or Altitude (2010).”]

Thank you Ant! I used to go to his all-nighters as a university student. He is the king of programming things.

Jake Gyllenhaal in ‘Life’ (2017).

It’s strange that we never met at one of his events! Ant would make me dress up in strange outfits and do weird skits between films. (For those who don’t know, Timpson ran the Incredibly Strange Film Festival for many years—now part of the New Zealand International Film Festival—and still runs an annual 24-Hour Movie Marathon.) So what’s a film from those events that sticks in your head as the perfect genre experience with a crowd? It was a movie about a man protecting a woman who was the girlfriend of a mafia boss: A Bittersweet Life. Not only does it have one of the sexiest Korean actors, sorry, not to objectify, but also I actually screenshot a lot of that film for pitch documents. And, do you remember a crazy Japanese movie where someone’s sitting on the floor with a clear umbrella and a woman is lactating milk? Visitor Q by Takashi Miike. I remember just how fucking crazy that was.

Finally, what was the best film you saw in 2020? I haven’t seen Nomadland yet, so keep in mind that I haven’t seen all the films this year. I have three: The Invisible Man, which I thought was just amazing. I thought [writer-director] Leigh Whannell did such a great job. The Half of It by Alice Wu, a quiet movie that I simply just adored. And then the last movie I saw at the cinema was Promising Young Woman. The hype is real.

Related content

Kairit’s list of “She Did THAT!!!” films

Beyond Badass: Female Action Heroes

Up in the Air: The Letterboxd Showdown of Best Airplanes in film

Follow Gemma on Letterboxd

‘Shadow in the Cloud’ is available in select theaters and on video on demand now.

#life in film #letterboxd life in film #female director #directed by women #52 films by women #action film #action genre #chloe grace moretz #wwii film #ww2 film #terminator 2 #chinese new zealander #cheng pei-pei #tom eagles #jojo rabbit #female action hero #letterboxd

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teababe27 · 4 years ago

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Notes From the 2020 Myanimelist.net Challenges - Part 1: Anime

You don’t need me to remind you how much 2020 sucked. It was definitely a hard year for me as well, especially since health problems (fuck cancer) pretty much kept me on the couch, in the hospital, and out of work for 6.5 months out of the year. Add to that the current events, almost daily anxiety attacks regarding the current events, and my main escapes being cancelled, 2020 was definitely a rough one.

That being said, when I was more cognizant and not suffering from executive dysfunction, I did watch some pretty good anime this year.

I will now continue with my yearly post about some of the anime I watched and manga I read for this challenge, starting with the anime side. While I didn’t finish the challenge by the site’s deadline, I finished before the end of the year, which was better than last year’s attempt!!!

Like the previous 2 years, I will talk about some honorable mentions/anime I had thoughts on, followed by my favorites from the challenge.

Let’s do this.

Honorable Mentions/Other Notables:

Inferno Cop - completed for the task “Watch an ONA”

Inferno Cop is, well, a cop, whose family was murdered by the organization Southern Cross. Now, he is tasked with fighting that organization and keeping the peace in the city of Jack Knife Edge Town.

My reaction to watching this anime was pretty much this:

youtube

This anime was honestly kinda funny. I’m usually not into the stuff that’s bad/over the top on purpose (I guess they would call it Stylistic Suck), but this anime made me laugh really hard at points. I feel like it also helped that each episode was about 4 minutes each.

My favorite part was honestly this:

youtube

Believe it or not, it makes just as much sense in context.

There are definitely worse ways to kill an hour.

Strawberry Marshmallow (aka Ichigo Mashimaro) - completed for the task “Watch any anime recommended to your Favorite Anime”

The slice-of-life adventures of 6th-grader Chika, her friend and classmate Miu, 5th grader Matsuri, British transfer student Anna (who transfers to Matsuri’s class), and Chika’s college-age sister Nobue. Hijinks ensue, usually initiated by Miu.

This was recommended to me because one of my favorite anime listed on my Myanimelist profile is Azumanga Daioh. I feel like this one is a little more hyper (if that makes any sense, it’s honestly the only word I can think of for this), but still fun and not a far-off comparison.

Pretty much your basic Cute Girls Doing Cute Things anime with some zany hijinks thrown in. It was cute and funny, though I feel like this is one you have to be in the mood for, similar to when I watched The Irresponsible Captain Tylor for last year’s challenge. I still had fun with it and it made me smile. The last episode was actually pretty heartwarming, and the fact that I watched it on Christmas Day was a cool coincidence.

Canaan - completed for the task “ Watch an anime that began airing the same year you joined MAL” (2009, in this case)

Maria Osawa, a photographer, is on an assignment in Shanghai with her colleague, Mino. They end up in the middle of a conspiracy involving a mysterious virus, a deadly terrorist attack, rival assassins, and a white-haired lady named Canaan, who Maria apparently knows.

This anime actually came up for multiple tasks in the challenge, so I pretty much had to watch this one, lol.

This anime was a bit dark at certain points. There was a bit of an interesting mystery, as well as pretty good action scenes, especially the fights between Caanan and Alphard, the main rival assassin. I honestly ship Maria and Canaan; I wish the anime just came out and had them get together, because some of their dialogue can get a little gay-baity at times, but it was still precious. Some lapses in logic and artistic liberties, but still pretty good.

Ginban Kaleidoscope (aka Skating Rink Kaleidoscope) - completed for the task “Watch an anime generated randomly using spin.moe”

Tazusa Sakurano is a figure skater who dreams of going to the Olympics. After a fall on the ice where she hits her head, she wakes up to find herself sharing her body with the ghost of Pete Pumps (yes, really), a Canadian stunt pilot who died during an air show. Tazusa has to get used to sharing her body with a ghost while trying to realize her dreams, and Pete helps her out, too.

I honestly thought this anime was kinda cute and heartwarming. Funny at times, too, especially when Tazusa is first getting used to sharing her body with Pete. I thought it was nice that Pete helps Tazusa with her skating later in the anime

Your Name (aka Kimi no na Wa) - completed for the task “Watch an award-winning anime”

Mitsuha is a high school girl who lives out in the countryside and dreams of moving to the big city. Taki is a high school boy who lives in the city and has a part-time job, living a pretty busy life. One day, they find that they’ve switched bodies! They then try to find out about each other and find an answer to why they temporarily switch bodies every now and then.

Yes, I gave in to the hype, and yes, I loved this movie. And yes, I cried.

This movie was honestly beautiful. The art looked great, the story was interesting, the plot twist was unexpected, etc. Not the best anime movie ever like everyone says, but I still loved this one.

Favorites From the Challenge:

Ping Pong the Animation - completed for the task “Watch an anime with a score of 8.00 or above and an episode duration of 16 minutes or more”

Makoto Tsukimoto, aka Smile, and Yutaka Hoshino, aka Peco, are childhood friends who are part of the ping pong club at their high school. Peco wants to be the best in the world, while Smile mostly finds ping pong as a way to pass the time. The anime shows them playing in and trying to win the championship, as well as them getting better and their various feelings throughout.

Might as well continue the tradition of watching a Masaki Yuasa work for the challenge. He most certainly did not disappoint here.

This made me think of how I felt when I watched One Outs for last year’s challenge. A different take on sports anime than usual, focusing on more of the psychology of the players and their histories. The two friends weren’t together all the time, though their bond was still there. I honestly binged this one in a couple days, that’s how much I was invested.

The art style is very interesting and unique, which was a major positive. I found this anime to be great overall.

Mononoke - completed for the task “Watch an anime that finished airing with 11 or more episodes and has a synopsis by MAL Rewrite”

A mysterious Medicine Seller wanders Japan to slay malevolent spirits called Mononoke. In order to do so, he has to figure out their Form, Truth, and Reason, along with psychological analysis and talking to the people caught up in the Mononokes’ schemes. Only then can he use his special sword to exorcise the spirits.

Unique art styles definitely seem to be a trend here, a complete coincidence on my part.

This reminded me a lot of the anime Mushishi, except on acid or some other drug like that. I like that this is an anthology of sorts, with the 11 episodes divided up into groups of 2 or 3 episodes per plot arc. The art style was unique and very pretty at times, and I found the psychological aspect very interesting too.

This anime isn’t for everyone, and it can get a little confusing at times, but I liked it a lot.

Silver Spoon (aka Gin no Saji) - completed for the task “Watch a listed Gourmet or Isekai themed anime” (Gourmet, in this case)

To get away from the pressures of home life and high expectations, Hachiken, on the advice of one of his teachers, decides to go to an agricultural high school, thinking it would be laid back. When he gets there, he has a bit of a culture shock and learns about farm and country life, including taking care of livestock and making fresh food.

I liked a lot of the characters in this one. I like the friendships Hachiken gets into with his classmates, especially a girl he meets on the first day and his assigned partners in rotations on the farm. This anime was also kinda relaxing too, and another one I was able to watch several episodes of without realizing.

Aggressive Retsuko (aka Aggretsuko) Season 3 - completed for the task “Watch an anime with a main character that is a professional in their field”

To pay off some debt that Retsuko incurs, she gets roped into helping out an underground idol group who is trying to make it big.

Honestly, this season hit me with all the feels multiple times. I loved seeing Retsuko take charge in several of the episodes. A lot of what I loved about the previous 2 seasons of Aggretsuko were here. Definitely made me laugh several times.

Princess Jellyfish (aka Kuragehime) - completed for the task “Watch a Noitamina anime”

Tsukimi is a shy, awkward outcast who loves jellyfish and lives in an apartment building, Amamizukan, with a few other awkward outcasts. One day, while out at a pet store, she meets a confident woman while trying to save a jellyfish from improper care. This confident woman, who is revealed to be a guy, Kuranosuke, who likes dressing like a woman, plants themselves in Tsukimi’s life and helps her break out of her shell.

This wins Best Anime for this year’s challenge. I found myself relating to Tsukimi a lot, being a socially awkward nerdy outcast. To be honest, I found myself headcanoning most of the characters (especially Tsukimi) as being autistic. I loved the relationships between the characters and I found a lot of this anime really relatable. The two main ladies (I say that loosely because Kuranosuke isn’t technically a lady) were my favorite characters.

This anime was so cute and so heartwarming. I’m planning on reading the manga now to see where the story goes. I’m glad I finally got around to watching this one.

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dolce-elegy · 6 years ago

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Hartman: The Wannabe King of the “Seven Mountains”

[Better looking/better formatted version on Google Docs]

A couple of days ago while, sitting back, relaxing along with eating some popcorn while enjoying the unfolding Oaxis drama I came across this tweet that talked about how a network by the name of Daystar, that was associated with Butch Hartman, supports a “Christian” cult by the name of Bethel Church.

While that sentence alone of Hartman playing a game of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon with a literal fucking cult would have been the ridiculous icing on the cake on this whole trainwreck, I ended up becoming curious and went down the rabbit hole so to speak. The horrible, horrible right-wing “Christian” rabbit hole. Thank God for private browsing let me tell you… Basically what I found out was while Hartman had no definitive ties to this Bethel Church (which let me tell you the stuff that I read about it was really…something. I suggest reading this Buzzfeed article about their actual real-life-i-am-not-joking school named Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry, which is basically and again I am not fucking kidding the right-wing “prophecy” and “faith healing”-focused version of Hogwarts) and he and his family only did a short interview with Daystar, I did however find some interesting facts about the company that Hartman and his family keeps along with his ties to another evangelical ministry which…let’s be honest still sounds like a fucking cult.

Like let me tell you this post’s got everything: homophobic bullshit ministries tied to what is essentially considered to be an “evangelical mecca,” an unaccredited two year “bible college” where you gotta pay over $4,000 too much each school year for what is not a legitimate degree, Hartman’s NOOG Network being used to help fund said “bible college,” “faith healing,” and a fucked-up-when-you-think-about-it religious doctrine/end-game master plan of Evangelical/Charismatic churches that even the most over-the-top super villain would call cliche.

Anyways if you want the short version, Hartman’s whole indoctrination plan using Oaxis goes a lot deeper than that and is directly tied and influenced by an evangelical practice called “The Seven Mountain Mandate” where seven different facets of society need to be controlled and influenced by their version of “Christianity” in order to create a perfect and “Godly" world with one of those facets being that of “arts and entertainment…” I’m going to warn you right now this is going to be extremely long but hopefully worth it in the end.

So shall we begin? (Also RIP mobile users)

Before I get into the meat of the details, let me go more in depth as to what “The Seven Mountain Mandate” is. According to GotQuestions.org, an online “ministry” made up of people from various Christian sects, answering people’s questions about Christianity, this is what it is all about:

“The seven mountain mandate or the seven mountain prophecy is an anti-biblical and damaging movement that has gained a following in some Charismatic and Pentecostal churches. Those who follow the seven mountain mandate believe that, in order for Christ to return to earth, the church must take control of the seven major spheres of influence in society for the glory of Christ. Once the world has been made subject to the kingdom of God, Jesus will return and rule the world.

Here are the seven mountains, according to the seven mountain mandate:

1) Education

2) Religion

3) Family

4) Business

5) Government/Military

6) Arts/Entertainment

7) Media

These seven sectors of society are thought to mold the way everyone thinks and behaves. So, to tackle societal change, these seven “mountains” must be transformed. The mountains are also referred to as ‘pillars,’ ‘shapers,’ ‘molders,’ and ‘spheres.’ Those who follow the seven mountain mandate speak of ‘occupying’ the mountains, ‘invading’ the culture, and ‘transforming’ society.”

Yeah so holy fuck this is like some Illuminati bullshit right here. Well, some Sunday school Illuminati bullshit but still kind of troubling none-the-less.

The website also goes on to say,

“The seven mountain mandate has its roots in dominion theology, which started in the early 1970s with a goal of ‘taking dominion’ of the earth, twisting Genesis 1:28 to include a mandate for Christians to control civil affairs and all other aspects of society. The New Apostolic Reformation, with its self-appointed prophets and apostles, has also influenced the seven mountain movement, lending dreams and visions and other extra-biblical revelations to the mandate.

The seven mountain mandate says that it is the duty of all Christians to create a worldwide kingdom for the glory of Christ. Teachers in the movement use Isaiah 2:2, which mentions mountains, in an attempt to support their view: ‘In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.’ The principal goal of dominion theology and the seven mountain mandate is political and religious domination of the world through the implementation of the moral laws—and subsequent punishments—of the Old Testament.”

So let’s go over the facts again about good ol’ Elmer’s Oaxis streaming service. The same day Hartman’s kickstarter was funded, a video of him talking at a Lance Wallnau’s conference in Lone Tree, Colorado, by the name of “Wealthbuilders” surfaced. Now you may be asking; who in the fresh hell is Lance Wallnau, well to know a little bit more about Wallnau here’s what he says about himself on his website:

“Dr. Wallnau is an internationally recognized speaker, business and political strategist. USA Today reports that he is one of only three evangelical leaders to have accurately predicted Donald Trump's Presidency. Dr. Wallnau's best selling book, ‘Gods Chaos Candidate’ is credited as being the catalyst that mobilized thousands of Christian's to vote for Donald Trump and contributed to Trumps unprecedented election victory.”

I also highly doubt that he has actual doctorate in theology but that’s just me.

This dude also of course,

loves Milo Yiannopoulos

and last year in March, according to Right Wing Watch he,

“…claimed Alt-Right troll Milo Yiannopoulos for Jesus Christ and prophesied that he will one day be leading revivals on college campuses.

Wallnau said that he began listening to Yiannopoulos in the wake of the controversy regarding his comments condoning pederasty and found him to be a brave truth-teller who ‘is exposing the tyranny and fascist spirit behind the progressive left.’ Yiannopoulos is like 'a prophetic fencer just scoring point after point,’ Wallnau said, which is why the left is out to destroy him.”

That...is a loaded fucking statement right there if I’ve ever seen one...

“But the left will not destroy him, Wallnau predicted, because Yiannopoulos is going to undergo a radical religious conversion and lead an army of millennial prophets who will take on the left.

‘I’m claiming Milo in the name of Jesus for the Kingdom of God,’ Wallnau declared. ‘Just like [Donald] Trump was an unlikely candidate for us as a deliverer in the presidency … God hid himself in Trump, I think God is hiding himself in Milo and I’m calling him out in Jesus’ name to salvation.’”

So fucking yeah…there’s that…Ohhhhhh and it gets even better…so going back to Got Questions, guess who’s movement’s biggest influencer is and who basically started it all…That’s right it’s troll boy’s biggest fanboy,

“Lance P. Wallnau coined the term seven mountain mandate and is its most prominent teacher. Wallnau adapts the missionary mandate of Jesus to His disciples to ‘go and make disciples’ of all the nations into a mandate to effect social transformation. He reasons that, since churches already have a presence in every nation in the world, we need to now concentrate on influencing the systems (the ‘mountains’) within these nations. The problem, according to Wallnau, is that Christians are not currently influencing society outside the church. Christians have left the mountains susceptible to the ‘gates of hell,’ which are spiritual portals over the ‘kings’ (influence-shapers) of those mountains.

Wallnau’s teaching is loosely based on the Abrahamic Covenant, which promised Abraham a seed and a lasting inheritance. Also, Israel was promised in Deuteronomy 28:12–14 to be the ‘head and not the tail' among the nations. Proponents of the seven mountain mandate infer that the church, not Israel, is the entity to claim that promise. It is now up to believers to move in proximity to the ‘gates of hell’ and position themselves to exert the greatest amount of influence. The church then needs to be dissected into ‘micro components’ and infiltrate the mountains. Since every Christian can’t position himself at the top of every mountain, each individual is to find his particular smaller peak and be a leader in that realm.”

Yeah…

Anyways, Wallnau’s “Wealthbuillders” is a “business” conference that claims that it could help a person get out of debt, discover “God’s plan” for them, and how to “influence,” make a “difference” and how “..to know which of the Seven Mountains...” they’re “...meant to impact.”

This conference and the video of Butch laying out his “plan” also surprisingly enough happened back in February. And I just love how literally right off the bat, like 30 seconds in, he starts talking about the “Mountain of Arts and Entertainment” and how Lance Wallnau gave him and his wife the idea. Some other choice quotes are:

“We’re gonna save culture. We’re gonna save families. We are going to speak to them in parables…” Time stamp 12:37

“We’re gonna win freakin’ awards for our programming in order to make a dent …We’re gonna make a dent in this mountain of entertainment I promise you and the minute I put this up people will flock to this…” Time stamp 17:48

“We must win back our future, and like Lance says, ‘We are the stone that is gonna slay the giant.’” Time stamp 18:29

Also I haven’t seen other people talk about this but there were also two other Evangelical talk shows that both he and his family (particularly his wife who is heavily involved in the promotion of Oaxis) appeared on in early July. One was his and his family’s (including his two daughters) appearance promoting Oaxis on the aforementioned Daystar Network’s “Marcus and Joni” show on July 16th with the timestamp starting at 6:19 (and here’s a link to a youtube clip if you don’t want to give them the clicks), that I mentioned earlier. Daystar is one of America’s largest religious networks with close to 100 affiliates (specifically 94) all across the US. Also fun fact: Marcus and Joni are married and Marcus being the “good and moral Christian” that he is, had an extramarital affair a while back, had to pay blackmailers millions in dollar to keep quiet about until he was forced to admit said affair in order to stop them, which then culminated in Daystar getting sued by a former executive who stated that knowledge of the affair caused her “...great emotional pain.”

Moving on, in this video it you’ll see the same egotistical thing about how Hartman claims that “…God told me to start this new network…” and “God told us to launch this Kickstarter…”

His wife Julieann also states this interesting little tidbit,

“Yeah I feel that, you know, Christians have been pushed into a corner when it comes to entertainment. That we can’t watch this and we can’t watch this and it’s like why is that? So that’s why we’ve created this. It’s gonna be amazing. You know I’m a mom of two daughters and you know I was helicopter mom, and I still am even though they’re adults. But you know we’ve gotta watch because they sometimes, you know, they don’t realize what they’re watching and what they’re getting into. And so it’s really important that we have a streaming service like this to where you can put your kids in front of; your adult kids in front of; your teenage kids in front and say ‘you know what I’m safe at home right here at Oaxis…at Oaxis entertainment…’”

So wait, according to her even full-grown adults still have to stay under the thumb of their parents and you think that even though they’re adults they’re still not mature enough to sort through the kinds of media that they want?? Jesus Christ and here I thought my parents were overprotective.

Now the second interview that Hartman and his wife did (and which actually at an earlier date on July 2), was appearing on the “Truth and Liberty” Youtube live cast, by the name of “Animator Butch Hartman: Teen Suicide, Depression & Impacting Cultu [re]” (yeah they deadass ran out of room to write the title) [EDIT: VIDEO HAS BEEN DELETED] of yet another slimy self-proclaimed “Christian,” by the name of Andrew Wommack.

Now Wommack and Wallhau are terrible people BFFS along with being BFFs to the Hartman family due to his past history with Hartman’s wife that I will get into in a bit. He’s also of course a bit of an infamous homophobic evangelical preacher.

“If the radical LGBT community uses this as a platform to start further suppressing the religious liberties of Christians—which I’m sure is coming—then this could cause a backlash against their radical agenda by so many people that it could bring America back to her senses.

The true hate speech today is not from Christians against homosexuals; it is the other way around. The homosexual community are the ones who hate Christianity and any moral standards. They are the ones who are truly intolerant. Beneath all the rhetoric is a true hatred for Christianity, the Bible, and all the moral restraints they impose. This is the spirit of antichrist that is working in the whole earth (1 John 4:3).” - from “Andrew’s Response to the Supreme Court’s Decision, June 26, 2015” Andrew Wommack Ministries Blog

Oh and he has just as interesting views on suicide as Elmer does~

“This isn’t a disease for which we have no cure. This is totally preventable, but not by teaching people how to cope better, having more drugs for treatment of mental illness, or staging more interventions by friends and family. Those are just treating the symptoms. In order to treat the problem, we have to correctly diagnose the cause.

The root problem is that our society has unleashed pure evil into our culture through promoting immorality and sin through media, schools, and government while marginalizing Christianity and its godly influence. We’ve had a major departure from the moral standards that held evil in check for hundreds of years in this nation, and now we are paying the price.”

He is just as much as Wallnau is, all about the Seven Mountains let me tell you that. So much so that he owns an “entrepreneurial” company by the name of 7M Ventures, Inc. which falls under the umbrella of his main brand of Andrew Wommack Ministries (where he has congregations all over the US and the World) and his website by the name of TruthandLiberty.net. In 7M Ventures, Inc.’s main description on twitter, it talks about how it’s “…focused on influencing the world and providing income to fund ministry growth.”

And presented without comment

Anyways, going back to the Hartman interview, here’s some “choice” quotes and things that happened in this video.

Time stamp 00:00 INTRO: “We believe we have a mandate to bring Godly change to our nation and the world through the seven spheres or mountains of influence…”

Time stamp 02:05 “So tonight we are going to be about talking about the ‘arts and entertainment’ mountain because ‘truth and liberty’ is really about all the seven mountains.” -Karen Conrad, co-host

Time stamp 5:30 “…And I really think that looking at the entertainment mountain these days I think we really are in need of a lot more family entertainment…”

Hartman also goes more into detail about how Wallnau gave him the inspiration for Oaxis at 5:45:

“Lance Wallnau and I was up talking about the mountain of entertainment and how a lot of Christian people; and we’re Christian people, are kind of intimidated by Hollywood and things like that; they just want Hollywood to just go away. And we looked at each other and went ‘we gotta go…got to go in and at least bring an option into Hollywood that; not there’s no family friendly entertainment out there but it’s sort of treated like the kids table at Thanksgiving. Like it’s not taken very seriously, um, as much as I think it should be and a lot of other stuff is out there that I think, you know, maybe a lot of kids and families don’t really want to watch. And so we thought, you know, we should do we should a streaming service just for the family…”

Time stamp 7:33 Julieann talks about doing a “news program” for the Oaxis network where it will only talk about “positive” news stories

Time stamp 10:20 Hartman basically insinuates that the reason why teen suicides are up so much is because of phones.

Time stamp 11:55 Hartman basically insinuates that Oaxis will lower suicide rates by affecting the mountain of arts and entertainment.

Hartman in general just repeatedly mentions the mountains and affecting them.

Time stamp 20:19 “…And we know that we’re not gonna limit God. We’re not limiting Him at all.”

Time stamp 23:24 “…We love Jesus and but we want to put Jesus in our shows. I believe that you can reflect Jesus in your content without saying the word ‘Jesus.’”

Okay now Hartman’s just flat out admitting that he believes that his scam of a “network” will affect suicide statistics… “Then I believe that those suicide rates might go down…” at Time stamp 27:04

Time stamp 31:05 From his wife Julieann, “Could you imagine living with that? Of knowing that maybe someone killed themselves because they watched your show?”

Ohhhhhhhh, oh honey. Both of y’all just gonna ignore what happened last year now aren’t you?

Moving on...

Time stamp 34:40 “When I did shows at Nickelodeon, I did all my cartoons. And I couldn’t say the word ‘Jesus’ in them. I couldn’t say any of that because the network wouldn’t put it on. But I could put Jesus’ principles in there…”

Listen... people have already scraped the bottom of the barrel in regards to this for jokes but, you greenlit fairy m-preg. You, yourself helped to write said fairy m-preg. Never forget the fairy m-preg Butch. Because we sure as hell won’t let you.

Also nice to see that his wife shares his flip-flopping views on things At 36:40 when asked by one of the hosts who’s fielding a similar question from two different people about how different is Oaxis from other services such as “Pureflix” and “Faith and Family,” she answered, “Well number one we are not a Christian network. So it’s not going to be faith-based programming.”

She also goes on to say that they’re going to be challenging the writers to create something that’s just as compelling, but just without all the bad stuff. In other news, local woman does not know understand the reason why narrative conflict, along with the tragedy and drama genres have to exist when we can just be happy all day, everyday. More at 11.

Hartman and his wife also talk about how they learned that from Andrew Wommack and how Hartman and him met primarily through his (Hartman’s) wife. Which brings me to how exactly Julieann and Wommack exactly got connected. In the first minute or so Wommack talks about how Julieann, a woman who became a born-again Christian at age 27, was actually one of their “healing journeys” and she once dealt with fibromyalgia and “…many other things…” but through the power of “faith healing” she “successfully” overcame all of her problems after spending over thousands of dollars on different doctors and treatments.

“And Jesus just healed you” Andrew Wommack said to Julieann who immediately confirmed his statement.

Now what the other issues that she was dealing with that aren’t mentioned in this video are various mental issues primarily being anxiety.

“Julieann suffered with the mental anxieties she had always battled, but this time she had physical symptoms as well. Every day she struggled with chronic flulike symptoms, body aches and pains, random numbness and twitching. The Hartmans spent tens of thousands of dollars on medical and alternative treatments trying to help Julieann. Her life became consumed with visiting specialists and worse—diagnosing herself via the Internet.” from “Julieann Hartman: A Fearless Woman of Faith” Andrew Wommack Ministries Blog

Also I just love this quote from her about how she was before she got introduced to Wommack…

"The funny part of this was that even if a doctor would give me medication, I wouldn’t take it because I felt that I was not being in faith. It was crazy!”

…There…is a lot to unpack there, so I think I’ll leave it at that…moving on…

“During a trip to Texas to celebrate Thanksgiving in 2009, Julieann stumbled across Andrew's Gospel Truth program on TV. Within seconds she dismissed Andrew wondering aloud, ‘Who could listen to him? I would fall asleep.’ Six months later however, she came across Andrew again. This time, she heard Andrew say something that grabbed her attention and went straight to her heart. Andrew was sharing things Julieann had never heard before and she was captivated.

Julieann went to Andrew's website and began downloading his teachings and ordering materials. ‘I took two weeks, cleared my schedule, and I didn’t leave my house. I listened to Andrew, I watched Andrew, I prayed, I read and I spoke to my body! I was filled with so much peace and joy! I also enrolled in the Online Charis Bible College. I immersed myself in the Word! The Word came alive in me and my symptoms started to change,’ said Julieann.”

So yeah, there’s that. Also keep the Charis Bible College in the back of your mind…we’re gonna get to that soon because Hartman’s wife ain’t the only one involved with that.

“‘I don’t know what the teaching was, but it was him saying that there was a man who had Parkinson’s. And so Andrew says, ‘So, I say to him, ‘Just tell your hand to stop shaking’. . . . So [the man] said, ‘Hand, stop shaking.’ And it did!’ Julieann continues, ‘So, I’m watching this going . . . what? But there was something about it that . . . just caught me.’”

So basically from there she went on a Wommack bender and absorbed everything that he’s ever said and done, and the rest is history. She and her whole family became obsessed with him and his “teachings.” Even talking about how they watch his videos all the time. Also about how much she wanted her two daughters to go to Charis Bible College, and they later did.

“From that revelation, Julieann started claiming the healing that already belonged to her. ‘I walked through my hallways going, ‘In the name of Jesus, stop being numb. Numbness, you are dead. You get out of my body now in the name of Jesus! Get out of my body! Pain, back pain, get out of my body! I don’t care what’s been spoken over me or whatever anybody told me or said I have. In the name of Jesus, I rebuke all of that and, body, you come back to life now!’’

Although Julieann said all the right things, her healing did not come all at once. Undeterred, she continued to press into God’s Word until, little by little, all her symptoms melted away. ‘It was a progressive healing, but the only reason it was progressive is because I made it progressive.’ Julieann continues, ‘It wasn’t just the healing on the outside. It was teaching me about who I was in Christ, and that was the missing link.’”

There is still a lot of things to unpack here…

Time stamp 46:29. Wommack also talks about how both of Hartman’s daughters went to Charis Bible College.

[Instagram Post from Hartman’s youngest daughter’s (Sophia Hartman) graduation this past May. Pictured here: Julieann Hartman, Butch Hartman, Andrew Wommack, Jamie Wommack (his wife), Sophia Hartman, and Carly Hartman]

Hell, in the infamous “Wealthbuilders” video that brought him public outrage, Hartman also admitted that both of his daughters (at the time in February at Time stamp 1:29) were students there. Now what exactly is Charis Bible College? CBC, or Colorado Bible School as it was originally known as, is a 2-3 year “school” which is,

“Focused on educating the body of Christ about who God is and who He is in His saints. Charis Bible College is equipping the saints for the work of the ministry, training disciples to go out and share the Gospel with the rest of the world in the way God has uniquely called each individual to do it.”

It has over 16 locations in both the US and across the world, with the main campus being in Woodland Park, Colorado.

It’s also unaccredited.

Oh and their application fee is $100 (which of course is non-refundable and Jesus fuck is 2x more than I had to pay for my own application fee to apply to fucking graduate school) and the cost of an individual’s tuition paid in advance is at least $4,500, which for an uncredited, basically useless degree is still $4,500 too much.

But hey, “mountain of education."

Also going back to Hartman’s wife. In the video of her “healing journey” she states something rather interesting at times stamp 9:34...

“So we started the NOOG Network; it’s N-O-O-G Network and we call it a safe place for kids. What we wanna do is, the money that comes from the network is gong right into the dorms…” And she basically talks about whatever else too. “I am so on board with his vision.”

So...I don’t know exactly how to look up financials and donations for groups and such, and I’m surprised that the NOOG Network even fucking got off the ground, but the fucking implication...If any of y’all have downloaded the app... probably been forced to sit through ads which bring in revenue for the owner (aka Hartman)...and the app page says it has in-app purchases...I’m sorry you may have helped fund Charis Bible College dorms or whatever else Andrew Wommack desires, and as the Narrator of the video says at 10:00,

“The NOOG Network is just one of the many ways the Hartmans are advancing God’s Kingdom.”

If you don’t know, that video is actually from at least late 2015 since it was featured in a February 2016 speech given by Butch Hartman at CBC for its 3rd year “Media School.”

He says some more interesting things. Such at 34:24,

“If you have an iphone, the NOOG Network is a network on the iphone store and it’s absolutely free. It’s free so you have no excuse.” [The app store says that it currently costs 99 cents to download] “Um, I’d like you all to download this cause this is ‘God’s Network...’

At 34:58 “You know how you guys are invested in this ministry? This [the NOOG Network] is my ministry.”

I do also want to talk about one more thing. So on the original

Oaxis Kickstarter page’s “Community” tab

I noticed that the most backers in the US came from Colorado City, CO.

Suddenly I got a weird feeling and wondered if there was any correlation or strange connection...

Oh.

Well that explains a lot. It is rather interesting when you take into account that Andrew Wommack Ministries’ main US address is in Colorado Springs as well. Not to mention, his Charis Bible School. And even Wallnau’s “Wealthbuilders” conference took place at a Marriott in Lone Tree, CO. I guess all that promoting on his show and Daystar paid off after huh, Hartman?

Anyways I think that’s it for now. I kept finding more and more fucked up insidious stuff and I’m pretty sure there’s a lot more. I just wanted people to know about this because they should. It seems that Hartman actually doesn’t want to just indoctrinate kids into these awful values, but everyone else too. And honestly, in retrospect their tagline for their Oaxis network, “Oaxis: Because we’re family” sounds cult-ish as hell... At the end of the Hartmans’ interview on Wommack show, Wommack started talking about getting people [i.e. their supporters] ready to vote [as in vote for the Christian Conservative candidates] in the Mid-term elections, and sorry if I’m going a little off-topic here but here’s your friendly, little reminder:

VOTE.

Don’t let these fake as hell “Christians” win and ruin this country even more for their 7-step-take-over-the-world plan. Hartman is just one small part of this BS.

Like I’m sorry if I’m sounding like a conspiracy nut but this “Seven Mountains Mandate” is a real fucking belief system that needs to be talked about. And it’s fucking disgusting that Hartman and his family were going to even attempt to worm their way into the minds of children and their families, filling their heads up with their “values,” which from the company that they keep, correlates more with hate than the love and acceptance that one is supposed to have when they’re a Christian. I doubt that Oaxis will become as popular and successful as Hartman kept claiming to his buddies; especially with the whole public fallout considering what happened with the kickstarter. Also only God knows if they’re even still gonna try and go through with it after the mainstream reaction that they got, but again, it’s fucked up that they even tried it in the first place.

To quote GotQuestions on the mandate again,

“The church then needs to be dissected into ‘micro components’ and infiltrate the mountains. Since every Christian can’t position himself at the top of every mountain, each individual is to find his particular smaller peak and be a leader in that realm.”

So in conclusion: don’t give them an inch. Be wary of any conservative evangelical that talks about “mountains,” “spheres,” or “pillars.” Hold them accountable and don’t let these manipulators even get close to the base of a “mountain” let alone, what they consider to be their “peak.”

Some other “fun” links:

Lance Wallnau’s Right Wing Watch tag

Andrew Wommack’s Right Wing Watch tag

2010 Box Turtle Bulletin Article “Andrew Wommack and His Ministries Are Trying to Kill You” in regards to the (currently unpassed at the time) proposed Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill

#butch hartman #oaxis #danny phantom #fairly odd parents #noog network #signal boost #mAN...LISTEN #I'VE BEEN THROUGH SOME SHIT THIS ENTIRE WEEK #THIS IS OVER 20 PAGES #JUST WHEN I THOUGHT I WAS DONE I KEPT FINDING MORE AND MORE FUCKED UP SHIT #LIKE I KNOW THAT WE SHOULDN'T BE SURPRISED BUT HOLY FUCK #fucking sunday school illuminati man...#mass murder //#well it's only mentioned once in reference to what happened last year #suicide //#i got so many fucking screencaps of all of this shit and more

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captainfawful · 6 years ago

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With the year coming to a close, that means it’s time for me to do my “Nobody Cares Awards” thing I like to do! Check under the cut for some hot takes I may or may not have!

Hello, hello! It’s me again! Third year in a row I decided to jot my thoughts down on the years various game. I decided to change things up more from last year, kind of eliminating most of the categories in favor of writing more about the games I enjoyed. I tried to write at least something about every game in the Top 10 this time, even if it’s the bare minimum. Let’s see how it goes!

BEST MUSIC

This entire thing was first created because I wanted to write about how good Death Road To Canada’s soundtrack was. So no matter what changes with my format on this, there will always be a Best Music category. I’ll be honest though, there weren’t a whole lot of games this year with amazing soundtracks. The only real contender for most of the year was Celeste, which OST is very good, and fits perfectly with the games tone and style, but it’s not... The Best music. They aren’t songs I’ll put on loop and listen to multiple times throughout the day. They’re not the hard hitting tracks I would typically put at the top of this category, despite how great the music is. That’s how I felt until about August, when The Messenger came out. Messenger is not a game that will be in my Top 10 by any means, but it’s a pretty good game nonetheless with a couple of really weird twists. But the OST is phenomenal. Easily my number 1 favorite of this year. Just about every track in the game is a total banger. But don’t take it from me, take a listen yourself! A little later in the year I played through Just Shapes & Beats. I have a personal stigma against saying a thing with licensed music should qualify for Best Music, which is why JS&B did not make it into my top 3, but rest assured that it is sitting comfortably in the 4th place spot. Almost immediately after I played JS&B, Deltarune suddenly came out. I don’t think I have to tell you why that’s on here, right? Toby Fox cannot make bad music.

SPECIAL MENTIONS

THE MISSING:J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories

It’s hard for me to talk about what makes The Missing so special without diving deep into spoilers. There’s a reason it’s in the special mentions, and not the Top 10: And that reason is because the gameplay isn’t great. The Missing is a side-scrolling puzzle game, in the same vein as Limbo or Inside. Unlike those two, however, the puzzles you have to solve are not that hard, and most of the difficulty around it revolves around how slowly and janky the movement is. However, the overall story and twist is what makes this game great. There’s not a whole lot for me to say about the themes this game presents, so if you want to play The Missing, play it. If you don’t want to play it, then maybe take a look at some writings from actual queer women who could talk about its subject matter in a way I never possibly could.

The Quiet Man

The Quiet Man is a terrible game. When I first saw the trailer during Suare Enix's E3 presentation, I was super interested. I've always wanted a game that transitions from FMV to gameplay with as few seams as possible, and The Quiet Man promised that. Not only that, it promised a compelling story told from the perspective of its' deaf protagonist. The way I saw it, this game would either accomplish what it set out to do, or fail miserably. Either way, it was a win/win scenario for me! Little did I know just HOW miserably it would fail.... Oooooh, how miserably it failed... The gameplay is absolute trash, the graphics leave much to be desired which makes the "seamless" transitions from FMV look unconvincing and bad, the story is needlessly complicated despite how generic it is, the acting ranges from decent to awful, and it requires you to play it twice in order to actually understand what's happening. And all of those problems are the LEAST offensive parts of the game. It's racist, misogynistic, somehow ableist against more than just deaf people, semi-incestual, and also kind of pro-abuse??? I mean, it doesn't take a stance to be anti-abuse, and certainly doesn't condemn abuse, so does that make it pro? Maybe? Probably? I have a headache. I've watched this entire 2-4 hour game be played 10 or 11 times, and I still don't understand how this exists. Square-Enix published this. They dropped Hitman and IO Interactive not even one year ago, yet threw money at this horrible abomination of a video game! Oh by the way, you might be wondering why I said you have to play it twice to understand, and that's because the first playthrough doesn't give you any sound. Yup, aside from the intro cutscene and the credits song, the entire games' audio is just muffled ambiance. This includes all of it's cutscenes, of which there are MANY, and they are LONG. Entire MINUTES of dialogue happening at a time that the game just doesn't want you to hear or have subtitles for. The only way to get audio is to beat the game once and replay it. Not only that, but the New Game + with sound and subtitles didn't even get patched in until a week after it's release!!! Who does that!!!!! And the version with audio has some ATROCIOUS writing. Just about every scene has at least one line of dialogue that makes no sense, almost as if the writers were only told about how humans speak, but never actually heard one themselves. I’ve heard a lot of people saying it’s The Room of video games, and I sort of agree. Much like The Room, it’s not the absolute worst of it’s form of media, the game is playable start-to-finish, extremely straight forward so you can’t get lost, no bizarre puzzles to figure out, the FMV cutscenes are at decently produced. Hell, I wouldn’t even say The Quiet Man is the worst game to come out THIS YEAR. Crying Is Not Enough released in June, and boy oh boy is that game a trash fire. But it’s just BAFFLING that this game exists. That’s the perfect word to summarize my feelings on The Quiet Man. Every single thing about it is just, baffling. I need to stop writing about this game. This whole paragraph is probably going to be longer than anything from my Top 10, which feature a few games I ADORE, but no. All my writing energy is going to how terrible this fucking video game is. Don't play The Quiet Man. Or do, fuck if I care. Maybe watch someone else play it, I don't know. I don't know anything anymore.

Ori and the Blind Forest

Back on the topic of good games, I finally got around to playing Ori and the Blind Forest! I played it for a little while after it originally came out around 2015, but it just didn’t stick with me at the time. There wasn’t any real reason why it didn’t stick, I just got bored and stopped playing, which isn’t that uncommon for me to do. But for whatever reason I decided to go back to it super late last year. It may have been the excitement for all the cool looking Metroidvanias slated to release throughout the year, I don’t know. But I played through it, and it’s fantastic! Most Metroidvanias tend to go with around a 60-40 split between platforming and combat. Different games have different splits, sure, but most of them tend to keep those somewhat even. Ori is like an 85-15, greatly favoring tight platforming over fighting enemies. Your main attack automatically locks on to nearest enemies, and boss fights are replaced with autoscrolling or stealth segments. The traversal is also super smooth and fun, making that 85-15 split much more favorable than others in its’ genre. Great controls combined with some amazing visuals and music, Ori is definitely a game I regret not playing earlier.

2019′S COMING IN HOT

Spelunky 2, Wargroove, Indivisible, Hypnospace Outlaw, Ooblets, UFO 50, Kingdom Hearts 3, Overland, Sea of Solitude, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, and Get in the Car, Loser!. These are all great looking games that are supposed to be coming out in 2019. I remember last December when I last did this, I couldn't think of THAT many games I was really excited for, and despite that I ended up with a pretty damn good list of games for 2018. So who knows what next year will be like?!

And now... The Top 10!

#10: Spider-Man

It’s been a great year for Spider-Man. His best buddy Venom had a pretty good movie, his new video game is good, and he has a new movie that’s fantastic! Yep, it’s been such a good year for Spider-Man in which nothing bad has happened to him or the people who created him.

#9: Megaman 11

2 > 4 > 3 > 8 > 11 > 7 > 5 > 6 > 9 > 10 > 1. Don’t @ me.

#8: Iconoclasts

Iconoclasts has been in development for a very long time. Officially, development for it began in around 2010, but there is a seemingly earlier game by Konjak that shares many similarities. Basically, Iconoclasts began development at least 8 years ago, and it shows, for better or worse. On one hand, the game is gorgeous. Grade A sprite work all around. The characters are interesting and well written with their own morales and arcs, and the story is surprisingly deep and compelling considering the type of game it is. On the other hand, the gameplay feels very outdated now. The combat is super simplistic, the puzzles aren't terribly challenging or rewarding, and the weapon/ability upgrades are very limited. The traversal can be sluggish and boring, which is a red flag for a game where you have to backtrack a decent amount. If Iconoclasts came out 4 or 5 years ago, I feel like it would've been at least a cult classic. But in 2018, it's a decent Metroidvania in a year of great Metroidvanias. Overall, I'm glad Iconoclasts finally came out. I just wish it either came out sooner, or got more updated for modern game design.

#7: Slay the Spire

For all intents and purposes, I shouldn't like Slay the Spire. I always hated card-based RPGs, and always hated RPGs with only one party member. And for the most part, the issues I have with both of those are still very much present in Spire. So why have I sunk 50 hours into it so far? Beats me! If I had to guess, I’d say it’s the similarities it shares to Darkest Dungeon, one of my favorite games, that ultimately drives me to it. Now, you might be asking why Slay the Spire, a game that came out in 2017, and won’t be in 1.0 until probably 2019, is in my top 10 for this year, but Ori & the Blind Forest isn’t? Well, I started Ori last year, and didn’t start Spire until the middle of this year! Also, they’re my awards, and I can do whatever I want!

#6: Just Shapes & Beats

Just Shapes & Beats’ concept is simple: A rhythm bullet hell. Certainly not the first of it’s kind, and not even the first one to use simplistic shapes as the obstacles/characters. But there’s a bit more to it than that. JS&B has some good personality to go with it. It has some fun characters, all of the levels are demonstrative of the areas you’re in on the world map, it even has a couple lightly emotional moments! It’s much more than you’d expect from a game about Just Shapes & Beats. When I was younger and had vague dreams to make games, I always imagined making one that was basically “What if a Windows Visualizer was trying to kill you?” and also be themed around a world and a story, and JS&B is basically that.

#5: Pipe Push Paradise

What happens when you take Pipe Dream, an iconic puzzler which has given inspiration to countless others, and mix it with Stephen's Sausage Roll, arguably one of the greatest puzzle games of all time? You get Pipe Push Paradise, of course! That’s all I really have to say, and all I NEED to say.

#4: Dead Cells

Go play Dead Cells. Really, it’s the closest thing to a perfect Rogue-like (that isn’t Spelunky) out there right now. It’s a game so good, Filip Miucin couldn’t look away from it long enough to write his own review!

#3: Subnautica

If I had the opportunity to become a Fishman and live underwater, I’d probably take it. As long as you take out the jellyfish that can kill you .0001 seconds after stinging you, I have no qualms with open water. In fact, the isolated feeling from it is really relaxing to me. That’s what initially drew me to Subnautica. Survival games are usually hit or miss for me, but the ones I like I really dive deep into (Heh heh), and Subnautica is one of those. Also, I was rewatching the Super Mario Bros. Super Show on Netflix as I played this, so now I’ll have those two permanently linked in my mind from now on.

#2: Into The Breach

I love tactics games, especially Advance Wars. While I do still love others in the genre like Fire Emblem or X-COM, there are some intricacies of the AW series that most of the others don't have. When I first heard about Into The Breach, I thought it would be exactly what I wanted, a true successor to the series I'd been waiting for. And it was not! But it's still pretty damn good. It's not so much a tactics game as it is a puzzle game, described by Waypoint's own Austin Walker as a "tactical dance". You know at the start of each turn where each enemy is going to attack, and it's your job to navigate and attack with your 3 mech units in the exact right way to minimize or even straight up prevent any damage that would befall you or the cities you're protecting. You aren't trying to advance a map during combat, or conquer any enemy bases. You are merely trying to avoid damage for a certain amount of turns and move on to the next level. And it's all super fun! I've let the game sit for 10, 20 minutes while I try and figure out every possible option I have after being backed into a corner, and coming up with the absolute perfect solution and getting through to the other side is super satisfying. The biggest gripe I have with Into The Breach is the same one I had for FTL, the developer's last game, which is I don't think the unlockable mechs/mech teams are as fun as the default ones. I played most of them once or twice and went "Yeah, that's a thing" and migrate back to the first mech team. All in all, Into The Breach is a fantastic game, it just doesn't scratch that Advance Wars itch I've been feeling. Oh well, at least there's still Wargroove!

#1: Celeste

Celeste is a game I got 100% completion in. For those of you who might not know me well enough to know how I play games, that’s something that never happens. I think the last time I purposely got 100% on a game was in Uncharted 2, and even that was only to get a skin for multiplayer. Despite that, it’s been really difficult for me to write up a whole thing about why I love Celeste so much. It’s just a compilation of everything. I love the look of it, both the sprite work and the character portraits. The music, as mentioned before, is fantastic and perfectly fitting for all of the levels themes which deal in different forms of anxiety or self-doubt. The levels are hard, but not too hard. The secrets hidden throughout the game are so satisfying to figure out and find, very reminiscent of Braid. I feel confident in saying that Celeste has cemented itself as one of my favorite games of all time.

Well, that’s all I can handle writing for this year. Thanks to the few of you who skimmed through all this, and extra thanks to the fewer of you who read all of it! I’m not 100% sure if I’ll do this whole shpeel next year or not; maybe if 2019 turns out to be an incredible year for games, and definitely not if I have to move to Twitter in the off-chance Tumblr dies out completely. Hope you all had a fun holiday season, and have a great 2019!

#dont reblog pls #long post #very rare personal post???

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abitterlifethroughcinema · 6 years ago

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#ABitterLifeThroughCinema’s WOKE! Film Reviews

The Top Ten (+1) Best Movies of 2018 and where to find them!

Lucas Avram Cavazos

+1…11. Overlord Having its premiere at this year’s Sitges Int’l Film Fest, Overlord not only happened to be one of the fave films screened there this past festival, but this cinematic fantasy is an all-too-real and stark portrayal of a horror that actually occurred, and it deserves a nod from the Barcelona film critic family, so here it goes. Duly noted, I’d say. It starts with an insane aerial combat mission on the night of D-Day, one which goes awry and sees only a handful of paratroopers surviving the drop when enemy fire rains hell. They land in provincial France and the plot sets out to detail some of the inner workings of the Third Reich in reference to the insane, gruesome experiments done on captured Europeans and Jews. Those stories you’ve heard about turning these poor people into guinea pigs for super soldier intent using potent, injected serums…yeah, those? They’re true, if you believe the words of JJ Abrams. Are they as utterly brutal and horror/zombie film-like as displayed here? I sure as hell hope not. (now available On Demand and DVD)

10. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs There once was a film called O Brother Where Art Thou? While this is not its sequel, there is a sharp-witted vein to this film that could only be crafted and gifted to us by the Coen Brothers. What a hoot it is, even if it is a rather darkly-tinted hue of that hoot and humour. It is also one of their finest in years. Revolving around the singing cowpoke Buster Scruggs (Tim Blake Nelson) and five other tales brought to us with the commonly-threaded theme of death in often brutally funny ways, this film is a fine return to oddball form from two of the finest sibling directors of all time. Starring Liam Neeson, James Franco, Zoe Kazan, even Tyne Daly and so many in its vignettes, and that acting star power fuses this Western comedy into new territory for the brothers. Their previous works set in the west always seemed to be re-hashing works of years gone by but here, with their usage of almost comic-book-like details and witty banter make this much more enjoyable than their other historical works like O Bother and their remake of True Grit. Best western in absolute years! (available on Netflix or VOD)

9. Eighth Grade This poignant little film, which should have been wide-released everywhere the world over, is given fierce and bittersweet star power by Elsie Fisher, protagonist and student at the heart of this film. Comedian Bo Turnham has brought us the quintessential coming-of-tweenage story and along with Fisher, everyone in this film is so perfectly placed in their roles, especially Josh Hamilton as her dad, who deserves some nominations for this film but is unlikely to get any. Telling the story of 13-year old Kayla, we the audience get a sneak-peek into the minds and lives of today’s young adults. From her simple YouTube videos made to encourage other young kids to her obvious desire to fit in with older kids to her insecurity with boys, this film paints a stark reality that too many have lived through and this little indie film deserves aplomb from anywhere it can get it! (now available On Demand and DVD)

8. A Star is Born I skipped the critics’ screening of this film for the mere fact that I couldn’t bear to see if the acting and plot lines were another torrid take on a much-redone film. Even into the holiday season, I had not yet seen it and then when I did, I certainly took back any reservations. Bradley Cooper’s update of the film starring himself and Lady Gaga is just about as good as everyone said it was, and that was beyond refreshing to note post-viewing. In many ways, I feel that Cooper is likely revealing a few things about himself with the guise of “it’s a movie” being a nice cover; in some ways, he gives us what I believe are hints of his covert life, and it’s with Gaga’s turn as Ally that we really see him shine beyond the shtick of his character, country-rocker Jackson Maine. In a tad corny-tad, gripping way that takes hold the moment you see Gaga, let’s be frank and real, this film goes on to detail a Diet Coke version of the grim realities that often detail too many a tale of celebrity in Hollywood. Without revealing too many details of the film’s plot and denouement, we are looking at a necessary conversation about alcoholism, drug addiction and fame (plus a lack of ’NO’ men/women in many relationships) that needs to addressed for all ages. Well done, Mr. Cooper Goes to the Oscars. (At select screens, On Demand & DVD)

7. El Angel Incidentally, this may be the first time in a rather long time that I say something good about Argentinian men, so do take note. Telling the true story of fresh-faced boy killer Carlos Robledo Puch, played to Oscar-worthy perfection by newcomer Lorenzo Ferro, the masterful detail to which director Luis Ortega has crafted this arthouse meets dramedy-thriller is astounding and easily touches heights set by dePalma and even, dare I say it, Scorcese. We follow young Carlitos Puch, who is just nearing the edge of seventeen, as takes up with a rough and tough family of his devilishly attractive school chum Ramon, played by the spirited Chino Darin, son of Ricardo Darin. But as Carlitos comes to find out, his street crimes can easily be paved to real ones and his sadistic tendencies suddenly yet gradually paint a picture of someone who is in part desperate for attention and tacceptance and in part a fairly smart, well-to-do young adult. He parlays his sociopathy at pubescence into psychopathy with time, and this film will likely be, but should definitely not be, forgotten come awards and Best Of lists time.(available On Demand and DVD)

6. Black Panther As Oscar season comes to a head, it is worth talking about one of the most striking films that you’ll see for a while. Black Panther is that good, not only because of its genre but also because of its message: that seeking freedom through recreating systems of oppression will only extend the ill-treatment and broken nature we find ourselves in nowadays. Set in the fictional African nation of Wakanda, protagonist King T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) brings us the first real black superhero from the Marvel universe. With a cast including Lupita Nyong’o, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker and Michael B Jordan, the acting is beyond impressive. What is even more amazing, however, is how the plot power-plays many elements of our world’s current political climate. (now available On Demand and DVD)

5. Chappaquiddick Another film which is nothing short of striking in its relevance to the current political situation in the USA. Senator Ted Kennedy was the only remaining Kennedy that I was familiar with throughout my adolescence and early adulthood. Jason Clarke as the Massachusetts senator is astounding, as is the cut of his jib and chin, although the accent was a tad weak, to be ever sincere. This is a complete revelation on the many details that were only gingerly touched upon during the course of the week following the death which this movie is detailing . As the facts are laid out in the film, it astounds me that the American people continued to vote and elect Kennedy for decades after. This is a study on arrogance, class and governmental ambiguity. And if that was the case with liberals in the Sixties, how much more so with conservatives in this digital age? My favourite film of last year’s BCN Film Festival. (now available On Demand and DVD)

4. Private Life Good Lawd this is such a heartwarming/breaking story with the finest elements of believable comedy and situational realism that define the art of the classic Gen X film from the 90s to now. May we never forget that it was Gen, and even those a few years before them, who gave us the digiverse-Netflix-instant oatmeal www.orld in which we live today and when I see a very NYC film like this one, it makes it a true reality check. Being the age that one should be married with kids, I watched Kathryn Hahn as Rachel absolutely slay the silver screen and am eager to see if she picks up any more accolades throughout the current awards season. Simple plot…she’s in her early 40s and her hubby Rich (played by Paul Giamatti) is entering his late 40s and they are fully entrenched within the confines of every single way to conceive a baby. Following the couple through their trials and tribulations really get pushed up an ante when sort-of relative Sadie (the lovely Kayli Carter) decides she will be the surrogate mum for them as things get a tad pear-shaped. This could easily be dubbed a dreamed, for in effect, it is; what needs to be known is that this is also a morality tale for a new age. The old-fashioned ethics of yesteryear just do not apply anymore, at least not in big cities, and the less is more factor easily makes this one of the finest films released within the last year. (available on Netflix)

3. BlacKKKlansman Without a doubt, this is the finest work in all too many years by Spike Lee, and he takes no prisoners in letting you know that the spilled essence of blaxploitation all over this celluloid is to egg you into knowing that this story is 100% true…and crazy. The mere fact that David Duke is literally cheerleading for the current President of the United States should scare us all and wake those who are not. Watching actor John David Washington portray Ron Stallworth, the real-life cop who slyly infiltrated the inner workings of the Klu Klux Klan 40 years ago. After signing up for the Colorado Spring PD, he realises the lack of trust in the 98% Anglo-Saxon workforce, as he’s thrown into monitoring the goings-on of any Black Panther student situations. Eventually, he takes up with a guy on the force that he can dig called Flip and played to skilled excellence by the oddest of lookers Adam Driver. Basically, the plot follows the twosome, as they tag team the aforementioned white supremacist movement, Ron being the voice and Flip being the wingman as they start an investigation on grand wizard bastard himself David Duke, played to troubling perfection by Topher Grace, evoking all of the calmness and utter sociopathic tendencies of a man reviled by most yet revered by still too many. And watching this taut film and how it rolls through such a daunting story with comedic aplomb and vicious realness gives you goosebumps. That said, as the film gets toward its ending, is when Lee gives you the goods when he flashes to scenes from the crazy Charlottesville, Virginia, riots, AntiFa protesting and subsequent death of Heather Heyer, may she rest in peace. God Save the World…and Amerikkka.

2. Fahrenheit 11/9 Premiering a few weeks ago here in Spain at very select cinema screens across the country, this is the first documentary in some time by Michael Moore that could play across an international landscape and should be required viewing on any critic’s or person’s list. The titular oddity refers to the day after we all woke up across the world in shock and awe that Donald J Trump had won the Presidency of the USA. Even if this is not Morre’s best film to date, it is undoubtedly the one that holds the viewers’ feet to the fire and calls for them to fight the nasty funk of this administration. But, it’s when he takes it back to his roots, to Flint, Michigan, and ends up involving all local and state politics, that we start to see the more sinister undertakings happening amongst conservative parties, ideals and societies. When you add in the fact of the Parkland High School shooting and the way Moore later fuses footage of Hitler and his minions and followers with a rally speech made by the current occupant of the White House, it becomes all too obvious that things are exactly as we think they are (A HOT MESS!) and we have very little recourse rather than claiming truth. (now available On Demand and DVD)

1. ROMA There are tender moments of realism that are permitted to happen with the rise of instant cinema on VOD and direct-to-home films, and it has been a pleasure to see that sites like Netflix and Amazon and Canal+ have truly added to the foray in which great celluloid can be brought to the masses. Case in point comes the finest piece of dramatic celluloid that graced the silver screen in the last year. Being a Mexican whose father is a naturalised citizen of the US and a mother who is Chicana from the US, like myself and my siblings, the sentimentality ran deep with this film. One of the differences I experienced was the fact that we were the only Mexican-American family in a stately US country club…and we had an entire childhood spent with loving housekeepers, which is what this film inherently is honouring and depicting, using the backdrop of Alfonso Cuarón’s take on growing up in 70s-upper middle class Mexico City in the neighbourhood of Roma. Depicting the life of the house assistant Cleo (first-time performer Yalitza Aparicio in a J.Hud moment, frankly) and the family of Sr. Antonio (Fernando Grediaga), a doctor in the Mexican capital, what Cuarón has called his most personal film to date, is also a B&W modern tale in the vein of Gone with the Wind, and the fact that he centres around a privileged Mexican family is poignant for several reasons: it not only takes a focus away from how Donald bloody Trump has painted Mexicans, in general, to the world, but it also highlights a very human element to how many classes of society function and live there in the frontier regions of North America and, more importantly, EVERYWHERE…easily put, this is a sweet, oft-times simple, oft-times brutal story on humanity. What binds so many critics together on this film’s merits is that fact that Alfonso Cuarón has crafted the past year’s most enigmatic movie, leaving us to make our own answers to what happens to Lady Cleo, her best mate Teresa, and this beautiful family. Absolutely and quietly stunning! (available on Netflix and selects screens across the country)

#abitterlifethroughcinema #BCNinEnglish #englishradiobcn #overlord #theballadofbusterscruggs #eighth grade #elangel #a star is born #blackpanther #chappaquiddick #privatelife #Blackkklansman #fahrenheit119 #roma film #LucasAvramCavazos

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alongtimeagoinablogfarfaraway · 6 years ago

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Favorite Albums 2018: THE TOP 5

#5- Victory Lap by Nipsey Hussle

Congratulations to the 2018 Stay Trippy Award winner. I’ve never really listened to Nipsey Hussle. I mean this was his first studio album release after all so I guess I can’t really be blamed for that. But the raw intensity that he raps with on this debut effort is something to acknowledge. Nipsey is blunt, track 2 “Rap Niggas” kind of exemplifies that with the chorus “I ain’t nothin like you fuckin rap niggas”. A simple statement but it’s the entire theme of the song and the message he’s trying to get across. Like I’ve said before, there seemed to be a theme this year with rappers calling out the up and coming new generation.

Victory Lap is a rap album through and through. His raspy unique voice delivers every verse with a confident brutal ferociousness. That statement may seem a bit much but it fits the way Nipsey raps in my opinion.

As I continued to listen to him rap, the image above is something I could picture him doing very easily. I definitely feel like Nipsey isn’t someone you want to mess with or double cross. I mean after all he does state in “Last Time That I Checc’d” that “I’m the street’s voice out west” and that is certainly is a bold and high remark to make about one’s self. But I can see it, I really can. I really liked every song on this album and yet I had never ever listened to Nipsey Hussle as I stated before so it was pretty obvious that this would be this years Stay Trippy Award winner. I should have more to say but after all I did just start listening to Nipsey this year, so we’ll see if he comes out with another within the next couple years, I’ll be keeping an eye out.

Favorite Song

Succa Proof

#4- Bobby Tarantino II by Logic

I don’t watch Rick and Morty and I was still laughing and loving the entire 2 min long introduction they have about listening to Logic music and listen to that Bobby Tarantino shit. Logic has taken on many alter egos but the Bobby Tarantino one started back in 2016 when he released the first Bobby Tarantino mix-tape. This is technically a mix-tape but I’m kind of considering it an LP since mix-tapes are something I’ve always considered something that you can obtain for free. Just like the first one, this second installment in the series continues the I don’t give a fuck, I’m having fun attitude. This album has the hit singles that Logic has started to become well known for but it also resurrected lots of fans favorite alter ego of his “Young Sinatra” on the song “Warm It Up”. A lot of people lost their shit when they heard him donning that name again in a song (and I was definitely one of those people).

Logic is the perfect blend of hip-hop and rap. This album/mix-tape whatever exemplifies that. The intro jumps right into “Overnight” and the energy never stops from there. Bobby is fun, he’s electric and he’s talented above all else.

And his music videos are just as entertaining as he is (Example above from “Everyday” music video). “Everyday” was probably my least favorite song but after watching the music video I sort of had more of an appreciation for it but that’s the thing, even the songs I don’t really like at first I seem to end up liking them at the end of the day because Logic is just that guy. He’s goes from a very poppy song like that and on the reverse has songs like “44 More” where he absolutely demolishes the beat he raps over ending with the line “now here’s 44 more” as in he 44 more bars. I mean that’s just as fun as fun gets. Logic’s the man and he absolutely knows it now. He dropped this just to drop it and give the fans more of what they want. He didn’t need to tease some album for years and years, he just gave the people what they want; more music. And it works in my opinion. This was one of the funnest albums of the year for me. That’s why it landed so high at #4.

Favorite Song

Wizard of Oz

#3- Astroworld by Travis Scott

I’m going to start by saying one thing, this is not Travis Scott’s best album. In fact, this may be my least favorite of his three studio albums that he’s released. And yet here it sits at number 3. That’s because I still throughly enjoyed this album. There’s the smash hit “Sicko Mode”, which Travis had to know would strike gold like it did. There was also the hit single “Butterfly Effect” but that song is mainstream Travis, it’s just not that good in my opinion. This leads me to my main point about this album. There are a good three to four songs I could care less about on this album, which usually means it won’t land this high on my list but every other song I pretty much loved. “Yosemite”, “Astrothunder” (mainly because of the track it followed), “Skeletons” and “Butterfly Effect” really are nothing special in my opinion. “Astrothunder” follows a track called “NC-17″ on the album where 21 Savage is featured and it’s just a great song. “Astrothunder” transitions the mood a bit too much for me following that song and it just didn’t work, I don’t know ya like what ya like and that was something I didn’t like.

But Travis did give us this song. I guess the powerful entries outweighed the less powerful because again this album landed the #3 spot. And at the end of the day this album was one that I listened more than most this year. I mean the first track “Stargazing” had me extremely pumped the first time I listened to it. Travis sings with that hallucinating auto tune of his and then out of the nowhere the beat drops and reemerges as something raw and intense and Travis just starts dropping bars and now we’re in a Travis rap song and not so much a Travis hip hop song. The production and delivery is brilliant and would you expect anything less because he is one of the best at those two things. I honestly thought that with his blown up fame and having already made two great albums that this album would honestly be a disappointment. Often now we find the albums with the biggest don’t always deliver and this was easily everyone’s most anticipated of the year. It didn’t deliver the expectations for me as much as it did for everyone else but there’s no denying that this album is a continued example of why Travis is one of the best hip-hop artists out there right now.

Favorite Song

NC-17

#2- Kids See Ghosts by Kanye West & Kid Cudi

The most definitive spots are always #2 and #1 for me. I always usually know right then and there when I listen to the eventual nominees which ones will take the top spots and be tough to beat. This album was one of them. This album combines two brilliant artists and musical minds. Kanye is nuts but this album is that example I was talking about in the first four out when I said he’s still got it though and still has a hand in some of the best albums being made. Kanye and Cudi are a great combo and this album displays that on every one of the seven tracks. Whether it’s Cudi’s echoing ballad in “Feel the Love” to start off the album (along with the lovely guest feature by Pusha T) or “4th Dimension” a song that when Cudi dives in with his rough vocals you get chills. It’s beautiful. There really just is something about that Kid Cudi when he starts singing and humming on a track.

There’s only 7 songs on this album but I love them all. That’s the kind of thing that will land an album with only 7 songs this high. For their first duo effort I’d say it was a huge success. Kanye’s passion and Cudi’s passion mix together very well and then on songs like “Extasy” we get an awesome feature from Ty Dolla $ign and it just works so well and fits in with the electric feel to the song. Sometimes I see how corny some of the stuff is that I say but it makes sense in my own head and hopefully somewhat to you the reader. Anyway, the album ends with Cudi sort of giving us an exit from an album that just really suits the name from start to finish. It’s a trip and a dream like kind of one at that. There’s the sounds you’d expect from a Cudi album and the production that you’d expect from a Kanye one.

I can’t ever deny how much of a role these two have played in my love for music growing up. Cudi has reemerged as one of my favorites as he’s been a part of two of my favorite albums within the past several years; this one and his solo album “Pain, Passion & Demon Slaying” back in 2016. Kanye is Kanye as I’ve said but this album left me with the feeling that I still need to be excited when he announces that music from him and GOOD music is coming our way. I just love the passion of this album most. Well done.

Favorite Song

4th Dimension

#1- Daytona by Pusha T

As the chorus to the first album on this song states “If you know you know”, I certainly knew I had probably listened to what would be my #1 for 2018 after listening to this album once. Why? Because I knew I needed to listen to it again right away after listening to it the first time. Look I was skeptical. This album had been teased as King Push for a long time, years to be exact and then at the last second the album’s title changed to Daytona. It brought back memories of Kanye constantly changing his name for The Life of Pablo. I didn’t want that to happen here. I had been waiting for Pusha to drop this album and I did not want it to disappoint. I think it’s safe to say that it didn't.

So let’s jump in then. My favorite song “Come Back Baby” where the lyrics:

“Bitch, I been had, bitches been bad We buy big boats, bitch, I’m Sinbad” And“They don’t miss you till you gone with the wind And they tired of dancing like a Ying Yang Twin You can’t have the Yin without the Yang my friend”

are said. I mean...ya just gotta love King Push. I mean he kind uses the Ying Yang Twins to shape a metaphor and to me that’s just great. Pusha doesn’t change what he does when it comes to his style of rap. He raps about being a cocaine cowboy basically. He raps about the lifestyle. He raps only as we’ve ever known him to and surprise IT WAS AWESOME. It resulted in a great album. Now I get all these rappers wanting to experiment and try something new to create all elements of their own music but what made you great, the type of music, the flow, the sound, it’s what MADE YOU GREAT. Pusha doesn’t try to be different he tries to be Pusha. It’s just seven songs of raw emotion and power coming from the likes of someone I would never want to fuck with, THE Pusha T.

Does that look like someone you want to mess with? NO. And let’s not forget that Pusha started the infamous beef with Drake this year off the track “Infrared”. I mean I didn’t expect Pusha to come out shots firing but then again I shouldn’t be surprised. You know he’ll challenge anyone and you certainly don’t question it. But back to why this album is great and why it deserves the #1 spot. Because all 7 songs are fucking awesome. Call it a weak argument but from start to finish Push doesn’t stop dropping bar after bar over beautifully produced beats and you just get lost in this album. You want to keep hearing more and more and when Pusha is being Pusha to the max that’s really all you can ask for when listening to one of his albums.

Pusha starts off rapping over a high octane beat to start the album and ends it letting everyone know that he’s still here and that he’s been around and he’s going nowhere. I mean he clearly calls out Drake specifically but he’s also calling out everyone else too. Like I said, a lot of these rappers who have been around and established themselves have finally had it with the new generation and rightfully so...they’re all mostly trash (I’m looking at you Lil Pump, 6ix9ine, Playboi Carti...god there’s just too many to name). This album is refreshing and honestly it’s what a rap album should be. It’s dark, it’s gritty and at the end of the day it’s King Push reestablishing himself to everyone, although I don’t think he really needed to.

Favorite Song

Come Back Baby

So there you have it, my 2018 list. I really wanted to make something amazing this year with my list and make it more flashy (apparently I thought GIFs could achieve that) but I got lazy and didn’t prep enough. We’ll see if I can better prepare for 2019′s list and think of something to make it more enjoyable of a read. Last year I ended with my most anticipated albums of 2018. They were SremmLife 3 (SR3MM), Untitled A$AP Rocky album (Testing), King Push (Lol, Daytona), AstroWorld & Untitled Schoolboy Q album. Schoolboy’s didn’t happen and one of them ended up probably being my most disappointing album of 2018, A$AP Rocky’s Testing. Now if you know me you know he’s my favorite artist. He’s experimenting these days hardcore. Testing was a trip and a half but not one that I loved that much. Rocky isn’t as lyrical as he used to be and for me that’s disappointing. Anyways here’s my most anticipated albums for this year I guess:

Run The Jewels IV (I guess this is a thing? And if it is I’m gonna lost my shit)

Schoolboy Q - TBA

Childish Gambino - TBA (Again don’t really know if this is a thing)

Joey Bada$$ - TBA

Thanks to the very few who read this/maybe not very few. Here’s to 2019 and another great year of music!

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slay-the-spire-mod-gm · 2 years ago

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15 Slay The Spire Mods That Make The Game Even Better

💾 ►►► DOWNLOAD FILE 🔥🔥🔥 Cards have been around almost as long as the concept of recreation. Deck builders, on the other hand, have been experiencing a surge in virtual popularity in recent years. One of the best card games to come out during this genre boon has been Slay the Spire , a fantastically animated, fresh-feeling deck-building experience. It's won numerous awards for its strategic gameplay and garnered positive reviews for its replayability. However, even the best games get stale after a while. Content dries up, runs start to feel similar. Challenge fades. Attraction dissipates. Luckily, Slay the Spire came loaded with mod support, and the Steam community isn't one to let a great game die so quickly. Here are a nice handful of mods meant to extend the Slay the Spire experience by adding some cosmetics or, in some cases, completely revising the game from the ground up. As always , make sure to check for prerequisites and conflicts; Steam comments are great for sorting those out. Updated on June 7, by Ritwik Mitra: Slay the Spire is a deceptively simple card game that managed to take the gaming world by storm, courtesy of an addictive gameplay loop coupled with genuinely great design that managed to elevate this title over its contemporaries. Players who want to enjoy this game to the absolute fullest can accomplish the same by checking out the best Slay the Spire mods that can be downloaded right now, and we've refreshed this list to include a few more. The Touhou Project is one of the most underrated and beloved gaming franchises out there, and it was only a matter of time before this series would see some representation in a Slay the Spire mod. One devoted fan has released a mod that adds Marisa from the Touhou Project into Slay the Spire , along with a set of cards, a total of eleven relics, and one special potion as well! The idea of playing a character in Slay the Spire who can damage themselves with their own attacks is a unique concept that comes to life with The Cursed mod. This mod adds a new character to the game along with a deck that is extremely powerful but can curse you with each successive use, turning the game into a race against time as you strive to complete the game as soon as possible. In a similar vein to The Cursed, The Hermit is another piece of fan-made content that adds a new character, along with a new set of cards and a whole host of other additions as well. Using this custom class in a new playthrough of Slay the Spire is bound to be a blast indeed A multiplayer Slay the Spire mod that is as bit as engaging and fun as one might expect it to be, Spire with Friends is a must-have mod for any ardent fan of Slay the Spire. With options for both co-op and versus mode, it goes without saying that Spire with Friends is bound to be a blast for anyone who wishes to enjoy their experience of playing this game with a friend. The map of Slay the Spire can be awfully rudimentary and boring to look at. The fact that some of the icons end up looking like each other due to the monochrome aesthetic is also quite frustrating in its own right. The Colored Map mod for Slay the Spire ends up accomplishing the rather simple yet welcome function of adding some color to this boring map so that players can go through the game without getting a headache from looking at this infamous map. The art does all the world-building any player could ask for, as it breathes a certain life and style into the game that even the most gameplay-focused, hardcore deck-building nerds out there can appreciate. How can something so evocative and alluring become even more so? Why, with added googly eyes , of course! The Ironclad becomes the Irondad, looking out for his son: the blade. The venomous Silent now poisons her enemies with cuteness. All this info may be even harder on the mobile version. Cards affected by relics now glow, multi-attack total damage is now shown instead of making you do the math in your head, and many icons now show various status effects. It makes for a much more readable Slay the Spire experience. The base game of Slay the Spire comes with four characters to play with, multiple secrets to uncover, and loads of enemies to slay. But, after hours, any game can get repetitive. Some people may jump ship to Monster Train , another highly regarded deck builder. While Slay the Spire is good already, all it needs is a little something to shake it up again after a while without totally converting the experience. Replay the Spire does just that. All the characters are intact, just with extra cards and relics to play with. Enemies are buffed with special colored versions, but you can debuff them yourself with new applicable weaknesses. There are even three new, multi-layered bosses to slay. Jump into the config options to modify runs even further, to any specificity a wanting heart could desire. Not every mod needs to add hours of content, new bosses, or even a single new item. Some mods excel at being smaller and more focused, making them more able to help players without significant navigational or spatial awareness skills ascend the spire and, uh, slay it. The Highlight Paths mod simply and effectively lives up to its title. If you right-click on a map mode after loading up a new round of Slay the Spire, the path will highlight all the way down to the boss fight, making planning the most efficient route that much easier. It is so much easier to see the bonfire-to-boss ratio of any given path. After playing a certain amount of Slay the Spire, or mastering one of the characters, some may start to feel confident — overconfident, in some cases. They might start to think that Slay the Spire is easy, especially since there is no such thing as an "impossible" run. Should these confident folks download the Hubris mod, they would soon realize the smirk had been wiped from their face by the one and only Giant Snecko. Hubris adds over 50 new relics, some new cards, and a few events. The biggest addition, is, literally, the Giant Snecko, a towering boss of Godzilla vs. Kong proportions. Be warned: this is a pretty difficult mod to master. The xylophone alone takes a few runs to master. Ye have been warned! Playing roguelike games — even the simpler, entry-level ones — can always feel a little grindy, what with the constant restarts from nothing and all. Oh, the bird hits for one damage, but five times? What fun. Now, run off and quickly ascend that spire. Decks in Slay the Spire should peak between cards. But even 25 cards is a lot to keep track of, on top of everything else you need to know to have a successful ascension. If only there was some way to keep track of what's in your deck, but represented visually…. This mod keeps track of what's both in the current deck, the current draw, and the current discard pile, which allows you to plan just that little bit better. Now, if only they could do this for the physical board game version. The main hook of this fella, outside of his shiny red chassis and adorable little face, is his salvage ability, which lets you shuffle a random card from your discard pile back into your hand. The robot can also use a Solar Flare ability for random end-of-turn damage. This is the big tamale. This is years of work. This massive mod combines extremely popular modded characters, and all their accompanying cards, relics, and passives, into one huge expansion. This is one of the biggest and most comprehensive Slay the Spire mods. This time, players can Descend the Spire, playing as villains from the vanilla game, attempting to slay the spire slayers before they slay the spire. There are even new characters never before seen in any other mod. This may possibly be the only mod any Slay the Spire player could ever, would ever, and should ever need. Poor Switch owners have no idea what they're missing, but they have other roguelikes to play , at least. Sometimes, players want something simple. Something rustic. Something that is totally unnecessary, unneeded, and quite seriously unasked for. The Ironclad is a fan favorite, mostly for his regenerating health. A lot of people like Slay the Spire just the way it is. But, what if you could keep the game and character you love, and not change a single thing about it, except to give the Ironclad a nice, sunburn-stopping cowboy hat? This is how Slay the Spire was meant to be played; with a stupid hat on a blood knight. This rules. This is the kind of stuff that elevates Slay the Spire onto so many best-of lists. Now go enjoy all these mods, spire slayers! Read Next in indie games.

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recentanimenews · 3 years ago

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Bookshelf Briefs 12/16/21

In which Sean valiantly goes it alone yet again.

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Vol. 1 | By Kanehito Yamada and Tsukasa Abe | Viz Media – This is award-winning, which piqued my interest, and also a rare Shonen Sunday license, which did as well. Turns out the hype is justified. This is a beautiful and poignant story about the elf of a hero’s party who, after they slay the demon lord and break up to go their separate ways, discovers that she has no idea how people who are not her think, be they human, dwarf, or what. She realizes this too late to talk with the hero, and almost too late to talk to the party’s priest, but eventually decides that she needs to experience more in life, and learn how people who don’t have thousand-year lifespans live. The first volume spans about 6-7 years, so our own sense of time may be skewed. It has humor and heart. – Sean Gaffney

My Lovey-Dovey Wife Is a Stone Cold Killer, Vol. 1 | By Donten Kosaka | Seven Seas – This manga is here for one reason and one reason alone, and that’s the lovey-dovey part of the title. It absolutely does not want the reader to think too hard about her other job beyond as a means for comedy. Certainly the husband doesn’t—as the title begins, he already knows his wife kills people for a living, and is absolutely fine with it. The book itself is filled with romcom staples—though it’s worth noting that, as with apparently quite a few Japanese couples—these two have been married for months and their sex life is still 100% absent. But that’s OK, we still have disapproving sister-in-laws, going out to shop, and trying to understand your partner’s needs even when they’re a husband, not a target. For fans of We’re New at This. – Sean Gaffney

My Next Life As a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, Vol. 6 | By Satoru Yamaguchi and Nami Hidaka | Seven Seas – This is pretty much the same as what I said about the series last time: if you’ve read the novels and seen the anime, it’s almost unnecessary. The ‘almost’ part is because Nami Hidaka (who also illustrates the light novels) is clearly having fun doing a full manga version, and the expressions that she gives everyone can be highly entertaining. This especially goes for Susanna/Lana/Larna, who manages to make “I am first in line to be the Queen” easily the least interesting of the jobs she’s currently doing. This wraps up the third novel, and I assume volumes seven and eight will take on the fourth, which is… well, not a popular book, shall we say. But hey, it’s Bakarina. You know you have to take the bad with the good. – Sean Gaffney

Skip & Loafer, Vol. 2 | By Misaki Takamatsu | Seven Seas – Still enjoying the general mood of this title more than anything else. Mitsumi is the sort of character who would simply be an airheaded flake in lesser series, but here she’s not only quite smart and studious, but also good at figuring out ways that she may have accidentally screwed up socially and trying to fix them. This is good, as her not-yet love interest Shima is a very tough nut to crack—a childhood acting career has left him adrift, and he seems to be perfectly happy to stay that way. An upcoming volleyball game is also handled well—Mitsumi is bad at sports, and has to be trained by Egashira, who is still angry at Mitsumi for bad reasons, but does it anyway. The result… is that Mitsumi noticeably improves, but isn’t great. Best realism in Manic Pixie Dream Girl manga. – Sean Gaffney

Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 16 | By Sorata Akiduki | Viz Media – This arc with Shirayuki being away is, frankly, taking forever, so it’s no real surprise that it shifts its focus for most of it to Mitsuhide and Kiki. They’re a popular fan pairing, they get ship tease here and there, but… honestly, it does not seem as if the author is all that into them. Things are not helped by her primary husband candidate seeming to clean up his act and pursue her hand with greater effort. That said, the largest problem might be that her other candidates for marriage keep getting attacked. There are a few candidates, but the cliffhanger tells us that the prime suspect is … well, just who we don’t want it to be. If Shirayuki and Zen’s romance is obvious and forthright, Mitsuhide and Kiki’s is deceptive and fluid. Great stuff, though. – Sean Gaffney

Species Domain, Vol. 11 | By Shunsuke Noro | Seven Seas – Having crushed Kazanori’s spirit, and suggested that Ohki might in fact be asexual, we now need to remember how this manga initially started and work on getting the two of them together. It’s going to be tough, but Ohki starts to get a clue here and there as the manga goes on, which is more than he’s done the previous ten, so that’s good. In fact, all the pairings look close to becoming official by the end of the book, which is likely why a cliffhanger is thrown in with Jin and Hanei being in danger from an unknown assailant. This book should have ended a while back—its humor is not quite as sharp anymore, and some of these romances have dragged—but I still enjoy it as a unique sort of title that manages to go several places without actually offending. – Sean Gaffney

Sweat and Soap, Vol. 10 | By Kintetsu Yamada | Kodansha Comics – The start of the book is entirely dedicated to defusing the situation we had in the last volume, and it’s handled, as the rest of the series has done, with love, communication, and reaching across to help each other. With a good dose of loving sex at the end as a reward, of course. Now that Asako’s issues with her body odor have mostly been taken care of, it’s wedding time. The actual marriage is a quick license ceremony, with the wedding itself being done months later. That said, they chose a date which leaves them very little time in which to plan, and I suspect the final volume (the next) may feature some crises. Still, at least we get Asako in not one but THREE wedding dresses—all of which are wrong for her, alas. Still fantastic. – Sean Gaffney

Takane & Hana, Vol. 18 | By Yuki Shiwasu | Viz Media – As with the last volume, this final volume of Takane & Hana is here to remind you that all the drama and conflict have been dealt with beforehand, and we can just enjoy the two leads playfully at each other’s throats. My favorite part may be during the wedding reception, when guests wonder if Hana really thinks she deserves to be Takane’s wife, and she responds point blank “I absolutely do.” Hana’s self-confidence and ability to tear Takane a new one when he needs it have been the main reason to read this. There’s also a limited-edition volume with a different cover and a 30-page booklet with a “7 years later,” showing Hana had triplets (!!!) and that everyone else is doing fine. This was one of the funniest shoujo manga I’ve read in years. I’ll miss it. – Sean Gaffney

By: Sean Gaffney

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

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parkbearum · 7 years ago

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Who is Kai?

♡ Kim Jongin

♡ “Nini”

♡ The biggest chicken lover after sehun

♡ Also the maknae

♡ V I S U A L

♡ dance line

♡ Unique voice

♡ Also raps in some of their concerts

♡ Worships loves dogs

♡ P E R F E C T H U S B A N D M A T E R I A L

♡ i really don’t know where to start this boy is too perfect

♡ We all know exo is made of visuals

♡ but he is a legend

♡ Many people criticised him for his dark skin including his members

♡ Which is the most beautiful thing i’ve ever seen

♡ He is so unique in every possible way

♡ He is literally art

♡ his pouty face

♡ his resting bitch face

♡ his sleepy face

♡ his angry face

♡ his smiley face

♡ his hungry face

♡ his “told ya” face

♡ his proud face

♡ his scared face

♡ his surprised face

♡ All of them are art

♡ All of them are handsome

♡ He looks good in every hair colour

♡ Photo shoots are made for kim kai

♡ Model material

♡ So perfect

♡ His lips are amazing

♡ As well as his face

♡ and ass

♡ He is a gift from above

♡ He is really cute

♡ another cinnamon roll from exo

♡ is so giggly

♡ but so cute

♡ forgot his members name on a special press conference

♡ soft

♡ his smile melts my heart

♡ He is a plushy giggly lovely kid

♡ should be protected

♡ and he will be

♡ he is a cute child sent from above but

♡ don’t be fooled so easily

♡ HE A HOE

♡ He knows what we want

♡ he gives us what we want

♡ He is one of the rudest members

♡ He has to turn every and anything into something rude

♡ he ain’t joking around with that blindfold

♡ he is literally an exo-l’s dream and nightmare

♡ his hip thrusts

♡ can get you pregnant

♡ ive been waiting for that child’s support since 2014

♡ his body waves are so smooth and hot

♡ He knows what he’s doing

♡ Is dirty-minded

♡ Sehun and kai went to a chinese mukbang show as guests

♡ And the lady made a dick joke and kai was the only one who understood while sehun was the innocent baby

♡ Is really goooooood at smirking

♡ Has the best smirk

♡ Exo-l have been suffering

♡ He can ruin your day with his smirk

♡ he can make your day with his smirk

♡ he can basically fuck you up

♡ he is an angel and the demon himself at the same time

♡ And remember

♡ Even if he’s not ur bias or bias wrecker

♡ impossible lol

♡ Or even if u don’t stan exo

♡ EVERYONE IS A KAI HOE DEEP IN THEIR HEARTS

♡ The real dancing king

♡ him,lay and sehun slay every exo-ls life

♡ did we have a life tho?

♡ nope thanks to exo

♡ His moves are smooth af

♡ He was literally born to dance

♡ His body is capable of moving so professionally

♡ he also works hard for it

♡ His best friend except the members

♡ Taemin

♡ I hear people screaming yaaaass

♡ There’s this soft friendship called

♡ Taekai

♡ It’s the best friendship ever

♡ where one of them films the other while he’s crying and telling him to stop

♡ Also where one of them dances less boldly so the other gets as much attention

♡ “Pretty Boy” by kim taekai

♡ They’re seriously so pretty wtf

♡ They’re both rude fluff balls

♡ He also has a good relationship with nct’s ten

♡ Exo has the best relationship with nct since nct is their child

♡ Taekai’s photo shoot was ranked as one of the sexiest photo shoots ever

♡ since they’re both rude af

♡ Which brings us to Krystal

♡ Bitch get out they’re having a moment

♡ They’ve been dating since 2015 but they broke up last month

♡ I don’t want y’all to hate me but i dislike jung sisters and i didn’t like the two of them together from the beggining so “told ya kai”

♡ P.s. Kyungsoo was so happy and laughing,having the time of his life before the day the break up was announced

♡ He knows it

♡ KAISOO

♡ A hoe for ksoo

♡ They have the best married couple award along with xiuchen

♡ Kai like to eat--->kyungsoo loves to cook

♡ i hear my kaisoo shippers

♡ They’re so adorable

♡ They’re the perfect match

♡ he wants to eat him

♡ kai has so many ships and they call baek the hoe of the group lmfao

♡ Let’s ship him with food as well

♡ He loooves food

♡ as much as he loves ksoo

♡ Chicken is his life goal

♡ Fried,boiled,in any form

♡ the love of his life after ksoo and dogs

♡ I love the way he eats lol

♡ he eats like its his last meal

♡ A soft baby appearing

♡ Since we shipped him with like 8773839 things and people

♡ Ship him with dogs

♡ He absolutely loves them

♡ another member of exo who’s love is a dog i mean chanyeol and sehun

♡ or multiple dogs

♡ His dog is the biggest one out of all the dogs members have

♡ he also has lovely relationship with his members

♡ Especially with sehun since they’re both maknaes

♡ But also with any other member

♡ wants to a part of the beagle line

♡ is a secret member with sehun

♡ Chan and him had a car date where they went to a gaming centre but there wasn’t enough place

♡ Also goes shopping with his hyungs

♡ His vlives are so amazing

♡ He didn’t know how to use it first but now

♡ he’s “kai the pro”

♡ Invites his hyungs and films vlives together

♡ He is actually an emotional kid but he doesn’t like to show his sad feelings

♡ Cried during several performances

♡ He wears his expensive ass shoes really mindlessly

♡ but its ok coz he rich

♡ also didn’t shave when they filmed 5 year anniversary on vlive

♡ had a mask

♡ BUT WE ALL SAW HIS BEARD IT WAS GORGEOUS AND EXOL NEVER FORGETS

♡ He and chanyeol have really unique voices

♡ Deep and soothing

♡ “OMMAYA~~~~”

♡ His voice is not the typical KIdol voice which is so incredible

♡ He is a soft child who’s on his way to become your ultimate bias wrecker.Send him lots of love and protect him ♡

#kai #kim jongin #exo #exo k #exo m #exo scenario #exo smut #exo scenarios #exo fluff #exo angst #chanyeol #suho #sehun #chen #xiumin #baekhyun #lay

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agentnico · 7 years ago

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Murder on the Orient Express (2017) Review

Thankfully that ‘Believer’ song by Imagine Dragons that was used so heavily in the film’s trailers is not present in the actual final product. However we are all still wondering who thought it be a good idea to include such a modern song in the marketing for a film that’s set in the 1920-30′s! I mean, WTF??

Plot: A lavish train ride unfolds into a stylish & suspenseful mystery. From the novel by Agatha Christie, Murder on the Orient Express tells of thirteen stranded strangers & one man's race to solve the puzzle before the murderer strikes again.

I really do enjoy Agatha Christie’s novels of the adventures of ‘one of the greatest detectives in the world’ Hercule Poirot, and I would say ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ is amongst my favourites, probably because that was the book that introduced me to Poirot. So I was more than curious about this new take on the famous mystery, especially with the talent involved. Kenneth Branagh, known for his Shakespeare work as well as his films like ‘Thor’ and ‘Cinderella’ has took it upon himself to direct this adaptation, but not only that, he also stars as the main character! And the rest of the cast shines with A-listers as well as fan-favourites. Also filmed on a very decent budget and with top-notch costume and production design, what could possibly go wrong? Well honestly not much goes wrong. This is a fairly well made adaptation that stays mostly true to its source material minus a few differences here and there that don’t really hurt the plot per-se.

Accompanied by the gorgeous scenery and visuals of the many tracking shots of the train going through the snowy mountains and the vast valley creating that sense of the characters all being stuck together with no one near to help or for them to leave. And the Orient Express itself is stunning, with the rich furniture and high-class sleeping cabins to the dining cars and food that looks like it should be put in a museum. And of course all the costumes fit perfectly to that time, and it kind of makes me wish that we wore similar things today, but hey, times change! Anyhow, the production design is definitely one of the best aspects of the film.

The film does feel very classical in style, like it would have come out 50 years ago (although it wouldn’t have obviously looked as lush back then), but that idea of there being a mystery involving a murder and the detective on the case has to find out who did it is a very old story formula that has been quite forgotten in the past decade of films, so it was nice to see something like that on the screen again. That famous twist ending that the original novel is known for is present in the film, yes, and for the fans of the material it is no spoiler alert to assure you they haven’t changed the basic culprit, but the film does find a unique way to make that revelation a lot less claustrophobic and certainly give it more visual panache and be less out-there. In terms of issues with the narrative, I feel like those audiences out there who are not familiar with the original book and who haven’t heart about the ending will be able to guess who did it from miles away, purely because the clues that the movie gives you throughout make it was too obvious. It wasn’t subtle enough, and that was the issue. There are also quite a few attempts at humour here and there within the movie, but most of them don’t actually work. There are a couple of chuckle worthy moments, but as a whole the jokes fall flat.

With such a high calibre cast it is the unfortunate reality that many of them are under-used. For example, Penelope Cruz, Willem Dafoe and Judi Dench have such limited lines and screen time, which is a shame as all three are either an Academy Award winner or nominee! On the other hand lesser known and younger talents like ‘Hamilton’’s Leslie Odom Jr., ‘Star Wars’’s Daisy Ridley and Disney favourite Josh Gad get more to work with, which might be because Branagh want to make audiences more aware of these actors unlike the A-listers that we already know so well. But as a whole, under-used or not, all actors do a splendid job (it was nice to Derek Jacobi pop up in there!), and each actor gets at least one scene to show off their talents. Johnny Depp has fun here taking inspiration from his gangster roles like ‘Black Mass’ and ‘Public Enemies’, and Michelle Pfeiffer continues her proper comeback into mainstream films after this year’s appearance in ‘Mother!’, and truly it’s good to have her back! I’d say this, various audience members will prefer various actors more after seeing this film, as no one really ‘steals the show’ besides probably Kenneth Branagh himself who stars as the detective Hercule Poirot, who definitely proves once again what a talent he is as he manages to keep you engaged with his character till the very end. Add to that Branagh attempting a Belgian accent and rocking one of the biggest and most styled moustaches I have ever seen on screen (and that said moustache surprisingly wasn’t as distracting as I thought it would be!), and we have ourselves a hero we can get behind. Though there were some questionable additions to the character of Poirot that aren’t present in the book, mainly the fact that Poirot in this film gets involved in some action sequences where he fights certain characters. I can say this, in the books Poirot’s main weapon is his mind, and that he hardly succumbs to violence, in fact he doesn’t really, and the way Poirot is set up in this film also did not suggest him being someone that would know how to fight, yet he does and it feels very forced. Poirot is also more OCD in this film than he has ever been in the books, but again, film adaptations tend to change things from their original source material so I don’t mind that. Also another forced thing is Poirot has a love interest of sorts in this film. Didn’t really hurt the movie, but it definitely felt like a Hollywood-ized moment.

There is a sequel set up at the end which sets up one of the other popular Poirot novels, so depending on how this film performs at the box office, we might see Branagh’s detective on screen again some day in the future. In terms of this one, it’s an enjoyable enough film that is hold up by the production design and the performances from the whole cast, but certain flaws make it for a good but not memorable cinema experience.

Overall score: 7/10

TOP MOVIE QUOTE: “You’re the detective, Hercules Poirot?” “Hercule Poirot, I do not slay the lions, mam’selle.”

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moveswiftly-blog1 · 7 years ago

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...Ready For It - a not so brief meditation on reputation.

Hi! Long time listener, first time caller.

A few things to introduce. - I’ve been a huge Taylor Swift fan for a long time. She’s great.

I’m also really bad at brevity, and currently, I’m obsessed with the ...Ready For It video and the whole concept behind reputation. I think she’s doing some extremely interesting things and it’s got me massively excited for the album.

A warning before I get going - this might ramble and go on different tangents, but I’m trying to make somewhat of a coherent point, I promise!

Like anything else Taylor Swift does, there’s been a lot of discussion about the ‘...Ready for It’ video. While the general consensus is that it’s awesome, I’ve seen been a number of comments saying that it doesn’t fit the song, or that it’s a nice looking video that doesn’t mean much. And I completely see where they’re coming from.

That said, I absolutely and wholeheartedly disagree. Maybe it only makes sense in the wider context of reputation, but I feel like it is massively important. I think the story of the video adds huge credence to the visual album theory; it really does feel like the start of something, especially when you link to it to the LWYMMD video. This is the genesis of the Taylor Swift we see in LWYMMD. This is the moment where Taylor Swift “dies.”

But more on that later.

Imagine you're Taylor Swift. After the massively successful 1989 era, which towered over everything around it and left you on top of the world, it all comes crashing down. Not only does your personal life go through some considerable turmoil, but your name is dragged through the mud publicly. The reputation that you had worked hard to build, and were smart and diligent about, not out of spite but out of savvy, is stained. The reputation that you used to give back to your fans, to inspire people, to stand up against Apple; besmirched.

Now, the same people who just months earlier were praising you as the Joni Mitchell and Madonna hybrid the world has always longed for, have turned on you. Everything you do is being contorted into the worst possible "O M G - LOOK WHAT SHE DID" story. You can't even speak out against it, because every time you do, some thinkpiece writer [n.b.: irony noted] has something to say about it. You're a serial dater. You’re a serial victim. Your entire life is a manufactured PR power-play. You hate women. You’re a racist. You're a Trump supporter. "Taylor Swift is over" they say, but they still won't stop talking about how terrible you are for doing...whatever it was you did. Even if you made mistakes or did people wrong (that debate has been had a million times and isn’t really relevant to this), even if most of the terrible and cruel rumours are true; does it really warrant that level of vitriol?

If I was Taylor Swift, I would be tired. I would have little desire to deal with it anymore. In fairness, even if you disagree with her on everything she has said or done, could you blame her? I mean, this is exhausting. Why bother with the endless interviews, the endless promo, the endless fake award shows, when they are all just opportunities to subject yourself to people who want to hate you. So she goes away for a bit. She writes. She meets someone gorgeous. And while she won't let mean people get in the way of her passion, she knows she can't come back as "the old Taylor Swift" - her reputation precedes her. They want the old Taylor Swift back, so they can continue to throw rocks at her. It makes sense for the old Taylor Swift to play that role in the bible of celebrity. But that's not a fun role. She's a person too, and it's fair to ask whether this is a crossroads for Taylor Swift. Whether Taylor Swift can even be Taylor Swift anymore, or if it's unfair of us as an audience to expect that.

So that’s the background.

That brings us to '...Ready For It', and lady-in-white-android Taylor. We’ll start here, as potentially-exciting-album-hints-that-everybody-has-already-analysed aside, this is where it really gets interesting to me.

She's a shapeshifting, master-of-all-trades pop assassin, the likes of which you've never seen before. There are no rules for her. She can be savage and sexy, but guess what: the curls are back too, bitch. She's every type of Taylor, turned up to 11.

Meanwhile, Hooded Taylor plays the role of Dr. Frankenstein, inspecting her creation, putting it through the motions, each of which is a someone's version of Swift pushed to the extreme.

Taylor Swift was a snake? No, that's robot Medusa now.

Remember the Bad Blood video? Yeah, she's got a giant lightning sword now too.

Did she ever say something about a White Horse? Well that’s HER horse now.

And it's ready for WAR.

I’ll give you a moment to think of another time where we saw a bunch of different Taylors from over the years featured in the same video. More on that later.

Just as her creation is showing its creative, naive, whimsical side, Dr. Swift - while obviously fascinated - prods her creation instead of encouraging it, asking that all important question: “Are you ready for it?”.

If this is going to work, then she needs to be able to deal with this. Any good Taylor Swift needs to be able to deal with being prodded at, especially when they’re in a moment of happiness.

This sets off the extravagant, indulgent display of power we see next.

We get some really interesting moments with the lyrics here, with the video shedding a different light on the song. As Swift-via-Motoko becomes Thor-incarnate, the "let the games begin" part of the bridge starts, as Dr. Swift realises that her work is complete. She’s alive.

As the two Taylors approach each other, we get the rest of the bridge (which, as a sidenote, I think has one of Swift's most amazing harmonies, I absolutely adore this moment musically). It's here that the "touch me and you'll never be alone" line gains a new significance; it sounds a lot like Dr. Swift is warning Swift-Prime of the consequences.

The next thing that happens is where everything starts to become clearer. Dr. Swift (aka "the old Taylor") is replaced with this new, omnipotent ultra-Swift. There's no stopping her. She will obliterate everything in her path. If 1989 was Swift's skyscraper, this is a nuclear weapon. Not even Taylor Swift herself can stand in her way, and Dr. Swift knows this; she built it, after all. She willingly sacrifices herself for the cause of reputation. Taylor Swift is dead, long live Taylor Swift.

As an aside, there are more interesting lyrical bits here too, as you can read the chorus as a conversation between the two Taylors. In this context, "In the middle of the night, in my dreams/you should see the things we do, baby" reads less as a plea to a lover and more as a promise to herself, that they're going to be free from all of this one day. This works especially well if you read the subject of the song, the killer and the jailer, to be the pressures of fame rather than a particular individual (which is it's own kettle of fish, and not to say that the song isn't about a person - just an interesting perspective when tied in with the video!).

But this is also the moment when the proverbial ish hits the fan, and we get hit with the twist, as it's revealed to us that Dr. Swift IS A ROBOT TOO. WHAT IS GOING ON?!

But before our minds even have time blow, as Dr. Swift's skin melts away from the sheer fierceness radiating from Swift-Prime, we can see that the other robots are being destroyed too and SOME OF THEM ARE HALF-FINISHED TAYLORS.

Swift-Prime stands triumphant at the end as the last Taylor standing, asking us if we're ready for her. A single tear trickles down her face; happy to be free or sad in understanding her purpose?

I’m not sure, but, while we haven't heard the rest of the album or seen any more videos, I think it's a fair assumption (read: at best a solid theory, at worst a really, really fun thought) that this is the same Taylor Swift who goes onto slay the entire universe in the LWYMMD video. So, spoiler alert: WE WEREN'T READY.

Alright, wrapping up on the gist of what happens in this video: in this world, *someone* has been building robot Taylor Swifts to take the place of the real Taylor Swift, and it took many, many iterations to get here - even to the point that the robot Taylors took over the role of creator.

That leads us to the question of "who on earth is behind all of this?" Logically, I'd say there are a couple of options presented to us. The first is "the real Taylor Swift" - who has been conspicuously absent from all of this. The idea here is that Taylor needed someone who can take it to a level of shadiness, savagery, and literally-dying-ness that people could never have imagined. Why? There could be any of number of motivations behind it, which I'm sure will become clear after the album drops. Maybe she has sacrificed her previous reputation and taken ownership of her new one in order to continue doing what she loves. Maybe she just wanted to give everyone the most powerful response possible, and badass Terminator Swift is one big middle finger to the rest of the world. Maybe she just wants to get away from it all, but wants to continue to give us music, so creates this caricature version of herself to take the heat - a Ziggy Stardust popstar messiah that gives her a hard psychological split between public and private life. There are a million different ways you can read this (and it's getting kind of too deep), but I'm not sure I quite agree with any of them.

The other possible perpetrator, and the one I lean towards, is the outside world. With Swift having shied away from the public eye, there was nobody to give her take on things. This has a number of consequences; first of which is that she didn't defend herself from the endless accusations that were thrown her way. Another is that other people will speak up and give the other side of the story - but while they may have an understanding of who Taylor Swift is, there's no replacement for actually *being Taylor Swift*. The result of that is that all of these different opinions pile on top of each other, and snowball into creating an image of Swift she had no say in. Whether photos came out of her doing charity work, or it was another article about the Kardashian-West incident, what went ignored is that "the real Taylor Swift" was just living her life and didn't engage in any of this - and she seems to be okay with that; "There will be no further explanation. There will just be reputation."

To me, that sounds a lot like her letting go of any control she might have over these mirror universe versions of herself. She removed herself from every narrative, and just kinda did the stuff that she wanted to do. All the while, Taylor Swift as a concept continued to exist and evolve in gossip columns, tweets, candids, tumblr praise essays [n.b.: again, irony, I know], internet speculation and gif collections. It makes "Look what you made me do" look less like an "Oops! I Did It Again" moment, and more of a "no, literally, you did this. LOOK."

Swift-Prime is the culmination of that. She's the critical mass of every clap and clapback. She's the ultimate, and logical, conclusion to all of this. She is reputation - the armageddon of celebrity culture. Whether she's a false prophet or the second coming probably depends on who you follow. The key thing is that she isn't real, because the real Taylor Swift can't come to the phone right now. Why? Well, we don't know. Yet, at least. Some Taylor Swifts are dead - we know that much from the RFI video - but all of the above creates another very interesting parallel to the LWYMMD video (which is genius in its own right). If we know that someone has been building all of these different Taylor Swifts, then what does that mean for this scene?

Are any of these Taylor Swifts real? Are they all man-made (or Taylor-made) robot Swifts? Is Swift-Prime in this picture somewhere? AND WHO IS ON THE WING OF THE PLANE?!

I’m sure we’ll find out, but there's a theme here, and through everything else in this era, of only being shown what someone wants to show us. The story of reputation so far is that it's a narrative about the narrative of Taylor Swift. It picks up where Blank Space left off, in that it's not actually about Taylor Swift. Put simply, LWYMMD parodies and comments on all of these different versions of Swift that are portrayed in a certain way for whatever reason, only focusing in on one singular aspect of her personality or identity, and RFI gives us an origin story of sorts for how we got there. Whoever is behind these robot-Swifts is literally building a reputation.

Now, Taylor Swift is the author of the work, so at some point she's the person pulling the strings behind all of it. But whether she's the one narrating of reputation is a completely different story. There could be a LOT going on here. Could Swift channeling Cervantes, while simultaneously casting herself as Don Quioxte. I don't wanna be the "look at me I'm referring to a classic 17th century novel" guy, but if you're familiar with Don Quioxte then you're aware that that is completely insane and awesome!

But enough of that, there's an elephant in the room.

All of this begs the question: where exactly is the real Taylor Swift? Because if any of this is anything to go by, she might not just absent from this video; we might not even have seen her this whole era. It's a question that remains unanswered no matter what stance you take - because there's certainly no real, human Taylor Swift in the RFI video. Maybe she's somewhere with an island breeze and the lights down low. Maybe she finally picked a rose garden over Madison Square. However - to bring it back to RFI as a song - maybe, just maybe, the bigger question here is, "is it really any of our business?"

While '...Ready for It' as a music video sets the scene perfectly for the world of reputation (and I hope I'm right on that and hopefully more will become clear), I've skipped over the fact that, at it's core, '...Ready For It' is a song about wanting to be left alone. It's a song about the constant pressure that fame brings along with it, and the risk of subjecting someone you love to that. Swift has always had a gift for hiding sadness in happy packages. There's no doubting that RFI is a bona fide banger, and it certainly has its fair share of funny, snarling, exciting moments. But there's a longing underscoring it, from the sheer lust in the second verse to the genuinely melancholy bridge.

At some point it just hit me that it's actually quite strikingly sad. It made me feel that, after all that, I can't really blame her for wanting to be somewhere else for a bit. To be someone else for a bit. I would too. It makes sense that, for all intents and purposes, she isn’t here.

Maybe that is where reputation comes in. I'm in no position to magically guarantee that this is going to be some high-concept album, and that this idea resonates throughout the whole thing. I could be way, way off the mark. But if I was Taylor Swift, I'd sure want to show people exactly what they made me do: kill Taylor Swift, and turn out to be pretty damn proud of it.

So on November 10, we are getting a Taylor Swift album, with Taylor Swift songs that are written and performed by Taylor Swift. Some of which might be about Taylor Swift's life. It's going to have Taylor Swift on the cover, and Taylor Swift will tour in support of it. But is this really an album about Taylor Swift? Is this an album about what we think about Taylor Swift? Or is this an album that Taylor Swift wants us to think is about Taylor Swift?

Maybe it isn't about Taylor Swift at all.

Maybe it's just reputation.

Are you ready for it?

#taylor swift #ready for it #reputation #look what you made me do #lwymmd #...ready for it?

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