#anyway how about that jeff goldblum

[satin-velvet]

I am obsessed with the fact you write for the Wizard and your works are so amazing!!! I hate that the character is so overlooked (also it’s literally Jeff Goldblum hello??). I was wondering if you could write one where he keeps hinting to the reader about wanting to be a father/headcanons about the Wizard becoming a father? Your recent headcanons inspired this because he would totally keep slipping it into conversation.

✧. 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒲𝒾𝓏𝒶𝓇𝒹 𝒶𝓈 𝒶 𝐹𝒶𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝐻𝑒𝒶𝒹-𝒞𝒶𝓃𝑜𝓃𝓈 *. * ✧

summary: head-canons about the wonderful wizard being/becoming a father

note: i’ve wanted to get into father!oscar for soo long because he is precious. thank you anon for sending this in. also, yes, i completely agree about him being overlooked. evil oscar, father oscar.. even though some of sentimental man was him manipulating elphie, i think theres truth in what hes saying about longing to be a father.

disclaimer: mentions of pregnancy, fem-coded reader but other ambiguous

┌── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──┐

Before you actually have a baby, you would be able to pick up on all the ‘subtle’ hints he wanted one. Whenever he would show you the Oz of Tomorrow (which happens to be often) he would always show you the little house with all the children figurines and tell you how much he would cherish being a dad. Or, having baby furniture “just in case”.

Going over potential names and making a list of the ones you two like and don’t like. He would come up with the most unique, creative names that he’s very sure nobody in all of Oz has for the baby. Sometimes unintentionally, he might bring up having a child in conversation, and we know we loves talking, so he could go on about it for awhile until you stop him or agree.

I imagine he has a workshop room somewhere in the palace, and he’d spend a lot of time crafting toys for the future child and presenting them to you for your approval. Any tweaks or suggestions you give him will be taken into account for the newest model. He would try furniture, too, to varying degrees of success. A crib made out of emeralds maybe isn’t the best idea, but Oscar will somehow make it work anyway.

He would get the best caregivers and governess’s to take care of you and the baby. This time, he wouldn’t use an elixir on you, thank goodness. He would definitely be anxious about something going wrong, and would stay by your side the entirety of your pregnancy (if you went that route). He would never let anything bad happen to his child, or you. At this point in your relationship, you and his future child are all he has. He’d be very hesitant to leave the child alone, maybe with the worry something bad might happen; I think he’d be worried a lot, that something might go wrong, but with reassurance from you he’ll calm down.

Every and any need or want you had would be met. Massages, cravings, self-care.. you would never be without. Even if it was something only found on the outskirts of Oz, he’d get someone to go and get it for you. Your comfort is key to him, and there is nothing between you and your happiness.

He’d have the greenest nursery to match the palace, and all of the comfiest onesies and blankets (hand stitched by the best). He would absolutely read to the child and sing songs. Every book in his library, any nursery rhyme he can remember. He’d had everything prepared in the nursery, that, he would let you design if you wanted. But the color is a little hard to negotiate. He’s also have a playroom built (but this time, fit for a child)!

He would give the child a tour of the entire palace when they got a little older, and the Emerald City, (but any farther, he could not be convinced) with you. He’d want to be there for every one of the child’s milestones, and would document them all. First words, first steps, etc..

Of course, he’ll always make time for you, and include you in everything regarding the kid. But, you know, the moments where you three are all together might be the most heartwarming for you. It might not be three for long, because the second you’re healthy enough, he’ll start the whole process of hinting that he wants a second child all over again. How fun! He’d be grateful for however many kids you give him, because being a father at all is probably his hearts desire.

*. * ✧

[quibbs126]

So I made the helmet thing. And also I didn’t really know what to do with the background there, sorry. I still need to work on that

But yeah, I did the thing, maybe not the best the concept could be, but it’s something

To recap for people who didn’t see the original post, I mentioned that in seeing a short clip of Thor Ragnarok from an MCU video essay, I got the idea that the helmet would honestly work pretty well on an Optimus design. So that’s what I did here

And honestly? Yeah I do think the helmet works on him pretty well, basically the only thing I changed on the helmet was the crest, which I admit probably doesn’t look as good as it could. Give the design to someone who’s better at designing Transformers and I think you could get a really banger design out of it, at least head wise

Outside of the helmet, the design mostly takes from the Transformers One design, in part because it’s the same actor, and I generally know how to draw that Optimus and the style (well okay I can never get the faces quite right, among other things), and some other third thing I’m forgetting in the moment

But I don’t have a logical reason how Optimus’ helm would have changed, so let’s just say similar design and story, but not exactly the same as One

I also decided to give this Optimus face markings, because Thor had them in the movie and I thought it’d look cool. I was actually deciding between markings more like the Ragnarok markings, and Optimus’ markings from The Last Knight, since they’re similar-ish

I actually still haven’t decided which I like better, but I wanted to post this before the end of the night, so I chose the TLK markings. But here’s the Ragnarok ones for comparison

It’s just like face paint or something, not whatever’s going on with the ones in The Last Knight

Anyways, now let me yap about story ideas I got from the idea of Transformers in Ragnarok. I’ll put it under the cut for people only here for the design, but I’ve sacrificed my night for reading my required reading about 17th century London adultery shenanigans that I’ll now have to read in the morning, so you have to hear me ramble

Okay so I’ve sort of got two versions of a Ragnarok AU going on. First off I should note that TF One is going to generally be my basis on the Transformers side here, for aforementioned reasons

But basically my two versions are just: the TF One characters as the characters in Sakaar, and then basically some form of the plot of Ragnarok in Transformers

The former’s easier to get through, so I’ll start there, since it’s just assigning characters

Thor -> Optimus Prime/Orion Pax

Hulk (but also kind of Loki too?) -> Megatron

Jeff Goldblum guy (idk his name) -> Sentinel Prime

Topaz -> Airachnid

Valkyrie -> Elita-1

Korg -> B-127

I don’t think there’s much to explain there, other than the characters generally correspond to those movie counterparts. Optimus/Orion (I’m thinking his losing of Mjolnir here is probably equivalent to losing the Matrix, so I don’t know where the Orion situation stands) just got thrust into the gladiator pits, Megatron’s the champion, B-127’s a lower level gladiator Optimus befriends, Elita’s the one that got Optimus in the pits that’s besties with Megs and is probably depressed, and Sentinel and Airachnid are kind of just chilling and running the place

I said Megatron is sort of also Loki, but he really isn’t, it’s just that Loki has no one to take his place because Megatron would best fill his role with his and Optimus’ history, and Megatron’s already Hulk, so he’s kind of just been nixed from the story, with Megatron probably filling the gaps. Also I don’t know if Megs has a split personality thing going on like Hulk and Bruce, but if he does, it’s D-16

And then there’s the story that’s just sort of injecting Ragnarok into a Transformers story, one most similar to some sort of Transformers One sequel

Basically at this point, the Quintessons have already been defeated, Megatron sacrificed himself to do so, but now Unicron is rising as a threat, and Optimus lost the Matrix, somehow ending up on an alien planet and getting sent to the gladiator pits, in which he finds, much to his surprise, Megatron, who did not die, is the champion he’s sent to fight against

Oh yeah, I think this was another reason I chose the One continuity, because the Transformers don’t seem to have advanced space travel yet, so no one on this planet would know who these two are, and because it’s one of the few continuities where Megatron doesn’t have any known history as a gladiator

But anyways, Optimus was not expecting to Megatron here, and especially not alive when they all thought he died, but he figures quickly that since he got thrown into these pits against his will, Megatron must have also been, hence why he hasn’t told anyone that he’s alive. But the actual truth of the matter, as he learns after their initial match, isn’t as cut and dry

While yes, Megatron didn’t ask to become part of the gladiator pits, nor did he expect to have survived his sacrifice, at this point he’s staying there willingly; he has the power and general know-how to escape the planet if he wanted to, he just chooses not to. By this point, he’s grown at least somewhat aware of the harm that his actions brought to Cybertron with the war, and he believes that perhaps Cybertron would be better off without him there to ruin it. Not only that, but there is nothing and no one left for him there, outside of maybe Optimus, who’s currently here instead, so he’s better off staying on this planet, where at the very least, his violent tendencies don’t lead to mass destruction and fear, only entertainment

But that’s not to say his motives are entirely selfless or a punishment. He’s aware that going back to Cybertron would mean facing punishment for his actions, because a noble sacrifice was one thing, but being alive means he’d actually have to address those problems. And again, on Cybertron, he’d be entirely alone, due to his previous actions. And on this planet, no one knows his full past, and he gets to keep committing violence while being celebrated for it. He’s not really taking responsibility for his past actions, he’s avoiding them

But like before, that isn’t to say it’s entirely selfish either, it’s more a mix between the two sides. Ultimately, he sees him choosing to stay here as the best option for everyone; he can keep fighting while not terrorizing his planet, Cybertron can finally end the war under a better leader (Optimus), or at the very least the Decepticons will find a more effective leader, someone who might actually be able to put an end to the war. And Cybertron can all rest easy thinking he died, they’ll probably never find him anyways

It’s complicated with Megatron here, and how much of this is selfish and how much is selfless

But back to the story, Optimus and Megatron have their fight, after which Megatron requests him up to his chambers so that he can know what the heck he’s doing here and why he seemingly doesn’t have the Matrix, and they both generally get caught up on what the other’s been doing since the Quintesson invasion. Also, at the start of this when Optimus wakes up, and is able to fully process that Megatron is still alive, he’s probably very happy about it, much to Megatron’s surprise. Granted, that happiness is going to quickly sour as the conversation goes on

Optimus wants to find a way off the planet and back to Cybertron to stop Unicron, and Megatron rather quickly provides fairly decent directions on how Optimus would be able to escape, which Optimus then questions as to how he hasn’t broken out himself, since he’s still under the impression Megatron’s just as much a prisoner as him, to which Megatron tells him that he chooses to stay here, and he doesn’t plan on returning to Cybertron. If Optimus wants to stay, he’ll be happy to have him there; if Optimus wants to leave, there’s a way for him to escape and get back to save Cybertron. But what happens on Cybertron is no longer Megatron’s business, and he’s staying in the pits

And this likely leads to a blowout between the two, mainly Optimus because it’s now registering to him that Megatron basically just abandoned everyone after the Quintessons, and Megatron’s “death” was something Optimus took particularly bad, being the last one to see him before that, and he’s been under a lot of stress with the Unicron thing and their home is about to be destroyed, and his former friend who once planned to give up his life to save it now doesn’t seem to care, and quite frankly it all just explodes from Optimus’ mouth at this rate (though Megatron’s biting back, stubborn in staying here)

At some point they probably both calm down, and Optimus tries to convince him to go with him to save Cybertron, and likely he does eventually convince Megatron to escape with him and return home. Or Megs pulls a Loki/Han Solo and doesn’t initially return with the main group back to Cybertron, but later comes in bringing the cavalry. But regardless, he does eventually choose to return and face whatever music he has to when coming back. And I imagine Optimus having a “so please don’t be mad at me” exchange with Elita after returning on the topic of Megatron

Speaking of Elita, she and Bee would likely still be on Cybertron, basically preparing to deal with Unicron but also suffering at his hands, hoping Optimus is still alive somewhere, and if they know about the Matrix being missing, Elita’s probably desperately looking for it in hopes it’ll help them against Unicron

And I don’t think I have much more on the AU, I mostly kept repeating the Megatron stuff in my head because I liked it

I had a lot more to say on the latter idea, and it could diverge more from the two original movies I think, but I admit the former idea might have more to actually explore, considering everyone’s here and it isn’t just megop, as is my MO now

And I think I’ve covered about everything, so I’ll just stop here. At some point, I kind of forgot that this was supposed to be about the helmet thing, not gonna lie

[lily-onher-grave]

anyway wicked movie round three thoughts

i tried to pay more attention to musical motifs this time around and there are so many gut punches i was sitting there going oh fuck this over and over again. i can't wait to spend the next five years watching music analyses of this soundtrack i swear to god

i won't talk about sad glinda and the effigy again but i will talk about how glinda doesn't even look scared once she says elphaba was her friend. she's so immediately lost in the memories and her wistful smile as we start the flashback is e v e r y t h i n g

if you think ariana and cynthia crying through the entire press tour is ridiculous wait 'til you hear about me crying at the damn fish during the transition to shiz. it's just so magical okay! and glinda is so excited! and it makes me think of how hard book glinda worked to get to shiz, and idk man i just got swept away by the wonder and charm of a magic university alright god

idk how popular/unpopular an opinion this is but i have such a soft spot for dear old shiz and i love that how it plays in the dormitories, it's so sweet

also i finally noticed the time dragon clock this time around

(also fine yes bowen yang's pfannee is the perfect crope/tibbett when he's not being a mean girl. fuck i miss crope and tibbett)

((i need bookverse ideas so i can write crope and tibbett again))

i love the touch of glinda being like no, no way to pfannee and shenshen about the hat but then when elphaba shows up glinda specifically looks down at her sorcery books before deciding to give it to her. i love that silent tipping point in her decision

at the ozdust glinda says it's her heart's desire to become a sorcerer. elphaba giving glinda her heart's desire the way the wizard is supposed to (and not just now, but presumably i part two as well when she gives her the grimmerie)

the poppy in nessa's hair the day elphaba brings a bouquet to class for dr dillamond (fiyero and glinda have flowers on their desks too which is just so sweet)

((also i do love glinda and elphaba arguing about the way dillamond says glinda as they walk to their seats. it's so silly it's so real. i would watch 3 hours of shiz shenanigans i swear))

when jeff goldblum walked out from behind the wizard's head a woman in the theater went "oh!" and tbh it was the perfect little addition to that scene. give that random theatergoer an oscar

if elphaba had said her heart's desire was to not be green i think the wizard would have pulled out a non-green doll and given it to her and that would've been the scene

hey do you guys think they're gonna change the lyrics of wonderful in part two to address the fact that glinda is the one who chose the yellow brick road?

(my other theory about part two right now is that the opening is going to be very different. i really just dont' think you can open a movie with thank goodness and have it hit. idk what they'll do but there needs to be some sort of buffer)

also i think this movie has made me a fan of sentimental man. it's just so charming! like elphaba, i am not immune to a sweet little number about home and family and a sense of belonging

it's been said before but the betrayal scene in the palace truly is everything. elphaba is so hurt by it all. morrible's actions really do sting in this one (and michelle yeoh, hoooly hell, the switch from warm headmistress to intimidating head sorceress is so good)

idk man. it's just nice to know that i'll never be over this movie i think. after spending like 8 years building up unrealistic expectations about it i was still surprised and amazed and tbh 2024 has been so freaking disappointing, it's nice to know that this one thing was as close to perfect as it could have been (imo)

[hrnydropoutconfessions]

It is unfair how attractive I find Brennan. Part of it is just his talent. He can rapidly embody different characters so well. His physicality is delightful. He is so compelling to watch. His mouth and arms/hands are ruining me. His hands are elegant and always active. I don't even need to explain how his mouth destroys my composure. He has an oral fixation. His tongue is always distracting me. I have rewatched him lick his lips too many times. Plus he has such nice pink lips. He has made too many hot characters with delicious voices. And the growls and hunger themes. The Dom DM bit. Just the intensity he brings to some characters as well. Subtle stuff tends to hit my libido way harder than nudity or porn does. And he has hit all my little kinks, and maybe gave me new ones? It keeps blindsiding me while I'm watching dropout. Obviously, lots of the others like Izzy, Erika, and Emily are hot. But Brennan really does something to me that has invaded my brain chemistry. I'm reminded of Brennan saying he wants to make out with Jeff Goldblum and Dr Ian Malcom. May he never know that he has put me in the same predicament. But with him and a ton of his characters. Also, how has he embodied so many hot women npcs so well???? At least half the time he's destroying me, I'm pretty sure he isn't trying to be hot at all. Anyway, Brennan's raw talent and slutty mouth were sent to kill me. Congrats Izzy. You go girl. No one ever show them this.

I didn't know about his Geoff goldblum remarks but it all makes sense

[mp4fileprocessing]

Thoughts on Wicked

I honestly had a lot of fun! In categorizing myself in who I was in the audience, I would say that I only knew like, one song going in (defying gravity), was skeptical bc I kinda hate ariana grande and was getting irked by the publicity, not really getting the jonathan bailey hype but he's cool, but this was the first musical i ever saw so hey let's check it out it looks like people are having fun.

Main Pro: The Cast Yeah! Cynthia Erivo is insanely talented, and I'm glad she got to flex so hard bc she fit the role of Elphaba perfectly. And I honestly really liked Ariana Grande in this- I thought she lacked some of the arrogance that I was expecting, but I admire how much she committed to it. My main irk was that I honestly didn't think Cynthia and Ariana had fantastic chemistry. Their promoting and interviews make it look like they found themselves in each other and their roles, but I honestly didn't get that vibe. Eh. Anyways. I still don't get get the Jonathan Bailey hype, but watching him put his whole back into this role and kill it made me so happy. Michelle Yeoh, always a pleasure. So, so happy to see her in such a range fo roles. And Jeff Goldblum was a natural choice, I'm glad he continues to be the weird guy (made me laugh out loud tho in that one scene where Elphaba was singing about it being her chance or smth and she looks at this huge stone relief of the wizard, but it's literally just, Jeff).

Main Con: Editing/CGI I will say, and idk if it's just Jon M. Chu, or if this is a growing trend for major movie studios in general, but I'm not a fan of the look of the world--most notably Emerald City. It just looked like, EVERYTHING was cgi, and I wouldn't be surprised if while filming, the actors were standing in big green rooms all day (except for Munchkinland. That looked like a studio set). I want the world to look real, like the characters are walking in the same plane as the audience is! Furthermore, I thought the editing was a bit jarring at times. The random split screen (when it didn't fit the theme of the movie/was not continued later on) and the Cabin-in-the-Woods-style title card was crazy to me. I'm don't know much about editing, but I know enough to think: huh, weird.

All in all, a fun way to start the year. Defo felt like cinema magic

[prettyboysdontlookatexplosions]

medialog june 2k24

watched

wordplay - rewatched this documentary about crosswords and particularly about the annual crossword tournament put on by will shortz while waiting for the anesthesia from my wisdom tooth extraction to wear off and found it about as charming as i remembered... i love a doc about a subculture made up of endearing nerds. i first saw it when it came out and on revisit it also has some intensely 2004 vibes - in particular jon stewart shows up as one of their crossword-fans talking heads and it really brought home for me how influential he was on the development of internet tone (like to this day the reason so many people on reddit sound Like That is because they're trying to be jon stewart and failing...)

the bourne ultimatum - movie go zoom zoom! still not convinced matt damon can act

artists and models - i had never seen a dean martin/jerry lewis film before and i don't really want to again but i'm glad i saw this one (this is how i feel about the two (2) wes anderson movies i've seen, and also pulp fiction & tarantino). some great colors & costumes, a plot that goes surprisingly bonkers in a final third turn that reminds you it was the cold war (between that and all the stuff about comics & violence this one also functions as a real time capsule), and (my main reason for watching) shirley maclaine the love of my life is so adorable and funny as a daffy sweetheart in a role that really lets her (a former dancer) show off her gift for physical comedy.

the secret garden - the cast in this movie is so good, including the children in the starring roles, and while it doesn't even attempt to do anything with the book's deranged relationship with things like the british empire and the concept of disability, watching it really did bring me back to why the book has been so beloved - the fantasy at its heart is ultimately about hard humble work paying off and about friends teaching each other to be nicer, which are i think deeply appealing narratives for children in a way that people sometimes forget. it's so funny that part of what cures mary and colin of their bad personalities is meeting another unhappy rich child for the very first time!

humanist vampire seeking consenting suicidal person - this was slight but sweet, a darkly funny romcom with some style and heart. also i had never seen a french-canadian movie before i don't think and it was a fun surprise to hear them talking like "frenchfrenchfrenchfrenchRRRRfrenchfrenchRRRR." not an accent with which i have much familiarity!

jurassic park - my somewhat inexplicable, even to me, aversion to raiders of the lost ark had me avoiding action spielberg for basically my whole life but i gave this a shot thinking maybe i would appreciate it if not enjoy it and was absolutely GLUED to the screen from about five minutes in. i understand why other directors are like that about spielberg now, and also what jj abrams is trying to do all the time and failing because he doesn't understand how it actually works. this is like the most famous movie in the world basically and i've seen so many clips from it over the years and yet even waiting for them and expecting them to come i was ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT! like WOW! truly a movie that feels like a theme park ride more than any other i've seen except maybe fury road. anyway as you statistically speaking probably already know this movie absolutely rocks, and not just for (1) laura dern and (2) jeff goldblum with his tits out.

citizen kane - spent the last weekend in june at two different marches & closed it out sunday night with a screening of the movie that made me bisexual <3 one day i'll figure out a way to articulate how this movie did what it did to me but for now i will just say that it is great and its reputation is deserved and orson welles is one of the most entertaining screen presences of all time and it looks so cool and beautiful all the way through and it is so so so so gay

interview with a vampire season 2 - my opinion on this is at this point well established lol finally some good fucking food!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

read

megan abbott, the turnout - this & the zadie smith book are further steps in me catching up with authors i lost track of during some bad reading years! when i heard that megan abbott was coming out with a book about sisters who run a ballet school i was like LOL because that's like the peak ultimate megan abbott premise (girls and the nastiness of both feelings and bodies and ambition and hunger and an atmosphere of nightmares and filth and the insane dynamics of a tightly knit but deeply dysfunctional world, all to the nth power), and guess what as a megan abbott fan i loved it :) all the bad reviews on goodreads for this are like "why is this book so gross? why is she sexualizing the nutracker? there were scenes in this book that made me feel dirty reading them. way too much focus on the wet leotard crotches of little girls" and i was sickos dot jpg the whole time. but actually i think the reason that this wound up being my favorite abbott since dare me is that at its core it's a book about a woman with an unbelievably fucked up childhood due to her incredibly fucked up dead parents and the suspense that gives the book its tension and its form is less about what's going to happen with the plot and more about whether she is at any point going to put it together that the things that happened to her when she was young were actually bad; the further the book goes, the more deeply you understand the walls of denial and distortion around her entire life. it rules.

david j. skaal, something in the blood: the untold story of bram stoker, the man who wrote dracula - as previously mentioned, i have some real qualms with some of his dracula readings, but overall i found this an addictively pleasurable tome - 600 pages and he kept them turning the whole time. i love a biography that starts off with some background on medieval ireland, you know? skaal is a good writer with an engaging but learned style, and the book is clearly both exhaustively researched and intended for popular audiences (albeit popular audiences who have definitely read dracula, but, i mean, who else is reading 600 pages about this guy?); reading it often feels something like having a drink with a professor who knows his stuff and is NOT afraid to gossip. dracula qualms aside i may investigate some of his other books, particularly his book on dracula screen adaptations, since i'm curious about those but don't necessarily want to, like, watch most of them, lol

bonnie jo campbell, the waters - book club book that was objectively certainly not terrible and which had some things i did like or appreciate, like an 11 year old girl obsessed with math (representation matters...) but which i found just about the most boring thing i have read in my life. like i would definitely say campbell is a better writer than, say, taylor jenkins reid (to name another book club book) or whatsherface who wrote the book of fried green tomatoes which we also read las year... but i found those books much more aggravating but also easier to get through than this book, which really requires you to have some level investment in, like, the natural world of rural michigan, but mostly made me feel so glad i don't live in a small town where all the men have guns.

zadie smith, swing time - it's funny because when i started this i was spending a lot of time thinking about how maybe plot and structure have become underrated, but then this was like a very long book written in the style of someone just kind of talking at you about their life, with plot events technically happening but never feeling like the driving force of the book, and i was totally riveted, which was a good reminder that you can get away with anything if you're a genius! smith is just such a keen observer of people and how they operate, and so allergic to relying on any kind of obvious assumptions about the relationships between demographics & personality or beliefs, even as demographic realities are such a key part of the fabric of the book... i was a little worried i would be disappointed by the fact that she abandoned the modernist-leaning experimentation of NW for a more straightforward, even chatty, style, but "you can get away with it if you're a genius" applies to that too. this book is also an absolute masterclass in the universal through the specific - i cannot emphasize how much literally not one thing the protagonist experiences has ever happened to me, how much our lives and backgrounds and personalities overlap not at all, and yet constantly i found myself aching with resonance over things like "it's so true that's what it's like when you have a mom" or "that really is what it feels like when you are young and sort of smart but also sort of stupid" (which if i were to define it briefly is i think more or less what the book is about).

listened

charli xcx, brat - i remain after all these years a true romance truther and continue unfairly to measure all her subsequent work, much of which is frankly too sophisticated and experimental for my listening taste even if i recognize she's Doing Something, but this album sounds great and has some bops. as a straight-through listen it was too rich for my blood, but i find myself enjoying the songs on shuffle mixed in with whatever else i've been into more than i would have expected from that first exposure, and also 360 has been stuck in my head more waking hours than not for like a month and a half now and i'm still not sick of it (although i think my favorite song on the album is 365, and not just because i think it's really funny that she ended the album with "the opening track coming out of the bathroom after doing cocaine"). plus as someone who HAS been listening to charli since whenever the video for "you're the one" dropped it is nice to see The Culture finally rally around her even if i remain a little puzzled over why now, the all-star remixes getting rolled out have been pretty delightful (LORDE!!!!!!!!), and it's nice to have the zeitgeist coalesce for a moment over something i too think is fun (especially since the other thing gay people love this summer is chappell roan on whom i have yet to be converted sorry to everyone i'm sincerely glad you're having a good time)

[arduennas]

i saw wicked!! 8/10 movie very good. i also have many thoughts head full. i fully acknowledge that these thoughts could only belong to the diseased mind of a person who has thought too much about wicked for the last 7+ years. anyway spoilers and general ambivalent thoughts ahead etc

good things first:

cynthia erivo slay!! she was like an average good elphaba imo which means she was incredible by normal standards

set design and choreography ATE. munchkinland? the emerald city? the clockography? ate ate ate

overall the movie was just visually beautiful. it was colorful and sparkly and looked soooo expensive. whenever a new location appeared for the first time i literally gasped. i loved it

elphaba’s party dress was GORGINA 😍😍😍

michelle yeoh and jeff goldblum my beloved evil parents… they can’t sing but idc they were so cunty

they sort of kept the hammerheads in one short day which is all i wanted from that song. wicked is not wicked without the egg puppet freaks

they didn’t add anything from the book thank fucking god

ari was funny and pretty good! will expand on her later. i think they did popular the best they could in a movie format given that the song relies so much on improv, physical comedy, audience response, etc.

neutral to bad things:

ok so ariana. very eyebrow-heavy performance. not bad vocally! it was foul to make her sing with cheno during osd though, the difference in quality was so clear lmao. i’m interested to see how she’ll deal with act 2 both vocally and acting-wise

i didn’t like how light ariana sang throughout the whole movie. idk if she was directed to do this though—i could see them telling her to do glinda less obnoxious or tone down the comedy which i understand for a movie. but come on girl it won’t kill you to do a full belt in the studio ONCE

ariana and cynthia’s voices do not blend well. you can tell cynthia was trying to tone herself down to match ari and ari was just not giving in return

the mixing was weirdly unbalanced in a lot of the duety portions and i couldn’t tell whether it was the fault of the sound design or the actors just not being able to sound good together lol

it fucking DRAGGED. there is a 90-minute edit of this movie that could easily have existed. none of us needed to hear something bad or a sentimental man. they took every small pause in the music and stretched it out to the point where it interrupted the flow of the song AND became patently obvious that they were trying to pad for time. the new part of one short day with idina and kristin was not good and also too long. the added chase scene before defying gravity started out fun but then went on way longer than it should have. the ozdust dance was SO LONG my god. i could write up a whole list of shit that went on pointlessly for way too long but we would be here all day

there are some elphabas who can carry i’m not that girl. cynthia is not one of them and this is my only complaint about her performance. she divafied a song that is not meant to be divafied

dancing though life was arranged and directed badly. for lack of a better term it’s meant to be a stoner song and it was way too punchy. also if you’re going to insist on casting a white fiyero at least make him good #notmyfiyero

the lighting was often not good??? i think because a lot of it was filmed outside and the sun washed out the set or created a glare. some odd color grading choices as well. really weird because otherwise visually the movie was stunning as i said before

this is a criticism of many modern movies, definitely not wicked-specific, but a lot of the the costumes looked cheap and it’s because of productions cutting corners when it comes to materials and tailoring. especially compared to the show costumes which are so intricate and structurally well-made because they’ve had to last for literally 20 years. we need to ban polyester from film sets i’m so serious

glinda and elphaba should have kissed each other on the mouth

[lightkrets312]

I loved watching Wicked, because within the first hour I got to watch Ariana Grande slip basically seamlessly into the role of Glinda, to the point where her being Ariana Grande did not matter compared to everything else going on. Spent the last two fully enjoying the movie and wiggling along to all the bits and quips I remember, since it's an actual proper translation of the musical to film form (still a musical but they KNEW how to shoot it for film, they took the corn and cheese and made a damn good casserole from it).

And then I had to watch Jeff Goldblum be Jeff Goldblum for about 20 minutes. Which was fun, but still. It's like watching the Rock in a film, yaknow?

Anyways 10/10, I love that they split it at the play's intermission point and I'm going to be thinking about this.

[lillifaba]

My thoughts on the Wicked movie teaser trailer... so far.

Before you pop off in my replies and reblogs yes I know, this is just a teaser trailer and not the official tralier. Regardless that doesn't give this movie a magical critique pass. Most of my critques on this teaser come from my own thoughts and some of points raised in this post. This is also just me rambling into the void. Don't like don't read lmao.

If you've been following me for a while, then you already know my opinion on the Wicked movie and casting. Surprise surprise, you guessed it... I am extremely underwhelmed and disappointed. For so many reasons.

I'll start off with some things I like.

Johnathan Bailey is hot asf as Fiyero. (even if he looks way older than Fiyero is canonically meant to be)

The set and props. I think some of them actually look pretty neat. I'm glad they didn't use a green screen for Shiz and put in the effort to build a university campus. The train from Shiz to Oz looks kinda dope. I was always wondering what it would look like and I'll probably use that as inspiration for my fics and art comms.

Jeff Goldblum as The Wizard. I won't lie, I haven't seen a lot of movies with Jeff in them so I was cautious about his casting. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see how much his look and his performance so far actually fits Oscar. Time will tell if he can hold up to those standards.

I'm happy a WOC is playing Elphaba. Everyone complains about Fiyero not being racially book accurate but nobody talks enough about Elphaba being discriminated against as an amalgamation for rac!sm. More women of color should play her on stage.

THE NAILSSSS. Come on people this is the Wicked Witch of the West we're talking about she should be SERVING WITH THOSE CLAWS! Although personally I would've preferred them sharp but I'm over here with almond arylics what do I know lol.

I'm happy they casted a disabled actress to play Nessa. I always wondered why they never did that.

With that out of the way, let's get into a million reasons why I hated this trailer and why I'll most likely hate the movie anyways.

Arianna as Glinda. Look, I don't hate Ari. I like some of her songs and even bought some of her perfumes because I like smelling good. At worst I just don't care about her. However whenever I see Arianna as Glinda, I'm sorry I just don't see Glinda, I see ARIANNA GRANDE dressed in last minute cosplay for a Halloween party. I heard one line... ONE LINE from her and the delivery is NOTHING like Glinda's character or cadence, it's just Ari in drama class.

The wigs and costumes. What the hell was the makeup and hair crew thinking when they selected that wig for Arianna???? It's an ashy dull blonde that brings no color or life to the character. The #1 thing about Glinda is her vibrant blonde hair, it's even mentioned IN THE SONGS. MULTIPLE TIMES. This wig looks like a botched bleach job. Then, there's the costumes. Good lord what are those glasses on Elphaba's face??? I get they're trying to be all "whimsy" and "peculiar" in tone with WOZ, but they just look silly. Why not stick to the glasses in the musical? Why overdo it? I fear how the Emerald City sunglasses will look (if they even add those in) Also why are Glinda's clothes so dull? Where's the vibrance? Where's the pink frilly coquette contrast to Elphaba's dark coquette?

The camera work and Elphaba's entrance. This is Wicked the musical. I'm expecting a huge and grandiose presentation, especially when it comes to THE MAIN CHARACTER. Showing Elphaba from the back of her head in slow motion while she's walking to the entrance is just... boring and an overused cliche. Not to mention the underwhelming reactions from the extras. The cinematography is just meh. I'm expecting better for a fantasy film. It's been done before.

Cynthia as Elphaba. Listen, Cynthia is a great singer and talented actress. I have absolutely nothing against her. With that being said I'm going to be brutally honest: much like Arianna, she is not Elphaba... at least not entirely. Like Johnathan, Cynthia is way older than Elphaba is meant to be canonically and the editing team clearly used the de-aging filter on her to the point where it looks unnatural. If this movie had been made at least five years ago or earlier Cynthia would've fit perfectly.

Continuing my point with Cynthia: the singing. I'm sorry but what the hell was that riff with Defying Gravity??? I'm not entirely blaming Cynthia for this because this has become a massive problem with a lot of musical film adaptations which I like to call the popification of songs. It happens in nearly all the live-action Disney movies and I'm sick of it. What confuses me is STEPHEN FUCKING SCHWARTZ is involved in the musical production. He wrote the god damn songs, how the hell does he not direct Cynthia to sing the right note instead of letting her do whatever she wants??? I don't think he did that with Idina, which is why this riff is so iconic. Come on, if a tiktok meme trend can do that riff better and more accurately than an actual singer can, that's just embarrassing. I'm not good at explaining myself in terms of singing, so I'm hoping a youtuber I occassionally watch does a reaction video to the trailer and does a better job at explaining than I can.

The acting. Like I said with Arianna, the delivery is so bland and dry. I'm trying not to judge all of the acting on a teaser trailer but if this is how the leads are going to act throughout the whole movie then I'm disappointed.

Too much CGI in some parts. I get it. This is a fantasy movie there's bound to be certain effects you can't do practically. But that's no excuse when this is a $145 million dollar movie. The flying monkeys are so painfully obvious CGI. This was a wasted chance to get Doug Motherfucking Jones to play Chistery in prosthetics. So much of this movie ends up looking like those garbage Oz spinoffs. (If you know you know) The CGI is just bad. The bubble and Emerald City buildings look so cheap.

WHY IS THIS MOVIE SO DARK? This is suppossed to be OZ! Why do I have to turn up my brightness to look into the shadow realm???

Now onto some things I'm confused about.

Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible. I'm praying to god she'll blow us away because she's such a good actress and is serving c*nt in her costumes. I haven't heard her sing (I'm dumb but unless the opera song she sang in EEAAO was her then WOW!)

The silver slippers. I KNOW! I KNOW! The ruby slippers are copyrighted and can't be thrown in all nilly willy wherever you please. But keep in mind this is a 145 MILLION DOLLAR MOVIE ALL FOR PART ONE. Do not tell me they couldn't shill a few extra bucks on signing a few contracts. AND YES I KNOW. The musical uses the silver slippers in the first act in ode to the L. Frank Baum books which I love, but don't forget, they turn red when Elphaba enchants them to give Nessa the ability to walk. Dorothy shows up after Nessa is killed and has her shoes stolen. Why aren't they red now? Not to mention most of the audience might not know the original slippers in the books were silver. This would've been a great chance to combine two different canons.

WHO IS PLAYING DR. DILLAMOND???? ifitisjamescordenandyouusecrappycgiiwillgotoyourhousejohnchuand-

Finally, why did John Chu absolutely insist on this being a two parter movie with a year long intermission? Is this shit show really that fantastical that it can be akin to Kill Bill part 1 and 2?

That's pretty much it for now but expect an update to this post with a reblog with updated thoughts when an official trailer drops. My mind probably won't change though. I'm totalllllyyy not considering pulling an Eddy Burback sneaking into Morbius for a week when this movie comes out lol.

Universal Studios and AMC theaters that was a joke please for the love of god do not send Nicole Kidman after me.

[therealbrigeedarocks]

wicked (the musical) ((the movie)) (((pt 1)))

it's fine

it's a low fucking bar when with how much sfx went into this goddamn film that about 95% of the time you can actually see shit (there are a handful of questionable shots but otherwise there's no like terrible cgi-covering bad lighting for this film) ((and this is coming from me watching the cam version so like, take that as you will))

i like a great big bunch of the set and costume designs, especially when it came to the library set piece. absolutely unnecessary and even impractical but goddamn did it make for some good choreography in the middle of "dancing through life"

one of my pet peeves of design however shows up at the end, when it comes to elphaba's broom. i get it, you can't have a generic broom for something meant to be Iconic and Distinctive and Marketable, but at the same time there is no way in hell this scraggly and pointy as fuck broom was ever used in the day-to-day cleaning of a fucking palace, let alone would be comfortable to use/ride as flying transportation

i heard they were going to pad these movies out by adding shit from the wicked books, and i know i'll never get to see elphaba whack a dying (dead?) madam morrible in the face with her broom, but i would've liked to see her attend a classmate's dinner party admitting to the deed as they get drunk

or just having friends in general i mean she and boq hung out all the time in the book and they are barely within 5 feet of each other in the musical and movie

speaking of shit from the book, i actually would've liked if they added elphie showing up somewhere from the middle of a rainstorm and having to carefully slough off a giant wet cloak to avoid the water touching her instead of just...a throwaway line about her not getting wet and a dinky umbrella

the leads do their best. arianna is basically doing a kristin chenoweth impression anyway and honestly something tells me she would've gotten shit if she deviated too far from what we all know. cynthia erivo does a pretty good job making the songs her own and i enjoy her interpretation

speaking of, the idina menzel and kristin chenoweth cameo was cute and funny and appropriately during the Song Created For The Film Adaptation So We Can Have An Oscar Nomination For Best Original Song

jeff goldblum is also fine and while i would've liked someone more along the lines of joel grey to fill in for the wizard, i also can't think of anyone else who would do a decent job.

no wait that's a lie, i think alfred molina could've done just as well whatever man i can dream this has nothing to do with me wanting alfred molina in more things

put alfred molina in more things please

if i had to be nit-picky about anything i think the thing that irritates me most is just something that happens in a lot of musical adaptations, which is when the timing is off or there's too much "dead air" (aka just not singing bits) between verses. it can stop the momentum in its tracks because they need to keep the plot going which doesn't seem to last as long on stage (but also you can't stop for different takes or fuck-ups on stage so it is what it is)

that said, as expected, the movie ends just as the first act of the musical does: on defying gravity. the song is great, the visuals are great, and while it's iffy to have a regular ass cape suddenly become large and looming for no reason, it's doubly nice to see it as such both for the costuming effect used in the musical and to have it billow like smoke ala how she "travels" in the judy garland movie. having the wizard of oz (1939) font for the title and end credit card is a nice touch because let's be real this movie was never going to escape the judy garland version

it's good it's fine and everyone is already making the joke about how there's not gonna be any memorable songs in the pt 2 of this movie

calling it now: "for good" is gonna be the song they use for all the marketing for pt 2

[adamsvanrhijn]

Ok wicked thoughts for real. Spoilers somewhat

re: performances

Ariana Grande-Butera (as she is credited)'s soprano is very light, and they did lean into the pop sound when opportunities arose. Which you will be used to if you have seen any professional/equity circuit musical with a prominent soprano role in the last 15 years but if you've been listening to the cast recording a lot leading up to this I expect you'll notice it more than I did the first time around. I really enjoyed her performance personally!! (and frankly if you're expecting an og wicked performance you would have been disappointed anyway because They Do Not Make Them Like That anymore—but if you are a megafan who has seen multiple casts I think you will have heard Glindas who are not perceived as stunt casts who are less pleasant to listen to.)

Cynthia Erivo was great. I don't really have notes, I think everyone expected she would be good and she was.

Peter Dinklage did a good job. No notes

Jonathan Bailey.... Fantastic though I wish they let him be a little more legit. I assume he has it in him based on his resume but they went primarily pop rock for Fiyero. The vast majority of stage directors do this unless/even if they get a sparkling talent though; I'm not like mad about it at all. I actually think it's great that my main Thoughts capital t about the movie are the same ones I have about stage productions. (Also he has chemistry with everyone but I do legitimately think stage junkies expecting Fiyero eye candy may be disappointed with the costuming and choreography. This doesn't make it bad just something to be aware of.)

They split Morrible into two characters which was an inspired choice that improved the impact of the plot imo. Michelle Yeoh is not a singer but that role is frequently not a strong vocalist anyway. I didn't mind the speak singing for her like 2 total verses

Jeff Goldblum also not being a singer.... they cut down sentimental man and I am simply not complaining. Also a role that frequently doesn't have a strong vocalist.

Marissa Bode killed it, no notes

Ditto Ethan Slater

Big cameo was a little long but you can't hate it. It's The Big Cameo. Zero issues with the actual performances

Ensemble slapped. Incredibly strong dancing and singing. I haven't looked at the whole ensemble cast but I assume they pulled from the theater circuit. There were little cameos which were IYKYK and cute

Glinda's bestie situation was great, they did such a good job

Speaking of cast recording disappointment. The wizard will see you now 😐

everything else

I am going to be honest I don't remember what was in the book vs what they made up wholesale

Pacing was really good and it was difficult to notice in the moment what could be making it be double the length of the original. Arguably better than the stage show's pacing.

Lack of compromise of vocal quality despite resonant acting and live singing... 👌🏻

I think almost everything they added or changed worked! Exceptions.... Yellow brick road 😐 Cameo a little long as I said. A couple others but nothing that big a deal. I hope we get Glinda blue dress at some point in part 2 😔

I didn't mind how they broke up Defying Gravity but I do wonder if it could have been better if they hadn't? I didn't mind though.

Dancing Through Life was broken up in a way that made it work for the film medium in the way that a direct transfer wouldn't have been successful with imo. Also a phenomenal sequence.

I've seen a couple people say it's overchoreographed.... I thought the dancing was perfect personally.

I really appreciated that they actually treated it as a musical, where it doesn't really matter what is and isn't diegetic music and dancing and you don't need to pay attention to that, because it's a musical.

Use of montage and split screen was good!!

I think on the whole one of my big takeaways is disappointment about other musical movies of late, but also hope that things will be different moving forward... The bar is high now both for on screen performers with traditional stage worthy talent and for production style and value. This movie was obviously very expensive but I am referring more to the actual techniques and like, literal camera angles. It felt like they wanted to expand the reach of the musical and bring it to new audiences, as opposed to needing to Fix it to make it appeal to the mass market. There should be no question moving forward that a musical movie can be cast, filmed, and produced with special care and attention to the fact that it is a musical and be successful.

I think that sums it up but I could be misremembering things out forgetting stuff... I want to go see it again with a better sound system than the theater I was in lol and maybe feeling better than I was yesterday and maybe I will have additional nuance to my takes!

[pop-pop-pop-popculture]

WICKED: PART 1 REVIEW 🧹🫧

Oh my GOD. I...I actually... loved this????

Songs/Singing

"No One Mourns the Wicked" - I rate this song a 5/5

"Dear Old Shiz" - I don't really care about this song

"The Wizard and I" - I loved the sense of optimism and excitement in Cynthia's singing, which was important to me (and obviously the character considering the reason for Elphaba singing this), as well as her facial expressions. Honestly... this song ended up being cute. I rate this song a 4/5.

"What is This Feeling?" - I rate this song a 4/5

"Something Bad" - Peter is not the best singer but he's not the worst. Regarding the soundtrack, I love how context was provided before he proceeded to sing. Some of the lyrics and the setup of the song were changed, and I really liked it. Instead of beginning the song in class after everyone except Elphaba leaves, Doctor Dillamond is talking to the remaining animal professors, and that's when the song comes in. I love how eerie and dark it was compared to the Broadway version. I rate this song a 3/5.

"Dancing Through Life" - Regarding the soundtrack, I'm surprised the 'What's the most swankified place in town?' conversation was cut. Anyways, this was such a joy to watch despite the song being almost ten minutes long! Jonathan's tone of energy while singing wasn't steady in my opinion, but that didn't make me like this song any less. His version was good! I rate this song a 3/5.

"Popular" - You know what? Ariana went hard with this one and I was pleased. Her singing was pleasant to listen to compared to how she usually sings as well, and I can tell she took inspiration from Kristin all the while adding her own spin. She clearly had fun singing this one. I rate this song a 5/5.

"I'm Not That Girl" - I don't really care about this song, but I still want to add this: Cynthia has such a beautiful singing voice. I rate this song a 5/5.

"One Short Day" - I like how it started slow and then the energy in all of the citizens singing gradually increased as well as the pace of the song. It's different from the Broadway version and I don't know which one I like better. Now, I simply cannot forget to mention the 'The Wise Ones' interlude during Wizomania... . My heart, man. My fucking heart. 🥹 I’m writing a separate post on the interlude, because it was a lot for me to take in. I rate this song a 4/5.

"Sentimental Man" - I don't really care about this song

"Defying Gravity" - OH. MY GOD. I can't even write out my thoughts on this one (maybe I will another time)... . For now, I'm just going to say that I rate this song a 5/5.

Cynthia and Ariana are good at singing, and they don't sound bad together. I still, and will always, prefer Idina and Kristin, though. However, they made a good duo. Surprisingly, I was impressed, and the two actresses plus the film in general exceeded my expectations. Also, regarding the songs, I have to applaud Stephen Schwartz for rewriting some (if not all) of them to fit the film.

Acting

Most everyone did a wonderful job at bringing their respective character to life! Everyone's chemistry, which truly felt authentic, transitioned well onto the screen. I honestly couldn't tell anyone was acting! It’s clear everyone enjoyed filming this, and you can tell in their performances. The only one whose acting fell a bit short was Jeff Goldblum. Ariana fell flat a few times as well, especially when it came to facial expressions, but she was still tolerable to watch. Her ability to be comical was not that bad either. She clearly took the role seriously and put her whole heart into it. Singing, dancing, acting, etc.

(I decided to write a short summary instead of point out every actor)

Other Notes

I still wish unknown, aspiring actors between 15-19 were casted since Elphaba and Glinda teenagers in act one, but, despite that, Cynthia and Ariana ended up being slightly believable college students

I like the idea of adding new content only if it helps move the storyline forward and/or clear up confusion from the original source, but some of the new content in this film adaptation was unnecessary

Regarding the previous bullet point, there's two that come to my mind: The hot air balloon scene that happens before "Defying Gravity", which literally felt like it went on forever but in reality was maybe 10 minutes at the most, and the part where Elphaba sees her younger self as she's falling. Both parts slowed down the momentum of the song as well as made it longer than it had to be. I'm all here for drama and build up in a song, especially for one like "Defying Gravity", but that was too much. I liked the moment between Elphaba and her younger self, but that should have been placed somewhere else instead of during the song.

Elphaba's outfits: Why was she wearing black the majority of the time? I did not like that. Where was the monochromatic blue outfit in the beginning when we first meet her? Unless my memory sucks, her outfits gradually become darker and then, by the end of act one, she's wearing the black dress. We first see the dress in "One Short Day", but in the film, I think she wore black most all of the time. In the stage production, there is definitely some sort of symbolism with her outfits in act one, but the opportunity was not seized in the film.

I loved Elphaba's hairstyles

Going back to Elphaba's outfits, in order to emphasize her age, which was 17 (as stated in the book), the costume designer should've had her outfits be inspired by things teenagers wear. What even did teenage girls wear in the 1800s, though? Anyways, I know Cynthia isn't a teenager in college and neither did she pass for one, but the CGI kind of (KIND OF) helped. Her outfits, though, did not.

Glinda's outfits: I disliked how the costume designer limited her color palette to just pink. This is Galinda Upland, dude, not Barbie! On Broadway, she wore different colors (my favorite one was the yellow dress, which is worn during "One Short Day"), and as she got older, the colors became less vibrant and more monochromatic, which symbolizes her growing up. Maturing. The second part of this film comes out next year, though, so we'll just have to wait and see if the costume designer recreated the Broadway outfits from part two or not...

Regarding the soundtrack, the original "Dancing Through Life" song is seven minutes long. The length of the one in the film is nine minutes. I'm sorry to admit this, but, eventually, I got bored...

As far as the lines go, the film actually stood pretty true to the script/lines of the stage performance, so that made me happy

Regarding the previous bullet point, a few lines were either changed up, "placed" at different times, or not in the film at all

After everyone was on the boat to head to the Oz Dust Ballroom, Fiyero's face lit up when he saw Boq and Nessarose coming, and I found that so adorable

Speaking of D.T.L., the entire part when Elphaba showed up to the party and everyone laughed at her almost made me cry. Glinda deciding to dance with her and then them two dancing was so intimate and beautiful. 🥺 Ariana and Cynthia really delivered on that part!

Me, whispering out loud under my breath during this part: "A bear raised Elphaba????" 🤨😶 They really should have had the novel character, Cattery, who was the Thropp's nanny, instead, and I know exactly who the actress could have been. Obviously, she'd be a hell lot younger (and prettier).

I appreciated the emphasis on where animals who can talk like humans stand in Oz. Spoiler Alert: They're not on the wizard's good side.

I like Joel Grey better

I didn't care for him too much in the stage performance, but I liked Doctor Dillamond in the film. What a sweet little goat.

The way the Oz guards just carelessly grabbed Doctor Dillamond by the antlers...

Madame Morrible gaslighting Glinda by telling her if she wants to prove her worth and be good (or something like that), then she needs to bring Elphaba back to her and the wizard

Madame Morrible hugging Glinda towards the end of "Defying Gravity"

The entire scene with the lion cub from when we first meet him to Fiyero leaving in the woods with him. So adorable!

Elphaba literally lifting her sister in the air…! I honestly had no idea that that was being insinuated on stage, so I'm glad the film made that part clearer for me.

The poppies Elphaba casted a spell on made the entire class fall asleep. That was such a clever idea and a nice homage to the 1939 film (The Wizard of Oz)! This is not what happened in the stage production, and I didn't mind. I like the film version better.

The part where the wizard was showing off the model was unnecessary and, if I'm being honest, slowed down the pace of the film

Jonathan Bailey can dance, man. Holy shit.

I loved Nessarose’s burning desire to be independent. Another detail I thought was a nice addition to the character was her not wanting anyone to touch her wheelchair without permission.

I love that Nessarose and Boq first met each other on orientation day instead of during "Dancing Through Life", because doing this allowed them time to become friends

I honesty can't wait to see how Marissa handled the transition of portraying a sweet and loving girl who wanted nothing more than to make friends to becoming an insufferable tyrant

The look on Fiyero, Boq and Nessarose's faces when they heard on the radio what Elphaba did was heartbreaking 😢

The way Fiyero and Elphaba met for the first time was great. "Get stuffed!" -Elphaba to Fiyero

Nessarose saying she couldn't watch her sister being laughed at. 😢 I wish, though, that Boq was scripted to say something supportive.

After Glinda said "That’s not fair, I told you a really good one.”, she flopped face down on her bed like she was pouting. What made me laugh, though, was the camera going back to her just for the audience to see that she was still in the same position.

Doctor Dillamond telling Elphaba she has one friend after she told him she doesn’t have any friends. Spoiler: It’s him 🥺.

Jonathan should've been more comically dramatic with the delivery of "...I happen to be genuinely self-absorbed and deeply shallow" and Ariana should've been more comically dramatic with her delivery of "The artichoke is steamed".

Although it was cool having a prince bring his horse to university, I still wish Fiyero's grand appearance stood true to the musical. It was honestly so iconic and on-brand for that scandalous, genuinely self-absorbed prince!

The way Fiyero got offended over Elphaba rolling her eyes at him after he waved at her during "Dancing Through Life"

Glinda hesitating to set the humongous straw statue of the Wicked Witch of the West on fire during “No One Mourns the Wicked”

Overall, I give this film a 8/10.

🍁 November 22, 2024 🍁

[glinda-fied]

My thoughts about the Wicked trailer no one asked for. I'm generally trying really hard to reserve judgement as I know it's going to be different from the stage production and I welcome some of the opportunities that can give such as how much more they can do with the plot, and I'm actually not mad about them splitting it into two movies as the more run time the better as far as I'm concerned. However.

➳ I don't like the colors they've picked for Glinda, they're doing Ariana dirty. A warmer shade of blonde, not bleaching her eyebrows, and less pastel pinks would really stop her from looking washed out and kinda sickly. ➳ I like Elphaba's costumes (except the TikTok glasses) I am concerned how much older Cynthia looks next to Ariana considering they're supposed to be the same age. Same with Jonathan, his Fiyero looks like the fully grown ass man that he is which is fine for act 2, not act 1. I have a lot of issues with Fiyero's casting anyway though as he's the most important character that should have been POC as is canon ➳ The aesthetic is giving YA novel, I'm not sure how I feel about that ➳ I hate the Defying Gravity riff. Not just that it's different, it's just not performed well. It's Elphaba's battle cry, she's supposed to sound angry yet triumphant, and that is neither. Also - is that how the movie is gonna end?? ➳ Is...Glinda getting married? ➳ I like the design of the silver slippers and the homages to the Wizard of Oz ➳ Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard is literally my dream fantasy casting, and I'm just about to lose my damn mind knowing that I'm going to actually get to see it

Generally right now my feelings are could be better, could be worse. I was expecting worse.

[vegetas-bitch]

Netflix shows Suck Ass...

... And I don't mean Netflix series suck ass in the fact that the storylines are awful, I mean that they suck that no matter how well the show does Netflix will cancel them anyway.

My first complaint comes on the back of Human Resources. Despite the popularity of both the spin off and Big Mouth, the show was cancelled, and while the ending didn't leave the audience with a whole lot of questions unanswered and no huge cliffhanger, I can't help but feel like the show is missing a true ending. Like there's something missing. It's unresolved not in the story, but that the ending seemed off. That there was supposed to be more and in the middle of the actors recording their lines Netflix said "No more!" and then the animators had to work with what they got. I just hope that Netflix doesn't pull a bullshit move and decide that Big Mouth doesn't need that final season.

Since we're on the topic of Big Mouth, I want to put my opinion out there. Big Mouth is a shit show. Come at me. It's stupid, and in the words of my father, borderline child pornography. Again, come at me, I dare you (I'm looking at you Jade, I know you follow me on here).

And thennnnnn there's Kaos. A show that in my opinion does an amazing job of staying true to Greek Mythology while also taking creative liberties that stray from the myths. Not only that, but it brought together amazing actors such as Jeff Goldblum, Janet McTear, and David Thewlis (who might I also add is the Shame Wizard in Big Mouth and Human Resources). I just finished this show and, unlike Human Resources, it left on a HUGE cliffhanger. So obviously, being the Mythology fanatic I am, I rush to the infinite wisdom of the internet to see when the next season is, and in true Netflix fashion, IT IS CANCELLED! A show that came out just last year! (Which feels very odd saying considering we're actively 12 days into 2025) A show that did extremely well even hit the international top ten on Netflix. I'm so upset about this because it's very rare to see a show about Greek Mythology be true to the source material. I mean Rick Riordan is an amazing author and did a beautiful job with the Percy Jackson series, but look at the original movies, they weren't even true to the books Riordan wrote! Granted the show on Disney Plus is doing a wonderful job of staying true to his books.

All this to say, Netflix do better. All other streaming platforms, take note. Cancelling shows, even with a small following, isn't cool. If anything, start a show you're not sure will do well with a small budget. Build a good story. A good story is better than a good production. For example, (and also a shameless plug for my wonderful Audio & Video Technology teacher in high school) No Resistance. It's probably the best low, and I do mean LOW budget, as in couldn't afford VIOLENCE low budget, movie I've ever seen, and it's not just because it's from my favorite teacher in high school, it's genuinely a good movie (you can buy it on BlueRay on Amazon I beg you buy it, it's so worth it).

[lediz-watches]

Kaos

AKA: GODDAMMIT, NETFLIX.

I am very tired and stressed and so took a couple days off from both work and study to watch TV and movies. So far, I have achieved Kaos, and It Was A Good Decision.

So Roman-Greek Gods. So perfectly told. This is a Greco-Roman myth updated to current storytelling and it is done so well and Jeff Goldblum--while still being so very Jeff Goldblum--was such INCREDIBLE casting and how unflinchingly terrible all the gods are in their horrible warning way. Hera is The Matriarch. Poseidon is the envious but pragmatic Brother, Persephone and Hades with their responsibilities and fair marriage, ugh!

Okay. Okay, back it up.

So for those who are not aware, Kaos is a story of three humans fulfilling their prophecy to bring down the golden age of the Greek Gods. It is also a very Greco-Roman story about the question of fate, and power, and the nature of chaos.

Because all comes from chaos, and must return so. The Ancient Greeks were very nihilistic in their way. They believed that all that truly matters, in the end, is Love.

The wonderful, terrible thing that is Love.

There are many stories to remind us of this message, as there always are in the Greek myths. The main plot is a prophecy bestowed on three humans (which is odd, because prophecies are granted to each child when born, and should be unique), which Prometheus (of the stolen flame fame) believes will bring about the fall of Zeus, who is using human souls to fuel his and the other gods' power.

If I'm honest, the many stories, while all very good stories, did occasionally get distracting. We spent a lot of time with two of the humans--Eurydice and Caeneus--in the afterlife as they developed an infatuation and discovered that humans are never really reborn as they're told they are. We'd go long, disconnecting stretches without checking in the Ariadne, the final prophecised human and heir to the leadership of Krete.

Don't get me wrong, I loved them all. But the stories were supposed to be overlapping, and it often felt like someone saying "Oh, wait, meanwhile, I forgot to tell you about this other thing that was happening, bear with me a second." Which was unfortunate, because Ariadne's story was the most political and complicated and it definitely got put on the back burner a lot.

Though I imagine for some people the story of Eurydice falling out of love with her overbearing husband would have been quite difficult to digest. So maybe it was needed. Humans are only allowed to move on from love to other love, according to fiction, after all... </bitter>

Also, while I understand why we didn't get to know more about it (Prometheus isn't exactly a reliable narrator and he is the one telling the story), I wish we'd been told more about Prometheus' relationship with Zeus, rather than them shoehorning in the love story with Charon far be it from the epic ferryman to be loyal and changeable without a love story. Their conflict and how Zeus reacted to it turned out so integral to the plot, and yet we got only one actual line referencing their former relationship! Which is just typical of retellings which only ever think Prometheus matters because he stole fire when what really matters is that they were friends until

Anyway.

Moving onto the Fates. The overarching forces. My beloveds.

I wasn't originally on board with them because of the casting, but ultimately I adored them. How unaffected they were. How... beyond our ken. I loved it. I loved that of all the primordial beings - that they seemed to operate in foreign ways that we aren't supposed to understand. I love that they didn't seem all that powerful in and of themselves, but were still well beyond the gods' reach.

Not even the gods can defy the greatest and most terrible forces of this and other worlds, after all.

And speaking of the gods. Like I said, they were such perfect representations of the myths. Recognisable in their actions: petty, selfish, hedonistic, vengeful, yearning creatures... but separate and disengaged from the humans they mirror. Even Dionysus, Hades, and Persephone, who were the most compassionate, were ultimately unconcerned with humans as people. Hades and Persephone only really give a damn about the natural order. Dionysus just wants more. They will all use and abuse humans as necessary to serve their own whims.

And yet it was all done in such a modern, relatable way. It was a Greek myth, in language contemporary audiences could understand.

So good.

And then Netflix had to go and bloody cancel it!

We could have met Ares! And you know Zeus would have called on Athena. ATHENA. We could have seen the fall of Krete! We could have maybe seen the TITANS.

I am happy with what I got, and I'm not surprised, because Netflix is spending money like a shotgun blast and... well. Hollywood learned its lesson in the 50s when it comes to volatile politics, but...! BUT.

It was good. And I hope we see more like it one day.

[pimento-playing-hopscotch]

This Wizard of Oz! And the sequels as well if you've seen them lol (also how do you feel about the new Wicked movie coming out?)

Hi! 😊 Thank you for the ask 🥰

So many feelings about the og Wizard of Oz! (Shameless self-plug; in the first chapter of my Find Carlos’s favorite movie fic, TK shows him the wizard of Oz- on Ao3 now)

First- I think it might be the most gorgeous movie ever made- like where she opens the door and everything is in color- like I am that screencap of “don’t disturb me; I’m experiencing childlike wonder” when I see that. I watched it last a few years ago and it is a good movie; like it’s still hard to watch where the flying monkeys rip the scarecrow apart and Toto is the cutest dog and for this to the first movie that used color- like were those people in the 30’s just blown away?!

Also I blame Glinda more for not telling Dorothy she could have left any time by her damn self more than Dorothy for taking the slippers cause like she chose where the damn house landers

But this movie it does bleed into for me the stories of how terribly they treated basically everyone when making a movie and that takes away some of the magic for me-

But it is an absolutely stunning film and Judy Garland was absolute perfection in this movie.

I only watched the Oz great and powerful once while babysitting years ago- Mila Kunis was in it as well- I think? James Franco was Oz and was weird- tell me if this one was memorable and I’m remembering it badly

(I had tk put Return to Oz at the bottom because of the screenshot I included lol)

The new Wicked intrigues me greatly!& I only learned after watching the trailer and looking it up that they’re splitting it into two movies- but the trailer looks outstanding and the casting for both Elphaba and Galinda is outstanding- and Jeff Goldblum as the wizard?? Like this sounds too good to be true lol)

Return to Oz- literally one of the most disturbing things I’ve ever damn seen- like okay I know this too was based on one of the books but holy hell! Like think we all know this that they genuinely couldn’t rate movies in the 80’s but this is-

(Like if you’ve never seen this Dorothy’s aunt and uncle are so tired of hearing her talk about Oz they take her to get electroshock therapy- and it just gets weirder from there- like in lieu of the flying monkeys they’re these things called Wheelers which are maniacal clowns who ride unicycles-

Actually IMDb can explain this better than I can (a great thing when you’re bored- look up the parents guide section for any given movie on IMDb to see what they think parents should be warned about; they’re occasionally hysterical- anyway this is all about Return to Oz: