#anyways watch Spider-Verse it's the best movie ever

[iwasbored777]

Everyone is talking about Gwen being jealous of Margo but no one's talking about Gwen, knowing that Miles is mad at her, took Margo in her band to go save Miles together cuz this isn't about her feelings, it's about Miles' safety. And if that's not love idk what is.

[sirfrogsworth]

These folks watched a whole ass movie not realizing the main character was transgender and it was a 2 second kiss between men that made them lose their ever-loving minds.

It's amazing to me that if it weren't for those 2 seconds, many of these folks would have given this movie a 4 or 5 star review. But two seconds of the most vanilla, non-sexy, yet genuine and loving kiss somehow ruined every moment of enjoyment the previous 90 minutes brought them.

Imagine if they realized the trans allegory. I wish I had a way to tell them. I wish I had a way to make them realize they related to a trans character. That they rooted for them. That they accidentally empathized with a trans story.

This was a beautiful movie. In every sense. I really hope between this and Spider-Verse, we can have a moratorium on every 3D animated movie using this style of character design.

It's time to let go of the rubber toy look.

I love Toy Story, but its success kind of doomed 3D animation to never take any risks. I thought maybe it was just a limitation of the medium, and perhaps it was for a time... but after seeing Love Death + Robots and Arcane...

I realized they can make 3D animation look however the hell they want now.

The rubber people were just risk avoidance.

"That's what people are used to and so we're sticking with it."

But the real beauty of Nimona was the story. I won't spoil it but the plot is pretty much, "If you get to know a trans person, you probably won't hate them anymore."

Not knowing any trans people is one of the biggest factors in anti-trans bigotry. And so this movie uses allegory to let an audience get to know a trans person. And you get to experience someone slowly start to understand what it is to be trans from an outside perspective.

It's sad that will probably be lost on those folks above because all they will remember is the kiss. Seriously, it was such a harmless, mundane, blink-and-you-miss-it kiss. But I'm hoping that others will take the lesson of this movie to heart. That you should get to know people before you judge them.

Part of me does wish we could tell trans stories without allegory. That we could just have overt trans characters. But I think this is the best representation possible right now.

It's crazy that Supergirl was one of the bravest shows as far as modern trans representation. It wasn't an edgy HBO drama trying to push boundaries. It was a family-friendly superhero show and they were just like, "Here is a transgender woman with superpowers and it's fine." And I loved that it was part of the character but it wasn't all the character was. Though I think they just missed the manufactured "moral panic" window where that choice would have been extremely controversial causing boycotts of Warner Bros. and whatnot.

My only complaint about Nimona was a small penis joke. It went by very quickly and many may even miss it. But I was surprised to see it in this movie in particular. Especially since those jokes can have collateral damage toward trans folks. With all of the positive messages, wasting a joke on body shaming was a tad disappointing. I mean, it was a fairly lighthearted "Is it cold in here?" joke. I don't want to make it sound worse than it was. But it still registered on my Richter scale of things that bother me.

Anyway, I wholeheartedly give Nimona a 5 out of 5. It helped me understand my friends on a deeper level and it was warm and funny and entertaining. There was a scene at the end that was so beautiful and heart-wrenching and I was crying my eyes out. The animation and the symbolism and the acting were just so perfect.

It's a shame Disney tried to kill this movie. But I am so glad it was allowed to exist despite that.

[fushigur0ll]

EARTH42! MILES BF HCS

꒰ ♡ ꒱- x black fem!reader

earth42!miles who loves you and cares for you so much other then his mom and uncle. he’s the best bf you can ask for as much as he looks so nonchalant and cold from the outside, he’s the most sweetest and romantic person on the inside.

earth42!miles swings by your house when he hasn’t seen you in at least a few hours to a few days or a week. he apologizes when he realizes that you’ve been neglected for a while and spends his time with you as much as he can before he heads back to deal with the world he and you both live in

one thing about earth42!miles is that he never forgets a date or special occasion. he can be busy, yes but he will never forget your birthday, anniversary or any other occasion. one time, it was your birthday, he had sent you money to go buy yourself whatever you wanted and when you were done, you came home with bags on your wrists, hair and nails done, and a cute outfit you had worn to go out. you had almost dropped your bags when you seen your bf standing in the middle of your room, with a bouquet of pink and purple flowers, gifts upon gifts on your bed with plushies and other cute stuff he would always see you stare at when you two would be out together as well as snacks that you assume you both will use in a bit to cuddle and watch movies. you put your bags down, frowning when feeling yourself tear up. he smiles at you softly putting the flowers down and widening his arms for you to walk into his chest, holding him tightly.

“happy birthday, ma”

you smile and feel his fingers tilt your head up to passionately lock lips, holding each other close as the atmosphere is perfectly set. the sky was orange and yellow with spots of red and purple even as the brightest star known as the sun sets down, it cracks through the curtains and widely shows from the balcony that was open from miles coming through that way inside your room. he slowly unlocks his lips from yours with his eyes still closed, the kiss lingering on his lips still. he pecks your lips once more before cupping your face and watching you stare at him softly.

“i love you”

you tear up at how soft you feel right now it’s unexplainable. he notices the tears building up in your eyes and chuckles, rubbing his thumbs across your cheeks and under eye.

“my crybaby”

you scoff and roll your eyes playfully, placing your palms flat on his chest.

“i love you more baby..thank you for this, like really- i can’t even speak i’m just so happy” you smile and look at everything he’s got you.

“anything just to see you smile mami”

then for the rest of the evening, you both looked over the stuff he’s got then watched a bunch of movies you both enjoyed and ended the night in each others arms. you asleep with a small smile on your lips too with miles holding you close to him. your body was practically on him, one leg wrapped around his waist with your arms hugging his torso and head to his chest. he rubs the soft skin of your thigh as well as your arm as he stares at you just thinking about how happy he was to have someone like you with him in a world this hectic and a spider-verse so chaotic. he even thinks about marrying you one day but he knows he’ll have to wait till that day comes. his life was still crazy and will do anything to keep you out of it..well..he tried to but you found out anyway and ever since then he told you about anything that was bothering him or stressing him out as much as he didn’t want to put his burdens and issues on you but it felt extremely nice to have someone listen to him without judging him in any way and that’s one of many hundred reasons he’s so in love with you

earth42!miles who will take you out on dates that isn’t extravagant but simple and perfect for the both of you. picnic, park, and beach dates are something you hold near and dear to your heart. any date you go on with your boyfriend is always something to remember. as much as he doesn’t look like the type to take you out on dates, he doesn’t mind it at all. you both could be strolling through the park late at night, his arm around your shoulder as you talk about your day at school and work right after. he listens to everything you say and just loves it when you ramble, as much as he won’t confess that he does. you both can also be at the park, pushing you high on the swing and hearing you yelp, laugh and giggle. it’s his favourite thing in the world..but again…not like he’s gonna admit it to you but you see his small smile so he’s not that slick.

earth42!miles who will allow you to touch and braid his hair other then his mom. he sits on the floor with your legs on either side of him and your hands just work on his hair, taking out his braids.

“damn- baby my head is tender as it is” he groans and rubs the tender spot on his head

“oh, i’m sorry miles, i’ll be more gentle…and that means you need to oil your hair more boy” you scold him lightly, shaking your head when you hear him chuckle

“yes ma’am”

you help him wash, condition, shampoo his hair and when everything all done, you put his hair right back into his lovely braids and thanks you with a lingering kiss to the corner of your lips

“thank you ma”

all earth42!miles loves doing is spoiling you. you barley ask- let me rephrase, you don’t ask for him to take you shopping because he will just gladly take you on a random day out of the week at anytime. you always ask for his opinion because he does have good taste. he does enjoy moments like these with you and people would think he’s bored walking around the store with his girlfriend but really and truly, he loves going out with you and once again, he won’t admit it to you at all!!

lastly, earth42!miles loves you from the spider-verse and back. ever since he got with you, it’s made him happier then he was before. way before he met you, he was dealing with so much issues, responsibilities and burdens that was hard to take..but you’ve made it all better and made him hopeful for everyday to come with you by his side, showing how much he loves you everyday he sees your pretty self.

what can i say

earth42!miles is a nonchalant sucker in love

fushigur0ll © 2022 all rights reserved. do not plagarize, translate, or post to other sites please.

[twilight-deviant]

What is your opinion of the Wilson Fisk version of the Spiderverse animated movie?

I like him all right. ¯\_(◡‿◡)_/¯ I like Fisk, so seeing Fisk at all is what I like. Haha.

Disclaimer: It has been a little while since I watched the movie. I should do it again sometime.

I do often have problems with Spider-Man using Fisk. (Yes, I know he's a SM villain first. But hear me out... he's a DD villain, okay?) I find that DD keeps him a lot more grounded (he is just a guy, a regular, non-enhanced guy), and SM wants him to be as big as the series other villains. Spider-Verse is definitely guilty of that, having Fisk at the center of accessing multiple universes and breaking them, but ah well... Most important, they still humanize him. That's what matters most to making a good Fisk. [Unspeakable Evils 🤝 Caring for Loved Ones] Having him do it all to bring back Vanessa and Richard (the most any Fisk has ever cared for Richard? lol), I like it.

More thoughts below...

I think they did a kind of interesting thing having Liev do a more "New York" accent in the voice acting. (Sounds like a Brooklyn accent, I think? Even though Fisk has always been very Manhattan-based. I could very easily be wrong though.) I don't know that I agree with the choice, but I find it interesting. It drives home Fisk's lower-class roots. I only disagree with it because a big part of Fisk's development from childhood is leaving that behind, reading a lot and bettering himself to come off as someone higher-class and more educated. He likes rubbing elbows with "old rich," pretending he's one of them and always has been, and he hates reminders that he isn't. Like... really hates it.

[Daredevil (1964) #290]

(He kills that man. Over the top? Yes. Makes the point? Yes. And yeah, he does speak other languages, but I get what they're saying here about "academic" phrases.)

I know it's obvious I like Vincent's Fisk in the tv series, but I think they do a lot of it right. He frequently uses big words to show he's intelligent (almost intentionally-- to impress), but he doesn't know "basic rich people things." He has to have Wesley suggest wine to drink at dinner, he can't tie a bowtie, etc. It's nice. It's subtle. It gives the impression of "nouveau riche" with higher-class ignorance and overcompensation. I think that is truly the best way to handle Fisk. If he had an accent perceived as lower-class, he would get rid of it posthaste. Nothing against the Spider-Verse decision though. Sometimes, variety is nice too.

ANYWAY! Actual character design of Spider-Verse Fisk? 😅 Well, I think every joke has been made. Haha. Obviously, as established, based on this Fisk:

[Daredevil: Love and War (1986)]

Seeing him in Spider-Verse can be a lot to take in at first with a lot to criticize, but I've come out the other side with much better opinions.

At first, you think seeing such a ridiculous shape of a man dehumanizes him a bit, which is fair and (I still think) a little true. But I've opted instead to not see it as a literal physical manifestation of Fisk so much as a symbolic display that he is "The Big Man." You can look at the wide shot in the comic above and see that even though he is massive, the big open room makes him feel small, vulnerable. It somehow makes him appear more powerless to help Vanessa. (So much strength but he can't fix her, blah blah blah.) But most of the shots in Spider-Verse have him taking up the screen. He's supposed to come off very strong, very scary, and very in charge of the situation.

In his less villainous moments, he takes up less screen.

Him being peak vulnerable? Thinking about Vanessa and Richard's deaths? The widest of wide shots. Him smol.

So I do believe the character design is a good choice overall, but I think for its greatest impact, you have to think of his size as symbolic instead of physical. (Granted, if there's one thing no artist can agree on, it's how big to make Fisk. I could make a whole post just on how severely his size fluctuates across the comics. lol) Also about his design in the movie, I'm into the black silhouette. Voids are cool. 👍

Side note: I like the pen clicking habit when he's stressed. Wilson Fisk is never beating the autism allegations.

I hope that answers your question, Anon. I think I'd have to watch the movie again to give greater commentary on this Fisk. I'm curious what your thoughts on him are. ♥

[moviemunchies]

[Yes, person who asked, I did get around to re-watching Madagascar, though a bit late for its anniversary.]

Oh thank goodness, a Dreamworks movie I like. Glad to be back on these. Okay, I do have some nostalgic attachment to this one–I first saw it in theaters (and I haven’t seen it since, though I do listen to the soundtrack sometimes).

Marty (a zebra), his best friend Alex (lion), Mellman (giraffe), and Gloria (hippo) are animals in the Central Park Zoo. Marty dreams of one day living in the Wild, though his friends discourage this–especially Alex, as he’s a superstar, the zoo's main attraction. The night of Marty’s birthday, he escapes, and when his friends go to rescue him, they’re branded as unfit for captivity and shipped off to a wildlife preserve in Kenya. But the zoo’s penguins (also caught in the escape attempt) hijack the ship and the four friends slip off to wreck on the island of Madagascar.  Shenanigans ensue, and no small drama, as Alex has been fed on steaks his whole life and doesn’t have a clue where to find more.

It has been a long time since I saw this movie, and I was worried that if I saw it again I wouldn’t like it as much. I don’t know if I’d ever say I was a maniac for the film–I didn’t see the sequels in theaters, after all. But I liked it. I enjoyed it. I thought it was hilarious. I was scared how I’d re-watch it. I didn’t need to worry though, because I still like this movie. And it’s still hilarious!

Okay, mostly. I think there are some pop culture jokes and references that are unnecessary and drag things down. Plenty of the humor and drama stands on its own without those pop culture references. It seems like, after the making of Shrek, a lot of family films decided that they needed these allusions to “appeal to the parents” or something? No. No you don’t. Not this many of them, anyway. I don’t pile too hard on these because again, the movie has a lot of jokes that work fine on their own, so it’s not too big of a problem.

This is a movie that asks a fairly interesting question: how would anthropomorphic zoo animals survive in the wild? There are a lot of movies that sort of act as if zoo animals, or pets, would just adapt immediately towards the wild, and that’s not what happens here. The one who has a clue how to survive is Marty, who has been dreaming of this for ages; and even then, he doesn’t have fresh water. And noticeably, his ways of survival involve building things, a very human way of surviving in the wild.

And of course: what is Alex going to do? He can’t eat plants but if he’s been given steaks his entire life, he doesn’t have a clue how to get food for himself! This is a major part of the Plot! I appreciate that very much.

[It’s weird how the sequel ignores the question of ‘What does Alex eat if not his friends?’ when it’s such an important element in this movie.]

I will admit that the character design took some getting used to. I recall not actually liking it when I saw the first trailers. And I was still not sure when I started the film the first time. It works, though! It makes the movie have a visual identity that’s different. It’s good to see an animated film with an artistic identity–there was a while we had (before Into the Spider-Verse showed its influence) that everyone was seemingly copying a Disney/Pixar style, and this movie is nothing like that.

All the characters in the movie are fun! I think sadly, Gloria and Melman aren’t too developed other than the general traits, though that’s kind of okay–Marty and Alex are the leads here, and those two still get enough to be entertaining. There are movies in which side characters are basically non-entities. And they get more stuff to do in the sequel, which is good. The penguins are also great fun to watch on screen, and I’m not at all surprised that they got their own television series and movie (though I am sad that the movie didn’t do that well).

It’s far from the best of what Dreamworks can do, but it’s definitely moving in the right direction. It’s pretty good, pretty funny, and pretty memorable. It’s not a must-see, unless you’re a huge fan of Dreamworks or CGI animated films, though at the same time it’s a fairly good time if you need something to watch.

Last side note: Do you guys remember this had a tie-in video game? I mean, all movies did back then, but this game had an insanely addictive shuffleboard mini-game. I don’t know how, given that shuffleboard sounds ridiculously boring in real-life, but for whatever reason I couldn’t stop playing this mini-game.

[ryukang1995]

My top 10 unpopular opinions.

10. Sevendust is one of the best Metal bands I have listened to I genuinely love Sevendust, but while the band has many fans, some of us can agree that they don't quite get the recognition they deserve, and because of that, several have indeed labeled them as underrated.

They have a great unique sound that is very heavy yet melodic, and they're one of the few bands that haven't really changed their sound all too much, and yet they still come off as great and fresh...that's just me though.

9. Double Dragon (Neo Geo) is one of the most underrated fighting games I have ever played I love the Double Dragon games (most of them, anyways), and this gem for the Neo Geo is no exception.

It's loosely based on the Double Dragon movie (more on that later), and yet it actually does a great job at making the film universe seem very cool, especially as an alternate take on Double Dragon. Beyond that, it's a fun Street Fighter II-esque fighting game, which is ironic because it's published by SNK (Capcom's long-time rival behind The King of Fighters and Samurai Shodown among others).

Definitely a much better Double Dragon fighting game than Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls, and it helps that it was developed by Technos Japan aka the company behind the original Double Dragon arcade games.

8. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is overrated I used to like this movie, but upon rewatch and reflection? I realize just how cringe and obnoxious it was.

Every single character is unlikable, especially Scott Pilgrim himself, and I didn't find it all that funny. It does have a great visual style from Edgar Wright as well as some cute easter eggs for video game fans, but that's not enough to salvage it.

7. Pineapple on Pizza is fine While not my favorite topping of Pizza (I prefer Pepperoni and Meat Lovers), Pineapple Pizza is not as bad as some make it out to be, especially when compared to Anchovies.

6. The old Super Mario Bros., Double Dragon and Street Fighter movies are not the worst The first few live-action movies based on video games pre-Mortal Kombat (1995) get quite a horrible reputation among fans, but as a fan of the games they are based on, I can still watch them.

Yes, they are very loose takes on the classic games, which is largely one of the main reasons why fans hate them, and yes, they're not technically great movies either, but they can be very amusing, especially in that guilty pleasure/so bad it's good way.

I can still let them pass for at least trying to make video game adaptations work, especially since they were among the first examples of the concept. We did get better video game movies, especially the animated Mario and Street Fighter II movies, but believe it or not? We also got much worse examples (such as Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li and the adaptations directed by Uwe Boll).

5. I never got into the MCU's depiction of Spider-Man I love Spider-Man, especially the first two movies by Sam Raimi, but I never really got into later Spider-Man movies beyond them...well, except for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which is honestly the best Spidey flick since Spider-Man 2 (I have yet to see Across the Spider-Verse, but I have heard great things).

Tom Holland's version of Peter Parker did get a lot of praise, but I never really liked him all that much. To me, he was kind of a wuss. I recognize that he does mature by the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, but while it was nice to see him with both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield on screen, I had already lost interest in the MCU by that time.

If you like the MCU Spider-Man movies? That's perfectly fine.

4. Street Fighter III and Mortal Kombat X are some of the most overrated fighting games ever Some will scream blasphemy since I am a massive fan of both Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, hence my nickname Ryu Kang, but I never got into these particular installments.

They were both aiming to be focused on the new generations of both franchises, similar to Tekken 3, which I felt did that concept much better. The two games get a lot of love, especially among tournament players, but they're not my cup of tea, and I do prefer other Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat games.

3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003) is one of the best incarnations of the TMNT franchise I love the TMNT franchise, whether it'd be the 80s cartoon, the first two live-action movies from the 90s, or some of the video games like the two arcade games by Konami and Shredder's Revenge.

While the 2003 cartoon has a fanbase, it's also one that tends to be pretty underrated, especially in later times. I love how it aims to be darker and mirror the original comic books while still working within the parameters of being a Saturday morning cartoon.

I also have a personal attachment to the cartoon as I used to watch it a lot around 2003-04. Plus, I will gladly take it over later incarnations of TMNT like the Michael Bay movies.

2. Batman Forever and Daredevil (2003) are pretty underrated comic book movies These two movies do get so much hatred, I feel. While neither of them are among the greatest superhero movies ever made, I genuinely feel there was a lot of effort put into them, especially considering that they were victims of heavy studio meddling.

The director's cut of Daredevil (2003) especially salvages that movie, and I would like to see the original cut that Joel Schumacher intended for Batman Forever if they ever plan on releasing it.

1. I prefer Sonya Blade with Liu Kang over her with Johnny Cage Some of you definitely saw this coming, especially if you follow my page, but yeah, I'm not very fond of the CageBlade pairing.

I have already written many times before why I feel this way, but in a nutshell...Johnny annoys Sonya so much, and she only warms up to him whenever she's put in danger and he comes in to save the day. Also, later MK games and movies did a poor job handling their dynamic.

While Liu Kang and Sonya never really hooked up in the canon, the interactions they do have really show that the two get along well, and I do feel the pairing has fan art and fanfic potential beyond what I normally do with them.

With that being said, I don't mind Liu Kang with Kitana either (though recent MK games and movies do a poor job handling them too), and I would be biased and harsh if I said that he deserves only one between Kitana and Sonya.

So yeah, those are my top 10 unpopular opinions. If you don't agree with any of these, it's all good. Let's be civil about it.

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: March 2023

It’s getting nicer out but I’m still spending plenty of time indoors watching and reading things, don’t you worry.

……….FILM……….

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) It’s been years since I’ve gone back to this and it really is one of the best superhero movies ever made, right? I hope the next one succeeds and it leads to more animated features. It just...you can do so much more. Sure the live-action superhero movies have a lot of animation but they’re bound by our physics and the uncanny valley and it’s just not the same.

……….TELEVISION……….

Ted Lasso (Episode 3.01 to 3.03) Glad to be back. It’s been interesting seeing the online rise, then fall, then rise again of support for this show but honestly, who cares? Do you like watching it? Great. Do I like watching it? Absolutely. It’s a project that was planned from season 1 and it shows and I wish more media was approached in this way.

Spy x Family (Episode 1.08 to 1.25) Okay needed to shift my expectations with this one. I really thought we’d get more of Yor and her assassin life. She’s kinda just a background character to Loid and Anya and that feels like a missed opportunity.

The Great (Episode 2.09 to 2.10) Great cap to the season. Full arcs for characters, a satisfying resolution and yet still enough of a hook to get me excited for the third season. Just some gorgeous, funny, dramatic television. Big fan.

……….YOUTUBE……….

Why everything you buy is worse now and How America’s richest donate their money by Vox Okay the first one really helped explain why stuff seems to be lower quality and it’s not just “better back in my day” sorta stuff. It’s just chasing that elusive profit, you know? And seeing the stats on how the wealthy donate was eye-opening. Taxes seem good. VIDEO (Worse Now) VIDEO (Richest Donations)

AI and Image Generation (Everything is a Remix Part 4) by Kirby Ferguson I’ve always appreciated the Everything is a Remix series and this only reinforces that. A measured response to AI image generation and what that means, why it’s flawed, and what happens next. VIDEO THE FULL PROJECT

What Does Glass Onion Have to Do with US? by Vivian Strange Okay a lengthy one but worth it. A new perspective on Glass Onion, a refresher on why I really liked US, and a really great connection between the two. Also a really great breakdown of the murder mystery as a genre as well and why it’s having a resurgence. All around great stuff. VIDEO

……….READING……….

Arabian Nights (Companion Library Edition) (Page 124 of 244) Thrifted this and for some reason never knew it was a collection of short stories? Which seems obvious now. Anyway I’m sooooo slow at really short story collections but they’ve been interesting to read. Something about the translation feels like a slog to actually read but the stories included are a lot of fun. 

Wonderland Revisited and the Games Alice Played There by Keith Sheppard (Complete) I’m super picky when it comes to adaptations of Carroll’s works. Many take Wonderland and make it dark, twisted, and mature (meh) but I find the more interesting take is one that continues with the same momentum. This one doesn’t quite work in capturing the spirit of the original books for me but there’s a lot of really great ideas in here.

Superman for all Seasons by Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale (Complete) Having loved their Batman books I picked this up and, being younger and dumber, didn’t like it at the time. Where was the action? Where were the villains? I was naive. Going back to this I really appreciate the study of Superman, the narrative through the supporting cast, and the struggles that can’t be resolved through punching. Man Loeb & Sale were a team.

Fantastic Four: Full Circle by Alex Ross (Complete) As an one-off story, this delivers everything I’d want out of an FF adventure: group banter, weird worlds, and lots of mumbo jumbo science. Plus I mean the artwork is truly humbling. I had to read it twice and I still only 80% understand it all but that’s not a complaint. Totally worth picking up if you have even a passing interest in the Fantastic Four.

Ultimate Spider-Man Volume 5 & 6 by by Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Bagley, and more  (Complete) Decided to pick up with my reread of the Ultimate Spider-Man series again and woof I forgot how much I didn’t like volume 5. The first half is an Ultimates story that I STILL find too wordy, and the movie tie-in of the second half never quite clicked. I dunno maybe there are too many losses and not enough wins for Parker in this one? Volume 6, however, is great. It has one of the most frustrating deaths in the series but it really explores the aftermath and impact. And introducing Johnny Storm and using him as the reason Spider-Man gets back into the hero stuff is really great. Spider-Man doesn’t need to solve all problems with punches and this book gets that.

……….AUDIO……….

Wild Planet by The B-52s (1980) After listening to a greatest hits album on repeat as a kid, I’m going back to the early stuff. Can’t get Private Idaho out of my head.

FREE I.H.: This Is Not the One You've Been Waiting For by Illuminati Hotties (2020) They always pop up in lists when I search for “more stuff like Sleigh Bells” but it finally clicked for me after listening to content//bedtime. Love this album.

……….GAMING……….

Neverland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) Whoa okay so my weekly group just fled the land of the Fairies after some drama with the Queen of the realm (you can read about it here) and then my Mof1 game ALSO had some Fairy drama involving the Queen. Apparently she’s a dramatic lady.

And that’s it. See you in April!

[snekusnake]

Araignee: Beginnings

Pairing: Miguel O’Hara x Original Character

Genre: Fluff, Sad?

Synopsis: Miguel finds Amelie’s universe, in which there fates are swapped.

A/N: This is a prequel to my other work, Araignee. They can be read stand alone but they do connect.

The light on the screen blinked rapidly, alerting Miguel’s tired eyes to the sensor. Discovering new dimensions was always particularly interesting, there seemed to be a version of the universe that was weird, wacky or overall just amazing.

He tapped on the new light that flashed in the web of the multi-verse, watching it expand and grow in front of him.

Would this be another Peter Parker?

Perhaps another Miles Morales? He surely hoped not.

To Miguel’s surprise it was a woman standing in a hallway, struggling to hold a stack of boxes. The hallway look extremely familiar, the pale cream walls reminding him of happier days, along with the brown door that made the color scheme look even more boring.

The letters 555 pinned to the door made his heart stop.

College.

College was going to be fun.

At least, that’s what Amelie really hoped. She’d seen a lot of movies after all, college was a time to explore, make new friends and maybe even fall in love.

If she ever managed to open this god damn door with this rusty old key.

The feeling of a tilt made her gasp, watching as two of the boxes slipped from their mini tower. Amelie shut her eyes, bracing for the impact but there wasn’t any.

“You can always put your boxes down,”

The deep voice had her eyes fluttering opening, looking at the person in front of herself. He was a tall male, broad, with tan skin and warm brown eyes. He wore a simple white shirt and denim jeans, brown hair unbrushed yet still falling into place perfectly.

“Excusez-moi!” Amelie laughed softly, “I do not need a lesson on common sense,”

“How about a lesson in opening doors?” He asked, “It helps if you jiggle the key, the locks haven’t been replaced in years,”

“Do you mind?”

He gently took the last box from her, holding it with the others. Despite his gentle, almost nerdy look, he seemed to be quite strong.

Amelie jiggled the key as it turned, the brown door opening and revealing her new dorm room. Despite the musty smell, she let out an excited squeal and her feet tapped on the floor.

“I’ve never seen anyone excited about a boring college dorm,” He commented.

“It’s a new beginning!” Amelie laughed softly and gently took the boxes, quickly putting them on the inside of the door, “And thank you, I don’t think I would have opened the door if you hadn’t of told me,”

“Best to help a neighbour, my mom always said anyway,” He shrugged, “I’m 556,”

“Oh!” She perked up, “What are you studying?”

The words that left his mouth, Amelie barely managed to understand. Something along the lines of science and biology.

“Okay!” She nodded, “I’m studying education! And dance! I do ballet,”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen ballet in my life,” He confessed.

“Well, I’ll just have the fix that,” Amelie laughed, “I’m Amelie,”

“Miguel,”

Quickly shutting the scene down, Miguel inhaled deeply as he processed what he’d just witnessed. It was like someone had taken his memories and slapped them on the screen.

Except..

This focused on Amelie.

Its main focus was on Amelie.

Amelie was the Spider Person in this universe.

“Miguel, this new universe is still processing through our systems-“

Lyla’s voice made him jump, Miguel quickly barking orders.

“Watch it extremely closely, I have to be notified if anything happens in this universe!”

Lyla’s voice stopped, the little woman appearing in the air.

“Miguel, you know your own rules,” Lyla warned.

“I know..,” He sighed and looked at the screen, “No one can ever go to this universe, it’s off limits,”

Lyla didn’t say anything.

“Especially not me,”

If his deductions were correct and Amelie was the Spider Person of this universe..

The canon event that would sent her into heroism was the death of Miguel O’Hara.

[listieshadows]

Listie says some words about every new movie she saw in July 2023 that she hadn't seen before

Eh, why not? I may as well say a few words about every movie I saw last month that I hadn't already seen before (at least according to the spreadsheet I've been keeping up with since February 2017). So, here we go—below the cut, of course, since this is gonna really run long.

(A note from right before I posted this: I actually kind of underestimated how long this would be when I started writing this, oh my goodness. This is 22 films I said words about down there.)

Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny (2023)

Date seen: 2023-07-02

I'll admit I liked this one more coming out of the theater than I do now, so many days removed from it. Back when I made my Indiana Jones ranking post, I ranked it dead in the middle, as worse than Last Crusade and better than Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, but, honestly? I think I might like Crystal Skull a it better than this, actually?

Of course, I might change my mind again if I ever re-watch it, but... I don't know. I can't exactly pinpoint anything specific about it. There's not even nitpicks I can point to to make a mountain-out-of-a-molehill deal out of like everyone did back when Crystal Skull was released.

And, actually, maybe it is just that Dial doesn't have any big, goofy, unbelievable movie serial/B-movie moments like any of the others did. For the most part, it is kind of just a Fast & Furious spectacle with some tomb raiding thrown in there. And when we do get that big moment... Somehow, in a franchise where aliens have already happened, this still seems like a small step too far?

I don't know. I'm not gonna declare it the worst film of 2023 like I'm sure some other people already have, because I did enjoy my time in the theater. I didn't start to wonder two-thirds of the way through "Maybe this isn't good, actually?" like I did SHAZAM! Fury Of The Gods. I'unno. At any rate, this still feels like a better adventure for Jones to bow out on than Crustal Skull. At least until they deepfake Harrison Ford for a sixth film, anyway.

Nimona (2023)

Date seen: 2023-07-03

Jeez, and I'd thought that Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse would the best 2023 film I'd see all year. Like, I knew Nimona would be good, but I didn't expect it to hit me as hard as it can. It legitimately made me cry, which, despite how much my mom teases me about it, is not something I do that often.

It really is incredible to me that Disney left this movie to die when they shut down Blue Sky, but they still let The Ice Age Adventures Of Buck Wild happen. And, gawd, I thought it was a slap in the face before, because it seemed like the only thing Disney wanted to do with Blue Sky was milk the dead cow that is the Ice Age franchise even further (I haven't even seen the Scratt shorts)... And, really, if Blue Sky hadn't been closed down, its biggest crime is that it would've been boring, and potentially pointless if the Buck Wild TV series that this movie was obviously a pilot for never happened.

But in the wake of Nimona's release, The Ice Age Adventures Of Buck Wild is even worse, because Nimona, no doubt, would've been Blue Sky's best movie. Maybe even better than The Peanuts Movie. And that just makes it all the more tragic that Blue Sky was closed before they could finally hit their creative stride.

Also, Nimona ended the same way that Spider-Man: Homecoming did, and part of me's grateful that it did, 'cuz I actually would've been bawling for the next hour or so if it didn't, and I had other shit to do, so...

Mission: Impossible III (2006)

Date seen: 2023-07-03

At the start of July I was in the middle of watching all of the Mission: Impossible movies into the lead-up to Dead Reckoning Part One (more on that later!), and of course this is the last of the "original trilogy," as I like to think of it, before they went from spy thrillers to Jackie Chan stunt spectaculars.

And, honestly, of all of the films, this might be my least favorite?

Like, I'unno, in general, I prefer the more stunt-focused flicks to these, but even besides that... I just really didn't take to it? Like, the first one does the spy stuff the best, I think, and then the sequel is stupid, enjoyable John Woo nonsense. But this? It's the one I'd return to the least.

I mean, maybe I'm just pissed that they never told me what the hell the Rabbit's Foot was.

Independence Day (1996)

Date seen: 2023-07-04

I don't have much to say about this one, really. It's just stupid, popcorn fun. Like, yeah, it's overly jingoistic, but Will Smith punches out an alien and a whole shit-ton of miniatures blow up. Come on, that's entertainment.

I mean, at any rate, I enjoyed watching this movie more than Anonymous. At least this movie didn't put forward any Anti-Stratfordian conspiracy theories.

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)

Date watched: 2023-07-08

Surprisingly, this was the only one of the "latter trilogy" that I hadn't seen before this year. I'm not entirely sure why. I mean, I believe all three were available to me when I watched Ghost Protocol and Fallout, so I can't exactly figure out why it took me this long.

And big surprise, it's as much of a fun, thrilling spy action stunt spectacular as the other two. I wasn't expecting anything less.

Part of me kind of feels like these three are sort of interchangeable—like, if you wanna watch a spy movie where Tom Cruise risks his life being very high up in the air, you'd be fine with any of these. Of course, that's ignoring the actual stories, and I'm not saying they're bad in calling them interchangeable. Just that, in the future, if I were to try and figure out which one to watch, I'd have a hard time 'cuz they're all so equally good.

Maybe I'd just make it easy and put on Mission: Impossible 2, I'unno.

Spinout (1966)

Date watched: 2023-07-10

I've already talked about this movie in a previous post, so I'll just direct you there if you wanna hear my thoughts about it. Y'know, if you're really dying to find out what some random user on Tumblr thinks about Elvis's twentieth-some movie.

The Transformers: The Movie (1986)

Date watched: 2023-07-15

I plan to watch all of the Transformers movie this August, so I figured I may as well take the time to watch the original flick. Which, really, let's be honest, mostly served just to wipe most of the previous cast away so they could promote new toys.

I didn't not enjoy this movie, don't get me wrong, but obviously I didn't get as much out of it as I could have. Like, if I were a kid in the 80's, or if I were deeply invested in the cartoon, or if I didn't know that Optimus comes back, dies and comes back in the season of the show following this movie. Mostly, I just wanted to hear Eric Idle and Orson Welles, watch some robots beat up other robots, listen to one of the characters say "Aw, shit!" and devour the film's gloriously cheesy 80's soundtrack, which even includes Weird Al's "Dare To Be Stupid". And I got all that, so...

My friend Aylo didn't like it when I said that Hot Rod is partially responsible for Optimus Prime's death, but, hey, I just call 'em like I see 'em. Also, I mistook Hot Rod for Wheelie, and I wanted to perpetuate those allegations just to spite Wheelie.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

Date watched: 2023-07-16

I mean this in the best way possible—this movie frustrated the shit out of me. I just wanted Ethan to keep a hold on that damn key, but it just kept on getting yoinked out of his hands by some damn pickpocket or whoever. And, like, I mean it in the best way because that does mean I was invested in what was going on enough to care, but gaaaawd, how is this the person Ethan's had the most trouble with?

This movie's portrayal of A.I. is exactly what both A.I. evangelists and doomsayers clam it will be.

The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension (1984)

Date watched: 2023-07-18

Is this what all superhero movies feel like to people who aren't deeply invested in them? 'Cuz I found it pretty dang enjoyable if it is.

Also, I accidentally learned why that watermelon was there, and it bums me out because I liked the mystery way more.

Ruthless People (1986)

Date watched: 2023-07-20

This is a fine black comedy, but certainly not the best Zucker/Abrams/Zucker. I mean, literally, the only times I remembered that they directed this was the opening credits and the closing credits. In-between? I'unno, maybe I was just too distracted by Danny DeVito to remember.

And, yes, I did watch this movie entirely because its title song was the subject of Weird Al's only miss in parodying a hit, "Toothless People". Indeed, it really isn't even the best parody on the album. Not even "Addicted To Spuds" is right there with the line "Some tater tots would blow your mind!"

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret Of The Ooze (1991)

Date watched: 2023-07-20

The second part of my preparation for the upcoming Turtles movie this August, and... I don't think it's that much worse than the first, honestly? Clearly not as good, of course, but I'd give it a thumbs up.

This movie reminds me a lot of Ghostbusters II, where the tone was lightened up quite a bit from the first film because there was a franchise and a Saturday morning cartoon all the little kids were into. Now, true, the Turtles were already a franchise and cartoon beforehand, so it's not a 100% accurate comparison, but you get what I mean. After the first film, which was based more on the original comics, proved to be a success, the sequel was made to fit in better with how most people knew the TMNT.

But, again, I don't think it's a total downgrade. I can still take this mostly seriously, even with some of the dumber lines and moments. And at least we still have the Henson costumes. Can't argue with those.

Really, the only part that absolutely stunk was the anti-climax of Super Shredder. Like, even the appearance of Vanilla Ice got a laugh of me because... Come on, it's Vanilla Ice. What else was I supposed to do?

Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (2006)

Date watched: 2023-07-22

I watched this to celebrate the one-year anniversary of me watching all of the Superman movies I hadn't seen before (which meant "literally all of them except the DCEU two"), and in the intermediate time I've seen a lot of other movies, so I can't exactly tell you how this cut stacks up to the original, but... It's Superman II. It's the best of all of 'em. Can't argue with it.

I don't think you should watch this over the theatrical cut, but if you're curious to see how Donner would've cut it, I say go for it.

And, hey, 'know, this didn't cost Warner Bros. millions like that other time they let someone recut one of their DC movies (and, yes, thank you, I do refuse to watch it—or the original for that matter).

But so we don't go to the next film on that note, I wanna confess that the only thing I noticed different from the original cut was when I thought, "Hey, waitaminute—that shot where Superman blows a woman's skirt up wasn't there before."

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993)

Date watched: 2023-07-23

Any enjoyment I got out of this you could credit way more to James Rolfe than you can the film itself. If it weren't for his old review, I wouldn't've laughed nearly as much at the bad lines, poor special effects, terrible costumes, stupid story, and just the utterly bone-headed decision to have the Turtles time travel to early 17th-century Japan.

Well, at least it's not the worst thing to feature that subway lair set—though it's not exactly a compliment to say that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III is only barely better than Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation.

The Flash (2023)

Date watched: 2023-07-24

I wanna state upfront that nobody made a dime off of me watching this. The only thing I wasted here was my time.

So. The Flash.

You ever watch something just to be able to call it the worst thing you've seen all year?

Seriously, if the film hadn't stopped dead in its tracks in the middle of the climax to shove poorly rendered CGi fanservice in our face, it would have been fine. Maybe slightly better than SHAZAM! Fury Of The Gods. But that one extended moment is so crassly cynical, I think it caused "multiverse fatigue" all by itself, and I can't imagine myself willingly seeing anything worse this year.

Literally the best part was just the opening logos, and the fact that the movie quotes "Barbie Girl" really pissed me off, because that meant it tied directly into the next movie I saw.

Barbie (2023)

Date watched: 2023-07-24

I remember when I first heard that there was going to be a live-action Barbie movie, I was really skeptical. Like this was Mattel looking at the success of The LEGO Movie years ago and decided to shit out something in the vein of, like, The Smurfs or whatever.

Never would I have imagined that, years later, I'd be one of many people sitting in the theater audience wearing pink.

Absolutely lived up to the hype and how insane the trailers made it look. I couldn't have asked for anything better. Gawd bless.

You go live your best life, Alan.

Hatching Pete (2009)

Date watched: 2023-07-25

This is another one of those DCOMs I've seen ahead of the podcast Escape From Vault Disney—which is the only kind of DCOM I see, for the record—and, well, on a scale of "Does this feature a man in a chicken suit committing grand theft auto?", it's so far the best one.

In another universe, "Hatching Pete" is the title of a trans coming out story.

Elvis: That's The Way It Is (1970)

Date watched: 2023-07-26

Now this is what I wanted from an Elvis film—Elvis on stage singing his ass off, doing flailing karate moves, messing around with his band, finding time to kiss every woman in the audience, and deepthroating his microphone. Fun times!

TMNT (2007)

Date watched: 2023-07-26

Maybe the best Turtles film since the first one? I'unno, maybe if it had a plot I could give a hoot about, because Winters and all of the everything he was doing was just not doing it for me.

But, hey, at least I got to look at good looking CGi Turtles one more time before... Urgh. The next two.

Inception (2007)

Date watched: 2023-07-27

Oh, so that's why everybody uses "-ception" as a suffix. Neat! And the rest of the movie's real good, too.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2007)

Date watched: 2023-07-28

I wouldn't say this is as bad as Turtles III—I mean, it keeps the characters in New York, but that's the lowest possible bar for it to clear, and it certainly doesn't cross into being good.

It's such a strange decision to have the movie focus so centeredly on April, but I guess it's for the better we don't spend as much time as we could have being forced to focus on creeper Mikey.

Oppenheimer (2023)

Date watched: 2023-07-30

Lemme say up front that this is a good movie. A very good movie. Maybe one of Nolan's best—I haven't seen enough of his work to say for sure, but from what I've read, it's a very good candidate not only for Nolan's best, but maybe even best of the year. And certainly, this is absolutely a film that needs to be seen in theaters. There are moments in here I can't imagine just watching on a TV or phone.

And I bring all this preface just to say that if anyone sees this film rank towards the middle of my 2023 film ranking, it's because, honestly, if it weren't for the whole "Barbenheimer" phenomenon, I don't think I would've gone out of my way to see it, at least not in theaters. I'm sure I still would've had some interest in this film (largely because of the Epic Rap Battle where Oppenheimer battled Thanos), but not enough to go out of my way like this.

Also, lemme jus' say that, yeah, I agree with Issa Rae; I am a bit of psychopath for seeing this late. Didn't hit me until a few hours after I'd left the theater, but, yeah; shit could mess you up if you let it.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows (2016)

Date watched: 2023-07-31

I guess it's better than the first—I mean, credit for addressing issues like how pointless splitting Shredder into two characters was and for actually giving the Turtles character focus, and for adding in elements that fans had no doubt waited forever to see, like Krang and Be-Bop and Rocksteady—but it's still not that great.

Seriously, could they not get Krang on set for more than two days? He's a big brain alien with a mustache for some reason; he can't be that busy!

[stuff-diary]

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Movies watched in 2023

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023, USA)

Directors: Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers & Justin K. Thompson

Writers: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller & Dave Callaham

Mini-review:

So... remember when I said Into the Spider-Verse was the best superhero movie ever made? Well, I guess I was wrong, cause today I watched Across The Spider-Verse and, even with my insanely high expectations, I was completely blown away. Deep down, I was a bit worried about this movie ending up being some sort of rehash of the things that made the first one so groundbreaking. Now I see I shouldn't have been afraid. ITSV pushed the boundaries of what can be done in mainstream animation as hard as it could, but Across The Spider-Verse goes all out and basically pulverizes said boundaries. It seamlessly moves and jumps between different animation styles and aesthetics, not being awkward or messy for even a single second.

What's more, the movie has a script that can stand side by side with its amazing visuals. The pace is perfect and there are a lot of showstopping action scenes, but the writers made sure to give the characters the depth they deserve. The messages at the core of the movie are beautiful, and I loved the way certain colors and imagery are used to clarify what the movie is truly talking about. There are also many easter eggs, but they are handled in a way that makes them fun even for people who don't know much about Spider-Man's lore. Anyway, as I said at the beginning, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse might just be the best superhero movie ever made. Now we have to wait and see whether the trilogy's grand finale can top this one.

[idk-why-imhere]

Sunday, September 01st

it's currently Sunday and school starts in a week for me so safe to say I'm gonna cry myself to sleep panicking.

over the summer I rlly js forgot to update so I'm kinda info-dumping rn

basically what happened is: I got super into DC because of Batman: Year One, which made the nerd in me start looking into Batman. and then I found out about the different Robins which snowballed into me learning a lot about each of them and, so far, I rlly love them all but Jason and Damian are the best tbh (especially Damian, he's such a little gremlin ilhsm).

and then I started getting into Marvel bc I rewatched X-Men (rlly over-due tbh, haven't watched that shit since I was 9, 10/10) which also snowballed into me remembering how much I like Wolverine and then getting into Spider-Man and watched all the Tobey Maguire movies (best Spider-Man tbh but his Spider-Man would literally have a restraining order against Wade) and then remembering ab Deadpool. so then I watched the first movie and read the first comic volume (literally best comic I've ever read in my life) and now I wanna watch Deadpool 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine... and also Into The Spider-Verse and Across The Spider-Verse and Daredevil bc i heard it's good.

I also watched Dune: Part One (9/10) but I don't think I'll watch the second one, Idk we'll see.

I got to grow my nails and paint them (yay) and managed to talk my way into not cutting them for school which I'm super happy ab (they'll probably break off during school anyway so what's the point)

[stellarspecter]

the thing about across the spider-verse is that like. yeah it’s a good movie it’s visually stunning it’s a cool addition to the spider-verse franchise but i walked out of the theater feeling so unsatisfied. like i feel like i can’t even critique the plot or anything because we haven’t seen how anything will actually conclude yet. there’s a lot of things that were never followed up on that i assume will get resolved in the sequel, but until it comes out in like a year, i don’t think i’ll be able to have any actual thoughts on the movie. i really feel like it should have been a tv show -- if it was too long to fit in one movie anyways, they absolutely could have fit it into a season of television, and that would have probably given us more time to focus on side characters and plots. i understand why they didn’t, and there’s probably a lot of behind the scenes reasons why they couldn’t, but atsv just feels supremely unsatisfying, both because it’s part one of two and because of how much hype it got. i saw it like a week after it came out and was hearing everywhere that it was the best thing to ever grace the screen, and the writing was so good, and spiderpunk was so cool, and multiverse this and multiverse that, and then i watched it and it was like... fine? the way people were talking about it i thought it would change my entire outlook on life or something lmao. maybe once the story is completed i’ll feel like it actually did something, but as it is now, the best thing about it is the visuals, and everything else is To Be Completed.

[sordayciega]

Alright

First and foremost, THE ART STYLE. Every single damn scene was BURSTING with flavor and my little artistic brain was being fed gourmet level fine cuisine. I especially loved the scenes with Gwen and her Dad, him finding out when she pulled off her mask, you see him go from red to blue to black and you feel his grief and confusion. The colors, the line art, the angles, the animation, (all the other terms for movie stuff that I don’t know bc I’m dumb) just looked sooo gooodddd. The art style opened the door for so much expression with emotion! That aspect is visible in literally every single scene it’s delicious. I also really loved the use of music whether it guided an entire scene or whether it was in the background.

Movies like into the spiderverse, puss and boots the last wish, and across the spiderverse truly use all the space and time they are given to move you along with the story line. The action scenes from The Last Wish and both Spider-verse movies is only paralleled by iconic anime action scenes (in my opinión~). It’s nuts that in other movies from the same studio like Strange World (OOF) and Turning Red (not the best imo) (and I’m not excited for Ruby Gilman Teenage Kraken :/) I felt like i was being dragged through an awkward hell of plastic stupidity.

It’s flat, predictable, and boring. Maybe TikTok and the internet have just shot my attention span (probably) but the Golden Age of animation that brought Sleeping Beauty, Mulan, Princess and the Frog, and other stuff like The Sword in the Stone and Jungle Book are so beautiful! Their animation isn’t like Across the Spiderverse, it’s slower, more traditional, and soft, but it’s just aesthetically pleasing art and style.

I personally dislike the “New Generation” animation style so much I can genuinely barely watch anything new disney/Pixar maybe I’m just a hateful picky bitch idk

Pair the irritating art style with unrealistic dialogue, awkward jokes, and frustrating plot points? I’m in the middle of the road waiting for an 18 wheeler to hit me and I’ve only ever seen the movie’s trailer. I refused to watch Turning Red I hate it I hate it I hate it I-

I was able to sit through Luca and Encanto and they were alright. Bruno was villain material and the fact that Abuela was forgiven so quickly made absolutely no sense. Bruno was forced to live in Casita’s walls for years bro. YEARS. And then they just hugged at the end?? WHERE IS THE BLOOD? WHERE IS THE DEATH? WHERE IS THE MELODRAMATIC VILLAIN SONG? WHERE IS THE CINEMATOGRAPHY? WHTA THE FUCK

Anyway. Across the Spiderverse had amazing dialogue. The jokes were FUNNY and WELL TIMED. They were perfectly inserted, even in the more serious moments like when Miguel’s little station pad was descending comically slow, when Lyla wanted Miguel to repeat himself when he needed back up, etc

It was realistic and super enjoyable. I actually laughed multiple times and it was GREAT.

Ugh character design? Don’t get me started. I noticed the diversity that was plugged in from the beginning, the men playing basketball in wheelchairs, Pavitr Prabhakar, the Spider-Woman in the spider wheelchair who chased Miles for a bit, Cyborg Spider-Woman, Pter Ptarker the T-Rex Spider-Man (my personal favorite lmao) Malala Windsor, etc. And they didn’t make it weird. They weren’t tokens, they were there as people, fully fleshed out people with personalities, depth, and lives. I saw that in pretty much everyone. In the little things, how they walked, talked, were present in scenes where they weren’t the main characters. The attention to detail for every single little thing in this movie is astounding.

For the character design of only Malala Windsor, the designer Kris Anka spent two whole months researching how different women wore hijabs and other head coverings during sports and consulted his Muslimah friends on the most accurate ways to design characters (according to Into the Spider-Verse wiki page). And we only saw Windsor for literally 6 seconds max on screen. The amount of care that went into a tiny character in a movie is just so admirable. The creators of this movie researched and they cared. The hijab wasn’t necessary, it would of been easier to not research, to not include, to not care. BUT THEY DID CARE. And it shows.

The pacing of the movie: fabulous. It was interesting to me how they simultaneously explored like 20 different situations all at the same time but maintained a feeling of organization and purpose. All scenes shown were there for a reason and acted as a tiny piece of a huge mosaic. Across the Spider-verse isn’t a stand alone movie, but the connector piece between Into the Spider-verse and the eventual 3rd movie of the series.

And finally, possibly the most important part, Miguel O’Hara is hot as fuck. Impressively so. Distractingly so. Beautifully so.

Fuckin hell I’m going to see across the spiderverse TOMORROW and I have to abstain from looking at your sexy hot art of it bc I don’t want spoilers 🥹🥹🥹 wtf 🥹🥹

But I’m also excited bc after I see it I can see your sexy hot art of it so 👀👀

As soon as you leave the theater I want a full 10 page essay about how this movie changed you as a person due on my desk by Sunday

[agentnico]

Top 10 BEST Movies 2021

*UPDATED 17/01/22 with the addition of The Tragedy of Macbeth

Let’s not kid ourselves, the pandemic has had a massive impact on many a thing, including the movie industry. Yeah, I know there’s a lot worse that COVID has caused, but this is a film blog, so naturally I’m going to complain about its impact on the movie biz. From release dates being endlessly postponed and many movies simply going straight to streaming, 2020 was quite lacklustre in terms of decent movie content, however 2021 has seen a smidge of normality returning, even though Omicron now is acting like a diva that wants to take everything down which I think is really selfish of it and not at all festive. Like, Mr Omicron (or Mrs, depending on how gender neutral you are), listen, we’ve only just had Christmas and New Year’s, and today is Russian Orthodox Christmas and soon we also have Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day around the corner, so like give us a break, okay?? Can you simply pick a different time of the year to annoy us, ideally on none of the 365 days. Cool? We’re good, alright, sorted! Anyway, here are my favourite films of 2021. As always, goes without saying, my list may vary a lot from yours and vice versa, so don’t go all Gangs of New York on me if you disagree with me. Simply give me a quiet stern disappointed look and then go about your day and we’ll act like this never ever happened. Also, there’s a few films of 2021 I haven’t had a chance to see yet, including Power of the Dog and Spencer so naturally they won’t be on this list, however who knows? Maybe all of them are crap anyway and I’m not missing out, but anyway, without much further ado, here’s my Top 10 Best Movies of 2021...

HONOURABLE MENTIONS: Judas & the Black Messiah, Godzilla VS Kong, Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Belfast and The Last Duel

SPECIAL HONOURABLE MENTION: NO TIME TO DIE - The final swan song of Daniel Craig as James Bond was a long time coming. As in really a long time coming, thanks to COVID this thing got delayed endlessly. But we finally saw it and this was one hell of a shaken martini! Definitely not stirred. And thankfully Craig didn’t slit his wrists as he once promised, so all is good in the hood.

Original review: https://agentnico.tumblr.com/post/663954189051904000/no-time-to-die-2021-review

10) CODA - This movie puts Vin Diesel’s obsession with family to shame. For CODA is exactly that - a sweet coming of age tale about family, but against the typical tropes of the genre the central family are all deaf, which results in a unique spin on the familiar formula. Basically just like go and watch it, okay??

Original review: https://agentnico.tumblr.com/post/659580386869968897/coda-2021-review

9) HOUSE OF GUCCI - Cheesy one liners, epic performances, questionable Italian accents and a super interesting narrative. Featuring one hella peculiar sex scene between Lady Gaga and Adam Driver. I mean, phew! That’s all I’m gonna say! Look, that’s not the reason this movie was really good, I was simply pointing out...whatever I was pointing out. 

Original review: https://agentnico.tumblr.com/post/670557527220633600/house-of-gucci-2021-review

8) THE MITCHELLS VS THE MACHINES - This animated film warns of the dangers of tech consumption yet it appears on a streaming service that’s entire business model is based upon screen addiction with their endless binge worthy content. As they say the irony is most definitely present! But with that irony also comes one great family adventure from the folks that brought you The Lego Movie and Into the Spider-Verse!

Original review: https://agentnico.tumblr.com/post/650251702621159424/the-mitchells-vs-the-machines-2021-review

7) SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME - So the reason this film is so much fun is because *SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER*. And that’s why it’s on the list!

Original review: https://agentnico.tumblr.com/post/671904849427841024/spider-man-no-way-home-2021-review

6) THE SUICIDE SQUAD - A superhero movie that simply doesn’t give a f***! The type of wham-bam-thank-you-mam batshit entertainment which exists for the pure reasons of fun. It doesn’t set out to be the best superhero film ever, nor does it need to be.

Original review: https://agentnico.tumblr.com/post/658401873396629504/the-suicide-squad-2021-review

5) FREE GUY - An absolute cuddly crowd-pleaser full of casual mayhem, crazy ideas and a hyper-active Ryan Reynolds, that will get Mariah Carey’s ‘Fantasy’ stuck in your head for days on end. 

Original review: https://agentnico.tumblr.com/post/659673760933330944/free-guy-2021-review

4) LICORICE PIZZA - Equal parts strange, sentimental and screwball, yet also absolutely 100% hilarious, this Paul Thomas Anderson directed feature is downright delightful with a capital D! Although I still have no idea why all the characters in this movie are constantly running. Like just have a break, have a Kit-Kat already!

Original review: https://agentnico.tumblr.com/post/672371437179486208/licorice-pizza-2021-review

3) BARB & STAR GO TO VISTA DEL MAR - I have no idea how, but somehow the fast chatting culottes-wearing couple Barb and Star made it to the 3rd highest spot on my Top 10 of the year. I’m as baffled and ashamed as you are. But also screw you, I can listen to Jamie Dornan singing ballads to seagulls on tires any day of the week! 

Original review: https://agentnico.tumblr.com/post/643655612925870080/barb-and-star-go-to-vista-del-mar-2021-review

2) THE ELECTRICAL LIFE OF LOUIS WAIN - Most of the movies this year I watched together with my lovely fiancée (a not so casual shout-out to the woman I love and will marry one day!!), and none of them affected us as emotionally as a film about eccentric cat paintings. It’s a movie that plays out like the first ten minutes of Up (yep, THOSE ten minutes), and at parts its funny, at parts sad, and at times strangely surrealist, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain dare I say ELECTRIFIED us!!

Original review: https://agentnico.tumblr.com/post/670370064751558656/the-electrical-life-of-louis-wain-2021-review

1) THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH - The Bard. Black and white. 1/2 the Coen brothers. German expressionism. Denzel Washington. Frances McDormand. Feeling like its literally filmed on stage, this minimalist take on Shakespeare’s famous play is arguably the based film adaptation of Macbeth that I’ve ever seen. My eyes were literally glued to the screen from beginning to end, from the gorgeous yet simple set pieces to the one of a kind physical act of Kathryn Hunter, who plays all three witches in a literal shapeshifting performance. Shakespeare is obviously not for everyone, but for me it’s my top film of 2021!

Original review: https://agentnico.tumblr.com/post/673372444479913984/the-tragedy-of-macbeth-2021-review

With that, 2021 has come to an end, and here’s to a happy new year that is 2022! Fingers crossed we’ll get many more great films, but also on a more serious note, I wish everyone the best of health and success, and let us hope that this new year will give us more signs of normality coming back. And as normality comes kicking in, take a chance and pop over to the local cinema with your loved ones, your friends or by yourself, as when you’re in need of some escapism from the craziness of the world out there, the magic of cinema is one of the most genuinely amazing ways to relieve your mind. That is unless you’re stuck watching a crappy flick like The Emoji Movie, however if you’re watching that then let’s face it, that is entirely your fault. In any regard though, stay safe everyone, and thank you for reading. Here’s to talking more about film in 2022!

[smokeybrandreviews]

Such Tangled Webs

Boy, i do absolutely love me some solid Spider-Content and, i must say, Spider-Man: Miles Morales is some of the most solid available to date! Obviously, i only have a little bit of time with the game, itself, but i have watched a few game play exposes and the entire narrative in movie form. That’s what i want to talk about here, today. The mechanics are amazing, of course, and the game is still a solid, fun, time. I Want to be very clear about that. Miles does play like his own character but there is a lot of his ability, that hearkens back to Pete’s systems. They are familiar but definitely unique. I love that about this game. I love that they built this addition specifically around Miles’ whole world. It’s like having direct control over the best Spider-Flick in a decades, Into the Spider-Verse, which brings me to the true strength of this game; The narrative!

Look, Pete will always be my favorite Spider-Man, MY Spider-Man, but Miles is definitely a close second. I’m not a huge fan of Bendis, dude is hit or miss with his content, mostly miss, but i do enjoy the f*ck out of his Ultimate Spider-Man content. When he opted to kill off 1610 Pete, i was shocked, as was most of the world, and to usurp the entire mantle with this new kid? Really? Making him a brown person, to boot? Ballsy. And it paid off. Miles became a solid addition to the Spider-Family and the lore surrounding his was just as compelling. It was exceedingly weird to me that the fandom didn’t fully embrace the kid. He was dope! Smart, witty, ingenuity, and absolutely adorable. It took an inter-dimensional crossover with the 616 Pete for people to actually accept Mile as a proper heir to the webs. If you haven’t read Spider-Me, get on that. It;s slid Spider-Shenanigans. There’s a little plot armor around Miles but that’s forgivable as it was his story, just like this game.

The narrative built around Miles for what is effectively, Sony’s Spider-Man 1.75 is choice. They’ve cribbed everything worth mentioning from the comic lore, and adapted it into a rather compelling, unique plot, that gives Miles real agency in this new Spider-verse. Insomniac Games has proven once again how well they understand Spider-content and have done the Marvel stalwarts even more justice. That said, the overall plot of Miles’ first, solo, adventure, is kind of wonky. It starts out a little clumsy, a little immediate, but one our boy gets the reins from Pete, it picks up considerably. I like the re-imaging of The Tinkerer and the relationship she has with Miles but i hate the fact that it feels so abrupt. I feel like we should have seen more of her before the reveal. We should have had more time with the two of them, Phin and Miles, to have more of an emotional impact. What they did get right was the f*cking Prowler. From the moment Aaron gave that train pass to miles, i knew they nailed this character perfectly. Dude isn’t the best person, for sure, but he is still a scrupled individual. This version of Aaron Davis feels like a solid combination of the 1610 version and the Into the Spider-Verse version, my personal favorite. This version of Aaron feels right for this world, feels right for this narrative. I hope we get to see more of him going forward.

After watching that Avengers train wreck crash and burn, it’s great to have a Marvel based narrative that carries a solid, honest to goodness, great story. This game does these characters justice and build out an already flourishing world. I love what Insomniac has created. I love the look, the updates, the suits, the characters, the world; All of it. This is, no lie, the best Spider-verse i have ever had the pleasure of experiencing, outside of the 616, of course. I love this thing more than i loved the Ultimate universe and i really enjoyed that sh*t before it jumped off a cliff. Spider-Man: Mile Morales is a dope ass game with one of the best stories to be released this year. If you’re a fan of Spider-Man, you’ll love this game. If you’re on the fence about Miles, this game will go a long way to winning you over. Maybe not as much as Into the Spider-Verse, but a good measure anyway.

[heartifilias]

movie asks: 6, 8, 21, 27, 50, 58, and 99?

6. favorite television show of all time?

supernatural. i know it goes downhill, but i’ve been watching it ever since it came out. i hold it close to my heart because dean winchester became my first ever comfort character.

8. favorite television soundtrack?

euphoria. it’s just so good.

21. show that you started watching but then stopped? what was the reason?

riverdale. i stopped at the first episode though. as someone who has lived and breathed on the archie comics when i was a little kid, to see an adaptation of it like that wasn’t my type of style, and i genuinely did not like what they did with it. that’s my honest opinion, anyways.

27. name a show that had a worst series finale, in your opinion.

fun fact, i have only been through four series finale endings in my entire life because i dropped the show before it ended, and most of the shows i watch were either canceled or already finished with. i guess i have to go with supernatural on this only cause i’ve actually been through it recently. as much as i love the show, there were some aspects of the ending that i disagree with or should’ve never been added. no, i didn’t watch the game of thrones finale.

50. horror or psychological?

definitely psychological. it creeps me out more, and it’s also shocking and thrilling to me.

58. a movie you thought was going to be good, but wasn’t?

wonder woman 1984. i looked forward to watching it for personal reasons and then, i became disappointed with how it dragged on for an unnecessary 2h39m.

99. best movie soundtrack?

birds of prey, black panther, into the spider-verse.