#ava silly steven

[xjackjackx]

Hints towards future AVA characters

In case someone doesn't know, several hours ago Alan dropped a new newsletter as part of the free subscription you can get. Which included a new teaser for AVA:

Obviously, it's a Newgrounds page showing several animations. Out of curiosity and to see if we can get any lore, I checked Newgrounds to see which animations are real, and which were made up for AVA 11. This is the result:

To start out, the Reds. The ones we know are real videos up on Newgrounds. It's worth to note that the newest episode here is from December 2006. Not only does this prove this is a Victim origin, it also gives us a date on what's the earliest moment Victim could've escaped onto the Outernet, and proves it was just one month after Chosen's creation (Nov 2006). So here is some timeline-building.

Now, the Purples. I looked through Newgrounds, and couldn't find any animation or game to match these searches. They could be real, or they could be made by Alan for AVA. Here's a list for anyone who wants to help:

1 - Bathroom

2 - Alfred Pokingstick

3 - An American Action Movie (which shows up twice for some reason)

4 - Deep Creatures: The Game

5 - Build Me Up Buttercup

6 - Coldplay - Yellow

7 - Daft Punk Collab

8 - Dead Dude

9 - Crimson Pistols

10 - Bad Flash Kills

And to end things off, the Blues. Animations that were very likely created purely for AVA and might be important characters in AVA 11. The list is:

1 - Mitsi. She(?) seems to have long hair, so we might get the second female stick in the whole series behind Pink.

2 - Silly Steven. He looks EXACTLY like the sticks at the beginning of The Box, so he's very likely lore important.

3 - The Shepard. It's worth to note the previous teaser showed a bunch of sheep, so if he's been teased twice then he's likely very important.

... they're all going to fucking die in Dark's internet rampage won't they.

[poppyflavour]

i need my son and his partner please please ple

silly steven and his partner funny frankie... i love them sm sm explodes

Another request!! Sorry it took so long, mb -^-'

I also tried a slightly different style with these two, since they're a different type of sticks <3

[starryali]

Fanart of the new characters!

:3

[shad0wr0se9044]

THEM!!!! THE THEM!!!!!!!

look at my boy and his partner go...

if you dont mind drawing ships, could you pretty please draw my son (silly steven) and his partner (funny frankie) please i love them sm i love them sm

explodes

*rebuilds you up*

Look :D

[lulu-in-the-walls]

Silly Steven vs cg in ava 11 confirmed /j

Little thought I had after going crazy over the youtooz

Newgrounds was like recked by tco and tdl right

These townspeople(?) here are escapees and are loyal to victim bc he like… idk I ‘saved the town’ and that’s why not one talked to rgby

I thought the town here was cool though bc it’s a new character model (king orange n purple, the November newletter(?) )

Anyways I just wanted to talk <3

[firephoenix0419]

Hello Tumblr! ^^

⟡- Hey im Ava! I'm a silly little digital artist that hyperfixates on my OC's WAYYY too much. When (if) I start posting abt them, feel free to ask ALLLLL the questions about them because I love them so much!!! -⟡

•☽────✧˖°˖☆˖°˖✧────☾•

⟡- Autistic!!! Please be patient! - Minor!!! - Multifandom!!! -⟡

⟡- Fandoms I'm in: Owl House, RWBY, SPOP, Steven Universe, Fnaf, Amphibia! That's not all of them, just the one's I tend to hyperfixate over the most! ^^ -⟡

•☽────✧˖°˖☆˖°˖✧────☾•

•☽────✧˖°˖☆˖°˖✧────☾•

⟡- Uhh that's it for now! I'm gonna try and post here when I can and it'll mainly be art of my OCs but who knows I might do some fanart lol. Anyways bye ya'll stay silly!!!-⟡

[benwvatt]

🍊🍍

thank you so much for the fanfic ask prompts!

🍊 Who’s a character you don’t write for that often, but keep meaning to write for more? (They’re so interesting! But maybe you have trouble pinning them down, or keep getting distracted by another blorbo…)

look, this might make me sound terrible, but as much as I treasure platonic love in my own life, I am terrible at writing it in fanfic. As a fic writer, I want to be validated, and that means writing for two (2) characters in a main romantic relationship in a relatively large fandom so I can get feedback and be understood as a writer. It's a terrible system, yes, and I still do it.

So, characters I want to write more about: Imogen Heaney, June and Nora from RWRB, all of the Murdoch Mysteries main crew, Ava and Deborah from Hacks, Tracy Stevens and Danielle Poole from For All Mankind, Parker and Sophie from Leverage... I have so many fic ideas and not enough time to write. And that's okay, I guess.

🍍 What kind of AUs do you like? Are there any AUs you hate or just generally have beef with?

Oh, thank you so much for asking me this!!! I love writing and reading almost all AUs - college, coffeeshop, fantasy, sci-fi, lawyer, professor, retail. I do have reservations about some AUs because they can be handled in ways that don't necessarily appeal to me (they aren't necessarily BAD, per se, but some AU aspects just aren't my thing.)

Like, I think high school AUs can be a bit melodramatic and hard to take seriously when I don't believe that this is how a teenager would act;

soulmate AUs can be a bit intense in terms of "I WOULD FIND YOU IN ANY UNIVERSE, I WOULD KNOW YOU, I COULD PICK YOU OUT OF A HAYSTACK" when the whole point of canon is often that someone wouldn't know you in any universe. The main character here was lucky to find their partner, but they're not magnets or drawn together by destiny;

social media / texting AUs can sometimes be written in ways that prioritize crazy disastrous moments and silliness over true character depth and growth (like, I love shenanigans, but your story can't JUST be yelling and chaos);

I also have such a moderate pet peeve for AUs that replicate the source material beat-for-beat, scene-for-scene, plot point for plot point.

The point of, like, a Cinderella AU is not to change the characters' names and appearances, substituting X for Cinderella and Y for Prince Charming, swapping one person in for another. The point of a Cinderella AU is to write a transformative story that elevates the characters, provides character growth, and uses the themes/tone/worldbuilding of Cinderella to tell a complex story.

anyways, hope I'm not being too negative! Thank youuuu. Have a lovely day.

[possibilistfanfiction]

hey!! I'm obsessed w your writing about butch bea -- it's been super life-giving and I feel so seen when I read it :) lol it's gotten to the point where I am BEGGING my gf to watch warrior nun for the sake of being able to read the butch bea universe... anyways. it's incredible. show-stopping. legendary.

I did have a question, though -- what kind of music do you think bea listens to? to me (read: I'm projecting lol) she'd love "take the sadness out of saturday night" by bleachers, "in defense of my own happiness" by joy oladokun, and boygenius (both the first ep & all three of their solo work). and of course ava loves to sing "solid" by muna to bea.

anyways, again, I LOVE this universe & am very grateful that you've spent so much time & energy fleshing it out :) have a great day!

well i have none of these songs as ones bea would listen to but that’s cool! do whatever u want!! i have no agenda w music ppl fuck w so do ur thing lol

maybe bc i’m in LA, but i think she’s p vibey. lots of frank ocean, moses sumney, blood orange. especially blond & negro swan as like fundamental albums for her. bea is also fun!! i think she loves like alicia keys & tlc, really good classic r&b, & subsequently like solange. also i obviously love arooj aftab but i do stand by like. the supreme holiness in her music so i think bea would rly love it. it’s like profoundly undeniable. in that vein, sufjan stevens & leonard cohen as well. i think bea would also rly love like… karen o, silversun pickups, paramore kinda vibes too when she’s Feeling It. & god help anyone who ever plays a love supreme for her

mm for me ava is a pop girly!! which is my favorite!! i literally mean this w like i think pop is the most supreme genre of all time ever, so like… carly rae! charli xcx! caroline polacheck! she is here to feel! she is here to have fun! she is here to be sexy! she is here to be sad! she is here to be in love! the intelligence & excess of pop & its like silly yet obsessive nature,,, how could ava not fall in love. how could anyone not fall in love. pop forever. + the entirety of the insecure soundtrack (which bea probably has half of on vinyl) — best show of all time re:music. (somewhere in there there’s them watching insecure as an ode to LA but i digress lol). i do think ava also probably loves anything justin vernon does (hymn alternatives, the poet of our generation — a word about gnosis, it ain’t gonna buy the groceries), & also she loves contemporary classical.

both of them are absolutely feral abt florence + the machine, all of her discography but i think her latest album maybe more than anything

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

The End of the World

by hulkling616

Bruce Wayne gathers a team of special people to defeat foes that may end the world.

Words: 2164, Chapters: 2/?, Language: English

Series: Part 2 of Crossovers, Part 2 of WIPs

Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, Marvel, Superman - All Media Types, Wonder Woman - All Media Types, Warrior Nun (TV), Murder Most Unladylike Series - Robin Stevens, Lulli (2021), Q-Force (Cartoon), Wednesday (TV 2022)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Multi

Characters: Hazel Wong, Bruce Wayne, Daisy Wells, Steve Rogers, Steve "Mary" Maryweather, Amina El Maghrabi, Clark Kent, Ava Silva, Sister Beatrice (Warrior Nun), Sister Camila (Warrior Nun), Mother Superion (Warrior Nun), Deb (Q-Force), Pam (Q-Force), James "Bucky" Barnes, Sharon Carter (Marvel), Yelena Belova, Kate Bishop, Wednesday Addams, Enid Sinclair, Tony Stark, Sam Wilson (Marvel), Stat (Q-Force), Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, Bernard Dowd, Monica Rambeau, Wanda Maximoff, Vanessa (Lulli 2021), Lulli (Lulli 2021), Elena (Lulli 2021), Alfred Pennyworth, Diana (Wonder Woman), Other Characters

Relationships: Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne, James "Bucky" Barnes/Sharon Carter/Steve Rogers, Amina El Maghrabi/Daisy Wells, Deb/Pam (Q-Force), Daisy Wells & Hazel Wong, Sister Beatrice/Ava Silva, Yelena Belova/Kate Bishop, Jacqueline Box/Stat, Wednesday Addams/Enid Sinclair, Tony Stark & Bruce Wayne, Steve "Mary" Maryweather/Steve Rogers, Elena/Vanessa, Bernard Dowd/Tim Drake

Additional Tags: Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tags May Change, Rating May Change, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Action/Adventure, Action & Romance, Eventual Romance, Established Relationship, Mutual Pining, Humor, Establish Deb/Pam, This is an extremely self-indulgent crossover, Established Bucky/Sharon, Batfamily (DCU), Eventual Bucky/Steve/Sharon, There's not enough tags for a crossover this big, But it's silly self-indulgent fun with a bit of plot

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/45423406

[spacedimentio]

Huh wow ok @pempeeeperem. I prefer sitting on my fics until I'm done with them and only yelling about them to a few people, but I'll drop some crumbs today.

RULES: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

In order of oldest to most recent

100 Little Somethings - 100 theme challenge that I'll pick back up again someday (maybe). I still count it as a WIP even though it hasn't been updated since 2017.

Where We Belong - sequel to Chase the Nightmares Away

Fractures: Side Cracks - got too ambitious with the ideas and killed my motivation, whoops.

Idiot Rock Collection - aka Steven Universe-themed OCtober 2019 I never finished

Roulette - Professor Venomous character analysis fic that never really got off the ground. RIP OK KO Let's Be Heroes, I miss you.

Several NSFW things you don't get to know about, I had a phase lol

Monster & Prince AU - aka Prince Peasley x Super Dimentio but Super Dimentio is a giant cursed (and fluffy!) dragon, dog, cat, chimera and Peasley is sad because of an arranged marriage. Tfw you get kidnapped by a monster but you want to be cause you don't wanna get married and the monster is your best friend :> It was @snugglebunnies's idea originally and they let me roll with it. (Hope you write your own version someday <3)

Hold Dear - slightly depressing Luisley oneshot that I wrote in a fit of hyperfixation one morning and that I really need to rewrite sometime cause it doesn't work right

Mario: A Midsummer Night's Dream - silly little cracky crossover between my favorite Shakespeare play and the Mario RPGs :> Honestly this has been a WIP for like 12 years but it was just the cast list and I actually wrote a bit of it now

Heart of Spades - inspired by a round of frantic fanfic where Dimentio just shows up at the Comet Observatory to pester Rosalina and I had way too many thoughts about that in conjunction with the obscure theory that Rosalina is Blumiere and Timpani's son, and the fact that these two characters have never interacted in any piece of fan media ever as far as I can tell

Small Moments - Luisley-themed 100-word drabble challenge! Very cute, nothing but fluff

Prime Directive Three - this is what I've currently been working on every day for the last month straight, like I seriously haven't written this much this consistently since I did Fractures. It is not one but a series of three 2001: A Space Odyssey fics, talk about completely unexpected fandoms out of left field, how did I even get here. There is Halman of course, that sort of OTP is my absolute jam, and there just might be a fourth fic, if I dare to get spicy ;) HAL lives (he did not want to do a murder, he did not, alas the government did an oopsy and RIP those other four), Dave does not become baby, instead they get to go home and they have to deal with the consequences of the fact that the actions that HAL tried to take in order to stop himself from killing everyone are written in his error log, which will inevitably be investigated and looks suspicious as he did not behave like a computer. That's right, I'm putting him on the stand at the hearing, and now the world gets to deal with the reveal of a fully sentient AI not long after dealing with the alien monoliths. Includes social media sections. It's been very fun, I'm having a blast :D

Send in an ask with a number or question and I'll post a lil snippet.

tagging @snugglebunnies, @lizadale, @thewoollyviking, @nereamerayo, @mysinfulhand, @cowsaresushi, @spmcomic, @shootysturs, @foreteller-ava, @kathrinesnow, @puppyluver256, @captainshyguy. Optional of course.

I got called out to unveil my wip folder. The post chain starts here as far as I can tell

@murder-at-the-bingo-hall I can't believe you did this to me. How dare you assume that I'm dying to talk about my fics and being too shy to even post about them without tags. So... thanks.

RULES: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

Here are some wips that I am working on / thinking about:

Hearty Grains, Pop Pods, Crunchy Salt and Sand Radishes

Pokemon Alola Story

Colress Story Pt. 4

They're all Pokémon fics.

I'll be tagging... @spacedimentio and @spmcomic sorry guys :')

[copiousloverofcopia]

Secret ring tones the Papa's have

Primo: Dancing Queen (Momma Mia verzion) genuinely made it that himself

Secondo: Anaconda- Nicki (obviously) his prime mover changed it and he will never change it back because it makes him smile thinking about how silly it is she did this

Terzo: Not your Barbie Girl - Ava Max can't decide if he did this himself or if a ghoul did it but it gives terzo vibes to me

Copia: Love like you - Rebbeca Sugar. His prime mover set it and he cries everytime he hears it.

These are all really cute...🥰

On that last one, fun little trivia for you all about me is that my son and I watch Steven Universe together and we will randomly sing the opening title song together and he does the Steven part and I do the crystal gems part lol

[ahouseoflies]

The Best Films of 2020

I can’t tell you anything novel or insightful about this year that has been stolen from our lives. I watched zero of these films in a theater, and I watched most of them half-asleep in moments that I stole from my children. Don’t worry, there are some jokes below.

GARBAGE

93. Capone (Josh Trank)- What is the point of this dinner theater trash? It takes place in the last year of Capone's life, when he was released from prison due to failing health and suffered a stroke in his Florida home. So it covers...none of the things that make Al Capone interesting? It's not historically accurate, which I have no problem with, but if you steer away from accuracy, then do something daring and exciting. Don't give me endless scenes of "Phonse"--as if the movie is running from the very person it's about--drawing bags of money that promise intrigue, then deliver nothing in return.

That being said, best "titular character shits himself" scene since The Judge.

92. Ammonite (Francis Lee)- I would say that this is the Antz to Portrait of a Lady on Fire's A Bug's Life, but it's actually more like the Cars 3 to Portrait of a Lady on Fire's Toy Story 1.

91. Ava (Tate Taylor)- Despite the mystery and inscrutability that usually surround assassins, what if we made a hitman movie but cared a lot about her personal life? Except neither the assassin stuff nor the family stuff is interesting?

90. Wonder Woman 1984 (Patty Jenkins)- What a miscalculation of what audiences loved about the first and wanted from the sequel. WW84 is silly and weightless in all of the ways that the first was elegant and confident. If the return of Pine is just a sort of phantom representation of Diana's desires, then why can he fly a real plane? If he is taking over another man's soul, then, uh, what ends up happening to that guy? For that matter, why is it not 1984 enough for Ronald Reagan to be president, but it is 1984 enough for the president to have so many Ronald Reagan signifiers that it's confusing? Why not just make a decision?

On paper, the me-first values of the '80s lend themselves to the monkey's paw wish logic of this plot. You could actually do something with the Star Wars program or the oil crisis. But not if the setting is played for only laughs and the screenplay explains only what it feels like.

89. Babyteeth (Shannon Murphy)- In this type of movie, there has to be a period of the Ben Mendelsohn character looking around befuddled about the new arrangement and going, "What's this now--he's going to be...living with us? The guy who tried to steal our medication? This is crazy!" But that's usually ten minutes, and in this movie it's an hour. I was so worn out by the end.

88. You Should Have Left (David Koepp)- David Koepp wrote Jurassic Park, so he's never going to hell, but how dare he start caring about his own mystery at the hour mark. There's a forty-five minute version of this movie that could get an extra star from me, and there's a three-hour version of Amanda Seyfried walking around in athleisure that would get four stars from me. What we actually get? No thanks.

87. Black Is King (Beyonce, et al.)- End your association with The Lion King, Bey. It has resulted in zero bops.

  ADMIRABLE FAILURES

86. Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (Cathy Yan)- There's nothing too dysfunctional in the storytelling or performances, but Birds of Prey also doesn't do a single thing well. I would prefer something alive and wild, even if it were flawed, to whatever tame belt-level formula this is.

85. The Turning (Floria Sigismondi)- This update of The Turn of the Screw pumps the age of Miles up to high school, which creates some horny creepiness that I liked. But the age of the character also prevents the ending of the novel from happening in favor of a truly terrible shrug. I began to think that all of the patience that the film showed earlier was just hesitance for its own awful ending.

I watched The Turning as a Mackenzie Davis Movie Star heat check, and while I'm not sure she has the magnetism I was looking for, she does have a great teacher voice, chastening but maternal.

84. Bloodshot (David Wilson)- A whole lot of Vin Diesel saying he's going to get revenge and kill a bunch of dudes; not a whole lot of Vin Diesel actually getting revenge and killing a bunch of dudes.

83. Downhill (Nat Faxon and Jim Rash)- I was an English major in college, which means I ended up locking myself into literary theories that, halfway through the writing of an essay, I realized were flawed. But rather than throw out the work that I had already proposed, I would just keep going and see if I could will the idea to success.

So let's say you have a theory that you can take Force Majeure by Ruben Ostlund, one of the best films of its year, and remake it so that its statement about familial anxiety could apply to Americans of the same age and class too...if it hadn't already. And maybe in the first paragraph you mess up by casting Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, people we are conditioned to laugh at, when maybe this isn't that kind of comedy at all. Well, don't throw it away. You can quote more--fill up the pages that way--take an exact shot or scene from the original. Does that help? Maybe you can make the writing more vigorous and distinctive by adding a character. Is that going to make this baby stand out? Maybe you could make it more personal by adding a conclusion that is slightly more clever than the rest of the paper?

Or perhaps this is one you're just not going to get an A on.

82. Hillbilly Elegy (Ron Howard)- I watched this melodrama at my mother's encouragement, and, though I have been trying to pin down her taste for decades, I think her idea of a successful film just boils down to "a lot of stuff happens." So in that way, Ron Howard's loss is my gain, I guess.

There is no such thing as a "neutral Terminator."

81. Relic (Natalie Erika James)- The star of the film is Vanessa Cerne's set decoration, but the inert music and slow pace cancel out a house that seems neglected slowly over decades.

80. Buffaloed (Tanya Wexler)- Despite a breathless pace, Buffaloed can't quite congeal. In trying to split the difference between local color hijinks and Moneyballed treatise on debt collection, it doesn't commit enough to either one.

Especially since Zoey Deutch produced this one in addition to starring, I'm getting kind of worried about boo's taste. Lot of Two If by Seas; not enough While You Were Sleepings.

79. Like a Boss (Miguel Arteta)- I chuckled a few times at a game supporting cast that is doing heavy lifting. But Like a Boss is contrived from the premise itself--Yeah, what if people in their thirties fell out of friendship? Do y'all need a creative consultant?--to the escalation of most scenes--Why did they have to hide on the roof? Why do they have to jump into the pool?

The movie is lean, but that brevity hurts just as much as it helps. The screenplay knows which scenes are crucial to the development of the friendship, but all of those feel perfunctory, in a different gear from the setpieces.  

To pile on a bit: Studio comedies are so bare bones now that they look like Lifetime movies. Arteta brought Chuck & Buck to Sundance twenty years ago, and, shot on Mini-DV for $250,000, it was seen as a DIY call-to-bootstraps. I guarantee that has more setups and locations and shooting days than this.

78. Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (David Dobkin)- Add Dan Stevens to the list of supporting players who have bodied Will Ferrell in his own movie--one that he cared enough to write himself.  

Like Downhill, Ferrell's other 2020 release, this isn't exactly bad. It's just workmanlike and, aside from the joke about Demi Lovato's "uninformed" ghost, frustratingly conventional.

77. The Traitor (Marco Bellochio)- Played with weary commitment by Pierfrancesco Favino, Tomasso Buscetta is "credited" as the first informant of La Cosa Nostra. And that sounds like an interesting subject for a "based on a true story" crime epic, right? Especially when you find out that Buscetta became a rat out of principle: He believed that the mafia to which he had pledged his life had lost its code to the point that it was a different organization altogether.  

At no point does Buscetta waver or even seem to struggle with his decision though, so what we get is less conflicted than that description might suggest. None of these Italian mob movies glorify the lifestyle, so I wasn't expecting that. But if the crime doesn't seem enticing, and snitching on the crime seems like forlorn duty, and everything is pitched with such underhanded matter-of-factness that you can't even be sure when Buscetta has flipped, then what are we left with? It was interesting seeing how Italian courts work, I guess?

76. Kajillionaire (Miranda July)- This is another movie so intent on building atmosphere and lore that it takes too long to declare what it is. When the protagonist hits a breaking point and has to act, she has only a third of a film to grow. So whispery too.

Gina Rodriguez is the one to inject life into it. As soon as her motormouth winds up, the film slips into a different gear. The atmosphere and lore that I mentioned reeks of artifice, but her character is believably specific. Beneath a basic exterior is someone who is authentically caring but still morally compromised, beholden to the world that the other characters are suspicious of.

75. Scoob! (Tony Cervone)- The first half is sometimes clever, but it hammers home the importance of friendship while separating the friends.

The second half has some positive messaging, but your kids' movie might have a problem with scale if it involves Alexander the Great unlocking the gates of the Underworld.

My daughter loved it.

74. The Lovebirds (Michael Showalter)- If I start talking too much about this perfectly fine movie, I end up in that unfair stance of reviewing the movie I wanted, not what is actually there.* As a fan of hang-out comedies, I kind of resent that any comedy being made now has to be rolled into something more "exciting," whether it's a wrongfully accused or mistaken identity thriller or some other genre. Such is the post-Game Night world. There's a purposefully anti-climactic note that I wish The Lovebirds had ended on, but of course we have another stretch of hiding behind boats and shooting guns. Nanjiani and Rae are really charming leads though.

*- As a New Orleanian, I was totally distracted by the fake aspects of the setting too. "Oh, they walked to Jefferson from downtown? Really?" You probably won't be bothered by the locations.

73. Sonic the Hedgehog (Jeff Fowler)- In some ways the storytelling is ambitious. (I'm speaking for only myself, but I'm fine with "He's a hedgehog, and he's really fast" instead of the owl mother, teleportation backstory. Not everything has to be Tolkien.) But that ambition doesn't match the lack of ambition in the comedy, which depends upon really hackneyed setups and structures. Guiding Jim Carrey to full alrighty-then mode was the best choice anyone made.

72. Malcolm & Marie (Sam Levinson)- The stars move through these long scenes with agility and charisma, but the degree of difficulty is just too high for this movie to reach what it's going for.

Levinson is trying to capture an epic fight between a couple, and he can harness the theatrical intensity of such a thing, but he sacrifices almost all of the nuance. In real life, these knock-down-drag-outs can be circular and indirect and sad in a way that this couple's manipulation rarely is. If that emotional truth is all this movie is trying to achieve, I feel okay about being harsh in my judgment of how well it does that.

71. Beanpole (Kantemir Balagov)- Elusive in how it refuses to declare itself, forthright in how punishing it is. The whole thing might be worth it for a late dinner scene, but I'm getting a bit old to put myself through this kind of misery.

70. The Burnt Orange Heresy (Giuseppe Capotondi)- Silly in good ways until it's silly in bad ways. Elizabeth Debicki remains 6'3".

69. Everybody’s Everything (Sebastian Jones and Ramez Silyan)- As a person who listened to Lil Peep's music, I can confidently say that this documentary is overstating his greatness. His death was a significant loss, as the interview subjects will all acknowledge, but the documentary is more useful as a portrait of a certain unfocused, rapacious segment of a generation that is high and online at all times.

68. The Witches (Robert Zemeckis)- Robert Zemeckis, Kenya Barris, and Guillermo Del Toro are the credited screenwriters, and in a fascinating way, you can see the imprint of each figure on the final product. Adapting a very European story to the old wives' tales of the American South is an interesting choice. Like the Nicolas Roeg try at this material, Zemeckis is not afraid to veer into the terrifying, and Octavia Spencer's pseudo witch doctor character only sells the supernatural. From a storytelling standpoint though, it seems as if the obstacles are overcome too easily, as if there's a whole leg of the film that has been excised. The framing device and the careful myth-making of the flashback make promises that the hotel half of the film, including the abrupt ending, can't live up to.

If nothing else, Anne Hathaway is a real contender for Most On-One Performance of the year.

67. Irresistible (Jon Stewart)- Despite a sort of imaginative ending, Jon Stewart's screenplay feels more like the declarative screenplay that would get you hired for a good movie, not a good screenplay itself. It's provocative enough, but it's clumsy in some basic ways and never evades the easy joke.

For example, the Topher Grace character is introduced as a sort of assistant, then is re-introduced an hour later as a polling expert, then is shown coaching the candidate on presentation a few scenes later. At some point, Stewart combined characters into one role, but nothing got smoothed out.

ENDEARING CURIOSITIES WITH BIG FLAWS

66. Yes, God, Yes (Karen Maine)- Most people who are Catholic, including me, are conflicted about it. Most people who make movies about being Catholic hate it and have an axe to grind. This film is capable of such knowing wit and nuance when it comes to the lived-in details of attending a high school retreat, but it's more concerned with taking aim at hypocrisy in the broad way that we've seen a million times. By the end, the film is surprisingly all-or-nothing when Christian teenagers actually contain multitudes.

Part of the problem is that Karen Maine's screenplay doesn't know how naive to make the Alice character. Sometimes she's reasonably naive for a high school senior in 2001; sometimes she's comically naive so that the plot can work; and sometimes she's stupid, which isn't the same as naive.

65. Bad Boys for Life (Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah)- This might be the first buddy cop movie in which the vets make peace with the tech-comm youngs who use new techniques. If that's the only novelty on display here--and it is--then maybe that's enough. I laughed maybe once. Not that the mistaken identity subplot of Bad Boys 1 is genius or anything, but this entry felt like it needed just one more layer to keep it from feeling as basic as it does. Speaking of layers though, it's almost impossible to watch any Will Smith movie now without viewing it through the meta-narrative of "What is Will Smith actually saying about his own status at this point in his career?" He's serving it up to us.

I derived an inordinate amount of pleasure from seeing the old school Simpson/Bruckheimer logo.

64. The Gentlemen (Guy Ritchie)- Look, I'm not going to be too negative on a movie whose crime slang is so byzantine that it has to be explained with subtitles. That's just me. I'm a simple man. But I can tell you that I tuned out pretty hard after seven or eight double-crosses.

The bloom is off the rose a bit for Ritchie, but he can still nail a music cue. I've been waiting for someone to hit "That's Entertainment" the way he does on the end credits.

63. Bad Hair (Justin Simien)- In Bad Hair, an African-American woman is told by her boss at a music video channel in 1989 that straightening her hair is the way to get ahead; however, her weave ends up having a murderous mind of its own. Compared to that charged, witty logline, the execution of the plot itself feels like a laborious, foregone conclusion. I'm glad that Simien, a genuinely talented writer, is making movies again though. Drop the skin-care routine, Van Der Beek!

62. Greyhound (Aaron Schneider)- "If this is the type of role that Tom Hanks writes for himself, then he understands his status as America's dad--'wise as the serpent, harmless as the dove'--even better than I thought." "America's Dad! Aye aye, sir!" "At least half of the dialogue is there for texture and authenticity, not there to be understood by the audience." "Fifty percent, Captain!" "The environment looks as fake as possible, but I eventually came around to the idea that the movie is completely devoid of subtext." "No subtext to be found, sir!"

  61. Mank (David Fincher)- About ten years ago, the Creative Screenwriting podcast spent an hour or so with James Vanderbilt, the writer of Zodiac and nothing else that comes close, as he relayed the creative paces that David Fincher pushed him through. Hundreds of drafts and years of collaborative work eventuated in the blueprint for Fincher's most exacting, personal film, which he didn't get a writing credit on only because he didn't seek one.

Something tells me that Fincher didn't ask for rewrites from his dead father. No matter what visuals and performances the director can coax from the script--and, to be clear, these are the worst visuals and performances of his career--they are limited by the muddy lightweight pages. There are plenty of pleasures, like the slippery election night montage or the shakily platonic relationship between Mank and Marion. But Fincher hadn't made a film in six years, and he came back serving someone else's master.

60. Tesla (Michael Almereyda)- "You live inside your head." "Doesn't everybody?"

As usual, Almereyda's deconstructions are invigorating. (No other moment can match the first time Eve Hewson's Anne fact-checks something with her anachronistic laptop.) But they don't add up to anything satisfying because Tesla himself is such an opaque figure. Driven by the whims of his curiosity without a clear finish line, the character gives Hawke something enigmatic to play as he reaches deep into a baritone. But he's too inward to lend himself to drama. Tesla feels of a piece with Almereyda's The Experimenter, and that's the one I would recommend.

59. Vitalina Varela (Pedro Costa)- I can't oversell how delicately beautiful this film is visually. There's a scene in which Vitalina lugs a lantern into a church, but we get several seconds of total darkness before that one light source carves through it and takes over part of the frame. Each composition is as intricate as it is overpowering, achieving a balance between stark and mannered.

That being said, most of the film is people entering or exiting doors. I felt very little of the haunting loss that I think I was supposed to.

58. The Rhythm Section (Reed Morano)- Call it the Timothy Hutton in The General's Daughter Corollary: If a name-actor isn't in the movie much but gets third billing, then, despite whom he sends the protagonist to kill, he is the Actual Bad Guy.  

Even if the movie serves up a lot of cliche, the action and sound design are visceral. I would like to see more from Morano.

57. Red, White and Blue (Steve McQueen)- Well-made and heartfelt even if it goes step-for-step where you think it will.

Here's what I want to know though: In the academy training sequence, the police cadets have to subdue a "berserker"; that is, a wildman who swings at their riot gear with a sledgehammer. Then they get him under control, and he shakes their hands, like, "Good angle you took on me there, mate." Who is that guy and where is his movie? Is this full-time work? Is he a police officer or an independent contractor? What would happen if this exercise didn't go exactly as planned?

56. Wolfwalkers (Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart)- The visuals have an unfinished quality that reminded me of The Tale of Princess Kaguya--the center of a flame is undrawn white, and fog is just negative space. There's an underlying symmetry to the film, and its color palette changes with mood.

Narratively, it's pro forma and drawn-out. Was Riley in Inside Out the last animated protagonist to get two parents? My daughter stuck with it, but she needed a lot of context for the religious atmosphere of 17th century Ireland.

55. What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael (Rob Garver)- The film does little more than one might expect; it's limited in the way that any visual medium is when trying to sum up a woman of letters. But as far as education for Kael's partnership with Warren Beatty or the idea of The New Yorker paying her for only six months out of the year, it was useful for me.  

Although Garver isn't afraid to point to the work that made Kael divisive, it would have been nice to have one or two interview subjects who questioned her greatness, rather than the crew of Paulettes who, even when they do say something like, "Sometimes I radically disagreed with her," do it without being able to point to any specifics.

54. Beastie Boys Story (Spike Jonze)- As far as this Spike Jonze completist is concerned, this is more of a Powerpoint presentation than a movie, Beastie Boys Story still warmed my heart, making me want to fire up Paul's Boutique again and take more pictures of my buddies.

53. Tenet (Christopher Nolan)- Cool and cold, tantalizing and frustrating, loud and indistinct, Tenet comes close to Nolan self-parody, right down to the brutalist architecture and multiple characters styled like him. The setpieces grabbed me, I'll admit.

Nolan's previous film, which is maybe his best, was "about" a lot and just happened to play with time; Tenet is only about playing with time.

PRETTY GOOD MOVIES

52. Shithouse (Cooper Raiff)- "Death is ass."

There's such a thing as too naturalistic. If I wanted to hear how college freshmen really talked, I would hang out with college freshmen. But you have to take the good verisimilitude with the bad, and good verisimilitude is the mother's Pod Save America t-shirt.

There are some poignant moments (and a gonzo performance from Logan Miller) in this auspicious debut from Cooper Raiff, the writer/director/editor/star. But the second party sequence kills some of the momentum, and at a crucial point, the characters spell out some motivation that should have stayed implied.

51. Totally Under Control (Alex Gibney, Ophelia Harutyunyan, Suzanne Hillinger)- As dense and informative as any other Gibney documentary with the added flex of making it during the pandemic it is investigating.

But yeah, why am I watching this right now? I don't need more reasons to be angry with Trump, whom this film calmly eviscerates. The directors analyze Trump's narcissism first through his contradictions of medical expertise in order to protect the economy that could win him re-election. Then it takes aim at his hiring based on loyalty instead of experience. But you already knew that, which is the problem with the film, at least for now.

50. Happiest Season (Clea Duvall)- I was in the perfect mood to watch something this frothy and bouncy. Every secondary character receives a moment in the sun, and Daniel Levy gets a speech that kind of saves the film at a tipping point.

I must say though: I wanted to punch Harper in her stupid face. She is a terrible romantic partner, abandoning or betraying Abby throughout the film and dissembling her entire identity to everyone else in a way that seems absurd for a grown woman in 2020. Run away, Kristen. Perhaps with Aubrey Plaza, whom you have more chemistry with. But there I go shipping and aligning myself with characters, which only proves that this is an effective romantic comedy.

49. The Way Back (Gavin O’Connor)- Patient but misshapen, The Way Back does just enough to overcome the cliches that are sort of unavoidable considering the genre. (I can't get enough of the parent character who, for no good reason, doesn't take his son's success seriously. "Scholarship? What he's gotta do is put his nose in them books! That's why I don't go to his games. [continues moving boxes while not looking at the other character] Now if you'll excuse me while I wait four scenes before showing up at a game to prove that I'm proud of him after all...")

What the movie gets really right or really wrong in the details about coaching and addiction is a total crap-shoot. But maybe I've said too much already.

48. The Whistlers (Corneliu Porumboiu)- Porumboiu is a real artist who seems to be interpreting how much surveillance we're willing to acknowledge and accept, but I won't pretend to have understood much of the plot, the chapters or which are told out of order. Sometimes the structure works--the beguiling, contextless "high-class hooker" sequence--but I often wondered if the film was impenetrable in the way that Porumboiu wanted it to be or impenetrable in the way he didn't.

To tell you the truth, the experience kind of depressed me because I know that, in my younger days, this film is the type of thing that I would re-watch, possibly with the chronology righted, knowing that it is worth understanding fully. But I have two small children, and I'm exhausted all the time, and I kind of thought I should get some credit for still trying to catch up with Romanian crime movies in the first place.

47. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Jason Woliner)- I laughed too much to get overly critical, but the film is so episodic and contrived that it's kind of exhausting by the end--even though it's achieving most of its goals. Maybe Borat hasn't changed, but the way our citizens own their ugliness has.

46. First Cow (Kelly Reichardt)- Despite how little happens in the first forty minutes, First Cow is a thoughtful capitalism parable. Even though it takes about forty minutes to get going, the friendship between Cookie and King-Lu is natural and incisive. Like Reichardt's other work, the film's modest premise unfolds quite gracefully, except for in the first forty minutes, which are uneventful.

45. Les Miserables (Ladj Ly)- I loved parts of the film--the disorienting, claustrophobic opening or the quick look at the police officers' home lives, for example. But I'm not sure that it does anything very well. The needle the film tries to thread between realism and theater didn't gel for me. The ending, which is ambiguous in all of the wrong ways, chooses the theatrical. (If I'm being honest, my expectations were built up by Les Miserables' Jury Prize at Cannes, and it's a bit superficial to be in that company.)

If nothing else, it's always helpful to see how another country's worst case scenario in law enforcement would look pretty good over here.

44. Bad Education (Cory Finley)- The film feels too locked-down and small at the beginning, so intent on developing the protagonist neutrally that even the audience isn't aware of his secrets. So when he faces consequences for those secrets, there's a disconnect. Part of tragedy is seeing the doom coming, right?

When it opens up, however, it's empathetic and subtle, full of a dry irony that Finley is already specializing in after only one other feature. Geraldine Viswanathan and Allison Janney get across a lot of interiority that is not on the page.

43. The Trip to Greece (Michael Winterbottom)- By the fourth installment, you know whether you're on board with the franchise. If you're asking "Is this all there is?" to Coogan and Brydon's bickering and impressions as they're served exotic food in picturesque settings, then this one won't sway you. If you're asking "Is this all there is?" about life, like they are, then I don't need to convince you.  

I will say that The Trip to Spain seemed like an enervated inflection point, at which the squad could have packed it in. The Trip to Greece proves that they probably need to keep doing this until one of them dies, which has been the subtext all along.

42. Feels Good Man (Arthur Jones)- This documentary centers on innocent artist Matt Furie's helplessness as his Pepe the Frog character gets hijacked by the alt-right. It gets the hard things right. It's able to, quite comprehensively, trace a connection from 4Chan's use of Pepe the Frog to Donald Trump's near-assuming of Pepe's ironic deniability. Director Arthur Jones seems to understand the machinations of the alt-right, and he articulates them chillingly.

The easy thing, making us connect to Furie, is less successful. The film spends way too much time setting up his story, and it makes him look naive as it pits him against Alex Jones in the final third. Still, the film is a quick ninety-two minutes, and the highs are pretty high.

41. The Old Guard (Gina Prince-Bythewood)- Some of the world-building and backstory are handled quite elegantly. The relationships actually do feel centuries old through specific details, and the immortal conceit comes together for an innovative final action sequence.

Visually and musically though, the film feels flat in a way that Prince-Bythewood's other films do not. I blame Netflix specs. KiKi Layne, who tanked If Beale Street Could Talk for me, nearly ruins this too with the child-actory way that she stresses one word per line. Especially in relief with one of our more effortless actresses, Layne is distracting.

40. The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Aaron Sorkin)- Whenever Sacha Baron Cohen's Abbie Hoffman opens his mouth, the other defendants brace themselves for his dismissive vulgarity. Even when it's going to hurt him, he can't help but shoot off at the mouth. Of course, he reveals his passionate and intelligent depths as the trial goes on. The character is the one that Sorkin's screenplay seems the most endeared to: In the same way that Hoffman can't help but be Hoffman, Sorkin can't help but be Sorkin. Maybe we don't need a speech there; maybe we don't have to stretch past two hours; maybe a bon mot diffuses the tension. But we know exactly what to expect by now. The film is relevant, astute, witty, benevolent, and, of course, in love with itself. There are a handful of scenes here that are perfect, so I feel bad for qualifying so much.

A smaller point: Daniel Pemberton has done great work in the past (Motherless Brooklyn, King Arthur, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.), but the first sequence is especially marred by his sterile soft-rock approach.

  GOOD MOVIES

39. Time (Garrett Bradley)- The key to Time is that it provides very little context. Why the patriarch of this family is serving sixty years in prison is sort of besides the point philosophically. His wife and sons have to move on without him, and the tragedy baked into that fact eclipses any notion of what he "deserved." Feeling the weight of time as we switch back and forth between a kid talking about his first day of kindergarten and that same kid graduating from dentistry school is all the context we need. Time's presentation can be quite sumptuous: The drone shot of Angola makes its buildings look like crosses. Or is it X's?

At the same time, I need some context. When director Garrett Bradley withholds the reason Robert's in prison, and when she really withholds that Fox took a plea and served twelve years, you start to see the strings a bit. You could argue that knowing so little about why, all of a sudden, Robert can be on parole puts you into the same confused shoes as the family, but it feels manipulative to me. The film is preaching to the choir as far as criminal justice goes, which is fine, but I want it to have the confidence to tell its story above board.

38. Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets (Turner Ross and Bill Ross IV)- I have a barfly friend whom I see maybe once a year. When we first set up a time to meet, I kind of dread it and wonder what we'll have to talk about. Once we do get together, we trip on each other's words a bit, fumbling around with the rhythm of conversation that we mastered decades ago. He makes some kind of joke that could have been appropriate then but isn't now.

By the end of the day, hours later, we're hugging and maybe crying as we promise each other that we won't wait as long next time.

That's the exact same journey that I went on with this film.

37. Underwater (William Eubank)- Underwater is a story that you've seen before, but it's told with great confidence and economy. I looked up at twelve minutes and couldn't believe the whole table had been set. Kristen plays Ripley and projects a smart, benevolent poise.

36. The Lodge (Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala)- I prefer the grounded, manicured first half to the more fantastic second half. The craziness of the latter is only possible through the hard work of the former though. As with Fiala and Franz's previous feature, the visual rhymes and motifs get incorporated into the soup so carefully that you don't realize it until they overwhelm you in their bleak glory.

Small note: Alicia Silverstone, the male lead's first wife, and Riley Keough, his new partner, look sort of similar. I always think that's a nice note: "I could see how he would go for her."

35. Miss Americana (Lana Wilson)- I liked it when I saw it as a portrait of a person whose life is largely decided for her but is trying to carve out personal spaces within that hamster wheel. I loved it when I realized that describes most successful people in their twenties.

34. Sound of Metal (Darius Marder)- Riz Ahmed is showing up on all of the best performances of the year lists, but Sound of Metal isn't in anyone's top ten films of the year. That's about right. Ahmed's is a quiet, stubborn performance that I wish was in service of more than the straight line that we've seen before.

In two big scenes, there's this trick that Ahmed does, a piecing together of consequences with his eyes, as if he's moving through a flow chart in real time. In both cases, the character seems locked out and a little slower than he should be, which is, of course, why he's facing the consequences in the first place. To be charitable to a film that was a bit of a grind, it did make me notice a thing a guy did with his eyes.

33. Pieces of a Woman (Kornel Mundruczo)- Usually when I leave acting showcases like this, I imagine the film without the Oscar-baiting speeches, but this is a movie that specializes in speeches. Pieces of a Woman is being judged, deservedly so, by the harrowing twenty-minute take that opens the film, which is as indulgent as it is necessary. But if the unbroken take provides the "what," then the speeches provide the "why."

This is a film about reclaiming one's body when it rebels against you and when other people seek ownership of it. Without the Ellen Burstyn "lift your head" speech or the Vanessa Kirby show-stopper in the courtroom, I'm not sure any of that comes across.

I do think the film lets us off the hook a bit with the LaBoeuf character, in the sense that it gives us reasons to dislike him when it would be more compelling if he had done nothing wrong. Does his half-remembering of the White Stripes count as a speech?

32. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (George C. Wolfe)- This is such a play, not only in the locked-down location but also through nearly every storytelling convention: "Where are the two most interesting characters? Oh, running late? They'll enter separately in animated fashion?" But, to use the type of phrase that the characters might, "Don't hate the player; hate the game."

Perhaps the most theatrical note in this treatise on the commodification of expression is the way that, two or three times, the proceedings stop in their tracks for the piece to declare loudly what it's about. In one of those clear-outs, Boseman, who looks distractingly sick, delivers an unforgettable monologue that transports the audience into his character's fragile, haunted mind. He and Viola Davis are so good that the film sort of buckles under their weight, unsure of how to transition out of those spotlight moments and pretend that the story can start back up. Whatever they're doing is more interesting than what's being achieved overall.

31. Another Round (Thomas Vinterberg)- It's definitely the film that Vinterberg wanted to make, but despite what I think is a quietly shattering performance from Mikkelsen, Another Round moves in a bit too much of a straight line to grab me fully. The joyous final minutes hint at where it could have gone, as do pockets of Vinterberg's filmography, which seems newly tethered to realism in a way that I don't like. The best sequences are the wildest ones, like the uproarious trip to the grocery store for fresh cod, so I don't know why so much of it takes place in tiny hallways at magic hour. I give the inevitable American remake* permission to use these notes.

*- Just spitballing here. Martin: Will Ferrell, Nikolaj (Nick): Ben Stiller, Tommy: Owen Wilson, Peter: Craig Robinson

30. The Invisible Man (Leigh Whannell)- Exactly what I wanted. Exactly what I needed.

I think a less conclusive finale would have been better, but what a model of high-concept escalation. This is the movie people convinced me Whannell's Upgrade was.

29. On the Rocks (Sofia Coppola)- Slight until the Mexican sojourn, which expands the scope and makes the film even more psychosexual than before. At times it feels as if Coppola is actively simplifying, rather than diving into the race and privilege questions that the Murray character all but demands.

As for Murray, is the film 50% worse without him? 70%? I don't know if you can run in supporting categories if you're the whole reason the film exists.

28. Mangrove (Steve McQueen)- The first part of the film seemed repetitive and broad to me. But once it settled in as a courtroom drama, the characterization became more shaded, and the filmmaking itself seemed more fluid. I ended up being quite outraged and inspired.

27. Shirley (Josephine Decker)- Josephine Decker emerges as a real stylist here, changing her foggy, impressionistic approach not one bit with a little more budget. Period piece and established actors be damned--this is still as much of a reeling fever dream as Madeline's Madeline. Both pieces are a bit too repetitive and nasty for my taste, but I respect the technique.

Here's my mandatory "Elisabeth Moss is the best" paragraph. While watching her performance as Shirley Jackson, I thought about her most famous role as Peggy on Mad Men, whose inertia and need to prove herself tied her into confidence knots. Shirley is almost the opposite: paralyzed by her worldview, certain of her talent, rejecting any empathy. If Moss can inhabit both characters so convincingly, she can do anything.

26. An American Pickle (Brandon Trost)- An American Pickle is the rare comedy that could actually use five or ten extra minutes, but it's a surprisingly heartfelt and wholesome stretch for Rogen, who is earnest in the lead roles.

25. The King of Staten Island (Judd Apatow)- At two hours and fifteen minutes, The King of Staten Island is probably the first Judd Apatow film that feels like the exact right length. For example, the baggy date scene between a gracious Bill Burr and a faux-dowdy Marisa Tomei is essential, the sort of widening of perspective that something like Trainwreck was missing.

It's Pete Davidson's movie, however, and though he has never been my cup of tea, I think he's actually quite powerful in his quiet moments. The movie probes some rare territory--a mentally ill man's suspicion that he is unlovable, a family's strategic myth-making out of respect for the dead. And when Davidson shows up at the firehouse an hour and fifteen minutes in, it feels as if we've built to a last resort.

24. Swallow (Carlo Mirabella-Davis)- The tricky part of this film is communicating Hunter's despair, letting her isolation mount, but still keeping her opaque. It takes a lot of visual discipline to do that, and Claudio Mirabella-Davis is up to the task. This ends up being a much more sympathetic, expressive movie than the plot description might suggest.

(In the tie dispute, Hunter and Richie are both wrong. That type of silk--I couldn't tell how pebbled it was, but it's probably a barathea weave-- shouldn't be ironed directly, but it doesn't have to be steamed. On a low setting, you could iron the back of the tie and be fine.)

23. The Vast of Night (Andrew Patterson)- I wanted a bit more "there" there; The film goes exactly where I thought it would, and there isn't enough humor for my taste. (The predictability might be a feature, not a bug, since the film is positioned as an episode of a well-worn Twilight Zone-esque show.)

But from a directorial standpoint, this is quite a promising debut. Patterson knows when to lock down or use silence--he even cuts to black to force us to listen more closely to a monologue. But he also knows when to fill the silence. There's a minute or so when Everett is spooling tape, and he and Fay make small talk about their hopes for the future, developing the characters' personalities in what could have been just mechanics. It's also a refreshingly earnest film. No one is winking at the '50s setting.

I'm tempted to write, "If Andrew Patterson can make this with $1 million, just imagine what he can do with $30 million." But maybe people like Shane Carruth have taught us that Patterson is better off pinching pennies in Texas and following his own muse.

22. Martin Eden (Pietro Marcello)- At first this film, adapted from a picaresque novel by Jack London, seemed as if it was hitting the marks of the genre. "He's going from job to job and meeting dudes who are shaping his worldview now." But the film, shot in lustrous Super 16, won me over as it owned the trappings of this type of story, forming a character who is a product of his environment even as he transcends it. By the end, I really felt the weight of time.

You want to talk about something that works better in novels than films though? When a passionate, independent protagonist insists that a woman is the love of his life, despite the fact that she's whatever Italians call a wet blanket. She's rich, but Martin doesn't care about her money. He hates her family and friends, and she refuses to accept him or his life pursuits. She's pretty but not even as pretty as the waitress they discuss. Tell me what I'm missing here. There's archetype, and there's incoherence.

21. Bacurau (Kleber Mendonca Filho and Juliano Dornelles)- Certain images from this adventurous film will stick with me, but I got worn out after the hard reset halfway through. As entranced as I was by the mystery of the first half, I think this blood-soaked ensemble is better at asking questions than it is at answering them.

20. Let Them All Talk (Steven Soderbergh)- The initial appeal of this movie might be "Look at these wonderful actresses in their seventies getting a movie all to themselves." And the film is an interesting portrait of ladies taking stock of relationships that have spanned decades. But Soderbergh and Eisenberg handle the twentysomething Lucas Hedges character with the same openness and empathy. His early reasoning for going on the trip is that he wants to learn from older women, and Hedges nails the puppy-dog quality of a young man who would believe that. Especially in the scenes of aspirational romance, he's sweet and earnest as he brushes his hair out of his face.

Streep plays Alice Hughes, a serious author of literary fiction, and she crosses paths with Kelvin Kranz, a grinder of airport thrillers. In all of the right ways, Let Them All Talk toes the line between those two stances as an entertaining, jaunty experiment that also shoulders subtextual weight. If nothing else, it's easy to see why a cruise ship's counterfeit opulence, its straight lines at a lean, would be visually engaging to Soderbergh. You can't have a return to form if your form is constantly evolving.

19. Dick Johnson Is Dead (Kirsten Johnson)- Understandably, I don't find the subject as interesting as his own daughter does, and large swaths of this film are unsure of what they're trying to say. But that's sort of the point, and the active wrestling that the film engages in with death ultimately pays off in a transcendent moment. The jaw-dropping ending is something that only non-fiction film can achieve, and Johnson's whole career is about the search for that sort of serendipity.

18. Da 5 Bloods (Spike Lee)- Delroy Lindo is a live-wire, but his character is the only one of the principals who is examined with the psychological depth I was hoping for. The first half, with all of its present-tense flourishes, promises more than the gunfights of the second half can deliver. When the film is cooking though, it's chock full of surprises, provocations, and pride.

17. Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Eliza Hittmann)- Very quickly, Eliza Hittmann has established herself as an astute, empathetic director with an eye for discovering new talent. I hope that she gets to make fifty more movies in which she objectively follows laconic young people. But I wanted to like this one more than I did. The approach is so neutral that it's almost flat to me, lacking the arc and catharsis of her previous film, Beach Rats. I still appreciate her restraint though.

GREAT MOVIES

16. Young Ahmed (Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne)- I don't think the Dardennes have made a bad movie yet, and I'm glad they turned away from the slight genre dipping of The Unknown Girl, the closest to bad that they got. Young Ahmed is a lean, daring return to form.

Instead of following an average person, as they normally do, the Dardenne Brothers follow an extremist, and the objectivity that usually generates pathos now serves to present ambiguity. Ahmed says that he is changing, that he regrets his actions, but we never know how much of his stance is a put-on. I found myself wanting him to reform, more involved than I usually am in these slices of life. Part of it is that Idir Ben Addi looks like such a normal, young kid, and the Ahmed character has most of the qualities that we say we want in young people: principles, commitment, self-worth, reflection. So it's that much more destructive when those qualities are used against him and against his fellow man.

15. World of Tomorrow Episode Three: The Absent Destinations of David Prime (Don Hertzfeldt)- My dad, a man whom I love but will never understand, has dismissed modern music before by claiming that there are only so many combinations of chords. To him, it's almost impossible to do something new. Of course, this is the type of thing that an uncreative person would say--a person not only incapable of hearing the chords that combine notes but also unwilling to hear the space between the notes. (And obviously, that's the take of a person who doesn't understand that, originality be damned, some people just have to create.)

  Anyway, that attitude creeps into my own thinking more than I would like, but then I watch something as wholly original as World of Tomorrow Episode Three. The series has always been a way to pile sci-fi ideas on top of each other to prove the essential truths of being and loving. And this one, even though it achieves less of a sense of yearning than its predecessor, offers even more devices to chew on. Take, for example, the idea that Emily sends her message from the future, so David's primitive technology can barely handle it. In order to move forward with its sophistication, he has to delete any extraneous skills for the sake of computer memory. So out of trust for this person who loves him, he has to weigh whether his own breathing or walking can be uninstalled as a sacrifice for her. I thought that we might have been done describing love, but there it is, a new metaphor. Mixing futurism with stick figures to get at the most pure drive possible gave us something new. It's called art, Dad.

14. On the Record (Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering)- We don't call subjects of documentaries "stars" for obvious reasons, but Drew Dixon kind of is one. Her honesty and wisdom tell a complete story of the #MeToo movement. Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering take their time developing her background at first, not because we need to "gain sympathy" or "establish credibility" for a victim of sexual abuse, but because showing her talent and enthusiasm for hip-hop A&R makes it that much more tragic when her passion is extinguished. Hell, I just like the woman, so spending a half-hour on her rise was pleasurable in and of itself.

  This is a gut-wrenching, fearless entry in what is becoming Dick and Ziering's raison d'etre, but its greatest quality is Dixon's composed reflection. She helped to establish a pattern of Russell Simmons's behavior, but she explains what happened to her in ways I had never heard before.

13. David Byrne’s American Utopia (Spike Lee)- I'm often impressed by the achievements that puzzle me: How did they pull that off? But I know exactly how David Byrne pulled off the impish but direct precision of American Utopia: a lot of hard work.

I can't blame Spike Lee for stealing a page from Demme's Stop Making Sense: He denies us a close-up of any audience members until two-thirds of the way through, when we get someone in absolute rapture.

12. One Night in Miami... (Regina King)- We've all cringed when a person of color is put into the position of speaking on behalf of his or her entire race. But the characters in One Night in Miami... live in that condition all the time and are constantly negotiating it. As Black public figures in 1964, they know that the consequences of their actions are different, bigger, than everyone else's. The charged conversations between Malcolm X and Sam Cooke are not about whether they can live normal lives. They're way past that. The stakes are closer to Sam Cooke arguing that his life's purpose aligns with the protection and elevation of African-Americans while Malcolm X argues that those pursuits should be the same thing. Late in the movie, Cassius Clay leaves the other men, a private conversation, to talk to reporters, a public conversation. But the film argues that everything these men do is always already public. They're the most powerful African-Americans in the country, but their lives are not their own. Or not only their own.

It's true that the first act has the clunkiness and artifice of a TV movie, but once the film settles into the motel room location and lets the characters feed off one another, it's gripping. It's kind of unfair for a movie to get this many scenes of Leslie Odom Jr. singing, but I'll take it.

11. Saint Frances (Alex Thompson)- Rilke wrote, "Perhaps everything terrible is in its deepest being something helpless that wants help from us." The characters' behavior in Saint Frances--all of these fully formed characters' behavior--made me think of that quotation. When they lash out at one another, even at their nastiest, the viewer has a window into how they're expressing pain they can't verbalize. The film is uneven in its subtlety, but it's a real showcase for screenwriter and star Kelly O'Sullivan, who is unflinching and dynamic in one of the best performances of the year. Somebody give her some of the attention we gave to Zach Braff for God's sake.

10. Boys State (Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine)- This documentary is kind of a miracle from a logistical standpoint. From casting interviews beforehand, lots of editing afterwards, or sly note-taking once the conference began, McBaine and Moss happened to select the four principals who mattered the most at the convention, then found them in rooms full of dudes wearing the same tucked-in t-shirt. By the way, all of the action took place over the course of one week, and by definition, the important events are carved in half.

To call Boys State a microcosm of American politics is incorrect. These guys are forming platforms and voting in elections. What they're doing is American politics, so when they make the same compromises and mistakes that active politicians do, it produces dread and disappointment. So many of the boys are mimicking the political theater that they see on TV, and that sweaty sort of performance is going to make a Billy Mitchell out of this kid Ben Feinstein, and we'll be forced to reckon with how much we allow him to evolve as a person. This film is so precise, but what it proves is undeniably messy. Luckily, some of these seventeen-year-olds usher in hope for us all.

If nothing else, the film reveals the level to which we're all speaking in code.

9. The Nest (Sean Durkin)- In the first ten minutes or so of The Nest, the only real happy minutes, father and son are playing soccer in their quaint backyard, and the father cheats to score on a children's net before sliding on the grass to rub in his victory. An hour later, the son kicks the ball around by himself near a regulation goal on the family's massive property. The contrast is stark and obvious, as is the symbolism of the dead horse, but that doesn't mean it's not visually powerful or resonant.

Like Sean Durkin's earlier film, Martha Marcy May Marlene, the whole of The Nest is told with detail of novelistic scope and an elevation of the moment. A snippet of radio that mentions Ronald Reagan sets the time period, rather than a dateline. One kid saying "Thanks, Dad" and another kid saying, "Thanks, Rory" establishes a stepchild more elegantly than any other exposition might.

But this is also a movie that does not hide what it means. Characters usually say exactly what is on their minds, and motivations are always clear. For example, Allison smokes like a chimney, so her daughter's way of acting out is leaving butts on the window sill for her mother to find. (And mother and daughter both definitely "act out" their feelings.) On the other hand, Ben, Rory's biological son, is the character least like him, so these relationships aren't too directly parallel. Regardless, Durkin uses these trajectories to cast a pall of familial doom.

8. Sorry We Missed You (Sean Durkin)- Another precisely calibrated empathy machine from Ken Loach. The overwhelmed matriarch, Abby, is a caretaker, and she has to break up a Saturday dinner to rescue one of her clients, who wet herself because no one came to help her to the bathroom. The lady is embarrassed, and Abby calms her down by saying, "You mean more to me than you know." We know enough about Abby's circumstances to realize that it's sort of a lie, but it's a beautiful lie, told by a person who cares deeply but is not cared for.

Loach's central point is that the health of a family, something we think of as immutable and timeless, is directly dependent upon the modern industry that we use to destroy ourselves. He doesn't have to be "proven" relevant, and he didn't plan for Covid-19 to point to the fragility of the gig economy, but when you're right, you're right.

7. Lovers Rock (Steve McQueen)- swear to you I thought: "This is an impeccable depiction of a great house party. The only thing it's missing is the volatile dude who scares away all the girls." And then the volatile dude who scares away all the girls shows up.

In a year short on magic, there are two or three transcendent moments, but none of them can equal the whole crowd singing along to "Silly Games" way after the song has ended. Nothing else crystallizes the film's note of celebration: of music, of community, of safe spaces, of Black skin. I remember moments like that at house parties, and like all celebrations, they eventually make me sad.

6. Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution (Nicole Newnham and James Lebrecht)- I held off on this movie because I thought that I knew what it was. The setup was what I expected: A summer camp for the disabled in the late '60s takes on the spirit of the time and becomes a haven for people who have not felt agency, self-worth, or community anywhere else. But that's the right-place-right-time start of a story that takes these figures into the '80s as they fight for their rights.

If you're anything like my dumb ass, you know about 504 accommodations from the line on a college syllabus that promises equal treatment. If 2020 has taught us anything though, it's that rights are seized, not given, and this is the inspiring story of people who unified to demand what they deserved. Judy Heumann is a civil rights giant, but I'm ashamed to say I didn't know who she was before this film. If it were just a history lesson that wasn't taught in school, Crip Camp would still be valuable, but it's way more than that.

5. Palm Springs (Max Barbakow)- When explaining what is happening to them, Andy Samberg's Nyles twirls his hand at Cristin Milioti's Sara and says, "It's one of those infinite time-loop scenarios." Yeah, one of those. Armed with only a handful of fictional examples, she and the audience know exactly what he means, and the continually inventive screenplay by Andy Siara doesn't have to do any more explaining. In record time, the film accelerates into its premise, involves her, and sets up the conflict while avoiding the claustrophobia of even Groundhog Day. That economy is the strength that allows it to be as funny as it is. By being thrifty with the setup, the savings can go to, say, the couple crashing a plane into a fiery heap with no consequences.

In some accidental ways, this is, of course, a quarantine romance as well. Nyles and Sara frustratingly navigate the tedious wedding as if they are play-acting--which they sort of are--then they push through that sameness to grow for each other, realizing that dependency is not weakness. The best relationships are doing the same thing right now.

  Although pointedly superficial--part of the point of why the couple is such a match--and secular--I think the notion of an afterlife would come up at least once--Palm Springs earns the sincerity that it gets around to. And for a movie ironic enough to have a character beg to be impaled so that he doesn't have to sit in traffic, that's no small feat.

  4. The Assistant (Kitty Green)- A wonder of Bressonian objectivity and rich observation, The Assistant is the rare film that deals exclusively with emotional depth while not once explaining any emotions. One at a time, the scrape of the Kleenex box might not be so grating, the long hallway trek to the delivery guy might not be so tiring, but this movie gets at the details of how a job can destroy you in ways that add up until you can't even explain them.

3. Promising Young Woman (Emerald Fennell)- In her most incendiary and modern role, Carey Mulligan plays Cassie, which is short for Cassandra, that figure doomed to tell truths that no one else believes. The web-belted boogeyman who ruined her life is Al, short for Alexander, another Greek who is known for his conquests. The revenge story being told here--funny in its darkest moments, dark in its funniest moments--is tight on its surface levels, but it feels as if it's telling a story more archetypal and expansive than that too.

  An exciting feature debut for its writer-director Emerald Fennell, the film goes wherever it dares. Its hero has a clear purpose, and it's not surprising that the script is willing to extinguish her anger halfway through. What is surprising is the way it renews and muddies her purpose as she comes into contact with half-a-dozen brilliant one- or two-scene performances. (Do you think Alfred Molina can pull off a lawyer who hates himself so much that he can't sleep? You would be right.)

Promising Young Woman delivers as an interrogation of double standards and rape culture, but in quiet ways it's also about our outsized trust in professionals and the notion that some trauma cannot be overcome.

INSTANT CLASSICS

2. Soul (Pete Docter)- When Pete Docter's Up came out, it represented a sort of coronation for Pixar: This was the one that adults could like unabashedly. The one with wordless sequences and dead children and Ed Asner in the lead. But watching it again this week with my daughter, I was surprised by how high-concept and cloying it could be. We choose not to remember the middle part with the goofy dog stuff.

Soul is what Up was supposed to be: honest, mature, stirring. And I don't mean to imply that a family film shouldn't make any concessions to children. But Soul, down to the title, never compromises its own ambition. Besides Coco, it's probably the most credible character study that Pixar has ever made, with all of Joe's growth earned the hard way. Besides Inside Out, it's probably the wittiest comedy that Pixar has ever made, bursting with unforced energy.

There's a twitter fascination going around about Dez, the pigeon-figured barber character whose scene has people gushing, "Crush my windpipe, king" or whatever. Maybe that's what twitter does now, but no one fantasized about any characters in Up. And I count that as progress.

1. I’m Thinking of Ending Things (Charlie Kaufman)- After hearing that our name-shifting protagonist moonlights as an artist, a no-nonsense David Thewlis offers, "I hope you're not an abstract artist." He prefers "paintings that look like photographs" over non-representational mumbo-jumbo. And as Jessie Buckley squirms to try to think of a polite way to talk back, you can tell that Charlie Kaufman has been in the crosshairs of this same conversation. This morose, scary, inscrutable, expressionist rumination is not what the Netflix description says it is at all, and it's going to bother nice people looking for a fun night in. Thank God.

The story goes that Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, when constructing Raiders of the Lost Ark, sought to craft a movie that was "only the good parts" with little of the clunky setup that distracted from action. What we have here is a Charlie Kaufman movie with only the Charlie Kaufman moments, less interested than ever before at holding one's hand. The biting humor is here, sometimes aimed at philistines like the David Thewlis character above, sometimes at the niceties that we insist upon. The lonely horror of everyday life is here, in the form of missed calls from oneself or the interruption of an inner monologue. Of course, communicating the overwhelming crush of time, both unknowable and familiar, is the raison d'etre.

A new pet motif seems to be the way that we don't even own our own knowledge. The Young Woman recites "Bonedog" by Eva H.D., which she claims/thinks she wrote, only to find Jake's book open to that page, next to a Pauline Kael book that contains a Woman Under the Influence review that she seems to have internalized later. When Jake muses about Wordsworth's "Lucy Poems," it starts as a way to pass the time, then it becomes a way to lord his education over her, then it becomes a compliment because the subject resembles her, then it becomes a way to let her know that, in the grand scheme of things, she isn't that special at all. This film jerks the viewer through a similar wintry cycle and leaves him with his own thoughts. It's not a pretty picture, but it doesn't look like anything else.

[gcnnyweasleys]

answer these statements and then tag people

i was tagged by @vivaldei! thank you lmao i love these

last:

1) drink: grape juice lol 2) phone call: my brother 3) text message: my friend ava 4) song you listened to: j-boy by phoenix 5) time you cried: this morning thanks to period cramps!! gotta love em

have you:

6) dated someone twice: i’ve never dated anyone lol 7) kissed someone and regretted it: never been kissed!!  8) been cheated on: no 9) lost someone special: yea 10) been depressed: a lot lol 11) gotten drunk and thrown up: no haha i don't drink 

list 3 favourite colours:

12) silver 13) pastel yellow 14) red

in the last year have you:

15) made new friends: yupp 16) fallen out of love: no 17) laughed until you cried: yes 18) found out someone was talking about you: i mean yea 19) found out who your friends are: definitely 20) kissed someone on your facebook list: no lol

general:

21) how many of your facebook friends do you know in real life: most of them & then the rest are just mutuals/internet friends 22) do you have any pets: yes!! i have a puppy & her name is hazel she’s named after hazel levesque i love her sm 23) do you want to change your name: YES bc no one knows how to pronounce it?? or they call me weird nicknames??  24) what did you do for your last birthday: went to a concert & hung out w my family 25) what time do you wake up at: usually around 8 or 8:30 but i go to sleep really early lol  26) what were you doing at midnight last night: sleeping  27) name something you can’t wait for: college and getting out of america lol 28) when was the last time you saw your mom: this morning 29) what is one thing you wish you could change in your life: i wish i was never anxious i hate my anxiety so much lmao 30) what are you listening to right now: uh a plethora of diff people but mainly lorde, glass animals, sufjan stevens, dear evan hansen 31) have you ever talked to a person named tom: HAHA i actually had a thing with someone named tom a few months ago + i love tom holland if that counts 32) something that is getting on your nerves: myself lol 33) most visited website: twitter probably 34) mole(s): one on my finger  35: mark(s): i have scars from where my friend used to dig her nails into my skin all the time but that was a long time ago + scars from my dog when she accidentally scratches me  36) childhood dream: i’ve always wanted to be an actress/writer and that hasn't changed but when i was little i used to think i was a mermaid princess lol 37) hair colour: naturally dirty blonde 38) long or short hair: i think it’s long?? 

39) do you have a crush on someone: yes omg 40) what do you like about yourself: my eyes & my eyebrows & how good i am at being intuitive + how good i am in english 41) piercings: my ears but i’m getting a nose piercing for my 16th  42) blood type: no clue 43) nicknames: g, gigi, gilly (that one’s silly but it’s still cute) 44) relationship status: super single haha 45) zodiac: sagittarius & proud of it lmao 46) pronouns: she/her 47) favourite shows: parks & rec, jane the virgin, stranger things, game of thrones, the office 48) right or left hand: right 49) surgery: none 50) hair dyed a different colour: when i was 12 i dipdyed my hair red with koolaid?? hahah 51) sport: tennis 52) vacation: idk if this means dream vacation? i just went to scotland & england for 2 weeks a month ago + i really wanna go to iceland or ireland 53) pair of trainers: white converse yikes

more general

54) eating: nothing rn 55) drinking: i need to drink water i’m deprived  56) i’m about to: my summer homework  57) want: to be happier 58) get married: probably 59) career: actress & writer 60) hugs or kisses: i really hate physical contact in general but i do like hugging people if they’re not forcing me to  61) lips or eyes: eyes 62) shorter or taller: if this is relationship-wise then usually taller  63) older or younger: um rn it’d be one year older or one year younger bc i'm only fifteen but usually older i think when it comes to celeb crushes at least 64) nice arms or nice stomach: stomach?? really muscular arms just aren’t my thing but then again neither are abs? i have a really weird type which consists of really slim/skinny guys idk why 65) sensitive or loud: sensitive 66) hook up or relationship: relationship  67) troublemaker or hesitant: usually hesitant bc i like avoiding uncomfy situations but once i’m comfortable i can act pretty stupid lol

have you ever:

68) kissed a stranger: no 69) drank hard liquor: i’ve had like a sip 70) lost glasses/contact lenses: yes 71) turned someone down: yea 72) sex on the first date: nope 73) broken someone’s heart: i doubt it  74) had your heart broken: kind of but it’s hard to tell bc i'm so young 75) been arrested: no 76) cried when someone died: all the time 77) fallen for a friend: sort of 

do you believe in:

78) yourself: i try 79) miracles: depends  80) love at first sight: nope 81) santa claus: until i was like 6 82) kissing on the first date: depends on the person

other:

83) current best friend’s name: ava & kenzie 84) eye colour: light blue 85) favourite movie: moonrise kingdom, the parent trap, sing street, spider-man: homecoming, 20th century women, the secret life of walter mitty

tagged: @mjwatson, @minyardx, @pctter, @kazbkker, @tyler-joesph, @peterparkes, @ultimatemj

[heartandsouloc]

OC Playlist

 A list of songs that I associate with certain characters/ I think they would listen to

*this is a work in progress

**my favorites for each character are toward the top, songs toward the bottom are more silly/random

oc list if you need it

*each link is for a youtube vid bc i am a peasant*

Thaddeus

Italian Polka (V. Gryaznov) // RACHMANINOFF

Nature Boy (Nat king cole)

Sicilienne, Op.78 (Piano) // FAURÉ

That's Life ( Frank Sinatra )

Snow in Venice (Thomas Sanders cover)

Heroes (David Bowie) 

i am a rock (simon and garfunkel)

Scarborough Fair (simon and garfunkel)

here’s that rainy day (Freddie Hubbard version)

Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 // J.S. BACH

Je te veux // ERIK SATIE 

Stars - Philip Quast - Les Misérables

Under the Stars ( The Lion King Soundtrack )

If I Only Had A Heart ( The Wizard Of Oz )

Do It For Her / Him (Cover // Steven Universe) (Adriana Figueroa)

lols:

Funiculì Funiculà Luciano Pavarotti

'O sole mio (Luciano Pavarotti)

Figaro's Aria (Barber of Seville)

Bring Me To Life (Evanescence)

The Sound of Silence (simon and garfunkel)

Sahrazad

Scheherazade. Movement 2 (N. Rimsky-Korsakov)

Scheherazade. Movement 3 (N. Rimsky-Korsakov)

Kun Anta (Humood) | حمود الخضر - فيديوكليب كن أنت

Aseer Ahsan (Humood)    حمود الخضر - أصير أحسن

Tsunami (Chawki)  شوقي - تسونامي 

desert rose ( sting )

Distance (Sam ock)

Mother (Florence + the Machine)

Witchy Woman (cover, Eagles)

Witchcraft (Frank Sinatra)

Beyond the sea (Bobby Darin)

"Become The Wind" (cover, English Version // The Cat Returns)

Strangers Like Me ( Disney's Tarzan )

Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride (Lilo & Stitch OST)

Main Titles (score) - The Little Mermaid OST

Et si tu n'existais pas (Piano) // JOE DASSIN)  

Feliz

*originally Feliz was meant to be a 1950s greaser type of character, so many songs i associate with him come from 50s and 60s rock even though his character changed. on the other hand i see him really getting into 80s rock so there is some of that too

Mamboleo (Elissa)

Spanish Flea  (Herb Alpert)

La Bamba (Ritchie Valens)

Footloose (Kenny Loggins)

The Great Pretender (The Platters)

La Vie en Rose (Violin and Guitar)

Stand By Me (Ben E King)

Mambo #5 (original 1950s version)

Beggin (Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons)

sleepwalk (ritchie valens)

Can't Take My Eyes Off You (Frankie Valli, Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra version)

Chantilly Lace (Big Bopper)

Don't Stop Me Now (Queen)

Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) (Eurythmics)

Stayin Alive (Bee Gees)

Johnny B. Goode (Chuck Berry)

Blood (My Chemical Romance)

Take On Me  (a-ha)

Haven't You Noticed (I'm a Star) ( Steven Universe Soundtrack )

If I Only Had A Brain (The Wizard Of Oz)

Ava

Spirit in the Sky Norman Greenbaum

colour my world (chicago)

Respect (Aretha Franklin)

Isn't She Lovely (Stevie Wonder)

Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison)

What A Wonderful World ( Louis Armstrong )

Dancing Queen (Abba)

Mamma Mia (Abba)

Mother Earth And Father Time (Charlotte’s Web/ Debbie Reynolds)

A Smile and a Song (Disney Snow White)

[ringusscully]

@gifsourcefed made a little post detailing about how she felt about all the hosts and I thought it would be a good way to show my appreciation as well! 

My story is pretty much like every others, I started way back in 2012, right around the time of the fall, and from then on my life was forever changed. SourceFed has always been my home, some place I could leave for a bit and then come back and things were a little different, like the furniture had changed around and maybe we got some new members, but it was still home, it still had the heart and the love that I always remembered.

Lee Newton, the sweetest, funniest, dinosaur loving woman I’ve ever seen. I connected with her Make-A-Wish story and being sick and having surgeries all the time as a kid with my own past being similar, and from then on she felt like a new mom, one complete with hilarious voices and a bright smile.

Joe Bereta, the dad I wish I had, so athletic and fearless, and Joe knew how to tell a story like nobody else, I always wanted to learn how to tell a story like Joe Bereta, even if he did almost die in half of them.

Elliott Morgan, the dry humored, silly guy who had the tendency to go a little dark, Elliott was filled with endless talent and entertainment, there truly was nobody like Elliott Morgan, and never will be. 

Steve Zaragoza, this silly, joyous, funny, fantastic man. I love Stee, even when I disagree with him, because Steve is so magical, so special in the way he exudes happiness. Zabagoobler has always been the kind of guy I wanted to be friends with.

Trisha Hershberger, this small, dramatic, tech loving woman. I love Trisha Hershberger. Trisha reminded me of myself, in drama and wanting to be an actress, and so very tiny and optimistic and loved games and technology. Trisha is the sweetest little lady, and I know she’s going to be a fantastic mother.

Meg Turney, this red haired force of nature. Meg was hot and quick and full of life, so casually cool and fun it almost hurt. Meg seemed so effortless in everything, like that being that amazing was just easy. She made being a nerd girl in a t-shirt be hot.

Ross Everett, although far from a favorite of mine personally, always added a little spice. I actually did come to miss him when brought up the last few days, missing the dynamic he had, and I think that’s how Ross shined: he was good with people, good with bouncing off of them, good at creating a fun energy and a good time. I could only hope to have that much energy as Ross.

And then came our first round of newbies. Admittedly, these are probably my favorite hosts, ones I connected with the most.

William Haynes, the unpredictable, creative, wild Naruto Shippuden loving boy. I had a crush on Will when he first popped up on Anime Club. Will was awkward, but well spoken and characteristic, and funny? Will was so funny. And he changed, right before our own eyes, Will went from this awkward boy, to this amazing, cool, funny man. Will showed me that even in the void, you can always find the light at the of the Tunnel (Vision). Speaking of Anime Club...

Reina Scully, this small, beautiful Asian woman. God do I love Reina Scully. Reina was small, just like me, and loved anime, and was actually pretty disgusting and lewd, in the best of ways, things that I was afraid of showing, but Reina brought me out of my shell. Reina is by far my favorite host, coming into her own from sitting quietly at TableTalks to yelling to my favorite soft chicken boy. Never did I have to think about liking Reina, because she was so likeable right from the moment she popped up. Somebody else that brought me out of my shell?

Sam Bashor, meek and sweet in the beginning, now a still sweet, but amazing man who is so full of ideas and passion that he seems like he’s going to burst. Sam was also somebody I had a crush on, the old Doctor Who outfits were so charming, and the privilege of seeing Sam (and Will) grow from boys my age to these incredibly talented men who are living their dreams and their passions, has always given me hope and something to strive for, that you can change but still be yourself at heart, especially if deep down you’re actually just the Flash.

Matthew Lieberman, this boy! God I love Matt. It was so popular to dislike Matt, but I loved him. I love the crazy stories Matt always brought to the table, and he always knew how to tell them, the details and specifics, and in story reactions almost unbelievable and amazing. And cooking! The man can cook. Amazingly so. I’m so upset we never got to see more of Matt’s skills, and that SourceFeed is never going to happen now. And on top of that, an actor and a writer? Matt is so talented, and I especially loved him on Nuclear Family.

Around late 2014 early 2015 I fell off SF, but not for long. I came back home, just like always, and there were even more new hosts. 

Bree Essrig, this feminist fireball, Bree is everything I wish I could be. Talented, outspoken, funny, beautiful. Bree is the complete package, topped with hair just as fiery as she is. Bree’s skills were brought to the forefront on Nuclear Family, and not getting to see those anymore makes me so sad. God damn do I love Bree Essrig. Know who else I love?

Maude Garrett. Maude. Fucking. Garrett. When Maude Garrett enters a video, enters a single frame, this is Maude’s show now. Maude brings the light to the room, draws all the attention in with that tall blonde Australianness that only she could exude, somehow contained in a Star Wars dress. Maude is so ridiculously funny, you might as well just sit back and let her go at it. The dynamic with Sam is so amazing, so perfect, lightning in a bottle that could never be recreated. I can’t wait for the Smaudecast.

Steven Suptic. This soft chicken boy. This boy grew on me. I watched SPF for Reina, she’d always been my favorite, and now she did games? Full time? Hell fucking yeah I was in. But then this boy came in. This weird white boy with greasy hair who said all the wrong things. I don’t know how long I wouldn’t watch a video that didn’t feature somebody else that involved Suptic. But somewhere along that way, that boy got a haircut, and I’m pretty sure some new glasses, and eventually found his voice and his stride, and GOD do I love Steven Suptic. Suppy is a grower, somebody that’s so bombastic you’re off-put by him. But then you watch more, and you realize that boy that jokes around all the time? Is sentimental, and kinda sweet, even if he still says the wrong things sometimes, but now it’s a little bit endearing, especially if his dick is just, y’know. Out.

I was pretty consistent with keeping up from now until the end, and luckily, I’d already been keeping up with a few of the new hosts.

Ava Gordy, a sweet, funny, short haired lady with legs more bendable than I thought possible. Ava’s been somebody I knew since 2012 as well, I saw a video she did for Taylor’s Swift’s “RED” album reviewing it, and had been watching “HALT, I am Ava.” ever since. Seeing Ava here was a surprise, a good one, Ava’s talents finally having the coolest of platforms I could think of to be shown off. Ava is funny, her timing and storytelling impeccable. Ava Gordy is a masterpiece.

Mike Falzone, this sweet, funny man was also somebody I knew, having been around the YouTube block, knowing of Tonjes and Gunnarolla. Mike was like Steve, hilariously funny, always doing something to get a laugh, and this man is so genuine it seems almost impossible. Mike is so sweet, so good to this world, and so funny on top of it all. The world does not deserve the Calzone, but we get to enjoy him anyways.

Candace Carrizales. Oh Candy. Candace is someone that took the most to grow on me. Her humor is so different from the others, her demeanor so unexpected from this office that’s known to be out of this world loud and exuberant. Not Candy. Candy’s just hear to be here, and have a good time, and to give a laugh. I wish I could’ve appreciated Candace sooner, seeing her grown more comfortable and more into her voice and comedy has been amazing, and I wanted nothing but to see her more, considering she’s made me laugh so much in the last few months than I ever expected.

Yessica Hernandez-Cruz, God damn do I love this lady. Yessica and Will were dynamite, bouncing off each other, feeling like the PBL duo to SFN’s Maude and Sam, it was impossible to not smile seeing these two do magic together. Yessica on her own, is even more magical, proud of who she is and unapologetic, and holy shit can Yessica make me laugh. I’m going to miss Yessica, but I have hope for the PBL trio, considering John’s promises. Speaking of...

John Ross, I love this man. John is somebody I want to hang out with, to teach me all that he knows about food and camera work and everything he’s familiar with. John has such an aura about him, so friendly and positive, John is the calming member of this amazing trio, just wanting to spend time with his friends and have a good time and make amazing content. John Ross is a gift.

Whitney Moore, another gift, was the perfect person for Nerd. Whitney was a slightly familiar face, and she felt just so right to be there. Whitney brought a cool meal edge to the channel, her slightly darker tones of interest so contrasted with her bright and bubbly personality. I always smiled when Whit was on screen, so funny and cool, ready to take on the world. 

Filup Molina, the biggest surprise for me, was just on Nerd one day. Just hanging out. And I’m glad that he did, that hat wearing, funny boy. Filup’s always been slightly out of place for me, in the best way, his references falling on deaf ears because they didn’t make sense to others, jokes that the viewer caught going unnoticed by others, I loved him. Filup was a breath of fresh air for the channel, a sparkling gem that I feel not many noticed.

Aside from the hosts, I wanted to note a few BTS staff:

Rickey Mizuno, handsome, talented Rickey boy, beautiful behind the camera and in front of it. This man exudes charisma, and we didn’t get to see him nearly enough. Dani Rosenberg, the HBIC, funny and badass, Dani was one of my favorites to see. She really made SF what it was, and I want to see her do more awesome shit. Sophia Lorena, that curly haired beauty, dealing with Will’s shit every day was truly a lot for her to deal with, and I think for that alone we should be praising her. Also, have you seen her blog? Sophia’s amazing. Starline Hodge, the beautiful, talented graphic designer, Star’s vlogs and art have never not caused me to smile. Star was always subtle in things, but I always wanted more of her. And Audrey Davy, hearing Reina scream her name in SPF videos was always hilarious, and seeing her in Phil’s vlogs and in the Drunk Co-Workers series confirmed that Audrey is a dime a dozen, hardworking and sweet, Audrey was one of my favorites always.

To all of those in this list, and on staff, thank you for these 5 years. They were wonderful, and funny, and God, I will never forget them or the people that made them. And I will never forget the amazing community that thrived from it. I love every single one of you. 

See you, you hot little daddy’s.

[denemebonus-site2024]

Tell me about your ocs

Do you mean just my MCL and Eldarya Oc’s or like??? Do you mean ALL of my oc’s? Since you didn’t specify I’m just gonna go with all of my oc’s that I still like

Fandom Based OC’s

My Candy Love: -TrinityIf you follow this blog theres a good chance you know who Trinity is. She’s my candy. She’s a Leo, lots of freckles and a spunky personality. She’s basically a self insert, back when I made her she was based around everything that I wanted to be and now, 5 years later, she’s everything that I am. Sure theres a few differences here and there but overall she’s a hard working, arrogant and narcissistic prick whos loyal and funny and loves unconditionally

Eldarya-MadelineMadeline is my Guardian from Eldarya and she’s everything that I’m not. She’s shy and quiet, hardworking, and passive. She’s the eldest in her family and cares for her two younger brothers while going to college and getting used to her roommate @mcl-mackenzie‘s guardian Victoria. When getting sent to Eldarya she panics and is distraught when she finally finds out she can’t go home, she’s a pisces and very short, her power is ice and her fae race is elemental

Homestuck -Trollsona EmileeEmilee is exactly what you think she is. She’s my self insert in homestuck, she’s a limeblood and was held prisoner by the Condescension, who abused her powers or some weird shit like that. It got a little mary sue in the end and she’s a really old oc (there she is ft. my friend Rose’s trollsona, mine is the green one, old drawing for an old oc)

-ShardeMy first ever troll oc, she was a silly blueblooded troll who was goofy and adorable and so in love with the world (Drawn by my old friend Molly on DA)

Steven Universe-AmberAmber was my first Gemsona I made in freshman year of highschool, ironically enough she came to me in a dream. She was a neat oc but she wasn’t me and as I began to change she became less and less like me so I made a new one-RubeliteRubelite was everything I wanted to be in my sophomore year, tough and unyielding and overall a fighter. But she was everything that I wanted to be not everything that I was so a year later I made a new one-Selinite My current gemsona (not that I’m really into the SU fandom anymore sadly) but I think that she’s just the cutest I rlly like her

And of course there was a bunch of fusions but when you add that to the mix it just becomes super extra and yeah. Another old drawing

DND-Fayre (she was the inspiration for Fayrelynn (my username))Fayre was my Elf character in a DnD campaign a while back, she was being corrupted by a type of virus, that would change one into a demon, she knew she couldn’t fight it and she didn’t try to so she enjoyed the rest of her time with the rest of the party and tried to help as many people as she could before she would become fully corrupted (The image below was drawn by my lovely friend Rose)

Non Fandom Related Oc’s

-The Squad-AdriannaAdrianna was born in 1200 Russia, she was soon to be married to a wealthy man, but before the wedding he tried to kill her and steal her riches (this is based off of an old Norwegian legend), because of this, mixed with her rage and grief she was changed into a werewolf (the origins of a werewolf) and was stuck being immortal. Flash forward t0 2013 she finds two girls to room with and also finds a boyfriend that she really cares for despite him being a slum (Actress Emma Roberts )

-KyleKyle is just Adrianna’s boyfriend, he’s a “rebel” and not the best guy but he cares about her very deeply even after he found about who she was. I think he’s in a gang but I’m not sure (Actor Rami Malek)

-MaribelleOne of the roomates that Adrianna found to live with, she’s a tomboy who also deeply loves fashion and aspires to be a journalist. She’s v gay (Drawn by Insolent_Devil on DA) (Actress Odette Annable )

-Elise MillerThe other roommate, she’s a photographer and very quiet, she’s been friends with Maribelle since they were little kids and she’s very dependent on her. She was hesitant to have Adrianna live with them but she adores her too (Drawn by Insolent_Devil on DA) (Actress Lauren Ambrose )

The CrewThe crew was a group of friends/people that I made with @mcl-mackenzie years ago but they all have such a special place in our hearts

-Lucy AirashiLucy was your typical emo/scene/2007/hates life wannabe and yikes looking back on it she was CRINGE but she’s improved now, she’s dating @mcl-mackenzie‘s oc Bryce. Well they’re not together rn…but they will get back together one day (Actress Ksenia Solo )

-Hope AirashiHope is Lucy’s little sister, two years younger, who is a sweet and intelligent girl, she’s hard working and soft spoken and is disliked by Meg ( @mcl-mackenzie main oc in the thing) due to jealous of Hope’s relationship with Nate ( @mcl-mackenzie oc) ( Actress Lily Collins )

-Austin AirashiLucy and Hope’s older brother by a few years, he’s in the military and a very kind and loving guy. He loves to laugh and seems to have a permanent smile on his face, when need be he’s very stern and he was stuck taking up the dad role for his little sisters making him mature for his age, he’s engaged to @mcl-mackenzie‘s oc Sam (Actor Dean Geyer )

-Tyrone /Complicated and stupid last name/Tyrone was Lucy’s other best friend (aside from Meg) in high school, he was in her grade so they hung out a lot and had a lot of classes together (whereas meg is a year or two behind), once they all graduated he ended up finally meeting Meg and falling in love with her and all of her uniqueness ( Actor Daniel Sharman )

-ShaydeA typical cat girl, she’s roomates with Nate and is really close with Meg and Bryce (she even dated Bryce for a little but that was mostly to fill a void in both of them), after realizing her love with him was unrequited in many ways she moves on only to find a lovely man Johnathon ( @mcl-mackenzie oc) who was going through similar feelings with Hope, the two of them found love and are loveable side characters ( Actress Emilia Clark )

Misc Oc’s

-Ereshkigal  My Demon oc she represents a prominent “sin” that I have, she represents Vanity and just kinda haunts a representation of me or whatever. Kinda like an Ava’s Demon scenario (Drawn by insolent_devil on DA, not a super accurate representation of her but I can’t find my drawings of her sooo)

-RamoneRamone is my shapeshifter demon straight from hells door. She’s really insecure about her natural form so she shifts herself into her preferred form, which resembles a human, in a way. She’s a pretty lousy demon, her favorite things to do are just cause a whole bunch of mayhem and chaos but nothing too detrimental (pictured below is her normal form and then a dumb doodle of her preferred form)

-CharlieA breed I created myself, I mean after I made it I saw a lot of other people doing similar things so I guess it’s not that original, but I combined my two fave breeds, a cat and an owl and I named him Charlie

And those are all of my main OC’s that I use a lot/like a lotI also have another Lucy from a totally different story but that’s about it///We’re not going into my self inserts though because that’s a whole shit storm

SORRY FOR HOW LONG THIS WAS OMG