#berlin netflix meta

[bleulone]

Roi's captivating journey in Berlín: on defying authority, seeking approval and exploring his desire…

Or a long meta nobody asked for in which I delve into why he’s the best character in this spinoff and why his "romance" with Cameron unfortunately didn’t really make sense.

Foreword : I'm a sucker for nerdy male fictional characters with a hidden hint of confidence, a dark/tragic backstory, who wear the slutty glasses™ and look like they never felt the touch of a woman—of course when Roi was firstly introduced, I knew from the start that he's going to live in my mind rent free for the upcoming months.

˚ · • . ° . ׂׂૢ་༘࿐˚ · • . ° .

From the very first episode, it becomes clear that Berlín unravels as a tale centered around love. Nevertheless, it extends beyond romantic love, notwithstanding the musings of our chaotic, narcissistic dandy of a professional thief who philosophizes about the tantalizingly addictive energy of courtship, chase, and a lust he fervently desires. Although romantic love is prominently depicted as the main thread in the series, it is the comprehensive concept of Love that undergoes demystification, discussion, challenge, embrace, repulsion, and yearning.

The prevailing narrative of the entire season seemed to orbit a distinctive framework: romantic/carnal love, familial love, and self-love, stretching from birth to zenith and eventual demise. What particularly resonated with me was how the creators delved into the exploration of how these love forms can serve as both sources of freedom and imprisonment for the characters. It adds a poetic and meta layer when considering that this entire discussion unfolds against the backdrop of the Parisian landscape.

Within the fragrance that permeated this spinoff, Roi's storyline unquestionably stood out as the most intriguing among the banda. Despite its imperfections, particularly in the romantic aspect (which we'll talk about later), his evolution throughout the season seemed the most logical. To arrive at this conclusion, I believe it's essential to revisit storytelling basics and comprehend why, in my perspective, his arc made the most sense.

For a hero's journey to unfold successfully, it typically follows eight steps, and Roi's arc approximately adheres to these stages, employing a significant amount of telling and a bit of showing:

1. The Call: Running away from home at 13 and engaging in petty crimes. 2. The Threshold: Encountering Berlin at 17 and finally getting out of juvie. 3. + 4. The Challenges and The Abyss: Following the Boss's orders—retrieving the calice, "babysitting" Cameron, and maintaining a distance from her. 5. The Transformation: Failing to comply with orders and defying lover!Berlin. 6. The Revelation: Disclosing the truth to Berlin about the lost necklace during the night at the race, leading to approval and apology. 7. The Atonement: Evading the police, and Roi expressing gratitude for Berlin's guidance and lessons in self-control. 8. The Return (with a Gift): Successfully reaching Madrid, leaving the narrative with a seemingly happy ending, though the final details remain unknown.

Having observed a portion of his journey, Roi's character possesses a distinctive charm, largely stemming from the preconceived notions we harbor about him—"the youngster," "the naive and charming boy who simply follows instructions." I am inclined to think that the most notable feature of his arc this season is its "coming-of-age" essence that resonates with many. He strives to liberate himself from the constraints of unquestioning obedience to Berlin, opting instead to be guided by instinct, explore desire, embrace his identity, and assert his free will.

I truly enjoyed the universal elements in his relationship with Berlin: the admiration, care, the vulnerability and pride. I couldn't get enough of their scenes and wished for more. I was particularly intrigued to know a bit more about Berlin's perspective on education and how he imparted his principles to Roi. Surprisingly, it's refreshing to witness how the young man, contrary to expectations, isn't a Berlin Jr., but rather a wiser, more innocent, and stern version of himself.

Roi's evolution from a runaway orphan misfit to a disciplined young man was truly captivating, primarily because it allowed us to connect with him emotionally. He became the only character who shared such a precious and intimate piece of himself, giving us insight into why Berlin holds such significance for him. This added layer of vulnerability only serves to enhance his endearing personality.

On that note, I admire the way his naivety, which parallels Rio in La Casa de Papel, contrasts with his playfulness and extroversion. Roi's serious demeanor is understandable, considering his challenging upbringing both at home and in juvenile detention; he had to be self-reliant and fight his way through life. His skill in unlocking doors provided a glimpse of his delicacy and patience, making him genuinely distinctive. Indeed, the calmness, uncertainty, and darkness were further echoed in his casual attire and color palette—comprising blue, grey, and black.

I could extensively discuss Roi's incredible personality and his son/father relationship he has with Andres, but unfortunately, I just have to talk about the bad. Yes, Roi's story arc has some limitations that left me a bit disappointed, considering the amazing potential within his character. While he ended up demonstrating maturity and professionalism throughout the series, there was a certain immaturity when it came to matters of "love".

I guess that now is a good time to address the elephant in the room: his (quite underwhelming) "romantic" relationship with Cameron. I find myself somewhat blaming the trailer, as it led me to believe I was in for a compelling love story with a unique approach to the "bad girl/good boy trope" (which I adore). I was particularly displeased with how misleading the "lock picking" and the "No me mires" tattoo scenes in the pilot were, as they seemed to be included solely to inject a bit of sexiness into the show.

Listen, I'm a big fan of romance, and one thing that most romance enthusiast tend to do is approaching love stories in two distinct parts: 1) understanding the characters before the relationship, how they function individually, and 2) how the relationship will shape their individual growth and their growth together.

This is often observed through well-known romantic tropes that typically bring characters together and facilitate both physical and emotional connections. So, let's examine which tropes influenced their interactions: work colleagues, forced proximity, tending wounds (and the somewhat cliché "insta love"). This description may seem fitting at first glance, innit? But did these tropes truly work for them?

One crucial factor to consider is time: I strongly believe that a majority of love stories are slow burns that unfold over different spans. And sorry, chief, but timing wasn't on their side.

Apologies to all the Cameroi shippers out there, but I found it difficult to believe in their relationship, and it felt underwhelming for both characters. After finishing Season 1, opting for a platonic relationship might have been the better choice for them. Let me elaborate on why.

If Pina and Martínez Lobato truly intended to highlight romance (which was a bit overwhelming because literally, everyone had a romantic arc—like babe, it’s too much), especially a romance that made sense for the characters, they should have incorporated more angst and a slow burn. Why? Because, in this season, neither of Roi and Cameron are in the right place to fall in love.

On one hand, Roi's (scarce) romantic history reveals his naivety and idealized perception of love. To be frank, I would even go so far as to say his experience is practically nonexistent. His feelings seemed more like infatuation than genuine love, which requires a deeper connection that they didn't really have time to develop.

A part of me thinks Berlin's "strict" teachings about women played a role. The scene in 1.01 in the bathroom somewhat confirmed that Berlin might have admonished Roi in the past, likely instructing him on managing his hormones. Additionally, when our sweet summer child assured Berlin that he didn't initiate or encourage such behavior with Cameron, it became evident that being prudish was a lesson he had clearly absorbed.

Being a reserved young gentleman who wouldn't dare to meet the eyes of a woman he fancies, in contrast to the charismatic lover Berlin, I'm inclined to think he still has his V card—I can't interfere; it's a canon event.

If Roi seriously lacks experience with women, despite his first and only teenage romantic involvement during juvenile detention, it's only natural that he would stumble. This is evident in his interactions with Cameron. His steps are endearing and pure, but also somewhat messy and oddly quick. For someone who hates being seen as an obedient puppy, he swiftly follows Cameron's suggestion about the glasses, removing them instantly. I found this moment quite intriguing. It would have made more sense in 1.04, right after the quarrel at Polignac house. Removing them on that same night would have heightened the scene's impact and symbolically marked the transition from the old to the new Roi. Then again, taking time is crucial. It could have mirrored the fear of crossing boundaries and played with the symbolic idea that desire mirrors fear.

(**internal screaming** The creators missed an opportunity to delve deeper into the use of mirror imagery and internal conflict.)

That's why his “love” confession to Cameron in 1.07 appeared laughable, rushed and childish. Indeed, as she aptly said, he has "no idea if they'd still be together if Jimmy wasn't part of the equation." How dare he? I feel like this scene was pivotal, opening the door for Roi to reflect on his advances and avoid rushing into things, making him more cautious about the "lines you cannot cross in love" that dad!Berlin warned him about.

Yes, in the lights of his "romantic" arc, Roi had an illusion of love. Were there emotions involved? Certainly, especially since she helped him discuss his past. Lust? Absolutely.

As for Cameron, she's still grappling with trauma from her last relationship (to be honest, given all the suspense, her backstory was quite disappointing). It would have been in line with her character to step back from love and take some time to focus on herself before engaging in anything new. If the creators really wanted to push the romance, they could have only focused on subtle gestures like handholding and meaningful gazes to build the romantic tension, and not just sexual tension.

I didn't appreciate how they were quickly and overly physical with each other. The emphasis on physical touch didn't enhance the pseudo-emotional intimacy. In fact, I don't believe Cameron fell in love or became very infatuated with Roi. I would have preferred her to embody the femme fatale vibe Esther and Alex gave her and maintain a more casual relationship. Yielding to Roi's advances in the end seemed out of character because she should have been triggered, wary of falling deeply in love again and hurting our sweet baby boy Roi.

This is why their kiss felt unnecessarily desperate and passionate. A simple hug would have sufficed. I understand the fear of not seeing each other for three days, but the purpose of Cameron's words in between kisses, like "promise me" and "I can't myself," left me confused and mainly with unanswered questions. It's even more frustrating when we overlook her role in the heist and the unique talent that makes her authentic in the crew.

To wrap up, I believe both of these characters should have been individually explored. Consider the Octopus and the No me mires tattoos, for instance. Why introduce his through Cameron? Why didn't Roi ask about the meaning behind hers? Exploring this could have provided intriguing clues about her past. We could have witnessed a compelling scene of Roi changing, letting the audience notice the tattoos and prompting questions about their significance. Am I surprised that an entire episode is named after his tattoo, yet its origin remains undisclosed? Not at this point. Consequently, I found it difficult to connect with their bonding over the tattoos.

Despite being 23, their story really felt like a teenage love affair. I suppose I'll let fanfiction fill the void left (or do it myself with missing scenes and an eventual ofc, considering Roi is such fanfiction material).

All in all, Roi was undoubtedly the most captivating character. Performed by a wonderful Julio Peña, he skillfully broke the rules and awkwardly embraced his desires, ultimately earning the approval of his second father figure. I'm uncertain about what to expect in a potential Season 2, but one thing I absolutely need more than ever is flashbacks and explanations, especially given it's fucking Berlin's golden age.

What about you? What's your take on Roi? Did you enjoy his character arc and his "romance"? If you made it to the end, thank you ! Thank you very much for taking the time to read all this ramble of mine. I'm genuinely curious to hear your thoughts within the niche fandom here on Tumblr :)

[moon-yean]

babylon berlin thoughts

I finally found the time to finish Babylon Berlin and alsdkfjalösdjkf!!! Guys, watch it when it comes to Netflix on January 30!!! (Serious spoilers behind the cut, don’t read unless you’ve seen it all. I mean it. This show relies heavily on twists.)

Can I just say... Regierungsrat Benda ??? What the hell ??? Everything about that storyline was killing me already anyway because of the inherent tragedy but wow @ the show making one of the nicest characters kill one of the other nicest characters + his little kid. Just... what the hell. I was ready to rip my hair out.

On that note, still mourning Jänicke!!! When they showed Charlotte sitting with his parents and them congratulating her on her new job... just, stawp. Stop killing me. Why are all the death scenes in this show both the best (in the way they are shot and the tension is built and just alöksdjfölajsdf) and the worst (because they keep killing the characters ppl might actually care about most)?

ngl I cried during a bunch of episodes, you can guess which.

And the end... wtf there were so many crazy twists in this show, I totally didn’t see this coming (until they started the flashback to the wedding of his brother and we see him turning around and I recognized the actor who plays the doc). And I just realized that that’s the reason the mob boss (Edgar~ ok is that even his real name) had the painting of Anno’s horse!!! Though this raises all kinds of questions about Gereon’s dad and the prostitutes shooting that little home vid in that location because uhmm that dude is also Anno’s dad and did Anno know and was he involved with that or what?! He was involved with the blackmail, right? Just wtf?! 

Also that ep with the assassination attempt during the Dreigroschenoper was awesome and makes me crave an Assassin’s Creed game set in that era. I dug it when that storyline got video game-y, less so when it became comic book-y (the train fight with Wolter... everything was so great until they started to actually green screen fight each other on top of the train, that shit was goofy and silly but ok I’ll let it slide because I wanted Wolter dead the minute he forced Charlotte to take him on as a “customer” despite her refusal plus he was just a corrupt and repulsive dick in general, the actor was great but I totally didn’t get how reviewers apparently loved his character or found him super funny or something?).

Also can we just talk about how this show was able to give me the most profound history chills with the most subtle moments? Or not even just the subtle ones. When General Seegers revealed his anti-semitic colors to Benda I was ready to jump through the screen and throttle him. Not that any of that is a surprise but... the fact that it’s kept on the down low all the time makes it so much more shocking when it erupts out in the open.

Speaking of which, Fritz and his friend, whatever his name was, were so clearly up to no good in hindsight. Like these two dudes are the only ones who ever mention Hitler in passing. Surprise surprise. Ugh!!!

The show is somewhat maddening but that’s the time it’s set in. Just makes you want to scream, knowing where everything is going. 

Yeah idk I have so many thoughts but I’m just glad the show’s been renewed. The whole cast is so perfect and I love Gereon and Charlotte and if they iron out the kinks and tighten the plotting, this could become, like, the best show of all time. It’s super well-directed and -acted and I’m surprised the different styles of the creative team didn’t show through more but yeah, they need to smoothen the writing a little bit and make it less convoluted.

But there were so many standout scenes and sequences, some of the best on TV this year imo. Aside from everything I’ve already mentioned, how great was the episode where Gereon tells the story of him and his brother on the battlefield? Or the scene where he breaks into Wolter’s apartment? Just so well done and filmed, damn. And I love how they really took the time with some of those scenes and luxuriated in them long past the point where other shows might have gone. It makes the balance on the whole a bit uneven but it produces these really memorable pieces.

Oh yeah and if I want something from S3-onwards, it’s that the show should ease off on making Charlotte a broken mess and damsel in distress, S2 kind of really hit the brakes in terms of her character development. Liv Lisa Fries was amazing and kept it coherent but more of her S1 self pls.

And also, can the show please run for enough seasons that it doesn’t end in 1938 during the November progroms like the books apparently will?! Like damn, that would be the most depressing series finale ever.

[bskarsgardlove92]

‘The Wife’ Helmer Björn Runge to Direct ‘Burn All My Letters’ Starring Bill Skarsgård (EXCLUSIVE)

By Elsa Keslassy

Björn Runge, the Swedish director of the Glen Close starrer “The Wife,” is set to direct “Burn All My Letters,” a fiery love drama spanning decades starring Bill Skarsgård (“Deadpool”).

The film will also star Asta Kamma August (“The Pact”) and Gustav Lindh (“Queen of Hearts”). “Burn All My Letters” is produced by SF Studios which will also distribute in the Nordics. REinvent will handle international sales.

The film’s story is based on Swedish author Alex Schulman’s successful novel of the same name, and is inspired by true events. It revolves around Karin Stolpe’s complex relationship with her husband Sven Stolpe and her passionate love affair with Olof Lagercrantz which starts in the 1930s. The film shows the impact of passion, jealousy and anger across 70 years, involving different generations.

“Burn All My Letters” starts shooting in Sweden in August and is expected to premiere in theaters next fall. The cast for these eras will be presented later this summer.

“It’s a great story and I have really delved into what it was like to be a young woman in the 1930s — how women were considered in society, the power balance between men and women and reflections on sexuality and class,” said Kamma August. “It is important for me to be able to give Karin a strong voice in the film.”

The script is penned by Veronica Zacco, the critically acclaimed co-screenwriter of Netflix’s crime drama “Quicksand” and the long-running hit series “Bron/Broen.”

“As a director, I can’t think of any better fellow travelers than these actors. Filmmaking is about interaction. I am confident that we will succeed in making a fantastic film of a very good book”, said Runge.

The film will mark Runge’s return to Swedish filmmaking after 10 years. His latest film, “The Wife,” earned its star Glenn Close BAFTA and Oscar nominations and a Golden Globe award. The movie also stars Jonathan Pryce and Christian Slater. The helmer’s best known credits also include “Daybreak,” which competed at Berlin.

“Burn All My Letters” is produced by SF Studios with producers Annika Sucksdorff and Jonathan Ridings, with the support of the Swedish Film Institute, in collaboration with SVT, Film i Väst, Film Stockholm and Meta Film.

“Alex Schulman has written a personal and moving story about passion and jealousy that sheds light on how a historic meeting can have major consequences several decades later,” said Sucksdorff, head of film production in Sweden at SF Studios.

Via Variety

[nikkiwriteswords]

Hi! I would love to hear your thoughts/predictions/hopes for s3, now that we got the episode titles :D

Hey Nora!! Let me go grab my tua theory hat real quick. Spoiler alert, it looks exactly like the umbrella hat on the 3 right here:

Full disclosure, I've only got like a pinky toe in the tua fandom right now, but I'm still going to see what BS I can spin from these titles.

1. MEET THE FAMILY. The description on imdb is "The siblings get to know some more of the 43 children in an alternate timeline." So, I think this is pretty self-explanatory. Netflix likes to start things off with a bang, so s3 of TUA will probably be no different: we'll probably get a vague flashforward/flash-sideways to a "what if" scenario that will make sense by the last few episodes, and the rest of the episode will be sowing seeds for the s3 plot. The big question is, what family are we meeting? I think this episode will revolve around themes of family (no-brainer) and redefining the relationships between our Umbrella siblings in light of the season 2 finale, as well as their new Sparrow 'replacements'. To that end, initial Sparrow sibling parallels will be presented and subsequently complicated in this first episode. I also predict we'll see varying reactions to this alternate Reginald, as the Umbrella siblings are thrust into an outsider perspective that follows on from season 2.

2. WORLD'S BIGGEST BALL OF TWINE. This is going to be a multi-layered metaphor. I can feel it. It will no doubt refer to the plot that's about to unfold (is it an outside threat to both parties - the Umbrellas and Sparrows - from, say, the Commission, or is it more to do with the two rival Academies?), but I wonder if it also refers to the Wizard of Oz type scenario the Umbrella siblings find themselves in: they aren’t in Kansas anymore. (But you know what is in Kansas? The world's current biggest ball of twine.) Also kind of want to see Klaus knitting again in this ep - perhaps as a way to subtly re-address his ongoing addiction issues, especially now Ben is gone.

3. POCKET FULL OF LIGHTNING. This probably has to do with powers. Sparrow powers, Umbrella powers. There'll be a lot of new flexes in this season, so who this refers to is anyone's guess.

4. KUGELBLITZ. Here's where it starts to get interesting, because this title carries forward the subject of lightning from the last one. According to a very quick internet search, kugelblitz literally means "ball lightning" in German, and refers to both a) a glorified WW2 tank designed to take out aircraft (a certified Big Boi), and b) a theoretical black hole made from light/radiation rather than matter. So this is absolutely going to be a new, unseen power - probably from the Sparrows. Hopefully from Christopher because a cube executing a move named after a sphere just makes me chuckle. Ah, fun with shapes... But in addition, this power is probably going to pack a huge, debilitating punch to whatever narrative is underway at this point in the plot. I'll bet money that whoever wields this power is the tank character in their party or they are after this at least.

5. KINDEST CUT. This throws me back to the barber shop meta, I'm not gunna lie. Someone's going to get hurt, either physically or emotionally, and it's going to be the lesser of two evils. If it's a follow through on the barber metaphor, then Reggie will be the one to orchestrate it. Or, in a surprise twist, will he be the one gTetting hurt or being silenced? (Remember that cutthroat allegory that chases the siblings through the first season, particularly Allison and Klaus. It was about becoming voiceless.) 6.MARIGOLD. Big shout out to this post for spreading the word on the marigold symbolism. I'm pretty sure this will be Reginald backstory, which ties in with the creation of the Umbrella Academy. Also, because I'm a sucker for flower symbolism and reading into things, consider that marigolds:

a) fall into two families, the calendula which means "little clock" and the tagetes, which is named after the Etruscan prophet Tages. The Etruscans believed heavily in predestination - some events are set in stone, and cannot be changed. (Consider the way the apocalypse seems to always come for one set of siblings...) b) are named as such colloquially because they were offered in place of money to the Virgin Mary. (More divine imagery, and reference to a pure mother figure...) They are Mary’s gold. So maybe it’s a reference to Reginald’s wife, which would fit with the flashback scene we see in 1x10.  c) are a flower of duality. They have strong connections with the sun and resurrection, yet the marigold is thought to be a flower of grief because it blooms in autumn. Again, think about that flashback in the first season. At the end of the world and a wife dying, there was the promise of rebirth. d) It's also a very common flower. Remember, there's actually 43 siblings out there. We've only met 14.

Also Netflix loves to do this thing around the halfway point (usually episode 5/6) in a season they're producing. They'll switch up the narrative with a twist or turn that provides a new perspective. 7.AUF WEIDERSEHEN. Once again, a German connection. And, obviously, a goodbye. Considering the last season focused on Kennedy, are we going to get some earlier Cold War time-travel shenanigans? Or maybe WW2? I think Blackman has said something about the Berlin Wall, which is interesting. A country divided... Umbrellas and Sparrows allegory? But as an aside, I'm also kinda lowkey hoping it's a nod to Auf Weidersehen, Pet. If you don't know the show, here's the wiki summary for the first season:

Auf Wiedersehen, Pet is a British comedy-drama television programme about seven British construction workers who leave the United Kingdom to search for employment overseas. They find work on a German building site in Düsseldorf but despite promises of hostel accommodation, are forced to live in a small hut that reminds them of a World War II POW camp. The rest of the series is driven by the interactions and growing friendships between the various characters.

In episode seven, three of the “Magnificent Seven” visit an intercontinental hotel. Just saying. If s3 was to go this route, my money would be on Luther, Diego and Five getting up to shenanigans in this one. I miss 125 shenanigans.😢

8.WEDDING AT THE END OF THE WORLD. Honestly, I’m holding out hope that one of our fave siblings gets married. I feel like that’s a trap though... Actually I feel like it might actually be a trap. As in, this is when the rising action really kicks it up a notch. But also remember the title of 1x01: We Only See Each Other At Weddings and Funerals. Maybe the siblings get split up, possibly in episode 3/4, and they’re trying to reunite through episodes 5-7. Also thinking about hotels and apocalypses...  There’s something very fatalistic about these titles so far. I have a feeling that the B-plot or the subtext is going to reveal a lot more about Reginald’s history and the destruction of his world.

9. SIX BELLS. This makes me think of church bells, which is some nice continuity with the wedding of the last title. But church bells are rung for all sorts of reasons - as a call to worship, or in celebration or mourning, or to tell the time. (Thinking back to those marigolds suddenly.) But why six? Now I’m thinking of bell ringing (change ringing), and the way different bells have different cord lengths to control the time of their chimes. It’s a highly mathematical process. Will this episode be Five’s time to shine? Will he coordinate his siblings through a large attack? 10. OBLIVION. Does anything even need to be said about this one? Hotel Oblivion baby ✌✌ Any further theorising would require more knowledge of the coming plot tbh.

Edit: I wrote most of this at 2am, so I’ve just tidied it up a little. Thank you for the ask, Nora! This was fun to think about. 

[lady-writes]

Infoooooo dump!

Comics meta/ bullet notes beneath the cut. Interesting bits to me at least are bolded

TOG or Andy have a place in the Canary Islands

Andy considers her labrys to be the same as the one her "mother" gave her. She is insistent about this point. The same mother who eventually betrayed her in Force Multiplied. "There's a lot of conflicting emotions there" indeed

we were all totes right- Andy is absolutely training Nile on how to wield her labyrs

Andy puts her own era of  origin at Copper Age here

Andy’s tribe was DEFINITELY matriarchal, she was the heir of that tribe, I still have yet to see a single distinctly male character in any scene set in/with Andy’s tribe of origin

Quynh/ Noriko was the one who taught Andy the method of Handle wrapping that she uses on the shaft of her axe

Quynh/Noriko was topless as a matter of course. Prior comics implied that Andy envisioned her topless in a way that was distinctly shippy, Andy imagining her longtime lover/wife as she saw her in bed perhaps. But  here we see Quynh/Noriko shirtless in battle, as rest, in a market place etc. In the era's where this is shown its treated unremarkably, and the  only scenes where Quynh/Noriko is has her chest covered  are those where she is present in the “civilized eras”(presumably after the establishment of Rome as the major world power and the widespread cultural assumption that people who were not fully clothed were some sort of slave) I’m choosing to believe that this is a cultural choice not a gross dudes want to draw women topless one so, eras/cultures in Japan or Vietnam where it was culturally normal for women to be topless would possibly be a hint as to Quynh/Noriko’s origins

Lykon shows up too in the Andy’s Axe=Theseus’ Ship story! And in a turn that  makes me super worried about Force Multiplied ala Netflix and the possible plot of Fade Away, The way Leandro Draws Lykon in stature and profile matches the stature/profile of Quynh/Noriko’s suspiciously invulnerable Goon In The Striped Suit  😬 😬 😬

Andy’s most recent Labrys was made by a  butch looking female smith who has a labrys tattoo on her right forearm in addition to a whole lot of other pagan symbolism, so the whole Labrys as a Lesbian Symbol thing is definitely present in universe and Possibly Andy had a pagan/lesbian religious cult??? Headcanons have been based on far less

At some point in what looks like the 20s-40s Joe had a sick ass undercut. Fashion Joe is definitely a thing IMO

As of Canon timing Andy last hade her Labrys repaired about a dozen years ago

As of 1932 Berlin(November), The Guard or at least Joe and Nicky could 100% see what was going down and were already comparing it to shitty parts of bygone history. The Beer Hall Putsch happened Nov 8-9 1932. Given the fact that a fuck ton of Nazis were arrested after that I am presuming that this is in the few days before that happens since Nazis are walking around Nightclubs in uniform

Nicky is the romantic in this vignette, Joe is very much already tired of the fascism and bigotry and the presence of what appears to be one table of SS officers (shown with the ~iconic red armbands tho I’m personally not sure if that was already a thing or what it denoted other than Nazi) is enough to completely ruin the night out for Joe. Nicky’s take seems to be we’ve seen it before we’ll see it again, can we please enjoy date night this is a lovely club

Apparently Joe has a THING for blowing their cover to save people leading to (apparently only) the two of them to have to flee somewhere long enough to be forgotten. Examples given are

a young man (possibly gay?) who had a art studio in Genoa. Joe walked thru a burning pyre to save him Nicky had to avoid his hometown for a century

A soldier saved from the firing squad after a card game in Not! Montreal

A ‘lesbian or possibly trans coffeehouse owner in London who was left to die in the stocks (Joe appears to visibly be in drag in this panel)

2 separate incidents in “Zanzibar”, one while it was still a sultanate,  not expanded upon and one involving a night club in Cannes Italy approx. 1887, a young male prostitute and a drunken sailor, the sailor ended up dead (”And what did we do with the drunken sailor?” ”I believe you cut his throat”)

DESPITE ALL THIS (2 full pages of times Joe’s inability to leave injustice alone) when a Nazi makes a disparaging remark at both of of them (Nicky- debasing yourself by being gay & p.much calling joe a dog for being nonwhite) Nicky is the one who draws attention and immediately attempts to finish what the Nazi chud started

The owner of the club sympathizes with them laments that they arrived in berlin late to the party so to speak, clocks them as foreign and she asks where they call home to which Joe says that have not called anywhere home for a long time (pre-Malta?)

Joe says he wants to leave to go commit a crime, Nicky gives an interested look. The crime ends up being dancing which Nicky seems slightly let down by and Joe calls the loveliest crime he has ever committed

Their moment is interrupted by the sound of a screaming woman and Nicky is exasperated when Joe does exactly the thing that Nicky accused him of early by going to intervene

Joe gets to attack a Nazi with his bare hands, the adorable hug *GROWL* apparently has a combat variant (This is possibly my favorite detail in this story)

Joe is v. pissed still that they cant have one night out with out someone/thing being scummy.

Joe and Nicky Both get killed in the attempt to help the woman that the nazi (same one from the club) was attacking

The Nazi ends up getting killed by the club owner who is either a transwoman or a crossdresser (terminology???? 😬) She refers to Joe and Nicky as Angels (technically for a second time) She makes a Dorian Gray reference, She is the young prostitute from Zanzibar approx. 50 years down the road

My takeaways?

Andy is way more sentimental than I think fandom is giving her credit for. Its pretty much out right stated that she kept as much of her mothers axe as possible for as long as possible. The leather of the original was still preesent if largely rotted off when Andy met Quynh, which we know came at least 3k years down the line.  Andy cared for that weapon and still does, its arguable that it might be the last thing she has of her people?

I really want to know what Rucka’s origin for Quynh/Noriko is. This is not an excessive nudity comic. When its shown its generally informative, and if that isnt gonna happen then its only alluded to. Quynh/Noriko is hands down the most purposefully mysterious character in this comic so far and I want to know WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY. 

I want Andy to have been Saphho so bad at this point ya’ll or like Artemis, SOMETHING. GIVE ANDROMACHE THE SCYTHIAN THE PAGAN LESBIAN CULT SHE DESERVES 

Andy’s matriarchal roots combined with Nile’s axe training and Nile taking over the team at the end of Force Multiplied really does have me thinking that either This is the story of the Last Days of Andromache the Scythian or This is the story of how a black girl from the south side of Chicago became the heir to a 6500 year old warriors legacy and the leader of and Immortal strike team in a nice little bow. I like both personally even if the first will almost certainly break my heart. I know it can be both and the odds are high that its both. But given how tired Andy is shown to be in the comics and the movie, and how her fear of being alone drives her in Force Multiplied and the way that so many of these stories end up being about family and the way we see her her here training Nile not just in the blade but in her history too; I think the ending that would make me most happy is Quynh and Andy retiring to some wildly remote place and just living in peace until the heat death of the universe. speaking of...

I think Lykon is alive 😬 and I’m low key terrified that he’s gonna be the End Boss. Low Key terrified mostly for the implications of Michael Ward one of 2 black men in the cast being set up as the Final Villain in some way. Its purely casting based and the comic sets it up far better than the movie though 2O2G could easily fix that.  Abandonment and Betrayal are kinda massive themes in this story and it would suit very well, but i want Lykon, the beam of sunshine!!! Michael Ward is such a pretty man and I don’t want to see him be a bad guy 

Nicky Fights for Joe and Joe Fights for Everyone Else. Nicky goes along to keep Joe Happy/Safe. I’ve been pretty firm in my Nicky is the coldest of cold bitches headcanon, but I am planting my feet firm in this ground now.  Whether its the casual cruelty of being born Nobility in the 1000′s or the  casual cruelty of being born dirt poor in the 1000′s or the  casual cruelty of growing up in the early Catholic Church where some people were just damned and there was nothing to be done for it, I think Nicky has a grimmer view on life out of the 2 of them. It has happened Before and it will happen Again. Maybe its some sort of belief in predestination (like destiny...) but I think that Nicky is content to tow along doing what he thinks is the right thing for as long as he has because its all he can do. And I think that mindset makes him a colder person because he’s not going to be the one who bursts out of his lovers embrace and sprints away at the sound of a person in peril. There are people in peril everywhere and he knows that he can’t help all of them.

Its very likely that the guard run into people who knew them without ever recognizing it. Gender presentation aside, the young hustler outside the night club in italy and the aging owner of the nightclub in Germany, bear 0 major resemblance to each other. Of course most people will write that sort of thing off, but there are plenty that wont. I doubt Kozak will come back up in the 2O2G because her counter part is swiftly killed in the comics, but I do think that the Guard is gonna get found out. People live longer and there’s a solid 169 years between the advent of photography as a common tool and the introduction of Copely to the team. I doubt he found every photograph of the team in existence or every copy for that matter. And the “danger” of being recognized by someone whose face you forgot decades ago is still real. Nicky and Joe don’t recognize the owner of the club until she tells them when they met, and is just so happened that they were reminiscing that night so her memory was a little fresh. Its no stretch of the imagination to think that someone with less neutral motives could wreak havoc with that sort of happenstance.  

[dillydedalus]

what i read in may

how is it may lmao... anyway i went thru a bit of reading slump this month and i’d like to pretend it’s bc i had a lot of uni stuff to do (i did) but tbh it’s bc game of thrones infected me with Vintage* ASOIAF Feels & i didn’t really care about reading anything else

celestial bodies, jokha alharthi (tr. from arabic) quiet and evocative novel about a network of families in a village in oman, told over three (?) generations, but centred on three sisters, mayya, asma and khawla (but not as focused on them as i would have liked). interesting to get some insight into omani society, class relations (& especially slavery and the now-free slaves), gender, tradition and westernisation, but it’s also really lovely and sad. ultimately a bit scattered and vague tho. 3/5

the taming of the shrew, billy shakes (uni) academia and assorted shakespeareans like bending over backwards to explain why this is not misogynist but actually subversive/farcical/ironic/meta or whatever and that’s a fine & worthy endeavour i’m sure but the only valid reading of the taming is that kate is actively plotting to murder petruccio in every single scene so... that’s that on that. misandry stars/5 

vinegar girl, anne tyler (uni) y’all i don’t have high expectations for hogarth shakespeare entries (tho shylock really won me over last month) but fuck this was bad. staggeringly BAD, both as a book and as an adaptation of shrew. it starts out with a completely declawed & detoothed kate, who on the scale of ‘timid wifey’ to ‘shrewish firebrand’ is uh ‘apathetic & slightly sour’.... which is a choice i guess. in the beginning i hoped we were seeing a kate who was repressing her rage (and there is one genuinely great line where the bianca annoys kate while she’s gardening and ‘kate stuffed a snarl of vine into the trash bag’ like okay anne that’s cool) and that the taming would be reverse, i.e. would free kate to feel & act on her rage. but instead... honestly i can’t even tell you what the arc was instead? there’s no real taming, kate (who is very stuck in her life and job) just chooses this green card marriage to become a little bit less stuck and i guess pyotr (petruccio) likes her the way she is, that is sour and Not Like Her Dumb Blonde Sister. and then in the end we get a speech about how men have it really hard bc they never learn how to deal with feelings (when kate throughout the book has herself struggled w/ social skills). can’t wait to rip this apart in class. 1/5 (ALSO how did hogarth have atwood on their roster and not give her the shrew wtf)

doctor wooreddy’s prescription for enduring the ending of the world, mudrooroo (uni) for my postcolonial australia course; it’s about the colonisation of australia and genocide against indigenous australians from the pov of tasmanians and an englishman who’s never seen a white man’s burden he didn’t immediately pick up (all based on real historical people). lots of interesting stuff in there (i’d love to read something about gender roles/gendered spaces in indigenous australian culture) but tbh it’s a bit of a slog (at 200 pages...) 2/5 embassytown, china miéville cool scifi novel about weird alien languages (the ariekei, who speak with two mouths at once and cannot lie - apparently their language doesn’t signify so...uh. linguistically not particularly sound at all but a) it’s a cool concept, b) they’re aliens so like whatever) and what happens when humans, not possessing two mouths and very much capable of lying, communicate with them. there is a lot of really original & fascinating concepts here but some problems w/ the execution (pacing/characters mainly) - not as much as with city&city tho. 3.5/5

the little prince, antoine de saint-exupéry (tr. from french) i wanted something short & bittersweet & this is it. anyway i have these vague & but very vivid memories of seeing like. a slide show of this w/ narration at the berlin planetarium when i was a kid & that is the best way to consume this story. 4/5

the year of the death of ricardo reis, josé saramago (tr. from portuguese) took me nearly 2 months to finish this & it’s under 500 pages which should already say a lot. i enjoyed this while reading mostly, and saramago’s style is beautiful, but it is a bit of a drag & reis honestly is not particularly sympathetic or interesting. the undercurrent of the rise of fascism is the best thing about the novel & makes the end really work but there’s too much tangential meandering about how old dude ricky reis is obsessed with a mucher younger girl and like... yawn. i will try again w/ saramago tho. 2/5

follow the rabbit-proof fence, nugi garimara (uni) story about three young girls with indigenous australian mothers and white fathers escaping from the residential school they were abducted to as part of the stolen generations, based on the author’s mother’s own life. it’s an impressive story of resilience and survival, but perfunctorily written. we’re also going to watch the film & that should be interesting. 2/5

everything under, daisy johnson i find it quite hard to talk about this bc there’s something quite vague and uncertain about it, something elusive. some things i will say: vivid, lyrical prose; the setting (oxford canal boat community) is great, the monster is genuinely creepy, and i really like the three (or 4?) narrative strands and how they interweave. i kind of wish i hadn’t known which greek myth it was a loose adaptation of (so i won’t say here) bc i definitely spent too much time trying to map the myth onto the book - and the ‘reveal’ might have been better w/o that knowledge anyway. 3.5/5

the sparrow, maria doria russell wonderful wonderful warm & human & tragic scifi novel about JESUITS IN SPACE!!! told in two timelines: in the first, set mainly in 2019 (which is great) music from another planet is transmitted to earth and emilio sandoz, jesuit linguist + multilingual (@hbo or netflix: cast oscar isaac please & thank), and his closest friends are chosen (by god?? MAYBE) to go on a secret space mission to make first contact bc jesuits.... have a lot of.... experience... with that. everyone is hopeful, curious, excited, and our guy emilio is literally radiant with god’s love or whatever. in the second timeline, 2060, emilio has been sent home by a second expedition, who have since gone radio silent, the only survivor, disturbingly (!) mutilated, broken in mind and body and unwilling to talk. all we know: the 2nd expedition found him in a brothel & he immediately killed the alien child who led them to him. so... what went wrong? (how could... first contact.... possibly go wrong...?) what did emilio do? was whatever happened god’s will? sorry i’m not super coherent about this but IT’S GREAT MY DUDES. also between this & canticle my scifi subgenre really just is ‘scifi but make it religious’. 4.5/5 

on the whole, not a great reading month, but the sparrow... *chef kiss* & i’m currently reading the artifical silk girl (relatable hot mess in weimar berlin) which is.... AMAZING... alfred döblin who???

[wellntruly]

Babylon Berlin: Second Pass, Episode 1

There are other things I intended to be doing in January. Watching All the Movies, finally watching Slings & Arrows, the 1979 Tinker Tailor miniseries, maybe The Terror, maybe sleeping. But I am not doing those things!

Because this - this - is the first image we see in Babylon Berlin—

and what am I supposed to do, leave this be?? Sir I’m unable!

So I’m reading Pat Barker’s Regeneration trilogy, and that journal article on clinical presentations of ‘shell shock’, and revisiting a collection of Joseph Roth’s Weimar Republic feuilletons and the City of Stones historical graphic novel, listening to so much Bryan Ferry and just…swinging back to the beginning and watching through Babylon Berlin again. It’s fine! It’s 1929!

(Actually it’s 2019 and I’m pretty sure in a lot of ways, this is probably why.)

I’m gonna try refreshing an older style with these second pass write-ups. We’re going way back---you might have been around for my Hannibal rewatch? In the early days of that, I was writing these things that weren’t monumental present-tense recaps and also weren’t live-blog notes, but instead these sorta patchwork pieces made up of bits of more fully written meta combined with rewatch #observs/laffs. I think I’m going to be doing something like that again. Hey we’ll see what happens!

Alright final bit of business before we drop in here: if you haven’t watched Babylon Berlin, and think you want to, and DO mind spoilers, these are not the things for you to read! You want my first pass notes, which I wrote one by one as I went along, so they do not reveal anything that’s going to happen later because I didn’t know. All my real-time, occasionally quite grieving reactions, preserved in amber... Meanwhile! these second write-ups come from a place of full knowledge of every episode that has aired so far (Season 1 on my American Netflix, Seasons 1 and 2 in the original German release), and these posts WILL contain advance discussion of MAJOR plot points & reveals to come in the various mysteries and murderies and misadventures of our Weimar darlings.

If you have already seen the show—Willkommen.

Rewatch of Episode 1

Oh--my god--the structure of this pilot, what! I have questions, and adulations, let’s get to them in quick order.

Question One: Bold 2 suggest but did they recut Episode 1 after the second season was made, for international audiences maybe? just because they could? Because there are shots from aaaalll the way through Episode 16 right at the top of the series in the WWI-meets-Weimar hallucinatory hypnosis intro (which, just…[vocal meltwater])

I had finally Wikipedia’d this show after I couldn’t be spoiled, and apparently the agreement between the German channels was that Babylon Berlin would air on the basic network only after it had been on the paid premium channel for a year (and then Netflix would be able to stream it all a few months later), so maybe it was all part of the plan, like a two-year plan? But still, wild! If what I’m watching here was always the first episode even back in 2017, then they shot both seasons back-to-back and it was not direct-to-series.

But if that’s the case, well I believe it, is what, because watching the pilot again it become so clear that from day one they had a whole vision of their universe and how all their heavenly bodies were going to move across it. This show does a stunning job dropping you into a world already rocking and rattling along like a trolley car, and you only feel that Act 1 feel in two moments. But they’re obviousness done with a sort of loving elegance, and I don’t judge them a jot. One I’d mentioned in my first-watch notes, a character intro where Bruno asks König to tell him about this Inspector Rath, as we cut to said Rath at his desk with his brow furrowed over his work, sorting sorting sorting, and König tells Bruno not to underestimate this tenacious little Catholic trench ghost on the h(a)unt. (Lol yeah Bruno you don’t know who you’re dealing with! Do you think weeks later he remembers this moment and the disbelief in his voice when he replied “Gereon Rath??” and Regrets It, because I do, and laugh.)

The other noticeably Act 1 bit is a setting intro moment that also has a classical pilot feel to it: Gereon walking under the street lamps to the Tykwer track I still think sounds like something Tiersen did for Good Bye Lenin, that nostalgic lonely beauty he does so well, and Gereon from Cologne pauses to gaze at a poster on a pole while a soft smile steals over his face, and he’s in Berlin, Germany, and it’s nighttime in 1929. See, it’s nice, it’s traditional and it’s nice.

But these are the only two moments in the pilot---the pilot!---where I can feel the show gently pointing my shoulders to look at the right spot. Oh wait, no there’s one more, a key one (the key of m y heart), but it comes near the end of a whole episode structured so well that this moment is as much the conclusion of an arc of Episode 1 as it is the beginning of all the ones to come: Gereon Rath starts his day on the job at 5:53am, up with the birds and the pornographers, as Charlotte Ritter just gets home from her previous day, wipes the worst of the makeup smudges off her eyes, and sets off for a new one, their commutes tracking along in perpendicular lines convening at a point, where their long work days then unfold in tandem—both stories entirely separate and with so much of their own shit going on that you’ve hardly even clocked their mirrored paths, until their clocks click to 8:00pm, and Charlotte rides a paternoster lift up as Gereon rides one down, and the two stars of our system finally swing into orbit together. Actually they collide and scatter their forensic photographs in a perfect meet cute and I effing love it.

Meanwhile, far more subtle on a first watch and completely annihilating me on my second, is the character work with Jänicke and Gräf. They’re WORK FRIENDS, did you know?! I didn’t, I’d missed it, but here there are warmly greeting each other in the Red Castle foyer and holding a quick conference on the sly to get Charlotte a cataloguing job! My babies. When he collects her from the other temps Gräf calls her Fräulein Ritter in a way that appears professional but feels familiar, and I still have to get to the Holländer episode on my rewatch to confirm this but I *hope* I’m not projecting this and he does know her already from “the places she is known” i.e. when they’re out QUEER CLUBBIN’ TOGETHER.

Anyway hardly any of this is something you’d catch initially as you’re just meeting all these characters for the first time, and let’s be real this is a lot of white people to keep straight (or not, as the case may be with some) (btw I have not been able to determine if there is a consensus on Gräf’s pronouns and am defaulting male (I kno) as I’d guess that’s how he himself would identify at the time. will be very happy to change if future seasons give me info!) (give me more Gräf, future seasons). ..okay where the heck was I, I got lost in parentheticals. Oh yes, none of this is even really designed to be immediately seen for all that it is, it’s texture-building in the warp & weft of this world, there to make later disclosures feel like you’re finally stepping back to see the picture in the tapestry they’ve been weaving all along, and not that the rug’s just being yanked out from under you. Other case in this point: my darling Stefan, who also starts his day early in the house out in the Valley chic ’20s attic space where they shoot porn, and where Saint Gereon in the Garden of Fuck-Eden anoints Stefan in charge of packing up the media, just, instinctively, as if when Gereon’s soul taps Stefan’s it just has the right quiet sound (because you’re alike, more than how you feel about Charlotte you’re both Benda’s, and that’s not gonna develop in plot for aaages, but damn it’s already here). And then!, deputized, Stefan starts directing people in turn---with simply precise, legible hand gestures and direct eye contact. We’re also not gonna learn he’s the child of deaf parents for ages! This show is wonderfully realized, wonderfully.

Aaalright I think that’s enough essaying for now, rewatch jot-notes the rest of the way down:

memory-for-trifles once observed that these little circle-in-black transitions are reminiscent of Babe, a wonderful reference & film

the burning tree falling across the tracks...the horses pulling the smuggled train car in from the shadows….this show started with just sequential bangs!

I could tell from the beginning that the hypnosis treatment was going to be further along in time than the rest of what I would see in the pilot. I’m not sure how. TV language I guess.

haaaahahahaha, wait it was GEREON who just lightly pushed the flat over to announce that the vice squad was there! OF COURSE IT WAS. after looking at Wolter and realizing he was just watching, Gereon just like “—alright.”

Bruno’s relationship to Gereon is bounding right out the gate. Bruno clocking someone for disrespecting him, and then mocking Gereon for not having done the same.. BRUNO WOLTER. I hate you, I hate that I love you. I love watching you be the incredible joshing jerk and villain you are.

I mean it’s all just unbelievably aesthetic, even the most unseemly things!

Bruno calls Krajewski’s gun a toy—that gun is going to be the most important weapon in this show. I’m THRILLING

Lotte & Toni’s intro is so good. Lotte embodies Weimar Berlin sooo well, a flapper girl who’s also so poor and downtrodden by society, as much as she flits about in it in her borrowed butterfly wings. she gets by on nectar and grit.

a close-up on the Moka Efti label on even the sugar cubes….Edgar’s branding is UNparalleled

Bruno is STILL talking about the “chickens” in the war with their trembling, while Gereon looks out the window wondering how far it can possibly be to police headquarters

Gereon tells Bruno he only joined the war on the Siegfried Line, which is look-up-able: defensive position established in Northern France in the winter of 1916-1917. this will probably be good for my timelines.

Charlotte said pardon in a doorway to the Rosencrantz & Guildenstern who will later be on her team! THESE SCRIPTS. seriously did you write all 16 together??

“Who’s the dressy guy?” he’s dressed EXACTLY LIKE EVERY OTHER INSPECTOR. it’s seriously just his face, his face is just like that. all planes and angles.

I have my doubts about how “ambitious” Gereon is, König, as a truly ambitious detective wouldn’t alienate himself from and actively oppose people in power as much as Inspector Rath. “dogged” though, yeah.

in season 3 I want more of Religious Gereon, boy do I. gotta say, this thread was dropped a little! we’ll get the mass & confession, but not much else save his ~air~

“Why is he with vice squad? Why not something decent-- murder, corruption, secret police?”

I parsed “Where is the film” in my ear because it’s close enough to the veerry little French I know, enjoyable

Dr. Schmidt has an ENTIRE big white institute for his practice. Dr. Schmidt is doing SO well for himself with the patronage of the local crime boss. gotta get that dark money!

HOOOhhh, Schmidt says he told König to destroy the film! is it THE film, the one with [whispers] Herr Rath? THAT WOULD MAKE SENSE. fine with the rest of the kompromat flicks, but then one came along that hit too close, to home.

this show is super fun on rewatch, because now it’s all so very intelligible but still just as zippy. like how FUN is it that there are TWO separate groups who DON’T KNOW ABOUT EACH OTHER each trying to speed along this Soviet train carrying illicit cargo into Germany! this whole TRAIN is illicit!

I am realizing the reason I spelled his name “Alexey” for almost the whole first watch is because that’s how it’s spelled in subtitles. I believe I did this with “Stefan” too, and so now my question is: who is correct, the translator or IMDb? can I just pick which spellings I personally prefer? because that’s Alexei and Stefan no question.

GOD AND NOW IT’S THEREMIN TIME AT MOKA EFTI, fuck this pilot has everything

[chuckling] Edgar you absolute madman

[laughing] Edgar why do you know so much about the blood supply of human organs! you Armenian Dr. Lecter…

I love Crime Dad. he’s just constantly orchestrating extravagant little dramas to teach Lessons and make this face. “And that is why: you always leave a note”

“our entire operation” — our! so making porn films with important figures of the Berlin political scene for blackmail purpose and essentially being able to own the town IS a joint exercise between Edgar and Dr. Schmidt. however, Schmidt was definitely trying to get the Cologne-related one destroyed. hey interesting question: do we think he and Edgar know Gereon is there yet? or are they just figuring that out now? lol imagine that realizing. “wait, goddamnit he’s already here??”

“Hey, busy bee. A beer after work?” Bruno please

okay, just had to switch to English DUBS for a second to make sure it was a typo when Helga’s letter read “when you two and your brother went to war”, and it was and thank god because I CANNOT deal with a secret third Rath brother alright!!! god don’t scare me like that

anyway sounds like the Raths left at the same time, meaning I think I’m feeling pretty safe that the child Moritz is definitely Anno’s. my pet theory is that Anno was a doctor before the war as well, and that Helga met him in hospital since she was a nurse. meanwhile Gereon falls in love with her too, but she marries Anno, gets pregnant, both the Raths go off to war, Moritz is born, and before Anno can make it back, he goes missing, little thanks to his little brother. then after an undetermined period of time continuing to love her and being even worse tormented about it, Gereon and Helga begin having a secret quasi- but also-really-actually-affair. I think it all tracks??? save how Gereon and Helga don’t at all behave/communicate with each other like a couple that’s been together for almost ten years, but whatever.

wonder if Gereon went through the same thought process I just did reading this letter because now he too is like, I need a drink

gaawd I forgot how much I love that he does magic tricks for kids in bars

I wonder if there was anyone, anyone at all, who expected Gereon Rath to dance like he does. this was the point in my first watch where I was just like, you are a surprise, you are a treat.

one of the Russian revolutionaries just threw a knife into a big framed picture of Stalin, in case you were unclear on the collective feeling

god and that’s it that’s the pilot. Wunderbar.

Babylon Berlin Blogging Masterpost

[project-casting]

Netflix's "Holidate" is Now Casting Families in Atlanta, Georgia

Netflix’s “Holidate” is Now Casting Families in Atlanta, Georgia

Netflix’s new movie “Holidate” is now casting families in Atlanta, Georgia.

Casting directors are now casting actors, models, and talent to work on May 20th in Atlanta, Georgia.

Producers are seeking the following types:

two real families one African American – must have a mom, dad, and 1-2 kids 8-14 years old — and a Caucasian family mom, dad and 1-2 kids 8-14 years old

About Netflix’s…

[crazy4tank]

Some of Your Favorite Teen Comedies Are Leaving Netflix Soon

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Some of Your Favorite Teen Comedies Are Leaving Netflix Soon

Ready to discover what’s leaving Netflix within February? The streaming services has already shared what’s brand new on Netflix for Feb 2021 — including the last To All the Boys movie, Always and Permanently, and brand new dramedy series Ginny & Georgia — but we will have to say goodbye to some of our own favorites along the way.

The biggest blow? Emma Stone-led teen comedy Easy A will depart Netflix upon February 28. The story, the modern-day meta retelling associated with The Scarlet Letter , is ironically excellent Valentine’s watching , so enter your last views around the most, er, romantic day time of the year.

Elsewhere, another beloved teenager comedy, Sleepover , is heading out. The particular 2004 movie follows prospects Alexa PenaVega and Sara Paxton as they fight towards the death for a prime senior high school lunch spot — plus effortless popularity. (It furthermore features a slew of acquainted faces, including then-upstart stars Brie Larson and Evan Peters. )

Finally, get ready to freely weep during your final rewatch of A Walk to keep in mind , the well-known coming-of-age romance that celebrities Mandy Moore and Shane West. It’s a tough 30 days for love!

Below, check out the full listing of what’s leaving Netflix within February.

Causing February 4

Erased

Leaving February five

Fliederblau & Eve Woody Woodpecker

Departing February 7

Don’t Knock Two times Swiped

Leaving February 10

The Beast

Leaving behind February 11

The Other Guys

Leaving Feb 14

Alone in Berlin Hostiles

Causing February 16

Brave Miss Planet: Collection 1

Leaving February nineteen

Bates: Motel : Seasons 1-5

Leaving Feb 20

A Haunted House

Leaving Feb 21

Trespass Against Us

Leaving Feb 24

Dolphin Tale 2

Leaving Feb 26

The Frozen Ground

Leaving Feb 28

A Walk to Remember Simple Instinct Easy A The particular Gift GoodFellas Gran Torino Haywire LA 92 Small Nicky My Little Horse Equestria Girls: Friendship Video games Retribution Saving Mr. Banking institutions Sleepover

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Want more from Teen Vogue ? Check this out:

[olivierdemangeon]

    Synopsis : En orbite autour d’une planète au bord de la guerre en raison d’une crise énergétique majeure, des scientifiques testent un appareil censé résoudre cette pénurie, mais l’expérience tourne mal et ils se retrouvent face à face avec une réalité alternative qui s’avère bien sombre pour l’humanité, à commencer par eux.

Origine du film : États-Unis Réalisateur : Julius Onah Scénariste : Oren Uziel Acteurs : Daniel Brühl, Elizabeth Debicki, Aksel Hennie, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Chris O’Dowd, John Ortiz, David Oyelowo, Zhang Ziyi Musique : Bear McCreary Genre : Horreur, Mystère, Science-fiction Durée : 1 heure et 42 minutes Date de sortie : 5 février 2018 (France) Année de production : 2018 Sociétés de production : Paramount Pictures, Bad Robot Productions Distribué par : Netflix Titre original : The Cloverfield Paradox Notre note : ★★★☆☆

Notre commentaire : “The Cloverfield Paradox” est un film de science-fiction datant de 2018, réalisé par Julius Onah, à qui l’on doit également “The Girl is in Trouble” (2015). Les acteurs principaux sont Gugu Mbatha-Raw, qu’on a pu voir dans “The Whole Truth“, Daniel Brühl, qu’on a pu voir dans “Seul dans Berlin” (2016), Elizabeth Debicki, qu’on a pu voir dans “Les Gardiens de la Galaxie 2” (2017), Aksel Hennie, qu’on a pu voir dans “HeadHunters” (2011), Chris O’Dowd, qu’on a pu voir dans “Thor : Le Monde des Ténèbres” (2013), John Ortiz, qu’on a pu voir dans “Kong: Skull Island” (2017), David Oyelowo, qu’on a pu voir dans “Captive” (2015), et Zhang Ziyi, qu’on a pu voir dans “The GrandMaster” (2013).

L’histoire proposée par “The Cloverfield Paradox” se déroule dans un futur au bord du chaos. La planète Terre est au bord d’une nouvelle guerre mondiale en raison de la pénurie énergétique. Ce métrage trouve donc sa place en se superposant aux deux précédents opus, “Cloverfield” (2008) et “10 Cloverfield Lane” (2016). Pour être précis, les événements, se déroulant dans ce nouveau film, se passent juste avant et pendant ceux présentés dans le premier film, paru en 2008.

Ava Hamilton (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) est l’officier de communication à bord de la station Cloverfield, elle a dû quitter son mari, Michael (Roger Davies), médecin, resté sur Terre. Une équipe multinationale et multiethnique se trouve en effet dans une station spatiale pour effectuer des tests sur un accélérateur à particules visant à résoudre les problèmes énergétiques mondiaux.

Malheureusement, l’expérience est un échec et des problèmes commencent à apparaître dans la station orbitale. L’équipage prend alors conscience qu’ils ont été projetés dans une dimension parallèle, une forme de ligne de temps alternatif. Les relations entre les personnes se dégradent, et leurs propres histoires personnelles sont altérées. Dans l’autre sens, l’expérience a fait apparaître le monstre géant qu’on avait découvert dans le premier “Cloverfield” (2008) et alors que Michael, se demande ce qui est arrivé à son épouse et à la station spatiale, il se retrouve impliqué dans une sous-intrigue dont la situation nous plonge dans ce qui pourrait être les prémisses du second film, “10 Cloverfield Lane” (2016).

Dans le reste du casting, essentiellement articulé autour des personnages évoluant en orbite dans la station spatiale, on retrouve des acteurs tels que David Oyelowo, Daniel Brühl, John Ortiz, Chris O’Dowd, Aksel Hennie et Zhang Ziyi, actrice chinoise, qui ne s’exprime ici que dans sa langue maternelle (avec des sous-titres). L’écriture du scénario, orchestré par Oren Uziel, offre des personnages désespérément lisses, faisant en sorte qu’aucun d’entre eux ne fasse forte impression, et cela, même dans les moments de tensions et/ou de conflits. Seul le personnage de Volkov (Aksel Hennie), un ingénieur russe à tendance paranoïaque, un peu comme le personnage de Michael Biehn dans “Abyss” (1989) de James Cameron, sort de l’ordinaire, mais sans originalité profonde. Le script offre à Chris O’Dowd, incarnant Mundy, un ingénieur irlandais, la majorité des répliques teintées d’humour, notamment la scène où le personnage perd son bras.

Du côté positif, on relèvera certaines innovations, notamment dans de petits détails, comme le pistolet de mastic liquide qui se focalise par l’introduction d’une sonde afin d’étanchéifier des zones précises. La photographie est très soignée, dans un style post- “Alien” (1979) où finalement le spectateur est peut-être plus impressionné par l’univers proposé à l’écran plutôt que par les personnages. La bande originale signée par Bear McCreary est également très plaisante, qui n’est pas sans rappeler celle de “Alien 3” (1992) proposée par Elliot Goldenthal. Doté d’un budget de 45 millions de dollars, “The Cloverfield Paradox” a été tourné aux Paramount Studios à Los Angeles en Californie.

Après avoir exprimé cela, on peut dire que “The Cloverfield Paradox” est un film moyen, et qu’il ne permet pas vraiment à cette franchise de décoller. Cette série de films n’est de loin pas ce que l’on pourrait appeler une anthologie, on reste sur des productions à faible budget, garantissant juste la bonne dose d’action pour se positionner juste au-dessus de la moyenne, avec la petite pointe d’originalité qui permet de se démarquer du lot. Reste à savoir ce que J. J. Abrams, le producteur, va concocter pour la suite, si suite il y a…

En conclusion, “The Cloverfield Paradox” est un film moyen, une réminiscence d’un film de science-fiction qui aurait dû s’arrêter après la sortie du premier opus. Malheureusement, les cinéastes cherchent à développer artificiellement une franchise sans y apporter suffisamment de souffle, d’énergie et d’action. C’est plat, c’est basique et ça a des airs de déjà vu. La photographie est sympathique, tout comme la bande originale. La distribution est plaisante, mais les personnages sont creux, sans relief. La seule chose vraiment intéressante entourant ce métrage, c’est le coup de pub lors de la finale du Super Bowl en février dernier. Pour le reste, c’est dispensable, sans pour autant être profondément mauvais.

  Bande-annonce :

THE CLOVERFIELD PARADOX (2018) ★★★☆☆ Synopsis : En orbite autour d'une planète au bord de la guerre en raison d'une crise énergétique majeure, des scientifiques testent un appareil censé résoudre cette pénurie, mais l'expérience tourne mal et ils se retrouvent face à face avec une réalité alternative qui s'avère bien sombre pour l'humanité, à commencer par eux.

[savetopnow]

2018-03-14 22 MOVIE now

MOVIE

Birth. Movies. Death.

SXSW 2018 Review: TAKE YOUR PILLS Shines A Light On An Alarming Problem

Is Denis Villeneuve Still Making a DUNE Movie? Nope! Now He’s Making TWO Of Them

FIRST MATCH Trailer Takes A Girl’s Troubles To The Mat

Wes Anderson And Bill Murray: A Cinematic Rapport

Book Review: S. Craig Zahler’s HUG CHICKENPENNY Is A Touching Gothic Parable

CineVue

Film Review: The Square

Banking on a box office hit

DVD Review: The Barefoot Contessa

Film Review: A Prominent Patient

Film Review: Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story

Cinema Blend

Thoroughbreds Review

A Massive Number Of Fortnite Accounts Have Been Hacked

Assassin's Creed Origins' Newest DLC Has Killer Gods And Giant Scorpions

Dota 2 Has Added A Subscription Service

This Is Us' Finale Was So Emotional, Twitter Almost Couldn't Handle It

Cinema Scope

Madame Hyde (Serge Bozon, France/Belgium)

The Green Fog (Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson, US/Canada)

Cocote (Nelson Carlo de Los Santos Arias, Dominican Republic/Argentina/Germany)

The Uses of Disenchantment: Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water

3/4 (Ilian Metev, Bulgaria/Germany)

Comicboook.com

Celebrate Pi Day With 31.4% off All of This Amazing Stuff

'Avengers: Infinity War': 7 Possible Characters That Would Surprise Us

Nicolas Cage Cast As Superman In Teen Titans Go Movie

Rob Zombie Officially Begins Filming 'Devil's Rejects' Sequel

Star Wars: Watch Mark Hamill's Emotional Reunion With Yoda on 'The Last Jedi'

Film Comment Magazine

The Film Comment Podcast: Tell Me

Festivals: Berlin 2018

Festivals: Venice 2017

TCM Diary: Secret Ceremony (1968) + The Legend of Lylah Clare (1968)

Deep Focus: A Wrinkle in Time

Film Inquiry

Fantasy Science Pt. 1: Wormholes In DEJA VU, STARGATE & Real Life

MARY MAGDALENE: A Surprisingly Secular Biblical Tale

Shawn’s SXSW Diary – Monday: Something New, Something Borrowed

A WRINKLE IN TIME: Packed With Magic, But Lacking In Subtlety

EVERY DAY: A YA Tale That Gets Lost In Its Own Ambition

Film School Rejects

Our Pick of the Week Calls 2017’s Best Film By Its True Name

Nicolas Cage is Superman (For Real This Time … Sorta)

Return to Hogwarts With the First ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald’ Trailer

The ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ Reboot Is An Inevitability

The Cutting-Edge Technology Behind ‘Thor: Ragnarok’

Reddit Movies

AMC Hosting 31-hour MCU Marathon Ahead of Avengers: Infinity War

The scene in Fellowship of the Ring, where Boromir speaks to Aragorn in Lothlorien...

A24 is Promoting 'Hereditary' by Leaving Creepy Dolls on People's Doorsteps

Dolph Lundgren Training for Creed 2 at 60 Years Old

First Poster for Netflix's Drug-Drama '6 Balloons' - Starring Dave Franco & Abbi Jacobson

Roger Ebert

6 Balloons

SXSW Film Festival 2018: “Thunder Road,” “Brothers’ Nest,” “Boundaries”

Bright Wall/Dark Room March 2018: "Soderbergh's Limey's" by George Hardy

A brief note on depression

Three Queens of Cinema to Grace Ebertfest 2018

Screen Rant

Scientist Stephen Hawking Passes Away at 76

Thanos Makes Hulk His ‘Dog’ in Marvel’s Comic Future

The Flash is in Danger of Falling to His Death in New Trailer

The Flash: Who Are The Remaining Bus Metas?

The Last Jedi Home Release Includes Music-Only Version

Slash Film

‘Bright’ Honest Trailer: How Does ‘Shrek’ Still Exist in This Universe?

Sequel Bits: ‘It: Chapter 2’, ‘The Devil’s Rejects’ Sequel, ‘Jurassic World’, ‘Die Hard 6’, ‘Halloween’ and More

The Morning Watch: Behind the Scenes of ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’, ‘Krypton’ and Netflix’s ‘Lost in Space’

Superhero Bits: ‘Captain Marvel’ Skrull Theories, Fan of Steel Trivia Challenge & More

Daily Podcast: Will EVERYONE Die in The Game of Thrones Finale? Wolverine, Jeff Goldblum, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Alex Garland, Star Wars, & Fantastic Beasts.

[sondakikadunyacomtr]

Navalny komadan çıktı!

Almanya’nın Berlin şehrinde bir klinikte müşahade altına alınan ve zehirlendiği açıklanan muhalif siyasetçi Alexei Navalny’nın komadan çıktığı açıklandı.

Alman medyasının son dakika gelişmesi olarak duyurduğu haberinde, Alman doktorların, Navalny’nin hastaneye kaldırıldıktan sonra ilk kez durumunda iyileşme yaşandığı açıklandı.

“BİLİNCİ AÇILDI, KONUŞMALARA REAKSİYON GÖSTERDİ”

Doktorlar,…

[culturamagz]

Shine Your Eyes Review: Sebuah Pencarian di Kota Sao Paulo

Shine Your Eyes Review: Sebuah Pencarian di Kota Sao Paulo

Shine Your Eyes merupakan karya filmmaker asal Brazil bernama Matias Mariani. Film ini pertama kali dirilis pada bulan Februari tahun 2020 di Berlin dan baru saja didistribusikan oleh Netflix pada bulan Juli lalu.

Persaudaraan adalah tema yang sangat lekat terasa dalam film ini. Shine Your Eyes bercerita tentang perjalanan seorang imigran asal Nigeria bernama Amadi (Okechukwu OC Ukeje) yang…

[celebjar]

Scarlett Johansson in Mini Dress at Netflix BAFTA After Party in London 02-04-2020

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Netflix BAFTA After Party Pictured: Scarlett Johansson Ref: SPL5144979 030220 NON-EXCLUSIVE Picture by: SplashNews.com Splash News and Pictures Los Angeles: 310-821-2666 New York: 212-619-2666 London: +44 (0)20 7644 7656 Berlin: +49 175 3764 166 photodesk@splashnews.com World Rights,

Netflix BAFTA After Party Pictured: Scarlett Johansson Ref: SPL5144979 030220 NON-EXCLUSIVE Picture by: SplashNews.com Splash News and Pictures Los Angeles: 310-821-2666 New York: 212-619-2666 London: +44 (0)20 7644 7656 Berlin: +49 175 3764 166 photodesk@splashnews.com World Rights,

Scarlett Johansson at Netflix BAFTA After Party in London Scarlett Johansson in Mini Dress at Netflix BAFTA After Party in London 02-04-2020

[katrinratto]

20 Most Influential Graphic Design Companies From Around the World

Graphic design is a notoriously competitive field and it can be tough for companies to stand out.

But, at least twenty graphic design firms from around the world have proven to be the best in their field, with gorgeous portfolios filled with impressive clients and prominent design campaigns.

These are the design firms that clients with virtually unlimited budgets turn to when they need a brand identity, packaging design, or help with other types of design.

These design firms drive graphic design trends around the world and are responsible for some of the best, and often, some of the most controversial designs from the past several decades.

Here are the 20 (in no particular order) most influential graphic design companies from around the world.

Sagmeister & Walsh

Wolff Olins

Landor

Pentagram

MetaDesign

House Industries

Happy Cog

Leo Burnett

Metalab

Frog Design

AKQA

Urban Influence

SuperUnion

Turner Duckworth

Winkcreative

Mucho

McFaul+Day

Chermyeff & Geismar & Haviv

Studio Dumbar

Dessein

Sagmeister & Walsh

Stefan Sagmeister is a world-famous graphic designer and provocateur with deep ties to independent musicians and the arts. He’s had clients like Lou Reed, David Byrne, the Guggenheim, and many more.

The studio he created with Jessica Walsh is renowned for its edgy, unpredictable style.

You don’t need to look further than the studio’s homepage for an example of this: it features a live webcam that shows what’s going on in New York-based studio right at that moment.

Headquarters: New York City

Notable Clients: Snapchat, 7Up, The Gap, BMW, The Museum of Modern Art, The Guggenheim Museum, NYTimes Magazine, Lou Reed, Jay-Z, Brian Eno, David Byrne, Random House Publishers, the AIGA, Autodesk, Levis, Adobe

  Wolff Olins

Look back at the last two or three decades of graphic design.

If there was a controversial rebrand, chances are Wolff Olins was involved.

The design studio has a reputation for bold design choices. Upon its release, their design for the London 2012 Olympic games was infamously compared to something accidentally dropped, a puerile mess, a health hazard, and even cartoon character Lisa Simpson playing her saxophone.

The studio has never shied away from unorthodox choices, and their drive for innovation has made them one of the most sought-after design firms in the world.

Headquarters: London, UK

Locations: London, New York City, and San Francisco

Notable Clients: Uber, Alibaba, Zigbee Alliance, GrubHub, The Metropolitan Art Museum, Spotify, Orange, The Hyatt, Virgin Media, (RED), AOL, Target, Unilever, GE, PwC, Microsoft, Google, Skype, Expedia, FutureLearn.

  Landor

Nike is one of Landor’s many prestigious clients.

This storied design studio is one of the undisputed giants of graphic design and branding in the world. Started by Walter Landor in 1941, the company has grown exponentially over the years and now has 23 offices in 20 countries.

High profile work for clients like Coca-Cola, the WWF, FedEx, Levis, Apple, and BP have firmly established this studio as one of the greats.

Headquarters: San Francisco

Locations: Bangkok, Beijing, Cape Town, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dubai, Geneva, Hamburg, Hanoi, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, London, Melbourne, Mexico City, Milan, Moscow, Mumbai, New York, Paris, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, and Tokyo

Notable Clients: Nike, Coca-Cola, the WWF, FedEx, Levis, Apple, Volvic, Kraft, Jameson, BMW, Henkel, Old Spice, Citroën, Proctor and Gamble, Juicy Couture, Rolex, John Deere.

  Pentagram

It’s impossible to create any list of noteworthy design firms without including Pentagram.

The National’s Sleep Well Beast campaign and album design, by Pentagram

The studio’s design talent boasts some famous names among the list of partners, including Paula Scher, Michael Beirut, Alan Fletcher, Colin Forbes, Harry Pearce, and many more.

The client list is equally impressive.

Headquarters: London

Locations: Austin, Berlin, New York, San Francisco.

Notable Clients: Citibank, United Airlines. Saks Fifth Avenue. Harley-Davidson, Alexander McQueen, Clear Channel, The National, The Daily Show, One Laptop Per Child, Revlon, Cosmopolitan, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Grey Goose, Tiffany and Co, Vanity Fair.

  MetaDesign

Metadesign Berlin, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

MetaDesign was founded in 1979 by three German designers, including famed typographer Erik Spiekermann. Since then, it has taken on design work for clients large and small, including big names like The Economist and Apple. Spiekermann has stayed active as a type designer, creating such acclaimed typefaces as FF Meta and Officina.

Headquarters: San Francisco

Locations: Beijing, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Geneva, San Francisco, Zurich

Notable Clients: Apple, AT&T, eBay, FIFA, Intuit, Lamborghini,, Netflix, Sony, Intel, Polo Ralph Lauren, 23andMe, Volkswagen, The Economist, New York Philharmonic, Texture, San Francisco Ballet.

  House Industries

If you come across a gorgeous, retro-influenced type design, there’s a good chance it was created or influenced by the design studio House Industries.

Courtesy of House Industries

Luminaries from Cher to Jimmy Kimmel and The New Yorker to Uniqlo have worked with the small and fiercely independent studio.

They are known just as much for their type design as they are for the eccentric selection of products they sell. Whether it’s books, clothing, cycling accessories, or assorted kitchenware, each product is meticulously designed.

Headquarters: Delaware

Notable Clients:  Hermes, The Cher Show, Eames, The New Yorker, Design With Reach, Ford, John Mayer, Heath Ceramics, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Vogue Japan, Agent Provocateur, MTV, Chronicle Books, Uniqlo, Baccarat, Herman Miller

  courtesy of Happy Cog

Happy Cog

Happy Cog is a studio founded by web pioneer Jeffrey Zeldman, whose influence helped drive forward web technology and standards in the early 00s. Specializing in web and digital design, Happy Cog’s client list is diverse and impressive.

Locations: Philadelphia, New York

Notable Clients: MTV, Papa John’s, Harvard Business School, Ben & Jerry’s, McGraw-Hill Education, US Holocaust Museum, Nintendo, Georgetown University, Fonts.com, Thomson Reuters, Zappos.com

  Leo Burnett

courtesy of Leo Burnett

Leo Burnett is a Chicago-based company that has its hands in almost any creative disciple you can think of.

In addition to branding and marketing, an in-house design team tackles a variety of projects for clients of all sizes and industries.

Founded by legendary advertiser Leo Burnett in 1935, the company now has 85 offices in 69 countries and more than 9,000 employees.

Headquarters: Chicago. Illinois

Locations: Chicago, Toronto, Montreal, Santa Domingo, Guaynabo, Guatemala City, London, Paris, Brussels, Frankfurt, Prague, Seoul, Beijing, Shanghai, Manila, Jakarta, Sydney, Johannesburg

Notable Clients: Kelloggs, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, P&G, Samsung, GM, Fiat, Bell, LCBO, Ikea, Elections Canada.

  Metalab

courtesy of Metalab

Metalab is a design studio based in Victoria, British Columbia. In its 12 years of operation, the company has worked for some of the biggest companies online, including Google, Disney, Slack, Medium, and more. It also has online services its created, including Ballpark (an invoicing app), and Flow, (a project management app).

Headquarters: Victoria, British Columbia

Notable Clients: Slack, Google, Finery, Amazon, Facebook, Lonely Planet, TED, Otter

  Frog Design

courtesy of frog design

Frog was founded in 1969 by German industrial designer Hartmut Essilinger.

It has worked for some of the most influential companies and products, like Apple, the San. Francisco MOMA, Hyundai, Porsche, GE, and more.

With 15 offices located in major cities everywhere, Frog is consistently one of the best known and admired design companies in the world.

Headquarters: San Francisco, California

Locations: San Francisco, Austin, New York, London, Milan, Munich, Shanghai, Gurgaon, Seattle, Amsterdam, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, Sydney

Notable Clients: Apple, Lumen, SiriusXM, SuperSonic, Porsche, BT, American Dental Association, Associated Press, Audi, GE, Honeywell, UNICEF. Bill Gates, Intel, Sharp

  AKQA

courtesy of AKQA

Based in London, AKQA is a firm that specializes in creating digital products and services. It has over 2,100 employees spread across 22 offices in cities like London, San Francisco, Sao Paolo, Singapore, Tokyo, Melbourne, and Paris.

Headquarters: San Francisco, California

Locations: Aarhus, Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, Gothenburg, London, Milan, Paris, Venice, Atlanta, New York, Portland, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Gurgaon, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney

Notable Clients: Nike, Nissan, Microsoft, Visa, Fiat, Coco-Cola, McDonald’s, Gap, VW, Amazon, Evian, David Beckham, Oakley, Palms, Netflix, Rolls-Royce, Volvo, Google, Activision, Eurostar, Jagermeister,  Tommy Hilfiger, Elton John, Burger King

Urban Influence

This Seattle-based agency has been “creating kick-ass brands since 2001,” according to its website. In that time, it has helped businesses to “craft honest, emotional experiences through strategy, brand development, graphic design, web design, and storytelling.”

Its clients range from small businesses and consumer products to tech companies and real estate firms.

Headquarters: Seattle, Washington

Notable Clients: Intego, Revelry, SEO Moz, Endurance, Sprout, Polaris, Chef’n, Watson, Cinchshare, Pronto, Redfin, DNA

  SuperUnion

courtesy of SuperUnion

SuperUnion’s name is appropriate: it’s the union between five separate agencies (Brand Union, The Partners, Lambie-Nairn, Addison, and VBAT) into one super agency.

The unified company boasts 23 offices across 18 countries and has clients like BBC, London Symphony Orchestra, Dell, Deloitte, Ford, Nestle, and Tesco.

Headquarters: London, UK

Locations: Amsterdam, Bangkok, Beijing, Berlin, Bogota, Buenos Aires, Cairo, Cape Town, Dubai, Hamburg, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Johannesburg, London, Madrid, Mexico City, Moscow, Mumbai, Munich. New York, Paris, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore

Notable Clients: Colgate-Palmolive, WPP, BBC, London Symphony Orchestra, Dell, Deloitte, Ford, Nestle, Tesco, Equinox, Level, Chivas, Pizza Hut, Land Rover, Invictus Games, Pfizer, AirAsia, Mazda, Audi, Electrolux, FIFA, Cirque de Soleil, HSBC, Credit Suisse

  courtesy of Turner Duckworth

Turner Duckworth

Turner Duckworth may be a division of Leo Burnett, but deserves to be called out for the quality and quantity of amazing work that it produces.

Founded by David Turner and Bruce Duckworth in 1992, the firm now has three offices that are its “secret weapon,” according to the site.

Clients include Levis, Coca-Cola, Amazon, Metallica (!), Glenlivet, and many more.

Locations: London, San Francisco, and New York City

Notable Clients: Levis, Coca-Cola, Glenlivet, Burger King, Kellogg’s, Kraft, Toblerone, Kettle Chips, Longmorn. Coors, Popchips, Essential Parent, Dripp, Conté a Paris, Tassimo

Winkreative

Air Canada’s logo, designed by Winkreative

Founded by Monocle magazine publisher Tyler Brûlé, this creative agency makes “brands desirable through elegant visual ideas and a distinctive tone of voice, based on a defined strategic positioning,” according to its website.

Its clients include airlines, automakers, fashion and lifestyle companies, and more.

Headquarters: Zurich, Switzerland

Locations: Zürich, London, Toronto, New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong

Notable Clients: Air Canada, Porter Airlines, Lexus, MINI, BBC, Sky, Dia TV, H&M, TAG Heuer, Dunhill, Adora, Louis Vuitton, LG, Toyota, Cathy Pacific, China Daily, Corriere della Sera

  Mucho

courtesy of mucho

Mucho is a design studio headquartered in Barcelona.

Founded by friends Marc Català and Pablo Juncadella in 2003, the company grew quickly and now has offices in five cities around the world.

The offices often collaborate across time zones on projects that the company describes as “ideas-based.” eye magazine described their style as having “a level of visual fastidiousness and typographic detail that distinguishes their work from that of other branding agencies.”

Headquarters: Barcelona, Spain

Locations: Newark, Barcelona, Paris, San Francisco, New York, Sydney, Berlin, London

Notable Clients: AIGA, Alma Hotels, BCD, Betway, BMW, Canal+, El País, EMI Music Spain, Future Designs, Gap Inc., Google, HP, Kodak, Majestic Hotel Group, Mars, Museum of Lincolnshire Life, Phaidon Press, Random House Mondadori, San Francisco Art Exchange, San Francisco Civic Center, The Collection, The Observer, University of California

  McFaul+Day

courtesy of mcfaul+day

MCFaul+Day was founded in 2002 by John McFaul in Portsmouth, England. It has worked with clients ranging from LucasFilm and Pepsi to the BBC, IBM, and Samsung.

In 2014, designer Justin Day joined the agency and the name was updated. According to its site, Mcfaul+Day “passionately created, observed and rigorously executed solutions, de-layering a proposition to its simple truth.”

Headquarters: Chichester, UK

Notable Clients: LucasFilm, New Balance, Pepsi, BBC, IBM, Microsoft, SXSW, Clarks, Audi, Virgin Atlantic, Sony, Levis, Samsung, Kidrobot

  Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv

courtesy of Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv

Some of the most recognizable logo designs were created by this studio, founded in 1957 by two Yale alumni, Ivan Chermayeff and Tom Geismar. The company was joined by logo designer Sagi Haviv in 2003.

Its work includes iconic logos for NBC, National Geographic, Mobil, Showtime, Chase Bank, PBS, and many others.

Headquarters: New York, NY

Notable Clients: NBC, Pan Am, Mobil Oil, PBS, Chase Bank, Barneys New York, The Museum of Modern Art, Xerox, Smithsonian Institution, NBC, Cornell University, National Geographic, State Farm, Armani Exchange, Showtime, Animal Planet, Merck, EPA

  Studio Dumbar

courtesy of Studio Dumbar

Formed in The Hague in 1977 by Gert Dumbar, Studio Dumbar has since relocated to Rotterdam and spread to Shanghai and Seoul.

In 2016 the agency merged with a number of other studios as part of the international mega-agency Dept. Studio Dumbar’s work is considered highly influential and has attracted a top-tier selection of clients like Apple, Nike, and Rijksmuseum.

Headquarters: Rotterdam, Holland

Locations: Rotterdam, Shanghai, and Seoul

Notable Clients: Apple, Nike, Rijksmuseum. Dutch National Police, Transavia, Vincent Van Gogh Museum, Dutch Railways, EUNL, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, NPO, Randstad, The Dutch Government

  Dessein

courtesy of Dessein

Tracy Kenworthy and Geoff Bickford founded Dessein in 1987 in Perth, Australia.“We want to create brands of the heart – brands which engage, excite and evoke a personal rapport,” says the agency’s website.

It is an award-winning agency with a diverse client base that includes many Australian and international businesses and brands.

Headquarters: Perth, Australia

Notable Clients: Black Swan State Theatre, Northbridge Brewing Company, EPM, Ezyfix, Great Temptations, Mondo Nougat, Zwena, Albany Entertainment Centre, Whiteman Park, Poach Bear

  from http://bit.ly/2Sb2cbK

[project-casting]

Netflix's "Black Mirror" Casting Director is Now Casting Speaking Roles for a New TV Series

Netflix’s “Black Mirror” Casting Director is Now Casting Speaking Roles for a New TV Series

Jina Jay Casting, the casting director behind hit movies including “Black Mirror: Bandersnatch”, “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, is now casting speaking roles for a TV series.

Jina Jay Casting is looking for unique, authentic young talent for significant roles in a new TV series. Talents must be between 10 to 18 years old, live in the UK, and be available…