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bleulone · 1 year ago

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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 :)

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moon-yean · 7 years ago

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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.

#babylon berlin #babylon berlin spoilers #meta #bb meta #bb s1 #tv show: babylon berlin #mine: musings #also the soundtrack is freaking AMAZING and makes the show imo #so many great cues #anyway i sadly don't have time to make edits/gifs atm but i'll start that up once the show hits netflix

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bskarsgardlove92 · 3 years ago

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‘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

#bill skarsgard #bill skarsgård #burn all my letters

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nikkiwriteswords · 4 years ago

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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.

#nikkiwrites #tua meta #tua s3 meta #aka i shake a magic 8-ball and see what comes up #tua season 3 #nikkianswers #softforklave #tua s3 spoilers #the umbrella academy #spoilers

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dillydedalus · 6 years ago

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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???

#*i say this as if i'm not constantly experiencing at the very least mild asoiaf feels but yanno #anyway i'm sure there's a ton of cool ways you can perform shrew that make it subversive #(play kate's speech as her hogging the stage/upstaging petruccio!)#but like.... let's not kid ourselves #the books i read #this is sloppy & mostly unedited bc i'm vibrating with stress #long post

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project-casting · 6 years ago

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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…

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#Atlanta #Casting Call #Holidate #Netflix

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crazy4tank · 4 years ago

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Some of Your Favorite Teen Comedies Are Leaving Netflix Soon

New Post has been published on https://fashiondesigne.com/2021/02/03/some-of-your-favorite-teen-comedies-are-leaving-netflix-soon/

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.

youtube

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

Let us slide into the DMs. Sign up for the particular Teen Style daily e-mail .

Want more from Teen Vogue ? Check this out:

#Culture #Culture / Movies #Culture / TV

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olivierdemangeon · 7 years ago

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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.

#Aksel Hennie #Chris O&039;Dowd #Daniel Brühl #David Oyelowo #Elizabeth Debicki #Gugu Mbatha-Raw #John Ortiz #Julius Onah #Zhang Ziyi

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savetopnow · 7 years ago

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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.

#movie

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sondakikadunyacomtr · 4 years ago

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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,…

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#almanya #koma #navalny #rus #rus muhalif

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culturamagz · 4 years ago

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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…

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#Film #Movie Reviews #Netflix

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celebjar · 5 years ago

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

#gallery-0-4 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-4 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-0-4 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-4 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

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 [email protected] 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

#Scarlett Johansson

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katrinratto · 6 years ago

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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

vimeo

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

vimeo

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

#Marketing

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project-casting · 6 years ago

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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…

View On WordPress

#featured #Jina Jay Casting #London #Netflix

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crazy4tank · 4 years ago

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Some of Your Favorite Teen Comedies Are Leaving Netflix Soon

New Post has been published on https://fashiondesigne.com/2021/02/03/some-of-your-favorite-teen-comedies-are-leaving-netflix-soon/

Some of Your Favorite Teen Comedies Are Leaving Netflix Soon

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

youtube

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

Let us slide into the DMs. Sign up for the particular Teen Style daily e-mail .

Want more from Teen Vogue ? Check this out:

#Culture #Culture / Movies #Culture / TV

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remynuma · 6 years ago

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The best TV of 2018: a rough meta-analysis

There were 495 scripted original series on TV this year. We’ve moved into the gilded age of television. And as Apple, Disney, and Warner launch new streaming services next year, the Peak TV bubble is yet to burst.

There’s also never been so much good television to watch. Networks and streaming services are investing billions of dollars in high quality, critically acclaimed television to secure not just casual viewers, but paying subscribers in a post-cable environment.

It’s therefore crucial to examine the prestige TV landscape in some depth. Companies should know which TV shows are performing best, and the creative and industry trends that will help shape next year’s best programming.

I’m very interested in helping figure out the future of television. So, as 2018 ends, and with no university until March, I’ve prepared a simple report analysing these issues.

As the title says, this is a rough, back-of-the-envelope analysis. I’ve mentioned the key limitations below, and you may find others. Nonetheless, this piece at least serves as a shortcut through having to read every ‘best TV’ list put out by a major publication, and it’s a useful starting point to discuss out the industry’s future.

Finally, a disclosure: I’ve previously worked for 21st Century Fox and NBCUniversal. This report only uses publicly available information, and the analysis/opinions expressed are mine.

Methodology

FX’s annual scripted series report is the gold standard of TV industry analysis, so you should look at their research for an overview of the television landscape (I couldn’t find any full PDFs, but this year’s key charts are everywhere, as are scraps of previous reports).

This is a simple tally. I searched online for ‘best TV’ lists, read them, added series as they appeared on the lists, then totalled and ranked each series. I excluded outliers (i.e. series which appeared only once) from the analysis.

I included publications which met this criteria:

Notable following (at least 10,000 followers on Twitter). I excluded personal blogs and Twitter threads.

US-based (there are lots of great international TV critics, and I’d be here forever if I tallied all their lists too).

List published any time between December 1 and December 26.

A simple year-end ‘best of TV’ list. Some outlets also published lists by genre, streaming service availability, whether it first aired in 2018, and/or some other factor. Others published inventive but unquantifiable lists. They are worth reading but were excluded.

I also excluded lists with more than 50 series.

I’ve included links to each of the 42 included publications at the end of this piece. If I missed one that meets the criteria, let me know.

Limitations

There are several, including but not limited to:

The tally only examines the ‘best’ TV of the year, as judged by U.S. TV critics who publish year-end lists.

Critics have divergent opinions on what constitutes the ‘best,’ (e.g. Todd VanDerWerff’s “7 great shows” vs Tim Goodman’s “32 best shows”), but since every series on every list gets counted, the critics who were less discriminating have more influence on the final score.

Some critics are better and/or more influential than others, but every list was given the same weighting.

Some critics included stand-up specials, TV movies, and/or unscripted television in their lists, but most didn’t.

1. The best shows of the year, according to 42 professional television critics

Starting with the 10 shows which appeared on the highest number of year-end lists. I’ve included the title, U.S. premiere network, and the number of lists (out of 42) on which each show appeared.

Top 10

Appeared on at least 4 lists, in descending order

A lot of tied places from this point onwards.

Appeared on 2-3 lists, in alphabetical order

Adventure Time, American Horror Story, The Bisexual, Blue Planet II, Bob’s Burgers, Casual, The Chi, Claws, Corporate, Detectorists, Doctor Who, Elite, Everything Sucks!, Grown-ish, The Kids are Alright, The Kominsky Method, Legion, Nanette, Outlander, Summer Camp Island, This Close, This Is Us, Trial & Error, The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling

Full list

You can download a full list here, which includes outlier shows and the publication/s where each show appeared.

2. Creative trends

Darkness prevails

Prestige television is still very dark. Critics praised grittiness, cruelty, and bleakness in their evaluations of the year’s best television. “A nasty and delicious dark comedy” (Succession) led Emily Nussbaum’s list of recommendations, while Matt Zoller Seitz praised shows with a focus on “resentment, fear, and anguish” (GLOW). Reviewers didn’t look for darkness for darkness’ sake – there’s plenty of bleak television that didn’t make the cut – but dark shows were ubiquitous.

It’s hard to spot dominant themes, but among the top ten, three of the most loved shows of the year (Killing Eve, Barry, and ACS: Versace) featured murderers as their lead characters, while the most popular comedy, Atlanta, is a meditation on racial inequality, drugs, violence, and poverty. Other popular issues included depression (BoJack Horseman, Maniac, Kidding) and domestic abuse (Sharp Objects, The Good Fight, Patrick Melrose).

The cheeriest show on the list is The Good Place (#6), which Alex McLevy called “a respite from the cruelty and coldness too often running through not just real life, but the rest of the TV landscape”. Other bright spots include Queer Eye (#11), Jane the Virgin (#35), and the relentlessly warm Great British Baking Show (#45).

Critics prioritised originality

Critics rewarded series with original plots, characters, and settings. Half of the top ten series first premiered in 2018 (six if you include anthology series American Crime Story), and across the board, critics singled out shows with inventive storytelling. Standouts in this area included My Brilliant Friend (#18), The End of the F–ing World (#20), Lodge 49 (#26), Maniac (#26), and Counterpart (#26).

Superhero shows struggled: only DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (#45) and Legion made the list, while Netflix’s Marvel-based series were ignored (including previous hit Jessica Jones). Prime Video’s blockbuster action series Jack Ryan, based on the movie franchise, was also left off.

To find critical success for ‘franchises,’ you have to get creative. You could argue that Better Call Saul is successful because of Breaking Bad, Ryan Murphy is a household name, and Saturday Night Live alumni show up everywhere (this year, in Barry, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Forever).

Multi-cam sitcoms are critical poison

People like to divide television comedy into single-cam and multi-cam, but that puts an optimistic network comedy like Superstore in the same category as HBO’s dark hitman dramedy Barry. I think this three category approach is better:

Traditional/multi-cam sitcoms are on the left of the continuum, dramedy on the right. Lighter single-camera comedies are in the middle. He’s not the only creator working in this middle space (pioneers include Tina Fey, Liz Meriwether, and Kenya Barris) but since he’s got two shows high on the list this year, let’s call these Schur-coms.

92% of the comedies on critics’ lists were Schur-coms and dramedies. Schur’s The Good Place and Brooklyn Nine-Nine did great in that middle category, while Atlanta, Barry, and GLOW did well in dramedy. Within the 92% total, 27% were Schur-coms and 65% were dramedies, so much like the other genres, the darker you get, the more critics generally seem to like it.

If you’re looking for critical praise, you don’t want to be in the multi-cam business. The exception is Netflix’s Latino family sitcom One Day at a Time (#16). Ratings hits like The Big Bang Theory and The Connors didn’t make the list, and new entries like The Neighborhood didn’t show up either.

Prestige TV stayed away from political settings

U.S. political shows were absent. None of the top 60 above featured U.S. politicians as lead characters, none featured an election campaign as the central plot line, and none were set in political environments. (A Very English Scandal and Bodyguard are the exceptions, but both are British imports.)

I suspect the logic is that in a divisive America, it doesn’t make sense to split your audience in half. That adds up in a network TV environment, but given prestige TV mostly exists on cable and streaming services, and there’s plenty of left-leaning drama and comedy on the list, the lack of strictly political television this year is surprising.

The gap might also be a result of discomfort in the creative community. Showrunners have grappled publicly with the idea of writing political characters in the Trump era. Some, like Homeland’s Alex Gansa, see “more and more of a responsibility to comment on it”, while the creators of Broad City, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Insecure, and Master of None have gone out of their way to avoid mentioning the current administration on their shows.

Finally, two of the heaviest hitters in political television, House of Cards and Veep, were both absent. The rewritten final season of House of Cards debuted to mixed reviews, and Veep was delayed until 2019 due to Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ cancer diagnosis.

To be clear: television was very political this year. Even among the top ten shows, economic inequality, war, race relations, feminism, and foreign diplomacy played strong roles, and that list of issues expands as you look further down the list. The point here is that everyone wanted to talk about politics, just not in a political setting.

Lots of shows about students and the media, but other professions mostly unrepresented

Shows with a focus on professional/career issues made up just over half of prestige television series in 2018 at about 57%. The other 43% mostly focused on families, and a handful had a sci-fi/horror setting.

Among career-focused shows, it was a mixed bag for the leading professions:

Nine featuring high school and/or college students were well reviewed. The biggest successes were American Vandal, The End of the F–ing World, and Dear White People, all three of which premiered on Netflix. In fact, six out of the nine student shows altogether were Netflix exclusives (the other three were Sabrina, Elite, and Everything Sucks!). The other youth networks didn’t fare great, but Freeform made an appearance with Grown-ish.

The industry also continues to look inward for inspiration. Succession focused on media dynasties, Jim Carrey played a TV host in Kidding, and BoJack Horseman is set in Hollywoo(d). Other media-based shows involved journalists (Sharp Objects), comedians (Maisel), music (Atlanta), and the adult industry (The Deuce).

Tough break for doctors, and slim pickings for working-class Americans looking for shows about their jobs. A handful of critics rooted for Superstore and Bob’s Burgers, but large sections of the population remain unrepresented.

A great year for the UK and foreign languages

Raise a glass for our friends in the UK. Killing Eve was the single best TV show of the year according to critics, appearing on 88% of all lists. Other UK productions included The End of the F–ing World (#20), A Very English Scandal (26), Howard’s End (#30), The Little Drummer Girl (#30), Patrick Melrose (#30), Bodyguard (#45), The Great British Baking Show (#45), plus The Bisexual, Detectorists, and Doctor Who.

A breakthrough year for non-English speaking television too. HBO aired its first captioned series with My Brilliant Friend, a co-production with Italy’s RAI Network. The show landed on 11 critics’ lists, above several of HBO’s higher-profile English speaking productions. Netflix also won with Germany’s Babylon Berlin (which was available dubbed or with captions).

American critics lacked an appetite for shows from other countries.

The year of the woman, but no parity

Female-led scripted television did well in 2018. Killing Eve is the headline again, with Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh in leading roles (Oh was also the first Asian woman to receive a lead actress Emmy nomination). Critics also singled out the feminist themes and casts in Pose (#8), Sharp Objects (#10) and GLOW (#11). Amazon’s hit The Marvelous Mrs Maisel had notable detractors, but still did well at #16.

There’s still work to be done: by my count, 35% of the leading actors in the top 10 shows of 2018 identified as women. It would be better to look at screen time (e.g. men make up the majority of the nine-person Killing Eve cast, even though Comer/Oh dominate), but no parity yet.

Nonetheless, in male-led and ensemble shows, critics tended to single out female performers. Standouts included Zazie Beets (Atlanta), Keri Russell (The Americans), and Kristen Bell (The Good Place).

And just out of the top five, two renowned female movie stars made their television debut: Julia Roberts (Homecoming) and Amy Adams (Sharp Objects).

Progress on racial equality

White performers made up the majority of the cast in 6 out of the top 10 shows of the year. Half of The Good Place’s leading cast is white, while Atlanta was majority black, Pose was majority black and Latino, and Versace was majority Latino. Again, screen time is a better metric to use.

Black representation can be found across the rest of the best-received shows of the year. Fox’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine is one of the few network sitcoms with more than one black lead, and critics also praised black scripted television in Netflix’s Dear White People (#22) and HBO’s Insecure (#45). Further down, The Chi and Grown-ish also appeared on multiple lists.

Across the full list of shows, the Latino community was represented most prominently in Netflix’s One Day at a Time (#16), The CW’s Jane the Virgin (#35), and Starz’ new entry Vida (#45). While Latino performers played parts in many of the top 60 shows above, Versace’s Édgar Ramírez, Ricky Martin, and Penélope Cruz got the most attention.

This is by no means comprehensive. I focused on black and Latino casts, since they are the two largest minority groups in America, but I also found little representation of Asian Americans (Killing Eve and The Good Place have one lead Asian performer each), and I’m struggling to find Native American representation at all in the top 10 shows.

LGBT representation pushed forward, especially by Ryan Murphy

Ryan Murphy is a man on a mission to increase LGBT visibility. Between his and FX’s Versace and Pose, LGBT characters led two out of the top 10 series of the year. Netflix’s Queer Eye came in just below, appearing on 16 lists (impressive, given several critics only included scripted shows). Netflix will do better once Murphy sets up shop there.

Divergence between Emmy voters and critics

Finally, Emmys voters and critics continue to disagree about the best shows of the year. In drama, Emmy nominees for series released in 2018 included The Handmaid’s Tale, This is Us, and Westworld, none of which cracked the top 25 on critics’ lists, while critics’ top pick, Killing Eve, failed to secure a Best Drama nomination. In comedy, Emmy nominees included Black-ish, Silicon Valley, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, which also failed to crack critics’ top 25. Critics’ top selection, Atlanta, made it into the Emmy nominations for Best Comedy, but voters favored The Marvelous Mrs Maisel.

3. Industry trends

Let’s start by breaking down the number of shows by platform:1

You can see how difficult life is getting for the cable bundle. Streaming accounted for 39% of the top shows of the year, with another 12% for network television. When you add in the three premium networks, which represent 25% of the chart and which are now available as standalone SVOD services, you can watch ~75% of the year’s best television without a cable subscription.

That 25% basic cable segment will likely shrink again next year, given Disney, Warner, and Apple will all enter the streaming market. From a scripted entertainment perspective, I can’t see a viable future for this platform.

Critics mostly ignored network television

The networks aired 146 original series in 2018, and 10 of those made it on to critics’ year-end lists. That’s just under 7%. Critics were particularly harsh on network drama/procedural series: of the big 4 networks, only NBC’s This Is Us made it on to the list. Comedy fared better, but critics ignored CBS’ top-rated comedies, and only rewarded a handful of sitcoms overall.

NBC was the strongest performer with four shows, and the only network to crack the top 25 with The Good Place (#6). The CW had three middling entries: Jane the Virgin (#35), DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (#45) and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Fox was best represented by Brooklyn Nine-Nine (#18), ABC just made it in with The Kids are Alright, and CBS had nothing.

Fox cleared house in 2018, leaving it without critical darlings New Girl and The Last Man on Earth to shore up its figures (neither were included on lists this year, but made multiple appearances over the past decade). It triumphed with Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which moves to NBC in January. Many of its new arrivals are performing well with viewers (Last Man Standing is a hit), but as it makes more room in the schedule for sports and event programming, it’ll be tougher to please critics.

FX and AMC dominated basic cable

The man who coined ‘Peak TV’ plays an outsized role in creating it. FX had six shows on the list in 2018, including 4 out of the top 10 (Atlanta, The Americans, Pose, and Versace). When Disney acquires the network in early 2019, John Landgraf will remain as its head, so expect to see more praise for FX even as its business model shifts.

AMC Networks had seven shows altogether. Four aired on AMC (Better Call Saul, Lodge 49, The Little Drummer Girl, and The Terror), with another three on AMC’s majority-owned BBC America (Killing Eve, Doctor Who, and Blue Planet II). Four out of the seven were either created by or with the BBC.

Executives at NBCU, Turner, and Viacom will be less pleased. All three own networks in the prestige TV business (USA, TNT, and Paramount, respectively), but only TNT made the list, with Claws. All three networks had solid contenders, with USA’s The Sinner, TNT’s The Alienist and Paramount’s Yellowstone all performing well with viewers. Given that Paramount relaunched this year with five original series and a splashy campaign, Viacom has to be feeling particularly frustrated. These basic cable networks suffered because the landscape is too cluttered.

All three premium networks have something to offer, but HBO leads

HBO continues to lead the premium cable networks, with 10 shows on the list, including 2 of the top 10. Succession (#3) and Barry (#4) played best with critics, followed closely by Sharp Objects (#10) and My Brilliant Friend (#18), but the network has shows scattered throughout the list. HBO currently charges standalone subscribers $15 per month for its service (versus $11 for Showtime and $9 for Starz), and in 2018, it offered twice as much prestige TV as the other two networks for that price.

Showtime and Starz each had five shows on the list. Showtime’s best performers included Patrick Melrose, Billions, Escape at Dannemora, Kidding, and The Chi, while Starz found success with Counterpart, Howard’s End, America to Me, Vida, and Outlander. Neither network cracked the top 25.

Netflix wins on volume

Netflix offered viewers 20 shows on this list in 2018, by far the highest number of shows from any single network. BoJack Horseman (#11), GLOW (#11), Queer Eye (#11), Big Mouth (#15), One Day at a Time (#16), American Vandal (#20), The End of the F–ing World (#20), Dear White People (#22), and The Haunting of Hill House (#22) all cracked the top 25.

Industry observers point out that Netflix makes a lot of very good television, but they’re yet to make the best television. That’s reflected in this year’s list, where none of Netflix’s shows made it into the top 10. They’re also yet to win an Emmy for Best Drama or Comedy series.

I don’t think that matters to anyone outside of the TV critic community. When you measure the top five networks by the number of shows they offer and the extent to which each critic liked those shows, Netflix still wins:

Any reasonable person looking at that chart would conclude that Netflix is doing the best job at entertaining them, all in one neat ~$10 payment. Plus, Netflix has both the scale and technology to target those shows at the viewers most likely to watch them.

Turning to the rest of the streamers, Prime Video barely made it into the top five networks by critical weight. They only had four shows on the list, but critics ranked them highly, with Homecoming (#7), Maisel (#16), Forever (#26), and A Very English Scandal (#26).

Bad news for Hulu, which struggled after mixed reviews for the second season of The Handmaid’s Tale. That show made the list, but only at #41. UK import The Bisexual and the recently canceled Casual were the only others to make it.

Disney and Warner will launch with experience

When Apple, Disney, and Warner launch new streaming products next year, you can expect some of their original series to show up here. But it will be significantly harder for Apple than it is for Disney (which will soon own FX) and Warner (which owns HBO and Turner), both of which already dominate among TV critics.

As mentioned above, John Landgraf is taking his talents to Disney once the acquisition is complete, while Warner recently announced that in addition to featuring an expanded HBO under Richard Plepler, Turner’s Kevin Reilly will also play a role in its new streaming service. Apple has two of the best television executives in the business in Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg, but the company is yet to distribute any scripted programming.

Prestige TV is already too expensive, and it will get worse without consolidation

Here’s the best value combination I could find to watch every show on the list:

$131 (or $139 without ads) is prohibitive for the vast majority of U.S. television viewers. According to one analytics firm, ~66% of Americans pay for one or zero streaming services, ~32% of Americans are willing to pay for at least two services, and only ~4% are willing to pay for more than four. To watch every show on the list, you need to subscribe to seven, plus cable with every premium network.

In its present form, the market is unsustainable, and that’s a big reason why the cable bundle will soon fall apart. But even when it does, viewers looking for a high quality entertainment will still have too many options. Let’s assume a post-cable environment where all the key players are fighting for viewers:

Streaming services (Netflix, Disney/Hulu, Prime Video, Apple, NBCU service, CBS All Access plus niche services e.g. Sundance Now)

Premium services (HBO, Showtime, Starz, Epix)

Other cable networks (A&E, AMC, Discovery, Viacom etc)

Sports (ESPN, NBCSN, Fox Sports)

News (Fox News/Nation, MSNBC, CNN)

That’s even less sustainable than today’s market.

Given the nightmare landscape above, I think Apple will distribute its original shows for free, rather than as a subscription service, when it launches next year. Apple’s already getting customers used to that method of distribution with season two of Carpool Karaoke, and while the company keeps signalling that it wants to build service revenue, it would also like to own the living room. Having more than 20 highly-anticipated scripted series, available for free and without ads, exclusively on Apple TV, is a good way to get there.

UK co-productions perform well

In the meantime, as cable and streaming services keep trying to reach the top of the leaderboard, UK co-productions are helping American networks get there. As noted above, the UK provided 10 of the year’s most critically acclaimed shows, and by my count, four of those were co-produced: Howard’s End (BBC/Starz), The Little Drummer Girl (BBC/AMC), Patrick Melrose (Sky Atlantic/Showtime), and Doctor Who (BBC/BBC America). The others were US rights purchases (mostly on Netflix).

Co-productions allow UK networks to air more original series – BBC’s The Night Manager, for example, would never have been greenlit without AMC’s financial support – and they lower the cost for US networks looking for a lavish production. You’ll keep seeing these next year.

Great TV doesn’t save a network

Finally, remember that this analysis is limited to critically acclaimed television. Every network mentioned here wants well-reviewed shows, and those reviews can make the difference between renewal and cancelation when it is otherwise a toss-up. But a popular show doesn’t need great reviews to bring in customers and/or viewers, and an unpopular show won’t survive just because The New York Times wrote about it. Lifetime learned that the hard way this year. The network made waves with UnReal in 2015, and appeared at #22 this year with You, but it still handed both shows off to streaming services (Hulu and Netflix, respectively) earlier this year.

The television industry has steadily increased its television output for nearly a decade now, and aside from its bloat, there isn’t anything especially striking about the landscape in 2018 versus the last two years. But it feels like we’re finally on the verge of a new landscape. When Disney and Warner enter the market next year, viewers around the US will start remaking their television budgets. As the analysis above shows, almost every major network/service feels they need to offer a wide range of prestige TV to survive.

Sources

AdWeek (“10 Best TV Shows of 2018” by Jason Lynch)

Associated Press (“10 Best TV Shows of 2018” by Alicia Rancilio)

The Atlantic (“The 22 Best TV Shows of 2018” by Sophie Gilbert)

The A.V. Club (“The Best TV of 2018” by Erik Adams et al)

CNN (“The Most Satisfying Movies and TV of 2018” by Brian Lowry)

Collider (“The 25 Best TV Shows of 2018, Ranked” by Allison Keene)

Complex (“The 30 Best TV Shows of 2018” by Frazier Khal et al)

The Daily Beast (“The 20 Best TV Shows of 2018: ‘The Good Fight,’ ‘Atlanta,’ ‘Pose’ and more” by Kevin Fallon)

Decider (“Best TV Shows of 2018” by Alex Zalben)

Entertainment Weekly (“The Best (and Worst) Shows of 2018” by Darren Franich & Kristen Baldwin)

Esquire (“The 24 Best TV Shows of 2018” by Justin Kirkland et al)

FlavorWire (“The Best TV of 2018” by Pilot Viruet)

Glamour (“The Best TV Shows of 2018” by Christopher Rosa)

GQ (“The GQ Staff’s Favorite TV Shows of 2018” by Jaya Saxena et al)

The Hollywood Reporter (“The 10 Best TV Shows of 2018” by Daniel Feinberg, “The 32 Best TV Shows of 2018” by Tim Goodman)

The Huffington Post (“The 10 Best Television Shows of 2018” by Todd Van Luling)

IndieWire (“The Best TV Shows of the Year – A Top 10 List for 2018” by Ben Travers et al)

IGN (“Best TV Series of 2018”)

The Los Angeles Times (“Best TV of 2018: ‘Lodge 49,’ ‘Random Acts of Flyness’ and Beyoncé’s Coachella stream” by Robert Lloyd)

The New Yorker (“My Not-Top-Ten Television List: The Best TV Shows of 2018” by Emily Nussbaum, “My Favorite TV Shows of 2018” by Troy Patterson)

The New York Times (“The Best TV Shows of 2018” by James Poniewozik et al)

NPR (“NPR’s Favorite TV Shows of 2018” by Linda Holmes et al)

Paste (“The 25 best TV Shows of 2018” by Whitney Friedlander et al)

The Playlist (“The Best TV Shows of 2018” by Ally Johnson et al)

Refinery29 (“These Are The 20 Best TV Shows of 2018 — & Where To Stream Them” by Ariana Romero)

The Ringer (“The Best TV Shows of 2018” by Alison Herman and Chris Ryan)

Rolling Stone (“The 20 Best TV Shows of 2018” by Alan Sepinwall)

Salon (“10 best TV shows of 2018: The continuing crippling horror of the year-end TV list” by Melanie McFarland)

ScreenCrush (“The Best TV Shows of 2018” by LaToya Ferguson)

Slant (“The 25 Best TV Shows of 2018” by Elise Nakhnikian et al)

Slate (“The Top 10 Shows of 2018” by Willa Paskin)

TIME (“The 10 Best TV Shows of 2018” by Judy Berman)

Town&Country (“The Best TV Shows of 2018” by Adam Rathe et al)

TV Guide (“Ranking the 25 Best TV Shows of 2018” by Liam Mathews et al)

USA Today (“USA TODAY's 25 best TV shows of 2018” by Kelly Lawler)

Vanity Fair (“The 10 Best TV Shows of 2018” by Sonia Saraiya)

Variety (“The Best TV Shows of 2018” by Caroline Framke, “The Best TV Shows of 2018” by Daniel D’Addario)

Vogue (“The 14 Best TV Shows and Movies Vogue Editors Watched in 2018” by Chioma Nnadi)

Vox (“The 7 Best TV Shows of 2018” by Todd VanDerWerff)

Vulture (“The 10 Best TV Shows of 2018” by Jen Chaney, “The 10 Best TV Shows of 2018” by Matt Zoller Seitz)

The Washington Post (“Best TV shows of 2018: ‘Barry’ was a great comedy that turned out to be one of the year’s best dramas” by Hank Stuever)

The Wall Street Journal (“The Best TV of 2018: Departures and Arrivals” by Dorothy Rabinowitz)

#industry #us #tv #report

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