#bro-ing it out in the 90s

[caulifleurr]

NSFW Ghost Headcanons!

A/N: While I'm still writing Part 4 of the Left Behind series, have this for the meantime!

Warning: Nsfw! Also kinda self-indulgent lmao

Fave sex position: mating press. He loves being deep in you, it makes him go wild at the sensation of his girthy cock plowing through you, his tip kissing your cervix. Another favorite of his is doggystyle, bro goes feral when your ass bounces at his every thrust.

"Eyes on me, don't fucking look away, yeah?" Eye contact is compulsory when doing the dirty with this man. He loves seeing your face twist in pleasure. He gets more desperate with his thrusts the more your face reflects what you're feeling while being fucked.

He's a dom, naturally. Loves to take control 90% of the time. Grabs hold of your wrists, puts a hand on your throat. He sometimes lets you take the reins, but through his words.

Likes to fuck when you're fully naked, yet he's still fully clothed. He does get naked with you if there's more time and a more comfy place like a bedroom, but he frequently just pulls you into an empty room when the sexual tension is strong and you consent to impromptu sex.

He's an ass guy, loves holding on to yours as he pounds you mercilessly. Sinking his fingers on your asscheeks, spanking you into submission, you name it. He loves the way your flesh slaps against him. He even sneaks a cheeky squeeze when you pass by him in public.

During sex he mixes cute and dirty nicknames, like "my pretty little cumslut". Loves to hear you moan and beg for him, it makes him feel good knowing you're enjoying sex with him.

Incredible dirty talker. Bro can do a podcast of him just dirty talking for hours and you would listen to it 24/7. Praises you constantly, knowing it drives you crazy. "Thaaat's it, good fucking girl."

Possessive as FUCK, loves creampie-ing you. When he pulls out of you, you overflow with his thick cum.

He starts all dommy and rough, but he comes undone once he climaxes. Moans like a champ but whimpers a bit when he's thrusting his orgasm out.

Great at aftercare, always ready to cuddle and helps you catch your breath. He whispers sweet nothings into your ear as you both fall asleep.

[bl-bam-beyond]

BL 2023...The Year of Runner

Today watching episode 6 of STAR STRUCK there was a time jump of 5 months...no big deal, right. However in Episode 4 Han Joon confessed to Yoo Jae. Yoo Jae walks away but Episode 5 & 6 reveals Han Joon disappear leaving Yoo Jae behind. And he explains why so well. I tried gif-ing it but didn't turn out great but here they are anyway

Love Confessions Are Difficult Enough Especially when it's a friend. So let's go down the line of actual runners and mental runners.

The Series: The Promise

The Runner: PHUPHA

Phu gets a lot of hate because he ran. Unlike the other people on the list he never confessed before leaving. Phu is reserved he doesn't like to be around a lot of people. He's introverted. Often introverts listen and notice and keeps things in their head. Phu remembered when Nan said he would never date friend. So he shot his shot a different way (at the wrong time) he kissed Nan while he was drunk. In my opinion that was Phu's way of confessing. To open conversation but Nan passed out and forgot. So Phu felt he had to leave. For his own sanity. Was it the cowards way out? That's open to interpretation.

The Series: OUR DATING SIM

The Runner: LEE WAN

Wan took his shot straight forwardly and Shin Ki Tae's initial reaction wasn't favorable. To Lee Wan he took chance and he felt immediately he made a mistake. So instantly he ran. But Lee Wan had no idea Shin Ki Tae immediately came after him so for 7 years he thought Shin Ki Tae was his past until Ki Tae brought Wan back into his life.

The Series: PAST-SENGER

The Runner: BAMEE

Bamee didn't physically run away but he did mentally thanks to real amnesia and fake amnesia. Once he recovered his memories he kept it to himself to keep Kiew with him and he kept running until Kiew tricked him by using Moodaeng to return to the 90's so then Bamee had to stop running. The truth was his only option.

The Series: THE EIGHTH SENSE

The Runner: JAE WON

Like Bamee, Jae Won didn't physically run away from Ji Hyun he instead took the mental run as well. Freezing Ji Hyun out. Pretending like their time together was meaningless although it was all that was on his mind. He hurt himself and he hurt Ji Hyun until he finally chose to be honest and take a chance on love.

The Series: A BOSS AND A BABE

The Runner: CHER aka LAEM

Cher fell for Gun however Gun's mother or parents didn't see Cher as right for Gun. So Cher decided to focus on himself for a bit. To graduate to win his tournament. To make himself believe he was good enough for Gun. To make himself better and to continue so he could not only continue improving himself so that he felt he was good enough for Gun.

The Series: STAR STRUCK

The Runner: HAN JOON

He brought some chocolate for his man and had them thrown back at him. But he never did not love Yoo Jae. After the confession he turned his back on Yoo Jae. But barely thought about himself when Yoo Jae proclaimed he wanted them to be friends again. He just started up again. Feelings still there and Yoo Jae ignoring them until he couldn't. Yoo Jae spent all of Episode 5 & 6 being jealous of Han Joon's "bro" and even the girl in the coffee shop. But with only 2 episodes left and the last with Yoo Jae kissing Han Joon. Seems likely Best Friends will move to Boyfriends.

Now obviously each viewer of these BL Series have their own opinions (which are just as valid) but not every runner is a coward. And it's never wrong to put your mental health first even in front of the one you love most.

So Nan forgave Phu because he loves him

Ki Tae forgave Lee Wan because he loves him

Kiew forgave Bamee because he loves him

Ji Hyun forgave Jae Won because he loves him

Gun forgave Cher because be loves him

Yoo Jae forgave Han Joon because he loves him.

[pory-z]

tag 9 mutuals you want to get to know better !

tagged by @haarute ! thanks, i enjoyed rambling about nothing and everything for a while

last song - Société tu m'auras pas, by Renaud. don't make fun of me i like his old stuff, it's one of the only non-metal artists i listened to in the car with my dad as a kid. for some reason i got really into old political music lately like union and french resistance songs so Renaud fits right in. i wanna learn some of them on the guitar. i enjoy singing a lot and i wanna improve ! a lot of my irl bros are musicians so i wanna impress them (i won't but they might find the effort endearing)

currently reading - The Occult Roots of Nazism by Nicholas Goodricke-Clarke, although i kinda put it on hold right now because even though it's a very interesting subject matter, it's a very dense book for the attention span i have at the moment lmao

also it's not a book but i'm reading through the various documents from the french Helloween fanclub from the 90's i got from my dad, who was the secretary at the time. there's paperwork, fanzines, interviews, old merch ads, fanmail, etc. it's a really fascinating time capsule and i'm so grateful for the opportunity to access all these documents. as soon as the university opens again i'm scanning all of it. i'll translate and publish the interviews too, it's bound to catch the attention of some pumpkinheads out there.

currently watching - houseki no kuni, again. because it's just so good. i watched the dub this time and even though it's pretty good, the constant avoidance of pronouns is getting more and more awkward and it's absolute cowardice. just let the damn rocks be gnc !!

i'm also rewatching holly hollowtones's 7 hour sandwich stream, again. for the fourth time. it makes me really happy for some reason.

current obsession - i'm slowly getting back into the rhythm of getting invested in things again after a rough patch of time, brain-wise. for now there's nothing much going on and my days are kinda empty.

i started octopath 2 and it's great so far but i need the motivation to keep going. i still need to continue 13 sentinels. i guess the closest thing i have to an obsession right now is utena, since i watched adolescence of utena recently and fell back into the crazy whirlwind of analysis and interpretation. it's an incredible anime i love it so much. idk how long it will last but for now i guess it's the biggest thing in my life even though i got back into it very recently. i might rewatch the original series. or madoka, i fucking love madoka. or maybe princess tutu, i'm told it's like. utena-lite in terms of themes but turbo-utena in terms of meta-fuckery, so that's exciting !

WAIT WAIT WAIT i just thought of something i'm forever and always obsessed with : soulsov, @pallisia's upcoming visual novel. i'm so in love with the main characters loic (chill florist dad) and ysme (weird clown woman). i'm not at-ing them because i don't wanna bother them but definitely go check out their art and read their webcomic lady of the shard it's real good and not that long ok i'm done now

that was fun ! i don't have that many mutuals but there you go, feel free to keep this thing going, folks

@aymisdumb @otasunestanblog @hibiscusandhoney @cyanampersand @oldwomanyaoi @alyxtried @littleoceanbabe @pinkminimarshmallow @musecalliope

[wy-lz]

tags by @amarriageoftrueminds:

#I really don't think ppl see how much of a bastard will is in his own right?#most of what we see as poor trembling uwu chihuahua 'somebody help will graham' in S1...#is will NOT BEING HIMSELF. being OOC and so ill he doesn't even recognise himself#cut out almost every (OOC) scene from the pilot until will getting treatment for encephalitis...#and you have a guy who is 90% of s2 murder husband will already bar the wardrobe change#(tho there are flashes of the real guy; in his sessions w/ hannibal; telling jack to stfu/nobody else does it better than him etc.)#to me he reads not as a trembling puppy but like a snarling street dog who has learned to be vicious to protect himself after mistreatment#...but that mistreatment did not begin or end with hannibal it has been going on his whole life#LOOK AT THE WAY HE TALKS TO FREDDIE LOUNDS#he was murder husband-ing before hannibal and outside of hannibal#in a funny way IMO hannibal brings out his nicest side because he makes him happy / doesn't judge him like others do...#like his snarling snappiness is an empathy-reflection of how he's seen by others + him being annoyed at how he's seen#he's nicest with people who see him how he would like to be seen (hannibal abigail molly colluding!freddie briefly alana)#when ppl don't see a will graham he'd like to be... he gets pissed off about that and also empathy-reflects their view of him#fine china with jack a bro with beverley a good husband with molly...#but a bastard-teacher to his students a psycho to freddie and chilton etc etc.#maybe that's another part of his problem with bedelia?#that she sees him as an inferior to herself -- the last wife that bluebeard wouldn't have married if she'd had her way#so that's what he reflects; and he's (also) bitchy because he hates that image of himself... let alone coming from his replacement#hannibal likes to say they're alone because they're unique#but a big part of why they're both alone is because they are both... Such Pricks 😔#hannibal by nature will (I think) by nurture#something something pretty privilege makes you a dick something somethingReblog

Sick of the socially anxious, shy Will Graham retoric; this guy’s anti-social and is a mistrustful prick. He sucks. He’s rude on purpose. He barks. He bites. He spreads rabies.

“How does that make you feel?”

*scoff, “How does that make you feel?”

?????

“Tell me about your mother.”

“Some lazy psychiatry, Dr. Lecter.”

???????????

“Let’s keep it professional.” “I don’t find you that interesting.” “You could wreck some foster homes and torment some children…” “The light of friendship won’t reach us for a million years, that’s how faraway from friendship we are” “There will be a reckoning.” “You didn’t die enough.” “Soup isn’t very good.”

Brother is so soft-spoken to his doggie children. Then he meets a human being and cringes like he can’t wait to go home and wash his eyes with soap.

[sa7abnews]

Trump assassination attempt: 3 key takeaways from newly released bodycam

New Post has been published on https://sa7ab.info/2024/08/09/trump-assassination-attempt-3-key-takeaways-from-newly-released-bodycam/

Trump assassination attempt: 3 key takeaways from newly released bodycam

Newly released bodycam footage reveals the chaos that unfolded before and after Thomas Crooks’ assassination attempt on former President Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last month.The Butler Township Police Department released 12 body camera videos Thursday that illustrate the colossal security failure that nearly felled the presidential nominee, cost a retired fire chief his life and seriously injured two others.On July 13, Crooks was able to clamber onto a rooftop and squeeze off eight shots a mere 147 yards from the former president as he addressed a crowd onstage. A countersniper stationed on a nearby roof swiftly killed Crooks with a single bullet to the head.TRUMP SHOOTING: TIMELINE OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT”I f—ing told them they need to post the guys f—ing over here. I told them,” a police officer can be heard saying minutes after the attempted assassination. “The Secret Service. I told them that f—ing Tuesday.” Another person can be heard off camera saying he thought the man speaking had been posted on the roof.”No, we were inside,” the local officer replied.Secret Service leadership has yet to adequately explain why no one was stationed on the roof, which had a direct line of sight to the president, but the footage suggests a complete breakdown in communication.TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: TEXTS REVEAL OFFICERS WERE AWARE OF THOMAS CROOKS 90 MINUTES BEFORE SHOOTING”This reinforces that this was very badly organized, and that’s irrefutable, and that comes down to the Service,” former NYPD Inspector Paul Mauro told Fox News Digital.An officer can be seen hoisting a colleague onto the roof where Crooks was positioned with an AR-15 rifle. The shooter pointed the weapon at the officer, forcing him to duck and lose his balance while hanging from the side of the building.Seconds later, Crooks opened fire, striking Trump in the ear and killing former firefighter Corey Comperatore.”F—, this close bro, dude – he turned around on me,” the officer who came face-to-face with Crooks can be heard saying on the footage.TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT VICTIM DAVID DUTCH SPEAKS OUT FOR FIRST TIME SINCE HOSPITAL RELEASEThe video shows the officer scrambling to retrieve a large gun from his car and then joining a swarm of other law enforcement agents who begin surrounding the building.The officer describes Crooks to the others as they prepare to ascend to the roof, telling them that he has glasses and long hair. He adds that Crooks has a long gun and several magazines.”Watch out,” he tells them, “because he can come down right on top of you over there.”But Crooks was already dead. Later in the footage, Crooks’ lifeless body is seen surrounded by officers.FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT WARNS AGENCY ‘STRETCHED THIN’ WITH NEW RESPONSIBILITIES, LACK OF MANPOWERSeveral attendees said they repeatedly warned officers at the scene of Crooks’ presence.Police first took note of Crooks at 5:10 p.m., roughly 50 minutes before he shot at Trump. Local law enforcement took a picture of Crooks at 5:30 p.m. and alerted their superiors. But police lost sight of him.”I’m f—ing p—ed. We couldn’t find him,” another officer is heard saying in the bodycam footage.Mauro said the Butler Township Police officers who spotted Crooks on the roof were on traffic duty at the event yet realized the seriousness of the situation and abandoned their posts.”You can see the level of confusion,” he said.After the officer’s confrontation with Crooks, he relays to the other law enforcement officials his frustration.”Before you motherf—ers came up here, I popped my head up there like an idiot by myself, dude,” the officer who was boosted onto the roof says. “Then he (Crooks) turned around, and I f—ing dropped, and I started f—ing … I was calling out, ‘Bro, f—ing on top of the roof.’ F—ing, we’re not on the same frequency?”SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR: TRUMP RALLY SHOOTER WAS IDENTIFIED AS ‘POTENTIAL PERSON OF SUSPICION’The comment suggests that the local police were not on the same radio frequency as the other law enforcement agencies, including the Secret Service, or their equipment wasn’t working properly, Mauro said.When the officer tried to warn the Secret Service that Crooks had a gun, the message didn’t get through.”The video confirms the speculation that the communications were a mess, and it’s undeniable,” Mauro said.Spotty cell service further hampered the team’s ability to communicate in the midst of a rapidly unfolding crisis.Shortly after the shooting, an officer can be heard on video summarizing the jarring lapse.”I’d say this is a f—up … somebody f—ed up,” he says. Fox News’ Audrey Conkin, Michael Dorgan and Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.

[theghostpinesmusic]

I've done all of these posts about Phish jams lately, and somehow I haven't yet written about a version of "Down With Disease"? What?!

"Disease" has been one of the band's most consistent and consistently varied jam vehicles since the mid-90s. The composed part of the song itself is a pretty straight-ahead rock and roll number (by Phish's standards, at least) but for whatever reason seems to almost always inspire the band to take a journey into deep improvisational territory. The only version I can think of off hand that doesn't do this (though I'm sure there are some more) is the version from 8/7/09, but that was the first live Phish song I ever heard, opening their '09 stand at the Gorge, and I was having so much fun just being there and taking everything in that to this day it's still one of my favorite versions, despite the lack of jamming.

I'm really glad the band semi-belatedly posted this version from their recent Sphere run, because in a run that was characterized by both monster jams and monster Sphere visuals (if you aren't yet convinced, maybe the literally billions of words I've already written about it will convince you) this was hands-down my favorite jam. The visuals are great, though I think you could easily make the case that a lot of the other songs throughout the run had even better visuals. But I'm not here to talk about those, I'm here to talk about the music. And this music is, as the guy in front of me at every Phish show I've ever been to would say, "fucking sick, bro."

It all starts off in the lot

It all starts off, insanely enough, out of a fantastic version of "Oblivion," which opened 4/21's second set. The weird loops and ambient noise you hear at the beginning of the video is a transition out of the end of "Oblivion" and into the...weird loops and ambient noise that normally characterize the beginning of "Disease." When Mike starts his bass riff, he's starting the song proper.

Trey then proceeds to forget the very first lyric of the song, which is hysterical. He was probably looking at the screen behind him as it is doing some wild Gates of Heaven/Hell thing right away.

Anyway, up through 4:10 the song is played basically as usual (though nobody told Fishman that, apparently, because he's playing for his life from the very beginning), and then we move into a Trey solo based on the song's chorus chords. There's some great Trey/Mike interplay during this section. Also the visuals start to diversify a bit. They looked a bit too much like a huge insect face to me in my altered state during the livestream, which my brain did not like. YMMV.

At 6:05 or so, Trey moves from playing a solo to playing a series of cascading notes a few times in a row, which pushes the whole band's intensity level up a bit. Page in particular starts driving the jam a bit more noticeably here, leading to a section around 7:00 or so when he, Trey, and Mike all land on the same drone-ing idea together for a few seconds. From here the jam slowly dissolves away from the "Disease" chords into something more ethereal.

By 7:30, Fishman has moved from a rock and roll beat to more of a backbeat, and everyone else is layering reverb-y melodies over top of each other. I'm a huge sucker for this kind of stuff, especially when it happens while Fishman is keeping the momentum going. Page adds a siren at 8:30, which the first of many signs that this is going to be the jam that ends up on the top of my list for this run.

This wonderful synth-y madness continues for a bit, with the visuals changing (maybe?) in response to the spaciness of the music.

At about 10:05, Trey locks onto this sinister-sounding tone and starts repeating a descending riff that takes us firmly into Evil Phish territory. The combo of the lights and music here probably would have killed me if I'd been there in person.

By 11:00, Page and Trey are bouncing ideas back and forth, but to be honest I'm not clear on who's doing what. I choose to be blissfully ignorant!

At 11:34, there's a subtle but important change from Trey that sends the jam turning in a more uplifting/major key direction. They've already built the foundation to just absolutely crush this more blissful space into atoms, but instead they take the patient route. Trey's playing here, for some reason, reminds me of Round Room. Maybe it's the guitar tone?

The obvious highlight through this section is Trey's light, fluttery playing, but I can't say enough about Mike's bass tone, which is lurking slightly behind the bliss jamming like the villain from an Atari 2600 game, chomping away at all your pellets and turning you into a ghost...or something. It's been a long time since I've played anything on an Atari 2600.

This particular jam rolls on for a few more minutes and then Fishman switches up the beat at 15:26, but Trey stops playing, and for a second it seems like they might wrap things up/move to a new song here...but then at 15:40, Trey jumps back in with some super-funky chording and the rest of the band picks up where they left off. Pretty quickly, there's a move into blues territory at 16:16, and a great section where everyone else is basically just playing fairly pedestrian stuff while Fishman is absolutely losing his goddamn mind.

We segue out of that into a more full-band blues improvisation, which starts to build momentum almost immediately. There's a few bits from Page here that seem like almost-but-not-quite "Bathtub Gin" teases, then at 18:00 we reach a big, high-energy peak that has everyone firing on all cylinders. Again, the visuals appear to adjust according to this, but I'm not sure if that's something that can actually happen technologically. This peak lasts for a few minutes, but, to my ears at least, it never really loses momentum and always, somehow, seems to be building in intensity, so it doesn't feel like overkill or overindulgence: Trey somehow keeps finding higher and higher frets on his guitar, and I'm here for it.

Things finally start winding back down a bit at 21:30, and if the band went back into the outro to "Disease" here and called it a day, this would still be one of the best jams of the run. Instead, we still have twelve minutes left.

The next section of the jam leans a bit on Trey's guitar loops, and in some places (I assume unintentionally) they overlap initially in ways that remind me of "Crosseyed and Painless." Then things get a little grungier and the loops go away as the band heads into a groove that has a bit of a "Manteca" feel. In fact, I remember waiting with bated breath for a "Crab in my shoemouth!" lyric when watching this live. Alas!

What we get instead is a pretty fantastic blues-rock jam. I love the part where Fishman essentially drops out at 24:30 and comes back with a John Bonham-like tree-trunks-for-sticks beat immediately.

There's a bit of reconfiguring happening at 25:10, and what emerges is something a little goofier, with Page on either electric piano or synth and Trey adding some loops. Tonally, this section is pretty cool in a weird way: a mix of the grungy darkness of Trey's guitar and an almost circus-like feel from what Mike and Page are playing.

Things start to go almost-ambient at 27:00, feeling almost like a return to or reprise of the space that started around the 11:00 mark. The combination of Mike's mantra-like playing and Trey's use of his octave shifter here is just ridiculously cool. It's one of the many, many pieces of music from this run that I feel like I could listen to on loop for hours.

It feels like things get a little too weird for their own good, though, at 28:30, so the band is like "Why not get even weirder?!" There's another quick transition and suddenly we're getting both Stones-esque rock and roll and "Flight of the Bumblebee" at the same time. What is happening? Presumably someone knows, but it's not me.

The insect mask is back, and I'm trying to avert my eyes so He doesn't take over my mind with His eldritch powers.

BUT I CAN'T LOOK AWAY!

This jam space sounds like "Llama" if Led Zeppelin had written it. Holy crap. There's something for everyone in this "Disease" jam, unless you're me, in which case all of it is for you.

The totally bonkers visuals are just the icing on the cake. And so is Fishman's suddenly loud, violent, and commanding drumming.

The whole thing builds to another peak here, but one made of chaos and madness rather than bliss and happiness, and then...and THEN at 32:17 the band moves back into whatever key "Disease" is in. If you're a huge nerd like me you know what's coming next, it's just a question of how long they're going to make us wait for it.

Not long.

At 32:44, Trey flawlessly jumps back into the "Disease" riff twenty-eight minutes after he left it and the crowd loses it so loudly you can hear it on the video.

These guys could have just played the Sphere, thrown up some cool videos during the songs, and called it a day. But instead, forty years into their tenure as a band, they're there throwing down probably the best "Down With Disease" I've ever heard them play.

What in the absolute fu

[mitoconniedria]

Just had a dream where the prof who's head of my musical theatre program turned out to apparently have secretly created this whole weird dramatic other life as a villain, and now he was single-ing out different people in my program on the down-low to like, test them essentially. And so he got to me and kidnapped my sister to lure me out to what one the outside looked like this old ragtag bar and was actually a front for his whole little evil test facility in the back, where he had me brought (and btw for some reason I had to wear a ball gown to try and blend in? Idk but apparently his bar wasn't that good of a front). And idk, I was supposed to be discussing the safe return of my sister with some of his cronies with the help of my parents (cause they realized that I was being sent random notes and clues essentially to find her and were both like "ain't no way we're letting you go after her on your own" which like, they're real for that) when suddenly everything broke out into a fight. Which was especially weird because at point I sort of had my suspicions that it was this guy who'd kidnapped my sister, and so when I'd fought off all his cronies in an oddly well-lit and costumed showdown, he finally emerged and was all like "bravo, you've finally completed your training." And was gonna offer me a job on Broadway if I just did some sort of "favor" because he apparently "knew people," at which point I kinda was like "nah bro, this is fucked," and left.

Like???? What??

I'm also 90% certain that at least part of that beginning context was foreshadowed in a DIFFERENT dream I had at some other point. I just-

This is why I can't have naptime, istg. I sleep too long and then this happens.

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

What's Up With WAG?

What's going on with Warner Animation Group?

Coincidentally, WAG was set up by the shield in early 2013, some ten years ago... about a year ahead of the release of THE LEGO MOVIE. The name has been used for numerous theatrical animated movies that have come out of Warner Bros. (now Warner Bros. Discovery, blehhh) ever since. All of which are conceived in California, but animated and produced elsewhere, as Warner Bros. Animation themselves - makers of most of the 2D direct-to-disc movies like the DC and Scooby-Doo films - doesn't make them. Confused? It definitely sounds it.

Anyways, so far, WAG has offered:

The four LEGO MOVIEs and DC LEAGUE OF SUPER-PETS, all animated at Animal Logic

STORKS and SMALLFOOT, both of which were produced up at Sony Imageworks

SCOOB! and the likely-never-to-be-released SCOOB! HOLIDAY HAUNT, animated at Reel FX

TOM & JERRY, a hybrid whose animation was done by Framestore

SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY, again, a hybrid, with multiple houses contributing

On the horizon is a live-action hybrid Looney Tunes movie called COYOTE VS. ACME, which originally carried a summer 2023 release date, before disappearing into the ether. Filming wrapped on the live-action portions a year ago, but WBD continues to be silent about it for the most part. Ditto TOTO, based on the OZ-inspired book TOTO: THE DOG-GONE AMAZING STORY OF THE WIZARD OF OZ, which used to carry a February 2024 release date. Nothing on that one, either. It's as if they're not happening, or Warner just doesn't know when they'll release them... And after their CEO's purge of animation, from offloading certain projects to other distributors (like that upcoming Batman show, BATMAN: CAPED CRUSADER) to outright near-erasing them from existence (FINAL SPACE, SCOOB! HOLIDAY HAUNT), I worry for them a bit.

The only animated feature from WBD with a concrete release date is THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM (April 12, 2024), which doesn't appear to be a WAG-branded picture. That's a Warner Bros. Animation collaboration with anime studio Sola Digital Arts, so it makes sense. They also recently released a Spanish picture called MUMMIES in a small amount of cinemas.

But in a way, did WAG even need to be a thing? Not the movies themselves, but that whole "brand"? That whole sort-of animated movie "think tank", as they once called it?

I get it, in a way. Warner has had an on-and-off sloppy history with animated features, and they seemed to think that Pixar Brain Trust-ing their way into a robust slate of animated movies was the way to go, but so many cancelled projects, flops, miscalculations and upper-level transitions later... What is there to do? The other big distributors who aren't Disney eventually got it right (i.e. Universal with Illumination, pre-Disney 20th Century Fox with Blue Sky when they still existed, etc.), but it feels like Warner Bros. is still having a hard time doing so. Ditto Paramount, who might finally get a post-2012 animation ball rolling with this summer's TMNT adventure MUTANT MAYHEM.

Warner had released animated features prior to the 2nd Golden Age of American Animation (late 80s/early 90s), such as the UPA's GAY PURR-EE and Filmation's TREASURE ISLAND, and also... Looney Tunes clipshow movies, but they tried to really get started on the features game once the Golden Age hit. But they tripped out of the gate: THE NUTCRACKER PRINCE came and went in 1990, ROVER DANGERFIELD apparently got matinee'd and disappeared a year later - a project significantly watered down from its original concept (an R-rated cartoon comedy based on a very R-rated comedian), they lost Richard Williams' to-be opus THE THIEF AND THE COBBLER to a completion bond company when things went south, and really... Throughout the '90s, only had a box office success in SPACE JAM. A Looney Tunes movie... With Michael Jordan... Everything else they released from roughly 1990 to about 2004, flopped: THUMBELINA, A TROLL IN CENTRAL PARK, QUEST FOR CAMELOT, THE KING AND I, OSMOSIS JONES, LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION and even the beloved THE IRON GIANT.

They saw some success with THE POLAR EXPRESS, and later HAPPY FEET... But then didn't score similarly with a HAPPY FEET sequel nor LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS: THE OWLS OF GA'HOOLE (one of the worst titles for a movie whose source material had a much simpler title that they *should have went with in the first place*). Only a few small, profitable movies like CORPSE BRIDE and the 2007 TMNT movie happened. No real blockbusters, though.

WAG got off to a good start with THE LEGO MOVIE in 2014, STORKS and SMALLFOOT made back their small budgets, and THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE continued the success of LEGO MOVIE numero uno. But the flopping of the last LEGO MOVIE follow-ups resulted in the movie rights to the construction toy being sent over to Universal, who are picking up the slack with a still-undated LEGO MOVIE 3. COVID-19 rerouted SCOOB! to streaming, TOM & JERRY did okay-ish as a hybrid release prior to vaccine rollout, SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY - which by all means should've been a nostalgic blockbuster - tanked hard. I get that Delta was becoming a concern at the time, but that didn't stop something like SING 2, released during Omicron, from being a big hit. DC LEAGUE OF SUPER-PETS, released this past summer, was their first truly profitable movie in a long while. They also blew a partnership with the studio that made RON'S GONE WRONG: Locksmith Animation, whose next film - THAT CHRISTMAS - is coming to Netflix.

Prior to all the shake-up following the Warner Bros. and Discovery merger, WAG also had a few Dr. Seuss-based pictures in the works: THE CAT IN THE HAT, THING ONE AND THING TWO, and OH THE PLACES YOU'LL GO... Those all might be up in the air as well.

I get the sense that post-Discovery merger, the whole WAG thing is just sort of on the back-burner. A sort-of "ehhhh what are we gonna do with this?" attitude.

Again, SCOOB! HOLIDAY HAUNT's fate. The first SCOOB! got rerouted to On Demand (and later HBO Max, soon to be called just... "Max"... Ehhhhh) after COVID-19 broke out in March 2020. The film would've been theatrically released in May 2020, so it going straight to VOD and streaming made sense. It was either that or a full-on year-long delay that other pictures, such as F9: THE FAST SAGA and the MINIONS sequel, got. They chose to just get it out, and it seemed to do well as a VOD title. So much so that they put a sequel in production, and actually completed. HOLIDAY HAUNT was to be an HBO Max-exclusive prequel, but rather than upping it to theatrical status and figuring out a release date for it, CEO David Zaslav - who made it firmly known today that WBD is no longer in the business of making streaming-only movies - killed it. HOLIDAY HAUNT is a fully-finished and fully-scored movie, but for legal reasons, it can never be released and no one can make money off of it. Great, huh? This could've be a modestly-budgeted theatrical release that could've collected some decent coin this past Christmas, but noooooooo-

(I'm still very bitter about that.)

So, that's one big dent. There's apparently a future for SUPER-PETS, per an announcement saying it would lead to a "universe". COYOTE VS. ACME and TOTO are totally in limbo, and it's not known what's going on with the Dr. Seuss movies. There doesn't seem to be anything else in some form of development there, and whatever was for a little while - such as an adaptation of George R. R. Martin's THE ICE DRAGON - is probably dead by now.

DC was completely revamped from the ground up per Zaslav's mandate, with James Gunn and Peter Safran now in charge, despite the fact that several movies under the previous head and part of the previous plan were shot. One of which, BATGIRL, was also hurled into the black hole by Zaslav, never to be seen. The remaining movies are all being released this year. SHAZAM 2 did badly, THE FLASH, BLUE BEETLE (originally an HBO Max movie, but upped to theatrical), and AQUAMAN 2 are next... Movies that seem to mean nothing going forward, as the whole thing is hard-resetting in 2025 with SUPERMAN: LEGACY anyways. What a mess...

I wonder if Warner Animation Group is seeing a similar overhaul. Bill Damaschke, former DreamWorks and Skydance Animation executive, had recently been tapped to lead up the place. Damaschke was a strong choice, given the heavy-hitters he oversaw during his long tenure with DreamWorks (dating aaaaall the way back to THE PRINCE OF EGYPT). I get the sense that there's a lot of rerouting going on there, too, as that often happens when animation studios get new heads and are set to go in new directions. It happened at DreamWorks, too.

So, maybe after COYOTE VS. ACME and TOTO - whenever the heck those come out, Warner Animation Group's future going forward might be very very different. It might be a clean-slate situation, a la DC Studios and the James Gunn Superman movie. A complete hard-reset, with maybe a few things kept around. I can imagine the SUPER-PETS movie still factoring into their future, and Looney Tunes movies obviously. I'd imagine they'd still do the Dr. Seuss movies, given how iconic Seuss' stories are, and the three theatrical animated adaptations - Blue Sky's HORTON HEARS A WHO! and Illumination's LORAX and GRINCH movies - all did well at the box office. Can't see Warner saying no to an animated CAT IN THE HAT movie, so I think that'll still be on.

What would I like to see from Warner Animation Group, myself?

Less reliance on their IPs, for starters.

Only STORKS and SMALLFOOT were relatively original stories in their line-up of features. And two movies that I quite liked! STORKS wasn't based on anything that already existed, while SMALLFOOT was based on an unpublished book. I love most of the LEGO movies, even if they are based on an iconic building toy and the movies themselves have strutted Warner Bros.' entire catalogue, but... If you think about it, STORKS and SMALLFOOT are just two movies amidst... DC, Scooby-Doo, Looney Tunes, Tom & Jerry, etc. All Warner-owned properties. If you remember, SCOOB! was supposed to be the start a Hanna-Barbera Cinematic Universe, which would've continued with animated movies based on THE FLINTSTONES, THE JETSONS, and WACKY RACES. (Dick Dastardly and Muttley, of course, appear in SCOOB!) And of course, Dr. Seuss. Toto. (The 1939 WIZARD OF OZ being a Warner-owned picture.) It's all Warner IP, or if it isn't, it's something very very well-known and adapted into movies before.

Like... Anything else? I know THE ICE DRAGON is a book, but that would've been really neat for an animated feature. Ditto that BONE movie that they let go.

I don't know, it just seems weird to me. The way Warner Animation Group was largely just a hub for CG animated movies based on Warner properties. That'd be like Walt Disney Animation Studios gumming their slate up with animated Marvel and Star Wars movies. I remember when Disney Animation announced BIG HERO 6, their only Marvel Comics adaptation, back in 2012, there were concerns: "Oh no, is WDAS going to be just an outlet for animated Marvel movies now?" But that didn't happen, that comic was so loosely adapted that BIG HERO 6 might as well could've have been an original story about a boy and his marshmallow-robot. And it didn't get a feature sequel, either. Ever since BIG HERO 6 came out, Disney Animation has continued to make new worlds and revisit two others. Marvel Studios has an animation wing, who have made WHAT IF...? and some other upcoming projects, so they'd likely do future animated Marvel movies. Not WDAS or Pixar. And Lucasfilm has an animation division, too, so an animated STAR WARS movie would likely come out of them.

Anyways, I hope for the best for WAG...

[genshins1mpact]

don't even ask how long this took, im surprised i managed to lvl 80 it in one day with no prefarming either... no lifed it like a mf today 💀

fresh out of the level up gems though so im gonna be royally screwed for lvl 90-ing it (and for my soon-to-be staff of homa 🥲) ... not looking forward to having to fight all these bastards again for the missing mats, most of the locations the adventure book and the online guides show you had nothing for me.. like wtf bro, how are whole ass enemies just missing? and only one guide would mark if they were aboveground or below in the fuckin tunnels at that, so bless their hearts for that extra step fr,,

[non-un-topo]

🌯 🚬

[soleminisanction]

Since you’re in a meta-ing mood, what do you think of the fandom trend to portray Tim Drake as a ‘genius idiot’, basically a supercomputer brain for crime and business, but can’t cross the street or talk to people without injury or insult that is always his fault. Lots of times this ties in with the idea he’s desperate to get Robin back and the other Bats will basically have to have an intervention to get him to ‘grow up’ and move to his own cape. As you can see, I’ve run into a meta bog

I can sum up my opinion on that fandom trend in two words: It's bullshit.

It's part of a modern trend that I hate, the idea that "the smart guy" archetype automatically defaults to a (badly) autistic-coded tech bro with no social skills. It gets slapped onto so many characters it never should have applied to, and Tim is a big one. He's not even that much of a tech guy! He liked technology, sure, but that was supposed to flag him as a nerd in the 90s, not as some exceptional talent in the field. Him using a computer in his investigations more than Bruce was the narrative equivalent of teaching your parents how to use social media.

No, I've said this before and I'll say it again: Tim is and has always been a detective prodigy. Which means that his skill set lies in observation, deduction, sociology and psychology.

Tim gets people, he's good with people, he can empathize with them, analyze them, and manipulate them in equal measure. Anybody who pretends otherwise just flat-out doesn't read comic books, because the evidence is everywhere. To the point I really don't feel like hunting it down right now, because I've done it before, and other people have done it before, heck I've reblogged a fair number of them myself under my meta tag because I'm always happy when somebody recognizes it.

But also, like, people could figure it out if they used some basic common sense: not only do detectives need to be good with people, but so do businessmen. Being able to persuade and/or manipulate people is like 90% of that job, especially when you're the company spokesperson.

It's just... so obviously wrong, but people are lazy, I guess. (Looking at you, Wayne Family Adventures. -_-)

--

As for the tie-in with Robin, that's the biggest eye-roll of all. Tim isn't "desperate" to get Robin back, he's slipped back into it because Damian, for all his whining and demands, refuses to do the actual job.

Damian doesn't want to be Robin, not really. He doesn't care about its symbolism, he chafes under his father's command, he's too antisocial to fill Robin's role in the community, and he's not even all that attached to Gotham.

What Damian wants is the respect that comes with Robin as a title, the perceived legitimacy it grants as a member of the Bat-family and within the caped community, and the symbolic gesture of making him the squire to his father's knight. All of which speak to an emotional need that a) is not and should not be "the point" of Robin, a role that by this point is bigger than one person, and b) is clearly not being fulfilled by his attempts to be Robin. The role is far more stifling for Damian than it ever was for Tim.

Meanwhile, Tim is right there, still believing with all his heart in Batman's mission and in the importance of Batman and Robin as symbols of hope and justice, just like he always has, and still perfectly content to fulfill that role if no one else is going to step up and do it. So of course he's going to take the mantle back, it's the exact same thing he did the first time Dick said he wouldn't stop being Nightwing. Tim didn't have a good reason to stop being Robin in the first place.

Heck, technically speaking, he never actually stopped being Robin, not really. People forget this, but the Red Robin persona? Is specifically supposed to be a Robin who stayed Robin and NEVER "outgrew" the role. It was originally created for the Kingdom Come take on the Golden Age/Earth-Two Dick Grayson, who never became Nightwing, he just grew up into a Robin who was more like Batman. Red Robin was just a more serious, less cartoony take on the idea.

I've always thought that's part of why it didn't work for Jason; he's somebody who actually did need to outgrow Robin, partially because he was kind of rough fit to begin with and partially because by that point it was already wrapped up in so much trauma for him that it wouldn't have been healthy to cling. But it worked for Tim because, when you get right down to it, he really didn't have a reason to give up Robin at all -- least of all to coddle the ego of a spoiled brat -- and probably would've just told Damian to go fuck himself if his quest to bring Bruce back didn't involve shady shit like breaking into museums and illegally entering protected heritage sites.

Anyway, sorry for the ramble, been a long day at work and I'm tired but TL;DR -- "genius idiot"/coffee gremlin Tim sucks, the real Tim is sweet and empathetic and only as awkward as any other teenage boy, and he should get to be Robin for as long as he damn well pleases.

[bloodstained-ballgowns]

"Holy shit!": 'Hawkeye' trailer thoughts

Not gonna lie, this looks pretty fun. It doesn't seem to be taking itself very seriously, which I appreciate, and Clint seems to have stopped moping. I approve. There's a definite Matt Fraction vibe to it, they're really trying to give edge out that iteration of his character. Successfully?...we'll see.

It's interesting that they went all in on the Christmas theme for this trailer. It makes sense, since the majority of the episodes will be releasing in December, but I probably wouldn't have emphasised that element until the second trailer, closer to the November release date. It kind of threw me off.

'ROGERS: The Musical' looks like a fun show. Trust capitalism, trust America, etc etc (Is this the Hamilton of the MCU? Does Hamilton exist in the MCU? So many questions, so few answers). Steve would hate this, good thing he's not around to see it.

I'm glad that 'omg who's Ronin?!?' isn't the whole plot of the series and that they're revealing it this early on. It's a Choice to put Kate in the costume, but we've already had 'omg whose the Powerbroker?!?' and 'omg who's Taskmaster?!?' so far this year; identity reveals won't hold you forever, guys.

Also...the day Clint Barton faces consequences for his actions will be a sweet, sweet one.

An appreciative list of all things very Hawkeye: 1) I'm guessing that's supposed to be a hearing aid? I can't wait for Marvel to be like 'what do you mean our disability rep is nonexistent, he's had it the whole time' 🥰 If he's not shown to be reading lips or signing at any point , I won't consider it enough. You can't just shove buds in his ears and write him like anyone else, it's who he is. 2) six icepacks on different body parts. 3) Lucky the Pizza dog is wearing a sparkly reindeer headband, and I am content. 4) Brobrobrobrobro, I don't think you're ready for the Bros, bro. Bro, they better be bro-ing all over the place.

There's a lot of Jeremy Renner here. In fact, the whole series is based on his character, can you believe it, it's almost like most of the screen time will be his. But I didn't even recoil when I saw his face! Character development on my part.

The car scene is clearly a recreation of panels from this comic:

Good choice.

Hey, Maya 👋

I can criticise the MCU for many things, but (90% of the time) casting isn't one of them. I'm confident they've hit another bullseye with Hailee Steinfeld. The character is actually pretty similar to her role in Dickinson, so it should be a good fit.

[tarantulas4davey]

HELLO BESTIE I am currently having Ralbert Brainrot and you're the best person go come to for this, obviously,, so PLEASE share! I would like to hear about ufc albert or youtuber race, or dancing partners!! I love them smm

HI YES HELLO USING THIS AS AN EXCUSE TO WRITE UFC FIGHTER AL PART 2 THANKS BABES

i just witnessed a literal crime and i’m Feeling The Rage (boxing judges at mma events can catch these hands) so here is. my brain on anger.

also the first half of this is pretty fight-talk heavy but the second half is more al/ralbert central so message me/send me an ask if i don’t explain something well enough <3

here is the ask i sent to @we-are-inevitable (thanks jac i’m in love with you mwah) and here is part 1 for this au if you haven’t read that one yet !!

also,,,,, this is fairly obvious. but trigger warning for violence/physical fighting, as well as blood. (it’s a rough gig y’all fjdhdb) oh and swearing but that’s pretty much just me LMAO

here i am, bein mad and writing ralbert. therapy time with chandler ig

OK SO

this is after his debut. duh. continuation

i think he’s probably 5 fights in with 5 wins. he’s been running people through, especially with four full camps after a short notice start, and he’s never even seen a decision in the ufc

let’s just say the hype train is moving FAST and it’s moving LOUD

everyone has to have those people that watch their fights just to see them lose, on top of the majority male fan base that have to have a little bit of toxic masculinity and homophobia in there

so there’s A LOT of people that are waiting for him and his hype train to get derailed. but there’s also a fair amount of fans, so you win some you lose some (the way i would die to see this be a real fighter pls)

now albert’s not always the most confident guy, and he’s never been cocky, but none of this shit gets to him. he’s got his coaches, he’s got his friends and he’s got race behind him. he knows he’s got the skills, and he’s got his support system, so who gives a shit what a bunch of cowards on the internet have to say?

and then they put him against someone known for his grappling and stamina. and the “it’s a wrap for dasilva!” bandwagon starts. it happens every time a rising striker and early knockout artist fights a well known grappler with any semblance of later round power (even if al has a background in wrestling and has gone 5 rounds and won outside of the ufc. it’s a bandwagon for a reason)

and it’s not Upsetting, it’s not really getting into his head in any way that’ll make him do worse, but it’s kinda pissing him off. which is bad for his opponent

the last person on earth you want to be fighting is an annoyed albert dasilva who thinks he has something to prove

he works his ass off in camp, and the press tour is a self-assured albert vs. a loudmouth who thinks he’s hot shit cause a few people on twitter think he’ll sweep

and, to be completely honest? it’s starting to look that way 2 rounds in.

it’s a 5 round fight, co-main event on a big card, and so far all al’s opponent has done is pinned him to the cage and kept him there. a few strikes worth anything - at least enough make al’s cheek bleed, no takedowns, which would at least give him some activity, and so submission attempts, so he can’t even gain any ground that way. he’s just- Stuck. and if THIS is how he loses, he’s gonna be pissed

the bell for the second round sounds, and you can actually see al’s chest heaving on camera as he walks to his corner - not because he’s tired or out of breath, but because he’s MAD, and fuck if he’s not going to do something about it

not only that, but he can not only see race and jack standing up by the cage - plus race’s expression, which is slightly annoyed and super anxious, which hurts his chest to think about - but he can hear them too

jack is yelling profanities, as per usual. he doesn’t that regardless of how the fight is going, but it’s less encouraging when you’re the one losing.

race though,,,, race isn’t really yelling, he’s more talking to himself than anything, but he’s close enough to cage and al knows him well enough to figure out what he’s saying. and if the muttered almost-prayers while he paces back and forth weren’t enough, the shiny gold engagement ring on race’s hand definitely is

round 3,,,, let’s just say it goes a little differently than the first 2 had gone.

he opens with a spinning back kick, of all fucking things, and that truly sets the pace

he’s the taller guy by a few inches, like usual, which makes his arms longer. the only reason crushing his against the cage worked is cause the guy he’s fighting cuts weight like a wrestler, so he’s easily got 20 pounds on albert come fight night

but once he finds his rhythm and starts throwing, he starts connecting too. he manages to stay out of range of his opponent and stay his comfortable distance to start t-ing off

this isn’t a one punch power ending. this isn’t a beautiful head kick, or a giant knee, or even just a clean right hook.

this is albert, who’s arms are starting to feel the 3rd round a little bit, hitting this guy with everything he has cause he refuses to lose this fight.

i mean- everyone watched him get up at the start of the round with a set jaw and a scary determined glint in his eye. he’s not a person you fuck with, and he’s definitely not a person you publicly ridicule before being locked in a cage to fight with

the guy he’s fighting is absolutely battered, but he manages to survive until round 4. the first of the championship rounds, something al’s never seen in a ufc fight before, and it feels like the arena is holding its breath

so when al comes out and does the same thing as round 3 to better results - fight ending results - everyone’s a little shocked, honestly

the commentary team’s in disbelief, cause albert is NOT a slow starter, regardless of what this fight would tell you, and the fact he managed a win at all, let alone such a phenomenal one, is fucking astounding

he gets his hand raised, obviously, but the really interesting part is the post fight interview

“albert, man, what changed between round 2 and 3? what second gear did you find?”

“bro, i just— it was pissing me off, honestly. i don’t come in here to get pinned down for 25 minutes. and, y’know, my team gave me good advice. i had all the pieces, straight from the jump, someone just had to force me to put them in place…”

and then he looks over at race, who gives al one of those half grin, half smirks and winks at him, and al just chuckles to himself and finishes answering the question

“the thing that really forced my hand is race. i won’t get cheesy on you, but watching someone who loves and supports you through everything panic cause he’s scared for you - it’s a big motivator. everyone would figure out a lot more of my motivations if they went and watched race’s expressions back instead of whatever the hell i’m doing in here. he’s always been the brains, i’m just the brawn.”

and that’s a better answer than anyone was expecting, plus he’s just had the fight of a lifetime that’s probably earned him a title shot, so he’s done soon after that and gets to have his little in-cage celebration

he hugs his team and jack, who razzes him a little bit as per usual, and makes some dumb quip about going over tapes later like he’s a coach. and then comes race

he hugs him, all tender and cute and also very sweaty cause That’s How It Works, and the camera’s focused on him, so they can tell they’re whispering back and forth. but there’s no mics on them, so what’s said is missed entirely on the audience, but it’s their usual cheesy, in love mess

“congrats, baby. i’m proud of you.”

“oh please. it was 90% you anyway. i meant what i said, it wasn’t just for the cameras.”

“i know that. i’m gonna have to get you back somehow for telling everyone to go back and watch my awful anxious expression. i’ll think of something.”

“i’m sure you will, sweetheart.”

and then al does that awful, adorable lil nose bump thing, and then kisses race. and then jack covers his eyes and whines until they stop like the actual 12 year old boy he is inside

and then they leave the octagon, race and al holding hands, and al throws his arm over jack’s shoulder and shoves his head down and pushes him, cause even though he was just in a literal cage match he’s still a roughhousing teenager at heart

and he’s got interviews and press shit that separates him from his people, and he’s gotta slide that bulletproof mask back down over all the happy and in love shit he’s feeling so he can not smile like an idiot on camera constantly

but every once in awhile he’ll catch jack giving him the finger and laugh before returning it below view of the camera

or he’ll catch race’s eye from where he’s standing behind all the studio lights and do a little wave under the camera and return the wink from earlier, and the unbothered fighter facade will crack a little bit

but he’s not completely convinced that’s such a bad thing

GOD THIS POST IS SO MUCH LONGER THEN I MEANT IT TO BE IM SORRY

but Yeah. Them.

i love this au a helleva lot more than i should but that’s Fine cause i’ve got thoughts for days on it

[crowdvscritic]

round up // JULY 21

‘Tis the season to beat the heat at the always-cold theatres and next to fans set at turbo speed. While my movie watching slowed a bit with the launch of the Summer Olympics on July 23rd, I’ve still got plenty of popcorn-ready and artsy recommendations for you. A few themes in the new-to-me pop culture I’m recommending this month:

Casts oozing with embarrassing levels of talent (sometimes overqualified for the movies they’re in)

Pop culture that is responding or reinterpreting past pop culture

Stories that get weEeEeird

Keep on-a-scrollin’ to see which is which!

July Crowd-Pleasers

1. Double Feature – ‘90s Rom-Coms feat. Lots of Lies: Mystery Date (1991) + The Pallbearer (1996)

In Mystery Date (Crowd: 7.5/10 // Critic: 6/10), Ethan Hawke and Teri Polo get set up on a blind date that gets so bizarre and crime-y I’m not sure how this didn’t come out in the ‘80s. In The Pallbearer (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 7/10), David Schwimmer and Gwyneth Paltrow try to combine The Graduate with Four Weddings and a Funeral in a story about lost twentysomethings. If you don’t like rom-coms in which circumstances depend on lots of lies and misunderstandings, these won’t be your jam, but if you’re like me and don’t mind these somewhat-cliché devices, you’ll be hooked by likeable casts and plenty of rom and com.

2. The Tomorrow War (2021)

I thought of no fewer movies than this list while watching: Alien, Aliens, Angel Has Fallen, Cloverfield, Interstellar, Kong: Skull Island, Prometheus, A Quiet Place: Part II, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: The Revenge of the Sith, The Silence of the Lambs, The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and World War Z. And you know what? I like all those movies! (Okay, maybe I just have a healthy respect/fear of The Silence of the Lambs.) The Tomorrow War may not be original, but it borrows some of the best tropes and beats from the sci-fi and action genres, so much so I wish I could’ve seen Chris Pratt and Co. fight those gross monsters on a big screen. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 6/10

3. Dream a Little Dream (1989)

My July pick for the Dumb Rom-Com I Nevertheless Enjoyed! I CANNOT explain the mechanics of this body switch comedy to you—nor can the back of the DVD case above—but, boy, what an ‘80s MOOD. I did not know I needed to see a choreographed dance routine starring Jason Robards and Corey Feldman, but I DID. All I know is some movies are made for me and that I’m now a card-carrying member of the Two Coreys fan club. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 6.5/10

4. Black Widow (2021)

The braids! The Pugh! Black Widow worked for me both as an exciting action adventure and as a respite from the Marvel adventures dependent on a long memory of the franchise. (Well, mostly—keep reading for a second MCU rec much more dependent on the gobs of previous releases.) Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 7.5/10

5. Liar Liar (1997)

Guys, Jim Carrey is hilarious. That’s it—that’s the review. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 7/10

6. Sob Rock by John Mayer (2021)

It’s very possible I’ve already listened to this record more than all other John Mayer records. It doesn’t surpass the capital-G Greatness of Continuum, but it’s a little bit of old school Mayer, a little bit ‘80s soft rock/pop, and I’ve had it on repeat most of the two weeks since it’s been out. Featuring the boppiest bop that ever bopped, at least one lyrical gem in every track, and an ad campaign focused on Walkmans, this record skirts the line between Crowd faves and Critic-worthy musicianship.

7. Double Feature – ‘00s Ben Affleck Political Thrillers: The Sum of All Fears (2002) + State of Play (2009)

In The Sum of All Fears (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7.5/10), Ben Affleck is Jack Ryan caught up in yet another international incident. In State of Play (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 7/10), he’s a hotshot Congressman caught up in a scandal. Both are full of plot twists and unexpected turns, and in both, Affleck is accompanied by actors you’re always happy to see, like Jason Bateman, James Cromwell, Russell Crowe, Jeff Daniels, Viola Davis, Morgan Freeman, Philip Baker Hall, David Harbour, Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren, Liev Schreiber, and Robin Wright—yes, I swear all of those people are in just those two movies.

8. Loki (2021-)

Unlike Black Widow, you can’t go into Loki with no MCU experience. The show finds clever ways to nudge us with reminders (and did better at it than Falcon and the Winter Soldier), but be forewarned that at some point, you’re just going to have to let go and accept wherever this timeline-hopper is taking you. An ever-charismatic cast keeps us grounded (Owen Wilson, Jonathan Majors, and an alligator almost steal the show from Tom Hiddleston in some eps), but while Falcon lasted an episode or two too long, Loki could’ve used a few more to flesh out its complicated plot and develop its characters. Thankfully, the jokes matter almost as much as the sci-fi, so you can still have fun even if you have no idea what’s going on.

9. Double Feature – Bruce Willis: Die Hard With a Vengeance (1995) + The Whole Nine Yards (2000)

Before Bruce Willis began starring in many random direct-to-DVD movies I only ever hear about in my Redbox emails, he was a Movie Star smirking his way up the box office charts. In the third Die Hard (Crowd: 10/10 // Critic: 7.5/10), he teams up with Samuel L. Jackson to decipher the riddles of a terrorist madman (Jeremy Irons), and it’s a thrill ride. In The Whole Nine Yards (Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 8/10), he’s hitman that screws up dentist Matthew Perry’s boring life in Canada, and—aside from one frustrating scene of let’s-objectify-women-style nudity—it’s hilarious.

10. This Is the End (2013)

On paper, this is not a movie for me. An irreverent stoner comedy about a bunch of bros partying it up before the end of the world? None of things are for Taylors. But with a little help of a TV edit to pare down the raunchy and crude bits, I laughed my way through and spent the next several days thinking through its exploration of what makes a good person. While little of the plot is accurate to Christian Gospel and theology, some of its big ideas are consistent enough with the themes of the book of Revelation I found myself thinking about it again in church this morning. (Would love to know if Seth Rogen ever expected that.) Plus, I love a good self-aware celebrity spoof—can’t tell you how many times I’ve just laughed remembering the line, “It’s me, Jonah Hill, from Moneyball”—and an homage to horror classics. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 7/10

July Critic Picks

1. Summer of Soul (…or, When the Television Could Not Be Televised) (2021)

Even director Questlove didn’t know about the Harlem Cultural Festival, but now he’s compiled the footage so we can all enjoy one of the coolest music fest lineups ever, including The 5th Dimension, B.B. King, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Nina Simone, Sly and the Family Stone, and Stevie Wonder, who made my friend’s baby dance more than once in the womb. See it on the big screen for top-notch audio. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 9/10

2. Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)

Robin Williams takes on the bureaucracy, disillusionment, and malaise of the Vietnam War with comedy. Williams was a one-of-a-kind talent, and here it’s on display at a level on par with Aladdin. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 9/10

3. Against the Rules Season 2 (2020-21)

Michael Lewis (author of Moneyball, adapted into a film starring Jonah Hill), is interested in how we talk about fairness. This season he looks at how coaches impact fairness in areas like college admissions, credit cards, and youth sports. 

4. Bugsy Malone (1976)

A gangster musical starring only children? It’s a little like someone just picked ideas out of a hat, but somehow it works. You can hear why in the Bugsy Malone episode Kyla and I released this month on SO IT’S A SHOW?, plus how this weird artifact of a film connects with Gilmore Girls.

5. The Queen (2006)

Before The Crown, Peter Morgan wrote The Queen, focusing on Queen Elizabeth II (Helen Mirren) in the days following the death of Princess Diana. It’s a complex and compassionate drama, both for the Queen and for Prime Minister Tony Blair (Michael Sheen, who has snuck up on me to become a favorite character actor). Maybe I’ve got a problem, but I’ll never tire of the analysis of this famous family. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 9.5/10

6. The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972)

This month at ZekeFilm, we took a closer look at Revisionist Westerns we’ve missed. I fell hard for Roy Bean, and I think you will, too, if for no other reason than you might like a story starring Jacqueline Bisset, Ava Gardner, John Huston, Paul Newman, and Anthony Perkins. Oh, and a bear! Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 10/10

7. New Trailer Round Up

Naked Singularity (Aug. 6) – John Boyega in a crime thriller!

Queenpins (Aug. 10) – A crime comedy about extreme coupon-ing!

Dune (Oct. 1) – I’ve been cooler on the anticipation for this film, but this new look has me cautiously intrigued thanks to the Bardem + Bautista + Brolin + Chalamet + Ferguson + Isaac + Momoa + Zendaya of it all.

The Last Duel (Oct. 15) – Affleck! Damon! Driver!

Ghostbusters: Afterlife (Nov. 11) - I’m not sure why we need this, but I’m down for the Paul Rudd + Finn Wolfhard combo

King Richard (Nov. 19) - Will Smith as Venus and Serena’s father!

Encanto (Nov. 24) – Disney and Lin-Manuel Miranda making more magic together!

House of Gucci (Nov. 24) - Gaga! Pacino! Driver! 

Also in July…

Kyla and I took a look at the classic supernatural soap Dark Shadows and why Sookie might be obsessed with it on Gilmore Girls.

I revisited a so-bad-it’s-good masterpiece that’s a surrealist dream even Fellini couldn’t have cooked up. Yes, for ZekeFilm I wrote about the Vanilla Ice movie, Cool as Ice, which is now a part of my Blu-ray collection.

Photo credits: Against the Rules. All others IMDb.com.

[plutohimself]

So I saw these two posts a couple of days ago about Alex’s anxiety and they’ve been sitting with me, so I’m gonna write something about it. I won’t tag the OPs or reblog with comments or whatever because it’s not a call-out or something I want to start an argument over. But, I feel weird about how the posts characterize Alex, Willie, and the boys in these headcanons.

Post 1:

...canonically Luke and Reggie aren’t very good at dealing with Alex’s anxiety [and his] experiences with being anxious around his friends and how he started just leaving when it got bad because Luke and Reggie didn’t know how to help him and he could tell it made them uncomfortable and he got used to just leaving and dealing with it on his own cause that was better than risking them making it worse.

...[Willie doesn’t] belittle or downplay his anxiety at all and Alex realizes how harmful Luke and Reggie’s reactions have actually been for him.

Post 2:

We’ve been talking today a lot about how the boys handle or don’t handle Alex’s anxiety vs how Willie handles it ... it would be nice to see Alex call them out for it next season and for there to be growth for them and for them to learn to be better ... I don’t know how anxiety disorders and such were handled/thought of in the 90s, but I doubt it’s great. So… what if Alex doesn’t even know what it is. Doesn’t know why he feels the way he does.

That would make a lot of sense as to the boys lack of tact and sensitivity vs Willie who ... is more up to date on mental health things. This would also explain why Alex hasn’t already called them out on it because ... he seemingly has no real qualms about calling them out on shit when he feels the need to. I think Alex has a good sense of self worth and isn’t willing to put up with shit from people ... So I think if he actually knew what was going on with him, he wouldn’t let the boys behavior slide. 

I want to be clear that I think “Reggie and Luke could learn to support Alex better” is something I unambiguously think is true of their dynamic. It’s the language about their reactions being harmful, or of them belittling/downplaying his anxiety, and of Alex “call[ing] them out” or not “lett[ing their] behavior slide”. This feels... uncharitable?

Things we know: Alex is pretty aware of his anxiety - as anxiety, not just “I’m a generally high-strung person” or whatever. In the 90s, there was still a lot of stigma around talking about mental health - I’m going to point to The Breakfast Club and Degrassi Junior/High as particularly notable example of this, even though they’re from the late 80s. Allison in TBC is literally called “the basket case”, and several of Degrassi’s characters took pains to avoid being looked at for their mental illnesses or other personal issues. Attitudes toward mental health treatment changed significantly through the 90s (nevermind how it was always viewed in LA & the entertainment industry, which is its own discussion of public image), but not so much by 1995 that we can assume it was significantly different. So for Alex to state outright that he has anxiety is both self-aware and something he’s clearly shared with the other boys.

Speaking of which, in the 90s, there weren’t quite the kinds of public awareness about healthy coping methods and treatments the way we do now, both on and off-line. I’m sure there were self-help books at the library, but I can speak with some confidence on self-censoring behaviors in library environments when seeking socially taboo topics. Namely, that people don’t if they think they can get by without that knowledge or if the cost of obtaining it (being seen) is greater than the cost of having it. In that, I think that Alex probably did not generally actively seek out information about anxiety treatment, although given the sheer force of his personality he probably would if he thought he needed to. But... neither would the other boys.

Finally, another thing we know is that Alex’s relationship with his parents was Not Good, for whatever reason. The boys are the only support he has, although he doesn’t ever express that he feels quite as deeply about it as Reggie or Luke does (not to say he doesn’t, but they’re the ones being openly dramatic about it). So in that, I think we can safely say that Alex is taking what he can get from them.

All this to say: it feels extremely odd to me to judge Luke and Reggie for not being better at supporting Alex in managing his anxiety. For one, they’re doing the best they know how, and as the one post points out, Alex would absolutely tell them something isn’t helpful. But two, this is the only support Alex is likely getting. I think that’s crucial. Alex isn’t letting anything slide or not discussing it with them, he’s taking the support he can get from people he trusts to take care of him.

I also think it’s unfair to contrast them too strongly with Willie. As much as I like the ship, I think it’s important to note that part of the reason they click is that Willie’s approach happens to match Alex’s speed. Sure, we can say that perhaps Willie knows more, but that’s never demonstrated. As far as we know, Willie is just that chill of a person. Does that work better for Alex in moments of anxiety? Sure, we see that demonstrated. Does that inherently shadow his bond with the other two boys? I’m... not sure that it does. 

There was a third post (that I can’t find) (found it) that talked about how in “Edge of Great”, Reggie tries to joke when Alex talks about Willie, and Luke brings the topic back to music, and that shows how Luke is very bad at this. But that didn’t feel like Alex’s anxiety manifesting? That seemed to me like two guys who saw their bro down about love, and were trying to cheer him up. Reggie told a joke - as he does - to lighten the mood (the novelization has Reggie in a POV chapter mention he does this deliberately). And Luke tries to remind Alex that he’s got lots of things that make him great. These are... perfectly normal, if not especially useful, things that people say after a breakup? There are probably other readings of that scene, but “Luke and Reggie aren’t as helpful as they could be, in a scenario where anxiety is probably also a factor” doesn’t feel like “letting it slide”.

If or when they learn better support skills, it won’t be a matter of Willie teaching them or Julie laughing. It will probably be because Alex - as a friend - will tell them “x will help more than when you do Y” and Luke and Reggie, as friends, will listen and want to do better. We, as people in this world, can always do better, but we can’t predict what will help. We can only do our best to listen and respond when we are asked to do so.

To see Luke and Reggie as acting deliberately against Alex’s best interest or against his wishes/needs, and then imagining Alex’s reaction as isolation or anger, makes me kind of wonder: is this how people imagine how friendships are, or should be?

That feels strange and uncomfortable to me.

[cherry-doesnt-draw]

BnHa Headcanons: Class 1A

Kaminari and Sero lowkey break the fourth wall multiple times, with Kaminari doing it half the time and Sero shushing him as if it was a government secret

"That's a major plot twist lol" "SHHH!! They don't know that bro!"

Mineta thinks Izuku is cool and looks up to him. It's pretty wholesome.

"He's so cool! I wish I was that cool too!" "Teach me your ways, oh great one!"

Despite not being able to stand bugs, Koda became friends with a black widow spider.

Izuku literally doesn't understand what self-preservation is. Even if you break it down for him, it still won't register in his head.

"S-self preserbasion?? What's that?"

Recovery Girl goes on vacation for a whole week just to see how much people got hurt in her absence. 90% was mainly Izuku Midoriya.

Tsuyu sometimes treat everyone as if they were her younger bro or sis.

"It's okay, kero. Onee-san is here for you."

Bakugou and Izuku's rivalry also spread to games outside of hero-ing. Chess, Checkers, Scrabble, you name it.

"So my current score is 343 wins, 4 draws and 10 losses. And Kacchan's is 398 wins, 4 draws and 4 losses. Dammit." "SUCK IT DEKU!"

Shoji and Tokoyami have random weekly sessions where they randomly start playing goth music in the UA dorms. Everyone suffers.

Jirou tells people alot to shut the frick up because of her sensitive hearing. People think she's being salty but really, she just wants a nap.

Uraraka would literally started a petition if she finds something unjust.

Iida sometimes slip up and drink soda. Out of shame he holes himself up in his room if it's a weekend. If it's the week he'll have this vibe that tells people to not approach.

Ojiro photobombs people, taking advantage of his plain... everything. You don't realize until it's too late.

Hagakure, due to her invisibility, is very shameless in being naked around others. Momo is trying to fix that.

"It's not like it matters! I'm invisible for crying out loud!" "S-still, you are a lady and should stay well-dressed at all times!"

Ashido is a actually a pretty good party planner. She planner a GET WELL SOON party for some sick classmates and they admitted it was even better than other ones.

When Todoroki gets invested in a conspiracy theory he came up with, it's hard to make him give up on it. He legit questioned All Might about his familial relationships to see if he could connect it to Izuku.

Aoyama helps with Ashido's party planning. He also has a secret stash of disco balls in his room.

"What can I say? They are shiny like moi☆!"

Momo doesn't understand when the word 'expensive'.

"I bought the whole restaurant menu for you guys! Ehh, it's too much? Ok then."