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noethicalconsumptionunderdisney · 4 years ago

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Ranked: Hannah Montana — Premieres

Welcome to Hannah Montana March Madness! This month, I’ll be doing Rankings, Analyses, and reblogging various posts that I like for Hannah Montana. Tbh, this was my favorite Disney Channel show growing up, but I haven’t really talked about it yet. And what better place to start than with literal beginnings? A.K.A, Premieres. So here we go.

Before we begin, I want to explain my criteria a little bit for what I think makes a great Premiere. A Premiere episode can be merely decent or good based on the basics of quality alone: good acting, good directing, tight editing, tight script, humor and/or drama that hits where it’s supposed to. That is one of my criteria, but I like my Premieres to be just a little more ambitious than that. The best Premieres:

Establish the tone, setting, and premise for the season

Introduce an important change, shift, or moment in the series that sets the season apart and/or make it clear to the audience why we’re starting where we are

Establish and/or re-establish the characters and characterization— the characters should still feel like themselves, and shouldn’t act too differently from how they act in other episodes, but they should still feel like they’re developing throughout the show, particularly if that development is directly related to the Important Change mentioned above

Stand out from the season in a way that doesn’t feel jarring or out of place— it should feel like a part of its own season, while also setting itself apart in a positive and memorable way

One last thing: I’m going to be listing these in reverse-order of how much I liked them: Worst->Best. That way, I can save the best for last. I should probably mention too that I don’t really hate any of these episodes (we’ll get into some of those later), but I will be mentioning what does and doesn’t work for me and why I ranked them how I did.

Let’s get to it!

#4: “Lilly, Do You Want to Know a Secret?” (Season One)

This is a tough one for me. On one hand, I have so much love for this episode and so much nostalgia for it. On the other hand, now that I’ve grown up, I have to admit that it’s lacking in terms of quality and cohesion with the season. While it does mark an Important Change in the characters’ status quo (Lilly finding out Miley’s secret), it also feels a little too different from the episodes that come after it.

At this point, everyone was still finding their footing, and it shows. The actors were still learning how to act and how to get along with each other, the writers were still figuring out who these characters were, costume and setting were still being worked out, and it has one of the biggest (and funniest) editing mistakes I’ve ever seen put to air. I may elaborate on this in a deep-dive post on the subject at a later time, but suffice to say, they just weren’t there yet. They didn’t quite hit their stride with Season 1 until their third episode (which is actually a personal favorite, but again, I’ll save that for later), and while they do keep the same basic elements of the characters and a few key details from this episode, everyone feels a little bit off here in a way that’s just too noticeable for me to ignore.

That said, judging it as a Premiere might be a bit unfair of me, because this is a Pilot episode. And a Pilot episode really only has one job, as far as showrunners are concerned: to get the show up and running and on the air. So in that sense, I’ll always love this episode for doing what it was meant to do: setting up the show and making sure it got off the ground. And hey, if the worst thing I can say about a Pilot episode is that the show that came after it was so much better, that’s a testament to how important it was to have a Pilot good enough to get picked up in the first place.

#3: “He Ain’t a Hottie, He’s My Brother” (Season Three)

This one beats the Pilot in terms of quality, consistency, and characterization. The show’s been established for some time now, so the acting, camerawork, and directing work a lot better as they’ve gotten more comfortable, and it’s consistent in the sense that it does feel like it fits into its season (apart from The Big Thing that we’ll get into in just a minute). It also does feel fairly in-character for the most part— I genuinely get the sense that if they were making Lackson canon, this is probably how it would go down.

And with that, let’s get into the shipping, because it’s the elephant in the room. I personally don’t have strong feelings either way about Lackson as a ship, I think Lilly and Jackson would work fine together, I do personally prefer them as a friendship and pseudo-brother/sister dynamic, but I don’t have a huge aversion to them from an in-universe standpoint. I do think there are logistical and ethical issues from a real-life standpoint given the ages of the actors at the time, but good news everyone! None of it ends up mattering anyway! It was all a dream. Problem solved, right?

Yeah, no. Here’s the thing: All Just A Dream is already an eyeroll-worthy trope in a random filler episode. And while it’s not quite as infuriating in a Premiere as it is in a Finale, it is frustrating. This episode Goes There in establishing a Big Change that could change the direction of the show… and then pulls an “oops, never mind!” at the last minute. Which is really not a strong way to start your season.

The even more baffling part of choosing to start the season this way is, the episode after it is “Ready, Set, Don’t Drive,” which is both a solid episode and establishes a change in the status quo that actually sticks: Miley’s 16 now, which means she can drive herself around now. This is good for the themes of Season 3 as Miley is gaining more independence and becoming an adult, so why not just start there? (Then again, the episode after that is “Don’t Go Breaking My Tooth,” and she says, “I’ll be driving soon” and has Jackson take her, so was that episode meant to go before it? I find that episode to be much weaker, so I do think “He Ain’t A Hottie” was the better choice between those two, but in terms of meeting my Premiere criteria, both of those options leave a lot to be desired.)

The other strong choice for a Premiere would be “You Never Give Me My Money,” as it deals with those same themes of Miley growing up, and she gains independence through access to (some of) her Hannah money, and that’s yet another change to the status quo that actually sticks. So, between that and the driving episode, it’s just odd to me that they chose to start their season with an episode dedicated to a ship that doesn’t actually happen, particularly a season where a different ship later does. (There is perhaps a little foreshadowing there in that Miley sees Lilly having feelings for someone close to her that she never expected her to fall for, and has to learn how to be okay with that, but honestly, I’m not even sure if they were 100% planning to “go there” with Loliver at this point, or if this was just something they were considering now that the characters were getting older.)

If this were just a filler, Fanservice episode, I could probably live with that. I just wish that they hadn’t started with it, because starting your opening episode with “Just kidding, it was all a dream!” establishes a tone where nothing is real and the stakes don’t matter. (Which unfortunately, also popped up a lot in Season 3, but I wouldn’t consider that a change for the better.)

#2: “Sweet Home Hannah Montana” (Season Four)

This high up? I know. I was surprised, too. But believe it or not, this episode actually works really well as a Premiere: it establishes a new setting and an Important Change (the Stewarts move into a new house, a large ranch where Miley can be with her horse and feel like she’s back in Tennessee while still being in California and getting to live with Lilly), it sets itself apart from the seasons before it, everyone’s in-character, and it stands out and feels like a First Episode of a Finale Season while still blending into the season as a whole.

There is one thing from this that doesn’t stick from one episode to the next, but I do believe it’s established in a way that we always knew that part wasn’t going to stick. We knew Miley and Lilly were not going to spend an entire season trapped in a kiddie bedroom, and a large part of the plot revolves around them making sure they don’t. The audience is under no false pretenses here about what is and isn’t a permanent change. They’ve left their old house behind for good, and the new house setting is here to stay— they’re just working out some of the details.

Comedy-wise and quality-wise, I can definitely see this not being the strongest episode just as an episode. I do think the beginning of Season 4 suffered from the decline that had begun to affect the show, and it was doing its best to pull together a decent season and an ending that worked for the show and characters while dealing with a lot behind the scenes and a lot of fatigue from actors and writers alike. While I don’t think Season 4 begins nearly as strongly as it ends, I do think this is a fairly solid and logical beginning, and does the “soft reboot” for the show that I believe they were going for.

#1: “Me and Rico Down by the Schoolyard” (Season Two)

Honestly, this was never even a question for me. Strong as a Premiere, strong as an episode, high quality, stakes, humor, this episode starts the season on a high note, both feeling like it naturally and seamlessly blends into the episodes after it, and feeling distinctive on its own.

Two big changes to the series are established: Miley starts high school, and Rico becomes a series regular. Not only do these mark a change for the new season, they mark a change for the series as a whole, as both of these changes are maintained from here until the end of the show (although, admittedly, it’d be hard to avoid her going to high school, so that was pretty much inevitable).

Not only do the characters feel like themselves, this is also the first time in the series Rico messes with someone other than Jackson, and establishes himself as an antagonist proper for the show. This isn’t the first time Miley and Rico have interacted, but it is the first time she knows exactly who she’s dealing with, and she deals with him the only way she knows how: confrontation, scheming, a little help from her friends, and in the end, a moment of raw honesty. Speaking of her friends, they’re on-point too— Oliver’s fake muscles, the callback to his “locker doctor” skills, Lilly being supportive and sassy to Miley and Oliver in equal measure, and all the interactions with the monkey are sheer perfection.

There is a “fakeout” moment in terms of the secret, but that was properly set up as well— we knew Miley bringing her teddy bear to school was still a secret, and one that would still affect her status at the school, just… not as much, and not in the same way. While it would have been interesting to see how Rico would’ve reacted to finding out the real secret (at this point in the show), we also hadn’t established enough of how he felt towards both Miley and Hannah for it to make much of an impact yet, and at this point he hadn’t developed enough as a character for him to believably let something that big go. Sure, maybe he would’ve in that moment, but he probably would’ve still tried to use the knowledge in the future, so ultimately, I think it’s for the best that he didn’t know the truth about Hannah after all.

I haven’t gotten into subplots so much on this list, but it works well on that level, too. Jackson has an understandable and relatable conflict regarding the new kid, and he too has to choose between his status and his conscience. He too struggles but ultimately makes the right choice… and a new friend. Robby Ray dishes out good advice after a “dorky dad” moment, as per usual. Everyone is so them and so perfectly them in this episode that I might actually count this as one of the best episodes in the series, let alone their best Premiere by a long shot.

In any case, I can’t think of a better way to start a season, or a better note to end on for my first, but certainly not last, Ranked post for Hannah Montana, and for this blog as a whole. Stay tuned this month, more is just around the corner. I can’t wait to show you all!

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stephadoodles · 5 years ago

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DOAFP Episode 1x01 Review - “Hello World”

I’ve fallen in love with this show, and I don’t think I’ve ever been this early to a fandom before, and I decided that I wanted to review the episodes. I’ve always wanted to do reviews, but I usually enter fandoms too late. So, I’ve decided to do reviews of DOAFP! I’m hoping to catch up before season 1 ends so that my later views are based on my initial reactions.

The introductory episode is just that – introducing us to the characters and what’s going on in their lives. However, the show flashes forward first and we see Elena as an adult on her first day as President of the United States.

The whole concept of this show – a female, Latina president – considering the current political climate, is truly fantastic. In the opening scene, we get a few details that I’m sure will come into play later. It’s mentioned that Elena was a civil rights attorney before becoming president, and it seems like she’s not married either – no ring, and she has the same last name. I don’t know if that will be relevant later on down the line, but it’s interesting to note.

A large chunk of the episode is introducing the characters and catching the audience up with what’s going on. Elena’s dad having died is mentioned very early on, and we get to see her relationship with her mother and brother. The drama with her friends at school is also set up as one of the overarching themes of the show.

Aside from that, the show jumps right in with the period story line. It’s a great example of the show being able to be a little bolder than what is typically shown on Disney Channel, but still age-appropriate for middle schoolers. Elena and her friends are at the age when kids have already gone through the “body changing” talk, and they’re experiencing it in real time. I don’t know if things have changed since I was in middle school, but while getting your period was a hot topic, it was never a competition, which these girls seem to be making it into. The debate over whether to use a pad or tampon is alluded to, with the mean girls acting like they’re mature for using tampons instead (and loudly bragging about it, which is a weird flex, but okay).

The period story line also starts the theme of growing up, which continues throughout the rest of the show. Elena and her peers are shown wanting to be grown up and mature but focusing on the superficial parts of being a grownup, like getting your period or drinking coffee. It looks like this will be a running theme and likely be the driving force for a lot of character development in the future as they realize that those things don’t actually make you grown up.

(Side note to that, but Elena makes a comment early on in the episode about having a mortgage by the time she’s 25, and I just had to laugh at that. The little she knows.)

Shifting gears to Gabi’s story line, there were a couple of things that really stood out. Sam’s introduced, and we get to know that he’s a dork who loves cheesy puns. They’ve set up her relationship with Sam, and there’s obviously a lot of complicated feelings there, since he’s the first guy she’s dated since her husband died, and she doesn’t know how to tell her kids.

We’re also introduced to her best friend, Camilla, who is the first LGBTQ character introduced on the show. We get a little exchange between the two, where it’s revealed that Camilla isn’t out to her parents yet, because they’re apparently homophobic. Considering everything that’s been happening with Disney and their history of LGBTQ representation, the fact that they’ve introduced an LGBTQ character in the first episode is a pretty big deal. No subtext, no beating around the bush. She’s dating a woman. It’s also the first time that anything Disney related has explicitly homophobia, as far as I know. Both Andi Mack and HSMTMTS alluded to it, but never really brought it out of subtext, so this is a new step. It makes me wonder if it’ll be discussed more in the future, especially considering the direction that Bobby’s story line is going.

Once the introductory stuff is out of the way, we get into the actual plot. Elena’s mixed up the dates of the assignment and starts panicking. At lunch, she calls her mom from under the lunch table (to avoid getting in trouble for using her phone, I would presume, because there is no other reason to sit on a floor as disgusting as a middle school cafeteria). She’s freaking out and quite dramatic, to which her mother responds calmly, and tells her that she’ll just have to deal with the consequences. I really liked this, because while her mom doesn’t yell at her (which is a response some parents might have), she does tell Elena that she’ll just have to accept it because that’s life. Once again, it’s hitting on that theme of growing up and having to deal with the curveballs that life throws you.

Elena finds out that Jessica was lying about getting her period and confronts her about it. They have a whole argument about being popular and why it’s important to Jessica. Despite everything, Elena agrees to keep her secret. Having seen more episodes already, I’m really interested to see where they’re taking this plot line with the friendship between the three girls. Having a best friend ditch you is a type of hurt that isn’t usually explored in media (with the preference being on romantic relationships and heartbreak instead), but it looks like it’s going to make for an interesting story line.

Elena somehow manages to pull together a speech for her history project, and not only does she do a great job, but she manages to throw a few shots in there at Jessica about the period thing. It’s a really great example of her skills as a public speaker, which is shown again in future episodes. She’s clearly great at thinking on her feet, and her public speaking skills are fantastic for a seventh grader. It’s a great little hint at her future as an attorney and politician.

The adult and kid worlds collide with Sam inadvertently being introduced to the kids. Bobby doesn’t seem to mind (it’s chill). Elena, of course, has a more dramatic reaction, but her feelings aren’t explored until the next episode. We see Sam and Bobby bonding fairly easily, and I’m interested to see where that goes in the future, especially with some of the hints we’ve gotten from plot synopsis for future episodes.

A few things I wanted to point out that didn’t really fit anywhere else:

Near the beginning of the episode, we see a kid chuck a drink at a wall and take off. It’s one of Bobby’s friends, and while we don’t know that at first, it may be a hint at the type of people he’s hanging out with

Elena corrects the pronunciation of her last name, which comes up multiple times later, and culminates in Bobby’s story line in a future episode

Before her speech, Elena is sitting in front of an Elizabeth Stanton poster (who was a leading figure in the women’s rights movement in the US, including fighting for women’s right to vote. It’s another nice little nod to Elena’s future career)

Overall, it was a really solid first episode. We’re introduced to the characters and the universe, and it’s refreshingly diverse. It has the feel of an old-school Disney Channel show but with a modern viewpoint. However, with it being on the streaming platform, it’s allowed to discuss more mature topics, and there’s even some light swearing sprinkled in. It’s age-appropriate for middle schoolers, but realistic at the same time. It gives me a mixture of Andi Mack, One Day at a Time and Lizzie McGuire vibes.

#doafp #diary of a future president #elena cañero reed #my reviews #doafp reviews

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herkiss-theriot · 4 years ago

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Lol I know absolutely no one asked but here I am, arbitrarily ranking Kid Krow songs because this is a music blog now apparently and it’s my favorite album so far this year. Feel free to shoot me an ask for any elaboration or other opinions lol. Sorry for the long post. I would add a keep reading but I’m on mobile and the mobile app is somehow worse than the website. I’m also not tagging this so if this gets notes it’s not my fault. Also I’m editing the post em to say that I think this whole album is amazing and it pains me not giving every album a 10/10 bc they’re all so good

Comfort Crowd - 11/10

One of the best album intros I’ve heard compared to other albums I like. It means a lot to me and is overall a really easy song to listen to in basically any mood but is a great pick me up I think it also has one of my favorite lines on the album “you say through a sigh that I said that line already”

Wish You Were Sober - 8/10

A fun song to listen, has some solid lines. Not very relatable in my experiences but that’s also not the point lol. Favorite line(s): “knees weak, but you talk pretty fly, wow” “gettin’ good start saying gotta bounce”

Maniac - 8/10

One word titles are always fun but also -2 for some ableist language. Ik that’s not always at the top of Woke Cultures to do list but it’s a real problem and provides for some cringe vernacular choices sometimes. Overall it’s a pretty good song and is definitely one of the best on the album that’s playable even outside of the album/to people who arent into Conan. Conan apparently describes it as an “upbeat bedroom pop banger” according to genius which I guess, yeah, but what a way to describe a song. Favorite line: “we had magic, but you made it tragic”

(Online Love) - 9/10

First interlude if the album which is very exciting. Very cool idea to say that he thinks this love could be more if it were in person which translates well into current scenarios. Has a really cool guitar pattern and a nice ending. -1 bc it’s 30 seconds long favorite line: “I can’t help but imagine what maybe could’ve happened if we weren’t just an online love”

Checkmate - 10/10

Ik this was released pre-Kid Krow but god it’s one of his best songs and I’m so glad it made it on the album. It’s just got such a good energy about it and I always love chess analogies. And Ik Kid Krow Isnt a concept album by any means but I love the story arc going on of finally catching on. Favorite line(s) “cry me a river till you drown in the lake” “holding your hand but in the other one, baby I’m holding a loaded gun”

(I wrote parts for the cut that always bleeds and fight or flight and then accidentally deleted them so rip me sorry if they’re a lil short/less in depth)

The Cut That Always Bleeds - 8/10

It’s overall a great song and is really emotional but -2 bc I ugly cry to this song and get asked if I’m okay a lot lol favorite lines: “I don’t love you anymore” a pretty line that I adore”

“Can’t life another minute bleeding from my back cause I don’t have another one for you to stab”

Fight or Flight - 11/10

What a song. There’s not a lot I can say other than that it’s literally one of the greatest songs I’ve ever heard. It’s got some of the most genius song writing that I’ve heard on an album in a while. Also when I was learning to drive with my Nana i had a playlist that would go from Comfort Crowd to Fight or Flight which is an experience I recommend everyone have at least once in their life. My only criticism of this song is that it’s perception of cheating is a lil Disney-channel-esque” which maybe doesn’t make sense and also I’m fairly certain that he writes from personal experience and who am I to say he can’t write what he wants lmao.Favorite line(s) “id rather lie than tell you I’m in love with you” (one of my favorite lines EVER) “they also didn’t know that our lover loved us both.

Affluenza - 7/10

A fun song but is kind of a lot in my opinion and seems vaguely out of touch. However I do agree with the overall sentiment of eating the rich (also if you’re a trinkets fan I think this is a good song for an Elodie playlist or maybe even Tabitha depending on the perspective.) although I will say it’s a really good take on the idea of affluenza as a concept. favorite line “give me none of your affluenza”

(Can We Be Friends) - 6/10

Ik it’s an interlude so it’s kind of the point but definitely a skip most of the time even though I think the line “if anybody fucks with you I’ll knock their teeth out” gods hard. I just think one minute is a really weird time frame for a song. Sub one minute is just short enough to want more and 1:30 and perfectly acceptable for a song but one minute is v awkward

Heather - 10/10

Not amount elaboration would ever be able to perfectly encapsulates how gorgeous the idea of this song is. This idea that you wish you wish you could be someone else because you feel that this other person is otherworldly and is more deserving of the person you love. That feeling is gut wrenching. Favorite line “why would you ever kiss me, I’m not even half as pretty”

Little League - 5/10

I’m so sorry it’s just such a skip. I don’t know why but I can’t listen to this song. It reminds me of a big time rush song for some reason which isn’t a bad thing but every time I try to listen to it I think about how I think it’s a btr copy 😭 also when I do listen to it makes me cry a lot and yearning for a youth that I let waste away and I hate feeling actual feelings so minus points for that. Favorite line “when we were younger we wore our hearts out on our sleeve, why did we ever have to leave? Little league” I think it’s my favorite bc it can be interpreted in a couple of ways and I’m too tired to get into it rn

The Story - 10/10

Simple. Beautiful. One of the first Conan songs I heard. My friend was a huge Conan fan and so I listened to a couple songs like generation why and crush culture but she saw him in concert b4 kid Krow was released and took a video of The Story and I absolutely fell in love. The first time I heard it I sobbed. This idea of paralleling a bunch of failed loves and friendships in order to justify why you think yours will work is so cool and I love it a lot. Favorite line “I’m afraid that’s just the way the world works but I think that it could work for you and me.

#sky speaks

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servinglemonade · 5 years ago

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My first reaction to Disney +

Hello... It’s been a while since I have posted here. I had exams, then summer vacation and then I finally started college! So now that I’ve settled in I thought it would be fun to give you my thoughts on Disney+! Yes, you read that right! Disney+ is here... in the Netherlands. Exclusively. Disney is having a free trial here which started on September 12th and goes on until launch day on November 12th!

So let’s dive into Disney+

Interface & Features

The interface is pretty standard. It looks like Netflix, but obviously with a nice Disney touch! The home page looks really great in my opinion. On top, there is a header that showcases one movie per category (Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic). You can browse per category as well. When you hover over the brand you get a little animation. Disney has a castle with fireworks, Pixar has the clouds, Marvel has their intro, Star Wars has stars and National Geographic a scenic mountain view. On the search page, you also have several collections like the Princess Collection (all princess movies and series) or Disneynature (all Disneynature movies). Hopefully, they’ll add some more soon. It’s a handy feature in my opinion. You can also create a watchlist.

I find the movie-watching experience great as well. It’s simple and sleek. You can choose from multiple languages for both audio and subtitles. It’s also really nice to have all the movies in HD. Some of them are even in 4K/HDR! These are mostly Marvel, Star Wars, Disney Live-Action movies and 2 animations (Ralph Breaks The Internet and Aladdin!).

There is an awesome feature that I stumbled upon while I was doing my research for this post. You can change the way the subtitles, from the color to the font. Even the opacity of the background and the font size! I did see some people complaining about subtitles. I didn’t mind them, however, the fact that Disney is truly listening to the users and trying to fix all these issues is great! Two thumbs up for ya Disney! The last thing I want to touch on here is the extras for the movies. These extras mostly include deleted scenes and trailers. However, some of them have some really cool behind the scenes stuff. The making of Beauty and The Beast, Staging The Ball from the Cinderella Live-action and the making of Sleeping Beauty just to name a few! Really great that all of those are on Disney+ as well.

Profiles

Just a quick little thing I wanted to touch on before I go to the content. You can choose from a significant number of Disney characters for your profile picture. Ranging from Disney Classics to Marvel & Star Wars to villains and princesses and even Disney Channel!

There are so many to choose from! It’s overwhelming. Here are just a few

Now it’s time for the most fun part: the content. All of the originals are not on the service yet, those will come out when Disney+ officially launches on November 12th.

Disney

What isn’t on this page?! The amount of content is so incredible. And not even everything is on it yet! Here you can find your classic Disney animations from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to Ralph Breaks The Internet. All in glorious HD or even 4K sometimes. They also have some true Mickey Mouse classics like Steamboat Willie. All the Live-action movies are included here as well. From the more recent remakes (even Dumbo is on here already! If you haven’t seen it yet, please do) to absolute classics like The Princess Diaries, Mary Poppins and all the Pirates of The Caribbean movies. If you grew up with Disney Channel, all your favorite movies and shows can be found on Disney+ now! Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place, Camp Rock, The Cheetah Girls, That’s so Raven, Halloweentown, Descendants and so many more (all the seasons and sequels for everything). For the little ones, there’s some Disney Junior content, like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Pixar

All the Pixar animated classics are here. From Toy Story to The Incredibles 2. Hopefully Toy Story will be streaming soon too. If you love the Pixar shorts, you’ll be happy to hear that these are all on Disney+! Like Piper, Bao, Knick Knack, For The Birds and more. There are even shorts with characters from some of your favorite Pixar movies like Monsters Inc, Ratatouille, Cars and Toy Story.

Marvel

I just want to thank Disney and Marvel for basically having all the MCU movies here on Disney+! From Iron Man to Captain Marvel. Most of them in 4K as well. And a surprise… Avengers Endgame will hit the service tomorrow!! I’m already preparing to cry my eyes out again. The only movies that are not on the service yet are The Incredible Hulk and Spider-Man Homecoming. I really hope Spidey will be on Disney+ as well. I need Far From Home in 4K. Besides MCU related content, you can also watch multiple Marvel animation shows. Like a lot of Spider-Man shows, Rocket and Groot, X-Men, Fantastic Four and many more. Some of the newer live-action Marvel shows are also on the service, like Agent Carter and Agents of SHIELD.

Star Wars

Now for Star Wars. I started watching the movies back in the summer. Disney+ was not being tested yet. So I was excited that all of the entire Star Wars saga can be found here! From Episode I The Phantom Menace all the way to Episode VIII The Last Jedi. It’s been really great to have 1 place to watch these movies. You can find the spin-off movies Rogue One and Solo here too! You can also watch some animated shows like Star Wars The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels and lots of Lego Star Wars shorts.

National Geographic

To be honest, I haven’t anything from Nat Geo yet. However, they do have a very exciting original coming tomorrow! However, they have Brain Games! I used to love that show, so I’ll definitely watch that. They have some amazing documentaries. Drain The Ocean, Titanic 20 years later and Free Solo just to name a few.

Disney+ originals at launch

Here is a list + some thoughts:

Star Wars: The Mandalorian (series) (trailers looked very good, so I’m excited for this) Lady and The Tramp (movie) (again trailers looked amazing, great cast as well! Really excited for this!) High School Musical The Musical The Series (series) (yes, that is the actual title, not sure about this one as a massive HSM fan, however, I will check it out) Encore! (series) (not really interested in this one, might watch it one day) The World According to Jeff Goldblum (series) (this is the nat geo original I was telling you about. Such a great idea, who doesn’t love Jeff?! Will watch this 100%) Noelle (movie) (a Christmas movie?! Yes please, I’m in full Christmas mode already so bring it on) Marvel Hero Project (series) (might watch at some point after I have watched all the other things I want to see first) The Imagineering Story (series) (as a huge Disney Parks fan, I might be most excited about this, so that will be the first thing I will watch tomorrow) Pixar In Real Life (series) (I didn’t even know about this until a week ago, looks like a lot of fun, so I will watch this for sure)

The Disney+ app

The app has been pretty solid. It basically works the same as the web version, it’s just on your phone or tablet. The app also has a download feature. Which means you can download anything on the service and watch it offline. How handy is that! If you have a chrome cast, the app is a must. You can cast all of the movies and shows on your TV, which is great because you won’t have to look on your small screen.

Some issues

This was obviously a test version of the final product so it wasn’t perfect from the get-go. The app struggled in the beginning with the continue watching feature. When you were watching a show, it didn’t let you watch the next episode from your continue watching. However, this has been fixed and now works like you would expect. The other big issue was the chrome cast compatibility. When I had just subscribed for the trial it would start normal, however, after a while, it would freeze and the image would get all distorted. So that was pretty annoying. Lots of people were having this issue and by magic, it was fixed a couple weeks later and now works as expected!

Is it worth it?

Now if you either love Disney, Pixar, Marvel or Star Wars or you love everything, yes it is worth it. Even if you just love Marvel and/or Star Wars, I feel like it’s worth it. You have The Mandalorian coming at launch and so many more in the years to come. Like Falcon and The Winter Soldier, WandaVision, Loki, an Obi-Wan show, and so much more. So maybe if you’re waiting for that, you can get it when those shows will be on Disney+. Plus for the price, it’s a pretty sweet deal. Just €6.99 per month or €69.99 per year (which if you calculate it, can save you €13.89 per year). I love everything so for me it can’t get any better than this. Lots of the movies I watched on Netflix were mostly Disney or Marvel movies, so for me, this service is perfect.

Wow, this was a long one. If you have read it all the way through, thank you so much! I hope it was informative.

So how excited are you for Disney+? Will you be getting it at launch or will you wait? Plus if you are getting it, what will you watch first?

Have a magical day!

Yenai

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leapingtitan · 6 years ago

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R∃/MEMBER (Individual Song Thoughts) - SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] 3rd Album

I made a review on the 2nd album, 2V-ALK a while ago so here is the next installment. This is mostly for the Sawano Discord server but I’m posting it here for convenience and safekeeping purposes.

01. Glory -into the RM- (violin: SUGIZO from X Japan; vocal: Yosh)

I really love the instrumental parts of this track. It works well as an introduction piece and is up there with ~prologue~ for me. The vocal parts with Yosh are a bit weak and turn the track from a badass instrumental piece to a stadium football game chant. The track can do without it. However, there is that one section after the chorus where Yosh whispers like he’s singing in a 2000′s alternative rock band and the vocals do this cool panning effect. SUGIZO from X Japan is on the violin and his parts are really good and have a lot of synergy with the sampled bagpipes and piano. The guitar chugs are also pretty cool and remind me of TBFworld a bit. Overall, it’s a good track despite the vocal section being a bit unnecessary. Speaking of, them lyrics. “Honor of dying alone”? Was this made for Thunderbolt Fantasy or something?

02. EVERCHiLD (vocal: Akihito Okano from PornoGraffiti)

I admit the track has grown on me a bit and I definitely like it more than I did when the first preview video of it showed up. Still, as I’ve stated many times, I don’t really like happy and bright songs too much and prefer something with a stronger emotional impact. Still, the track is nice and again I’m glad Sawano did something different with the drums for once rather than layering electronic beats over an acoustic kit. My biggest problem with the track is the last chorus and the outro. “Tiny world is so stuffed all day, but nothing’s gonna change my story�� is sung 6 times back to back and gets repetitive after the 2nd one. Should have just kept it as an instrumental. Other than that, I’m not the biggest fan of Akihito Okano’s voice. I like him more in the first Bnha OP for instance.

03. never gonna change (vocal: SukimaSwitch)

One of the tracks I’ve been most hyped for since the preview has dropped and boy does it not disappoint. I love the guitar and the drums and SukimaSwitch’s voice is really nice. It honestly reminds me some of the pop-ish music I used to listen when I was younger. The “2nd chorus” in the original PV was actually the bridge, to my surprise. The 2nd verse, which is new here, is really good. Love the guitar that comes in after the first few measures. Overall, the track is great.

Lastly, that instrumental outro section with the piano and guitar was completely unexpected but it’s amazing. It sounds like it would be a track rearrangement if never gonna change was an OST piece. Really good and honestly adds a whole new dimension at the end of an otherwise great track. My favorite so far.

04. narrative (vocal: LiSA)

Now we get to some of the tracks which have already been heard before in other releases. I’d be repeating myself if I go in detail like with the other tracks so the tl;dr version would be that I don’t think LiSA’s voice fits this type of Sawano music at all. Not that it’s a surprise considering the track wasn’t even composed with her vocals in mind. The instrumental is, for all it’s worth, actually not that bad. I don’t really mind the strings, or “casio pad strings” as dante calls them and it makes the song at least a bit more interesting.

05. i-mage (vocal: Aimer)

It’s been a long time since an Aimer and Sawano collab and unfortunately I don’t think the wait was that worth it. For the record, I really love Aimer’s voice but the song composition itself is what I dislike. Similarly to EVERCHiLD, the song just doesn’t have enough emotional impact, at least for me. I can see the appeal of it otherwise but personally it doesn’t do much on my end. The intro and verse are alright but the chorus is where it gets too playful for me to take it seriously and I found myself spacing out and losing focus on the actual track which hasn’t happened with the other songs so far. The 2nd verse has some cool bass going on but it sounds really noisy in the mix for some reason. Lastly, again, same problem with EVERCHiLD where the standout English portion of the lyrics, in this case “Light and dreams that children hold tight, now you have them in your right hand” repeats way too much in the last chorus and outro portions. Same formula.

Despite all of these complaints I think if I listen to the track enough it might grow on me. Might. But other than that, a bit underwhelming and personally my least favorite Sawano and Aimer collaboration for now.

06. NOISEofRAIN (vocal: swan with nishi Takanori Nishikawa from TM Revolution)

I’m gonna be honest here, it’s really hard for me to talk about this song without any irony and memes to go with it. This song just slaps. That’s it. I listen to it on an almost daily basis and have been doing so since it came out at the end of November. Can’t really say much other than it’s my favorite [nZk] song and Takanori Nishikawa is the OG.

One thing I have to point out though is that the mix in this album’s version is slightly different than the one in the narrative/NOISEofRAIN single, specifically the start of the first verse where there’s two synths that are either made really quiet or missing. Yeah, I’ve listened to this track way too much in order to notice the smallest things like that..

OUTRAGERS DRIVE ME NUTS

07. Binary Star (vocal: Uru)

This is the one older [nZk] song I can’t put my feelings into words for. I really like Uru’s voice and I hope Sawano collaborates with her again in the future, but the song itself is just... strange. Specifically the instrumental. It’s just really weird, having the strings and piano portion at first and then adding drums later on. I just don’t know what to think. I definitely don’t dislike it and I do enjoy it but that’s it. I actually really need to listen to it more often...

You know what, Binary Star is really nice.

08. ME & CREED <nZkv> (vocal: Sayuri)

Okay... so... uhm. I guess this is it. This is the track. I’ve made fun of this song a lot back when we only had PVs to go on. I called it a lot of things and overall shared the server’s opinion that it’s not that great. But you know what? I listened to it once today, in the full album. Just once, didn’t really need to listen anymore to open my eyes.

By the way, little fun fact: It’s actually spelled Me & Creed in the original Blue Exorcist OST, or I guess if you want the full name.. “Exorcist Concerto First Movement”... something like that, don’t !songtitle me... but yeah I’m just delaying the inevitable here.

So, I have finally been able to have a fresh, reformed opinion on ME & CREED <nZkv> and express my true feelings. Because, well, the truth is...

...

It still fucking sucks.

Honestly... just.. why? First of all, out of all of the “High Pitched Jpop Vocalists That Do Not Match Sawano’s Composition Style” category members, Sayuri is by far the worst. And, you know, that might just be be for not preferring this kind of voice that a lot of Japanese singers, but I’ve listened to some of Sayuri’s own stuff and it’s not bad because the SONG ACTUALLY FITS HER VOICE.

Now, despite all of this the verse is alright. The chorus is where the harmonies really get out of hand and only make the already bad vocals worse. And it wouldn’t have been as jarring if the instrumental was decent but it’s not. Me & Creed is not at all the type of song that would benefit from overly punchy kick drums and toms and it loses its entire flavor just with the drums alone. It sounds like a below-average pre-rec demo of the original track and doesn’t even respect what kind of song the original is.

Also, this is made for a mobile game. I don’t know about you but if this was in a game as its main theme that would not give me a good impression.

Fun fact, this is the only track on the entire album that is under 4 minutes long. I guess you can say it came short in multiple departments. I give it an Aldnoah Zero out of 10.

09. Unti-L (vocal: ASCA)

After the traumatizing experience that is the previous track, I come to something that is actually good. Unti-L and never gonna change are my favorite new tracks from this album. I’ve been looking forward to this one since the first 5 second PV and I’ve been listening to the short version a lot for the past week. The song is incredible. 6/8 time signature, ballad-y sound, strings and good sound design in general makes for a solid and near flawless track. ASCA’s voice is very enjoyable and I find that it works well with the song since it was probably made with her vocals in mind unlike narrative and... the other thing.

I can’t really say much else, really. Great intro, verse, vocals, melody and overall sound. The instrumental break/bridge is also very pleasant with the simple guitar. Probably the most emotionally impacting track on the album and I love it.

10. Cage (vocal: Tielle)

The original Cage is interesting but I have to say I find it inferior to the <NTv> version from the narrative/NOISEofRAIN single. I’m not the biggest fan of the synth in the intro and the electronic drums don’t quite do it for me in terms of the overall sound. The <NTv> version is still superior in every way and has fits more with the melody and Tielle’s voice. Overall though, the composition is great but you can’t really look at the instrumental alone in both cases since Tielle’s voice makes the track what it is.

11. REMEMBER (vocal: mizuki, Gemie, Tielle, naNami, Yosh)

Should have just credited it as [nZchoir].

On a serious note, this sounds like something you would hear in a Disney Channel movie, especially the chorus. The track is surprisingly pleasant to listen to and I find it really catchy and easy to jam and sing along to. Also like the parts where there’s just one vocalist singing and the choir effect in the chorus is really nice as well. Again.. Disney movie.

I actually want to say more about this track but I definitely need to listen to it a bit more to make other comments. Other than that, it’s nice.

Conclusion

As a whole, this seems like a much more fresh album than 2V-ALK. It still doesn’t compare to the diversity and variety in o1 or how solid UnChild is, but I still think it’s at least on par with 2V-ALK despite not having all that many songs. Still, the new original tracks here (well, almost all of them) are interesting and despite my comments on some of them I do think they do their thing and make the album.. work, I guess. I definitely have some tracks I want to go back and relisten to a few of them though, which is a good sign.

I don’t have individual ratings for the tracks but in terms of ranking, a few hours after my first impressions and a few listens I would order them in the following fashion. The best is at the top and the worst is at the bottom.

NOISEofRAIN

never gonna change

Unti-L

Glory -into the RM-

Binary Star

REMEMBER

EVERCHiLD

i-mage

Cage

narrative

you know what goes here.

And that would be it. Thanks for reading!

#hiroyuki sawano #music

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musicofthenightphantomoftheopera · 7 years ago

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Dear Voltron Fandom (an open letter)

Dear Voltron Fandom,

You don’t know me, but I know you. Before I get into this, allow me to introduce myself so I’m not a stranger. My name is Paiton. I’m 19 years old, and I have high functioning autism, and the character I relate to and love the most is Pidge. I have traversed through many a fandom in my life so far. From Avatar:The Last Airbender, to Sailor Moon, Steven Universe, Disney, you name it! All of these fandoms are loving and wonderful in their own way. However, every fandom has a dark side; It’s just the nature of fandoms, unfortunately. Despite that, I was able to look past that, and be proud to be a part of them! But NEVER have I EVER been more ashamed of being in a fandom when I got dragged into Voltron. Before that, I heard rumors of how toxic the fandom was and all of the crazy stunts some fans tried to pull in order to get what they wanted into the show. So, I tried to avoid the show and its fandom like the plague at all costs.Two months went by and my curiosity got the best of me and I decided to check out the show just to see what all the fuss was about. Turns out I really liked the show and Pidge quickly became my favorite! Hell, I even started a Pidge Ita Bag; just added the first charm to it a couple of days ago! I started out just keeping to myself on my quiet little tumblr blog just reblogging fan art and fics as well as interesting theories and talking to my friends about it. And I can’t forget about buying Voltron fan swag! All was well, despite the occasional bits popping up about the latest fandom disasters. That is up until quite recently. I thought I had seen it all when I had to fight to defend Sailor Moon fans that were being bashed for liking Sailor Moon Crystal or for getting into Sailor Moon in general because of Crystal. I thought I had seen it all when I saw SOULESS Steven Universe “fans” telling an artist to kill herself for drawing Rose Quartz skinny. I thought I had seen it all when I saw the Brony fandom in general. But this....sending death threats to the voice actors and their families, blackmailing the creators in order yo make Klance canon, and a rumor that some antis were burning fanart?! This is absolutely UNACCEPTABLE! To those who participated in ANY of these horrible actions or any other crimes against the fandom, you ought to be ASHAMED of yourselves! Your actions are SHAMEFUL and you should /feel/ ASHAMED. People like you are a disgrace to this and every other fandom out there. You are the reason why the Voltron fandom has such a bad reputation. Now for the sake of this not being me dragging the voltron fandom for the entirety of however long this is going to be, I’m going to play devil’s advocate for a minute or two. I know that not everyone in the Voltron fandom is bad. Hell, my best friend is a Klance shipper and a Lance fangirl and she’s one of the chillest Voltron fans I know! And you want your ships to be canon, I get it. Every fan wants their ship to be canon, weather its a strait, or LGBTQ+ ship. We need more LGBTQ+ representation in...well, pretty much everything really. And it is coming. Its getting there, but its gradual and you have to be patient! “Patience yields focus” , in the immortal words of our beloved Space Dad. But I also understand that fandoms can change things as well. The first example that comes to mind is Kim Possible if any of you reading this are old enough to remember. When Kim and Ron finally got together in the movie that was supposed to be the series finale, the fans flipped every last crumb of their shit and wrote in, demanding another season. And another season they got, ending with Kim and Ron graduating high school. So fandoms /can/ change things, but this.... Blackmail, death threats, is NOT the way to do it! If anything, stuff like that will steer people away from creating representation just because of the sheer mass hysteria it causes within fandoms! Its the toxic people in the Voltron fandom that pull this sort of stuff that steered me away from the show in the first place. To the toxic people in the Voltron fandom who call themselves proud members of the community. You know who you are. I am calling all of you out. You are not fans. You are bullies. Plain and simple. The kind that beat up the little kid with glasses and stuff them in a locker for being a nerd. The kind that steals lunch money in the cafeteria when the teacher isn’t looking. The kind that spread awful rumors about that shy little girl that likes anime, telling her that nobody would care if she died, only worse. You are the very same kind of bullies that I tried to get away from by joining fandoms (supposedly an accepting environment for people who are different and like the same stuff) in the first place. Now I am the kind of person that doesn’t have a temper. However, stuff like this is one of the very few things that get me righteously pissed off. But I don’t yell, or scream, or punch a wall. Instead, I channel that anger into fuel I can use for something else. Which is what made me write this open letter to you, the Voltron fandom. Like I said earlier, not everyone in the Voltron fandom is bad. To all of those that just enjoy the show and respect other people’s ships, or don’t give a dam about ships at all. thank you for being decent human beings and trying to clean up the mess these toxic, souless antis made of our fandom. After seeing all of this I can tell you that I am officially 1000% DONE with this bull. So I am calling the antis out. Consider this a reality check for ALL of you. This is a fucking CARTOON. The people you are shipping so feverishly together are fictional characters. Underline the word “Fictional” as in “not real”. At the end of the day, they are just a bunch of lines and colors moving frame by frame and voiced by real human beings with feelings. They are not above emotions like some of you idiots think they are. When are you going to get it through your tiny brain cases you call heads that how you are acting is childish, immature, and just plain sadistic?! I want to get something strait right now. I do not hate the voltron fandom, not at all. I hate what its become. These horrible antis and haters and toxic people are infecting the fandom like a deadly disease; like a fast spreading plague that causes the slow and painful death of its victum. However, unlike the real Black Plague, there is a cure! And a contagious one at that! So I’m sending out a call to action to every decent human being in the fandom! Those who are here just to enjoy the show for what it is with other people and have a good time, the older fans who got into Voltron: Legendary Defenders because they grew up with the older versions, the Multishippers, those who are respectful of other people’s ships,, or don’t give a dam about shipping at all, as well as those who keep their accounts as safe spaces for all fans. Do your girl a solid and help make the Voltron fandom a better place. Please, be a voice for good. If you see a fan getting harassed by an anti, just politely shut them down. Don’t go full on Leroy Jenkins and fight back, don’t feed the trolls, guys! Just politely tell them to back off and ignore them after that. Then, turn around and try to cheer up the person who got harassed! Share your favorite fan art pieces with them or give them fic recommendations! Who knows, you just might make a new friend! If you see someone you follow on any social media platform doing any of the bullshit I’ve previously mentioned earlier, unfollow them immediately. You don’t need that kind of negativity in your life and neither does anybody else. Let your followers know that your account is a safe space for all decent Voltron fans to geek out and that there is a ZERO TOLERANCE policy for antis. If someone disagrees with you on your ship or theory, politely ask them to explain their reasoning in a civil manner. Get a dialogue going so the whole thing doesn’t turn into an all out screaming match. It can be done, people! It is possible! It just takes a little effort. It may take some time, hard work, blood, sweat, and tears, but I beleive we can fix the fandom if we all work together. Now I also want to take a moment to send a message. To the voice actors of Voltron; Bex taylor Klaus (My Queen), Jeremy Shada, Steven Yeun, Josh Keiton, Kimberly Brooks, Tyler Labine, Rhys Darby, and A.J. Locascio. To the Co-Creators of Voltron; Joaquim Dos Santos and Lauren Montgomery. I am not apologizing for the actions of the toxic part of the fandom (that’s a mess they gotta clean up themselves), but I am speaking for the good part of the fandom and myself when I say that we apologize for what these souless people have put you through. Nobody should ever have to go through that just some people want a small sense of validation in their ship being canon. We love all of you and we hope that you can find it in your hearts to give the fandom a chance to redeem itself. I wrote this in hopes of waking some people up and start to to change things for the better. At least that’s what I hope will come of this rant that I wrote all in one sitting at 4 am. Just know that we all love and respect you and I am going to try my hardest to help change this fandom for the better with the help of my friends and followers, as well as the rest of the fandom that actually has a soul and a conscience. We are going to try and remind everyone that we are all on the same side. We all love the same show and the same characters and the same story. After all, we’re all made up of the same cosmic dust.

signed,

Paiton

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stina-is-a-punk-rocker · 4 years ago

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to all the boys i’ve loved before: the good, the bad & the ugly

THE GOOD

I live my life with the belief, not in any religion, but in several other truths: pineapple topping on pizza is a crime against humanity. FOUR is the superior One Direction album. The book will always be superior to the movie based off of it.

Actually, maybe we have to reconsider that last one.

I first watched To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before expecting a slightly polished version of a Disney channel original. I was- to my surprise, and delight- proven wrong. Sure, the premise is a bit flimsy (why, in god’s name, would Lara Jean put her letters in envelopes and address them if she had no intention of mailing them?); there’s a multitude of cliché YA tropes (naïve, introverted MC meets floppy-haired white boy ft. some reincarnation of Regina George who happens to be his ex with a vendetta against the poor, innocent MC; the GBF); I’ve got several concerns about the casting (the Covey girls are supposed to half-Korean. The actors playing them don’t even have the same ethnicity? Nor do they look like they could pass for siblings?); and the soundtrack is- well. They could’ve done better.

BUT. And that’s a big ‘but’, which is why it’s in all caps. There were so many things I loved about the movie, so much more than the ones that bothered me. My little Asian heart always bursts in joy whenever I see a positive representation of someone like me in media- I don’t care if they’re South Asian or East Asian or SEA or Middle Eastern or anywhere else from the Asian continent. For so long, the only representation in Western media- if any; having Asian characters is a rarity- were perpetuating stereotypes; Lara Jean and her sisters are such a breath of fresh air. Noah Centineo’s… well, a lot of people find him cute, and he’s got a charming smile. Kitty is my spirit animal. And the aesthetics are so cute- Lara Jean’s wardrobe is a dream, and her room even more so. I loved the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before movie, and I will go to my grave defending it.

Since I loved the movie so much, surely, the book would be better! Right?

… Sigh.

THE BAD

The cover’s very cute, I’ll give it that. Arty font, reminiscent of something you’d find in a love letter, good call. The color scheme’s adorable. The girl on the cover is very pretty. And, um… that’s about it.

Right off the bat, Lara Jean’s monologue made me go, oh. It’s that kind of protagonist. The one who spends way too much time telling and not enough showing (blame all the writing advice videos I watched on YouTube. It never used to bother me before, but it’s all I can see now).

(Also, “After I write my letter, I’m no longer consumed by my all-consuming love.” You’re proud of that, aren’t you, Miss Jenny Han?)

And, see, I wouldn’t mind (I probably would) if Lara Jean’s thoughts were particularly riveting. Mildly entertaining, at the very least- that’s all I’m asking for.

Lara Jean is uninteresting; almost painfully so. Film-LJ’s quirkiness barely translates to the pages. Sure, Lara Jean likes romance… and baking… and antiques… and writing letters to boys who are supposedly out of her league and who could never fall for little old her. And she’s a bad driver. She idolizes her older sister. Decent character traits for a YA protagonist. And, as far as I recall, no internalized misogyny that comes in the form of slut-shaming, which is a rarity for the genre of YA. Great.

And yet there’s something about book-LJ that feels so… contrived. A little Mary Sue-ish, if you will. Papery.

Which can be said about almost every other character (except Chris and Kitty. Margot, to an extent, but I don’t like her).

There are loads of useless info-dumps strewn throughout the story, which makes me wonder if it wasn’t edited. The writing’s just… bad. It’s more like a Wattpad story (when did ‘Wattpad story’ become the paragon of bad YA? Honestly speaking, though, all the popular Wattpad books give the website a bad name. There are some incredibly well-written works on it- yes, even Harry Styles fanfiction. Not every Wattpad story is going to be *bleh* After or The Kissing Booth. But I digress). Lara Jean goes into too much detail about her outfits and the trivial details of… everything, really. And, well, no one gives a fuck.

Which brings me to: the love triangle. Beloved of all YA clichés, pretty much a staple in the genre at this point. Always with the female main character choosing between two men, both conventionally attractive in a very Eurocentric way. Usually, it’s painfully obvious who gets the girl; “Emma Notlikeothergirls has to choose between the handsome, confident, gorgeous, athletic, strapping Ashton Dreamboat and that rando who lives next door, Billy Whatsisname. Whoever will she choose?”

I’ll give credit where credit is due. The book makes both Peter and Josh (unrelated, but why are the boys’ names so standard Hoosier boy-ish? You’ve got girls named Genevieve and Margot, and the boys are pretty much the twelve apostles) pretty evenly matched. Josh has the whole boy-next-door, childhood friends, I-have-always-loved-you cliché going for him, while Peter’s the popular boy, the jock, the guy every girl wants to be with and every guy wants to be.

And yet they’re both complete dicks.

I’m supposed to be rooting for one of them. Team Peter or Team Josh; either Peter-Jane or Lara-Josh. Either the guy who’s got nothing but his looks going for him, or the guy who slept with her sister and kissed her without her consent. hOwEvEr WiLL sHe ChOOsE???

And I was never really convinced that Peter actually developed feelings for Lara Jean, ever. Maybe I’m just oblivious, but they seemed more like friends instead of lovers. I was lowkey shipping Lara Jean x Chris, even though I knew that was plain wishful thinking; I already got my Asian MC, this won’t be getting too diverse.

Other clichés I’m tired of seeing but were unfortunately present: Lucas, the token Gay Best Friend (I was annoyed with the movie for making him the Rafiki to Lara Jean’s Simba and nothing else, but rereading the book made me realize that they didn’t have much to work with in the first place); Margot, the Bitchy Sister (I never forgave her for lying to their dad about Lara Jean having sex. Seriously, how low can you get? JOSH kissed LARA JEAN, not the other way around! Margot’s supposed to be the same age I am, I think, so I believe I have the ability to call her out on her bullshit); Genevieve, the Bitch Queen Extraordinaire; Kitty, the Annoying Younger Sibling (but I love and cherish her so I don’t mind it).

“The sibling dynamic was surprisingly better written than a solid 75% of the book,” says me, an only child.

Also, a final complaint: is having sex that big of a deal? I get Lara Jean being (rightfully) horrified at the accusations, and Peter Kavinskydick deserves a decent roundhouse kick (the movie did a better job of making Peter’s actions forgivable), but why does everyone else care? Seriously, do you have that little fodder for gossip?

THE UGLY

Am I going to complain about the sequel to the movie based off of the sequel to the book that I can’t remember anything of besides the fact that John Ambrose was ten times the man Peter Kavinsky was? You bet I am.

In all honesty, I can’t remember much of the book version of P.S. I Still Love You. Rest assured that I was Team John Ambrose all the way, both while reading the book and watching the movie. I don’t want to make myself suffer through the book again, so I’ll resort to bashing the movie sequel.

This movie sucked balls. Not on the level of Sierra Burgess is a Loser or Swiped or The Kissing Booth or- yikes- The Kissing Booth 2, but it was still pretty bad. It’s pretty obvious that the two movies weren’t directed by the same person. For all its plot-related shortcomings, the first film was charming and pretty widely well-received. The second film takes all that charm and cuteness and fluff and flushes it down the toilet, along with the tiniest bit of affection I had for the character of Peter Kavinsky. Lara Jean, too, to an extent.

At least Peter and Josh were evenly matched. John Ambrose is lightyears ahead of Peter. And yet Lara Jean chooses Peter because… the first dick is the best dick? Make it make sense!

She’s leading John Ambrose on during the entire film, and I normally hate using that term because it’s such an incel way of putting things. But she doesn’t tell John Ambrose about Peter and her dating, even though she’s had the opportunity to do so countless times. She gets mad at Peter for being close to Genevieve, and yet? Hypocrite much? Not to mention she kisses John Ambrose, right before she’s like, “whoops haha guess I don’t like you that much after all :/ lol my bad”.

John Ambrose deserved better, and that is the hill I will die on.

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aurimeanswind · 7 years ago

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Get Acquainted—Sunday Chats—3/4/18

So I will be talking about this a lot over the next few days, but I have a brand new podcast that I want you all to check out.

Get Acquainted, with Alex O’Neill

My new show is called Get Acquainted, and it’s a one on one interview show. And I know. I get it. Everyone has one nowadays, but I’ve been working on this for a while, and I’m really excited about the conversations I’m going to have on it.

First and foremost, you can go subscribe to this show right now. It’s on iTunes and everyone, with just a little preview episode available to get you subscribed and ready for my first episode, next week.

You also get to hear the amazing music made just for this show by my friend Micah E. Wood, who you can go listen to more of his music on iTunes and Spotify as well!

iTunes Link

If you can rate or review this while it’s just launching, that would be immensely helpful. My first guest is Andrea Rene and her episode will be releasing next week. This is going to be a monthly show with different guests on each podcast, and the format will evolve and change over time.

I’m really excited to finally launch this show, and I hope you all like it!

Honestly that’s the big news I wanted to get out, so let’s go right to questions.

You can send your questions @ me when you see my tweet on Sunday afternoons with the hashtag #SundayChats in it!

I mean the big one is Grand Theft Auto. I’ve played 2, 4, and 5, and I think all of them are like, fine. This infatuation with GTA V is so beyond me. I hate to sound so stuck up, but it’s a series I’ve just never had much patience for. There is supreme quality and technical design there, but none of the entries have stuck with me. That being said, all of the more seminal ones (Vice City, San Andreas, and GTA 3) I haven’t played, so I could be missing a lot of the core of that series.

I’ve also, and this is me just really thinking about it for a moment, but I’ve never really loved the Battlefield series? By which I mostly mean the “modern” Battlefield games. I loved the original, 1942 was the first FPS I ever played, and it is super special to me. I enjoyed 1943, but most of all I adored Bad Company 2. I like the original, but BC2 is where it’s at. But Battlefield 3/4 and most recently 1, all haven’t really done much for me .I’ve bounced off of all of them, but the idea of another WW2 Battlefield game, which is rumored to be this year’s, actually has me excited. If they can get 1942 vibes again.

I mean Max Scoville once gave me pogs out of his pockets. But I dunno, they’re just bits of cardboard really, right?

So porgs. I liked the porgs. As someone who didn’t love everything about The Last Jedi, I liked porgs a whole lot.

Absolutely. There are multiple pieces that I’ve gone back to and completely rewritten. In fact most of them still aren’t published because I’d probably rewrite most of them again if given the chance. Hell I’ve written something on Persona 4 Golden about six times.

Which I think is similar to the situation you’re in, right? As Night in the Woods is your favorite game Steven, I feel you when I channel that to write about mine, Persona 4.

But a project that’s special to you should take time. Sometimes the ideas come and go and you feel good about them, but you don’t want to rush something you feel you only have one crack at. Get Acquainted is a show I have had rummaging around for two full years, and I’m finally in a place where I feel I can do it. So take your time.

This is tricky. It’s different for different things. I mean if it was numbers and clicks and views, i’d have quit this gig a long time ago haha. I think projects where I can see my own personal growth in them, like the run of five episodes for the latest Alex Talks. I can see the change from the first to the last as far as editing ability and my hosting capability. So I take that as a success.

Plus a lot of people had very kind things to say about that series, and that makes me feel really good.

I think it’s a combination of all of the above. Ultimately if you’re really proud of a thing and think it’s genuinely cool, even if no one sees or hears it, it’s a quality thing you made. Then, when you’re applying for jobs and trying to show the work you’ve made, you can send them a link to whatever that thing is, and you know exactly the right people have seen and appreciated it. If it’s worth sharing it’ll get its use in its own ways, in my experience.

I mean, I think in a perfect world that is what Patreon was for. But then it blew up, and why wouldn’t it, since it’s such a strong idea and works so well for creators. But I feel like also those huge creators make it harder for those smaller ones to thrive on that service. Like the notion that has been going around a lot: is Patreon just a small pool of contributors or is it still brining new people to its service? I don’t know, but it seems like there isn’t enough love to go around.

I want smaller creators to be able to thrive on Patreon, and hopefully they find their audiences grow on that service.

Pretty stoked. New show launching, PAX East is going to be huge for us, and I’m reviewing Yakuza 6.

Get ready.

I’ve been seeing them! Folks can check them out here:

youtube

I’d probably take Anna Kendrick, because she seems like she’d be down, and I’m in love with her.

Oh god yes. Feed me your Kingdom Hearts questions.

My favorite world is tricky, but it may be something like The Land of Dragons from KH2. But honestly so many playthroughs later of KH2 I don’t love any of it’s worlds really, save for The World That Never Was. KH1 had really good, big worlds with tons of exploration, but the platforming was so all over the place in that game that getting around them was a bit nightmarish.

Haha I guess I am just jaded on KH worlds after playing through them so much. Space Paranoids.

I don’t love many of the Disney key blades, but I love the Ultima Weapon in KH2, it looks excellent, and I’ve always been a huge fan of Oathkeeper. I love it’s look and what i represents. Of course if you were to ask any of my KH brethren, it’d be Oblivion, hands down, and I like that one quite a bit.

Honestly, Chain of Memories has one of the absolute best stories in that entire franchise. I wish you didn’t have to get through a really poor card game to get to it.

But I love the story of KH2 the most. Especially the ending. Birth by Sleep is a close third of those two though.

World Specific I love the Peter Pan one from KH1, and I really like Hunchback of Notre Dame in KH3D.

I like order of release over chronological order. Honestly I don’t know why it’s such a big argument. I think feeling those games evolve is just such a treat, all the way from the first to 0.2, it’s such a great feeling of how those games changed.

Plus, some things are supposed to be told out of order? Stories have prequels come out in the middle to freshen things for a later context. I always think of Metal Gear Solid 3. Enriches that story so much, but you should play that game first.

Anyway. Yes I need yours. See tweets for details.

I’m really excited about this new show, and I know this may seem like a bit of an unceremonious announcement, but I’ve been stressing about this for so long I just need to get it out there.

Go subscribe to Get Acquainted, and tune in next week for the first official episode!

Cheers! Keep it real!

#video games #gaming #get acquainted #podcast #new show #show #shows #irrational passions

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meepmorpperaltiago · 4 years ago

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My thoughts/rankings so far on my lidcommm (lockdown induced Disney channel original movie mega marathon):

1. Quints (2000) – This movie doesn’t sound like it would be a great concept for a quality movie, but it’s likeable characters, fun atmosphere, realistic and complex characters and a really great performance from Kimberly J Brown make it one of the best

2. Smart House (1999) – A fantastically inventive film with some really great emotional content too

3. The Colour of Friendship (2000) – I was really surprised by how mature and well handled this film was, it was really heartfelt

4. Rip Girls (2000) – a really sweet film with strong characters and a storyline that feels really genuine

5. The Other Me (2000) – There’s just something so goofy yet cute and charming about this film, it makes it super fun to watch

6. Up, Up and Away (2000) – Really creative and well constructed, with compelling characters who are surprisingly dynamic, plus a villain plot that actually feels threatening (although I feel like the plot with him lying about having powers could’ve definitely been expanded on)

7. Don’t Look Under the Bed (1999) – A really well put together and creative film, with some really clever writing (although it does have some unfunny humour and bizarre moments)

8. Miracle In Lane 2 (2000) – Kind of corny in places, but really sweet overall

9. The Thirteenth Year (1999) – A fun concept done really well, and it’s surprisingly emotionally compelling too – plus it’s nice to see the popular kid not be a jerk for once and be friends with a geek

10. Halloweentown (1998) – A really fun, solid adventure movie

11. Johnny Tsunami (1999) – Kind of cute and I liked the stuff with the dad, but the whole skiing vs snowboarding thing is kind of cheesy and dumb

12. Zenon, girl of the 21st century (1999) super fun, a great concept and just really cute overall

13. Mom’s got a date with a vampire (2000) – Not at the top but not terrible either – just kind of entertaining (but also the ending was pretty cheesy)

14. You lucky dog (1998) – really stupid but it reaches a point where it’s so dumb that it’s strangely entertaining and endearing

15. Can of Worms (1999) – Plot wise a pretty standard teen fantasy/comedy with some weird af effects but still pretty engaging

16. Stepsister from planet weird (2000) – Really weird and kind of stupid (and maybe has a Problematic storyline with regards to the mum not knowing that the stepdad’s an alien) but I still found the characters fairly likeable

17. Brink! (1998) – Not bad, some sweet moments, but painfully 90s in a bad way and really drags

18. Alley Cats Strike (2000) – a completely uninventive paint by numbers sports film that drags on way too long (and it has narration that’ll set your teeth on edge). It’s only redeeming quality is that sometimes the leads have good chemistry

19. Horse Sense (1999) cheesy, cliché, dull and the main character is kind of the worst

20. Ready To Run (2000) this was pretty silly and very paint by numbers at the same time (it’s like there’s two movies happening at the same time that don’t go together at all) and it’s also the most bored I’ve been watching any of these movies. It’s also wayyy too long for a film with this little plot

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workfromhomeyoutuber · 5 years ago

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You Need A Budget (YNAB): Humbly Confident Email Marketing Automation Specialist

Headquarters: Salt Lake City, UT URL: https://www.youneedabudget.com/

At YNAB, we build the world’s best budgeting software. But teaching people how to get control of their money and changing lives one budget at a time is what gets us up in the morning. In order to teach the masses the YNAB way of budgeting, it requires sending emails...lots and lots of emails (and messages, really). That’s where you come in!

You are an HTML email-crafting savant on wheels. You scorn the decision makers at Microsoft for their implementation of Outlook 2003’s HTML rendering, but you also love the challenge and job security it brings. Also, it was a different time...who knew CSS would be a thing (everybody knew, but still)?

Even though you love getting into the weeds, creating and troubleshooting HTML emails and in-app messages, you also have never met a mind map that you don’t like. You’re building customer lifecycle messaging funnels in your sleep. You’re targeting, triggering and delaying like a procrastinating hunter! You’re fascinated by the user journey and you absolutely love finding new ways to convert, engage, and retain anyone and everyone who comes into the marketing automation orbit.

Requirements (these are real, actual requirements):

You have a ton of experience using Marketing Automation platforms. We use Braze, but they all have similar rules (Marketo, Iterable, SFMC, Eloqua, etc.).

You can take a messaging series strategy, develop the emails (we have designers to design them), implement all of automation details, troubleshoot, A/B test and optimize it to a degree that impresses everyone you know and have ever talked to.

You are a highly skilled HTML/CSS email developer. You can (and probably should) use a solid template as a base, but there’s no email client issue you can’t troubleshoot.

Oh, hey, also, it probably goes without saying, but you can make those same emails look amazing on mobile. Are we still using the word “responsive?” You get the idea.

That gives you a pretty good idea of the job, but first, you need to know if you’ll even like working with us. (We think you will.)

A Bit About Us

We build the best budgeting software around, YNAB or “You Need a Budget” if you have a lot of extra time on your hands. For more than a decade, people have been buying YNAB and then telling their friends what a difference it has made in their lives. (Google us, or read some of our reviews on the app store, and you’ll see what we mean.) We love building something that has a huge positive impact on people’s lives.

We’re profitable, bootstrapped, and growing. YNAB started in 2004 and we haven’t taken any outside funding—we’re in it for the long haul.

We have one overarching requirement when it comes to joining our team: our Core Value Manifesto has to really click with you. If you’re nodding emphatically while reading it, you’ll probably fit right in, in which case, we can’t wait to hear from you!

First, let’s talk about life at YNAB and then we’ll go into detail about what we’re looking for.

Who you’d be working with:

Lindsey & The Gang aka the Marketing Team aka just a rag-tag but lovable bunch of underdogs who defy the odds—making budgeting software hilarious, emotional, and accessible—day in and day out. (Disney, are you listening?)

We love musical theater, board games, stand-up comedy, the Enneagram, video games, and art, to varying degrees, depending on who you talk to first. Our internal Slack channel is so much fun, it has a growing fanbase.

Lindsey, our Chief Marketing Officer, will be the first to delete something very important, but also the first to celebrate your wins—big and small. Ryan, our Digital Marketing Director, will quickly become your lifeline in any type of bracketology-related emergency and even under website-launch-level-stress, he can sneak in the jokes that make you feel like, “if Dad’s OK, we’ll all be OK.”

And then there’s, Ben B. and Janelle, who lead out on Community Engagement and Social Media, respectively. They both have huge hearts, and a tangible passion for our customers, plus they are hilarious. Reema, our Marketing Production Manager, keeps all the balls in the air, while wearing many different hats, basically, if there is a need, yo, she’ll solve it (and yes, that was a seamless incorporation of Vanilla Ice lyrics).

Plus, our brilliant creatives, Lauren and Marian (designers), Tristan (animation), Hannah and Ashley (video), and Rachel (writing) bring everything to life. They are a veritable idea machine who serve to make us look good on a daily basis. What more could you ask for?

More importantly, you get to work with Arturo, our brilliant marketing developer whose mult-lingual humor and je ne sais quoi (I don’t know what that means, but Arturo probably does) will restore all your faith (if you had lost any) in humanity on a daily basis.

But wait, there’s more! As the sole Email Marketing Automation Specialist at YNAB, you’ll be working with Support reps to craft in-app messages and Product Designers to communicate with beta testing cohorts that help test new features in YNAB. Essentially, you will be the glue that holds together the YNAB email marketing machine (don’t ask us why our machine uses glue instead of, like, bolts and more-machiney-type things).

How You’ll Work at YNAB

We work really hard to make working at YNAB an amazing experience. In fact, we were recently recognized as Fortune's #4 best small company to work for in the United States! We have a team full of truly exceptional people—the kind you’ll be excited to work with. Here’s how we operate:

Live Where You Want

We’re a distributed team, so you can live and work wherever you want. Proximity doesn’t influence productivity. Taylor, our CTO, was traveling who-knows-where for a couple of years before he bought a farm. Up and move to France for a year? Sure, Todd did that. Don’t like France? How about London, where Janelle trotted off to. Tulsa Remote? Can do. Or if you just love LA or Baltimore or Buenos Aires, we’ve got people there, too. Not all of us move around, but the fact that these folks have is totally okay because we’re all adults. Just make sure you have a reliable internet connection.

No Crazy Hours

We rarely work more than 40 hours per week. There have been a few occasions where things got a little crazy and people had to log some extra hours. But then they took some extra time off, so it all balances out. We work hard and smart but we’re in this for the long haul, no need to go crazy on the hours.

Take Vacation (Seriously)

We want you to take vacation. In fact, we have a minimum vacation policy of three weeks per year. Five weeks feels about right (plus two extra weeks for Christmas break). It’s important to get out and do something. We’ll look forward to seeing pictures of your vacation in our Slack channel, creatively named #office_wall.

The YNAB Meetup

We get the teams together once a year to catch up on spreadsheets and powerpoints in a Best Western conference room. Just kidding. So far, we’ve done Costa Rica, a gigantic cabin in the mountains, a beach house in the Outer Banks, a ranch in Montana, and most recently, Laguna Beach. We work together, play together, and reinforce the bonds we’ve made as a team and company. Every year, we leave refreshed, motivated, and excited for the year ahead together.

Up Your Game

We’re serious about helping you improve your craft. We budget for it (hey-o!). Think conferences, Lynda subscriptions, dedicated time away from work to learn something new… it’s really up to you and your manager. But we love to see our people growing.

International is Absolutely Oka

If you are Stateside, we’ll set you up as a W2 employee. If you’re international, you’ll be set up as a contractor. Employee or contractor, it’s all the same to us. You’re part of the team. (We are spread all over the world: Switzerland, Scotland, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Canada, and all over the United States.)

If You’re Stateside…

YNAB offers fantastic health, dental, and vision insurance, where we cover 100% of the premium for you and your family. (No need to check your vision, you read that right, 100%. Although if you did need to check your vision, we’ve got you covered!)

We also have a Traditional and Roth 401k option. YNAB contributes three percent whether you choose to throw any money in there or not. It vests immediately. (Are you a personal finance junkie like our founder Jesse? He set up YNAB’s 401k to have the lowest fee structure possible, where all plan costs are paid by YNAB, not your retirement nest egg. The investment funds available are fantastic, passively-managed, ultra low-cost index funds. You’re not a PF junkie? Trust us, it’s awesome.)

Other Tidbits

Once you start, we DEMAND (in a friendly, ALL CAPS IS YELLING way) that you fill out your “Bucket List” spreadsheet with 50 items. (That’s harder than it sounds!)

The bucket list really helps in deciding what we should give you for your birthday and the holidays.

We have a bonus plan based on profitability. You’ll be in on that from day one. YNAB wins, you win. That kind of thing.

We’re all adults. There’s no need to punch a clock, or ask for permission to take off early one afternoon to go see the doctor (health insurance premium 100% covered!). We look at what you accomplish, not how long you sit (have you tried standing?) in front of a computer.

We want you firing on all cylinders so we’ll set you up with a shiny new computer and replace it every three years.

Did I mention we make a huge, positive difference in people’s lives? You may not think that matters much, but then a few months down the road you’ll realize it’s made your job really, really enjoyable. Don’t underestimate this one!

If this sounds like your ideal environment, read on because now I want to talk about you. You will play a big, big part in helping YNAB customers achieve success. You will change lives. I’ll only say that six more times.

Now, back to you, our new Email Marketing Automation Specialist...

We’re educators and content marketers here at YNAB, and email and in-app messages are the principal way that we teach and engage with our users after they have made the decision to give us a chance. We feel like our content is something that sets us apart from our competitors in an extremely crowded space, so you will be on the front lines, delivering that content (precious cargo). We’re counting on you. You’re our only hope!

You’ll have all of the tools you need to deliver engaging, personalized messages to these new, budding budgeters as they learn how to gain total control of their money. We have writers and designers to help craft the content that you’ll develop. We have full stack developers who will keep all the systems functioning and keep all the data (for targeting) nice and clean.

Now, we need you to develop the emails/messages, set the targeting, configure the triggers and unleash the campaigns into the world.

You are our ideal candidate if you:

Have at least 3-5 years of experience using Marketing Automation platforms. Braze is preferred, but experience with any similar platform totally works. This probably wouldn’t include some ESP’s like Constant Contact. We’re really looking for more powerful Automation platforms.

Have at least 3-5 years of experience developing responsive HTML/CSS emails.

Are comfortable creating strategies for all phases of the customer lifecycle (acquisition, conversion, retention, winback).

Have some pretty stellar writing skills.

Make us laugh.

Manage your time exceptionally well and you are comfortable working remotely.

Incredibly organized, flexible, and collaborative.

Never met a deadline you didn’t love.

Self-motivated and driven by nature, maybe even a little competitive.

Stay laser-focused on the big picture, without losing sight of every. last. detail.

Wildly productive and independent, but a team-player at heart.

Bonus Points:

You already use and love YNAB.

You are familiar with webhooks and API integrations and might even know a little bit of JavaScript.

You write some pretty amazing email copy, or at least you know it when you see it.

YNAB is an equal opportunity employer. We believe diversity of backgrounds, beliefs, and experiences to be critical to our success and are passionate about creating a welcoming, supportive, and collaborative environment for all employees. All are encouraged to apply as we continue to grow a smart, hard-working, and diverse team who love working together to build something that matter

How to Apply

Apply here (https://ynab.recruiterbox.com/jobs/fk0q69o) by 11:59PM on March 9th, 2020. Firm. It’s a real deadline. The kind you love.

Attach a pdf of your cover letter. In your cover letter:

Introduce yourself and explain why this position is of interest to you, and why you would be a great fit. Please limit this section of the cover letter to 1.5 pages.

On a separate page of your cover letter, answer the following questions (with each response being about a paragraph in length):

1. What attracted you to this position? (This is not about what attracted you to the software.)

2. What criteria do you look for when searching for your next company or position?

3. What are your favorite and least favorite parts of your current job?

4. Tell us about a time when you had to learn something new to excel at your job.

5. Tell us about the craziest email client bug/issue that you’ve ever troubleshooted (troubleshot?). What was it? How did you discover it and how did you fix it? What do you do now to make sure you never have to fight it again?

6. What are some of the differences between emails, messages, and automation strategies that you would implement to convert users vs. those that you would send to retain users?

If you have a prepared resume, attach it in PDF form. If you don’t have a resume because you aren’t even sure you’re looking to change jobs, that’s fine! An informal list of your work and education history are all we’re looking for.

Please send all attachments as PDFs.

P.S. If you’re not interested in or available for this position, but know someone who is, we would really appreciate it if you passed this along!

To apply: https://ynab.recruiterbox.com/jobs/fk0q69o

from We Work Remotely: Remote jobs in design, programming, marketing and more https://ift.tt/381DopO from Work From Home YouTuber Job Board Blog https://ift.tt/2VwQZ5M

#WorkFromHome #OnlineJobs #RemoteJobs #Entrepreneur #WorkFromHomeJobs #WorkAtHomeJobs #Self Em

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erictmason · 7 years ago

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Top 10 Disney Cartoon Shows

Turns out that last list didn't quite get all the Disney out of my system, so I'm at it again. Only this time, it's about Disney's efforts on the small screen. It's actually kind of hard to overstate the significance of Disney's choice to get into the television animation game back in the 80's. Before then, whatever else one could say about its merits, animation on TV meant one thing: cheap (well, OK, that and "short films imported from a radically different era", but let's not split hairs here). That isn't to say quality animation could not be found on television pre-Disney, but rather that said quality (both in the visual and writing departments) was rarely if ever the priority. But when Disney came along, with a mission statement of bringing with it the level of craft that had defined their theatrical films (though naturally they were never really aiming that high), that changed, and animation studios of all stripes suddenly had a reason to pour a lot more effort into their animated TV shows. I don't think it's unfair to say we're still living in the world Disney helped create, in fact, whether it's the overt influence many of Disney's shows have had on the newest generation of animators or else by virtue of the space they helped to make where such shows can exist and thrive. So, with the reboot of "Ducktales", the Disney TV animation studio's first breakout success, having recently launched, I thought it would be an appropriate time to look back at that vast, storied history of Disney TV cartoons and pick out my personal picks for the best of the bunch. As usual, there are a few provisos, a couple of quid pro quos if you will. 1.) It has to be a show made by a division of Disney Television Animation, not just airing on a Disney-owned channel. That means no Lucasfilms, no Marvel, and no imports from, say, Canada or Japan. 2.) TV shows only, no shorts or compilation shows. So much as I adore them, the current run of "Mickey Mouse" shorts will not be on here, sorry. 3.) It has to have aired in its entirety. I feel like it's unfair to judge a TV show on a list like this without being able to see it as a whole, so as intriguing as, say, "Star VS. The Forces of Evil" is, it isn't eligible since it's still producing new episodes. With the rules established? Let's make some magic!

10.) Aladdin: The Series (1994-1995): Here's a bit of irony for you: half the reason Disney ventured into television animation in the first place is that, at the time, the future of their theatrical animation division seemed in doubt. Not long after, however, along came "The Little Mermaid" and the Disney Renaissance, and suddenly it was the television side looking to the theatrical side for source material. Quite a few Renaissance pics got the TV show treatment as a result, but for my money the best of the bunch remains "Aladdin: The Series", mainly because it's the one that feels most of a piece with the original movie. Part of that, of course, is that "Aladdin" was already a bit more suited to the adventure-a-week formula, since that's kind of where the roots of the original story already run. But part of it is also that the ways in which the show expanded on the original's world were genuinely clever. Pulling not only from Arabian mythology, but Greco-Roman, Aztec, Egyptian, and beyond, the show managed to deliver remarkably-solid adventure stories, few of which ever continued from the other but all of which worked surprisingly well together to create a world that felt remarkably alive and vibrant. Sure, Aladdin himself remains a fairly uninteresting protagonist, Dan Castellanata can't hope to replace Robin Williams as The Genie, and Iago is a lot less fun when he's asked to be a constant lead presence rather than a humorous diversion. But even so, "Aladdin: The Series" succeeded at taking the original's lead, running with it, and in the process delivering a show that felt exciting and interesting to watch week from week just to see what new corner of its world it would uncover.

9.) Phineas and Ferb (2007-2015): OK, confession time? I actually don't like this show very much. I hardly dislike it or anything, but I was never able to really get into it the same way I could other entries in the remarkably-specific sub-genre of "TV Cartoons Aimed At Kids Which Manage To Also Garner A Sizable Teen/Adult Audience" like, say, "Steven Universe" or another show that's probably on this list. Nonetheless, I can't deny this thing is maybe the success story of modern-day Disney television animation, lasting longer by far than any other show on the list. Nor am I unaware of what made it so popular: the strong, heavily-geometric character designs, the charming musical numbers, and the mad-cap, self-aware comedy. It's that last piece I find most interesting, because I think it speaks most strongly to what helped "Phineas and Ferb" stand out from the pack: it's kind of like the kid-friendly version of "Family Guy", at least in the sense that it derives its humor less from the story or characters, who are deliberately archetypal, and more from its ability to use those archetypal characters as delivery machines for rapid-fire punchlines predicated on equal parts dry wit and pop-cultural reference. In other words, it never becomes itself an "adult" series, indeed its whole perspective is an exaggerated version of childhood, but it does use an "adult"-oriented style of comedy most other kid's shows didn't really utilize back when it started. That kind of unique creative choice can often do a lot of help a show stand out from the crowd, and, with four seasons, seven years, and over 200 episodes (to say nothing of TV specials and movies), I think it's safe to say that's exactly what this show did.

8.) Fillmore! (2002-2004): Man, why don't more people remember this show? Following up on the renewed popularity of crime procedurals thanks to both the "Law and Order" and "CSI" franchises being at their peak, it takes the structure and tone of a 70's/80's-style crime drama and refits it into the world of Middle School. Cops become Hallway Monitors, overzealous politicians become overbearing teachers, and Grand Theft Auto becomes bicycle theft. It's that last part that proves the most amusing; since murder is pretty obviously not going to fly on a kid's show, the crimes they do come up with display a remarkable breadth of creativity. Trying to chase down a graffiti vandal turns into a "Silence of the Lambs"-style criminal vs. criminal scenario, fandom obsession leads to dangerous sabotage, smuggling food into school is treated like something akin to drug-running, that sort of thing. And best of all, while the show is entirely aware of its own absurdity, its sense of humor is 100% deadpan, and the result is that it really does play like a "straight" Cop Drama despite its setting. It's a unique tone that is equal parts engaging and funny, and it creates this really interesting one-of-a-kind style that no other show has ever really tapped into, either before or since. Top it off with a great pair of lead characters-the titular Fillmore himself, a Good Guy With A Past played with a crisp cool to match the show's tone by Orlando Brown, and his reformed-ex-con partner Ingrid Third, another notch in veteran VA Tara Strong's belt, and you've got a great kid's show that's every bit as gripping as the shows it parodies, even as it also gets some solid laughs along the way too.

7.) TaleSpin (1990-1991): For the most part, it's easy to draw the lines that connect the Disney Afternoon's initial shows to the pre-existing Disney properties they're based on. "Goof Troop" is really just those old-school Goofy shorts about domestic life updated to match with 90's-style family sitcoms, "Chip 'n' Dale: Rescue Rangers" plugs the titular duo into kid-friendly adventure romps, and so on and so forth. But "TaleSpin" is just so weird in that respect: it may borrow three of its key characters from there, but it can't really be said to be based on Disney's 1967 version of "The Jungle Book". Instead, those characters-or rather heavily modified versions of those characters re-conceived to fit in to the show's new setting-are placed into an entirely new world, which itself is something like a steampunk fantasy version of 1920's America, guided by the spirit of old-school Adventure Serials. But the very oddity of its construction allows "TaleSpin" to feel at once familiar and new, able to ground itself by way of those "Jungle Book" characters you know and love (with the twists it puts on them being endearingly clever, like making Shere Khan a Lex Luthor-style corporate mogul) while also spring-boarding out into a wide variety of classic adventure stories. Daring duels with pirates, high-stakes air races, and even the occasional flight of overtly-magical fancy...there's a lot of Tales to Spin here, and the show consistently does so with an admirably clear-eyed sense of its own genre and how to best play with it. And again, it's all connected to a charming cast of characters. "TaleSpin" is a tricky little thing to pin down, then, but for that very reason it's way too memorable to overlook or ever forget.

6.) The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1988-1991): "Winnie the Pooh" stories are a tricky thing to do right. They'd been around for close to half-a-century even back when Disney first adapted the property into a trilogy of animated short films during the mid-to-late 60's, and that history, combined with the stories' enduring popularity, means we all have a fairly solid idea of what they "feel" like. Moreover, by their very nature, the best "Pooh" stories are short, simple things with only the barest hint of narrative intent or moral center. Which means trying to expand on them in any significant way runs the risk of stuffing them with more familiar story-telling tropes and styles that simply do not belong there. So "The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" deserves a lot of credit, if not for dodging that fact entirely (as was increasingly common in kid's TV shows of the time, it made sure to center a lot of its stories around "lessons" in a fashion much louder and more overt than the source material), then at least for managing to make a show that consistently felt like it captured and exemplified the right spirit even so. A lot of that, it should be said, comes down to the voice actors; not only did Paul Winchell (Tigger) and John Fiedler (Piglet) return to reprise their iconic roles after having sat out the previous "Pooh" TV show, "Welcome to Pooh Corner", but this also marks the first "Pooh" project where the title character is voiced by Jim Cummings, who has played the role in every other "Pooh" production to come out of Disney in the nearly-three decades since. Their performances aren't just consistently entertaining, they also lend a sense of spiritual continuity that benefits the show greatly. More to the point, though, the animation has an intriguing physicality to it that recognizes the stuffed-animal nature of its core cast, as well as a delightfully-poppy color scheme. The writing, meanwhile, uses a particular blend of sweetness and humor that feels at once akin to the original Disney short films, but also distinct and enjoyable unto itself. Wordplay, slapstick, and gentle philosophizing, hallmarks of a good "Pooh" story since the very beginning, all show up in "The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh", but the show always puts a just-so slightly-modern touch on each one. To be sure, "New Adventures" plays in the same ballpark as more typical Saturday Morning cartoon fare, but it does so with the invaluable lessons of Pooh himself pretty clearly having been taken to heart in the process, and the resulting show is simply delightful.

5.) Adventures of the Gummi Bears (1985-1991): Technically speaking, the first Disney Television series is the short-lived plush-toy spin-off "The Wuzzles". Meanwhile, the first real breakout hit for the studio was unquestionably 1987's "Ducktales". But the one that first really established the studio, granting it the foothold from which it would build its future successes, is "The Adventures of the Gummi Bears". On paper, it sounds very much like a "Smurfs" wanna-be, centered as it is on a tribe of small, magically-inclined creatures with matching names set in a vaguely-Medieval England fantasy world. But in execution, it winds up weaving a remarkably-compelling tale with a surprisingly-dense internal mythology which it treats with an impressive degree of respect and earnestness. That isn't to say it's some Super Serious Epic (we'll need to go a bit up the list for that show), but even as it keeps things primarily centered on kid-friendly slapstick and gentle goofing off (and does a fine version of it in both cases too), there is nonetheless an underlying spine of genuinely weighty world-building to it that adds just the right amount of extra heft to even the lighter aspects of the series. The way our main characters, the Gummi Bears of the title, slowly but surely discover more and more aspects of their history and culture (much of it tangled up in an ugly war stemming from prejudice and distrust), all the while hoping for the day they'll be able to reunite with their own people, underlines almost every episode, pulling you in and often taking you by surprise. As well, while all clearly archetypal (in the old Seven Dwarves tradition of being named for their defining traits, even), those characters are all delightful to spend time with, again thanks to a strong cast of voice-acting veterans like Paul Winchell, June Foray, and Bill Scott, and a dynamic that feels warm and lived-in. Moreover, this is the show that Disney's TV animation really used to show off its skills, with some of the most fluid, engaging use of motion in any cartoon of the era; some episode are naturally stronger than others, but the best of them are genuinely gorgeous stuff. It is, in other words, a show with an intriguing story that feels very much like the best sort of Bed-Time Story, inviting and friendly on one level but with a deeper center just beneath the surface to pull you in and keep you coming back, and realized with a strong, compelling craft. So it's really no wonder that these "Gummi Bears" were, in their way, the ones to start the long-lived legacy of Disney's TV cartoons.

4.) Recess (1997-2003): There came an interesting point of transition for Disney's TV animation studios toward the end of the 90's. The Disney Afternoon block, long the most visible home for their shows, was finally shutting down after a solid seven-year run, and a new once-a-week block, fittingly named "1 Saturday Morning", was rising up to take its place. The block managed to last a decent five years, but very few of its shows managed to make much of an impact. But among the ones that did, the clear front-runner, to my mind at least, is "Recess", a love letter aimed not only at the nostalgia of the playground but also to the iconic TV comedy "Hogan's Heroes" (compare the theme songs to both shows, and then look at the mix of archetypes that comprises the core cast for each one). That mixture allows the show to present a vision of childhood that is simultaneously deliberately hyperbolic-the age-old notion of schoolyard hierarchies is here portrayed as a rich, thriving society unto itself, complete with its own king and economy-while still grounded in relatable ideas and characters, especially as regards the oftentimes contentious relationship between the students and teachers. That latter aspect especially speaks to why "Recess" is probably my pick for the best overall show of the "1 Saturday Morning" era, too; yes, as is typical of a show aimed at kids, it plays to their own feelings by painting the teachers as alternatively cruel and inept for the most part (while quite a few episodes focus on the difficulties the kids have with their parents, too), but it never forgets their own humanity in the process, and some of the show's best moments stem from that fact. Still, at the end of the day, it does really come down to that "Hogan's Heroes" influence I mentioned. No real kid has ever assembled the complex schemes and adventures that are "Recess"' primary source of stories, but I promise you every last kid has dreamed of it, and by placing those scenarios in the world it does, where the audience can at once recognize how much this is an exaggeration but still grasp what reality it draws from, it makes this really intriguing atmosphere that sparkles at once with a kid's sense of wonder and an adult's sense of humor (a lot of the best jokes stem from sharp wit that connects a young adult's perspective to adult concepts like a full-time job or balancing responsibilities). It's a style quite a few shows, cartoon or otherwise, have tried out over the years, but "Recess" is one of the very best examples of the form.

3a.) Gravity Falls (2012-2016): If you were paying close enough attention, you may have noticed something about the opening credits of animated television shows around the beginning of the '00's: series creators were being prominently credited. It was indicative of a larger amount of trust and control being placed in distinct creative voices as the industry slowly eased out (or tried to, anyway) of the merchandise-driven business model that had defined it for most of the 80's and 90's, and across the board it led to some very distinct visions making their way onto screens. For Disney, the example du jour is Alex Hirsch's "Gravity Falls", a show whose existence is all the more surprising when you consider just how very Not Disney its premise-kid-oriented "Twin Peaks" riff by way of "The X-Files"-really sounds. And yet here we are, with a show that is at once a razor-sharp comedy, a poignant examination of what it means to grow up and what we do and do not have to leave behind in the process, and a veritable parade of some of the most off-the-wall horror-sci-if-fantasy mash-ups of all time. And the thing of it is, the glue holding all of that together and keeping it coherent, allowing the show to build effortlessly both towards fantastic punchlines and deeply emotional culminations, stems from Hirsch: in interviews, he talked about how much of the show's premise stemmed from reflecting on the tourist-trap vacations he himself took as a child, and indeed, a lot of the series' best moments (an early episode centered on a haunted convenience store springs to mind in particular for me) succeed by tapping into that particular vein of childhood, where the simple change in environment that comes with vacation lends even the most mundane things an air of mystery. By the same token, so too do the characters feel keenly drawn from reality (even as they do still possess a cartoon's foibles and exaggerations); Dipper and Mabel are two of the most believable pre-teens I've ever seen on TV, both in their own way smart enough to no longer be children but struggling with the greater maturity necessary to really become grown-up, Grunkle Stan feels like every huckster you've ever seen on TV right down to the niggling sense that there is a tremendous amount more to him than what we see, and the change in perspective the show gives us on Wendy, initially kept at arm's length because of Dipper's crush on her only to emerge more fully as a person once he recognizes her own feelings on the matter. And then on top of all that, it's connected to a genuinely-compelling mystery that the show gradually teases out more and more, and those who are paying attention really do have an honest shot of piecing the puzzle together before the characters do, adding a new layer of visceral excitement to the experience. But the real strength of the show is that those twists and turns, as much as they might pull us deeper into the puzzle box, are really more about exploring and growing the characters first and foremost. That's the key to "Gravity Falls" above all, to my mind: yes, its internal mythology is uniquely well built, and yes, pushing the envelope on how genuinely scary/dangerous it's allowed to get is fascinating, but it never loses sight of how much its characters are the real heart of the story, and how much that fact helps this weird, wild mixture really come together.

3b.) Darkwing Duck (1991-1992): Yes, the #3 slot is a draw, because when it came right down to it I simply could not pick between the two shows I was considering for it. Leaving "Gravity Falls" off felt simply unacceptable to be, but neither could I find it in my heart to axe this, maybe my personal favorite of the entire Disney Afternoon era, from the list. Because the thing of it is, when you really think about it, "Darkwing Duck" shouldn't work at all. Superhero parodies were old hat even by the early 90's (indeed, at that point they probably outnumbered actual superhero shows), while spin-offs had long ago developed a reputation for being cheap-and-easy cash-ins (though the extent to which "Darkwing Duck" is, in fact, a spin-off of "Ducktales" is a touch debatable, I suppose, even as they share a handful of characters). But despite the odds against it, "Darkwing Duck" does indeed prove to be a consistently entertaining piece of work, and a lot of why boils down to the remarkably-multilayered construction of its title character. That isn't to say Darkwing is the only good thing about his own show; his rogue's gallery is an amusing assortment of pastiches of classic Villain archetypes-the plant-master, the crazy clown, the evil double, and so on-while the supporting cast, including "Ducktales" veteran Launchpad McQuack and excitable youngster Gosalyn Mallard (a character who, by rights, should be insufferable, but is instead genuinely endearing thanks in no small part to her voice actor, the late, great Christine Cavanaugh), is equally enjoyable. As well, the show's sense of humor has an ahead-of-its-time sardonic edge to it that was nowhere near as commonplace in kid's cartoons by that point, but which here provides just the right level of sharpness to the comedy. And the animation is fascinating, too, with a far more "Looney Tunes"-style sensibility to a lot of its best moments (which in turn informs the characters a lot; there's more than a touch of Daffy to Darkwing, but we'll get to that in a minute), while also showing just how far the iconic Disney "duck" design could be stretched while still being recognizable. But it really is Darkwing himself who makes the show, because despite the core conceit being fairly simple-poking fun at the inherent egomania of the superhero by portraying one as a glory hound interested more in publicity than actual heroism-there actually prove to be quite a few layers to him when you really get into it. For one thing, he's actually quite good at his job; for as many times as his inadequacy is the butt of the joke, "let's get dangerous" is more than just a catchphrase; it's a sign he's about to show you what he's really capable of. For another, his sincere affection for and protectiveness of Gosalyn shows there really is a heart underneath all that bluster, and that if he could just get out of his own way, Darkwing might well be capable of true greatness. But all too often he is, in fact, his own worst enemy (there's that Daffy Duck influence again). It's all played mostly for laughs, sure, but, especially thanks to Darkwing's VA Jim Cummings, who navigates each of those layers coherently and effectively, it comes through clearly even so. And it elevates the entire show to this unique, interesting place that has helped it stand the test of time.

2.) Gargoyles (1994-1997): As established during our introduction, the entry of Disney into the world of television animation in the mid-80's was a real paradigm shift in the industry. But a few years later, in 1992, came another, arguably even more profound game-changer: "Batman: The Animated Series". Every last element of that show-its writing, its visual style, and especially its revolutionary craft-proved profoundly popular, not only with viewers but people inside the industry. Soon enough, almost every TV animation studio around mounted a response: for Marvel Television, it was the "X-Men" cartoon, for Hanna Barbera it was "SWAT Kats". But far and away the best answer came from Disney, in the form of Greg Weisman's fantasy epic, "Gargoyles". From stem to stern, this is maybe one of the richest, most satisfying stories Disney TV ever crafted, and in stark contrast to just about every other show on this list, that doesn't come with a "but it's not as serious as all that" caveat. There's comic relief, to be sure, but still, this is nonetheless an entirely-earnest Modern Fantasy Epic, comprised of equal parts deep-cut cultural/mythological references-everything from Shakespeare to Arthurian Lore to the tales of Anansi the Spider, all realized with a remarkable degree of understanding and specificity-and exceptionally well-structured characters. Stoic Goliath, striving at once to protect what little remains of his kind while also seeking to do good in a world he struggles to understand; Elisa Maza, a sharp-minded detective who is always determined to stay on top of the situation no matter how crazy it becomes; Demona, a tragic figure consumed with anger and grief who seeks greater and greater means of destruction; Xanatos, one of the greatest masterminds of all time, always one step ahead, always a new scheme at the ready. "Gargoyles", in other words, weaves an impressively intricate tale that inhabits a sprawling, detailed world with rich, compelling players, by way of some of the most impressively-intricate long-term story arcs I've ever seen in a cartoon show. Whether it's the gradual transformation of Xanatos from inscrutable antagonist to complex Family Man (even as the extent to which he can ever really be trusted remains in question) or the slow-burn, exceptionally rewarding progression of Goliath and Elisa's relationship, or even things like the young, impetuous Brooklyn slowly growing up into a possible leader, "Gargoyles" hones in with perfect precision on how best to expand these characters over time. Likewise, watching as the scope of the world, and our own understanding of it, expands to include concepts like aliens and mutants amongst its gods and monsters is impressive and fascinating. And the series paces itself equally perfectly. There is a genuinely organic quality to "Gargoyles"' arcs, both character and plot; it never feels static or overly obsessed with the Status Quo, but it also does not rush through anything. Each plot twist, each character epiphany, feels earned, and all the more powerful as a result. And, cherry on top, the animation is top-tier stuff; it is perhaps not as overtly stylized as "Batman: The Animated Series" (though its focus on night-time settings and a darker color palette feels evocative of that show), but the combination of a Disney-esque sense of character design with the show's strong narrative backbone leads to exceptional results even so. "Gargoyles" may have been made in "Batman"'s image, but it wound up being a one-of-a-kind classic in its own right.

1.) Ducktales (1987-1990): There are a number of reasons "Ducktales" more or less has to top this list. Its pedigree, for one thing; drawing a lot of its premise (and directly adapting several of its best episodes and story lines) from the famed Carl Barks "Uncle Scrooge" comics (though notoriously, Barks' most famous successor, Don Rosa, has a less-than-sunny attitude toward the show) provides the show an exceptionally well-built and endearing structure. Whether it's outer-space epics or intercontinental treasure hunts, espionage action or magical mayhem, there's no breed of adventure "Ducktales" cannot comfortably tap into. Another thing to consider is its place in history; almost every other show on this list owes its existence to one degree or another to this show, which proved to be exactly the sort of powerhouse success story the Disney TV studio needed in order to prove its chops, and that means "Ducktales" holds a special place in animation history too, given how much Disney TV has played a part in it as a whole. And naturally, there's the animation to consider too; it may seem a touch standard-issue today, but compare "Ducktales" to just about any other contemporary cartoon of its era, and you'll realize just how much care goes into keeping characters on model and letting them movie not just fluidly, but also in a way that's enjoyable to watch. And last but hardly least, there's the stellar cast of characters (and voice actors); Huey, Dewey, and Louie may all be interchangeable, but their dynamic is lively and enjoyable anyway. Webby, meanwhile, is a fantastic foil, not only for them, but for Uncle Scrooge. And naturally, Scrooge himself (given an iconic performance by the late, great Alan Young) is just fantastic, a multi-layered, larger-than-life character who is nonetheless so much fun to simply spend time with you never want to stop. But the thing of it is, "Ducktales"' real claim to #1 is a bit harder to quantify than all that, because even as it excels on just about every level, it doesn't have, say, the same depth of theme and character as "Gravity Falls", or "Gargoyles"' tapestry of plot lines and character arcs. Its animation is certainly high quality, especially for the time, but it's not that much better than "Adventures of the Gummi Bears". And yet, even so, "Ducktales" is the one everyone remembers, and I feel like that comes down to it adding up to something more than just the sum of its parts. There really is this unique, ineffable energy to "Ducktales" that is equal parts charming, endearing, exciting, and thrilling, and it enhances each and every one of the things the show already does so well to a special level all its own. Some of that can be chalked up to nostalgia, sure, but a lot of it, I think, can also be ascribed to the sheer sense of discovery innate to the show. Not simply in the various people and places our heroes encounter (though there's that too, naturally), but in the fact that this new effort on Disney's part was hitting its stride, and in so doing opening up a whole new world of possibilities, for the show itself and for the future. Which is maybe being a touch too grandiose about it, but even so, "Ducktales" has endured enough to make me think there may be something to it. And hey, if literally nothing else, it really does have one humdinger of a theme song.

#Disney #disney afternoon #television #ducktales #Countdown #ericthemason #My writing

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minoru-dean-blog · 7 years ago

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Fifth Harmony (Self Titled) Review:

My best friend is at work, so I took it upon myself to give her a live review of the album, track by track. I tried to be as unbiased as possible, so, here it is (in no particular order.)

1) Down: This track is hard for me, because when people say that it’s just a newer version of ‘Work From Home,’ it’s hard for me to defend it. Because it kind of is. That being said, I’m not mad about it, because WFH was catchy as hell. That being said, I feel like it’s fitting, because it feels like an end-chapter to 7/27. It was a solid move to drop this first, because it gave people something familiar, but also a taste of something new.

2) Sauced Up: Shit, okay so it started with a chorus, I did NOT expect that. I really like the tone they use in some of it, but when it comes to the chorus it feels young. They mix Tinashe type’a sin with a very modern day Cheetah Girls chorus. (Not a diss, by any means. This is the first comparison that came to mind. It could definitely just be me, but it has that Good-Disney vibe.) It's pretty feel good. The beat is like a combo between Truffle Butter by Nicki and Post To Be. It's catchy. Not my favorite and I feel like if they stuck w/ the more Tinashe vibes that it had at times, it could've been a lot better. It didn't feel like the two vibes in the song matched at all and it had me really battling with myself.

3) Bridges: This track is really, really gentle and light in the best way. I feel like it's one of those songs that you could cry to and end the cry-sesh feeling comforted and fulfilled af; it almost reminds me of an older sister/best friend. If I were to compare it to an album, I feel like it could’ve been on Reflection. Very feel-good and empowering - I feel like it focuses more on healthy, platonic relationships as opposed to being man/lover-centric like some of their tracks tend to be, you know? I do think it'd be an amazing acoustic. It's like the ending credits to a movie where the main character ends up finally chasing their dreams with the undying love and support from the person they need it from the most.

4) Deliver: Okay. I had to pause before the vocals even STARTED because the first beat has me living. I had a feeling this was going to be a highlight off the album before I’d even heard ten seconds of it, and I was right. Opens with Lauren, and the track/beat is, without a doubt, my favorite of theirs thus far off of any of their albums. It’s got that signature deep raspiness of hers and it pairs -SO WELL- with the track. I see the Mariah in the vocals and ad-lib that some people have pointed out, for sure. For some reason I'm getting some Pink Panther era Yoncé, too. Keri Hilson. Very late 90′s/early 2000′s strong lady vocals, where r&b and pop kind of made their love child. Dinah is channeling her inner Beyoncé and Ally is giving me those Nicole Scherzinger a la PCD vibes. Highlight of the album, for me.

5) Don’t Say You Love Me: It opens with a gentle Lauren, which yo, she kills it. I’m really glad they kept the girl’s vocals really unfiltered on the album, and this song really showcases that. Whispering to my soul for real. We get some soft-Ally, which isn’t done nearly as often as it should be. This song shows a new side to Ally’s vocals, I feel, and it’s definitely a good thing. Chorus is one of my favorites. Their voices really blend seamlessly and it's really, really beautiful. Picks up toward the end a bit with KILLER ad libs from all of them, thank gosh. Different from anything I've really heard from them. It almost like a more mature/adult version of some of their deeper tracks on Reflection.

6) Messy: The opening chords really threw me back to Scared of Happy; it's really intimate from the get-go. It's like Reflection and new era had a kid together, I feel. One of the lines in the chorus reminds me of Shaggy's "It Wasn't Me" which is, well. It's weird, but in a good way? “Hard to handle, dance around the house with nothing but the radio on - can be such a scandal, runnin’ out the mouth then cryin’ on the bedroom floor.” Super fuckin’ catchy, man. It's one of those songs where i can see it for sure helping people out when they feel messy as hell, because it's easy to relate to. We’ve all been there, and we’ll be there again.

7) Make You Mad: Starts slow with 'Mani and honey is killing it from the get go. We don’t get enough solo-Mani, but we got it here and I. Am. Grateful. This really represents the cover art for the album. Like, if the album cover were a song off of the album, it’d be ‘Make You Mad’. I really love the beat and flow in this one, but I feel like the drop is a bit of a let down. Don't get me wrong, I still love it, but I feel like it's lacking a big "WOW" point in the whole thing. It’s like a rollercoaster that has a really fuckin huge tunnel, and the lead-up is really steep and exciting, and it’s all going well, so you’re like, WHAT’S IN THE TUNNEL?! But all it has is some really cool lights. It’s like - alright yeah that was still a really bomb ride, the lights were cool, but I was really hoping for free snacks or an aquarium or something.

8) He Like That: My first impression was that it definitely leaned more towards the Pop genre, but not quite the same kind of Pop as they’ve done in the past. Very repetitive, but I could see it on the radio for sure. I think it needs to grow on me, but you can hear all of them in it individually, and it's catchy. It kind of reminds me more of their last album than anything, and I see some beachy vibes that a lot of people have been talking about. Very like, riding w the top down in Cali on your way to a beach party with a bunch of tan, half naked people roasting marshmallows and shit.

9) Lonely Night: It starts with Normani singing, "So now that I've got your attention, listen up, cuz I've got questions," hella' smooth. The beat is good, my pores are clear for the first time in my life. The lyrics on this one are really clever. Dinah's vocals, unsurprisingly, are beautiful as hell. This is very Danity Kane meets Pussy Cat Dolls meets "Black Widow". Lau is back with smoky, low vocals that really balance Dinah and Ally's out. We get a solid handful of Ally, too, with a really great verse and some beautiful runs in the background. This is one of the most well rounded and well distributed songs (vocally) on the album. It shows us what the girls have always been capable of both individually and as a group, a lot of which was drowned out by the beats or covered up and underappreciated in their past tracks.

10) Angel: This track was legendary. I don't see myself liking any other song by them off of this album or previous albums as much as I like this one. Lyrically, it doesn’t convey anything super deep, but its fucking CATCHY, okay. it's just the right level of sin. It's different from any other vibe I've heard from them, and it's really mature as far as their beats tend to go. It doesn't need a remix to make it a bop. It's like when your favorite song gets a dope remix, but right from the get go. This track was a winner. It’s very, “Oh, good girls don’t swear? Well fuck that.” and I know I’m not alone when I say that I love every second of it.

All in all, I agree with those who said that some of the songs feel unfinished or like they had untapped potential. It’s unfortunate. However, this is still probably my favorite album by them thus far. Is it because of the content? The vocals? The fact that they’re all actually getting around the same song-time? Probably all of the above. They’re phenomenal as a quartet and I’m stoked to see what they do live and in the future, whether that be as a foursome or individually.

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evenstevensranked · 7 years ago

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#32: Season 1, Episode 7 - “Foodzilla”

Louis convinces Ren to let him do a live news segment on the school lunch lady for the Wombat Report. Unfortunately, his inability to be serious turns the story into a fiasco -- ultimately causing the lunch lady to quit her job.

The episode opens with Louis and Ren walking home from school. He’s nagging her and asking “please?!” over and over. This is obviously setting us up to wonder what the heck he’s asking for. Side note: I love how even though I know they filmed the interior shots of the house on a set, I STILL like to think they used the real house from time to time, lol. This is another one of those instances. They’re walking out and about in the real world, up until they reach their front door. You can’t tell if they’re still outside or if they’ve captured great artificial “natural” light. Gahhh. You can also hear legitimate sounding wind and cars driving by, which is either great sound editing or... ya know, they were actually at the house. In which case.. IT TOTALLY IS THE SAME INSIDE!

Yeah, this is definitely (probably) my wishful thinking talking tbh. The more I stare at these images the more it looks like a set with bright lights... But still.

Anyway, nerd analyzation aside... Turns out Louis desperately wants to host a segment on the premiere installment of the Wombat Report, which Ren is in charge of. He says that he could make her a comic masterpiece, which is where Ren immediately shuts any prospect down. Naturally, she absolutely will not allow it because she thinks Louis is incapable of taking anything seriously. I don’t blame her. If only she could lighten up, though.. Louis probably could’ve delivered something great, hilarious and take it seriously. I would’ve loved to see that, tbh.

Literally a million scenes/lines from this episode were used in Disney Channel promos for the show. Including “You think I need to shave my pits?” “I rest my case.” which happens around this point of the episode.

Louis heads out to the backyard, where Eileen is attempting to do Tai-Chi. The only problem is that she can’t find the right music to help her relax. Louis confides in her about the Wombat Report situation, and she tells him if he really wants to do it, the only option is to take it seriously and present Ren with a professional idea. She invites Louis to try exercising with her “Do this with me! It’s called: Golden Chicken Stands on One Leg.” Louis gives up right away and says:

So freaking good. Louis Stevens is all of us.

Eileen eventually looks though Ren’s CD collection for better relaxation tunes and chooses Limp Bizkit. Oh my god. “The Limp Biscuits. That sounds relaxing” she says. bahaha I can’t.

The next day at school, Louis tries to figure out a good idea for a story and goes to Twitty and Tawny for help at lunch. Twitty suggests that he do a behind the scenes look at his band, The Alan Twitty Project! Ahhhh! This is the first ever hint at the band arc! :D He also says that his lead singer has mono. The number one sickness mentioned on teen shows that literally no one I’ve ever known in real life has contracted. We get another one of those lines used in promos here: Louis: “You think I’m just some goofball who can’t be serious?” Twitty and Tawny: “...........yeah.”

Right about now is when Louis gets the bright idea to do his story on the school lunch lady.. played by Wendy Worthington who’s been in a zillion things you’ve probably seen. Including “Tower of Terror” -- the single most horrifying movie to ever air on Disney Channel. (Well, except for “Don’t Look Under The Bed.”) There’s a decapitated corpse and doll in the film. Just sayin.

She’s honestly really good at playing a creepy lady, I guess. Also, the little girl is Morgan from Boy Meets World... which instead of a direct parallel, you could consider a 6 degrees of separation deal between this show and BMW. I mean, that’s kinda reaching... but.

Just for the laughs, here’s me on the ride at Disney World. I was... well, terrified of it, but oddly obsessed at the same time. Also, that is my uncle laughing at me to my right.

Louis presents Ren with a rough draft of his report “The Lunch Lady: Life Behind The Hairnet” which seems extremely promising. Ren thinks so too, and allows him to do the segment. We sort of get mirror talk that night... but not really. It’s just Louis practicing various ways to act on air -- another bit used in promos.

Okay, we’ve finally reached the debut of The Wombat Report! For some reason Ren can’t correctly pronounce “Wombat Report” and says “Wombat Waport” I never understood this until I asked my mother for confirmation today. Louis refers to her as “Bawa” (a.k.a Barbara Walters) at one point, so I always assumed this was a reference to her or something... turns out my assumption was correct. I apologize for being an uncultured swine.

They start off with a “Coming up...” intro that features a character named DaNica Henderson (played by Alexis Lopez from The Luck Of the Irish, whose sister is Bianca Lopez a.k.a Mandy “Always Gets Her Man” Sanchez! Holy crap!) To quote Season 3 Louis:

DaNica says “Ever wonder what happens to the fines you pay on overdue library books? I have a shocking report.” And the camera zooms out to reveal a fancy sports car in the librarian’s parking spot:

Like, wth?! lol. Imagine if the librarian saved up enough piddly overdue fines to buy a freaking lambo or something?! omg. What’s funnier is that I’m picturing the stereotypical, old lady librarian driving around in that car.

They segue to a sports report by the underused Artie Ryan. Yesssss. He’s interviewing Twitty about a recent basketball game. This scene cuts to Louis, who’s on next, telling Tom (who of course is the AV guy/cameraman) that he’s just gonna wing the interview with the lunch lady. Not good. When it cuts back to Artie’s segment, we get another one of those backends to a random sentence from Twitty: “...Let’s just say it’s the last time I played without a cup.” Oh my god. Chill, Disney. Twitty takes this on-air opportunity to say that his band is looking for a bassist. Artie leans in like “Hey! I play bass!” lol. This is so great because Artie goes on to join The Alan Twitty Project/Twitty-Stevens Connection! Again, very cool to see the band arc starting to form. Gotta love solid continuity.

It’s time for Louis’ report and, well... this is just one of those absolutely iconic scenes ya gotta embed:

youtube

“It’s FOODZILLA! Tokyo is dooooomed!” (At least, I think that’s what he’s saying.)

..........as you can see, Louis started off his live-streamed interview sort of okay? And then it all just went down in flames pretty quickly. Only Louis Stevens could take an interview from a simple question, to a full out food war between the news crew and the Lunch Lady. It’s actually pretty hilarious, but you just cannot help but cringe at the fact Louis f’d up… again -- Much like his meltdown in Wild Child. But, I’m ranking this disaster higher because I find it less horrible than tarnishing the name of his own family and jeopardizing Eileen’s campaign on television. It’s a lil less cringy than that, which makes it funnier. I love how he shouts “MAN DOWN! I’ll try to get’cha out! I’ll try to get’cha!” as if they’re literally at war, which is too much lol.. and also predicted Shia’s future...? (Again, I’m reaching, but STILL.) That ending shot scene of Ren fuming with anger was also used for promos. Actually, you can just check out this promo video I posted recently to see every moment I’ve mentioned so far and then some.

To Ren’s surprise, everyone (including Principal Wexler for whatever reason) loved Louis’ segment and thought it was hilarious. DaNica refers to it as “phat” which definitely dates the show, lol. Just like that, Ren switches gears and tells Louis to prepare another segment. Wow. Unfortunately, at lunch that day.. all the kids start taunting the lunch lady by screaming “FOODZILLA!” at her. This one kid was the first one to shout it, and I always thought he was Khleo Thomas (Zero from Holes) lol:

The lunch lady is obviously mortified and runs away into the kitchen. :( Louis and Ren feel incredibly remorseful. When they get home from school, they tell Eileen everything and she forces them to go to the lunch lady’s house and apologize. (This is also the “You are a horrible little person” bit. As seen in that darn promo I linked.)

They go to her house later that night, and she reluctantly invites them in. We learn that her name is Elsa Schotz, and she “shows them who she really is” by yodeling for them. I don’t know how that’s supposed to reveal her true colors, but ok. We find out that she came over on a boat from Europe to become a professional yodeler, but sadly no one cares about yodeling in America — which is most definitely extremely factual. Have you ever heard a Top 40 yodeling hit? Honestly, why would ANYONE travel to America of all countries to pursue a yodeling career? She was already in Europe! That seems like something you’d go to Germany or Switzerland for??? I feel like this is a career endeavor you’d research where it’s most lucrative before moving to another country? Anyway, once she found out that yodeling work literally does not exist in the US, she started cooking at the school for money. But, now she’s depressed because she’s being made fun of.

This information somehow leads to Louis and Ren giving her a makeover??? I never realized it before, but that almost makes no sense? The kids at school weren’t making fun of her for the way she looks, but rather, because of her crazy outburst. I’d be so insulted and confused if I were Elsa. Is the makeover just a way to... somehow distract from the Foodzilla thing? Idk. She forgives them in the end though and her new-look gives her a confidence boost.

Where’d they get that outfit? Did she just happen to have something snazzy like that in the back of her closet? or did they seriously glamify her uniform?

They were pumped for the kids at school to see the “new and improved” Elsa Schotz, but she doesn’t show up the next day. Turns out she struck up a relationship with the school janitor and they eloped to Las Vegas to get married. Still a better love story than Twilight.

And that’s pretty much it! The short return after the last commercial break is Louis yodeling for Eileen while she does her Tai-Chi.

This episode remains super memorable. Probably because how many freaking scenes they used on commercials! It also aired a lot as well. Like, wow. But other than the actual Foodzilla scene, the rest of the episode is just a little bland and slightly random at times haha. It’s still good though. It’s nice to see Louis and Ren work together to help Elsa in the end.

Thoughts?

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#rank #even stevens #louis stevens #shia labeouf #disney channel #old disney #nostalgia #old school disney #ren stevens #christy carlson romano #wendy worthington #foodzilla #season 1 #band arc #the twitty stevens connection #the alan twitty project #artie ryan

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verziehenone · 8 years ago

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It’s that time again. That time for TV shows to bow out for a few months, go into hibernation, and then feverishly work to convince to return to their worlds for more.

Having watched a number of shows hit their finales in recent months, here is my subjective and biased ranking:

Agents of SHIELD

The 100

Z Nation

The Good Place

Arrow

Legion

Supergirl

The Flash

Supernatural

The Legends of Tomorrow

The Vampire Diaries

Superstore

Last Man on Earth

The Walking Dead

Suits

Star Wars: Rebels

Channel Zero

This isn’t a ranking from Good to Bad, but rather in order of ‘I liked it a lot!’ to ‘I could have liked it more’ to ‘It was a finale’. I don’t think I watched any shows in recent days that I really thought were awful finales, but some were definitely better than others.

SHIELD was fantastic this season and I can’t even really think of a true ‘lull’ in the action. First Ghost Rider, then LMDs, then the Framework (’Hydra’) stuff. Excellent way of divvying up a 23-24 episode season and keeping it fresh and exciting. Other shows would do well to learn from this example.

The 100 was terrific. That show keeps blowing me away. The stories are interesting, the acting and sets and effects are really great, and it’s full of great moments! The last two seasons have been up and down, but man, those ‘ups’ are really up!

Z Nation is an oddball to see on here but this show is so ridiculously fun that I have to mention it. Every episode has some insane ridiculous stupid zombie moment where insane ridiculously stupid things happen to zombies, and then a bad guy says something dumb and then probably dies an episode later and then more stupid ridiculously fun zombie action happens. So many fun and enjoyable moments of over the top action and effects.

Odd to see a comedy like this so high? The Good Place snuck up on me for being a very well written comedy with clever and laugh out loud moments, good acting and special effects, and a very very good finale. If you haven’t given it a shot, I really really think you should, it’s so surprisingly entertaining.

Arrow did a great job of concluding the present storyline in a BIG way, and also the flashback storyline. Very interested to see what will happen next season, as the finale left the writers with basically a blank slate regarding ... well ... everything.

Legion. Wow. I mean, Noah Hawley is just in a world of his own with directing. Fargo was instantly a classic (especially season 1) and Legion just proves it wasn’t a fluke. I loved seeing Dan Stevens break out of his Downton Abbey role in a big way, and obviously Aubrey Plaza was a treat (like always). The visuals, the music, everything. And obvs I loved seeing Jemaine Clement. Because I love seeing him in basically everything.

Supergirl did a great job of being the finale everyone kind of expected and hoped for at the same time. Big effects, big fights, conclusions to stories, teases for the next season, all of it. It had more ambition in it than some movies, and did a great job with maximizing the TV budget it had. And honestly, it’s crazy that this is a TV show. A decade ago, many of these episodes would have been a movie, for their budget and characters. And Melissa Benoist is just a treat.

Flash ... well, I love the Flash, but this season wasn’t great, and last wasn’t either. This was better, but still up and down, very uneven. The finale was fine, but it had a few things that could have made it much better. And naturally Barry did a Barry thing in the finale, and despite it actually making sense this time around, it still feels like a pointless cliffhanger. One of those: Is the main character really dead? Well, all signs point to Maybe! (Unless the show got renewed and isn’t Game of Thrones).

Supernatural was pretty solid considering it is in season 10,000. Sad that Mark Sheppard (Crowley) said he’s not coming back for next year, but maybe it’s a cop out like Ian Somerhalder (Damien) on Vampire Diaries, where it’s really just to ‘sell’ a finale. I really have enjoyed the last 4 seasons quite a lot and have every intention of tuning in again and again to watch the boys raise havoc and save people (and hunt things) as long as the CW will renew it.

Legends added dinosaurs in the finale, in a city, doing dinosaur things. This covers a lot of ‘meh’ parts in the finale, though it was pretty solid overall. I mean, when a season is about getting the Spear of Destiny and then needing to use the Blood of Christ that is buried in a battlefield (that you retrieve during a battle) so that 3 baddies don’t destroy all the things ... well, it’s an insane premise that was well delivered, just not incredibly well. More Captain Cold is always a good thing though!

Vampire Diaries finally ended, and it ended in (some) ways that people expected, and others that were still (somewhat) surprising. It smartly left teases to storylines unexplored that will likely payoff in The Originals, and allow us to continue visiting some characters again, but it didn’t feel like a cheap finale for a show that over and over surprised me with how fun and insane it was.

Both Superstore and Last Man on Earth had finales that reset the status quo and will get me back. Partly because they’re both terrific in different ways, and partly because both could use a bit of a shakeup in ‘the formula’. They were fine finales but not ‘OH MY GOSH HAVE YOU SEEN’ finales.

A simple summary of The Walking Dead finale: from literally the first 2 minutes I could have told you how at least part of it would end. But some parts were still very entertaining, while other were ... predictably dumb. This was a very up and down season with a lot of flaws that hopefully will be corrected and some story problems that seemed so simple to resolve.

Suits teased a change that seemed like it took an eternity to get here, despite being eminently enjoyable to watch it come to fruition, still took a thousand years to happen. It was renewed, so it will be neat to see how it changes things going forward. And, considering the upcoming spinoff, I wonder if Suits is coming to a close?

Rebels ... next season is your last. I have mixed feelings about this. Where was Ahsoka this last season? I guess that was the answer to season 2′s finale... but come on. That better not be the answer. I’m excited for some of the teases for next season, hopeful Thrawn keeps being menacing, and intrigued about how they end it. And mostly I’m interested to see when Disney will announce the next animated show, hopefully set in another interesting era where we can see big names do big stuff (ala Clone Wars). Still hopeful that Ezra goes darkside. We’ll see.

Channel Zero surprised me with how incredibly slow burning the entire show was, taking its sweet old time to add in the scares and the dread. I enjoyed every episode and thought the finale ended it sufficiently, but it wasn’t as good as the prior episodes. Here’s hoping that season 2 ends up with a similar slow burn feel.

And the following are ones that have aired but I haven’t yet watched:

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Modern Family

Jane the Virgin

Bobs Burgers

Elementary

Samurai Jack

12 Monkeys

The Expanse

Into the Badlands

Yeah, I’ll get there. I watch a few of these with my wife, so it’s a ‘when we get to it’ kind of thing (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Modern Family, Jane the Virgin, Bobs Burgers), and a few (Samurai Jack, 12 Monkeys) I haven’t watched any of this season. And Elementary, while I really really enjoy it, I am at least 2-3 seasons out. The Expanse is the sci-fi show everyone should be watching but not enough are and I think it’s going to end up cancelled before it really hits its stride (and as far as I understand, it got terrifically better in season 2 after a very strong season 1). Into the Badlands is the show (frankly) that Iron Fist wishes it was and I really need to watch season 2, but its one of those shows you have to watch without doing other things (which tends to be what I do).

And there’s ones that are a still a ways out:

The Originals

The Leftovers

Better Call Saul

Doctor Who

Steven Universe

Adventure Time

Gotham

Fargo

American Gods

Prison Break

Twin Peaks

So much excellent TV in this! The Originals has been good, The Leftovers is on its way out (and seems to be maintaining its quality and momentum), and what I say that hasn’t been said about Better Call Saul? Doctor Who has been completely amazing this season, easily the best Capaldi season, and up there with the best ‘Nu Who’ seasons, in my opinion (and many others’). Steven Universe is so much fun and I know Adventure Time is on the way out ... sad sad sad. Can’t wait to share that with my son when he’s older. Gotham is insane and campy and stupid and I’ll absolutely tune in in the fall. Fargo has been good this season after a kind of ‘meh’ season 2. American Gods is a great adaptation of the book, and a great show really in every respect. Blown away by the quality! And I haven’t actually started Prison Break but I fully expect to enjoy it (and be sad since apparently it isn’t getting renewed again). Um and Twin Peaks is a show that I don’t understand but am watching season 2 so I can watch season 3.

And ones that are about to start:

Dark Matter

Killjoys

Fear the Walking Dead

Rick and Morty

Orphan Black

Preacher

Dark Matter isn’t amazing but it’s serviceable, while Killjoys is so so so much fun. Fear is still figuring itself out but season 2 was much better than season 1 (where they totally abandoned their premise about 2 episodes in). Rick and frickin’ Morty. When are we getting more, Dan Harmon??!??! And lastly, Orphan Black, I can’t believe it’s almost time to say goodbye. Tatiana Maslany better get some killer roles after this because she is a stellar actress and this show is so good, I hope the finale does it justice. And Preacher is just insane in the best way.

That’s all for my TV thoughts for now. I didn’t include Netflix-type binge shows but I watched a lot of those too (Iron Fist, 3%, The OA, Between, Travelers, Santa Clarita Diet, The Crown). Or shows I might want to watch but haven’t yet (Riverdale, Underground). And I probably forgot other shows too. And I probably watch too much TV, but if it’s any consolation or explanation, it heavily influences and inspires my writing. (And most of it I watch while video gaming anyway).

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