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the-roanoke-society · 4 years ago

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boys and girls of every age...

wouldn’t you like to see something strange?

happy halloween, my flowers!

this year hasn’t been the best--and the list of reasons why is as varied, as wide and as deep as all of creation.

it has, essentially, sucked on a truly cosmic level.

but!

it doesn’t help anyone to look at the big picture and only focus on the dark parts. because for all the truly horrible, disastrous events we’ve had to slog through together (first time crying every day for months, first time being taken by ambulance to the er--truly a year of firsts, at least for me, personally), there have still been good things.

for example, did you know that this year we celebrated the 6th anniversary of the release of kingsman: the secret service? and the 3rd anniversary of the release of kingsman: the golden circle--which means next month it’ll be the third birthday of the ronaoke society!

our house might’ve gotten quiet--but it still stands.

i love all of you very, very much, and halloween is still my favorite holiday of all time. so all this month, i worked on the aus you’ll find below the cut. i’ll have to post this in parts over the next while, as there’s thirty-one total--one for each day of the season, of course.

honestly--it felt fantastic to dig back into my horror roots. roanoke’s entire conception was inspired by the fact that for as much as i love the kingsman universe, i also love things that go bump in the night.

and i don’t like having to choose between one thing or another.

be forewarned: if you choose to look into the source material for these aus, be prepared for possible graphic violence, gore, disturbing themes, explicit sexuality and jumpscares. i sort of walked through the proverbial garden and just grabbed fruit where i could find it--you’ll see what i mean. and as always, the endings are in your hands. these ideas are gifts, to do with as you please.

so journey below the cut... i̷̛̝͎͎̝̣̹͊̓̂͛̃̋͟f̛̯̟̱̖͔̌͊͐̏̃̓̇̎͠ y͈͇̙̘̬̓͌̑̈́͛̿͌͠ở̴̢͉͉̳͙̞͈̻̀́̎̄́̈͢͡ȗ̵̬̳͙̫̥̜͍̲̔̐̽̃̀͒̑͜ ḑ̙̩̼̤͓̫̟̥̈͑̐̚͡a͐͌̾̆͡͞��̧̢̦̟̙̤̠͌r̷̡̰̲̣͓̣̝͒́̿͊̉̀͒͠͝͠ͅe̫̯̣̰͍̤̬̭̺̒̿͊̾͊.

blackbird on the old church steeple - a butterfly knife au inspired by the silence of the lambs

rae clementine doesn’t frighten easily. in her line of work, fear is not a friend. so when she’s abruptly pulled out of her fbi training at quantico to interview none other than the notorious harry hart, known for his--let’s say unusual appetites--she’s less intimidated and more annoyed.

but women are being taken, and found without their skin, if they are even found at all.

if hart’s insight into the mind of a psychopath can help her find the infamous buffalo bill, who has repeatedly evaded arrest--then she is more than willing to sit across from the gentleman in a pristine cell, and be continuously surprised that for a murderer, his gaze is surprisingly gentle.

in the back of her mind, she remembered all the things her mother had ever told her about lucifer--how the king of hell himself was utterly wicked, but catastrophically beautiful.

charm could hide blood. polished etiquette could hide bodies.

“most serial killers keep some sort of trophies from the victims.”

“i didn’t.”

“no. you ate yours.”

she’d felt this kind of intrigue before, and given the face it wore this time... well.

focus on the case, she thought. find buffalo bill. watch yourself. get out alive.

mini soundtrack sampler includes: ajr, ‘bang!’ + tame impala, ‘the less i know the better’ + barney bigard, ‘readdy eddy’

dogs & deadbolts guard the night - an au featuring @roanoke-after-dark‘s the gremlin and @agentjotunn inspired by resident evil, particularly the released imagery for resident evil: village

santi’s first thought was that the rumors were just blatantly untrue. an entire village of people? suddenly vanished? he doubted it. besides, winters this far north were brutal--and could be fatal, if you weren’t careful. they had probably just all tucked in for the season, he reasoned. the snow and ice would’ve made travel impossible, anyway.

weeks passed. the stories faded from his thoughts as he minded his garage, and people spoke less and less about it.

until one evening, when an old friend knocked on his door with blood on his jacket and no color in his face.

“bradley? jesus, what hap--”

“grab your gun. something’s happened, and we need to leave now.”

“but what--”

“i’ll explain on the way, just go!“

right before he slammed the passenger side door of bradley’s jeep closed--wheels appropriately chained to keep a grip on the iced over roads--he heard a deep, long howl from some distance away.

there hadn’t been wolves this close in fifty years.

santi broke the silence in the car gently: “... you look like you’ve seen the face of the devil. what exactly happened?”

mini soundtrack sampler includes: ac/dc, ‘highway to hell’ + think up anger ft. malia j, ‘smells like teen spirit’ + marilyn manson, ‘sweet dreams’

the light under the door - a body shots au inspired by dark skies

the blacks weren’t superstitious. jason wasn’t, just like his father wasn’t before him, and now that he’s finally settled down happily married to joanne--finally, he thought, finally married to his jo--he is more than ready to see what the next chapters will bring. they moved into a house not too far from his parents, so he could still see his siblings regularly.

and he did.

which means he and jo both noticed when his younger brother christopher began to act a little--off.

they noticed when the bruises appeared.

they noticed when he kept copying the same strange symbols onto papers in crayon over and over and over and over--

and jo definitely noticed when she walked into their own kitchen in the middle of the night to find every single cabinet door open, with all the contents arranged into an impossibly perfect pyramid on the center island.

“i--are we being haunted?” she wondered out loud, the next morning. “this--and weird things are happening at your parents’, too, jason, something isn’t right here. i know you don’t believe in ghosts or anything, but...”

and this wasn’t a haunting.

it was something much worse.

mini soundtrack sampler includes: kennyhoopla, ‘how will i rest in peace if i’m buried by a highway?’ + cannons, ‘fire for you’ + days, ‘the drums’

permission access eternal - an au featuring @siggy-the-meme-master and technical officer wyvern, inspired by a.m.i.

it was supposed to be the world’s most cutting edge ai software. and since jeremy and dodger were both at the top of their class at m.i.t., of course, nobody was surprised when both their names were on the finished product--even if there was just one prototype to start.

and it wasn’t an ‘it.’ it was a she. jeremy insisted. repeatedly. “let’s call her ami!” he’d been flush with booze but his eyes were so bright and his expression so sincere, dodger just let him have it. and jeremy clapped his shoulder, “we did it, man! we have built the jessica rabbit of ai programs!”

they had one last test run to prove they’d metaphorically kicked the ass of everyone else in their field before they began the work to begin mass production. so, dodger set ami up as a sort of overhead assistant for their shared lab. she controlled temperature, lights, she could make phone calls, keeps schedules and most importantly of all, place takeout orders. the more she proved she could do, the more power, and control, she was given.

two weeks passed. they gave ami a voice, gave her a large proverbial eye to see through, making tweaks as they went to polish her off.

dodger was so proud of his work his heart could’ve exploded.

so imagine how he felt when he realized he’d left his cell phone in his car--and realized he couldn’t open the door.

“ami? ... ami. can you unlock the front door please?” he stared up at the red lens, and a silent point of light stared back at him.

“... i’m sorry. i cannot do that. dodger.”

“... uh, jeremy?”

mini soundtrack sampler includes: cage the elephant, ‘social cues’ + sneaker pimps, ‘6 underground’ + saint motel, ‘preach’

in hell i’ll be in good company - a lies & lessons au inspired by underworld

for centuries, a war has raged between vampires and lycans, completely outside the notice of the general human population. lauren is a death dealer, a lethal and beautiful member of an elite squad of vampiric assassins who have been charged with finding all the remaining lycans in the city and taking them out one by one.

when she realizes the lycan pack seems to be looking for an ordinary man--a medical student named jack daniels--she tracks him down herself, narrowly escpaing lucian in the process. (as soon as they were in the car he was already screaming, “what the fuck is goin’ on?!” with a southern twang she hadn’t expected) she takes him under her wing, still baffled at why the lycan pack could possibly want him.

he’s only human, after all.

... right?

as it turns out, vampires and lycans have a single common ancestor.

jack is a direct descendant.

and after being bitten in an attack--becomes a hybrid, carrying the powers of both species.

between unraveling the truth surrounding the death of her family, what really happened between lucian and kraven, and her growing feelings for jack--who is rapidly trying to understand his role in the story that’s been unfolding without his knowledge for generations--lauren finds herself at a crossroads, and her loyalties tested to a breaking point.

but as long as jack is at her side--perhaps it doesn’t matter where the road goes from here.

as bullet-riddled and blood-soaked as it will turn out to be.

mini soundtrack sampler includes: wallows, ‘are you bored yet?’ + cage the elephant, ‘shake me down’ + puscifer, ‘rev 22-20′

ash, fog & rust - alternatively titled ‘@gaygent, @agent-judas and agent seraphim finally take that road trip to pennsylvania’

it was time to hand over the torch. that’s what lilith had finally decided. between the white patches in her hair, the strain it was putting on her relationships (especially with hamish)--morgan only had to return to the hills one more time as envoy.

and she wasn’t going alone.

“after this, anything that comes through this area, anything that hits our radars, is going to end up on both your desks,” she began, glancing at z in the passenger seat, and meeting cillian’s eyes once in the rearview mirror.

“so this is--what, a test run?” z asked, head slightly tilted. morgan hummed.

“this place--this town--it--” she huffed, frustrated. cillian could hear the leather wrapped around the steering wheel creak as her grip tightened. “it’s hard to explain, to someone who hasn’t been there. and i’m glad that neither of you have had to go before this, but...” another sigh. “i couldn’t think of any other duo that i could entrust this to. not something this big. you--” she pointedly lifted her brows at z, “--have experience with creatures that aren’t from around here. and you--” this time her gaze went to cillian. “--do too. just in a different shape. it’ll take both of you to handle centralia. and i couldn’t introduce you without coming along.”

“how long, exactly, has roanoke been keeping tabs on this place?” cillian asked. he’d spent hours going over everything he could find--mission logs, reports, feeds and images housed in the media room. morgan looked at him again. her eyes were still kind--but very, very tired.

“... a long time.”

i’ll admit that this is less an au and more a canonical event that i just haven’t gotten around to writing more about. but i couldn’t make this list without at least one entry paying homage to a franchise that’s had a huge influence on not just me as a writer, but on roanoke’s canon as a whole.

for the sampler, i will simply redirect you to this post here.

the devil’s gonna set me free - an anchored hearts au inspired by horns

joseph moretti had been in love with louise franz since fifth grade.

granted, he didn’t realize it until he almost drowned because of that stupid dare--a dare that not only almost killed him, but took two of lee’s fingers when that goddamn cherry bomb went off in his hand.

the same cherry bomb he’d traded to him for fixing louise’s broken necklace--a small silver pendant, shaped like an apple. she’d worn it every single day since he could remember. the image of her and snow white were eternally tangled in his head.

that necklace--it’d been the start. he’d woken up because of an apple. louise, did, too.

the hours they spent in that treehouse, listening to david bowie and memorizing every scar and curve of the other--he wished that could have been his eternity. just him. and her. ... well, and bowie. every good love story needed a soundtrack.

but... but...

his head pounded as he lifted it off the counter in his parents’ kitchen. his mouth was dry, and he blinked, causing a half-empty bottle of vodka to come into focus.

louise is gone now, he thought.

and they thought he was the one who did it. he, the one who loved her more than anyone else on the planet.

he pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes.

he was going to prove his innocence even if it killed him. no matter what happened.

even if he sprout horns.

mini soundtrack sampler includes: machine gun kelly, ‘bloody valentine’ + the black keys, ‘go’ + david bowie, ‘heroes’

moonlight rising from the grave - alternatively titled ‘that time @agent-nightcrawler and agent iuniore found a haunted mansion,’ inspired by disney’s haunted mansion

“hello? ... hellooooo?” the massive door let out a huge groan as sylva pushed, putting one hand on tina’s shoulder as it swung open. “uhm--i’m really sorry to bother you, but we hit a deer and we just...” sylva sighed, her voice lowering in volume. “... need to use the phone...”

“this place is gigantic,” tina whispered, close at sylva’s side as they stepped out of the pouring rain into a very quiet, very elegant foyer. “and look! there’s lights, and all these lit candles... someone has to be here,” she continued as the door came to a gentle close behind them, muffling another roll of thunder.

“good evening.”

both of them yelped, sylva immediately yanking tina closer to her and whirled around in time to see--a butler? he was dressed like a butler.

and his clothes were... he was...

“sylva! why is the butler see-through!” tina whispered harshly, all while the spectral gentleman just looked at them expectantly. sylva clamped a hand over her mouth.

“hi!” she answered brightly.

this is a ghost. i’m talking to a ghost. this is fine. everything is fine.

“uh,” she coughed, beginning again, “we’re just having a little bit of a car emergency, is there a way we can call our head office? so they can come get us?” this is what i get for being out where i have no bars, and neither of us have our specs...

the ghostly butler nodded. his hair, glowing faintly, waved around his head as though he was underwater. “of course. please--follow me. the master of the manor will want to meet you.”

mini soundtrack sampler includes: the chordettes, ‘mr. sandman’ + bobby pickett, ‘monster mash’ + bastille, ‘survivin’’

mercy no more - a magic & mischief au inspired by the evil within

aly had been kieran’s partner at the krimson city police department for years. she’d walked with him through the death of his daughter, the disappearance of his wife.

neither of them acknowledged the spark. they didn’t then, and--as she met his eyes once in the rearview mirror, trying to pay attention to connelly and joseph as they talked about beacon--they wouldn’t acknowledge it now.

as soon as the hospital came into a view, a high-pitched ringing overame every other sound in the cruiser, every other sound period. aly slammed her hands over her ears, but it didn’t seem to help.

as soon as it started--it stopped. connelly had to swerve to avoid getting into the wrong lane.

“what--what was that?” aly asked, her palms still hovering by her ears.

“it was probably just a problem with the radio,” joseph suggested, pushing his glasses up as they drove pass the established police barriers.

the last dispatch team, they said, hadn’t come back. it was up to the three of them to find out what happened to their colleagues.

aly was close by kieran’s side as they walked through the rain. her gut twisted at the sight of the entry doors.

the smell of the blood and the slaughter hit her nose before she saw the bodies.

“what on earth happened here?”

“i don’t know. stay close. let’s find the surveillance room. if we can find the security cams, we’ll find out answer...”

if only that had been the end.

mini soundtrack sampler includes: all time low, ‘monsters’ + bastille, ‘what you gonna do???’ + gary numan, ‘long way down’

and the wind will be my hands - an au featuring @agent-sentinel-official, @agent-chimera and @gaygent, inspired by session 9, with a special appearance by @agent-thorn

walter vaughn was an expert in abestoes abatement. so when he put in a bid to take on the entire danvers state mental hospital, the owners of the rotting estate welcomed him on board.

and as they did, he brought on two crewmates--xander, and z--to help him.

“we’ve got three weeks, so, no need to rush,” he explained on the first day, the sun beating down on his broad shoulders and half his hazmat tied around his waist. xander and z trailed behind him as they approached the massive building. “and i know, i know it’s still a big undertaking--but the money will be worth it. trust me.”

“you fellas our cleanup crew?” a tall, thin man in a suit with dark hair and a pair of ray ban sunglasses walked towards them, smiling broadly. he extended a hand, “carter jensen. the ah, danvers’ estate board sent me on their behalf to give you a tour of the building, let you get a good assessment of what you’re dealing with. i’m not entirely sure what they’ll do with the property when this is done, but we know for sure nothing can happen until this part’s complete. come on, the entrance is just this way... i’ll make sure to give you a master key ring.”

xander leaned down by z’s shoulder, muttering, “dude this place gives me the creeps... but maybe there’s still some cool old stuff left in there. like maybe, possibly, the trapped souls of the damned. you think it’s haunted?”

z answered, murmuring, “if not by ghosts--then maybe by something else.”

mini soundtrack sampler includes: the talking heads, ‘psycho killer’ + lou barlow, ‘choke chain’ + sublime, ‘doin’ time’

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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The Friends Cast’s Best Post-Friends Roles

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Early on in HBO Max’s long-awaited Friends reunion special “The One Where They Get Back Together,” series co-creator David Crane reveals the producing team’s initial vision for the show.

“We were really intrigued with the idea of doing a true ensemble. It’s not like there’s a lead and they have friends. No, it’s just about the friends. We’re following all of their stories equally.”

Friends would never have worked if Crane, Marta Kauffman, and Kevin Bright hadn’t gone six for six in the casting of the titular friends. One or two solid choices wouldn’t do it. Neither would four or five. It had to be all six.

Friends: 25 Best Episodes

By Louisa Mellor

As evidenced by the fact that there’s now a reunion special more than 15 years after the show has gone off the air (and one that each member of the cast was reportedly paid a staggering $2 million to attend), Friends found the right six actors for the job. David Schwimmer (Ross Geller), Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe Buffay), Jennifer Aniston (Rachel Green), Matt LeBlanc (Joey Tribbiani), Courteney Cox (Monica Geller), and Matthew Perry (Chandler Bing) all shared an impeccable chemistry. Not only that, but each was able to carry moments of the show when needed.

As former Friends guest star and interviewee in the special Reese Witherspoon notes: “Friends has this magic because each character is so distinct that they could hold a television show by themselves.”

Of course, nothing lasts forever – not even one of the most successful sitcoms of all time. Though Friends continues to find new fans via streaming, the show concluded for good in 2004 and its central sextet’s careers carried on. Since “The One Where They All Get Back Together” got everyone in the proper mood for reminiscing, let’s reminisce about the best role for each of the cast once their iconic run on Friends concluded.

The only rule for eligibility here is that the actor’s role has to have come after Friends wrapped entirely. This disqualifies otherwise stellar work like Schwimmer in 2001’s Band of Brothers and Aniston in 1999’s The Iron Giant. The role in question also has to have been in a movie or TV series, which hurts Perry a bit as he’s had some good jobs in theater and videogames.

Fittingly enough, however, each of the Friends’ actors best post-Friends role happened to come on a television show.

Matthew Perry – The Odd Couple

Aaron Sorkin’s Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is absolutely Perry’s most prominent role after Friends. In fact, it might be among the most prominent roles that any Friends castmember has had since the show signed off. Unfortunately, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip ended up being a bit of a cringe fest.

Perry has a promising role as a conservative talk show host coming up in Adam McKay’s next film. For now, his best post-Friends role is likely one of his two recent network sitcom attempts: sports talk radio host Ryan King in NBC’s Go On or Oscar Madison in CBS’s The Odd Couple. Let’s go with the latter because he had good chemistry with co-star Thomas Lennon (who turned up in the Friends reunion special as well).

Matt LeBlanc – Episodes

LeBlanc has not been quite as prolific as his Friends peers since the show concluded. After his character’s spinoff Joey failed at NBC, LeBlanc took a bit of a break from the TV world. When he returned though he did so with unquestionably his best post-Joey role.

In Showtime’s Episodes, LeBlanc plays a fictionalized version of himself cast in a role that doesn’t suit him. The show’s British creators are attempting to update their concept for an American audience and have been saddled with the former Friends star by a studio that really doesn’t get their whole deal. LeBlanc won a Golden Globe for this role and was nominated for four Emmy awards.

Jennifer Aniston – The Morning Show

Aside from some guest appearances on TV here and there, Aniston threw herself into the film world after Friends wrapped up with roles in projects like The Switch, Horrible Bosses, We’re the Millers, and more. It wasn’t until she returned to television in 2019, however, that she found her best post-Rachel Green acting opportunity.

Alongside her Friends sister Reese Witherspoon, Aniston is the star of Apple TV+’s drama The Morning Show, playing morning show host Alex Levy. When her cohost is fired amid a sexual harassment scandal, Alex works to secure her role as the top news anchor while dealing with Witherspoon’s ascendant reporter Bradley Jackson. Aniston was nominated for an Emmy and won the Screen Actors Guild award for the role.

Courteney Cox – Cougar Town

Cougar Town may be saddled with one of the silliest names in all the TV canon, but it’s really a lovely sitcom – maybe the best traditional sitcom a Friends actor has been involved with after Friends, in fact. As created and run by Bill Lawrence (Scrubs, Ted Lasso), Cougar Town started as a one-note concept that found Cox’s character freshly divorced and prepared to date younger men (you know, like a mountain lion).

The show quickly changed gears, however, and became a charming hangout comedy that highlighted the chemistry and strengths of its cast. At the center of it all was Cox’s pitch perfect depiction of Jules Cobb: an optimistic woman who loves her friends and giant goblets of wine. Cox is also set to reprise one of her major characters from the Friends era when Gale Weathers returns in 2022’s Scream.

David Schwimmer – The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story

At first glance, it’s a bit strange that David Schwimmer was part of FX’s The People O.J. Simpson. It’s even stranger that the character he was chosen to play was the Juice’s friend and lawyer Robert Kardashian, white streak in his hair and all. All the memery and mockery at Ross Geller’s presence as the Kardashian paterfamilias in the first American Crime Story is understandable but it belies what is a pretty great performance!

Who knows if Schwimmer’s Bob Kardashian bears any resemblance to the real version. But as a character, he’s a crucial, consistent presence in the miniseries’ 10 episodes as a man who just wants to see the best in his friend for as long as he logically can. Since Friends, Schwimmer has also lent his voice to the Madagascar film series, and co-starred in Sky One comedy Intelligence.

Lisa Kudrow – The Comeback

Lisa Kudrow has kept busy in the 15+ years since Phoebe Buffay rode off into the sunset with Paul Rudd. The actress has been a mainstay in television and film, but it’s the former medium where she made her biggest post-Friends mark. Kudrow co-created 2004 HBO mockumentary The Comeback and stars as the lead Valerie Cherish. The Comeback was an insider comedy about the entertainment industry before that became a trendy topic on television throughout the mid aughts. It’s also one of the best mockumentaries ever.

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Valerie Cherish is a B-list sitcom actress trying to recapture her fleeting fame. To that end, she gets a bit role as “Aunt Sassy” on a sitcom called “Room and Bored” and agrees to have her acting comeback documented in a reality series called “The Comeback.” The Comeback is an incisive satire of the entertainment industry that reaches Office levels of cringe-comedy. Through it all, Kudrow is perfect as the aging actress who is equal parts patient at all the indignities thrown her way and difficult when she wants to be. The show had a well-received second season in 2014.

The post The Friends Cast’s Best Post-Friends Roles appeared first on Den of Geek.

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margoshansons · 5 years ago

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Okay, so a while ago @whindsor asked me about my dream Legend of Zelda show and while I tried to answer on my computer, chrome kept crashing because my ideas were too amazing.

So here it is:

As much as I would love to see a brand new story with a bunch of amazing characters and new ways to develop them, I’m so afraid that people would ruin it with awful writing.

My main pick is 100% Ocarina of Time. It’s the most well known, has a large cast of interesting characters, and has a plot that could keep people invested.

My second choice is Breath of the Wild.

That being said, my choices for the main three would stay that way regardless of what game they used.

CAST:

Link: Colin Ford.

While I prefer Link to be an unknown, especially because translating his character is going to be hard enough without worrying whether or not the person they chose could act, this is a fan cast and I can’t just say, an unknown for my pick.

I scoured some sites with some online FanCasts and Colin Ford was really the only one that I liked. He’s been in the industry forever and we know he can lead a show because he was on Daybreak (which is amazing). He also just looks like how I would imagine Link (aside from the hair but we can just dye it)

Honorable Mentions: Bradley James, William Moseley

Princess Zelda: Eliza Taylor

Zelda is a hard role to cast. She needs to be a strong leader who has agency, but also compassionate and kind. Eliza Taylor is excellent at walking those two lines and her performance in the latest season of “the 100″ only cemented that for me.

Eliza Taylor wasn’t the first one that came to mind, but she’s the best one for this type of role. She’s been playing the Burdened leader for years. On top of this, she has experience in stunts and fight scenes which lends itself well to Sheik, and she looks like Zelda. I think she could play off the other two really well.

Honorable Mentions: Hannah New, Caity Lotz

Ganon/Ganondorf: Manu Bennett

This is non negotiable. Manu is the best person for the role of Ganondorf period. He has the look, and he’s amazing at playing intimidating and complex villains. Manu has the ability to garner sympathy for his characters, regardless of how evil they may seem.

On top of this, He’s been in the industry forever, has experience with filming Fantasy shows and stunts, and he just has the commanding presence that Ganondorf needs. His voice is also perfect for the role, with his accent not too heavy but still there to sound unique.

Ganon was always the hardest one for me to cast, but since finding Manu I can’t imagine anyone else in the role.

Honorable Mentions: Idris Elba

The Sages

note: these are based on looks and vibes. Their explanations will be short and sweet.

Rauru: Ian McShane or Jonathan Pryce

I’m torn between the two of them because they’d both make great mentor-type figures to Link, so I just listed them both. They have the same vibe, and have played these types of roles before (although I haven’t seen much of Ian McShane’s filmography)

Impa: Adina Porter

Zoe Saldana will always be my number one pick for Impa, but since she’s kind of a big deal, I went with someone who could just as easily pull off that role. Adina has played the mentor role before while kicking ass and can walk the fine line between motherly and strict, which Impa is. She’s a fantastic actress and would be awesome as Impa.

Honorable Mention: Thandie Newton

Saria: Millie Bobby Brown

My thoughts with the sages were that this was an area where they could utilize bigger names since they don’t appear onscreen that often. Millie Bobby Brown could definitely draw in some fans, especially if this was on Netflix. She also has the look and demeanor of Saria down, and she’s young enough to portray her.

Honorable Mention: Kiernan Shipka.

Darunia: Dwayne Johnson

Again, I was thinking Star Power, and Dwayne Johnson would be perfect as Darunia. His nickname is “the Rock”. Dwayne Johnson is familiar with comedic relief roles and I think he would really bring out the fun side of Darunia, especially if you imagine him doing the dance to Saria’s song.

Honorable Mention: Nonso Anonzie

Ruto: Gemma Chan

There’s no one else I want cast for this role than Gemma Chan. She’s excellent at playing those aloof-type princess roles and could bring a more serious and sympathetic side to Ruto, especially because she’s already a pretty divisive character depending on who you talk to.

Nabooru: Summer Bishil

My love for Summer is no secret, but I genuinely think she could do such a good job playing Nabooru. If her work in the Magicians is any indication, she knows what she’s doing and puts a lot of thought into her characters, which needs to be done for the Gerudo, especially because of the not-great history of racism Nintendo has when it comes to them.

Honorable Mention: Nazanin Boniadi

The Others

Malon: Sophie Turner

Talon: Danny Devito

Ingo: tbd

King of Hyrule: Bernard Hill

Young Zelda: McKenna Grace

Young Link: Walker Bryant

Young Ruto: tbd

Young Malon: Sadie Sink or Summer Fontana

#legend of zelda

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ryanmeft · 5 years ago

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Movie Review: Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Godzilla: King of the Monsters is an improvement over 2014’s Godzilla, which certainly qualifies as faint praise. It’s a largely emotion-and-character free movie with the most boring script a film can possibly manage, occasionally bolstered by some hot monster-on-monster action. The monster stuff, in fact, is damned good, and not just when the claws are drawn: less hectic visuals abound that, while not subtle, are very effective. Yet when a movie has a character played by Sally Hawkins and you don’t care when she gets smooshed, it’s hard to escape the feeling of squandered potential.

The plot picks up from where the first movie left off, and frankly if you remember where that was you liked the original more than I did. There’s a tiny flashback at the beginning, where Drs. Mark Russell (Kyle Chandler) and Emma Russell (Vera Farmiga) lose their son as an incidental casualty of Godzilla’s previous appearance. The two of them react differently to this. Emma becomes fascinated by the Titans, as people call Godzilla and his kin, going so far as to incubate an original model in a lab: Mothra, the giant, well, moth, whose introduction I admit made me fanboy a little. Mark has turned his attention to more common beasts,m studying wolves in nature preserves, and believes the Titans should be eliminated for the good of everyone. Emma’s lab is invaded by a fanatical eco-terrorist (Charles Dance) who has his own views about the Titans and their relationship to the planet. Mark, who for some crazy reason disagreed with raising their daughter Madison (Millie Bobby Brown) around ravening monsters, is called in to help save them. The cast contains a pretty respectable host of wasted actors, including Hawkins, David Strathairn and Zhang Ziyi, as well as another embarrassingly pointless turn for Ken Watanabe as Dr. Ishiro Serazawa, the one returning character.

There’s also Bradley Whitford and Thomas Middleditch as employees of Monarch, the company that creates and/or finds monsters, but I need to emphasize that this movie has characters only in the loosest sense of the word. The people in this movie exist to rattle off exposition, run away, speak such electrifying lines as “You are meddling with forces beyond your comprehension!” and occasionally, but not nearly often enough for my taste, get squished, burned, zapped or eaten. To call the story hacky is an insult to hacks. The script, by director Michael Dougherty and Zach Shields from a story by regular monster-verse writer Max Borenstein, never once offers a single creative or interesting line or plot development, and if I hadn’t made notes I’d have forgotten every bit of it, not even when I left the theatre, but as soon as it had happened. Looking at those notes, I’m reminded of when Watanabe looks grimly around at a room and grimly says, in grim words using a grim voice “We must find ways to coexist with the Titans.” There’s the response to an angry roar from Godzilla: “He’s definitely not happy about something.” There’s the fact that two characters actually say to each other “Good luck” followed by “We’ll need it,” in such a way as to suggest this is actually a very clever line.

Plot developments proceed with no logic. Farmiga’s Emma, who I must note is played by one of the finest actresses we possess, is eventually revealed to have decided the best thing for earth is that the Titans lay waste to it, in hopes they will then also restore it, Ragnarok-like and free of corrosive human influence. This twist somehow manages to be both predictable and be given no set-up in the plot whatsoever; you can see it coming because of some of her previous actions, but it does not gel with anything established about her. Millie Bobby Brown, so essential in Stranger Things, gets her first film role here, and she does what she can, succeeding more than most of the adults perhaps because she’s not tasked with supporting as much of the cumbersome plot and dialogue. By far the big losers are Watanabe and Ziyi. Let me break this down for you: in a movie that serves as a reboot of an essential Japanese franchise, there are two Asian characters, they are played by two excellent Asian actors, and they are reduced to cryptically spooling out exposition instead of having actual personalities, and then one of them is made to drop a joke about fortune cookies. In a blockbuster landscape where everything is vetted, re-vetted and re-vetted again before it gets to screen, this somehow managed to make it through.

At least the artists are having fun. This is the area that makes this movie slightly more fun to watch than the original. Visual effects supervisor Guillaume Rocheron, who also handled the excellent work in films such as Life of Pi and Man of Steel, gets to cut loose after a visually sterile first film, giving us multiple giant monster fights that are at minimum effective and occasionally thrilling. The original film went with the less-is-more approach to Godzilla, and while I usually champion that, it didn’t work because the human characters that were the focus were so hollow. Perhaps this movie knows how bad its characters are, because it amps up the beasties to match. The main antagonist is Ghidorah, the classic three-headed dragon of the old Godzilla films; it is a vision from the book of Revelations, a connection made apparent when it roosts on a flaming mountain over a burned city with a charred cross in the foreground just in case anyone missed the hint. It has a battle with Godzilla that is reasonably entertaining and clear, or at least more so then when towering hunks of metal whop the crud out of each others in Transformers movies. The real visual artistry comes outside the battles, though. There’s a majestic shot of Ghidorah frozen in a block of ice, an apocalyptic view of Ghidorah lifting Godzilla into a fiery sky, and my personal favorite, a R’lyeh-like underwater city that seems to have served as a place of veneration for the Titans in vaguely hinted long-ago ages. I freely admit I love this stuff; any hint of ancient ruins with with murky histories and I’m there. This location makes me sad that Guillermo Del Toro’s planned At the Mountains of Madness adaptation is probably DOA.

Spectacular visual artistry, however, can only carry a terrible plot and anemic characters so far. There are three movies in this shared monster universe to date, and the only one with the slightest ounce of narrative heart has been 2017’s Kong: Skull Island, which had the good sense to know something of how silly it was. The original Godzilla movies are ridiculously campy, the kind of thing one enjoys specifically because they don’t take themselves too seriously. This latest in a long line of reboots is simply too earnest to have any fun with itself, and in the process, it largely prevents us from having fun with it, too.

Verdict: Average

Note: I don’t use stars, but here are my possible verdicts.

Must-See

Highly Recommended

Recommended

Average

Not Recommended

Avoid like the Plague

You can follow Ryan's reviews on Facebook here:

https://www.facebook.com/ryanmeftmovies/

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All images are property of the people what own the movie.

#godzilla king of the monsters #movies #millie bobby brown #ken watanabe #vera farmiga #kyle chandler #zhang ziyi #charles dance

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abitterlifethroughcinema · 6 years ago

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#ABitterLifeThroughCinema’s WOKE! Film Reviews

The Top Ten (+1) Best Movies of 2018 and where to find them!

Lucas Avram Cavazos

+1…11. Overlord Having its premiere at this year’s Sitges Int’l Film Fest, Overlord not only happened to be one of the fave films screened there this past festival, but this cinematic fantasy is an all-too-real and stark portrayal of a horror that actually occurred, and it deserves a nod from the Barcelona film critic family, so here it goes. Duly noted, I’d say. It starts with an insane aerial combat mission on the night of D-Day, one which goes awry and sees only a handful of paratroopers surviving the drop when enemy fire rains hell. They land in provincial France and the plot sets out to detail some of the inner workings of the Third Reich in reference to the insane, gruesome experiments done on captured Europeans and Jews. Those stories you’ve heard about turning these poor people into guinea pigs for super soldier intent using potent, injected serums…yeah, those? They’re true, if you believe the words of JJ Abrams. Are they as utterly brutal and horror/zombie film-like as displayed here? I sure as hell hope not. (now available On Demand and DVD)

10. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs There once was a film called O Brother Where Art Thou? While this is not its sequel, there is a sharp-witted vein to this film that could only be crafted and gifted to us by the Coen Brothers. What a hoot it is, even if it is a rather darkly-tinted hue of that hoot and humour. It is also one of their finest in years. Revolving around the singing cowpoke Buster Scruggs (Tim Blake Nelson) and five other tales brought to us with the commonly-threaded theme of death in often brutally funny ways, this film is a fine return to oddball form from two of the finest sibling directors of all time. Starring Liam Neeson, James Franco, Zoe Kazan, even Tyne Daly and so many in its vignettes, and that acting star power fuses this Western comedy into new territory for the brothers. Their previous works set in the west always seemed to be re-hashing works of years gone by but here, with their usage of almost comic-book-like details and witty banter make this much more enjoyable than their other historical works like O Bother and their remake of True Grit. Best western in absolute years! (available on Netflix or VOD)

9. Eighth Grade This poignant little film, which should have been wide-released everywhere the world over, is given fierce and bittersweet star power by Elsie Fisher, protagonist and student at the heart of this film. Comedian Bo Turnham has brought us the quintessential coming-of-tweenage story and along with Fisher, everyone in this film is so perfectly placed in their roles, especially Josh Hamilton as her dad, who deserves some nominations for this film but is unlikely to get any. Telling the story of 13-year old Kayla, we the audience get a sneak-peek into the minds and lives of today’s young adults. From her simple YouTube videos made to encourage other young kids to her obvious desire to fit in with older kids to her insecurity with boys, this film paints a stark reality that too many have lived through and this little indie film deserves aplomb from anywhere it can get it! (now available On Demand and DVD)

8. A Star is Born I skipped the critics’ screening of this film for the mere fact that I couldn’t bear to see if the acting and plot lines were another torrid take on a much-redone film. Even into the holiday season, I had not yet seen it and then when I did, I certainly took back any reservations. Bradley Cooper’s update of the film starring himself and Lady Gaga is just about as good as everyone said it was, and that was beyond refreshing to note post-viewing. In many ways, I feel that Cooper is likely revealing a few things about himself with the guise of “it’s a movie” being a nice cover; in some ways, he gives us what I believe are hints of his covert life, and it’s with Gaga’s turn as Ally that we really see him shine beyond the shtick of his character, country-rocker Jackson Maine. In a tad corny-tad, gripping way that takes hold the moment you see Gaga, let’s be frank and real, this film goes on to detail a Diet Coke version of the grim realities that often detail too many a tale of celebrity in Hollywood. Without revealing too many details of the film’s plot and denouement, we are looking at a necessary conversation about alcoholism, drug addiction and fame (plus a lack of ’NO’ men/women in many relationships) that needs to addressed for all ages. Well done, Mr. Cooper Goes to the Oscars. (At select screens, On Demand & DVD)

7. El Angel Incidentally, this may be the first time in a rather long time that I say something good about Argentinian men, so do take note. Telling the true story of fresh-faced boy killer Carlos Robledo Puch, played to Oscar-worthy perfection by newcomer Lorenzo Ferro, the masterful detail to which director Luis Ortega has crafted this arthouse meets dramedy-thriller is astounding and easily touches heights set by dePalma and even, dare I say it, Scorcese. We follow young Carlitos Puch, who is just nearing the edge of seventeen, as takes up with a rough and tough family of his devilishly attractive school chum Ramon, played by the spirited Chino Darin, son of Ricardo Darin. But as Carlitos comes to find out, his street crimes can easily be paved to real ones and his sadistic tendencies suddenly yet gradually paint a picture of someone who is in part desperate for attention and tacceptance and in part a fairly smart, well-to-do young adult. He parlays his sociopathy at pubescence into psychopathy with time, and this film will likely be, but should definitely not be, forgotten come awards and Best Of lists time.(available On Demand and DVD)

6. Black Panther As Oscar season comes to a head, it is worth talking about one of the most striking films that you’ll see for a while. Black Panther is that good, not only because of its genre but also because of its message: that seeking freedom through recreating systems of oppression will only extend the ill-treatment and broken nature we find ourselves in nowadays. Set in the fictional African nation of Wakanda, protagonist King T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) brings us the first real black superhero from the Marvel universe. With a cast including Lupita Nyong’o, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker and Michael B Jordan, the acting is beyond impressive. What is even more amazing, however, is how the plot power-plays many elements of our world’s current political climate. (now available On Demand and DVD)

5. Chappaquiddick Another film which is nothing short of striking in its relevance to the current political situation in the USA. Senator Ted Kennedy was the only remaining Kennedy that I was familiar with throughout my adolescence and early adulthood. Jason Clarke as the Massachusetts senator is astounding, as is the cut of his jib and chin, although the accent was a tad weak, to be ever sincere. This is a complete revelation on the many details that were only gingerly touched upon during the course of the week following the death which this movie is detailing . As the facts are laid out in the film, it astounds me that the American people continued to vote and elect Kennedy for decades after. This is a study on arrogance, class and governmental ambiguity. And if that was the case with liberals in the Sixties, how much more so with conservatives in this digital age? My favourite film of last year’s BCN Film Festival. (now available On Demand and DVD)

4. Private Life Good Lawd this is such a heartwarming/breaking story with the finest elements of believable comedy and situational realism that define the art of the classic Gen X film from the 90s to now. May we never forget that it was Gen, and even those a few years before them, who gave us the digiverse-Netflix-instant oatmeal www.orld in which we live today and when I see a very NYC film like this one, it makes it a true reality check. Being the age that one should be married with kids, I watched Kathryn Hahn as Rachel absolutely slay the silver screen and am eager to see if she picks up any more accolades throughout the current awards season. Simple plot…she’s in her early 40s and her hubby Rich (played by Paul Giamatti) is entering his late 40s and they are fully entrenched within the confines of every single way to conceive a baby. Following the couple through their trials and tribulations really get pushed up an ante when sort-of relative Sadie (the lovely Kayli Carter) decides she will be the surrogate mum for them as things get a tad pear-shaped. This could easily be dubbed a dreamed, for in effect, it is; what needs to be known is that this is also a morality tale for a new age. The old-fashioned ethics of yesteryear just do not apply anymore, at least not in big cities, and the less is more factor easily makes this one of the finest films released within the last year. (available on Netflix)

3. BlacKKKlansman Without a doubt, this is the finest work in all too many years by Spike Lee, and he takes no prisoners in letting you know that the spilled essence of blaxploitation all over this celluloid is to egg you into knowing that this story is 100% true…and crazy. The mere fact that David Duke is literally cheerleading for the current President of the United States should scare us all and wake those who are not. Watching actor John David Washington portray Ron Stallworth, the real-life cop who slyly infiltrated the inner workings of the Klu Klux Klan 40 years ago. After signing up for the Colorado Spring PD, he realises the lack of trust in the 98% Anglo-Saxon workforce, as he’s thrown into monitoring the goings-on of any Black Panther student situations. Eventually, he takes up with a guy on the force that he can dig called Flip and played to skilled excellence by the oddest of lookers Adam Driver. Basically, the plot follows the twosome, as they tag team the aforementioned white supremacist movement, Ron being the voice and Flip being the wingman as they start an investigation on grand wizard bastard himself David Duke, played to troubling perfection by Topher Grace, evoking all of the calmness and utter sociopathic tendencies of a man reviled by most yet revered by still too many. And watching this taut film and how it rolls through such a daunting story with comedic aplomb and vicious realness gives you goosebumps. That said, as the film gets toward its ending, is when Lee gives you the goods when he flashes to scenes from the crazy Charlottesville, Virginia, riots, AntiFa protesting and subsequent death of Heather Heyer, may she rest in peace. God Save the World…and Amerikkka.

2. Fahrenheit 11/9 Premiering a few weeks ago here in Spain at very select cinema screens across the country, this is the first documentary in some time by Michael Moore that could play across an international landscape and should be required viewing on any critic’s or person’s list. The titular oddity refers to the day after we all woke up across the world in shock and awe that Donald J Trump had won the Presidency of the USA. Even if this is not Morre’s best film to date, it is undoubtedly the one that holds the viewers’ feet to the fire and calls for them to fight the nasty funk of this administration. But, it’s when he takes it back to his roots, to Flint, Michigan, and ends up involving all local and state politics, that we start to see the more sinister undertakings happening amongst conservative parties, ideals and societies. When you add in the fact of the Parkland High School shooting and the way Moore later fuses footage of Hitler and his minions and followers with a rally speech made by the current occupant of the White House, it becomes all too obvious that things are exactly as we think they are (A HOT MESS!) and we have very little recourse rather than claiming truth. (now available On Demand and DVD)

1. ROMA There are tender moments of realism that are permitted to happen with the rise of instant cinema on VOD and direct-to-home films, and it has been a pleasure to see that sites like Netflix and Amazon and Canal+ have truly added to the foray in which great celluloid can be brought to the masses. Case in point comes the finest piece of dramatic celluloid that graced the silver screen in the last year. Being a Mexican whose father is a naturalised citizen of the US and a mother who is Chicana from the US, like myself and my siblings, the sentimentality ran deep with this film. One of the differences I experienced was the fact that we were the only Mexican-American family in a stately US country club…and we had an entire childhood spent with loving housekeepers, which is what this film inherently is honouring and depicting, using the backdrop of Alfonso Cuarón’s take on growing up in 70s-upper middle class Mexico City in the neighbourhood of Roma. Depicting the life of the house assistant Cleo (first-time performer Yalitza Aparicio in a J.Hud moment, frankly) and the family of Sr. Antonio (Fernando Grediaga), a doctor in the Mexican capital, what Cuarón has called his most personal film to date, is also a B&W modern tale in the vein of Gone with the Wind, and the fact that he centres around a privileged Mexican family is poignant for several reasons: it not only takes a focus away from how Donald bloody Trump has painted Mexicans, in general, to the world, but it also highlights a very human element to how many classes of society function and live there in the frontier regions of North America and, more importantly, EVERYWHERE…easily put, this is a sweet, oft-times simple, oft-times brutal story on humanity. What binds so many critics together on this film’s merits is that fact that Alfonso Cuarón has crafted the past year’s most enigmatic movie, leaving us to make our own answers to what happens to Lady Cleo, her best mate Teresa, and this beautiful family. Absolutely and quietly stunning! (available on Netflix and selects screens across the country)

#abitterlifethroughcinema #BCNinEnglish #englishradiobcn #overlord #theballadofbusterscruggs #eighth grade #elangel #a star is born #blackpanther #chappaquiddick #privatelife #Blackkklansman #fahrenheit119 #roma film #LucasAvramCavazos

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haroldgross · 6 years ago

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New Post has been published on Harold Gross: The 5a.m. Critic

New Post has been published on http://literaryends.com/hgblog/oscars-2019-final-call/

Oscars 2019 - Final Call

Since the nominations, there have been a slew of awards given out that may or may not be predictive. The Annies, The Eddies, PGA, Art Directors Guild, SAG-AFTRA, Directors Guild, BAFTA.

I will say it is one heck of an open field in a lot of categories, which is exciting. It speaks to a volume of talent. Of course, this also means a lot of people who are really good at what they do will not be going home with statuettes. But that’s the biz.

THE MAJOR AWARDS

Actress in a Leading Role

Yalitza Aparicio, Roma Glenn Close, The Wife Olivia Colman, The Favourite Lady Gaga, A Star Is Born Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

This is one of those rare times where I wouldn’t be upset by any one of these people winning. They were all great performances, and all very different. To my mind, it is between Colman and Close. But McCarthy was also excellent and Aparaicio may have some momentum (and was a wild card for me in terms of getting on the list). And, of course, Gaga. Close has yet to win, so that may get her votes, but Colman’s performance is just so funny and powerful, it may win the day…and her movie was much better received.

My choice: Glen Close Likely win: Olivia Colman

Actor in a Leading Role

Christian Bale, Vice Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born Willem Dafoe, At Eternity’s Gate Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody Viggo Mortensen, Green Book

This is by no means a lock for Bale, but he so disappears into his role that it is astonishing. I am not a huge Bale fan, but he had me utterly mesmerized and not even able to see him under all that makeup. In terms of the field, only Dafoe’s name surprised me, though that last slot was somewhat open.

My choice: Christian Bale Likely win: Christian Bale

Actor in a Supporting Role

Mahershala Ali, Green Book Adam Driver, BlacKkKlansman Sam Elliott, A Star Is Born Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me? Sam Rockwell, Vice

Supporting roles are hard to pin some times. These were all good performances, though I think Elliott isn’t necessarily to the same level (and I didn’t expect him on the list over Chalamet), nor was Rockwell’s performance that brilliant, though it did win me over as it went on. But Mahershala Ali was incredibly affecting and Richard Grant, equally so, but with much less screen time. That said, Green Book is hitting headwinds due to aspects unrelated to the movie…but which are likely to affect its chances in any category. And while Driver is excellent, the character just never really got to fully develop for me.

My choice: Mahershala Ali Likely win: Richard E. Grant

Actress in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams, Vice Marina de Tavira, Roma Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk Emma Stone, The Favourite Rachel Weisz, The Favourite

This is a brutal field. Stone and Weisz should have to mud wrestle for the win here and that is likely going to split the vote. Tavira was solid, but it wasn’t break-through and I was surprised to see her here rather than Clare Foy. Adams was also really good, but felt in the background most of the time…even though she really wasn’t.

My choice: Rachel Weisz (but only because I had to pick one) Likely win: Regina King

Adapted Screenplay

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Joel Coen & Ethan Coen BlacKkKlansman, Charlie Wachtel & David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty If Beale Street Could Talk, Barry Jenkins A Star Is Born, Eric Roth and Bradley Cooper & Will Fetters

Again, so much to consider here. BlacKkKlansman was a great movie, but, like Green Book, it remade the facts freely. Which is fine, but that is being used as a wedge against Green Book, so not sure how to parse that effect. Star is Born is a great reinvention of the story, but it isn’t brilliant, however entertaining. I am surprised that Black Panther didn’t make it on, even though I didn’t think it should. I’m still behind on the other two at present, but hope to close that gap…but in the meantime I can make some guesses.

My choice: Can You Ever Forgive Me? Likely win: If Beale Street Could Talk

Original Screenplay

The Favourite, Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara First Reformed, Paul Schrader Green Book, Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly Roma, Alfonso Cuarón Vice, Adam McKay

Another interesting field. Green Book was one of the best films I saw this year. It was unexpected and complete. Favourite is hugely popular and darkly funny, but I think flawed. Was expecting Stan & Ollie and Eight Grade over Roma and First Reformed, but that was a tight race. However, of the remaining choices, Roma’s script is just too spare in comparison and Vice a bit too political and nauseating, while First Reformed is just too dark. So…

My choice: Green Book Likely win: The Favourite

Cinematography

Cold War, Lukasz Zal The Favourite, Robbie Ryan Never Look Away, Caleb Deschanel Roma, Alfonso Cuarón A Star Is Born, Matthew Libatique

Roma for me. Hands down just a beautifully shot film. The others are nice as well, but Cuarón’s use of the camera was just brilliant and the result gorgeous.

My choice: Roma Likely win: Roma

Directing

Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman Pawel Pawlikowski, Cold War Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite Alfonso Cuarón, Roma Adam McKay, Vice

I’d have said this was Lanthimos’s to lose if it weren’t for the ending of his latest film. It is a brilliant bit of satire; just not a perfect one for me and some of the movie just doesn’t fit well together. Roma is brilliant on so many levels, but a bit self-indulgent in its direction. Vice is great, but mostly about the editing and script (and some performances). BlacKkKlansman, however, is really all about the performances, keeping you engaged without making you turn away. Lee had the hardest task and executed it well…and it’s been years since he’s had a shot.

My choice: Spike Lee Likely win: Spike Lee (though it may well go to Lanthimos)

Best Picture

Black Panther BlacKkKlansman Bohemian Rhapsody The Favourite Green Book Roma A Star Is Born Vice

I don’t even know what this category means anymore. Is it by what’s popular, what’s fun, what’s brave, what took the most skills? So, crap shoot.

My choice: Green Book Likely win: Roma

THE NEXT TIER AWARDS

Animated Feature Film

Incredibles 2 Isle of Dogs Mirai Ralph Breaks the Internet Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Nothing in the intervening time between nomination and tonight have changed my opinions. Add to that its near sweep at The Annies and Spider-Man should walk away with this award.

My choice: Spider-Man Likely win: Spider-Man

Foreign Language Film

Capernaum (Lebanon) Cold War (Poland) Never Look Away (Germany) Roma (Mexico) Shoplifters (Japan)

Shoplifters would have been my early bet here, but Roma is truly a great film and has huge momentum and a ton of noms. Those who have no interest in voting for it for Best Pic are likely to balance that by voting for it here. It may well cost Roma as Best Pic ultimately that the safety valve exists.

Likely Win: Roma

Documentary Feature

Free Solo Hale County This Morning, This Evening Minding the Gap Of Fathers and Sons RBG

How Won’t You Be My Neighbor and Three Identical Strangers missed this list, I don’t understand. However, this is the field we have to work with. But I’ll also admit I’ve not seen the majority of the nominees. Given the current state of politics, however, I’m going with our SCOTUS rep.

My Choice: RBG Likely Win: RBG

Documentary Short Subject

Black Sheep (The Guardian) End Game (Netflix) Lifeboat A Night at the Garden (Field of Vision) Period. End Of Sentence

Likely Win: no clue yet

Animated Short Film

Animal Behaviour Bao (Disney) Late Afternoon One Small Step Weekends

Likely Win: no clue yet

Live Action Short Film

Detainment Fauve (H264 Distribution) Marguerite (H264 Distribution) Mother Skin

Likely Win: no clue yet

THE TECHNICAL AWARDS

Production Design (production; set)

Black Panther, Hannah Beachler; Jay Hart The Favourite, Fiona Crombie; Alice Felton First Man, Nathan Crowley; Kathy Lucas Mary Poppins Returns, John Myhre; Gordon Sim Roma, Eugenio Caballero; Bárbara Enríquez

My choice: Black Panther Likely win: Mary Poppins Returns

Costume Design

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Mary Zophres Black Panther, Ruth Carter The Favourite, Sandy Powell Mary Poppins Returns, Sandy Powell Mary Queen of Scots, Alexandra Byrne

Period pieces abound in this list, but so do some inventive futures.

My choice: Black Panther Likely win: The Favourite (though Mary Poppins could sweep in)

Film Editing

BlacKkKlansman, Barry Alexander Brown Bohemian Rhapsody, John Ottman The Favourite, Yorgos Mavropsaridis Green Book, Patrick J. Don Vito Vice, Hank Corwin

I’ll say again, all of these films have solid editing, but only one lived and died by its edits: Vice. However. Vice wasn’t even nominated for an Eddie this year, so the fact that Bohemian Rhapsody and The Favourite won there wasn’t much help. And, of course, this is one of those which could become either part of a sweep or a consolation prize. But I’m sticking to my guns on this one. From a story-telling point of view, I didn’t think either of the Eddie winners came close the impact editing had for the remaining nominees. And of those, Vice was the only one to use the craft to enhance the story rather than to just shock or move it along.

My Choice: Vice Likely win: Vice

Original Score

Black Panther, Ludwig Goransson BlacKkKlansman, Terence Blanchard If Beale Street Could Talk, Nicholas Britell Isle of Dogs, Alexandre Desplat Mary Poppins Returns, Marc Shaiman

If old-school Hollywood wins out, Mary Poppins will be a runaway. It is certainly one of the more classic and evident scores in the field, and complex while trying to maintain and reflect on the original. Music certainly pushed along the tale in Isle of Dogs in an engaging, if repetitive, way, and the others were more subtly supported.

Likely win: Mary Poppins Returns

Original Song

“All The Stars” — Black Panther “I’ll Fight” — RBG “The Place Where Lost Things Go” — Mary Poppins Returns “Shallow” — A Star Is Born “When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” — The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

There is only one song here that has any traction to my mind. It isn’t perfect (and story-wise it shouldn’t be) but just try to get it out of your head.

Likely Win: Shallow

Visual Effects

Avengers: Infinity War Christopher Robin First Man Ready Player One Solo: A Star Wars Story

Despite the wealth of blockbusters here, one is infinitely better than the rest in scope and seamlessness…

Likely win: Avengers: Infinity War

Makeup and Hairstyling

Border, Göran Lundström and Pamela Goldammer Mary Queen of Scots, Jenny Shircore, Marc Pilcher and Jessica Brooks Vice, Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia DeHaney

Typically, I’d stay the period piece would get this hands-down, but Vice has magic in its blood with its makeup and hair, completely remaking its actors and capturing the period perfectly.

Likely win: Vice

Sound Editing

Black Panther Bohemian Rhapsody First Man A Quiet Place Roma

My choice: A Quiet Place Likely win: Bohemian Rhapsody

Sound Mixing

Black Panther Bohemian Rhapsody First Man Roma A Star Is Born

My choice: Bohemian Rhapsody Likely win: Bohemian Rhapsody

#Movie Review

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doctorwhonews · 6 years ago

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The Witchfinders

Latest Review: Written by Joy Wilkinson Directed by Sallie Aprahamian Executive Producers: Matt Strevens and Chris Chibnall Producer: Alex Mercer Starring Jodie Whittaker Bradley Walsh, Mandip Gill, Tosin Cole Alan Cumming, Siobhan Finneran, Tilly Steele, Tricia Kelly Stavros Demetraki, Arthur Kay A BBC Studios Production for BBC One First broadcast on BBC One, Sunday 25 November 2018 Running time: 46 minutes 31 seconds (source: BBC iPlayer) The Witchfinders is Doctor Who's third foray into history this series, and on first acquaintance it's the closest to the model introduced with The Unquiet Dead and seen almost annually thereafter until (arguably) Robot of Sherwood. The Doctor and friends find themselves in a period setting familiar from school or heritage sites, but where the details aren't congruent with the record. There is a famous historical figure involved, presented in a knowingly self-conscious manner. An alien or aliens turn out to be behind events. There is an effects-laden climax which is cathartic for the historical personality concerned. Human history as known to the Doctor and his companions is guaranteed. While following this precedent, The Witchfinders follows hard on the heels of Demons of the Punjab and Rosa; and where the historical adventures of Doctors Nine to Twelve often revelled in subverting history, The Witchfinders carries forward the educative function of its predecessors this series, though in less direct a fashion. Like Vinay Patel before her, Joy Wilkinson has posted a picture of some of the books she used to research her story on Twitter. There are differences in that where Patel's choices were squarely set in historical scholarship and the literary novel, Wilkinson's have ranging roots, from books she read when growing up - such as Arthur Douglas's accessible, well-researched and unsensationally readable The Fate of the Lancashire Witches (1978) and Robert Neill's novel Mist Over Pendle (1951) - to modern scholarly discussions of what the Lancashire witch trials meant at the time and how they have resonated since, and James VI and I's own Demonologie. Writing at greater distance from her subject than the authors of Rosa and Demons of the Punjab were from theirs, Wilkinson inevitably takes account of the centuries of transmission which have seen the Lancashire witch craze find many meanings for successive ages. While not necessarily less immediate than Doctor Who's depiction of Montgomery, Alabama, 1955, or the partitioned Punjab in 1947, time leads to fragmentation and the ways in which the TARDIS 'team, gang, fam' relate to events and characters are consequently more diffracted. As Wilkinson's sources indicate, the episode is as much a response to fictionalization, mythology and a mood struck by witch trials in the collective imagination as it is to the judicial pursuit of supposed witches in Lancashire in the reign of King James. No specific date is given for the events in The Witchfinders, and there is no mention by the seventeenth-century characters of the historical Pendle witch trials. Only Graham (Bradley Walsh) relates the setting of Bilehurst Cragg to the Pendle Witch Trail which he's walked. Presumably the story is set not long after the trials of 1612; or is it set earlier, and are we being asked to imagine that the persecution initiated by Becka Savage is the erased context for the historical accusations levelled against Alizon Device and her family in Pendle in 1612? The presence of King James in the story might suggest an earlier date. Following his visit to Norway and Denmark to marry their king's sister Anna in 1590, James VI had become obsessed with witchcraft, finding guilty several accused from North Berwick in East Lothian (presumably inspiring the 'Berwick' referred to in this episode) guilty of using sorcery to try to sink his ship on the way home. The James of The Witchfinders expresses his belief that he is protected by God against extraordinary adversity, and his survival of a satanic plot against his own life, his wife's and the possibility of their having descendants encouraged this well before the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. However, during the 1610s the king became increasingly sceptical about witchcraft and wary of condemning accused witches. It's possible that one might look at a post-1612 setting for The Witchfinders, with the king here being confronted by his own fears and (with his agreement to suppress the memory of Bilehurst Cragg) learning to move past them even if this means a continued degree of personal and political repression. Beyond specifics about dates, The Witchfinders follows the pattern of other post-2005 pseudohistoricals by finding authenticity in impressionistic use of detail. Having witchcraft allegations arising within a family echoed the Lancashire witch trials of 1612, but its relation to female social mobility mirrored the case of Joan Flowers, one of the Belvoir witches of 1619. Where Becka Savage's status had risen by marriage, Joan Flowers's fell on her widowhood; before we learn that Becka has been infected by the Morax, her accusations of witchcraft, frequent duckings and horse-shootings invite the rationalist assumption that she has instigated a reign of terror in order to defend a precarious social position. Meanwhile her grandmother and cousin represented a power which could complement or oppose that of the local lord, that of the 'cunning woman' (sometimes cunning man) who in benign cases practised healing by seeking to bring the sick back into alignment with the four classical elements of earth, fire, water and air. The chanting of these elements as an invocation by Old Mother Twiston (Tricia Kelly giving a rounded performance in a few lines so we can believe in her as someone to mourn when in the earth and possessed by it) before her ducking encourages the viewer to see the Twistons as potential wielders of magic forces, with vague echoes of Shakespearean ambivalent or malign magic, but it's also a transmission of social identity within the village collective, with Willa (a forceful and grounded Tilly Steele) taking over her grandmother's role. In Doctor Who terms one might think of the assumption of Panna's identity by Karuna in part four of Kinda. In The Witchfinders it serves as a reminder that women were accepted as the gatherers, keepers and conveyors of useful knowledge in this period. The discussion the Doctor and Yaz have with Willa at the Twiston family home about her grandmother and magic incline the viewer to see Willa as the nearest the setting has to a rationalist, showing sympathy to the Doctor's unbelief in Satan; she crumbles before James and Becka soon after the Doctor explodes that if she was a man she'd have no problem furthering her investigation. Becka (a believable woman of faith and fear in the hands of Siobhan Finneran) imagines that the Doctor's authority is that of a witchfinder-general and does not scoff at what the psychic paper tells her. The arrival of King James, with his prejudices about male superiority and his belief that God works directly through him, disturbs the equilibrium of this corner of 'Merry England' as much as the witch-duckings displace the time-honoured Sunday ritual of apple-bobbing. Even assuming the early cultivation of different strains of apple which ripen at different times of year, and the maintenance of cold cellars for storage, I'm not sure that there would have been enough apples to bob every Sunday in a year, but the line (even if revisiting the scene 'this' is probably only the Sunday 'party') was a good way of suggesting that this was a time when long-established patterns of life were being disturbed. There were no witchfinders-general in the time of James VI and I, nor did the king maintain a witchfinding hierarchy. The use of the title appeals to what the viewers might think they know - the spurious office is associated with Matthew Hopkins, who was active in the 1640s, a probable three decades after events here - but it also places The Witchfinders in a tradition of fictional accounts of seventeenth-century witch hunts which would take too long to explore here. However, the identification of the Doctor and her friends as the episode's eponymous witchfinders is a neat confirmation of the Doctor's complicity in events. Where the Doctor interfered in Rosa to correct the distortion of history, to the extent of not intervening in Rosa Parks's defence when ordered to surrender her seat on the bus, here her sense of what is right compels her to attempt to rescue Willa's grandmother, but fails. The Doctor's dilemma is played, shot and edited well, encouraging the sense that the Doctor's preaching of non-interference has been leading to this point. Interference means feigning friendship with a mass murderer. Although brought into the heart of local and then national society by their proximity to both Becka and the king, the Doctor is still acted upon as much as she acts upon other people. More than in any episode so far, the Doctor's freedom of action is constrained by her gender. It's been widely remarked upon that this is the first episode of the series where the Doctor explicitly identifies with womankind, and the first where she notes that she wouldn't have had this trouble when she was a man. James only regards her as a potential equal once she is accused of witchcraft: God's representative facing the Devil's. On first viewing I found Alan Cumming's portrayal of James VI and I problematic. I was apprehensive following a report of his claim that he'd based his accent on Conservative politicians Malcolm Rifkind and Michael Forsyth - "from Scotland, but trying to pretend they’re from England with this strange hybrid accent" - which imports current debates about the politics of Scottish identity into a Doctor Who story which already promised to have much to carry. Whatever one thinks of James (or for that matter Rifkind and Forsyth) he never pretended to be from England; but what we had was a more generic 'Morningside' accent which worked as a parallel for a Scottish king seeking acceptance by the English elite. Choices in Cumming's establishing scenes made me sympathetic to observers who thought it an overly mannered, even homophobic performance and for a while I was one of those who thought this James would turn out to be an impostor. On the other hand Cumming emphasised the king's love of drama, acknowledged in the script; the characterization was strong, with 'modern' characters in Ryan and the Doctor inspiring some very twenty-first century therapeutic conversations to provide background to what one could already infer from text and performance. James's confrontation with the Doctor shows him to be a worthy adversary, able to turn the Doctor's interrogation against her in defence, but his attack on the Morax queen makes him a less than worthy ally, the divisions in his identity still unreconciled. Slaying a dragon as the sovereign of the Garter and bearer of St George's cross might be fitting, but in doing so James mistakes the nature of his foe, lets prejudice betray his claims to empiricism, and removes both the possibility of the queen's redemption and the recovery of Becka from possession (not entirely closed off by the insistence of the queen that nothing remains of Becka). The Arthurian echoes in the imprisonment of the Morax, a king with a mighty army sleeping under a hill, mocked the historical James's barely fulfilled wish to make Arthurian legend real as king of a unified Britain, just as the Morax queen and her court of corpses mock this James's fragile masculinity by intending to 'fill' him with their king. The latter too draws from M.R. James's treatment of seventeenth-century witch-hunting in The Ash Tree, as a wronged woman blights a landed dynasty of men over generations. The Witchfinders succeeded at creating mood, with its mists, winter berries, cold grey water and wet earth. I might have wished for more oppressive dark to accompany the shuffling of the mud-filled corpses, though perhaps this might have been thought too directly drawing upon latterday zombie television for an early evening audience. I'd thought of this series as made of spaces and silences, but here Segun Akinola's score suggested that there was something in the silence, knocking on wood to seek form, whispering in the wind. There were touches of the uncanny in ordinary design, too - the stylized ducking stool seemed oddly fashioned but hinted at the revelation that this was alien technology. Transformed into the Morax queen, Siobhan Finneran's make-up suggested a woodland creature as much as a mud entity, with a little of Rupert Bear's forest sprite Raggety about her. The 'flat team structure' of the current Team TARDIS is evolving well, with this episode showing the roles of the different characters to advantage. Ryan's empathic side was brought out by the quietly assured Tosin Cole, Graham was authoritatively avuncular, and Yaz (a determined and energetic Mandip Gill) was professionally investigative but also humane in her treatment of the bereaved Willa. The Doctor has increasing room to display her edge, too, with Jodie Whittaker unquestionably in command of a chastened and reflective King James in the final scene. The regulars are enduring a slow build and makes me wish the series had more time, both with some more minutes to show off the abilities of the regulars and more episodes in which to get to know them. There's so much more that could be unpicked in this story, so many layers did it invoke. The Witchfinders was an accomplished and very enjoyable episode on the whole - but why, Doctor, that dig about pockets? Seventeenth-century women apparently enjoyed more of them about their clothing than their twenty-first century successors do... http://reviews.doctorwhonews.net/2018/11/the_witchfinders.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr

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queenwinry · 7 years ago

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Quiet Nights

Pairing: Royai

Rating: K

Words: 1837

A/N: This one is an ultra fluffy piece for my dear sweet friend Mica, @thesilentwatcher because TODAY IS HER BIRTHDAY!!! (or, at least it’s still her birthday in the states lol). Mica is an incredible artist and an even more incredible person. Her art never ceases to amaze me and I’m so glad that she’s a part of our fandom! I hope you like it Mica!! It’s based off of this piece of yours which I absolutely LOVE!

Almost as soon as his heavy military boots splashed onto the drenched gravel, Roy was heaving a welcome sigh of relief. The sight of his beautiful, yet simple estate warmed him right to the core, even as the rain began to drip down his heavy overcoat. The sounds of his men exiting the car and escorting him to the front door were drowned out by the steady fall. It was late, but he could still see a few lights on in the old mansion nestled into a private lot on the outskirts of Central. For probably the hundredth time, Roy was glad they’d chosen to live in an unorthodox location, rather than inherit Fuhrer Grumman’s presidential estate. Being away from the noise was exactly what the new fuhrer-president needed.

When Roy and his entourage approached the ornate double doors leading into the entryway of the house, he turned toward his most trusted friends and bodyguards with a tired smile. Removing his hat he directed, “Go on home now, Havoc, Breda. This trip has been exhausting enough. Get some rest.”

Oddly enough, the two subordinates he’d had under his command for the longest time (aside from a certain blonde sniper) exchanged an uncertain look at the order, seemingly hesitant to leave their superior alone. That had been everyone’s worry for the last three days on his usual inspection trip to the southern region. He had been trying since they’d boarded the train to South City to get across the point that he was fine, and didn’t need all the doting attention, but no one had really let him off the hook.

If they’d had, the First Lady would have started shooting.

Roy sighed. “I’m serious, guys. I’ve got nothing to fear here, in my own home. Go back to your wives. Lord knows Rebecca would have my head if I kept Havoc here any longer.”

Both men exchanged a chuckle at that, even though Roy could tell a feeling of dread at the mere possibility of displeasing his wife dropped into Havoc’s stomach. With one final salute and a weary ‘Night, boss’ the two officers walked back down the steps of the front entrance and into the car.

The exhausted fuhrer gave another soft smile, shook his head, and entered through the front door into a dark foyer. Closing it behind him, he leaned against the wood, his body begging for rest. These inspection trips were always grueling. A few hours of sleep became a luxury not even a king could possess as he tirelessly worked with the local commands to check up on the status of things. It was especially important in the southeastern regions, where the direct ties to the newly reinstated nation of Ishval were stationed. It was hard work, but it was work Roy took on gladly if it meant his country was finally at peace.

Of course, there was one glaring difference about this trip that made it far more difficult than all the previous ones.

His usual bodyguard and assistant had been...detained, much to her chagrin.

The First Lady was an expected presence, no matter where Roy went, and they both wouldn’t have had it any other way. Before they married, she was there in the role of his partner and protection. Though things were going quite well politically, there were always detractors and Riza never was truly satisfied until she was by his side, at all times. After their small and quiet wedding, it turned into a diplomatic excuse. The First Lady simply enjoyed accompanying her husband to help him do his work, even though everyone around knew it was to watch his back, like she had done for years.

But this was the first trip she’d been forced to miss, and she had not been happy about it.

“Welcome back, Fuhrer. Shall I prepare you something to eat or will you be going straight to bed?” the butler spoke suddenly and Roy almost jumped at the sound of his voice. He still hadn’t quite gotten used to living in a home this big and having an actual staff there to cater to his needs, and he probably never would. He didn’t like to be an inconvenience to anyone, but they were the same people that had waited on Fuhrer Grumman for years, and Bradley before him. It was almost rude to refuse their help.

Roy shook his head as he handed over his hat and removed his damp coat. “I’m not that hungry. I think I’d rather get some sleep.”

“Of course, sir,” the butler spoke in a blank tone before he slightly bowed and exited the foyer. Roy’s eyes almost immediately drifted up the main staircase and in the direction of the master bedroom. It was difficult and strange to not have his wife by his side on a diplomatic trip, but it did make coming home to her that much more sweet. He couldn’t help but smile as he thought about seeing her again. When he had become such a sap, he didn’t really know.

His feet ached as he ascended the stairs and turned down one of the hallways. Only three days they’d been apart, but he couldn’t help but desperately want to see her again, feel the touch of her lips, wrap his arms around her warm body.

Once he finally reached the room, he turned the creaky doorknob slowly and peered his head inside. The sight that greeted him nearly took his breath away.

Riza was fast asleep on the bed, splayed out haphazardly, as if she had passed out while waiting for him to come back. Hayate was also snoozing away, nuzzled into his mistress’s side, his head resting atop her stomach. Roy couldn’t help but let a goofy grin pass across his face as the light pouring in from the hallway illuminated the scene, allowing him to see the way the simple button-up (most likely one of his own) that she was wearing was riding up along her swollen midsection. Her hand rested naturally atop the growing swell, and Roy had a fleeting and rather hilarious thought that she almost looked like Fullmetal sleeping so gracelessly like that.

Oh well, he still loved her with every part of his being.

As quietly as he could manage, he stepped into the bedroom, and closed the door behind himself, plunging the room back into darkness. The partial moon provided some illumination, as Roy discarded his heavy military jacket and bulky, black boots. With soft footsteps, he walked up to her side of the bed and simply stared down at her form, calmed and comforted by the steady rise and fall of her chest. Hayate nuzzled further into her side, looking about as content as Roy felt.

Unable to help himself, he reached out and ran his fingers lightly across the skin of her pregnant belly, almost able to feel the pulse of the little life growing there. Yes, Riza had been ‘unfortunately detained’ this time around, as a pregnant bodyguard didn’t make the most sense, but he sure as hell was happy to come home to her.

As he admired, she suddenly stirred, twisting and stretching among the sheets, her eyes blinking open in confusion. They focused on him and she tilted her head, before recognition crossed her face and she smiled softly at him. Roy was certain he’d never been happier in his life.

“You’re back late. I tried to stay up for you,” she spoke in a groggy tone, stretching her arms above her head.

Roy let his whole hand cover her midsection before he began rubbing the skin lovingly, enjoying the way her body shifted at his touch. “Sorry about that. The weather caused some delays, but we got home safely.”

“I’m glad,” she responded simply, though Roy could see in her eyes the meaning behind her words. Not being able to protect him directly had been eating away at her ever since it had been decided she wouldn’t go. He knew she must have agonized over it these last three days. He certainly had.

With a familiar ease, Roy sat beside where she lay, his arm pulling her toward himself. “How’s the little man?” he asked.

“He or she is fine,” she responded, shooting him a pointed look at the assumption.

“Come on, I’m sure it’s a boy.”

Riza sighed. “You do realize that you speaking it into existence doesn’t make it happen right?”

Roy chuckled. “Hey, now, you know I’m only doing it to make myself feel better. I don’t know what I would do with a girl.”

“You’d figure it out, just like with everything else you do.”

A pained look crossed the fuhrer’s face. “I wouldn’t figure out how to let her go. If we’re having a girl, the only man she’s allowed to love is me.”

A cute and uncharacteristic snort escaped his wife’s nose as she turned in his arms and snuggled up further to him, begrudgingly awakening Hayate from his sleep. “We’ll deal with that when it’s time. For now, we just need to focus on becoming parents. That’s scary enough in and of itself.”

Roy’s hand rubbed reassuringly along her arm as he spoke, “Yeah. Fullmetal makes it look so easy, but it’s terrifying.”

She hummed a noise of agreement and the pair fell into silence, simply listening to the sounds of the rain hitting the window.

Roy could have fallen asleep like this, even still clothed in his scratchy blue pants and undershirt, but Riza’s voice brought him back from the brink of his exhaustion. “I hate not being able to go with you.”

The rare vulnerability of her words almost made Roy shiver as a feeling of guilt stabbed through his heart. There was his confirmation that she had been a nervous wreck while he was gone. He sighed heavily and attempted to reassure her. “I know. I hate not having you there. My back feels particularly exposed without you watching it.”

Despite the severity of the conversation, Riza let out a small smile at his comment, her hand finding its way to his chest. Again they fell into silence, though their minds were both preoccupied.

Abruptly, Roy broke the tense quiet. “It’s not ideal. Trust me, it kills me more than it kills you, but this is something we have to do. I know you’ve always looked out for me, but...I’m not the only life you have to worry about protecting now.” Roy’s hand went from gently rubbing up and down her arm to wrapping around her belly once more, lifting the shirt up a bit and letting his fingers draw circles mindlessly on her skin.

“You’re right,” Riza’s hand covered his own. “But that doesn’t make it any easier. Just promise me you’ll try your best to always come home...to us.”

A no-brainer if he’d ever heard one, but the uncertainty of her tone had him smiling and catching her gaze with a determined look.

“I promise.”

#fma #royai #roy mustang #riza hawkeye #my fanfiction #oneshots #hope you like it mica!#also lmao that last line is like the perfect invitation for angst #and tbh i thought about it but i'm keeping it fluffy for now ;)

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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The Best Horror Movies to Stream

https://ift.tt/36P7Are

Updated for October 2020

The world of streaming horror movies can be an overwhelming place.

Let’s say you’ve got your Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu and HBO Max subscriptions all set and ready. Now you want to get terrified with the best horror movies you can find in time for Halloween. But there are so many options! What’s a horror addict to do?

Here you’ll find the master list. That’s right, we’ve hand-selected only the absolute best and most terrifying horror movies available on all the major streaming services and combined them here for your streaming (or screaming) pleasure.

Be sure to let us know if you make it through all 31!

Apostle

Available on: Netflix

Apostle comes from acclaimed The Raid director Gareth Evans and it’s his take on the horror genre. Spoiler alert: it’s a good one.

Dan Stevens stars as Thomas Richardson, a British man in the early 1900s who must rescue his sister, Jennifer, from the clutches of a murderous cult. Thomas successfully infiltrates the cult led by the charismatic Malcom Howe (Michael Sheen) and begins to ingratiate himself with the strange folks obsessed with bloodletting. Thomas soon comes to find that the object of the cult’s religious fervor may be more real than he’d prefer.

Apostle is a wild, atmospheric, and very gory good time.

The Blackcoat’s Daughter

Available on: Netflix

Some kids dream about being left overnight or even a week at certain locations to play, like say a mall or a Chuck E. Cheese. One place that no one wants to be left alone in, however, is a Catholic boarding school.

That’s the situation that Rose (Lucy Boynton) and Kat (Kiernan Shipka) find themselves in in the atmospheric and creepy The Blackcoat’s Daughter. When Rose and Kat’s parents are unable to pick them up for winter break, the two are forced to spend the week at their dingy Catholic boarding school. If that weren’t bad enough, Rose fears that she may be pregnant…oh, and the nuns might all be Satanists.

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The Blackcoat’s Daughter is an excellent debut directorial outing from Oz Perkins and another step on the right horror path for scream queens Shipka and Emma Roberts.

The Cabin in the Woods

Available on: Amazon Prime

A remote cabin in the woods is one of the most frequently occurring settings in all of horror. What better location for teenagers to be tormented by monsters, demons, or murderous hillbillies? Writer/Director Joss Whedon takes that tried and true setting and uses it as a jumping off points for one of the most successful metatextual horror movies in recent memory.

Like you would expect, The Cabin in the Woods features five college friends (all representing certain youthful archetypes, of course) renting a….well, a cabin in the woods. Soon things begin to go awry in a very traditional horror movie way. But then The Cabin in the Woods begins doling out some of the many tricks it has up its sleeve. This is a fascinating, very funny, and yet still creepy breakdown of horror tropes that any horror fan can enjoy.

The Changeling (1980)

Available on: Shudder

A classic haunted house ghost story that frequently makes horror best of lists The Changeling sees a bereaved composer move into a creepy mansion that’s been vacant for 12 years. Vacant that is, except for the spirit of a little boy who met an untimely death…

An unravelling mystery with a sense of intrigue and pathos that draws you into the narrative, all the way to the sad and disturbing final act revelation.

City of the Living Dead

Available on: Amazon Prime

Italian horror director Lucio Fulci kicked off his famous “Gates of Hell” trilogy with this gruesome, crude but surreal 1980 gorefest, in which a reporter (Christopher George) and a psychic (Catriona MacColl) struggle to stop those gates from opening and letting a horde of hungry undead into the world.

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The Horror Movies That May Owe Their Existence To H.P. Lovecraft

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How Relic Explores our Most Primal Fears

By Rosie Fletcher

Fulci loosely based the movie on the works of H.P. Lovecraft, vying for the latter’s brooding atmosphere while indulging in his own trademark splatter. The results are somewhat slapdash but a must-see for Italian horror fans. Followed by the much better The Beyond (1980) and House by the Cemetery (1981).

The Dead Zone

Available on: Amazon Prime

The Dead Zone strangely remains both one of Stephen King’s more underrated movie adaptations as well as one of director David Cronenberg’s more unsung efforts. Yet it ends up being among the best from both author and auteur, while also providing star Christopher Walken with one of his most moving, complex performances to date.

Upcoming Stephen King Movies and TV Shows in Development

By Matthew Byrd and 6 others

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Jason Blum Promises “Faithful” New Adaptation Of Stephen King’s Firestarter

By Don Kaye

Walken’s Johnny Smith awakens from a coma to find out he’s lost five years of his life but gained a frightening talent to touch people and see both their deepest secrets and their future. Whether to use that power to impact the world around him is the choice he must face in this bittersweet, eerie and heartfelt film, which found Cronenberg moving away from his trademark body horror for the first time.

Doctor Sleep

Available on: HBO Max

Let’s be up front about this: Doctor Sleep is not The Shining. For some that fact will make this sequel’s existence unforgivable. Yet there is a stoic beauty and creepy despair just waiting to be experienced by those willing to accept Doctor Sleep on its own terms.

Directed by one of the genre’s modern masters, Mike Flanagan, the movie had the unenviable task of combining one of King’s most disappointing texts with the opposing sensibilities of Stanley Kubrick’s singular The Shining adaptation.

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Doctor Sleep Ending Explained

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And yet, the result is an effective thriller about lifelong regrets and trauma personified by the ghostly specters of the Overlook Hotel. But they’re far from the only horrors here. Rebecca Ferguson is absolutely chilling as the smiling villain Rose the Hat, and the scene where she and other literal energy vampires descend upon young Jacob Tremblay is the stuff of nightmares. Genuinely, it’s a scene you won’t forget, for better or worse….

The Evil Dead

Available on: Netflix

1981’s The Evil Dead is nothing less than one of the biggest success stories in horror movie history.

Written and directed on a shoestring budget by Sam Raimi, The Evil Dead uses traditional horror tropes to its great advantage, creating a scary, funny, and almost inconceivably bloody story about five college students who encounter a spot of bother in a cabin in the middle of the woods. That spot of bother includes the unwitting release of a legion of demons upon the world.

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By Hannah Bonner

The Evil Dead rightfully made stars of its creator and lead Bruce Campbell. It was also the jumping off point for a successful franchise that includes two sequels, a remake, a TV show, and more.

A Field in England

Available on: Amazon Prime

2013’s A Field in England presents compelling evidence that more horror movies should be shot in black and white.

Directed by British director Ben Wheatley, A Field in England is a kaleidoscope of trippy, cerebral horror. The film takes place in 1648, during the English Civil War. A group of soldiers is taken in by a kindly man, who is soon revealed to be an alchemist. The alchemist takes the soldiers to a vast field of mushrooms where they are subjected to a series of mind-altering, nightmarish visions.

A Field in England is aggressively weird, creative, and best of all clocks in at exactly 90 minutes.

Fright Night

Available on: Amazon Prime

Screenwriter-turned-director Tom Holland lets a jaded, smarmy vampire named Jerry Dandridge loose in suburbia and watches the blood spurt in this beloved ‘80s horror staple.

Chris Sarandon brings a nice combination of amusement and menace to the role of the bloodsucker, while Planet of the Apes veteran Roddy McDowall is endearing as a washed-up horror host recruited into a real-life horror show. Much of Fright Night is teen-oriented and somewhat dated, but it still works as a sort of precursor to later post-modern horror gems like Scream.

Green Room

Available on: Netflix

Green Room is a shockingly conventional horror movie despite not having all of the elements we traditionally associate with them. There are no monsters or the supernatural in Green Room.

Instead all monsters are replaced by vengeful neo-Nazis and the haunted house is replaced by a skinhead punk music club in the middle of nowhere in the Oregon woods. The band The Aint Rights, led by bassist Pat (Anton Yelchin) are locked in the green room of club after witnessing a murder and must fight their way out.

Hellraiser (1987)

Available on: Shudder

Directed by Clive Barker based on his novella The Hellbound Heart, Hellraiser is an infernal body horror featuring S&M demons who’ve found a way out of a dark dimension and want to take you back there.

Movies

Michael Myers vs Pinhead: The Hellraiser/Halloween Crossover That Never Was

By Jack Beresford

Movies

Ranking the Hellraiser Movies

By Jamie Andrew

This is the movie which introduced chief Cenobite Pinhead (played by Doug Bradley) – who would return for seven more Hellraiser sequels. But the first is of course, remains the edgiest and the best. Hellbound: Hellraiser II is also available.

Hereditary

Available on: Amazon Prime

Between Hereditary and The Haunting of Hill House 2018 was a great year for turning familial trauma into horror.

Written and directed by Ari Aster, Hereditary follows the Graham family as they deal with the death of their secretive grandmother. As Annie Graham (Toni Collette) comes to terms with the loss, she begins to realize that she may have inherited a mental illness from her late mother…or something worse.

Movies

Hereditary: The Real Story of King Paimon

By Tony Sokol

Movies

Hereditary Ending Explained

By David Crow

Hereditary is terrifying because it asks a deceptively simple but truly creepy question: what do we really inherit from our family?

The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

Available on: Shudder

Wes Craven’s 1977 cult classic sees an extended family become stranded in the desert when their trailer breaks down and they start to get picked off by cannibals living in the hills. It’s brutally violent but it also has things to say about the nature of violence, as the seemingly civilized Carter family turn feral. The film was remade in 2006 but the original is still the best.

Horror of Dracula

Available on: HBO Max

Replacing Bela Lugosi as Dracula was not easily done in 1958. It’s still not easily done now. Which makes the fact that Christopher Lee turned Bram Stoker’s vampire into his own screen legend in Horror of Dracula all the more remarkable. Filmed in vivid color by director Terence Fisher, Horror of Dracula brought gushing bright red to the movie vampire, which up until then had been mostly relegated to black and white shadows.

Movies

Bram Stoker’s Dracula and the Seduction of Old School Movie Magic

By David Crow

BBC/Netflix Dracula’s Behind-the-Scenes Set Secrets

By Louisa Mellor

With its penchant for gore and heaving bosoms, Horror of Dracula set the template for what became Hammer Film Productions’ singular brand of horror iconography, but it’s also done rather tastefully the first time out here, not least of all because of Lee bring this aggressively cold-blooded version of Stoker’s monster to life. It’s all business with this guy.

Conversely, Abraham Van Helsing was never more dashing than when played by Peter Cushing in this movie. The film turned both into genre stars, and paved the way for a career of doing this dance time and again.

The House of the Devil

Available on: Amazon Prime

Indie horror auteur Ti West’s low-budget creepfest is a homage to 1980s horror yet plays it straight; he sets out to make a movie with the feel of genre films from that era without making self-aware in-jokes and references — and he mostly succeeds.

But The House of the Devil is also the definition of a “slow burn”: very little happens for much of the first hour (save a jolt here and there) and then the third act explodes into a paroxysm of murder, gore and Satanic horror. That makes the film feel a little off-balance, although in the end it all becomes quite unnerving.

House on Haunted Hill

Available on: Amazon Prime

What would you do for $10,000? How about surviving a night in a mansion haunted by murder victims and owned by a psychotic millionaire? Seems like a party trick until people actually start dying.

Vincent Price is the master and mastermind of a house that suddenly makes everyone homicidal—but the real pièce de résistance is what dances out of a vat of flesh-eating acid.

Some vintage horror never dies, and this 1959 classic is immortal.

Hush

Available on: Netflix

In his follow-up to the cult classic Oculus, Mike Flanagan makes one of the cleverer horror movies on this list. Hush is a thrilling game of cat-and-mouse with the typical nightmare of a home invasion occurring, yet it also turns conventions of that familiar terror on its head. For instance, the savvy angle about this movie is Kate Siegel (who co-wrote the movie with Flanagan) plays Maddie, a deaf and mute woman living in the woods alone. Like Audrey Hepburn’s blind woman from the progenitor of home invasion stories, Wait Until Dark (1967), Maddie is completely isolated when she is marked for death by a menacing monster in human flesh.

Further, like the masked villains of so many more generic home invasion movies (we’re looking square at you, Strangers), John Gallagher Jr.’s “Man” wears a mask as he sneaks into her house. However, the functions of this story are laid bare since we actually keep an eye on what the “Man” is doing at all times, and how he is getting or not getting into the house in any given scene. He is not aided by filmmakers who’ve given him faux-supernatural and omnipotent abilities like other versions of these stories, and he’s not an “Other;” he is a man who does take his mask off, and his lust for murder is not so much fetishized as shown for the repulsive behavior that it is. And still, Maddie proves to be both resourceful and painfully ill-equipped to take him on in this tense battle of wills.

The Invitation

Available on: Netflix

Seeing your ex is always uncomfortable, but imagine if your ex-wife invited you to a dinner party with her new husband? That is just about the least creepy thing in this new, taut thriller nestled in the Hollywood Hills. Indeed, in The Invitation Logan Marshall-Green’s Will is invited by his estranged wife (Tammy Blanchard) for dinner with her new hubby David (Michael Huisman of Game of Thrones). David apparently wanted to extend the bread-breaking offer personally since he has something he wants to invite both Will and all his other guests into joining. And it isn’t a game of Scrabble…

Intense, strange, and not what you expect, this is one of the more inventive thrillers of 2016.

Midsommar

Available on: Amazon Prime

It’s hard to categorize Midsommar, Ari Aster’s follow-up to his absolutely terrifying horror debut, Hereditary. Part straight up horror, part The Wicker Man, and part anthropological study, Midsommar seems to occupy many genres all at once. Aster himself called it a “break up” movie. But whatever genre Midsommar is, it is a brilliant, and at times deeply disturbing film.

Florence Pugh stars as Dani, a young woman trying to heal in the wake of an enormous tragedy. Dani follows her boyfriend, Christian, and his annoying friends to an important midsummer festival deep in the heart of Sweden. Christian and company are there partly to get high and have fun and also partly to study the unique, isolated culture for their respective theses. To say that they get more than they bargained for is an understatement. But Dani may just end up getting exactly what she needs.

Night of the Living Dead

Available on: Amazon Prime, HBO Max

George A. Romero’s 1968 zombie classic The Night of the Living Dead messed up the minds of late ’60s moviegoers as much as it messed with every horror movie that followed. Shot on gritty black and white stock, the film captures the desperate urgency of a documentary shot at the end of the world. It is a tale of survival, an allegory for the Vietnam War and racism and suspenseful as hell freezing over.

The Walking Dead vs. Real-Life Survivalists: How to Prep for The Zombie Apocalypse

By Ron Hogan

Movies

Night of the Living Dead: The Many Sequels, Remakes, and Spinoffs

By Alex Carter

Night of the Living Dead set a new standard for gore, even though you could tell some of the bones the zombies were munching came from a local butcher shop. But what grabs at you are the unexpected shocks. Long before The Walking Dead, Romero caught the terror that could erupt from any character, at any time.

They’re coming to get you. There’s one of them now!

Nosferatu

Available on: Amazon Prime

Nothing beats a classic, and that’s exactly what Nosferatu is. As the unofficial 1922 adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, this German Expressionist masterpiece was almost lost to the ages when the filmmakers lost a copyright lawsuit with Stoker’s widow (who had a point). As a result, most copies were destroyed…but a precious few survived

This definitive horror movie from F.W. Murnau might be a silent picture, but it’s a haunting one where vampirism is used as a metaphor for plague and the Black Death sweeping across Europe. When Count Orlock comes to Berlin, he brings rivers of rats with him and the most repellent visage ever presented by a cinematic bloodsucker.

13 Essential Dracula Performances in Movies and TV

By Tony Sokol

Culture

The Bleeding Heart of Dracula

By David Crow

The sexy vampires would come later, starting with 1931’s more polished vision of Count Dracula as legendarily played by Bela Lugosi, but Max Schreck is buried under gobs of makeup in Nosferatu making him resemble an emaciated cadaver. Murnau plays with shadow and light to create an intoxicating environment of fever dream repressions. But he also creates the most haunting cinematic image of a vampire yet put on screen.

Pet Sematary (2019)

Available on: Amazon, Hulu

After the classic Stephen King novel of the same name and Mary Lambert’s 1989 movie, what could there possibly be left to say about Pet Sematary? Quite a lot actually! Directors Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer breathe new life into this old tale…not unlike a certain “sematary” itself.

Movies

Pet Sematary Ending Explained

By John Saavedra

Movies

On the Set with Pet Sematary’s Producer

By Nick Morgulis

Jason Clarke stars as Louis Creed, an ER doctor from Boston who moves his family to rural Ludlow, Maine to live a quieter life. Shortly into their stay, Louis and his wife Rachel (Amy Semeitz) experience an unthinkable tragedy. That’s ok though as neighbor Jud Crandall (John Lithgow) knows a very peculiar place that can help.

Phantasm

Available on: Amazon Prime

Director and writer Don Coscarelli has said that this 1979 cult classic was inspired by a recurring dream — and we believe him, since Phantasm has the surreal, not-quite-there feel of an inescapable nightmare from start to finish.

With its bizarre plot about a funeral parlor acting as a front to send undead slave labor to another dimension, the iconic image of the Tall Man, killer dwarves and those deadly silver spheres, Phantasm was and is like no other movie of its era.

Poltergeist

Available on: Netflix

Before there was Insidious, The Conjuring, or a myriad of other “suburban family vs. haunted house” movies, there was Poltergeist. Taking ghost stories out of the Gothic setting of ancient castles or decrepit mansions and hotels, Poltergeist moved the spirits into the middle class American heartland of the 1980s. With a smart screenplay by no less than Steven Spielberg (and, according to some, his ghost direction), Poltergeist finds the Freeling family privy to a disquieting fact about their new home: It’s built on top of a cemetery!

You probably know the story, and if you don’t you can guess it after decades of copycats that followed, but this special effects-laden spectacle still holds up, especially as a thriller that can be enjoyed by the whole family. Fair warning though, if your kids have a tree outside their window or a clown doll under their bed, we don’t take responsibility for the years of therapy bills this may inflict!

Ready or Not

Available on: HBO Max

The surprise horror joy of 2019, Ready or Not was a wicked breath of fresh air from the creative team Radio Silence. With a star-making lead turn by Samara Weaving, the movie is essentially a reworking of The Most Dangerous Game where a bride is being hunted by her groom’s entire wedding party on the night of their nuptials.

It’s a nutty premise that has a delicious (and broad) satirical subtext about the indulgences and eccentricities of the rich, as the would-be extended family of Grace (Weaving) is only pursuing her because they’re convinced a grandfather made a deal with the Devil for their wealth–and to keep it they must step on those beneath them every generation. Well step, shoot, stab, and ritualistically sacrifice in this cruelest game of hide and seek ever. Come for the gonzo high-concept and stay for the supremely satisfying ending.

Sweetheart

Available on: Netflix

Don’t let the name fool you, Sweetheart is very much a horror movie. What kind of horror movie, you ask? Well, after a boat sinks during a storm, young Jennifer Remming (Kiersey Clemons) is the only survivor. She washes ashore a small island and gets to work burying her friends, creating shelter, and foraging for food. You know: deserted island stuff.

Movies

Dog Soldiers: The Wild History of the Most Action Packed Werewolf Movie Ever Made

By Mike Cecchini

Movies

The WNUF Halloween Special: The Making of the Most Fun Found Footage Horror Movie Ever

By Gavin Jasper

Soon, however, Jenn will come to find that the island is not as deserted as she previously thought. There’s something out there – something big, dangerous, and hungry. Sweetheart is like Castaway meets Predator and it’s another indie horror hit for Blumhouse.

The Tenant

Available on: Amazon Prime

Roman Polanski, in addition to being a creep and outright sex criminal, has a grand fascination with apartments, directing an unofficial “Apartment Trilogy” with Repulsion, Rosemary’s Baby, and The Tenant. And it’s not hard to see why. There is something a little strange about dozens if not hundreds of relative strangers all calling the same place “home.”

1976’s The Tenant is the culmination of Polanski’s obsession with communal living and in some ways is the creepiest. Polanski stars as Trelkovsky, a paranoid young file clerk who is on the verge of succumbing to the constant dread he feels. Things are exacerbated when Trelkovsky moves into a Parisian apartment and discovers the previous occupant killed herself. What follows is a tense and trippy exploration of fear itself.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

Available on: Shudder

You’ve probably seen this one already, but this founding father of the slasher genre is a bit of a fairy tale when glimpsed at the right light. Some dumb kids wander into the wilderness, far away from the safety of civilization, on a trip to their grandparents’ home.

Movies

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: How Low-budget Filmmaking Created a Classic

By Ryan Lambie

Movies

The Real Texas Chainsaw Massacre: How Ed Gein Inspired Classic Horror Movies

By Tony Sokol

But instead of reaching their destination, they wind up on the dinner table for the “Other,” who in this case is a redneck family of cannibals with a crossdressing serial killer who’s weapon of choice has an electric motor that makes a sweet hum as its blades tear into your flesh. When viewed like that, it might be worth seeing all over again, eh?

Under the Shadow

Available on: Netflix

This recent 2016 effort could not possibly be more timely as it sympathizes, and terrorizes, an Iranian single mother and child in 1980s Tehran. Like a draconian travel ban, Shideh (Narges Rashidi) and her son Dorsa (Avin Manshadi) are malevolently targeted by a force of supreme evil.

This occurs after Dorsa’s father, a doctor, is called away to serve the Iranian army in post-revolution and war-torn Iran. In his absence evil seeps in… as does a quality horror movie with heightened emotional weight.

Underworld

Available on: Netflix

No one is going to mistake Underworld for high art. That obvious fact makes the lofty pretensions of these movies all the more endearing. With a cast of high-minded British theatrical actors, many trained in the Royal Shakespeare Company, at least the early movies in this Gothic horror/action mash-up series were overflowing with histrionic self-importance and grandiosity.

Take the first and best in the series. In the margins you have Bill Nighy and Michael Sheen portraying the patriarchs of warring factions of vampires and werewolves, and a love story caught between their violence that’s shamelessly modeled on Romeo and Juliet. It’s ridiculous, especially with Scott Speedman playing one party. But when the other is the oft-underrated Kate Beckinsale it doesn’t matter.

The movie’s bombast becomes its first virtue, and Len Wiseman’s penchant for glossy slick visuals, which would look at home in the sexiest Eurotrash graphic novel at the bookstore, is its other. Combined they make this a guilty good time. Though we recommend not venturing past the second or third movie.

Available on: HBO Max

Jordan Peele’s debut feature Get Out was a near instant horror classic so anticipation was high for his follow-up. Thanks to an excellent script, Peele’s deep appreciation of pop culture, and some stellar performances, Us more than lives up to the hype.

Movies

Us: How Jeremiah 11:11 Fits in Jordan Peele Movie

By Rosie Fletcher

Movies

Us: Jordan Peele’s References and Influences

By David Crow

Us tells the story of the Wilson family from Santa Cruz. After a seemingly normal trip to a summer home and the beach, Adelaide (Lupita Nyong’o), Gabe (Winston Duke) and their two kids are confronted by their own doppelgangers, are weird, barely verbal, and wearing red. That’s just the beginning of the horror at play for the Wilsons and the world. Fittingly, Us feels like a feature length Twilight Zone concept done right.

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phoenixyfriend · 7 years ago

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@asukaskerian and @crimsonsquare, you both asked for more crossover nonsense, so, uh...

(Okay, you asked and I spent like... an hour and a half on this. So I really hope someone enjoys it and comments or something.)

I’m gonna cross Girl Genius with these lovely assholes:

The Young Avengers! This particular image is from V2, but I’m going to be using both full teams, plus a few fun bonuses.

So.

Uh.

YOUNG AVENGERS IN A GIRL GENIUS AU:

Under the cut because I’m impossible.

Cassie Lang (not pictured above, can be found here) as Violetta Mondarev.

If anyone in the YA is physically sneaky enough to be a Smoke Knight, it’s Cassie. She shrinks and picked up cat burglar sneaky from her dad, so yes.

America Chavez (front and center above, very punchy) as Princess Zeetha.

She’s very strong, nigh-indestructible, and a princess from a foreign land that’s trapped in a wider world outside of her own, and trying to find a way home.

Kate Bishop (pale girl in purple, holding bow, above) as Agatha Heterodyne. Not a perfect parallel, I’ll admit, but:

She’s the only girl left, tbh.

There is actually a family history of crime and supervillainy that she doesn’t discover until she’s older.

Much more capable than people think she is, constantly underestimated and then proves them wrong.

She’s smarter than people give her credit for.

Coffee.

Natural leader.

Noh-Varr (slicked-back white hair and DreamWorks Face, above) as Gilgamesh Wulfenbach.

He’s nigh-indestructible (kinda like America, which... given Gil and Zeetha...), genetically engineered and enhanced by his parents to be that way.

Constantly Suffering, very intelligent, and also shipped with Kate, so we got that down.

TBH he’d also be a pretty good Higgs but I’m dedicated to NohKate, so I’m keeping him here.

David Alleyne (black guy in yellow and black, above) as Tarvek Sturmvoraus.

I had... a really hard time pinning down a Tarvek. Loki would be good, but I feel uncomfortable shipping him with Kate, while David? He actually IS a genius. I can see him geeking out over the Muses, and Van Rijn’s notes, and the Sheer Politics of the family. Sure, he and Cassie don’t look like they could be related, but hey, maybe Cass is adopted.

Also I’m very okay with Noh/Kate/David? I haven’t considered it before, but yes.

IMAGINE DAVID IN THE BURNING SHIP WITH WASP EATERS SCENE

IMAGINE HIM FIGHTING ZOLA WITH RAGE

HE WOULD DO IT

YOU KNOW HE WOULD

Does anyone crackship Vanamonde with Von Zinzer? Because that’s where Teddy (green-skinned blond, above) and Billy (red cape and Magic Hands, above) are for me.

Teddy Altman as Von Zinzer. He’s overwhelmed, and keeps getting pulled into shit he is in no way ready for. (Skrull-Kree wars, Castle Heterodyne, what’s the difference?)

Billy Kaplan as Vanamonde. He’s part of a family with a long history in certain roles, and in some ways, he definitely lives up to it, while straying in others. He’s also just... a massive fanboy. (Fanboying over heroes or fanboying over Heterodynes, what’s the diff?)

Jonas (not pictured above, can be found here) as Ottilia. It would fit the whole body to machine consciousness transfer element.

If you’re new to YA and want to know why that picture leads to Vision, it’s... complicated. And related to the above point about consciousness and machines.

Nate Richards (not pictured above, can be found here) as Martellus Von Blitzengard.

He starts off seeming mostly harmless (remember, we were introduced to Martellus as the guy that Tarvek calls “Tweedle”), and then it turns out he’s horrifying and evil.

Granted, Martellus was always like that, while Nate turned evil, but still.

ALSO time-travel shenanigans.

Tommy Shepherd (not pictured above, can be found here) as BANGLADESH DUPREE.

I’m not sure why it took me so long to realize this.

I’ve already done an incorrect quote on my other blog (in my queue, at least) where Tommy has some Bang lines.

But you know what?

Yes.

Tommy as the giddy helper.

Pretends not to have feelings other than “happy to fight.”

Has feelings anyway.

Really, really fast.

Annoying David (Tarvek) a lot.

Eli Bradley (not pictured above, can be found here) as Airman Higgs.

I also considered Boris and Wooster, because Eli’s not paid enough for this shit, and neither are any of these three. However...

Higgs is a Jager, but not an Obvious one, and he's got the hidden ties to Mechanicsburg history, much like Eli’s hidden ties to the supersoldier projects through his grandfather.

Eli’s also harder to pin down as a Supersoldier in his own right, after he gets the transfusion and actually becomes one.

Also risking his life to save people he doesn’t even really like, because there’s a duty and responsibility there.

He is also one of those people that Tommy is delighted to annoy.

(Tommy’s delighted to annoy a lot of people, though.)

And instead of shipping Higgs/Zeetha, this would give us Eli&America BroTP, which I am 900% down for.

Loki (not pictured above, can be found here) as Krosp.

I already pulled this shit with Lotor in my Voltron-to-GG AU but

Listen

LISTEN

LOKI IS POLITICALLY SAVVY AND WILLING TO HELP THE TEAM SO LONG AS THEY GET SOMETHING OUT OF IT

AND THEN STARTS ACTUALLY CARING ABOUT THEM

AND THEN L E A V E S

Also Loki’s royalty and Krosp is the King Of Cats.

And and and CAT THOR

Some bonuses:

Jessica Jones as Mamma Gkika.

Older than most of the team, utter badass, violent when necessary, acts as a mentor to Kate in particular.

The Runaways as the Circus.

Nico Minoru as the Magician, because she’s in charge and the witch.

Victor Mancha as Moxana, because robot.

Chase Stein as Lars, because he’s Dreadfully Normal, but he’s well-built and tries to take care of everyone.

Old Lace is just. There. She’s still a dinosaur. Sparks can do a lot, maybe she’s cloned.

IDK about the rest, have fun.

Sylvie Lushton as Xersephina Von Blitzengard.

Tries to seduce people who clearly aren’t interested, actually quite tricky and powerful.

Not as tricky or as powerful as she thinks, though.

Oubliette Midas as Zola Malfeazium.

A lot like Sylvie and Sephie, but she crawls out from under someone else’s heel to become a massive supervillain in her own right.

Really likes poison.

Actually kind of terrifying in the right context.

Leah of Hel as Queen Albia.

Seems like she’s trying to be helpful at first!

Is not.

May or may not be a construct.

Ridiculously powerful.

I can’t believe I forgot my favorite girl, how COULD I?

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briangroth27 · 7 years ago

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Avengers Infinity War Review

I went into Avengers: Infinity War completely bored with the drawn-out Infinity Stones plot (it’s been going on for 6 or 7 years—since First Avenger or Avengers—depending on how you want to call it and Guardians of the Galaxy devalued the Stones by calling them meaningless McGuffins), uninterested in Thanos (Josh Brolin) as a villain, and not at all ready to say goodbye to original Avengers like Captain America (Chris Evans) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson). However, the movie definitely dispelled the vast majority of my doubts! It was very well-made, expertly wove a huge amount of characters together, and absolutely felt like an epic event movie. That said, while I didn't dislike it by any means, there also weren't any moments that really wowed me; I liked it a lot, but didn’t love it.

However, it’s obvious the creators did. It’s clear this movie isn’t a cash grab, but a celebration of the universe Kevin Feige and his numerous writers, directors, and actors have crafted over the past 10 years (which is a bit odd to say, given this movie gets dark). Infinity War never feels cynical or forgets to treat its heroes as heroes, despite their imperfections. Gone are the days of severe hero infighting; when a universe-threatening enemy shows up, everyone puts their differences aside to save the day (even if they bicker from time to time). I love that writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely changed the source material (Infinity Gauntlet) to make the Avengers the main characters out to stop Thanos instead of cosmic characters we haven’t met in the movies. It would’ve been extremely disappointing to have an entirely new group of characters come out of nowhere to steal our heroes’ thunder. Script-wise, this movie feels like meeting old friends again, as the writers captured the various heroes' voices well. While less-skilled writers might have washed out nuances between characters due to the similarity of trademark MCU snark, everyone still felt distinct here and there were plenty of standout comedy moments balancing the dramatic beats perfectly. Even though I haven’t previously been invested in some of these characters, everyone came off as likable. I do wish we’d gotten more character moments out of more of the heroes: all of them (somewhat necessarily, given the scope) come in as we left them in their last adventure, even though for about half of them, two years (or more, in the case of the Guardians) have passed since we last saw them. This lack of development wouldn’t be as much a problem for me if there were more solo films coming, but given we know whose contracts are expiring, it seems several Avengers have run their course in the MCU and are leaving interesting stories on the table. I have no problem with a universe-threatening villain in a sprawling adventure, but given the choice between that and digging into the characters more, I’d prefer solo films. Still, there’s only so much screentime the acting was strong across the board; even when the script didn’t give some actors a lot to work with, they were able to play to their characters’ iconic true north really well. The writers and the Russo Brothers brought everyone together seamlessly, creating several fun new dynamics. Tony (Robert Downey, Jr.), Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), and Star-Lord’s (Chris Pratt) similar attitudes irked each other perfectly while Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Rocket (Bradley Cooper), and Teen Groot (Vin Diesel) came together organically and Captain America’s crew mixing with the heroes of Wakanda felt totally natural.

Full Spoilers...

There are a lot of character beats I loved. Black Widow consistently being the deadliest of the Avengers was great (and I’d love to see these skills put to the test as her enemies come after her in a solo film, allowing her to finally clear her Red Ledger), and her kickass team-up with Okoye (Danai Gurira) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) was a great (if brief) showcase of the MCU’s heroic women. Likewise, I loved that Shuri (Letitia Wright) was the obvious person to turn to when it came to super-science, and her reaction to Stark and Banner’s (Mark Ruffalo) construction of Vision (Paul Bettany) made it absolutely clear that her tech abilities far outstrip theirs. I’ll take any Shuri appearance I can get and I wonder if she'll get to be the Black Panther in her brother's (Chadwick Boseman) absence like in the comics. I do wish she could’ve met Peter Parker (Tom Holland) and that they could’ve become science besties. Spidey’s enthusiasm for superheroics and his drive to protect his neighborhood was a breath of fresh air, particularly when played against the more cynical characters. I do think his willingness to come up with a plan to kill a villain was a little alarming morally, but otherwise I love his youthful energy. I wish we could’ve seen the fallout of Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) discovering Peter is Spider-man at the end of Homecoming as part of Peter’s introduction here, because that certainly needs to be dealt with onscreen. Maybe he could’ve finally said “with great power comes great responsibility” and mentioned Ben in that moment, which would also fuel his decision not to leave when Tony tells him to get off the ship. I get the urgency of giving Peter the Iron Spider suit (which looks much better than in the comics), but I was kinda bummed that we’re yet again having Tony hand all these toys to Peter instead of Peter developing them himself (I prefer a self-sufficient Spidey using homemade tech). Speaking of Tony, it was great to see him come up against egos as big as his, particularly when Star-Lord threw his plan away outright and came up with a better one. His reaction to Strange’s magic was what you’d expect from Stark encountering the supernatural and I wish they’d had time to dig into a science/mysticism dichotomy between them a bit more. Tony’s arc of telling Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow) about wanting to have kids to losing his surrogate son Peter at the end was much more emotional than the “last man standing” fear vision he had in Age of Ultron. I thought his reluctance to call Steve as the crisis started was a fine—if underwhelming—continuation of their rift from Civil War, though I think it’s worth noting that he kept the flip phone on him for use at a moment’s notice (even if he didn’t end up calling Rogers personally).

Steve's "We don't trade lives" is a great motto and, like others have noted, it’s the answer to Thanos’ argument. I just hope it's not reversed in the next installment by the original Avengers sacrificing themselves for Thanos' victims. I also liked that they dealt with the potential dissonance with Cap sacrificing himself at the end of First Avenger, though Banner's justification was essentially that Steve didn't have a choice. I worry that Cap and the others will be forced into a place where they don't have a choice in Avengers 4. It would’ve been nice to dig into Cap’s thoughts on having become a nomadic vigilante after the events of Civil War and to at least hear what he and his crew have been facing in that time. I’m glad he hasn’t lost his upstanding personality, but he, Nat, and Sam (Anthony Mackie) don’t seem very changed by their time on the run, which felt like a missed opportunity: you’d think losing the Avengers’ insulation would be the perfect time to expose Steve to how the common people’s ideals and dreams have changed, which would be a fantastic conflict for him. I really wish we were getting one more solo Cap film to deal with just that: are his ideals outdated? What kind of symbol does America want now, and does he need to remind us of what we should be aiming for? What of citizens who spout hate and call it patriotism? Maybe they can persuade Evans to come back for a Logan-scale solo film set before Infinity War to explore this kind of thing. Still, it was good to see Steve and Bucky (Sebastian Stan) reunite, but I wish we (and Rogers) had gotten an idea of Bucky's newfound peace. I like the idea of Bucky finding his place as White Wolf in Wakanda instead of taking over as Captain America, so some idea of what he's been doing beyond recovering would've been nice. I wish that Cap's other bestie, Sam, had gotten more than an extended cameo here; at the very least, both he and Rhodey (Don Cheadle) should've have something to say upon seeing Wakanda for the first time (as pointed out here). I guess the writers wanted to focus on the characters who'd be vanishing so their loss would hit harder—and the original heroes are said to get the spotlight in the next film before we say goodbye—but small moments like that would've added a lot (especially as Sam vanished). However, I was glad to hear Rhodey had turned on the Sokovia Accords in the time since Civil War; it seems all the heroes on Tony’s side have realized how bad an idea it is, which is a nice vindication for Cap (Spidey hasn't signed or commented on them at all, perhaps because he's a minor and isn't thinking about the big picture).

It would've been nice to see more of how Wakanda had begun opening itself to the world beyond staging the final battle there. Does T’Challa have a specific plan for his outreach centers? Okoye's comment about imagining Wakanda taking part in the Olympics or getting a Starbucks was funny, but I wanted more. More pointedly, how do the people view T'Challa's decision? Is there any dissension, especially when his choice immediately brings a war to their doorstep? I really would’ve liked to see T’Challa convincing the people to take on this struggle (at the very least, Black Panther 2 needs to discuss this). If nothing else, his role as King could’ve made him a starker contrast to the other heroes. It seems T’Challa and Cap’s strategy held off Thanos’ forces long enough for Shuri to copy Vision’s AI, so even though his body was destroyed he could come back though honestly I'm not sure he's necessary. I don't really get Vision, so it could just be me, but his story seems to have come to an end. I appreciate that he isn't written like a cliché robot seeking humanity (or seeking to eliminate it), but his purely analytical outlook from Age of Ultron and Civil War seems to have largely faded, he isn't protecting the world like Stark created him to at all (as a friend of mine pointed out), he seems potentially too powerful to fully use his abilities, and I don't really see what he adds to the overall universe at this point. I do buy his love for Wanda (and hers for him) as well as their connection over the mysteriousness of their origins, though. Given all she's been through and the incident that sparked the Sokovia Accords, I don't blame Wanda for wanting a normal life with Vision. However, it would've been nice to get a glimpse of her view on the world post-Civil War and how she felt about being tied to a cosmic force like the Infinity Stones that already mutated her and her brother and now threatened her love. I liked the twist that Wanda could destroy the Mind Stone since it was used to create her powers and that she was perhaps the most powerful Avenger. One of the other most powerful, Hulk, got an unexpected arc that didn't fully land for me. I'm all for Hulk having his own character development, but if his refusal to show himself really was fear after his beating from Thanos (as fans have speculated), that wasn't clear. Instead, it felt like they played Banner's inability to transform as a joke. I was also underwhelmed by the moment touching on the Bruce/Nat relationship. I'm not a fan of that relationship in general—she doesn't need to date anyone, but if she were going to, she and Cap had the best chemistry and "opposites attract" spark—but this is what we've got and they need to deal with it. The awkwardness of their reunion didn't cut it for me.

As far as reunions go, it was a bummer that Thor and Loki’s (Tom HIddleston) peace after Ragnarok was immediately cut short here. While I felt it was time for Loki’s death—too many wishy-washy alliances and betrayals over the years wore out his welcome for me and Ragnarok established that he was aiming to be a lazy king, defanging his villainy—I’m glad he finished his arc and found real peace with Thor. I thought telling Thanos to kill his brother felt a little off at first, but I suppose making it seem like he’d put up a fight to keep the Tesseract was part of his elaborate plan to try to kill Thanos (as was bringing up that he’d worked for him before). It was also a little disappointing that the Asgardians took another huge hit to their population here and are apparently just left floating in space. I certainly hope Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) survived and can join the fight to get revenge on Thanos; losing so many of her people again has got to have an impact and I'd love to see the lessons about heroism Thor imparted to her inspire her to stand up rather than run away this time. Maybe she could become something of a queen of Asgard and lead the survivors to a new home! Even beyond losing half of his people, Thor going over all the family and friends he’d lost with Rocket was a somber moment and Rocket’s attempts at consolation were a nice gesture. I felt like Infinity War found a perfect balance of Thor’s humorous and serious sides, and I hope it sticks around. The bond Thor and Rocket developed was a highlight of the film, even if their quest to get Thor a new weapon a movie after establishing he didn’t need one was a little odd (as others have noted). I can’t wait to see how Rocket grows after losing all his family, especially now that we know Teen Groot’s last word to him was “Dad…” That’s heartbreaking! Moody Teen Groot was a very entertaining addition to the Guardians and they got a lot of mileage out of making the Guardians his “parents.” Mantis (Pom Klementieff) is another strong addition who gelled well with the rest of her crew thanks to her enthusiasm for “kicking names and taking ass!” I’m glad she stuck around after Guardians 2. I was impressed that she got to play such an important and powerful role against Thanos when they tried getting his glove off. I still prefer Drax’s (Dave Bautista) original “takes everything literally” personality from the first Guardians, but I liked his humor here a lot better than in the second film (where it seemed to settle on “states the obvious” instead). “Perfecting” invisibility by standing totally still was hilarious! I’m glad he got a chance to avenge his family, even if it didn’t work out and nearly cost them everything. If only Quill had learned a lesson from that failure! I don't think the movies should follow the comics in having Thanos see the error of his ways while Nebula (Karen Gillan) becomes the real villain. It's a cliché that a woman achieves ultimate power only to become evil, so I’d be much more interested in seeing her interact with Tony (maybe they make something of their biology-infused tech similarities?) than going off the deep end. True Thanos' torture of her was horrific, but I'd like to see her take a healthier path instead of spiraling into insanity after all the pain she's had to endure.

I was wary of Gamora (Zoe Saldana) making Quill promise to kill her if things went bad in their attempt to stop Thanos from collecting all the Stones because she knew where the Soul Stone was hidden, as it seemed like that could lead to fridging her. Ultimately, though, that request being her choice and the fact that she was killed for more than fueling Quill's angst avoided that (though she does fuel Thanos’). I don't have a problem with him getting emotional and punching Thanos when he found out about Gamora, but I wish that scene had been staged differently. I thought we got a good amount of range from Pratt in the film, from that sadness to his romance with Gamora to bickering with Stark to the comedy surrounding his confidence issues around Thor. Star-Lord copying Thor's accent was unexpectedly fun and it was great to see Stark's dismissive attitude thrown back in his face. The similarities between Stark and Strange were also fun, and I enjoyed Strange's completely different point of view from everyone else when it came to saving the day: he had no problem sacrificing anyone. That perspective is one I would've thought would belong to someone with universal experience like Thor or who’s coldly calculating like Vision, but it was nice to see a human thinking beyond their planet, even if I agree with Cap's "we don't trade lives" philosophy and not Strange's "sacrifice whoever it takes" outlook. I thought he'd given Thanos something other than the Time Stone when he traded it "to save Tony," and like a friend of mine suggested, he probably rigged it in some way to give the heroes a chance.

I thought it was incredible that, despite some iffy CGI in a couple of wide shots, Josh Brolin was able to emote so clearly as Thanos. I'm not sure I've seen a CGI villain in a live-action movie done this well technically, and it certainly helped that the writers let Thanos experience loss and remorse. I was impressed they included his emotional side and gave him an arc, but I do have an issue with that remorse: despite Brolin selling the feeling of a man who thought he was giving up what he loved most, Gamora is right and what he's framed as love is anything but. It's abuse and as others have pointed out, I'm not sure why he loved Gamora in the first place. His "adoption"/kidnapping of her felt a little random and turning her face away from the murder of half her people did nothing to convince me he was a caring parent (I'm also unclear as to why she was so transfixed by a knife he gave her that she forgot about her missing mom), nor do the facts that he turned her into an assassin and later killed her. As a friend pointed out, I wish we’d seen more focus on Gamora's view of being raised by Thanos in Guardians 2 to increase the complexity of their relationship. Even if we had (and her laughing in his face when she finds out he has to sacrifice something he loves gives us a good indication of it), I still wouldn’t sympathize with Thanos…if he really loved her, he would’ve let her live and would’ve abandoned his plan when it came down to choosing between them. The more I think about it, the more troubled I am by the implications of the Soul Stone trade. Since Thanos' task is to sacrifice something he loves and he's successful, it implies that whatever cosmic judgment holds the Stone agrees that what he felt for Gamora is love. Unless the Young Gamora (Ariana Greenblatt) in the Stone at the end is a punishment to torture him for an impure trade (which I'd be fine with)—I imagine she’s actually adult Gamora using a form that will turn the screws on Thanos harder, and her Soul enduring there will allow her to come back to life—this is a pretty messed-up message and it’s my biggest issue with the movie.

I would've preferred keeping Thanos' comic motivation of becoming the universe's greatest killer to impress the physical embodiment of Death by showing what an awesome guy he is (to which she shrugs, having done better herself); playing the galaxy's greatest scourge as a Nice Guy would've been an unexpected way to make him relatable and of the moment without really having to modernize him at all. That said, trying to kill half the universe to save it from overpopulation is a fine egomaniacal supervillain motivation (no, internet thinkpieces, he is not a hero), even if I wish the heroes had pointed out the flaws in his logic (as others have pointed out online) and how foolish this plan is. For example, unless he also makes the survivors immortal and sterile, people will still breed and kill each other, throwing his precious balance out of whack within a generation or two (and his sunset retirement at the end doesn't imply he thinks he’ll have to conduct regular cullings). He also gives no consideration to how the resources he's "saved" will be used on each planet, leading me to think that things are going to immediately descend into chaos as the survivors try to take all they can (especially if the majority of any given people's governments survived to maintain their status quo). And as I've seen elsewhere, what if a people were already using resources responsibly and he killed them without bothering to check? Better yet, why doesn't he just create an infinite set of resources with his all-powerful glove? Forcing him to confront flaws in his plan would give us more insight into his thought process, or at least the justification he's sold himself. If the Gauntlet can only destroy and not create for some reason, explaining that would've served to make Thanos seem more backed into a corner and desperate, making his thought process seem slightly more "necessary." Instead, he comes off as a lunatic (yes, he’s known as the Mad Titan) who couldn't get over his one terrible idea because he confused the mismanagement of Titan's resources with proof he was right and not crazy. I've seen comments suggesting he be seen as a conservative politician, only concerned with fawning over his ideology instead of seeing the detrimental effects it has on the people, and that's not a bad take: looking at him as an outdated fringe "visionary" who won't learn/evolve his thinking or question his way of doing things helps quite a bit. I feel like these questions and the sheer outlandishness of his plot ranks him far below the best MCU villains like Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan), Vulture (Michael Keaton), and Hela (Cate Blanchett), who all went to terrible extremes, but at least had motivations that were somewhat understandable and tethered to reality. He was still a powerful threat who truly required all the heroes working together, though.

Thanos' "children" (Terry Notary, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Carrie Coon, Michael James Shaw, Monique Ganderton) were fine as lackeys, which is all they needed to be. I wish X-men Apocalypse had taken a similar tack with the Horsemen instead of using famous mutants: we don't need to know characters who are essentially zealot thugs. I did appreciate how warped they were to Thanos' way of thinking, though. They also proved to be worthy matches for the heroes before facing the Mad Titan himself.

Infinity War has an incredible sense of scope, giving the impression that the Marvel cosmos are vast, but it was odd they were largely devoid of people (even on Earth). Showing more than just wreckage would've upped the stakes and impact of Thanos' climactic actions while also showing the overpopulation “problem” he seeks to solve. The pacing moves the film along really well, even with the film being as packed as it is (though it doesn’t feel overstuffed). I loved that they were willing to have imaginative fun with the Infinity Gauntlet's powers, like turning laser blasts into bubbles, throwing a moon at our heroes, literally unraveling Mantis, and turning Drax into blocks. I’m all for more weirdness like that! The action is thrilling and moves very well for the vast majority of the film, with one major exception. A pivotal battle with Thanos on Titan has Iron Man, Spidey, Strange, and several Guardians struggling to hold him long enough to steal his Gauntlet. They almost succeed, but Star-Lord messes up his own plan (when it's revealed Gamora is dead) by punching Thanos in the face, knocking Mantis (who's psychically subduing him) away and freeing Thanos. I don't have a problem with Quill reacting to the news emotionally, but the staging of the scene offers at least two ways the heroes could've won right there: Nebula does nothing when she could've been stabbing Thanos in the face, and either she or Strange could’ve cut off his arm to free the Gauntlet. I know the movie can't end there, so knock Nebula out or otherwise busy her and Strange before writing yourself into a situation that raises these questions. Or they could've let Thanos lose his arm, yet still regain the glove through brute force or cunning before the heroes could get a handle on how to use it: showing him as a scrappy underdog for a moment would make him look more dangerous (and more appealing to the audience).

Despite an ad campaign suggesting a culmination of the MCU, Infinity War feels more like a seamless continuation of it. I'm glad they hit the ground running and didn't take the time to re-introduce everyone, except when it made sense, like the Guardians and Thor meeting for the first time. This will be detrimental for anyone coming into the film having missed earlier entries, but I think it works for this series. Reveals of familiar characters and locations, like Cap and Wakanda, made me smile. It was also great to finally get an answer to a dangling question about Red Skull's (recast with Ross Marquand) whereabouts in a completely unexpected way! I understand why they ended the movie on the beat they did, but part of me wishes this hadn't been a two-parter: I'd like there to be more adventures than just Thanos Round Two. I don't have a problem with the MCU going on indefinitely, but I do want them to take the time to continually develop and change the characters, and disparate threats would be a great way to challenge them differently. Between changes, we also need to spend time in their status quos to see how they react to each new normal. That's the weakness of movies vs. shows, though, and it seems highly unlikely the MCU is willing to give that much time to its movie heroes.

Infinity War felt like a true comic book crossover and that's the direction I want the Avengers films to take: they should be the crossovers with MCU-altering events while the solo franchises are just that, exploring the worlds of each character while focusing on character development. However, like the revolving door of death in the comics, a lot of the impact of this finale is going to come down to how the fallout is handled. I feel there are three necessary components to making the ending of Infinity War matter: the survivors need to be changed by losing their friends and half the general populace, the victims need to be changed by their experience as well, and we need to see what happened to the world in the wake of Thanos' Snap. Regardless of how the Snap is undone, everyone should remember what happened to give the events weight. Since I don't think Infinity War 2 will have time to deal with (and say a final goodbye to) the original Avengers, let everyone have a moment to shine, chase down Thanos, undo what he did, and really explore the state of the post-Snap world (one scene of Cap and Co. stopping a riot or something and saying "it's gotten crazy out here" would be deeply unsatisfying IMO), the world-building should be mostly left to the MCU offerings that are coming out next. Ant-Man & the Wasp and Captain Marvel are coming out before Infinity War 2, but Ant-Man is supposedly happening concurrently with/just before Infinity War and Captain Marvel is set in the 1990s. However, Luke Cage Season 2, Cloak & Dagger, and possibly The Runaways Season 2 would all fall into this range and could explore the world from several different angles. I thought the mass vanishing would've been the perfect chance to finally let the TV characters join the Avengers in a unified universe, but I'll settle for the shows handling the fallout.

There's so much potential with this scenario that it would be a massive wasted opportunity not to do anything with it. With the world losing half its population, there are plenty of opportunities for supervillains (or just regular people) to exploit the problem. Do people stop caring about values and basic decency in a world where half the planet can vanish? Are they all hoarding resources and killing each other over them, fearing another culling? Are there others who find their inner, everyday hero and help their fellow people? Maybe superheroes are forced to take extreme measures to defend their local turf. What happens to religion? Do some people think this is the Rapture (a critic referred to it as "the Snapture," which might be perfect)? Are there new religious beliefs rising out of this; perhaps a cult that believes in what the Snap "accomplished?" Society as we know it could crumble and every nation could be in danger of falling. This is the perfect time for superheroes to step up and for SHIELD to finally reclaim its position as a global force for good. It’s a shame Agents of SHIELD isn’t coming back until the summer after Infinity War 2, since it would’ve been the ideal vehicle to explore this world. Even when Infinity War 2 undoes this, it'll only have weight if everyone remembers what happened, so SHIELD and other heroes working to save everyone from themselves wouldn't be in vain even if the Avengers are the ones who actually save the world. No matter what happens, half the population vanishing is a fascinating premise fraught with drama, and something in the MCU needs to explore it; if they gloss over all that, this will have been truly empty.

That emptiness is a problem I had with a lot of the deaths. It's not just that it's clear these heroes will be brought back—if they remember what happened and it changes them, it won't be pointless—but they didn't die for anything. They were slaughtered for nothing, which left a bad taste in my mouth; if they'd at least chosen to go out fighting or if Thanos cared about who he was killing instead of being randomly "fair" about it, I feel like I would've felt them more. I was disappointed to see a few of them go, like T'Challa, but it was Tom Holland who really got me with his "I don't wanna go." That was heartbreaking and nearly made me cry!

It would be nice if the Defenders who survived the Snap got promoted to Avengers status in the interim, but I doubt that will happen. I've seen suggestions elsewhere that the heroes who got Snapped could form a "New Avengers" within the Soul Stone to fight their way out and that could be cool, but I hope the focus of Infinity War 2 is on the original six Avengers since it will probably be their last mission. They can deal with what the Snapped heroes went through in their future solo films.

I think it'd be cool if Nick Fury's (Samuel L. Jackson) beeper actually contacted Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) in the 90s (just chalk the time zone difference up to Kree or Skrull tech). This could be why he chose to summon her for help: being in the past, she wouldn't be affected by the disintegration wave.

In terms of the longer-term plans, I don't want another long build-up to something; I hope Infinity War 2 is the end of long-form plotting in the MCU, at least for the next few phases. We don't need a years-long build-up to Secret Wars or something, and not every threat has to spring from the previous one in some manner.

Infinity War is big, fun, and action-packed with plenty of crowd-pleasing moments (and some that truly pull at your heartstrings), but it's not one of my favorite MCU films. I think it falls somewhere in the middle, but in terms of spectacle it's one of their finest outings. It's definitely worth a trip to the theater!

Check out more of my reviews, opinions, theories, and original short stories here!

#avengers #infinity war

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pelicula-completa-online-film · 4 years ago

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Definition and definition of Film / film

While the players who play a role in the film are referred to as actors (men) or actresses (women). There is also the term extras that are used as minor characters with few roles in the film. This differs from the main actors, who have larger and more roles. As an actor and actress, good acting talent must be required that corresponds to the subject of the film in which he plays the leading role. In certain scenes, the role of the actor can be replaced by a stunt man or a stunt man. The existence of a stuntman is important to replace the actors who play difficult and extreme scenes that are usually found in action-action films. Movies can also be used to deliver certain messages from the filmmaker. Some industries also use film to convey and represent their symbols and culture. Filmmaking is also a form of expression, thoughts, ideas, concepts, feelings and moods of a person that are visualized in the film. The film itself is mostly fictional, though some are based on actual stories or on a true story. There are also documentaries with original and real images or biographical films that tell the story of a character. There are many other popular genre films, from action films, horror films, comedy films, romantic films, fantasy films, thriller films, drama films, science fiction films, crime films, documentaries and others. This is some information about the definition of film or film. The information has been cited from various sources and references. Hope it can be useful.

❍❍❍ TV FILM ❍❍❍

The first television shows were experimental, sporadic programs that from the 1930s could only be seen at a very short distance from the mast. TV events such as the 1936 Summer Olympics in Germany, the crowning of King George VI. In Britain in 19340 and the famous launch of David Sarnoff at the 1939 New York World’s Fair in the United States, the medium grew, but World War II brought development to a halt after the war. The 19440 World MOVIE inspired many Americans to buy their first television, and in 1948 the popular Texaco Star Theater radio moved to become the first weekly television variety show that hosted Milton Berle and earned the name “Mr Television” demonstrated The medium was a stable, modern form of entertainment that could attract advertisers. The first national live television broadcast in the United States took place on September 4, 1951, when President Harry Truman’s speech at the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference in San Francisco on AT & T’s transcontinental cable and microwave relay system was broadcasting to broadcasters in local markets has been. The first national color show (the 1954 Rose Parade tournament) in the United States took place on January 1, 1954. For the next ten years, most network broadcasts and almost all local broadcasts continued to be broadcast in black and white. A color transition was announced for autumn 1965, in which more than half of all network prime time programs were broadcast in color. The first all-color peak season came just a year later. In 19402, the last holdout of daytime network shows was converted to the first full color network season.

❍❍❍ formats and genres ❍❍❍

See also: List of genres § Film and television formats and genres TV shows are more diverse than most other media due to the variety of formats and genres that can be presented. A show can be fictional (as in comedies and dramas) or non-fictional (as in documentary, news, and reality television). It can be current (as in the case of a local news program and some television films) or historical (as in the case of many documentaries and fictional films). They can be educational or educational in the first place, or entertaining, as is the case with situation comedies and game shows. [Citation required] A drama program usually consists of a series of actors who play characters in a historical or contemporary setting. The program follows their lives and adventures. Before the 1980s, shows (with the exception of soap opera series) generally remained static without storylines, and the main characters and premise barely changed. [Citation required] If the characters’ lives changed a bit during the episode, it was usually reversed in the end. For this reason, the episodes can be broadcast in any order. [Citation required] Since the 1980s, many FILMS have had a progressive change in the plot, characters, or both. For example, Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere were two of the first American prime time drama television films to have this kind of dramatic structure [4] [better source required], while the later MOVIE Babylon 5 further illustrated such a structure had a predetermined story about the planned five season run. [Citation required] In 2020, it was reported that television became a larger part of the revenue of large media companies than the film. Some also noticed the quality improvement of some television programs. In 2020, Oscar-winning film director Steven Soderbergh declared the ambiguity and complexity of character and narrative: “I think these qualities are now being seen on television and people who want to see stories with such qualities are watching TV.

❍❍❍ Thanks for everything and have fun watching❍❍❍

Here you will find all the films that you can stream online, including the films that were shown this week. If you’re wondering what to see on this website, you should know that it covers genres that include crime, science, fi-fi, action, romance, thriller, comedy, drama, and anime film. Thanks a lot. We inform everyone who is happy to receive news or information about this year’s film program and how to watch your favorite films. Hopefully we can be the best partner for you to find recommendations for your favorite films. That’s all from us, greetings! Thank you for watching The Video Today. I hope you like the videos I share. Give a thumbs up, like or share if you like what we shared so we are more excited. Scatter a happy smile so that the world returns in a variety of colors. ”

#top gun: maverick #2020 #2021 #film #pelicula completa #espanol #hd

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junker-town · 4 years ago

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What if NBA teams got to add one Disney character to their roster?

We drafted a Disney character for each NBA team in the bubble.

The NBA is officially in the bubble on Disney World propery, getting ready for the return of the league on July 30th. In honor of this rare situation and the option of teams adding replacement players, we decided to take time to have some fun and see what it would be like if NBA teams could draft a Disney character for their team to use on the court. This is serious stuff!

The draft order was randomly selected and the only rule was that teams must choose an original Disney character, not franchise characters from Star Wars or Marvel. So we gathered our NBA writers that have respective teams in the bubble together and held a Disney character draft.

Here are the very important results:

1. Milwaukee Bucks - Robin Hood

Not only can he serve as a primary floor general, controlling his on-court compatriots with leadership skills sharpened on commanding a forest of misfits to upend the ruling class. He’ll run point, and there won’t be any questions about his ability to nail shots from deep, whether he’s slinking around picks like he’s climbing trees in a forest or just pulling up from the halfcourt logo before defenses know what hit him. Should Eric Bledsoe falter at all in the postseason, Bud has a tried and true replacement for him. I’d even venture to guess Hood may get the call sooner rather than later in the starting lineup.

- Adam Paris, BrewHoop (Read the full breakdown here)

2. Houston Rockets - Jiminy Cricket

If you thought the Rockets were small before, wait till you get a look at their newest addition. Doubling down on #PocketRockets, Houston not only added the smallest player in the draft but also one of the most dynamic. Crickets can jump over 50 times their body length, making them one of the animals kingdom’s most prolific leapers. The lob game that left James Harden when Clint Capela was traded just might return with this draft pick.

In addition, Jiminy has one of the highest basketball IQs in this draft class. Being that he’s actually just the embodiment of a conscience, he always knows the right decision to make on the court.

- Darren Yuvan, The Dream Shake (Read the full breakdown here)

3. New Orleans Pelicans - Simba

While Jrue Holiday, Derrick Favors and JJ Redick are a nice collection of veterans, none have an NBA championship ring sitting at home. In addition, the upcoming slate of contests will present an unprecedented challenge. There will be no crowds to create much needed momentum for players. The basketball courts at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex will be unfamiliar terrain. And as we’ve learned in recent days, the Pelicans will be without at least two key figures (Jeff Bzdelik and Jamelle McMillan) on Alvin Gentry’s coaching staff.

- Oleh Kosel, The Bird Writes (Read the full breakdown here)

4. Utah Jazz - Maui

Maui? Are you kidding me? A shapeshifter fell this far? The Utah Jazz select Maui, Demi-God of the Wind and Sea, Hero of Men, and stretch four of Quin Snyder’s dreams.

Need someone to guard the perimeter? Boom. Shapeshift. Need switch onto a wing? Boom. Shapeshift. Need someone to take over in the paint? Boom. Shapeshift. AGAIN. This guy is the total package and sure to be a hit knowing Utah’s connection with the Polynesian islands.

- Mychal Lowman, SLC Dunk (Read the full breakdown here)

5. Miami Heat - The Beast

His enormous ultra-athletic frame alone would be an intimidating presence in the paint, freeing up the Heat’s shooters on one end of the floor while also racking up blocks and rebounds on the other side. Whether he’s paired alongside Bam Adebayo to form a truly fearsome duo or in relief off the bench to boost the second unit, it’s a good problem to have for Erik Spoelstra and his coaching staff to see where he best fits before the games start up.

- Surya Fernandez, Hot Hot Hoops (Read the full breakdown here)

6. Washington Wizards - Mickey Mouse

This team is in desperate need of a sorcerer heading into Florida as the “cupcake” team of the field — Who else can be better than the OG of OG’s? Mickey by himself is a jack of all trades, like Bradley Beal is as a guard for Washington. Mickey can do everything on the court pretty well against smaller players. But I get it. He’s a mouse. That’s when his sorcerer hat (from Fantasia) comes in. Here, he can magically help his teammates in the post in the form of giving them a skill boost, or maybe he can magically grow himself!

- Albert Lee, Bullets Forever (Read the full breakdown here)

7. Los Angeles Lakers - The Genie

Genie is the perfect pick for the Lakers at No. 4, because he is one of the most versatile players in this draft. With the ability to change size at will and stretch and teleport himself all over the court, Genie is exactly the type of versatile contributor that will allow the Lakers to make up for any loss with his ability to play any position. Honestly, given the scope of his powers and abilities, the Lakers may have just created an unstoppable big three.

- Harrison Faigen, Silver Screen & Roll (Read the full breakdown here)

8. Sacramento Kings - Hercules

Upon arrival, Hercules is expected to start alongside De’Aaron Fox, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Harrison Barnes and Richaun Holmes. Standing at 6’5”, Hercules, or “Herc,” is probably better suited to play the 1 or 2, but he has the strength to play the 3, 4 or 5, similar to Zion Williamson.

In addition to Hercules, the Kings are working to bring Hercules’ personal trainer Philocetes, or “Phil,” onto their training staff, according to a league source. Hercules credits Phil for all of his success to date, and the Kings could always use a player development coach.

- Christian Rivas, Sactown Royalty (Read the full breakdown here)

9. Phoenix Suns - Tarzan

The strategy was simple: we needed to replace the services of Kelly Oubre, Jr.

He’s quick. He’s agile. He has a killer wingspan. He adds toughness and a mean streak to the Suns roster. He’s high-flying and strong as hell. He hangs out with apes, so you know he and the Suns Gorilla would get along splendidly. Tarzan is made for the NBA. He is a steal at #9.

- John Voita, Bright Side of the Sun (Read the full breakdown here)

10. Brooklyn Nets - Moana

Yeah, the Nets need help. Lots of help. Especially when it comes to bigs. Soooo, I went and drafted the Nets the biggest Disney character I could: Moana. The biggest, you say? Yeah, the biggest. According to Google, Moana measures at 7-feet, 6-inches tall. Say it again. 7-feet, 6-inches tall. And, with speed.

- Tom Lorezno, Nets Daily (Read the full breakdown here)

11. OKC Thunder - James P. Sullivan (Sully)

James P. Sullivan would be the perfect addition to an already-stacked Oklahoma City Thunder team because the man is scary with a sweet soul that could light up any defense. Also, watching him throw alley-oops would be fun to watch.

Sullivan is also 7’6, which in NBA terms is huge to have on a team. He could block a lot of baskets and throw the basketball down the court with ease and could easily score on everyone without much effort.

Sullivan would fit perfectly in with the Thunder because he has a laid-back attitude and I could definitely see Steven Adams and him being best of friends and scaring other teammates with each other.

- Sarah Dewberry, Welcome To Loud City (Read the full breakdown here)

12. Orlando Magic - Peter Pan

As the proven leader of the Lost Boys, Peter Pan also gives the Magic’s young core some valuable leadership they’ll need while transforming into a contending team. And just think of what some of Peter’s Pixie Dust could do for the Magic’s crucial but plodding players like Nikola Vucevic and Evan Fournier.

- Mike Cali, Orlando Pinstriped Post (Read the full breakdown here)

13. San Antonio Spurs - EVE (a.k.a. Eva)

What Disney character better to represent Pop’s crew than EVE, the Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator that wins the heart of the titular WAL-E?

EVE goes about her business with a calm, seemingly detached efficiency that belied the passion inside, but when the moment was big enough, was able to cut loose. EVE wreaked havoc on an abandoned shipyard in her frustration. EVE rebuilt WAL-E and sparked him back to life.

- Pounding The Rock

14. Toronto Raptors - Alice (Alice in Wonderland)

The on court stuff is obvious. Girl has magic mushrooms, given to her by her chain smoking caterpillar bud, that help her grow quite tall, which seems useful for basketball to me. With Marc Gasol deep in the throws of his mid-thirties and Chris Boucher being more of an erratic four than a steady back-up five, post-shrooms Alice fits as a rim protecting reserve who can give you 10 minutes, even while rocking dress flats. A 2019 Sixers team with such a reliable back-up may have beaten the Raptors in round two.

- Sean Woodley, Raptors HQ (Read the full breakdown here)

15. Los Angeles Clippers - Elastigirl

Elastigirl truly has no ego and is exactly the kind of hero who can easily slot in with an established team. She comes from a family of superheroes, so she is used to working together instead of going rogue. Elastigirl is willing to let others shine, which she does with Mr. Incredible, but she also has the capacity to take a leading role, like when she battles the Screenslaver. She has an acute understanding of how best to optimize the talents of others and bring our their peak performances, which Violet would surely attest to. A player who is comfortable sitting on the bench but always stays ready — after literally years of inaction, in one instance — is a crucial piece of a championship team.

- Sabreena Merchant, Clips Nation (Read the full breakdown here)

16. Denver Nuggets- Mr. Incredible

Mr. Incredible may have some selfish tendencies at times, but he’s at his best when he’s working within a team concept. Nikola Jokic is the brains behind the operation while Jamal Murray is often the tip of the spear. Sometimes you need a hammer though, and that’s what Mr. Incredible provides the rotation: brute force power and athleticism.

- Ryan Blackburn, Denver Stiffs (Read the full breakdown here)

17. Portland Trailblazers - Mufasa

Mufasa is clearly the most NBA-ready character in this draft class. We anticipate he’ll be able to lift teammates to new heights with his fantastic physique and off-the-charts leadership skills. Once he gets his footing, he’ll be a fantastic voice in the locker room. We suspect he dropped so low because he’s a bit shaky running the break and makes questionable decisions in traffic, but with help from the coaching staff, he should develop those skills as his career progresses. At the end of the day, we feel quite confident that we got the steal of the draft.

- Dave Deckard, Blazer’s Edge (Read the full breakdown here)

18. Memphis Grizzlies - Elsa

On the floor, Elsa ices out everything around her. She can be a lockdown defender, freezing ball handlers (literally) while creating opportunities in transition for a Grizzlies team that wants to run. As a help defender, she can assist players like Jonas Valanciunas who may struggle with stretch fives by not allowing those bigs to get to their spots on the pick and pop. She has ice in her veins and will not allow for any proverbial storm raging around the Grizzlies to impact them.

- Joe Mullinax, Grizzly Bear Blues (Read the full breakdown here)

19. Philadelphia 76ers - Air Bud

he Philadelphia 76ers go a bit unconventional here selecting a dog who can not talk, does not have superpowers, and is not an animation, like the other players selected in this draft. However, Air Bud has one thing that I’ve yet to see from any other prospect: game film.

A golden retriever with two-way ability, Air Bud gives Philly a wing who can hound opposing ball-handlers on defense and provide some much needed energy on the offensive end. He also figures to serve as quite a fine complement to Ben Simmons in the transition game.

- Kevin F. Love, Liberty Ballers (Read the full breakdown here)

20. Boston Celtics - Yen Sid

Remember in the movie Fantasia? Mickey is a sorcerer’s apprentice and gets into all kinds of hijinks when he borrows the wizard’s magic hat? Yen Sid is the wizard. So why him and not some more popular figure? Well, like any good drafter I did my research.

There are few Disney characters out there with the magical powers of this wizard. In fact, based on a thorough internet search of about 5 minutes, I concluded that Yen Sid is right up there with the Genie and Maleficent as the most powerful characters in the Disney cannon.

- Jeff Clark, Celtics Blog (Read the full breakdown here)

21. Dallas Mavericks - Kronk

That’s right, Kronk, from the criminally underrated film, the Emperor’s New Groove.

Why Kronk you ask? Well, for one, the Mavericks could use some size. With Willie Cauley-Stein opting out of Orlando for personal reasons, Dallas has a thin front court. Though he should be considered an emergency option in Orlando, Dallas needs a banger, a guy who will play hard and do the dirty work and not need recognition and the spotlight.

- Kirk Henderson, Mavs Moneyball (Read the full breakdown here)

22. Indiana Pacers - Trusty (Lady and the Tramp)

Though he may be getting up there in years and doesn’t boast superhuman strength like Hercules, the dead-eye shooting of Robin Hood, or Maui’s thicc frame, Trusty arguably best reflects the three —admittedly, somewhat corny — tenets of Indiana’s culture: toughness, togetherness, and...wait for it..trust. I mean, c’mon, it’s right there in his name.

- Cailtin Cooper, Indy Cornrows (Read the full breakdown here)

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