#collection reviews

[awesomephd]

Watching Through My Collection: Day 64/67

IT (1990)

Day 63 / Day 65

I've seen the more recent adaptations of It, and even gotten a little ways into reading the book, so there wasn't much this movie could surprise me with. That allowed me to sit back and simply enjoy the art of the effects and acting.

CW: Child abuse, regular and sexual assault.

This was a tv miniseries, of course, so all gore is deeply tuned down. Along with other darker themes the R rated newer movies got to play around with. Of course, that doesn't mean this version has no tension!

There's plenty of tension.

The love of the Loser's Club- or Lucky Seven, as they're referred to mostly in this series- is real. The friendship between the characters extends to the actors and it makes everything better for it. The moments where characters are enjoying each other’s company and having fun are more real and therefore it's more of a juxtaposition when things get dangerous.

Tim Curry, of course, deserves all the accolades he's gotten for making Pennywise such a bully of a beast. He always comes across perfectly like he wants nothing more than to start breaking kids' limbs, whether he's actually threatening them or cracking jokes.

My favorite dynamic across the versions I already know is between Richie, Eddie, and Bev and that favoritism is maintained strong by this miniseries. Though I did also love the additional scenes of Bill and Mike rrepairing and riding around on Bill's bike, intercut with flashbacks of them doing the same stunts as kids.

Honestly, the way the flashbacks were used and interspersed throughout the film was a great use of the time and format of the miniseries: Keeping more of the fast-paced action and the kids' fight against the monster in the first half to get viewers hooked, and then letting the second half draw out the tension of the adults returning to Derry for the people that are invested.

[sustancy]

[sizzlingsandwichperfection-blog]

The duality of goodreads.

[korij]

Pls rate my small trinkets collection

[good-pokemon-center-reviews]

[hotwaterandmilk]

An IRL friend of mine recently suggested I cut back on posting content because "maybe a dozen or two dozen people" like my posts and they weren't sure why I bothered when there was no money or engagement in it.

I definitely felt a bit like that a few years back, particularly when I'd see people repost my scans on other platforms and get tens of thousands of likes. If I'd shifted platforms and focused on engagement that could well have been me.

However, that's not really what I've ever been about. I share what I share because I like it and want other people who like these works to enjoy what I have in my collection too (or to discover new works they might not have encountered). Nobody has to engage with what I post though, I could get 0 likes/reblogs and I'd still keep plugging away because ultimately this is just a hobby and I'm just a fan.

I don't want to harp on with the cheesy "you should do things for yourself first and foremost" with hobbies, but at the end of the day my affection for certain series and artists won't evaporate just because my posts about them aren't popular on Tumblr.

I've been here for 14 years and have only just hit 10,000 followers. I'm not an important internet person by any stretch of the imagination and I think that's OK. If I'd been angling for something beyond simply being a fan of certain things, I can see how this might be considered failure. For me (personally) though, I don't feel like my hobby needs to have any form of hustle attached to it. This is what I do to express my affection for things.

Not everyone will feel the same way as I do about sharing content online and that's fine, we're all individuals and we engage with things differently. I just wanted to express this while the thoughts were still fresh in my mind.

Enjoy your hobbies in the ways that work for you. You'll find people who appreciate your contributions (big or small) wherever you go online and if you move onto different fandoms or hobbies, you'll find new folks who like what you do there too. Just don't feel locked into numbers as the ultimate way of judging your own love for media.

[mgu-h]

Lando Review 33/? • Aug 2021

[squash1]

a collection of things that are the raven cycle but are not the raven cycle:

[thesoftboiledegg]

"Unmortricken" was a lot. In fact, it might have been a little too much.

To start, I loved the glimpse of what exists outside the Central Finite Curve. The visuals were stunning and reminded me of M.C. Escher's drawings. The Jetson-like family was a nice touch--if anything can happen, who says they can't have different animation styles? All those colorful portals make me wonder what's lurking just out of sight.

It's also funny that the space outside the Curve is full of Rick's favorite thing: crystals. If he took a trip there, he'd come back with his pockets stuffed with gemstones.

Evil Morty's reappearance gave us a decent character study. Since he wasn't the antagonist, we saw him interact with the C-137s as a regular person. Morty's a little impressed, and Rick has a grudging respect for him. Others have called Evil Morty the Rickest Morty, and I agree: similar intelligence, similar technology and similar bloodthirst.

I was glad that he left in the end because that's what his character arc is about anyway. He doesn't want to be part of anyone else's story, not even another Morty's.

However, that's also part of the issue that I had with this episode. Seeing Evil Morty was great, but it was also a little...pointless? You could've had the same story without him. He's not working with Prime, and he has no ties to C-137 after "Rickmurai Jack," so it felt like the writers just said "Hey, you know what would be cool?"

I'm not against writers having fun and giving the audience what they want. "Spider-Man: No Way Home" (yeah, groan at me, Marvel haters) is fan service in blockbuster form, and it was one of the best theater experiences I've ever had.

Still, if Evil Morty came back, I think he should've had a separate episode. The episode juggled C-137 Rick, Morty, Evil Morty and Prime Rick pretty well, giving them satisfying interactions with each other, but no Evil Morty would've meant more relationship development for the C-137s.

Evil Morty's backstory also didn't reveal much about him. I mean--yeah, we all figured that he had an abusive Rick and got fed up. The fact that he had a "regular" Rick instead of a deranged lunatic does make a point about the banality of abuse. Monsters aren't always raving maniacs who torture people in their basements. Ordinary people can wear you down with a slow drip of toxicity and neglect.

I enjoyed this episode, and Evil Morty's return was exciting, but cramming the series' two biggest antagonists and storylines into twenty minutes was a little overwhelming. New plot developments kept showing up, too: Rick found Prime! Prime's various lairs! Omega device! I would've preferred a two-parter.

I'll admit that if you told me that we'd see Evil Morty and Rick Prime in the same shot, I never would have believed you, but here we are.

On that note, Prime's characterization was perfect. No attempt at a cutesy, sad backstory; he's a laughing monster until the end. And is it really the end? He has regeneration abilities, but C-137 acts like he's dead and even gives up the search. This leaves us with a few options:

C-137 killed him.

Prime fooled C-137 into thinking that he's dead when he isn't.

C-137's keeping him alive for later use.

Hopefully, this is more complicated than it looks because I'll be disappointed if this is the end of Prime. He's a brilliant reflection of C-137: the Rick he'd be without his tiny shred of humanity.

And Prime's a maniac, but he tells C-137 the truth. Rick broke into Prime's house. He pretended he belonged with this group of strangers. He latched on to Prime's grandson because he never had his own. His brutal, violent streak never went away no matter how long he tried to play house.

Prime says "Admit it! You would have been me!" In season three and parts of season four, Rick was close. His love for his family--love that he pretended he didn't have--and desire for their approval just barely pulled him back. But what kept that spark alive? How close was he to becoming a cold, unfeeling shell?

In the end, C-137's not satisfied after he destroys Prime--and weirdly, I'm not satisfied, either. Beating Prime to an unrecognizable pulp doesn't bring Rick's original family back. It doesn't erase the atrocities that Rick's committed. It doesn't make his grief go away. It doesn't change the fact that Rick teetered on the edge of turning into the monster that he despised.

What's more satisfying is that Rick didn't turn out like Prime. His Morty doesn't give two shits about Prime, but he loves him. He hugs him in relief (come on, Rick, hug him back already!), cries out "Rick? Rick!" and shakes his body when he thinks he's dead, and talks excitedly as they return home.

Rick's going to therapy, which Prime would have mocked. He went from having nobody to living with FIVE kids if you count Morty and Summer. Even he and his Jerry are pretty tight.

Rick knows this, but he still feels empty all the time. Vengeance doesn't work, drinking doesn't work...wouldn't it be easier if he just switched off his humanity and laughed at everything, even his own death?

But now that he knows how it feels to be loved, especially by his hypothetical grandson, I think he'll always find himself at the Smiths' doorstep.

[meandmyechoes]

The Japan first edition blu-ray is here! ＼(^o^)／

The digital content is the same save for an additional Japanese dub, so I'm way more curious about the trinkets!

2nd pic is a set of six postcards that iirc are DVD volume covers. (Wow remember the early days of TCW where there's ZERO Ahsoka on any promo materials) Each cover features screencaps of the episodes it contains.

3rd pic is keychain charms. 4th pic is a poster by… I think, Kilian Plunkett? It looks a little too finished to be Filoni… Enlighten me if you do.

[awesomephd]

Watching Through My Collection: Day 52/67

Hannibal (2001)

Day 51 / Day 53

It's said Jodie Foster didn't reprise her roll as Clarice because she felt like the final draft betrayed her character. I see what she means but they were also on some hero/villain romance with this one that was enthralling to watch unfold.

Cw: Gore, body horror, sexual assault.

While this movie is very much a Hannibal Lecter story and feels like Clarice had to be knocked down pretty far for Hannibal to get the leg up on her that he did; this film is masterfully put together and absolutely slathered in symbolism and iconography.

Honestly, if I knew a guy with a family legacy featuring a hanging that was obviously tempted to betray me and I was researching medieval paintings, I'd make the same presentation on Judas being hanged as Dr. Lecter. The opportunity is too golden, even if it's heavy-handed.

I'll also take pride in how quickly I picked up on Gary Oldman's voice under all the makeup they had him in.

Most of the rest of the story and cast are there to fulfill their roles and don't add too much. Clarice is still disrespected and patronized at work, Hannibal is still well aware of everyone else's next move, and the more volatile killer that makes Hannibal look friendly gets taken care of quick enough for Hannibal to fit in a final moment and escape.

[statementlou]

hey some very smart people (my babes @captainrayzizuniverse and @goldcrumble) have cracked a 28 Clothing pattern check this out: Drop 1 and Drop 2 came out August and November last year and were both Collection 01 (labeled on the clothing tags); Drop 3 (this July) is Collection 02...

...which suggests a possible pattern of one collection consisting of two drops close together late in the year per year, which feels consistent with teasing items from the next drop in the promo for this recent one; so we would see Drop 4- the second half of Collection 02- in October or November, and then another long wait until the second half of next year for more?

[spacecatsaremadeofdarkmatter]

This negative review for Hi-Fi Rush is fucking sending me like--

Bro, what did you expect???

[cupiidzbow]

i forget there interests I don’t really talk about to other people or keep to a minimum bc I know they’re not the most conventional but I have a huge special interest in crayola art supplies/and collecting and I have almost every recent release of specialty crayon and I get so excited when they release new ones . I got so excited recently bc they just released swirl crayons ( I think they’re a revival from a 90s version) but I’m literally so fucking excited you don’t get it. you don’t even know. Sorry I wanted to ramble. Hark! to my completely unrelated tumblr blog I go!☝🏽

[ladyloveandjustice]

There are so many moments in Dead Dead Demon's Destruction that are just so pointed and devastating but this one really hits man. I'm kind of wondering if it was written after the Logan Paul thing happened, though of course it's probably referencing a lot of things related to a general American attitude that is, uh, timeless.

[sendmyresignation]

i think there's really something to be said about how there has never been a record i've encountered where people wanted justification or excuse to refuse to acknowledge the intention and seriousness of the project itself like danger days by both defenders and haters. i find it so incredibly bizarre and strange and partially fascinating.