#don’t get me wrong i have tons of respect for ben barnes but not to the darkling.

[or-we-could-take-a-walk-together]

the king of scars duology was leigh bardugo’s answer to every darklina shipper/darkling fan justifying the darkling’s crimes. in kos+row they explicitly call out every single one of the darkling’s crimes, which is why i’ll always be a malina shipper (in canon ships at least, genyalina supremacy) because the other option is simply terrible. so please learn to separate an artist from his art, which in this case the artist is ben barnes, and the art is his portrayal of the darkling.

[madamrogersstorytelling]

Day 5: Three favourite movies/series

This is quite easy, actually. For change. After suffering for two days with extremely hard topics, I’m very happy about this. I had my answers ready already. 

I haven’t seen all his works yet. I’m kinda new to his filmography anyway, but I’m going to watch everything (I tend to do that with all my favorite actors). So this list may change some time later, but let’s not care about that yet, let’s focus on his works I actually have seen. 

1. Jackie & Ryan (2014)

Directed by Ami Canaan Mann

Starring Katherine Heigl, Ben Barnes, Clea DuVall, Emily Alyn Lind

“A modern day train hopper fighting to become a successful musician, and a single mom battling to maintain custody of her daughter, defy their circumstances by coming together in a relationship that may change each others lives forever.” 

I’ve said it a few times now, but Ryan has a special place in my heart. I said in my post ‘Madamrogers Storytelling’ that I had this one moment I realized many things; that moment was after seeing this movie. It was a little over a month ago. 

Ryan made me realize that if there is a thing I want to do, something I want to accomplish, something I hold dear... I should not get stuck. I have to go towards it, no matter what. I think I somehow can identify with Ryan; I don’t write songs or play music, I write stories. There is still the same agony, the same will to succeed and being able to do what you love. And I’d love to have that same kind of courage as Ryan has, that same way of approaching life. 

There are two moments that make me cry. They always make me cry; I’ve watched the movie like five times now and those moments still make me cry. They’re both because of Ryan’s words. In the first one he says to Jackie: “He is not going to take Lia from you. Because you won’t let him.” He sounds so sure, so strong and reassuring that I take it. Something happens inside me. The other moment is when Ryan says: “I always ask myself where am I gonna go next, how am I gonna get there.” I’ve taken that. I ask myself that quite often now. And it helps. I can tell you, it truly helps.

I love Ben in this film. Ryan is so kind, a bit shy, helpful, strong and inspiring character, and Ben’s way of portraying him goes right into my heart. I realized his talent during this film. He tells so much without even saying a single word. I can feel all the emotions he’s showing. And don’t even get me started with his singing voice! I’ve always loved men who sing and play an instrument, especially a guitar. There is something about the way a guitar changes a person; they may be this nice person without it, but when they take a guitar, they change completely. They become deeper, more tender, there is something extremely beautiful in them, more than before. I love all the songs in this film, but Southbound. I fell in love with it during the first note and never stopped falling.

I cannot say that I’m a friend of romantic movies. Especially romcoms make me feel quite bad because they often show love and life so wrongly, like both of them were full of roses and laughter all the time. I’m a bit cynical, to be honest. The reason may be that I’ve never actually been in love. I like honest, meaningful movies that have no fear of showing life and love the way they really are. I have nothing against romance in movies, don’t get me wrong. I just want it to be realistic. And in Jackie & Ryan, this ugly and cruel side of life is shown. Not exactly so clearly, but it’s still there under all those layers. You can see it. I like it how friendly and kind this movie is at the same time as it’s honest and shows you that if something bad happens, often something good comes after it. It’s like when winter dies and spring begins. People’s choices matter. This movie is not just a romantic movie. This is, like Ben said in an interview, a movie about people. I’ve seen that people don’t like it because nothing happens in it. In my opinion, quite a lot happens. This is one of my Go To movies and I’m happy that I found it. It always makes me feel better. I believe in myself. Would probably need someone like Ryan in my life, someone so inspiring and someone who isn’t afraid of telling me the truth. But, for now, this movie’s Ryan will do.

2. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010)

Directed by Michael Apted

Starring Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, Ben Barnes, Will Poulter

“Lucy and Edmund Pevensie return to Narnia with their cousin Eustace where they meet up with Prince Caspian for a trip across the sea aboard the royal ship The Dawn Treader. Along the way they encounter dragons, dwarves, merfolk, and a band of lost warriors before reaching the edge of the world.”

I’m actually glad that I watched Narnia films as an adult. I knew what Narnia was as a child, I probably got to know it around the same time as Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings but never really watched the movies or read the books. I remember getting this book with a movie cover from a book club. I forced my mom to let me keep it, and gladly I succeeded because I found the book a few weeks ago and it made me so happy. There were happy tears involved. That was the moment I remembered I had wanted to see the film. I also remembered looking at Caspian when I was just a girl and thinking ‘there is something in that one’. Never saw the film, sadly. 

But a while ago I sat down and watched these movies (with my mom, actually) and I just fell in love. Especially with this third one. Why am I glad that I watched these films as an adult and not as a child? Mostly because nostalgia hurts me instead of actually making me happy. I remember how much better life was back then. (It hurts to look at Ron Weasley sometimes... He was my first fictional crush.) And because now I have a place I can go, the place I got to know as the person I am now. I have Hogwarts, Middle-earth and all the other worlds I’m not letting go of, but this feeling that there is a place for me. It’s funny, really. The ending song of this movie is just so beautiful. There is a place for us. This movie reminds me of that; there is a place for me. I just haven’t found it yet. 

I also love Caspian’s character. I find similarities with myself. Funny enough, my mom even calls me Caspian sometimes (that’s because I have similar hair as he had in Prince Caspian, but mom said once that we’re quite similar in a way). He seems like someone who could make you feel better in mere seconds. The way he speaks, the way he is, and also his hugs must be the best ones in all Narnia. I could go for one of those right now. He is exactly like a person I’d respect. And I respect him, even when he’s just fictional. But he’s a King anyway. And Ben as Caspian, so beautiful. I could say the same things as I did when talking about Ryan, but he has so many emotions in his eyes and body. The way he holds his hand could tell more than a sentence. 

We’ve had this common joke “let’s go to Narnia” with my mom long before we even saw the films. But now, after watching them, the joke is even more common. It’s not even a joke anymore. And I know that till the end of my days, these movies and Caspian will remind me of my mom. 

3. The Punisher (2017)

Marvel

Created by Steve Lightfoot

Starring Jon Bernthal, Amber Rose Revah, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ben Barnes

“After the murder of his family, Marine veteran Frank Castle became a vigilante known as "The Punisher" with only one goal in mind, to avenge them.”

I suck at watching Marvel’s tv series. I’ve seen almost all the movies of MCU and the new X-Men films and Deadpool, but these tv series I’ve pretty much neglected. I tried to watch Daredevil back in the day but didn’t continue. Then, through my dear friend @accio-rogers, I found out about this show and that Ben Barnes is starring in it as a man called Billy Russo (I had no idea who Billy even was). I went to check the series from IMDb and saw that the main role was played by Jon Bernthal, who I had seen before in The Walking Dead. This started to feel like a safe choice, and during the same day I started to watch it. I was also having an awful summer flu back then, so what else could I have done than watch Netflix? Nothing. Didn’t have energy for anything else. 

Turned out that this choice affected on me more than I could’ve expected. 

This was the series which made me fall in love with Ben Barnes.

I probably have said this before, but instead of hating him, I love Billy Russo. I find him interesting. He is psychological, he has an interesting backstory. And I’ve always been interested in psychology, so I love this kind of characters. I don’t love everything he does or all his choices, no. No, no. I think he really is a bad man, but in this very interesting, captivating way. I’m unable to hate him. I understand why people hate him or refuse to write soft and sweet things about him. But still, in my deepest thoughts, hopes and fantasies (that came out wrong) - and probably headcanons - I can see that Billy really has a softer side. He is a psychopath, but maybe there is a side of him that is a bit softer? Maybe all of this is just his way of protecting himself? We know he had a tragic childhood. There must be tons and tons of armor on him, he has made stone walls around himself. Maybe there is someone else under those. No one, not even him anymore, can break those walls and armors. I’m more than willing to accept the fact that he is just a psychopath, as well. It makes him interesting. 

There is something about Ben playing the bad guy. He is so bad, but you cannot hate him. Billy is the perfect example. He is almost like a perfect villain. And the way Ben portrays him is magnificent: so much emotions in a blink of an eye. He’s phenomenal, a masterpiece. Billy Russo is my favorite antagonist of all time; he has this certain energy that makes him a bit frightening but likeable at the same time. He is well written. Full of layers and psychology. I cannot wait to see where Billy’s (or should we call him Jigsaw now?) story goes in season 2.

_________

If I could’ve list four, Westworld would’ve been the fourth. I spent quite some time finding out do I actually love or hate Logan; decided eventually that I love him, that hottie-naughty cowboy. And I’m only in season 1! Yikes. 

Happy Ben Barnes week!

@benbarnesweek

[flauntpage]

Still Can’t Get It Done – Observations from Celtics 121, Sixers 114 (OT)

Merry Christmas.

Let’s talk about the final play of regulation.

If you were like me, you were probably thinking that the ball would end up in the hands of Jimmy Butler or Joel Embiid, but JJ Redick took and missed the shot instead. If he hits from 18 feet, we’re talking about a wonderful road win. Instead he missed, the Sixers went on to lose in overtime, and the reactions were borderline apoplectic, at least on social media.

I don’t have too much of a problem with that play call. Sure, you can go isolation with Butler, who has hit a couple of tough three pointers at the buzzer this season. You can run the two-man game with Embiid and Redick.

Brett Brown decided against using a timeout and instead wanted Redick on the baseline, running that “inverted pick and roll” with Ben Simmons.

Watch it once while focusing on Redick and Simmons, then watch it again and check out Embiid’s body language:

I put “inverted pick and roll” in quotations because that’s only maybe 50% of what the play is. Sometimes it looks like a brush cut and sometimes it looks like a dribble hand-off. It’s a little bit of all three of those things at once.

Whatever the case, it’s a set they’ve used before with success. All you’re really doing it spreading out the floor and putting the onus on two defenders to navigate the brush, or else Simmons is going to drive the lane. JJ ended up with the ball and got a mid-range look that really is a higher percentage shot than those iso three-pointers Butler made earlier in the year.

The only problem I have with using Ben in that situation is that he’s obviously not a threat to shoot, so if you cut off the lane, you know he’s going to dump it off to Redick instead. And in this situation, he really didn’t get any contact on Gordon Hayward, nor did JJ do a good enough job of running Hayward into Marcus Morris. It was rushed and poorly executed:

Hayward can’t just round Simmons there, you need to get some body on him or drive him into his own man.

In hindsight, the skill sets of Butler and Embiid allow for more improvisation or flexibility when you’re in a crunch time scenario like that. Butler can drive OR shoot. Embiid can get to the foul line. You only needed one-point there, and Redick was not having an amazing shooting night, yet that’s where they went.

The other thing is this:

They didn’t need to take a timeout. Taking a timeout allows Brad Stevens to sub in Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier and take Hayward and Kyrie Irving off the floor. It also allows the crowd to sort of whip themselves into a frenzy. Letting your team go down the floor, seeing the matchup, and calling the play you want is fine in that instance. I didn’t think that was a huge deal at the end of the day.

This all leads us to Brett Brown, who unsurprisingly took a lot of flak last night, not just for that final play but because of the overtime collapse.

Let’s start by taking a step back and defining Brett Brown.

Brett likes motion, movement, rhythm, tempo, and sharing of the basketball. His base offense takes bits of things he learned under Gregg Popovich in San Antonio and also incorporates some Mike D’Antoni concepts as well. It’s space and pace, right? They spread the floor, sling the ball around, and get out in transition.

All of that is fine for 45 minutes, but it runs antithetical to late game NBA basketball, which is about slowing things down and executing half-court offense. Sometimes you just have to put the ball in your best player’s hands and let him do his thing.

I know I’ve used this analogy before, but it’s kind of like a spread offense football team doing well for three quarters. They throw bubble screens and hit you with read options and really kill you in space. Then, all of a sudden, the situation changes, the defense tightens up, and you need to line up in I-formation and just give the ball to your 240 pound fullback and let him bulldoze somebody for a difficult first down.

The Sixers aren’t great with that, that concept of changing pace and slowing it down and closing out a game. I don’t know if the base offense and some of their more common sets interface well with late-game basketball. They certainly aren’t running the floor and getting transition three-pointers with 45 seconds left on the clock, and a lot of times that renders Ben Simmons as more or less useless in the half court.

I don’t think all of this makes Brett Brown a “bad coach” per se, but philosophically the late-game approach has to shift. He needs to micro-manage more than he does. It’s nice to trust your team in a hands-off way, but a younger squad can’t just feel their way through these games, they need guidance from the sidelines.

This quote from Embiid last night I think sums it up a bit:

Joel Embiid had this to say about what he thought went wrong against the Celtics. pic.twitter.com/LYKvpptdl6

— David Murphy (@ByDavidMurphy) December 26, 2018

No player should ever be saying that they don’t feel like they’re in the right situation. I know Joel is putting the onus on himself to do more, but this sounds like he’s still not fully on board with whatever the Sixers are doing right now. He also needs to not turn the ball over six times, but it’s hard to criticize a guy who put up 34 points and 16 rebounds on 59% shooting while going 12 for 12 from the foul line.

One more little Embiid nugget from David Murphy’s Inquirer story:

Any ambiguity that may have seemed present in those sentiments was quickly dispelled when Embiid was asked why he thought the ball did not find him down the stretch.

“Don’t know,” the big man responded. “Got to ask coach.”

Hmm.. I dunno. Joel sometimes has these emotional knee-jerk types of reactions. He just did this a few weeks ago and it was squashed. We’ll see if anything comes from this round of griping.

For what it’s worth, I do think the “perimeter” stuff is a bit overblown, because Joel more often than not finds himself in the post after the Sixers go through their motions in the base offense. He gets post looks off elbow sets and they find various ways to get him in the block. A good sidebar story would be to look through the film and analyze every double team he’s received over the past three or four games.

Anyway, in the overtime period they hit one of eight field goal attempts, which obviously is not going to get the job done.

They were:

Redick open 3 (miss)

Butler tough turnaround mid range jumper (make)

Simmons tough layup from behind backboard (miss)

Wilson Chandler 23-footer after offensive rebound (miss)

Butler relatively open three-pointer (miss)

Redick contested three-pointer with shot clock expiring (miss)

Simmons transition layup against Al Horford (miss)

Butler three pointer with a hand in his face (miss)

The Sixers didn’t even hit the rim on those last two possessions, with 45 and 30 seconds on the clock respectively while down by 4 and 6 points. They really just did not execute well in overtime and they missed some open shots, rushed their sets, and looked really uncomfortable in the half court.

This one stood out to me:

Butler and Embiid pick and roll? Great. Love it.

They’re just a little sloppy going through it. Butler picks up his dribble early. Embiid has Chandler wide open in the corner, but picks out Simmons who is also open under the basket. Ben ends up catching the ball behind the backboard and has a tough finish there.

On the next trip down the floor, they did this:

That’s not a bad look at all.

Yeah, Chandler might have been able to get Embiid down low there, but you can live with an open Butler three.

They just didn’t get it done when it mattered last night. If Kyrie misses at the end of regulation or JJ hits his shot, again, we’re sitting here talking about a great win. The Sixers really had some promising patches of play last night and I thought they played some ferocious defense down the stretch. They went on some nice runs to erase Boston leads, and they even built leads late in the game. They just couldn’t finish the job by executing in the half court.

Other notes:

The Simmons jumper wasn’t a big deal. He shot it because he had to. He’s not taking that shot during a normal possession.

You see the clear difference in depth in these games. The Sixers got 13 points from their bench while Boston got 26.

Mike Muscala couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn yesterday. His 1-8 three point total really killed them.

3-7 for Ben from the foul line doesn’t get the job done.

Chandler had a nice game. 15 points on 5-11 shooting while going 3-6 from three? You’ll take that any day of the week.

The defensive rebounding in the third and fourth quarter was very good.

Boston didn’t shoot that well. Credit the Sixers for some of that, but you’re not gonna get a ton of 42% shooting nights from them at the Garden.

The national broadcasts are underwhelming.

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