#ex. the hobbit should not only have not been four(?) movies it really would have done best as a miniseries

[yoursincalendricalheresy]

See now this is what people should be enraged about, not the fact that they have black actors. The complete disregard for the extensive and well known lore, the massive aesthetic shift from both source material and the movie trilogy (largely I think because they went with CGI instead of investing in preproduction), the fact that in the trailer one guy grabs a fucking arrow out of mid air?

POLITICALLY AMBITIOUS ELVEN LEADER??

ELROND??? POLITICALLY AMBITIOUS???

HE WHO REFUSED THE CROWN OVER THE NOLDOR AFTER GIL-GALAD DIED DESPITE BEING HEIR TO ALL THREE HOUSES OF THE SONS OF FINWË BY BIRTH, ADOPTION, AND LATER MARRIAGE????? SPENT AN AGE AS GIL-GALAD’S SECOND WHILE HIS BROTHER’S LINE WERE KINGS??? WHO RAISED A HOMELY HOUSE INSTEAD OF A CITADEL??? WHO CHOSE THE PATH OF HEALING DESPITE GROWING UP IN A SERIES OF WAR CAMPS??? WISE AS A WIZARD?? KIND AS SUMMER????

[distant-rose-archive-blog]

CS AU Week 2017: Day 4 - Favorite Tropes AU

Emma Swan is a crusty twice divorced bailsbond person who is a lone wolf by nature, excluding the company of her seven-year old son, of course. Her occasional companion of choice is a Seattle detective who is also a divorcee and an ex-military guy who got his hand blown off on some super secret Black Op mission in Afghanistan. Killian Jones is nearly as crusty as Emma and a closet sci-fi nerd who never fails to help Emma with a difficult skip or babysit her son last minute. There’s always been an unspoken attraction between them that’s held back by their memory of their failed marriages.

Tropes Included: partners-in-crime, bedsharing, UST, friends to lovers, living in the same building, wearing each other’s clothes and drunk kissing in the goddamn rain

As a general rule Emma Swan was a lone wolf, but whether she felt the need for assistance or human companionship, she often turned to Killian Jones. As a plain clothes detective in the Seattle Police Department with a military background, Killian made a natural ally considering Emma’s work as a bounty hunter; often contributing to the capture and pick up of the human trash Emma dealt with on a daily basis. It didn’t hurt that he also lived three doors down from her apartment, was a decent drinking buddy and was generally pleasant to look at. (Emma would neither confirm or deny that she made a sport of looking at his ass when he wasn’t looking. If the man didn’t want to be ogled, he shouldn’t wear such tight jeans.)

So, when Emma was handed a file of a skip with a profile that would have reasonably been used to describe the Incredible Hulk and a habit hiding out with his sister in Bandon, she didn’t think twice before asking Killian to participate in a weekend road trip/stakeout.

“If you wanted to go on a date, Swan, there are better ways to go about it,” he teased when she asked, taking a bite out of the double meat Italian sub she had bought him for lunch as a thinly veiled form of bribery.

“Please, that is never going to happen,” Emma scoffed, pushing his paperwork over onto his keyboard so she could sit on top of his desk.

“Famous last words,” he smirked, blue eyes dancing with mischief.

“Nope. Never. I couldn’t date you. You’re a pretty boy and you know it. I couldn’t stand living with that ego. I can barely handle it over three beers,” she replied with a roll of her eyes.

“That’s a lie and you know it,” Killian shot back. “You’ve lasted five beers and a Lord of the Rings marathon. No point in denying it, Swan. There’s still video evidence on my phone.”

Emma couldn’t help it, she let out a laugh. She always had fun with Killian, particularly because they had a good banter going. Killian seemed to have the same dry wit and dark humor as her. Their rapport had a bit of flirtatious element to it, but it was relatively harmless. It never went beyond a few lines and mock confessions of love, but Emma would be lying if she said she hadn’t thought about it. You would have to be dead not to.

“Okay, okay. I can last five beers and four hours as long as there’s Orlando Bloom making weird faces in the background to distract me,” Emma scoffed, lifting her hands up in exasperation. “But for real, I’ve sworn off men. And women. I’ve decided that I’m going to be a crazy dog lady.”

“When did you decide this, love?” Killian asked, eyebrows raised in amusement.

“When I got divorced for the second time,” she replied casually.

Killian nodded as if he understood, which wasn’t surprising because she knew he did. Like herself, Killian was a divorcee; his former wife Milah had left him while he was still doing military service, not long before his hand had been blown off on some mission in Afghanistan. It was one of the things that bonded them aside from their love for fantasy and science fiction movies.

“Divorce has a tendency to do that. I would sing about losing that loving feeling Righteous Brothers style, but I’ve seen the amount of damage you can do when with just a hot cup of coffee,” Killian chuckled.

“Damn right, buster,” Emma smirked, bringing the aforementioned cup of coffee to her lips.

He had said it jokingly, but there was an incident in their past where Emma had used her coffee as a weapon when she had been unexpectedly surprised by a skip at a Starbucks. It had been surprisingly effective, however neither the police department nor the skip’s publicly appointed lawyer were impressed with the second-degree burns she had left behind. Though the incident had led to Killian complimenting her Macgyver-like tendencies of trying mundane daily life things into weapons.

Killian shook his head, leaning back in his seat and appraising her. “And I suppose there are worse things in the world to be than a crazy dog lady. You could be a crazy cat lady.”

“Yeah, no thank you,” Emma replied, making a small gagging noise. “I would die if I lived in a house that smelled of cat piss.”

“Quite right, Swan,” Killian laughed.

A comfortable silence fell between them as Killian dug into his sub and Emma sipped on her coffee. One of the things she loved about Killian was that he never felt the need to fill the quiet with unnecessary chatter.

“You’re a lucky woman, Swan,” Killian said as he finished the rest of the Italian sub. “I do have the weekend off, so I do have time to help you with your hunt for…the Incredible Hulk?”

“Just wait until you see the file then you won’t be questioning the nickname,” Emma replied, somewhat defensively. “The asshole looks like Lou Ferrigno.”

“Oh, you’re talking old school Hulk,” Killian nodded in realization. “I was thinking about the new one.”

Emma gave him a look like he had grown three heads.

“I wouldn’t be bothering you if he looked like Mark Ruffalo,” she scoffed. “Besides, if he looked like that, he wouldn’t have been able to put a cop through a window let alone attempt to lift an entirely filled safe out of a jewelry store.”

“For real? And Regina paid for his bail!?” Killian asked in disbelief.

Emma shrugged.

“I don’t make the decisions. I just pick up the trash regardless of how big. He might be big, but he’s a fucking idiot. Besides, this guy is like worth like $2,000 and Mama needs to pay rent and pay for some car repairs.”

“Maybe you should just buy a new car,” Killian replied with an arch of his eyebrow.

Emma scowled at him. He was constantly dissing her yellow bug. She loved that thing. It refused to die.

“I’m not responding to that slanderous suggestion,” Emma said, crossing arms in front of her chest.

“You kinda just did, love,” Killian snorted.

“That was an acknowledgement, not a response,” she argued.

“Whatever you say, counselor. I didn’t realize I was dealing with a lawyer, instead of a bailsbonds agent,” he chuckled.

Emma gave him a half-hearted swat as she hopped off his desk. Killian feigned injury, letting out an exaggerated “ouch” as she smacked him but his huge grin made it more than clear that he wasn’t really hurt.

“Quit being a baby,” she scolded. “I’ll see you Friday night. Seven sound good?”

“Eight might be best, love. I get off at seven and I’ll need a mo to shower, shit and shave,” Killian responded, chuckling.

Emma pulled a face.

“That’s more than I needed to know,” she responded, fishing out the keys to the bug.

“I’ve picked up your kid’s vomit, Swan, I can say whatever I want.”

The next time Emma saw Killian that week, it was to pick him up from his apartment. He came out the door before she even had the chance to knock. It’s fairly obvious that Killian’s just showered; his hair was still wet, dark strands plastered against his forehead while his black jeans and shirt clung to him in a fashion that told Emma he barely had time to towel off. (She wasn’t complaining.) He carried only an army duffle over his shoulder.

They made idle chatter as they walked towards Emma’s car.

“Where’s Henry this weekend?” he asked casually.

“With my brother and resenting every second of it,” Emma replied with a sigh.

“I thought David and Henry got on,” Killian frowned.

“They do, but everything is all about the baby lately so as you can imagine, my seven-year old isn’t so interested. Plus, he was really intent on joining me this weekend on this stake out. He doesn’t seem to get that my job isn’t as glamorous as the TV makes it out to be,” Emma sighed.

“Maybe you should let him ride along at least once, so he realizes that,” Killian advised.

Emma glared at him.

“I’m not taking my son with me when I’m taking down possible rapists, murderers and scumbags, Killian. It’s dangerous.”

“I’m not suggesting you do,” he responded with a roll of his eyes. “I meant taking him on the more boring ones, you know, like your tax evaders and absentee dads that don’t pay child support.”

Emma continued to glare him, not bothering to respond. She climbed into the driver’s seat and turned the key. The last example hit a little too close to home, bringing to mind her first husband Neal, who originally identified himself as an antique collector when they first met. The descriptor wasn’t necessarily a lie, but Neal’s choice of collection was a little less than legal and he had tried to take her down with him in hopes of a lesser prison sentence towards the end of their marriage. The three months after he got out of prison, he went AWOL and currently owed Emma $12,850 in child support; not that she expected to ever see a cent of it.

Their four-hour drive to Bandon was less tense as they move to lighter conversations like their disappointment in Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Hobbit and whether or not they considered Deep Space Nine to be a rip off of Babylon Five or not. Despite their easy rapport, they’re bone tired by the time they reach their destination and roll into the nearest motel they could find with a vacancy sign. Emma was dead on her feet when she went to the reception desk. Killian was even worn out, leaning against Emma’s side as she approached the desk.

“Two doubles,” she asked, stifling a yawn.

The moment the old woman behind the desk gave her a sympathetic look, Emma knew something was wrong.

“I’m sorry, young lady, but all I have left is a room and that’s with a single queen. It’s wedding season, you see, and I’m nearly all booked up,” she informed her.

“Wedding season,” Emma repeated, blinking.

“Wedding season,” she affirmed. “All those young kids don’t want to get married in a church anymore. They all want seashore weddings. So, like I said, I’ve got a room with just a queen and I’m willing to give you a discount. Ten percent for the inconvenience.”

Emma glanced in Killian’s direction. His eyelids were drooping and he didn’t seem to be understanding what the old woman was saying, not that Emma blamed him. He just got off a long shift, which was followed by a long drive no matter how entertaining the company was.

“What are you thinking, Kil?” she asked gently.

“That I just want to sleep, Swan and it’s one in the morning and I don’t care if I have to bunk on the floor. Slept in worse conditions, remember?” he muttered against her shoulder.

Emma sighed. She wasn’t necessarily comfortable with the idea of Killian sleeping on the floor, especially since he was doing her a favor. However, she was exhausted and didn’t feel like driving any more if she didn’t have to.

“We’ll take it,” Emma replied.

The room they get was tired and in desperate need of a remodel. The bed didn’t look too terrible but the rug was positively disgusting, patched with suspicious dark stains. There was no way that Emma could let him sleep on the floor in good conscience. She didn’t care if he was used to sleeping in dirt holes from his time in the Middle East, he was now back in the States and deserved to sleep in a bed.

“No,” she said aloud in a firm tone.

Killian looked at her in bleary eyed confusion.

“No?” he echoed questioningly.

“There is no way I’m letting you sleep on that floor, Killian Brennan Jones,” Emma stated, placing her hands on her hips.

“You’re not sleeping on the floor, Emma,” Killian replied, irritation in his tone.

“Better me than you,” she replied.

“Emma, you paid for the room and I know you hate the argument, but I’m a gentleman, love, and there’s no way I’m letting a lady sleep on the floor,” he argued.

“I’m hardly a lady and Killian, it’s your weekend off and you’re spending it with me,” Emma shot back, frustration coloring her tone.

“I was going to spend it with you anyway,” he scoffed. “But the point still stands that I refuse to let you sleep on the floor.”

“Then we’ll just have to share then,” she snapped without thinking.

Killian looked her in bewilderment, jaw dropping slightly.

“Share?” he repeated. “Do you think that’s wise?”

“It’s a queen size bed so it’s not like we’d be on top of each other,” Emma reasoned. “I mean, we’re both adults here. What? You think just because I’m sharing a bed with you that it will automatically lead to sex? News flash, Jones, you might be attractive, but you’re not so attractive that I’m just going to start molesting you the second we hit the sheets. Get over yourself.”

Killian’s jaw clenched and Emma watched as a muscle jumped. He was as pissed off as a man could be when he was bone tired. She knew in any other situation that this would have blown into a fight of epic proportions, but neither of them had the energy to put the effort in.

“Fine,” he replied tightly, grabbing his pack and heading towards the bathroom. Emma nearly jumped when the door slammed angrily behind him.

Emma took advantage of his absence, changing into a pair of candy cane stripped pajama bottoms and an Army shirt that had once been Killian’s, but had long since been pilfered by Emma and become a permanent resident in her closet. She hopped on the bed, choosing the side closest to the nightstand rather than the door. Killian emerged from the bathroom not to long after, wearing only a pair of boxer briefs and a shirt advertising Mills’ Bailbonds. Emma quirked an eyebrow at him.

“Nice t-shirt there, Jones,” she replied, biting her lip to hide her smirk.

Killian blinked before glancing down at his shirt as if just realizing which one he was wearing. He gave a shrug then realized that Emma was wearing something of his own collection.

“Same to you, Swan,” he nodded, all the fire and frustration from before erased.

He hopped onto his side of the bed without further comment, immediately seeking refuge under the covers and turning with his back facing her. Emma understood the sentiment and unfolded her own side, ready to go to sleep herself.

“Mind turning down the light, Swan?” Killian asked gently.

“Sure,” Emma replied, leaning up to turn off all the lights before snuggling into the sheets. There’s a reasonable amount of room between them without her feeling she’s hanging to the edge of the bed.

“Night, Swan,” Killian muttered so quietly that Emma almost didn’t hear him.

“Night Kil,” she murmured back, nuzzling her pillow.

Emma was tired enough that she didn’t remember falling asleep. She would, however, never forget waking up. Somehow over the course of the night, they both had gravitated towards the middle of the bed. Emma awoke the next morning, warm despite the fact both she and Killian had kicked the sheets to the bottom of the bed. Killian had molded himself against her back, seeking the warmth of her body underneath her shirt. She was somewhat mortified to note that his hands on curled itself around her breast and both of their legs were tangled together. Killian was still asleep, his even breaths puffing against the base of her neck, causing a shiver to run down her spine.

She immediately removed herself from the situation as carefully as she could, ignoring the hammering of her heart. Killian let out a small whine of protest, but didn’t wake. Feeling slightly bad, she gathered the neglected sheets and covered him, in hopes of keeping him asleep just awhile longer. He deserved it.

Emma gave the ancient alarm clock a quick glance. It was roughly eight in the morning and she wanted to stake out the sister’s house by nine-thirty. She could take a shower and get dressed at her leisure. If Killian was sleeping when she was done, she would give him a jostle and some space while she got some coffee. Satisfied with her plan, Emma went to work and tried to ignore the events of the morning.

As she predicted, Killian was still asleep when she was done getting dressed. He wasn’t particularly pleased to be woken up, but she had mollified him with the promise of coffee. There was a Starbucks not too far from where their motel, located on Virginia Ave. She ordered herself a large iced caramel macchiato and a large dark roast coffee with a shot of espresso for Killian. After a near three years of friendship, she knew his coffee order by heart, not that it was a particularly hard one to remember.

When she arrived back at the hotel, Killian was dressed albeit still on the sleepy side. He had a tendency to be barely coherent and irritable without his coffee, so before he even said a word she shoved his dark roast in his hands without comment. He raised the to-go cup in silent thanks before taking a sip.

The majority of their day was rather uneventful. They sat in Emma’s yellow bug two blocks from her skip’s sister’s house the entire morning and mid-afternoon without so much of a hint of movement. When it came around to four-thirty, they got a bit testy with each other.

“We haven’t seen a lick of anyone. You sure, they’re home, Swan?” Killian asked, drumming his fingers against the dashboard.

“Her car is parked in the driveway,” she replied flatly.

“Doesn’t mean she’s home or he’s here,” he responded, raising his eyebrows.

“I know, but I have a feeling in my gut.”

If it were possible, Killian’s eyebrows would have risen past his hairline.

“We’ve been sitting here for the past six hours based on a feeling in your gut?” he asked incredulously.

Emma gave him an annoyed look.

“You’ve always trusted my gut before,” she snapped, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“Yeah, but before now, your gut hadn’t gotten me leg cramps from being awkwardly folded up in your small ass car.”

“Don’t insult my bug,” Emma snapped, pointing a finger in his face.

“Your bug is an old rust bucket in dire need of being replaced, love,” Killian replied matter-of-factly.

Emma was about to yell at him when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. As if he had sensed their argument, Emma’s skip of the week emerged from the barely there raised ranch, tossing a pair of keys leisurely into the air.

“Son of a bitch,” Killian muttered, pulling out his gun.

“I told you he was here,” Emma replied smugly as she pulled out her taser.

Killian gave no verbal reply, but rolled his eyes as he stepped out of the car. Emma followed in suit, quietly snickering to herself. As could be imagined, Emma’s skip was not happy to see them and immediately tried to bolt, only pausing when Killian fired a warning shot. When the asshole thought it was a cute idea to try and charge them, Emma hit him with her taser. It took two jolts to take him down, but all in all it wasn’t the worst take down in Emma’s experience. The only thing that royally sucked about it was that it took nearly two hours to fill out all the necessary paper work in order for Emma’s bounty to be processed properly. By the time, they left the station, it was nearly eight-thirty at night and neither was in the mood for a long drive.

“Want to find a new hotel so you can have your own bed?” Emma asked lightly.

Killian made a noncommittal grunt.

“That wasn’t answer,” Emma said, raising her eyebrow.

“I don’t see the point. We’re not paying that much at the place we’re at now and it’s not like last night was a complete disaster. Like you said, Swan, it’s not like you molested me once we hit the sheets.”

Emma bit back the snarky reply about him molesting her in his sleep that was laying on the tip of her tongue. She refrained however because she was pretty sure Killian wasn’t aware of what had happened and she didn’t feel like hashing out that can of worms.

“Come on, Swan,” Killian replied, clapping her on the back. “I’ll buy you a drink.”

They ended up at a small bar across the street from the motel they were staying at. As with how things usually were with Killian and Emma, they stayed for more than a drink. They drained three beers each and shared a plate of onion rings. Killian insisted on paying the bill since Emma was paying for the motel room, but she refused to let him pay the tip and threw ten dollars on the table while ignoring the disapproval in his gaze. Emma couldn’t bring herself to care too much however, she was feeling slightly buzzed and giggly.

They were halfway to the motel when the heavens decided to open up and a heavy rain fell. Emma let out a loud shriek of surprise and immediately jumped to Killian’s side for warmth. He grumbled in irritation, taking off his leather jacket and hauling over their bodies in a haphazard way of shielding them from the sudden shower.

“Get a little closer, love, or you’re going to get drenched,” Killian grumbled, pulling her towards him.

Emma let out a shuddered breath as his fingers unknowingly brushed against her breast, bringing back thoughts of this morning. He immediately caught the sound however as his eyes zeroed in on her lips and held their gaze there longer than was entirely appropriate for platonic friends; not that Emma had much of a leg to stand on, she had been unabashedly checking him out for the past three years.

“You okay?” he asked quietly, his hold growing tighter.

When he spoke, she couldn’t help but focus on his mouth. It was only fair that she got to look as well. Unconsciously, she licked the corner of lips and despite her near hyper focus on the lower half of his face, she caught his eyes zeroing in on the action.

What happened next was an impulsive decision on Emma’s part that was no doubt fueled by a combination of liquid courage and her long-held desire to resolve the sexual tension that had been lingering between them ever since she found him teaching her son how to play air hockey. She grabbed the collar of his shirt and immediately tugged him down for a hard and unyielding kiss. Their teeth clashed together, the angle was more than a little awkward and Emma was pretty sure her lip was split from the roughness of her actions, but that didn’t seem to matter. Killian immediately dropped his jacket, letting it plop wetly onto the cement as his arms curled around her back in a vice grip to pull her closer.

She broke a way for a moment to take a quick breath before diving back in for another kiss. Killian let out a pleased noise from the back of his throat that Emma was pretty sure she wanted to hear on repeat for the rest of her life. She awarded him with affectionate nip of his lower lip before deepening the kiss. If she had been soberer, she would have been a bit mortified with how liberal she was being with her hands.

Emma made a noise that sounded embarrassingly like a whine when he pulled away. However, embarrassment soon turned to pride when she realized how heavy he was breathing.

“Emma…” he whispered. “Please tell me you’re not drunk.”

“I had only three beers,” she scoffed. “You know as well as I do that it takes more than three beers to knock me on my ass.”

“Yeah,” he chuckled, though the sound was a bit strangled. “I…I just don’t want this to be a mistake.”

“This isn’t a mistake,” she whispered. “This…this is long overdue.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she laughed.

Killian laughed as well before hauling her over his shoulder and marching determinedly back to their hotel room, leaving his leather jacket behind in the rain without much thought as he made his single-minded trek. Emma let out a peel of laughter, pounding her fists against his back half-heartedly.

“What are you doing!? Put me down!” Her demands lost held no heat as she couldn’t stop giggling.

“Doing something I should have done a long time ago,” Killian replied. “And I’m not wasting any more time than I already have.”

When they finally got to their room, he immediately pressed her against the door and lifted her drenched shirt over her head, flipping it across the room without much thought. After such a caveman-like display, Emma had expected him to be rough but she was surprised by the softness of the kiss he placed on her lips.

“This is okay, right?” he murmured quietly.

“It’s more than okay,” she said, her hands absently soothing over his back as she rose on her toes to silence him with a kiss.

The next morning, she awoke in the same fashion she had the previous one with Killian pressed up against her back, his breath curling on the base of her neck and his hand on her breast. However, incident was a bit as it also involved a lot less clothing than the day before and there was a pleasant ache between her thighs and more than a few love bites on Killian’s neck. Instead of removing herself from the situation, she merely cuddled closer and went back to sleep.

[lunarlapin]

Bajillion Questions Meme

Rules: Answer the questions, add your own, and then tag people.

I was tagged by @pikespendragon67! Thank you!

1. Coke or Pepsi: Coke probably

2. Disney or Dreamworks: I’ve always been more of a Disney fan.

3. Coffee or Tea: Both

4. Books or Movies: Also both. They’re different mediums and have their own strengths and weaknesses.

5. Windows or Mac: As many problems as Windows has, I find it more useful.

6. DC or Marvel: I don’t know much about either, but I know comparatively more about Marvel.

7. XBox or Playstation: Playstation. To be honest, I’ve never had much reason to get an Xbox.

8. Dragon Age or Mass Effect: I haven’t played either yet, but I have some of the Dragon Age games and can’t wait to play.

9. Night Owl or Early Rise: Night owl

10. Cards or Chess: I’m complete garbage at both, to be honest

11. Chocolate or Vanilla: Chocolate

12. Vans or Converse: I like the way Converse look better

13. Lavellan, Trevelyan, Cadash, or Adaar: ???

14. Fluff or Angst: I totally agree on fluff or angst followed by fluff

15. Dogs or Cats: Both, but large dogs (especially German Shepherds) are my favorites.

16. Clear skies or Rain: Clear skies. Nothing against rain, it’s very relaxing, but I’ve been in Scotland the past four years and seen a lot of it.

17. Cooking or Eating out: eating out. I’m a passable cook, but nothing fantastic.

18. Spicy or mild: Spicy, to the point where I should not be trusted to cook for people sensitive to spice because my idea of “not spicy” is so out of whack

19. Halloween/Samhain or Solstice/Yule/Christmas: Halloween

20. Would you rather forever be a little too cold or a little too hot: Cold, because a little too hot makes you feel almost ill

21. If you could have a superpower, what would it be?: Teleporting is a good one. Psychokinesis is, too.

22. Animation or Live action: Animation. It’s such an intricate art

23. Paragon or Renegade: I don’t really know either

24. Baths or Showers: Showers

25. Team Cap or Team Iron Man: Team Black Panther

26. Fantasy or Sci-fi: Fantasy

27. Do you have three or four favorite quotes? If so, what are they?: Alright, this time I’ll try for a serious answer. Let’s see. “A dragon never yields” is certainly a good one. (Dhurke, why?!) “Pick a god and pray” is a classic. And, let’s see… Actually, Makoto’s entire awakening is a good one.

28. Youtube or Netflix: Youtube

29. Harry Potter or Percy Jackson: Harry Potter

30. When Do You Feel Accomplished: I feel it the most when I can see someone appreciating what I’ve done, whether they know it was me or not.

31. Star Wars or Star Trek: Both again, maybe slight preference for Wars

32. Paperback or Hardback books: Either, though I appreciate the resilience of hardback books

33. Handwriting or Typing: Typing. My handwriting is such a mess

34. Velvet or Satin: Both

35. Video games or movies: Video games

36. Would you rather be the dragon or fight the dragon: Is “befriend the dragon” a choice?

37. Sunrise or Sunset: Sunset is really my time of day

38. What’s your favorite song: I can never decide

39. Horror movies, yes or no: I like them, so long as they’re not the kind where gore is the appeal (e.g. Saw)

40. Long or Short hair: I definitely like long hair better on myself.

41. Opera or Theater: Both. I’ll always have a bit of a soft spot for opera thanks to my violin teacher playing operas all the time and teaching me about them.

42. Assuming the multiverse theory is true and that every story ever told has really happened somewhere, which one of the movie/book/tv show/game/etc worlds would you pick to travel to first: Priam here I come

43. If you had to eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be: Sushi, because favorite food. Also I remembered that Iwai can buy you some

44. Older or younger guys: Older

45. If you could delete any show from TV history, what would it be: That one show where people compete for plastic surgery

46. Singing or dancing: Both, though I’m only trained in dancing. Though I really hate the sound of my speaking voice, I might have potential as a contralto.

47. Instagram or Twitter: I don’t use either

48. Lord of the Rings or the Hobbit: Lord of the Rings

49. If you could create either a sequel or bring back any tv show/movie, what would you choose: The World Ends With You 2? Please?

50. Who is your favorite movie/TV character you look up to and why? Oh that’s a hard one. Someone said I look like Agent Carter the other day, so I was thinking of her. She seems pretty great. Also I should mention Dr. Brennan, since my parents already compare me to her.

51. If you were convicted of a crime, what would it be? Made too many Putin jokes

52. Anime- subbed or dubbed? There’s an art to both, and there’s shining examples of both. The dub of Monster is considered a masterpiece and the definitive version, for example.

53. City or countryside: I’m more accustomed to city life

54. What book have you read over and over? EDIT: wow I apparently missed this one earlier, blame being exhausted. Anyway I used to reread Agatha Christie novels a lot. You'd be surprised as to how interesting it can be to reread a mystery you already know the answer to.

55. What is your personality type? ISTJ

56. Would you rather change a moment in the past or have a glimpse in the future: It’s probably better not to interfere with the past.

57. Would you rather have an ex that you hate start dating your best friend, or have an ex that you’re still attached to hook up with someone you revile? Nonono please no

58. Games you want ported for the Nintendo Switch: The ones you’ve already mentioned, but also No More Heroes 1 and 2, and Final Fantasy XV. Maybe the old Harvest Moon games too.

And my question…

59. Say you’ve been turned into a Pokémon Mystery Dungeon-style. What would you be? In the Mystery Dungeon games, I was Charmander. If not Charizard, then Altaria, Espeon, or Oricorio (probably the Sensu form).

I tag, hmm… @ofanimeandbooks, @yoroimikoto, @charlotteswife, @prophetparadox, @etotheoneeyeowl, and @azuremessenger. Good luck!

[weekendwarriorblog]

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND December 14, 2018  - Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse, The Mule, Mortal Engines, Once Upon a Deadpool

After two weeks with just one wide release between them, we’re back to the slew of releases that are going to vie for business over the holidays, and while this weekend is fairly busy, next week is going to be absolute madness! One thing that needs to be remembered is that the early part of December always tends to be slower than usual as people spend more time/money buying Christmas gifts for others and getting in some overtime before the holiday break. Because of this, many movies released over the next two weeks might not completely achieve their opening week potential, instead setting things up for some serious legs over the Christmas-New Year’s break. It happens every single year and it creates an environment where you can have movies like The World’s Greatest Showman and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle opening moderately but having ginormous legs.

SPIDER-MAN: ENTER THE SPIDER-VERSE (Sony)

What was once seen as the low-man on the superhero totem pole for 2018 is now looking to be the biggest surprise of the year, as this animated take on the popular Marvel superhero is given new life via animation and a shift to a few newer and younger takes on Spider-Man than have been seen in the live-action movies.

Spider-Man: Enter the Spider-Verse came into being during the Amy Pascal exit deal that got Sony and Marvel Studios co-producing Spider-Man films like last year’s hit Spider-Man: Homecoming, one of Sony’s two huge blockbusters from 2017, as well as one of the studio’s top 5 biggest hits.  This one is produced by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who has had huge success with Sony Pictures Animation with Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and its sequel, as well as the R-rated 21 Jump Street and its sequel. They also helped launch Warner Bros’ LEGO movie brand with The LEGO Movie, which grossed $469 million worldwide and has a sequel coming out in a few months.

This is a somewhat different superhero movie, not only because it’s animated, but also because it focuses on the character Miles Morales, voiced by Shameik Moore fromDope, and then surrounding him with alternate versions of Spider-Man, including one voiced by Jake Johnson (Jurassic World) and the popular Spider-Gwen, voiced by Hailee Steinfeld. There’s also odder incarnations like Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham, voiced by John Dulaney, as well as different takes on popular Spider-villains.

Critics so far have been raving about the movie with the movie currently at 99% Freshwith 104 reviews (at this writing). Much of that has to do with the unique comic storytelling and innovative animation that makes it look unlike any other animated movie. The movie had sneak previews this past Saturday in IMAX theaters, which will also help generate word-of-mouth for the film’s wide release Thursday night.

What’s good is that this is a PG-rated Spider-Man movie that will allow younger kids to see it who might not be able to convince their parents to take them to a PG-13 Spider-Man movie, but also, the fact that Miles Morales is black and Latino means the movie could attract an even larger urban audience than other Spider-Man movies. We’ve already seen that the demand is out there for more diverse superheroes with the success of Marvel Studios’ Black Panther to the tune of $700 million domestic.

Obviously, the movie has a lot going for it, and not just the fact that Spider-Man continues to be one of the most beloved and recognizable superheroes out there even with the twists introduced in this movie.  Last month, it didn’t seem like Enter the Spider-Verse could crack $30 million but with all of the buzz and hype generated from the press, as well as awards attention, this could be seen as a viable family offering with Ralph Wrecks the Internet having already been around for three weeks.

Expect Enter the Spider-Verse to open at #1 with $35 to 40 million and though it has Warners’ Aquaman AND Disney’s Mary Poppins Returns nipping at its tail in a week, I think its uniqueness will help drive word-of-mouth so that it has a nice spike over the holidays much like Jumanjidid last year.  In other words, don’t be shocked if this one leaves theaters with $150 million or more sometime next year.

My Review of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

THE MULE (Warner Bros.)

Clint Eastwood is back with his second movie of 2018, and this is not the first time the filmmaker has released two movies, although this might be the first year where neither of those movies are vying for awards. More importantly, this is Eastwood’s first appearance in front of the camera since 2012’s Trouble with the Curve co-starring Amy Adams, which opened with $12.2 million on its way to $35.7 million gross. This movie has Eastwood playing a farmer who takes on jobs delivering drugs to make ends meet… no, I’m not sure why he doesn’t get his mule to do that, since the movie is called “The Mule” but whatever.

On top of that, the movie co-stars Bradley Cooper, coming off his huge blockbuster Oscar fodderA Star is Born, which is close to grossing $200 million, plus Cooper previously starred in Eastwood’s highest-grossing movie to date, American Sniper. That movie grossed $350 million and was one of the biggest films that year.

The movie is opening in December as counter-programming to just about everything else, trying to interest older men and women, especially those in the Red States, who may be too old or disinterested in an animated Spider-Man movie. Reviews are still embargoed as of this writing, but I get the impression that they will be better than some might expect.

Even so, it’s hard to imagine The Mule will do nearly as well as Sniperor even Gran Torino, but opening it relatively wide rather than platforming it like those films, Warner Bros. probably wants this to be an option for holiday-viewing during that week everyone is off around Christmas.

Because it’s opening in the tougher weeks before Christmas, The Mule probably will open lower than normal, probably in the $14 to 16 million range, but if it’s any good, it should act as decent counter-programming to the superhero fare and musicals of the season, so maybe it can do closer to $65 million than the $35 to 50 million of other recent Eastwood offerings.

Mini-Review:  It’s safe to say that if you go into Clint Eastwood’s movie thinking you know all of what to expect from the trailer and general plot, you’re likely to be wrong.

In his second movie (at least as a director) of 2018, Eastwood plays Earl Stone, a Peoria, Illinois-based horticulturist who has fallen on hard times to the point where he’s losing his greenhouse, but he’s also been dealing with family issues, including an estranged daughter (played by Clint’s daughter Allison Eastwood) and an angry ex-wife (Dianne Wiest). At a reception for his granddaughter’s wedding, he meets a young man who gives him a business card to earn some extra money driving; turns out that he would be delivering drugs for the Mexican cartel, but the Earl money makes doing so, and what he’s able to do with that money seemingly makes it worth it.

Earl Stone is another great Eastwood character, a cranky curmudgeon, completely incorrect politically, but also quite lovable. Reteaming with his Gran Torino writer Nick Schenk – working from a New Yorkerarticle -- gives Eastwood another chance to play with his public perception as a cranky old man, which he seems to relish, but also, it allows him to play with a different version of that character than in Gran Torino.

As Earl gets better at his driving gig, the DEA is on his tail in the form of Bradley Cooper, Michael Peña and their supervisor, played by Laurence Fishburne, who insists that they get some busts. It’s fairly obvious that Earl is either going to be caught or killed as long as he continues.

In many ways, the film gave me some of the same feelings I had while watching David Lowery’s underrated The Old Man and the Gun, starring Robert Redford and Casey Affleck. The movie is warm and funny during the first act but it eventually becomes more of a cat-and-mouse tale of Earl and his handlers trying to avoid the DEA, which

It’s also impossible to ignore the incredible work by Dianne Wiest as Earl’s wife, a role that gives her a lot of opportunities to show how deserving she was to receive two Oscars and how equally deserving she would be to get a fourth nomination.

The results are an intriguing morality tale that keeps you invested in Earl’s story throughout. It isn’t a perfect movie, but honestly, if this ends up being Clint Eastwood’s swan song, either as a director or actor, then he’s going out on a high note. Rating: 7.5/10

MORTAL ENGINES (Universal)

In any other year or weekend, this adaptation of Philip Reeve’s 2001 Y.A. novel, the first of a series of four books, being adapted by the team behind The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit may have been one of the biggest movies of the holiday season. Unfortunately, that probably won’t be the case.

The fact that I knew next to nothing about this movie which comes out Friday – it involves giant Battlebot-like cities on wheels, apparently -- is proof there was a major fail in some aspect of this movie’s marketing strategy. Sure, I’ve seen quite a few trailers and none of them impressed me more than the ones for that Nutcracker that I really wanted to see for a while. But at least that movie had a known name-brand from decades of Christmas pageants and name stars; are that many fans of the Mortal Engines book really clamoring for this movie?

Sure, it’s exciting that it was written and produced by Peter Jackson with his frequent collaborators Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyden, since we haven’t seen anything from them since The Hobbit trilogy ended in 2014, but even those started to peter out with each installment. The Hobbit: The Unexpected Journey opened with $84 million in 2012, but the third installment The Battle of Five Armies opened with $30 million less and grossed $255 million vs. $300 million domestically.  

This adaptation is directed by Christian Rivers, who won an Oscar for his visual effects work on Jackson’s King Kong, and he’s been doing visual FX or other duties on most of Jackson’s films over the years.  Probably the only exciting names in the credits are that of Hugo Weaving of the aforementioned Lord of the Rings and the Matrix trilogy, as well as Stephen Lang from the Avatarfranchise, however many movies that ends up being. It stars Icelandic actor Hera Hilmar, best known from Joe Wright’s Anna Karenina and the short-lived Da Vinci’s Demons show. She stars opposite Robert Sheehan, who recently appeared in Bad Samaritan with David Tennant.

Beyond the fact that there isn’t a big-name star to get people interested, the enthusiasm towards Y.A. material has deteriorated greatly in recent years with series likeDivergentand The Mortal Instrument movies failing to the point where they were moved over to television. Popular books like The 5thWave, The Host and The Giver have faltered with bigger name stars, as has The Maze Runner trilogy, which to Fox’s credit, they completed even with the decrease in interest from moviegoers. Since then, they failed to find an audience with The Darkest Minds, while the lower-budgeted The Hate U Give(also starring Amandla Stenberg) is doing slightly better (hopefully boosted by its wins at the L.A. Online Film Critics this past weekend).

And then there are the early reviews for the movie, which are not good and that won’t help convince anyone on the fence to shell out their hard-earned cash to see this.

Even though Mortal Engines is opening in over 3,000 theaters, I just don’t feel very much excitement for the movie among non-readers, especially when compared to Into the Spider-Verse. Because of that, I feel like it might end up in the $13 to 15 million range, which would be absolutely horrible. It also might fall short of 2ndplace against Clint Eastwood’s The Mule, only because Clint is a much more solid known quantity with moviegoers.

Mini-Review: Imagine if you’re an FX artist who has been working with a visionary filmmaker like Peter Jackson for most of his career, and one day, Mr. Jackson comes up to you and says, “Christian,” (because that is your name) “I want you to direct my latest script, and you can use the finest production designers and FX people that money can buy.” And he plops this script he wrote with his frequent collaborators down in front of you and it’s something called “Mortal Engines.” You read it with interest imagining all the amazing visuals you can use to bring the world of this script to life, and you take on the role eagerly even though you’ve never directed a big budget feature film before. I certainly don’t want to pass judgment or cast aspersions on director Christian Rivers for his background in FX, because it’s almost become a cliché when an FX guy direct a movie, and that movie is better for its visuals than for the story or characters.

The central story revolves around these enormous tank-like moving cities including “predator cities” like London that are larger and vaster than the small moving villages they overcome and grind down for fuel and parts. Hannah Shaw is the inhabitant of one such city (Hera Hilmar) that’s engulfed by London, but she has a vendetta against London’s lead archivist Thaddeus Valentine (Hugo Weaving), but she ends up stranded outside London with a young Thaddeus protégé named Tom Natsworthy (Robert Sheehan) after an altercation with Valentine. At the same time, London has been at war with the non-traction Asian region of Shan Guo, represented by the rebellious Anna Fang (Jihae), who recuses Tom and Hannah as they’re being chased by Shrike (Stephen Lang), a “Resurrected,” basically a walking metal skeleton, much like the Terminator, who pursues them to get to Hannah.

Other than Hugo Weaving and the unrecognizable Lang, this is a cast with so little charisma you rarely care about any of the characters, nor can you keep track of who is good, who is bad, who is this or that person? Are they important? Do we care if they die? That’s not a good place to be when you’re hit in the head with so much narrative and so many wild locations and vehicles, which granted, are quite glorious to behold. No one can say that the production design, art and visual FX teams didn’t put in the work to make Mortal Engines a fantastic-looking film.

Regardless, Mortal Engines feels like a big-screen Y.A. adaptation coming too late in the game when the Twilight and Hunger Games franchises have managed to sate that audience’s appetite, which tries to hit us over the head with a “war is bad” message, which is also likely to fall on deaf ears. Better idea? Skip this and go see Peter Jackson’s WWI doc on Monday instead (see below), because there’s just so much more to get out of that movie then watching this one. Rating: 5.5/10

ONCE UPON A DEADPOOL (20thCentury Fox)

Opening Wednesday is a strange anomaly of a superhero movie, being a PG-13 rerelease of Deadpool 2, which came out earlier this year and grossed $318.5 million domestically. It’s a little strange to think that Fox would try to squeeze out a few more pennies by releasing an edited/censored version of the movie, but apparently there’s new footage being advertised including scenes with Fred Savage.

Again, this seems like it’s competing directly against the stronger Spider-Man: into the Spider-verse. Playing in just 500 theaters (and opening on Wednesday) means it’s going to be tough to make much of a mark over the weekend.  I do think that there may be some college-age guys who might go see this instead, but it definitely feels like Deadpool 2 ran its course months ago. It might break into the bottom of the top 10 with around $2.5 to 3 million but even that might be overly-optimistic.

On the other hand, Yorgos Lanthimos’ acclaimed period comedy The Favourite will be expanded into around 525 theaters by Fox Searchlight to take advantage of the buzz from awards and nominations of which more will roll out this week.

With three new wide releases and more to come next week, the returning movies are going to start losing theaters fast, so we could see some bigger drops for movies like Ralph Breaks the Internet and Fantastic Beasts in particular.

This week’s Top 10 should look something like this…

1. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse  (Sony) - $36.5 million N/A

2. The Mule (Warner Bros.) - $14.6 million N/A

3. Mortal Engines  (Universal) - $12.8 million N/A

4. The Grinch  (Universal) - $9 million  -40%

5. Ralph Breaks the Internet  (Disney) - $8.6 million -47%

6. Creed II  (MGM) - $5.3 million -47%

7. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald  (Warner Bros.) - $3.3 million -52%

8. Bohemian Rhapsody  (20thCentury Fox) - $3.2 million -48%

9. The Favourite (Fox Searchight) - $2.9 million +200%

10. Once Upon a Deadpool (Fox) - $2.7 million N/A

LIMITED RELEASES

Before we get to the weekend’s limited releases, I wanted to give a little added attention to a new documentary directed by Peter Jackson that will premiere via Fathom Events in select theaters for two nights only, Monday December 17 and December 27. THEY SHALL NOT GROW OLD (Warner Bros.) is a fantastic documentary that shares stories from World War I through recorded interviews with some of the men who served, used to narrate black and white silent footage that was filmed during the “war to end all wars,” Jackson being commissioned by the Imperial War Museum to make a movie out of the archived footage and audio recordings. It isn’t as simple as that might sound, because Jackson took that black and white silent footage, colorized it, used computer FX to make it 3D and added sound FX to really put you into this horrifying trench war. It’s really amazing to watch what starts out as a black and white film with an old aspect ratio expanded to fit the big screen as it becomes more and more vivid and detailed. It’s also crazy to think that everyone we see or hear in this movie is very likely dead since 2018 is the 100thanniversary of the end of World War I. You can find out where this is playing on Monday at the Fathom Events site, and I highly recommend it for History Channel enthusiasts because it’s a very different experience of a war that hasn’t been covered in quite this way before.

Barry Jenkins’ long-awaited follow-up to his Oscar-winning Moonlight is IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK (Annapurna), his adaptation of James Baldwin’s novel, which opens Friday after an acclaimed festival run. It stars newcomers Kiki Layne and Stephen James as Tish and Fonny, a young couple in love who run into troubles when Fonny is erased leaving the pregnant Tish to have to deal with trying to get him released as well as having a baby on her own. The drama also stars Regina King as Tish’s mother, a role likely to get her an Oscar, and Colman Domingo as her father.  I’ve become quite fascinated by Baldwin since watching the doc I Am Not Your Negro, and I was definitely interested in how he might tackle a fictional story, which is already having a deep social impact and relevance with African-Americans. You can read more of my thoughts from out of the New York Film Festival, where the film had its US premiere, but I liked the film quite a bit more on second viewing, especially how the love story between Tish and Fonny was portrayed by two fantastic young actors. The movie will open in select cities this week, then slowly expand before being nationwide on Christmas Day.

From Lebanon comes CAPERNAUM (Sony Pictures Classics), the new film from Nadine Labaki (Caramel), which follows a young street kid named Zain (Zain Al Rafeea) who tries to survive after running away from home, angry about the way his sister and other kids are being treated by his foster parents. This is another fantastic film by Labaki that gives you some idea about the issues faced by Lebanon, including poverty and immigration and how they’re related. Zain Al Rafeea carries the film beautifully. It will open in New York and L.A. on Friday and likely will expand further if it gets an Oscar nomination in January.

A thematic sequel to the Norwegian disaster movie The Wave, John Andres Andersen’s THE QUAKE (Magnet) tells another story from the same series of earthquakes that rocks Norway. It will open in scattered cities but mostly can be seen On Demand via various platforms.

On Thursday, Netflix’s post-apocalyptic thriller Bird Box, based on Josh Malerman’s 2014 novel, will be released into select theaters Thursday before its Netflix streaming debut on December 21. Directed by Susanne Bier, it stars Sandra Bullock as the mother of two children who are blindfolded and led through a post-apocalyptic setting. Adapted by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Eric Heisserer (Arrival), it also stars Trevante Rhodes (Moonlight), John Malkovich, Sarah Paulson, Jacki Weaver, Rosa Salazar and Danielle Macdonald. I hope to write more about this next week after I’ve actually seen it.

After a controversial director’s cut screening last month, Lars von Trier’s The House That Jack Built (IFC Films) will get a presumably toned-down version released in select cities, although this version also runs 151 minutes, so who knows? It stars Matt Dillon as a serial killer who we watch killing various victims (including Uma Thurman) as he converses with a mysterious being (played by Bruno Ganz) on his way to the underworld.

Sam Abbas writes, directs and stars in The Wedding (ArabQ Films) about a young Muslim man preparing for his wedding to Sara (Nikohl Boosheri), although he has been keeping his homosexual inclinations a secret as they go against his religious upbringing. It will open at the Cinema Village in New York (with Abbas and other guests in person for a shows all weekend) on Friday.

Big River Man director John Maringouin’s Ghostbox Cowboy (Dark Star Pictures) stars David Zellner (of the filmmaking Zellner Brothers responsible for Damsel and Kumiko the Treasure Hunter) as Texan Jimmy Van Horn as a huckster cowboy who arrives in Shenzhen with ambitions of economic success with the help of his friend Bob Grainger (Robert Longstreet). This darkly comic morality tale also opens at the Cinema Village but it’s currently available On Demand.

Another movie barely getting a theatrical release is Matthew Brown’s Maine (Orion Classics), starring Laia Costa (Duck Butter, Life Itself) and Thomas Mann from Me, Earl and the Dying Girl about a woman who decides to hike the Appalachian trail solo until her trip is disrupted by a young American hiker, played by Mann. It’s in select theaters on Thursday then streaming On Demand Friday.

Fans of animation should always be up for this year’s 20th Annual Animation Show of Shows, which celebrates its 20thyear with some fantastic offerings like “The Green Bird,” Taiko Studios’ “One Small Step,” which had me ugly-crying at its story of a young girl’s dreams of becoming an astronaut, Alain Biet’s highly-innovative and hypnotic “Grands Canons,” Veronica Solomon’s eerie “Love Me, Fear Me” from Germany and many, many more. More than likely, some of these animated shorts might end up on the Oscar shortlist, but you can find out for yourself when the program opens at the Laemmle Theater on Friday then at New York’s Quad Cinema on Dec. 28.

STREAMING

Besides Alfonso Cuaron’s ROMA, which will start streaming on Netflix after a few weeks in theaters, Sunday will see the anticipated debut of Springsteen on Broadway, as the Boss finishes his run on Broadway with his one-man show as a taping of one of his shows streams on Netflix.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

Things are getting mighty busy at my local repertory theater with a couple new series, including In the Year of the Grifter, an interesting series of films about con-men, frauds, fakes and such, which will include everything from Orson Welles’ Mr. Arkadinand F for Fake to Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street, Frank Oz’s Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, David Mamet’s House of Games and The Spanish Prisoner, as well as Stephen Frear’s The Grifters (likely where the series got its name). This amazing-looking series will run through the New Year, so check out the trailer below!

The Metrograph has already begun its self-explanatory Miyazaki at Studio Ghibli, which mainly runs through the weekend tie-ing into the Miyazak doc mentioned above, but it could end up being extended through the holidays. If you’re a fan, you probably have already seen the six films being shown on DCP. Opening Friday is a digital restoration of Alexsey German’s 1998 oddball dark comedy Khrurstalyov, My Car!! (Arrow Films) which covers similar territory as The Death of Stalin in a far more madcap way. It really wasn’t for me.December’s offering from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences is Richard Donner’s 1988 holiday classic Scrooged with Carol Kane, Karen Allen and co-writer Mitch Glazer appearing after the (sold out!) Saturday screening then showing two more times next week.Also on Saturday, you can check out the “Dream Double Feature” of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947) and the musical  Top Hat (1935), both on 35mm, and later that evening, it’s the original Predator (1987), wrapping up the theater’s Bill Duke series. (Those last four are all on Saturday, so I might be moving into the Metrograph that day.)

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

Wednesday and Thursday sees a double feature of The Last Safari and Shoot Out, while Friday is a double feature of Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and Motorpsycho! (sadly, already sold out online) and another midnight screening of Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. The weekend begins the holiday classics like The Muppet Christmas Carol for the kids on Sunday afternoon, and Saturday night’s midnight screening is 1980’s Christmas Evil. Then on Monday and Tuesday is a double feature of Miracle on 34thStreet (1947) and Santa Claus: The Movie (1985).

FILM FORUM (NYC):

The Film Forum will show a 4k restoration of Yasujiro Ozu’s The Flavor of Green Tea over Ice (1952; Janus Films) for a one-week run, and this weekend’s Film Forum Jr. is Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life, which also continues at the IFC Center below.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

The Egyptian will show the classic Auntie Mame (1958) starring Rosalind Russell on Wednesday (sold out) and Thursday nights. Filmmaker William Friedkin will be at the theater for a double feature of To Live & Die in L.A. (1985) and Cutter’s Way (1981)on Saturday, while Sunday is a restoration of Detour (in conjunction with a sneak preview of Karyn Kusama’s new crime drama Destroyer on Friday night).

AERO  (LA):

The American Cinematheque’s theater will also be celebrating Japanese Anime legend Hayao Miyazaki (in conjunction with the doc mentioned above) with the series The Never-Ending Hayao Miyazaki, including screenings of My Neighbor Tatoro (Thursday), Spirited Away (Friday), a double feature of Howl’s Moving Castle and Kiki’s Delivery Service on Saturday and then the doc screened on Sunday.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

Running for the next three weeks is the Quad’s Rated X series, which includes the likes of Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, John Waters’ Desperate Living and Female Trouble, the controversial Last Tango in Paris, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 1 and 2 and many many more films that raised the ire of the MPAA. Also on Friday, the Quad will premiere a 4k restoration of Luchino Visconti’s 1971 film Death in Venice, an adaptation of Thomas Mann’s novel about a German composer on vacation in Lido.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

This weekend’s Late Night Favorites is Alejandro Jodorowsky’s El Topo, while Weekend Classicspresents the Coen Brothers’ True Grit. This weekend’s Shaw Brothers Spectacular is Buddha Palm from 1982.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART  (LA):

Friday’s midnight movie is Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands from 1990.

FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER (NYC):

Christian Petzold: The State We Are Inwraps up on Thursday, which leads directly into Jacques Tourneur, Fearmaker, a retrospective of the 2ndgeneration French filmmaker responsible for 1942’s Cat People, 1943’s I Walked with a Zombie, 1944’s Days of Glory, 1964’s The Comedy of Terrorsand many more, all which will screened with others, many in 35mm. This looks like another fantastic series with many films being screened that haven’t seen on the big screen in many decades.

MOMA (NYC):

Modern Matinees: Douglas Fairbanks Jr. presents 1928’s The Barkeron Weds, John Irwin’s 1981 film Ghost Story on Thursday, and then back to 1929 with Our Modern Maidens on Friday. This series will continue through the end of the year. Italian actor and filmmaker Ugo Tognazzi gets his own retrospective called Ugo Tognazzi: Tragedies of a Ridiculous Man running through the end of the year.

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

For some reason, I missed the first half of MOMI’s retrospective of Pawel Pawlikowski, who won an Oscar for Ida and has the fantastic Cold War out next week. This weekend you can see The Woman in the Fifth, starring Ethan Hawke, My Summer of Love featuring a very young Emily Blunt, and a reshowing of Ida. Not only that, but the museum is kicking off a Cher retrospective (to coincide with the opening of The Cher Show on Broadway?) with A Cher For All Seasons. If I lived closer to Astoria, I might check out some of the movies screening including Silkwood, Suspect, Moonstruck, Mermaids a director’s cut of Mask and many more. MOMI is also screening the doc Marwencol on Saturday night to coincide with the release of Robert Zemeckis’ adaptation Welcome to Marwen next week.

That’s it for this week. Next week, out of the frying pan and into the fire with FIVE more wide releases leading into Christmas. The big one are Aquaman, Mary Poppins Returnsand Bumblebee, but there are a couple others.