#follow cinephile artist

[quarterlifekitty]

net meet cute

aka: how they start cyberstalking you. Some of these are more on the innocent side, some are slightly more intense.

Gaz sees you pop up in the people you may know section. He most certainly doesn't know you, but you are his type. As it turns out, you have some ridiculously distant relation of people that leads to his circle of connections (you're like his sister's college roommate's wedding photographer's cousin or something). But that one little tether is enough to make him feel tugged.

Soap started following you for your artwork. He follows anyone who even remotely interests him, and he liked what you made. You become a name he looks forward to on his feed-- he feels a bit parasocial about it, he knows your body of work so well now. And one day, he sees you share a post you were tagged in: It's a photo of you with another artist, both holding up the pieces you'd made to trade each other at a convention. He'd known you were talented, he didn't realize you were gorgeous as well.

Ghost sees you in the background of a video Soap shows him. Some disgusting display where people are trying to identify liquids they're drinking. When it's your turn, your face twists and you stick out your tongue, a little patch dyed umber from the soy sauce you'd sipped. He does a little detective work, finds you have a tiny little channel of your own. Nothing with a consistent schedule, clearly just a hobby, but there are a few videos of you restoring old toys, repainting dolls faces and things like that-- usually just showing your hands, but he finds your voice so soothing and you work with such delicate precision. Pretty soon he's obsessed with you, and fantasizing about ending up on your work table.

Price has very few reasons to surf online, but he does have a guilty pleasure: r/AITA. He loves a bit of tabloid level gossip now and again, and its the perfect place for it. He can see the world's most delusional people hard at work. His favorite ones are when both sides are clearly deranged and meant for each other. But then he sees you, posting about your shitty boyfriend, and all too willing to take the blame for the sorry state of things. And he finds himself rather keen on showing you how girls like you ought to be treated, as well as kicking your current man in the teeth.

I've mentioned this before, but I think König meets you in an online game. At first, you never speak on the microphone, and he doesn't either, but you're quite good, and your playstyle compliments his rather well. So he sends you a friend request on a whim, you accept it, playing a few rounds before turning on the party-only voice chat. And once he can hear you when you thank him for tanking damage, or targeting a player who'd been flanking, or pinging a pick-up for you, he's cooked. Looking you up on every social, trying desperately to find pictures of you, because he's sure you'll be as pretty as you sound.

Nikolai find you on a movie review website. He watches movies by the dozen when he gets some time off, but he's admittedly a little bereft of discussion partners, so review suit him fine. He typically disagrees with most of them, partially because he's naturally a contrarian, partially because the majority of online reviews are made by casual watchers and not lifelong cinephiles. And he comes across you, having written one of the only full, multiple-paragraph reviews for the obscure little number he'd just watched. And it straight up made him smile. Your review was punchy, funny, addressed multiple areas including the score, cinematography, casting, and costuming, and he agreed with a surprising portion of it. What he didn't agree with, he was intrigued by. He looks at your page to see what else you've written. You've seen and shared thoughts on many of his favorites, but quite a few things he's never seen, as well. He ends up watching them all, and feels a certain perverse excitement when it comes time to read another review, like he's a teenager taking you on a third date. Before long he's wondering where you are, if you go to the cinema. If they have non-hostile airspace.

Nikto finds you on the staff of some insanely obscure wiki/ID forum. Like, you help run a website/blog that's devoted exclusively to soviet era stuffed animals produced in Sergiev Posad (formerly known as Zagorsk). You help people identify them from pictures, from vague descriptions sent in to you of something from their childhood. He doesn't know why, but he ends up searching up images from others, often from unpopular and defunct listings on marketplace/bidding sites just to send to you. Just to read what you have to say about the stitch markings and stylistic eyes and the little tab of fabric on the leg seam from where the tag was cut. Maybe he'll take it further, maybe he won't. Maybe he'll find out where you are, just to make sure you're safe. Maybe he'll have to keep you safe. People with hearts like yours don't last in this world.

[xinganhao]

svt burner accounts series. ୨ৎ

⤿ when their lives as an idol feel a little too much, there's always the internet to run to. welcome to the svt burner series— where the members are all just one account away from you.

𝕏 seungcheol & fanbase!reader ⓘ part two

the one where seungcheol gets all most of his svt news from your no-nonsense fanbase.

𝕏 jeonghan & food blogger!reader

the one where jeonghan trusts your recommendations as a food blogger.

𝕏 joshua & craftsman!reader

the one where joshua subscribes to your crafting journey.

𝕏 junhui & drama fan!reader

the one where junhui runs a kdrama content account alongside you.

𝕏 soonyoung & choreographer!reader

the one where soonyoung provides unsolicited advice on your dance videos.

𝕏 wonwoo & streamer!reader ⓘ part two

the one where wonwoo is pretty down bad for you, a popular streamer.

𝕏 jihoon & poetry account!reader

the one where jihoon reads all the poems you think he'll like.

𝕏 seokmin & meme page!reader

the one where seokmin follows you for the ‘positivity memes’ you post.

𝕏 mingyu & pop base admin!reader

the one where mingyu befriends you, the admin of twitter's biggest pop culture update account.

𝕏 minghao & artist!reader

the one where minghao is a silent supporter of your art account.

𝕏 seungkwan & stan!reader

the one where— unbeknownst to you— seungkwan is your mutual on stan twitter.

𝕏 vernon & cinephile!reader

the one where vernon gets just a little bit passionate in arguing with you over movies.

𝕏 chan & fansite!reader

the one where the (allegedly) chronically offline chan keeps up with you, his favorite fansite.

please anticipate slow updates, since this is really more of a silly passion project than anything! updates will not be posted in any particular order. all work under the series will be tagged under ── ᵎᵎ ✦ series: svt burner, and linked to this post + my pinned masterlist.

👤 Only people in @xinganhao’s Twitter Circle can see this Tweet. L͟e͟a͟r͟n͟ m͟o͟r͟e͟

🐦 What is happening?! ── #BONUS_CONTENT

wonwoo x streamer!reader headcanons

[emiyl13]

intro!

i'm emily, i'm 15 and bi, and i use she/her pronouns but honestly idc what you call me

i consider myself a cinephile, and my letterboxd top 4 are: pitch perfect, la la land, saw, ferris bueller's day off

some other favourites of mine are:

scott pilgrim

bojack horseman

succession

parks and rec

the breakfast club

before trilogy

bridget jones's...

uptown girls

little women 2019

little miss sunshine

zombieland saga

grease

fnaf

skins uk

i'm also a huge huge fan of both ryan gosling and emma stone and i constantly obsess over kieran culkin and leigh whannell!!!

i'm very into taylor swift and other pop artists but i also love kimya dawson and she & him!

pls dni if you are: ana blog, cnc or "icky" blog, a blog for gore or romanticising wounds, racist/homophobic, etc.

i'll continue to edit this but in the meantime, follow my letterboxd, substack, pinterest, bluesky, and spacehey: emiyl13

[mondstadtlover6000]

ik u already talked ab general pjo hcs but i was wondering if u had any connor hcs that weren't already mentioned in that

yesss ofc! connor is my all time fav so obviously i do!! as always warning for connalia.

he's biromantic bisexual

connor, malcolm, will, drew, travis friend group ftw! he'd consider (not including travis) drew to be his best friend.

he's really overprotective over members of the hermes cabin and unclaimed/previously unclaimed that had a long stay there

connor and travis are founding members of 'the council of prophetic prophecy predictors'

scent wise i imagine he'd smell woodsy, cottonwood mostly

while he mainly listens to arctic monkeys & ariana grande i also imagine he likes similar artists! some fontaines dc, sleep token, white stripes, car seat headrest, but also tate mcrae and dua lipa

he also loves 2000s/2010s pop songs

he's really good at weaving/braiding: braiding hair, but he makes a lot of woven bracelets! he's always got a few bracelets on each wrist and he gifts them to people too

connor and travis's mom died when they were young so they were on the street until a satyr picked them up and brought them to camp

he's the mastermind for most of his and travis's pranks, travis is the executor. connor prefers absurdist pranks i.e. putting bouillon in showerheads and bedazzling the ares cabin's weapons. though this is definitely due to trauma (or a wake up call lmao) from annabeth and the spider incident

obviously im a connalia truther but connor is a hopeless romantic and has had fleeting crushes on like half of camp: percy ofc; annabeth for like 2 minutes; drew; silena; malcolm (this is the only connor ship other than connalia i like lmao); will.

along with that i imagine he's a bit of a camp heartthrob (both of the stolls but everyone knows travis is down bad for katie so they shoot their shot with connor instead). still i imagine him not getting into many relationships (because of thalia? yes) but he's really nice when rejecting you anyway (and then afterwards drew goes up to them and is all 'yk hes down bad for a tree' and ruins it)

the majority of his trauma is ofc abandonment issues and the guy suffers from attachment anxiety. he's really clingy (both emotionally and physically), this has a lot to do with his dad of course!

he's a really, really good cook, he's just too lazy to do it most of the time

i imagine he'd major in some form of marketing or business and would want to be a lawyer as a pipe dream but end up being a killer salesman for something somewhere or the head of a marketing team (following my tratie b&b hc he could do their business for them lol)

he's a cinephile and extremely, extremely dramatic about movies: lighting, script, acting, etc. he's a whole nerd. he's definitely on letterboxd too and swings wildly between stupid one liner reviews and extremely in depth ones

power wise he doesn't have much: agility, really good reflexes, lock picking, he's good with money. he's also a really good smooth talker and only later realizes this has a bit to do with his hermes powers! okay thats all for now!!

[blossoms-phan]

hi friends! since it’s been 3 months I thought I’d do a little updated about me :p

you can call me blossoms! 🌸 comes from the url obviously which I decided on in seconds when sitting in the middle of my bed making this blog at 3am bc I love dan and phil and cherry blossoms/japan/japhan etc etc

(as a side note I don’t share a lot of personally identifying info on here for a lot of reasons, don’t wanna be found out + professional reasons and tumblr is a great platform for having being a phannie as my main identity but I will occasionally overshare in the tags or random posts. for the most vague details I’m canadian and a poc ig? if you want to be friends or discuss anything in more detail im happy to share in dms just not in the general void lol)

some past fandoms I’ve been a part of tumblr or otherwise: avengers/marvel (this was in the peak in like 2016 and I followed it probably up until 2020 but dgaf anymore soz), marvel’s daredevil (their best show still love it), one direction/harry styles (harry was prob my biggest interest/fandom I was heavily involved in until like 2022 ish, i followed a bunch of accounts on my other blog and fan pages, went to his first solo tour in 2018, basically followed his every move- ik he’s not some underground artist but I lost interest when he kinda boomed and became SUPER popular I miss the early days of his solo era lol but still like his music), criminal minds, I think those are the main ones obv I lurk anytime I have a special interest lol

artists I like: twenty one pilots, arctic monkeys, the 1975, hozier, frank ocean, bad suns, muse, sufjan stevens, lana del rey, wallows, ed sheeran, lorde, zayn/hs/niall horan, paramore, the smiths, 5sos, kendrick lamar, fka twigs, fleetwood mac (this is off the top of my head just main ones ig there’s lots of other artists with specific songs I like and I also listen to my playlists from middle school often with p!atd and fob just the older stuff tho)

fave tv: derry girls, criminal minds, the office, gilmore girls, brooklyn 99, community, freaks and geeks, gossip girl, new girl, the end of the fucking world (short but a personal fave), fleabag, mindhunter- I like basic nbc sitcoms ok what can I say but currently watching Buffy and there’s lots of things on my watchlist like twin peaks I just never have time (aka always watching YouTube/dnp)

i like to think of myself as a cinephile when I really don’t watch as many movies as I’d like to bc of the same reasons listed above but I keep up with what’s happening in the film world and yeah some of my faves include: little women, sing street, before sunrise, aftersun, clueless, call me by your name, the perks of being a wallflower, big hero 6, la la land, zodiac, the social network, scream, the batman, bones and all, knives out, hp/twilight series

random interests: the scream franchise/saw/horror, until dawn (the game), youtube video essays, true crime content/criminology (in the most respectful way I promise I studied it and mean like actual data and researched podcasts not the weirdos that idolize certain people cough cough), perfumes/cosmetics, art, fashion, baking/food in gen, journaling, pinterest, reading (literary fiction/mystery/some ya)

idk what you were expecting this is literally all media but we’re all media consumers here lmao and I thought this might be a fun way to connect with other phannies if we share similar interests outside of dnp :3

[tomato-bird-art]

SF ZINEFEST 2024! Some pictures from the San Francisco Zinefest last week! I had a wonderful time, and it was SUPER busy! thanks everyone who swung by to pick up prints and zines from me, I really appreciate it. It was really heartening to see people enjoy my art and remember me from over the years—I’ve had a very busy year and not as much time to “be an artist” as I’d like, so it was very invigorating to be around other queer artists again in a dedicated and enthusiastic space. When online a lot, you tend to forget how it is to be around art in person, and this was a great reminder of it—also every year, I’m always excited to see the beautiful outfits and fashion of the attendees! Someday I’ll dress up more special, but alas it’s just work and apron for me XD

I also finally got to meet longtime mutual and incredible artist @megamoth in person, and got a copy of their Devilman zine series here I contributed to some years ago! Here’s a pic with a cool itabag as well.

This year, I debuted a few new works:

“Fujo X-Ray Visions”

is a collection of personal comics from the past year I’ve been posting here and on Patreon, mostly about trying to balance life as a cartoonist and as someone pursuing some new career experiences in the healthcare field. Like “Voids and Visions” before it, there’s a bunch of personal stuff and angsting along with regular goofiness.

It’s available now both as a physical zine, as well as a digital download!

“If All The World Were Mine!”

My collection of artwork and comics I’ve done for my medieval rpf side account, @angevinyaoiz over the past couple years. It’s a mix of some serious historical illustrations, goofy cartoons, and nsfw works. It’s probably one of the most “niche” things I’ve ever made or gotten into as of late, but I’m happy for the audience who has appreciated my work over the past several months. It’s available currently as a physical zine purchase on storenvy, and I’m planning on making an expanded digital zine version available later—fill out this form to be notified!

“Best Yaoi Movies of 20th Century Hollywood”

In this collaborative project I did with my friend @titilvating, in the style of classic cut and paste, copied zines, we offer our takes on 19 movies made before the year 2000. Many are acclaimed classics; some are underrated gems.  We made this zine to both introduce folks to the richness possibilities of classic movies; whether longtime cinephiles familiar with queer subtexts,  or young fujos looking for more material to sink their yaoifangs into.  Our sample size caters to our personal tastes rather than “good representation” and reflects a fraction what’s out there, with a focus on western US/European media, but hopefully can serve as a fun introduction and celebration. Old movies are a lotta fun, who would’ve thought?

It’s available now as a free digital download, but contact me if you’re interested in a physical edition as well!”

Other Works:

My print version of “The Sons of God” was very well received! I realized sometimes giving little titles to print pieces make for great conversation starters, and I got to chat a lot about my inspirations for the respective pieces. Grab a physical print here!

Ending Thoughts

Overall, I’m glad I got to meet lots of people this year and also pick up lots of zines! I didn’t have a chance to really browse this time around since it was so busy, but I got to trade a lot with folks and also pick up some cool zines and stickers myself.

For those who’d like to keep up with what I’m doing, follow me here, on Patreon, either as a member or free-follower, since I tend to post my sketches/WIPs there first. For me now, it’s back to the grind of school and also continuing creative projects. I have a lot of stuff I dream of doing, and it’s always a challenge to balance that with what needs to get done. If I learned anything from this event, it’s how valuable it is to connect with people in the real world art space (Something I always learn and forget like every few months.)…also, always bring water and snacks—can never be TOO prepared!

Wishing you all a good autumn,

-Allie

[lgceunwoo]

EVENT: YEAR END

REQUIREMENT: SEASON'S GREETINGS (headcanon)

finding a theme for his first ever solo greetings took more time, efforts and consultations with his very patient girlfriend hayoung that he cares to admit.

as someone who went into acting solely out of passion, fame has never been on his mind and part of his agenda. in fact, he's notorious to barely exist on social media platforms, including those where fans can communicate with artists. so coming up with merch targetted at fans is the greatest challenge he's faced since joining legacy

as a theater kid at heart (with tidbits of perfectionist), the season's greeting needed to present a cohesive story for him to be satisfied. with intricacies and a plot twist, just like one would see in a movie or a play. by approaching the project like an extension of his work/another role to play, it became easier to find a theme and develop it.

therefore, theater and cinephile nerd eunwoo was set free.

as his first season's greetings, he considers this work as an 'introduction to jo eunwoo'.

while young rookies are often presented as fresh, pure and youthful, he decided to go the complete other way to capitalize on his current hairstyle.

thus ONCE UPON A TIME came to be. inspired by the movie 'nosferatu', the core of eunwoo's theme is the Vlad III, Voivode of Wallachia.

however, he felt like the 'vampire' theme felt too simplistic and direct. though the core of his theme, he wanted the vampirism part to be subtle, almost just an allusion, a secret to unveil though the pictures of the calendar and the photobook.

this is how he came to mix in the 'cold lonely prince' trope and the famous red flower of beauty and the beast. so, the title of the season's greetings has actually a double meaning; the lonely prince coming straight out of a disney movie and the opening song of 'nosferatu (2024)'

the story of his season's greetings is actually told through the set changes and his various outfits. while the set remains the same, with each outfit changes, elements of the room change, as if transitioning through time, beginning from the 1400s to the present time. similarly, the his outfits also follow the same evolution. meanwhile, he remains the same, ageless.

finally, to go in line with his theme, eunwoo selected the diary. the paper of it ressembling old paper on which people used to write letters over a century ago.

[fipindustries]

So here's those asks you requested: respectively

I love the authenticity of your work (and it certainly helps that you've listed me as an 'inspiration' of sorts)

A guy walks into a library and says "Please help! I think I'm schizophrenic - I keep imagining voices and can't shake the feeling I'm being followed. Do you have any advice or books to help me?" To which the librarian replies "Yeah - THEY'RE RIGHT BEHIND YOU."

I follow you because you have good taste ( ͡⌐■ ͜ʖ ͡-■)

Hewwo! Pwease don't wet me dwown, Mistew Obama!

Keep fighting the good fight

What hobbies do you enjoy?

oh my god, my good friend sir the artist! What an absolute pleasure!

You know i heard someone else descrive my work as "an ode to honesty". Im glad to see im real as balls

So, as for my hobbies:

*board games, im a fucking board game nut. Particularly those nice crunchy worker placement farming simulator euro games with full fledged economy systems. Sadly its an expensive hobby but as soon as i have a salary again is back on the e-bay mines for me.

*as an extention of that im also into ttrpg, mainly world of darkness

*obviously illustration and animation, both as a creator and consumer, my favourite artist is winsor mccay, creator of little nemo in slumberland, this also includes webcomics, traditional comics, animated shows, etc

*papercraft, i like crafting in general, building stuff with my hands, wether it be mechanisms, cardboard figures, etc, but mainly papercraft. I can spend hours on end cutting, folding and gluin paper into animals and masks and weapons and stuff

*internet serial fiction. Particularly if they are like weird and niche stuff, things like fine structure, the northern caves, modrrn cannibals, etc

*and finally movies, im not like a full cinephile but i have seen stuff like the holy mountain or the cabinet of doctor caligari and enjoyed it.

[film-classics]

Louise Brooks - The Flapper Icon

Mary Louise Brooks (born in Cherryvale, Kansas on November 14, 1906) was an American film actress during the 1920s and 1930s. She is regarded today as "The Flapper Icon," in part due to her trend-setting bob hairstyle and modern fashion sense. Those that do not recognize her name almost certainly know her look.

Born in a typical a typical Midwestern community, Brooks joined the Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts in Los Angeles at 15. She soon found work a as a chorus girl in New York City. This attracted the attention of Walter Wanger, a producer at Paramount. He had her sign a contract with the studio in 1925. During this time, she gained a cult following in Europe for her role in the Howard Hawks' film A Girl in Every Port (1928). Dissatisfied with her mediocre roles in Hollywood, she went to Germany in 1929 and starred in some of the silent era's films, including Pandora's Box (1929).

When Brooks returned to Hollywood in 1931, she was cast in mainstream films such as God's Gift to Women (1931). However, her career prospects significantly declined by 1940. She briefly returned to Wichita, where she was raised, and then moved to New York City, where she worked numerous jobs. Following the rediscovery of her films by cinephiles in the 1950s, she began writing articles about her film career and had had special relationships with film historians James Card, John Kobal, and Kevin Brownlow.

After suffering from degenerative osteoarthritis and emphysema for many years, Brooks died of a heart attack in her apartment in Rochester, New York at 78.

Legacy:

Served as the inspiration for the long-running Dixie Dugan (1929-1966) newspaper strip by John H. Striebel, the comic books of Valentina (1965-1996) of Guido Crepax, and Ivy Pepper in Tracy Butler's Lackadaisy (2006-2020) comic series

Is the basis of the movie Show Girl (1928) and its subsequent musical Show Girl (1929), and the graphic novel entitled Louise Brooks: Detective (2015)

Opened a dance studio in Beverly Hills and Wichita, Kansas in the 1940s

Authored a booklet titled The Fundamentals of Good Ballroom Dancing in 1940

Became a noted film writer in the late 1950s for various journals like Film Culture and Sight and Sound

Inspired many cinematic and literary characters such as Sally Bowles in Bob Fosse's Cabaret (1972) and Lulu in Something Wild (1986)

Published a collection of autobiographical essays, Lulu in Hollywood, in 1982, which was ranked number 44 in the Hollywood Reporter's "100 best film books of all time" in 2023 and number 28 in the Los Angeles Times' "50 best Hollywood books of all time" in 2024

Presented with the George Eastman Award for Distinguished Contribution to the Art of Film in the 1982 Festival of Film Artists

Ranked number 44 by Empire magazine's 100 sexiest stars in film history in 1995

Is the subject of the Emmy-nominated documentary Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu, which was commissioned by Turner Classic Movies in 1998

Is a central character in the PBS film The Chaperone (2018), which depicts her initial arrival in New York

[heartofcupid]

🎀 — 🍮 cupid’s blog, art & archive ☆

✩ hello ! :-D

i’m cupid! but you can also call me jenny, jenn or angel! 💗 i like to draw! i’m mexican & 16 years old! 🐈‍⬛ i’m also bisexual & gender-fluid :^D ! i like ralph macchio, the karate kid (1984—1989), cobra kai, labyrinth (1986), literature, batman, spider-man, phantom of the opera, cats, the color pink & cute things! 💭💓

i also go by she / they & neopronouns love / doll ! :-D 💕

p.s. 💭 i like a lottt of things but you can also check out my carrd linked in my bio! it’s a bit old & needs to be updated since it has been over a year but it does have a lot of basic information i hope can be of use! once i update it, i will make sure it’s all up to date! 🩷

welcome to my blog! 🎧💕

☆ — art

i like to draw and practice art, i’m currently trying to learn digital art and have mainly drawn only traditionally but i enjoy both! i’m trying my best to practice a lot & will take any advice + critique given :-D!!!! 💗💗

top two photos —

first photo: a screenshot of my homepage for the app Procreate showing multiple drawings & sketches done on the app. Note: most are experimental pieces of art! so yeah some look a little wonky, it’s all just for fun :-D

second photo: art of my original character, Michelle, legs painted over because i cant draw legs and i just didn’t finish drawing them so i covered what was drawn of the legs at the end.

bottom 2 — sketches of my original character laelia :-)

last art! — (self portrait of myself! :-D)

☆ — (sadly i’m on doing this post on mobile so i can only add so many photos here, so for now here are some main ones that i have never uploaded until now! 💗⭐️🌛)

the following paragraphs of this post are not as important since it’s not art or really discusses much about anything else that’s really critical for my blog here but it is more information about me and what i like, so it’ll explain any other posts i might have on here & helps to know what to except! so this part is optional to read:^). 🌷

☆ music

my favorite music!! i don’t listen to music too much & would like to expand my music taste throughout all genres (rap, punk, goth, pop, cumbia, rock, electro, anything !)

music artists i like ! i’ll add them cuz i have to be honest, there’s no point of faking my music taste lol.

☆ — my spotify! for fun lol

cravity; bts; hatsune miku; the smiths; tv girl; my chemical romance; oliva rodrigo; radiohead; the cure; paramore; baby metal; alex g; blur; david bowie; plug plug; Procrastinación 1 Yo 0; tommy february6; strawberry switchblade; luis miguel, pinkpantheress; beabadoobee; & some more! but i’m mainly a casual listener to most / don’t know that many songs from each artist but enough of their hit songs lol!

☆ films & shows.

i watch a lot of films and shows but i’m not like … a cinephile? ofc not srsly ofc but maybe as a joke to say i’m like super deep into movies & shows i could be with outside side sometimes stopping me but it’s all good!! i’ve watched some shows, mainly with family so it does take me time to finish them if i don’t watch them on my own time. i also watch a handful of films so i hope this rundown of favorite, recently watched and want to watch films & shows can give another overview of myself :-D

shows

(completed)—mob psycho; breaking bad; the bear; aggretsuko; saiki k; Neon Genesis Evangelion; Card Captor Sakura; Great Pretender; Derry Girls; and more ^^

(want to watch)—yo soy betty, la fea; NANA; Death Note; kimi ni todoke; Kamisama Kiss; princess jellyfish; and some more ^^

films

side note, here’s my letterboxd lol.

all time favorite moviesss & obsessions: the karate kid trilogy; labyrinth (1986); spider-man into the spiderverse & across the spiderverse; Batman (2022); Pride & Prejudice (2005); edward scissorhands; Howls Moving Castle; and more! i watch a lot of movies but some favs on the top of my head 💗

☆ — i try to watch and enjoy as many different films as i can, i welcome any film, show and music recommendations!

i’ll try also to maybe update this post as much as i can to make sure that while it’s up, it’s also up to date!

i tend to make mistakes in my writing & while typing a lot, i also make mistakes while reading so if i send, type, write or mistake anything else while reading & writing on this blog or any other social media account i have i apologize & any correction suggestions/clarifications are welcomed!!

p.s. i might also do a follow up post to be linked to this post to show more art or just art here will be added / changed just incase! 💭🩷🐈‍⬛🐈

☆ 🤍

i don’t reblog that much, and im not active here as i am twitter and instagram lol but i try my best to interact as much as i can! i hope i can use this as an archive for my art & things i like while making friends & anything else lol but thank u for reading (^^ 🌷

☆ — ending song for fun lol

[torturedcoveydepartment]

Movie recommendations from an amateur cinephile who does enjoy a broad range of different genres, techniques and feels on a movie. I made sure to get as far away as possible from eventual spoilers, yet describe the arts in capturing ways :)

Stalker (1979), directed by Andrei Tarkovsky, is a haunting and visually poetic exploration of human longing, belief, and existential mystery. Set in a dystopian world, the story follows three men as they venture into the enigmatic “Zone,” a forbidden area rumored to grant one’s deepest desires. With its deliberate pacing and profound atmosphere, the film immerses viewers in a metaphysical journey, challenging perceptions of reality and the human spirit.

Oldboy (2003), directed by Park Chan-wook, is a gripping and intense mindfucking thriller that delves into themes of revenge, identity, and the darkness of the human psyche. The film follows a man mysteriously imprisoned for 15 years without explanation, who is suddenly released and given just days to uncover the truth behind his captivity. Stylish, shocking, and deeply emotional, it is a masterful exploration of vengeance and its consequences. Left me speechless.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017), directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, is a chilling psychological thriller that weaves a tale of guilt, sacrifice, and moral reckoning. When a charismatic surgeon befriends a troubled teenager, their connection takes a dark and unsettling turn of direct threat to his family. With its unnerving atmosphere and stark, deliberate style, the film is a haunting exploration of human vulnerability and consequence. Must add a warning for a particular singing scene of Burn by Ellie Goulding.

Uptown Girls (2003) is a rollercoaster comedy-drama about a carefree young woman whose life takes an unexpected turn from the meeting of a precocious and damn witty 8-year-old girl. As their contrasting worlds collide, both learn valuable lessons about responsibility, friendship, and finding their true selves. With humor, heart, and unexpected moments of growth, this film offers a charming look at how sometimes the most unlikely relationships can change your life.

The Magician (1958) or ‘Ansiktet’ is a captivating psychological thriller directed by Ingmar Bergman. Set in the 19th century, it follows a traveling magician and his troupe as they perform elaborate illusions. When they arrive in a small town, they are met with suspicion, leading to a tense exploration of deception, identity, and the fine line between reality and fantasy. With its beautiful storytelling, striking visuals, and thought-provoking themes, the film delves into the human desire for control and the complexities of the mind.

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2021) is a whimsical mockumentary on the tiny adventures of Marcel, a one-inch-tall shell with shoes, a face, and other great qualities. Living with his grandmother in a cozy yet quirky existence, Marcel becomes the subject of a filmmaker’s documentary, leading to a journey of connection, humor, and discovery. With its gentle humor, poignant storytelling, and a charm to capture anyone, the film celebrates the power of community and finding joy in the small things.

Christopher and His Kind (2011) is a compelling biographical drama based on Christopher Isherwood’s memoir, chronicling his transformative years in 1930s Berlin. The film explores Christopher’s search for love, identity, and artistic inspiration amidst the rise of an awfully fascistic society. With its rich period detail and powerful performances, the story captures a personal journey of self-discovery while reflecting the broader tensions of the real events of Germany’s national socialism.

[vodka-01]

Blackfyre Records is an American record label owned by House of the Dragon Music Group (HOTD MG). Blackfyre is one of the oldest surviving brand names in the recorded sound business. It is also one of two of House of the Dragon Music Group’s flagship record labels: the other being its longtime rival, Oldtown Records.

Born out of the partnership of Uthero Zalyne, an Iron Bank partner, and Aerion Targaryen, Blackfyre Records was founded in 1916 as then named, Blackfyre Graphophone Company. By 1926, Blackfyre had a growing stable of jazz and blues artists and was on track to being the leading recording company in the country. But due to the stock market Crash of 1929 leading to huge losses in the recording industry, Zalyne sold his shares of Blackfyre to Draz & Co., another investment bank. When Draz & Co. was declared bankrupt in November 1931, Blackfyre, now independent and floundering, was put into receivership. In January of 1932, Aerion was prepared to sell the company to Warner Brothers Pictures, Inc., to be their in-house music label, but due to an untimely heart attack, his daughter, Visenya Targaryen, the only one of his three children to follow their father into the music business, took over as President and broke the deal off.

By 1967, Visenya became CEO of House of the Dragon, thus leaving the position of president to her son, former actor Maegor Targaryen. Following the appointment of Maegor, Blackfyre became more of a rock music label, thanks mainly to Maegor’s obsession with rock and roll in his youth. He signed several leading acts including Longclaw. Longclaw led the way for several generations of rock and rollers that would dominate the scene for a decade. However, Visenya still had a hand in traditional pop and jazz and one of its key acquisitions during this period was Gareth Tyrell. Gareth released his first solo album with Blackfyre in 1973 and remains with the label to this day.

And yet, despite being the man with Midas touch, Maegor’s personal life throughout his tenure had been highly controversial, known popularly as the “Dark Days”. From marrying a suspected Hollywood madam in a highly publicized TV wedding to converting to Mormonism in a bid to have a second wife, as well as rumors of emotional and physical abuse of his partners and being linked to the shooting of the son of a former business associate. Culminating in the spring of 1980 when Maegor was charged with the murder of one of his artists, Alys Harroway, leaving his half-brother Aenys Targaryen to act as Interim President.

In June of 1980, Visenya dies of old age, three weeks before Maegor’s sentencing hearing. At the news of his mother’s death, Maegor committed suicide by self-inflicted gunshot in the office of his Bel-Air mansion while released on bail.

Aenys, unable to handle pressures of being president of Blackfyre, hands in his resignation not long after in January of 1981. Jaehaerys Targaryen, then CEO of HOTD MG after Visenya, holds a vote to determine the next president. After a week of deliberation, Baelon is chosen to lead Blackfyre Records, over his older brother Aemon.

The appointment was met with confusion and frustration, with Baelon being quoted in the 1981 September edition of Time magazine saying “Maegor left a mess, and they handed it to me on a silver platter.” In order to handle the workload, Baelon recruited his sister Saera Targaryen to be the new Label Manager while he handled the corporate cleanup.

And while the 1980s saw the emergence of modern rock, becoming very popular, it was in the late 1980s that glam metal became the largest, most commercially successful brand of music worldwide. Off the back of this new mainstream appeal, Dark Sister, the brainchild of Baelon’s sons, Viserys and Daemon, was formed. And Saera, an avid cinephile and soap opera enthusiast used their band as a vehicle to market Blackfyre and Oldtown Records’ longtime rivalry to massive mainstream success. Yet by the mid-90s the popularity of many of Blackfyre’s glam metal artists had waned with only Dark Sister, Lamentation, and Brightroar maintaining theirs throughout the entire decade, largely by re-inventing themselves.

Blackfyre Records is currently run by Daemon Targaryen in a dual role as both Record Label Manager and President (Viserys previously stepped down due to health concerns).

[dial-m-for-movies]

Oppenheimer [2023] – A Noncontextual Analysis

Dreams and Desire of an Artist, The Nation, Loyalty, Politics, and the Intensifying Philosophy

The overwhelming or shall I say, overpowering hype across social media and the circle of friends, a bunch of cinephiles coercing each other to go for the film irrespective of the rave reviews that it has been receiving on the wide and wild Internet, and my inner conflict and skepticism for the (recent) films a’ la Dunkirk (2017) and Tenet (2020) by Christopher Nolan, who once was my favorite filmmaker – everything made up for my eternal denial to watch this merely out of peer pressure, if not for the visceral moment when one of my close friends asked me to book the tickets, with an impulse of a rather great effect, and needless to say, the way I fell in love with the film and the cinema form of art, proved the impulse all the more worthwhile and gratifying.

Having conversed with a couple of old friends about the film, I, for one, knew that it is not going to be a theatrical spectacle comparable to the likes of those created by the director himself in the past. Moreover, I also knew that the film has more words than visuals – none of these bothered me. The only thing that was a matter of worry was the director’s style of storytelling with which I have been in a dynamic love-hate relationship. While I love his Following (1998), most of his films with nonlinear storytelling have failed to impress me, not just because of the effort it demands to comprehend the complex timeline but also because the effort never led to fruition in my case, especially when I tried too hard to make a sense of the equilibrium the filmmaker achieves by playing between the time and space.

The name of the game doesn’t change much in the case of Oppenheimer, but what makes it impressive is that the storyteller (and not just an ambitious celebrity filmmaker) manages to evoke emotions with admirable aplomb and conviction. While the contextual analysis of the film might warrant me to dig into the facts and the impact the horrid event in the history had on almost two hundred thousand people of Japan, I would rather like avoid the self-evidential narrative of the film and delve into the ways the filmmaker has fashioned the central character, depicting a diverse range of motives and narrative threads, not to make him a hero but a grey protagonist whose internal trials and battles supersede the external trial he faced to prove his loyalty for his nation, if there was anything of that sort intended by him in the real life.

Dreams and Desire of an Artist

Despite the flaws in his personality and pursuits, Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer was a technical artist, which is to say that he was a scientist with the eternal thirst, anxiety, doubts, and restlessness of an artist, and that is well-portrayed in the initial scenes of the film in which we see the protagonist as a troubled, homesick human being incessantly crippled by his own dreams, and the moment of the dream overriding his sleep is represented by a series of confounding visuals wherein he envisions his it as nothing short of a nightmare for a mind of an ordinary kind. The scene gives its audience a peek into the catastrophic mind of their perpetually perturbed hero. And this envisioning of the dream set the conviction in the life physicist, who wants to see his vision come afore as a reality. Having a vision as an artist and having it on the canvas or reality are two different things, but when the artist pursues the former to achieve the latter, he can become the bazooka of the bandits, the guns of the goons, the maverick of the mafia, and a perennial incendiary for the world, the carrier of the fire within, which he hauls with the armor of an undying fidelity towards his ultimate goal, which becomes his identity.  

The narrative, which is more often than not sidelined by the other aspects the filmmaker wanted to explore, becomes the most indispensable part of the film, a foreground for the future events, a foundation for the plot points, and the device that brings in other narrative threads into the picture.

In the due course, despite all other aspects of the narrative taking precedence over the dreams of the artist and the uncontrollable aspiration of the character, this part puts him in steadfast for what he would “achieve” – irrespective of its moral merit or lack thereof – in the future.

The Nation, Loyalty, Politics

Americans, traditionally, love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of battle.

- General George S. Patton, Patton (1970)

While the above quote does not apply to Dr. Oppenheimer, because the violence wasn’t the objective of the man who made the atom bomb a reality – a claim that he makes in the film, or rather tries too hard to, which only gets defeated by his conviction discussed in the final part of this article, the quote has a contextual significance when the well-known war-driven American patriotism and the communist philosophies collide to put forth the protagonist in the question about the loyalty towards his country. While this narrative makes up for the most part of the film, Christopher Nolan uses it as a mere plot device to express the opinions on the character through a demanding yet gratifying exchange of the dialogues. In the American custom, the aversion from war and battle in general, is looked down upon from a political perspective, and it’s evident in a scene wherein Oppenheimer meets the States’ President, who calls him crybaby.

Moreover, early on in the film, the character is interrogated about his thoughts about the States to which his response is warm and favorable towards the officials and the country. However, Oppenheimer’s thoughts on the country that he calls his, the warmth he feels in America, his close association with the nation’s Army and the contribution in bringing the World War to a closure, all in the garb bringing peace and neutrality for the posterity, doesn’t resolve to his heroism and loyalty, especially because Christopher Nolan uses this on-the-face narrative segment, which occupies the most part of the script, as a deceptive device to hide what’s substantial – the aspirations of this technical artist and the philosophy that stirred him to usher his visions towards making him an instrument of massive destruction.

Philosophy of Violence

In mainstream Hollywood, violence is often associated with either a crime of passion a’ la Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope (1948), Strangers on a Train (1951), Dial M for Murder (1954), and Frenzy (1972) to name a few, or a planned act of violence rooted in a lingering emotion like vengeance, as in Unforgiven (1992). Most of the times, the violence is a meager device of entertainment, as you would quintessentially witness in Tarantino and Scorsese films. It would be safe to say that tangible forms of violence have been a part of cinema, and they add cinematic value to the story.

However, in Oppenheimer, you don’t get to see the tangible form of violence. Even if there is violence depicted by the vivid visuals of a detonated bomb, you get to see the vague images and not hear a sound – a sequence brilliantly staged by Christopher Nolan to once again hide what happens in the world outside the mind of the protagonist and rather emphasis the way he sees the world after having committed an act that brought mass destruction and tragedy in Japan. The exploration of human consciousness through violence and the disguise of the political scenario in the country are the conflicting threads that cross their path as mere strangers, oblivious of each other’s existence.

In what could have been a vital sequence in the film – inappropriately mingled with sexual intercourse and is now receiving its share of flak from the audience and censor board – we get to learn the philosophy of Oppenheimer and the roots that have stoked an insatiable fire in his curious mind. The quote from Bhagwad Geeta, “I am become Death, the destroyer of (both the) worlds,” founds a philosophical ground for the film, which justifies – but not in moral terms – the core conviction of the protagonist and how he uses the philosophy to see his dream come true. The moment when an artist combines a deep philosophy with what he wants to achieve, the internal conflicts and disparagement from the external worlds are exterminated from the mind, and become a botheration only after he establishes his motives. 

While Christopher Nolan shows the protagonist’s outer struggle with the world that questions his loyalty to the country, his inner fight has his soul laid bare in front of the audience, and this is done not to gain sympathy for the protagonist or make him emerge as a hero. However, the filmmaker achieves this with a conviction to confound his audience and provoke thoughts only as conflicting as those in the mind of the hero, if only we can call him by that title. This beguiling act of perplexing the audience, not with the nonlinear storytelling the director is famous for – which is done right in bits and pieces to juxtapose the present, past, and the future in a historical context – but by imbibing a moral conundrum of no ordinary kind, happens to be the filmmaker’s artistic triumph.

To conclude, Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer will be remembered for the vision and wounds he gave to the world, but Oppenheimer (2023) will be remembered for the consternation, conflict, and most importantly, the emotions it manages to stir, irrespective of where you see it from, for it’s neither a theatrical essential nor an OTT dispensable.

It is what it is – a moving piece of cinema, a story told with guts and gusto in equal measures.

[denimbex1986]

'Premiered on 4 April 2024, this period thriller drama will take viewers back to 1960s Italy with Andrew Scott stepping into the shoes of notorious grifter Tom Ripley in the new Netflix series.

While Patricia Highsmith’s bestselling Tom Ripley novels have been morphed for page-to-screen adaptation several times, it is the 1999 film The Talented Mr Ripley, starring Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law, that has become a classic favourite among cinephiles. If you have seen it, you might have a fair idea of what you’re getting into.

The TV series, helmed by Academy Award winner Steven Zaillian, depicts a compelling journey back in time via black-and-white frames. Coupled with gripping performances by the entire cast, the new take on The Talented Mr Ripley renders a rather ominous vibe to the plot.

With so much being talked about and mystery swelling around the complex life of Tom Ripley, the natural question is are any more seasons scheduled for release?

Will there be a season 2 of Ripley on Netflix? Here’s what we know

What is Ripley about?

Though viewers are no strangers to the dark world of Highsmith’s morally dubious character Tom Ripley, the story gets an episodic makeover as a 2024 Netflix show.

The eight-part story revolves around the protagonist Tom Ripley (Scott), a small-time swindler in 1960s New York. His life turns around when a wealthy man hires him to travel to Italy and convince his trifler son, Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn), to return home. Accepting this offer was just the first step towards a descent into a world of deception, fraud and murder. When he reaches the serene town of Atrani where Dickie is perfectly settled with his writer girlfriend Marge Sherwood (Dakota Fanning), Tom is awe-struck by his lavish lifestyle. A clever presentation of truth with an unmissable charm is enough to get the master con artist into Dickie’s good books. From here, Tom climbs his way up into Dickie’s close quarters and ends up going to extreme lengths to make that life his own.

Each episode has a runtime of about 50 minutes, while the finale is 74 minutes long.

Ripley is based on which book?

Highsmith’s Ripley books make up a series of five novels, dubbed ‘Ripliad’, which debuted in 1955 with The Talented Mr Ripley.

Netflix’s Ripley is based on this first book. It is followed by other titles — Ripley Under Ground (1970), Ripley’s Game (1974), The Boy Who Followed Ripley (1980) and Ripley Under Water (1981).

Speaking to Vanity Fair in December 2023, Zaillian said, “Almost 70 years after Highsmith created him, contemporary figures are still being compared to him. He won’t go away.”

Interestingly enough, the book also led to the evocative monochrome filming style. “The edition of the Ripley book I had on my desk had an evocative black-and-white photograph on the cover,” Zaillian said.

“As I was writing, I held that image in my mind. Black and white fits this story — and it’s gorgeous,” he added.

The Ripley cast and crew

Besides Andrew Scott, Johnny Flynn and Dakota Fanning the cast also includes Eliot Sumner as Freddie Miles, who suspected the diabolical nature of Tom’s congeniality, Maurizio Lombardi as Inspector Ravini and John Malkovich as Reeves Minot.

In March 2024, Town & Country quoted Scott commenting about portraying the titular character. He said, “I feel like you’re required to love and advocate for your characters, and your job is to go, Why? What’s that? You don’t play the opinions, the previous attitudes that people might have about Tom Ripley. You have to throw all those out, try not to listen to them, and go, Okay, well, I have to have the courage to create our own version and my own understanding of the character.”

The project is written, directed and executive produced by Zaillian. Besides him, other executive producers include Garrett Basch, Clayton Townsend, Guymon Casady, Benjamin Forkner, Sharon Levy and Philipp Keel.

How does Ripley end?

The brilliant chiaroscuro acts as an omnipresent cast member throughout the series, accentuating the sombre tone, which almost reaches a crescendo in the eighth episode. By the end of the final episode, titled Narcissus, Tom Ripley has a body count of two — Freddie Miles and Dickie Greenleaf — and has successfully ripped off Dickie’s life by using his name and money. However, the Italian police are after him for one crime he didn’t commit, the murder of Tom Ripley.

Seizing the perfect opportunity, Tom plays another card by conveniently walking into the police resuming his own identity. He manages to convince Inspector Ravini, Marge and Mr Greenleaf that Dickie died, albeit with strong undercurrents of suspense and tension that could make viewers sit up anxiously, as there are pressing moments when his deceit is on the verge of spilling out.

Once the dust is settled and mystery is buried like Dickie’s corpse at sea, Tom Ripley plays another con trick to begin his new life as Timothy Fanshaw, but that is another story to tell.

Production and filming of Ripley

The Ripley series was originally being developed by Showtime, but Netflix picked it up in 2023 while it was in post-production. The principal shooting took place in Italy — Rome and Venice — in accordance with the book’s setting. Certain portions were also filmed in New York to capture the 1960s vibe of the city.

Economic Times states that although production was slated to begin in 2020, it got delayed until 2021 for certain reasons.

Will there be a Ripley season 2?

Netflix has billed it as a limited series. The episodes have rounded up both the plot quite well, though certain creative liberties from the book make it somewhat ambiguous.

Although there is no official nod from Netflix about a second season, the OTT platform states, “But given the opportunity, Zaillian would love to continue to adapt the affectionately nicknamed ‘Ripliad’.”

Speaking to Tudum in April 2024, Zaillian said, “I think that the other books are good, and we see Tom in a lot of different ways as he grows up.” Who knows, this can be a step towards creating a ‘Ripliad’ franchise by expanding Tom Ripley’s world.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

-Is there a second Mr Ripley? Released in 1955, The Talented Mr Ripley did not have a sequel. The 2024 Netflix series, too, is a limited series. However, there is a wide scope to explore other Tom Ripley stories and make them into new seasons.

-How many Ripley episodes are there? Netflix’s Ripley has eight episodes.

-What is the 2024 Ripley series about? Netflix’s Ripley is the latest screen adaptation of The Talented Mr Ripley. It follows grifter Tom Ripley who is hired by a wealthy man to go to Italy and convince his dilettante son to return home. However, when he sees Dickie’s lavish life, Tom decides to make it his own.

-What is the ending of Ripley? Ripley is based on Patricia Highsmith’s novel The Talented Mr Ripley. It follows Tom Ripley (played by Andrew Scott) arriving in Italy to convince Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn) to return to the US. However, his life and opulence captivate Tom. He hatches a plan to overthrow Dickie and live his life. The series revolves around the heinous crimes committed by Tom and the ensuing investigation.'

[screenspirit]

20 Years of Quentin Tarantino’s Brilliantly Bloody Kill Bill: Vol 1

Defined by its killer soundtrack, striking visual design and engaging, unforgettable characters, acclaimed filmmaker Quentin Tarantino’s senior feature Kill Bill: Vol 1 made its breathtaking debut on October 10th, 2003 and has culminated in persistent acclaim and adoration since. An American love letter to the classic Japanese martial art and Jidaigeki (period) works, especially Toshiya Futija’s 1937 masterpiece Lady Snowblood, the film features the dazzling casting choice in the amazingly talented Uma Thurman as The Bride. Thurman’s role is a mysterious assassin who seeks revenge on her former group of assassins after they left her and her unborn child for dead during her wedding reception. The first installment in the two-part project, which Tarantino considers one whole film himself, sees The Bride travel to Tokyo to take down the viciously skilful yakuza.

As mentioned, Tarantino��s work took the film industry by storm after its October 2003 release. Thanks to its brilliantly executed plot and action-packed sequences with an overall blend of impassioned drama, it attracted countless critical acclaim and audience praise and grossed over $180 million worldwide having been made from a $30 million budget. This turn out makes it one of the director’s biggest successes and highest-grossing weekends. Furthermore, the first volume of Kill Bill rightfully holds an unmovable status in American film. It exists as a work that defines the Western take on the medium as combining thrills with drama and intense character examinations. Tarantino’s writing never misses, pacing the fight/kill scenes alongside the dialogue-driven ones that display character motivation and progression. It additionally offers witty quips to add a dark comedic tone to overall atmosphere of brutality and violence, showcasing the versatility that has helped cement Kill Bill: Vol 1 in the cinephile psyche.

It’s visual design demonstrates some stark and stylised iconography, from costuming to choreography. First of all, The Bride’s iconic yellow and black tracksuit borrowed artistic influences from Bruce Lee’s attire in the 1972 incomplete film Game of Death, written, directed and produced by the martial arts icon himself. Here, Tarantino pays further tribute to the martial art works that inspired his love for watching and creating cinema in every little detail in his own work that are artistically inspired by the efforts of those who defined the cinematic genre. From visual to audio quality, the infamous sound design of alerting sirens which are embedded into the score every time The Bride faces an opponent have become a pop and film culture phenomenon. This stylistic trademark has been replicated and immediately recognised in subsequent films that go on to pay tribute to the work Tarantino created as an act of appreciation himself.

Furthermore, Kill Bill: Vol 1 is also a bold and ambitious execution of Tarantino’s artistic staple of excessive and graphic violence that strays away from gory shock value seen in most modern horror. The feature makes use of buckets on buckets of blood as limbs are shredded off the body and torsos are slashed open by The Bride’s attentive sword work and passion for revenge. This is most evident in the brilliantly tense and climatic climax which sees The Bride take on the Crazy 88, an elite group of masterfully trained fighters against dreamy blue landscapes that illuminate the characters’ shadows during battle. Once we see the fight in the forefront, we are astounded and sometimes repulsed by how each severment of a limb triggers an ongoing spurt in blood. Each spurt immediately follows the other before in some sort of gruesome rhythm until the redness takes up the screen.

This quest for revenge mirrors a hidden desire audiences suppress and, in the case of Kill Bill’s unforgettable protagonist, a brutal and extreme display of ‘feminine rage’. This cinematic notion is structurally characterised as a strive to be heard and fulfilled on a woman’s part, executed by intense and “unfeminine” outbursts of repressed emotion from screaming to physical conflict. As a brilliant female lead dignified with a profound backstory and layered depiction as conveyed in a terrific performance, The Bride is introduced in the first installment as working under a more serene and controlled demeanour that covers her festering feminine rage. Despite a powerful taste for blood leading her every move, the character remains unflustered throughout the narrative, even when she’s engaging in prolonged violent combats and kills. This accentuates her layered characterisation because it offers a harmony between her rageful quest for vengeance and her collected sense.

The character reads as a thorough and detailed portrayal of how there is no force nastier and more persistent than a scorned woman, with audiences relishing in her journey of executing “an eye for an eye” (a more fitting analogy in the sequel). She lets nothing stand in her way of getting revenge and leaves a bloodbath in her wake with hardly a bat of an eye. Through this graphic rhythm of violence interjected into her emotional backstory, The Bride as a central woman in film challenges conventional tropes of a more “well-behaved” and approachable cinematic leading woman. It’s virtually impossible not to immediately align with Thurman’s character and support her. Audiences recognise, understand and resonate with her backstory, identifying the severe betrayal she was a victim of. The unapologetic aggression The Bride showcases in this film is something many women connect to, with many critics suggesting they come to fantasise about doing the same to those (possibly men) who have wronged and scorned them.

Two decades on, Kill Bill: Volume 1 is appreciated as a masterful visual work that encompasses compelling cinematography to showcase its unique character writing and stark violence. It’s thrilling from opening to conclusion with a perfect structural and tonal disposition between the emotive drama, dark comedy and explicit violence. Tarantino’s directing skills that convey thorough character development, memorable iconography and immersive action allow for both compelling expressiveness and decorative appeal, appeasing audience’s need for stimulation and entertainment. Such artistry and storytelling are cherished by cinema lovers, leading to Kill Bill: Volume 1’s everlasting status in film.

[libraryleopard]

Okay, update on the aspiring cinephile adventures

Door Mouse dir. Avan Jogia: Follows Mouse, a burlesque dancer who investigates the disappearance of another dancer from the club she works a and ends up uncovering a larger conspiracy. I'd describe this as a punk, stylish neo-noir with some comic book influences that I really liked (Mouse is an aspiring comic artist). I liked Hayley Law's performance as Mouse and the style of the movie (it does get pretty harrowing at some points, but didn't necessarily feel exploitative to me because a lot of the really bad stuff happens off-screen).

Mr. Malcolm's List dir. Emma Holly Jones: I put this on my listt of movies to watch because i am a Pride and Prejudice (2004) stan first and a human being second and it's also a regency-era romantic drama. It's about the rich and notoriously selective Mr. Malcolm who is searching for a wife but has a very specific list of qualities he's looking for. When he rejects an aristocratic lady for not meeting his qualifications, she enlists her friend in a scheme to seduce Mr. Malcolm and then break his heart in revenge, drama ensues. Zawe ashton (who plays the rejected woman) was very funny and charming and I hope she's in more romcoms and I liked that it was a period drama starring a bunch of actors of color since that genre of film is often super white. On the downside, I thought the script could have been a bit stronger and the protagonist was a little bland.

Rye Lane dir. Raine Allen Miller: I watched this yesterday and I LOVED it. It's a recent rom com about two strangers who meet in London after both going through break-ups and end up on a few quests around the city to settle scores with their exes. It's really funny and lively and Vivian Oparah (who plays the female lead) is an absolute star. I also liked that it's very visually bright and it kind of feels like a love letter to South London as well as a love story between the two protagonists (i really enjoy stories with well-defined settings).