#godzilla stole the show of course

[natalia-lafourcade]

watched Godzilla Minus One and it was actually fucking good?

[junk-jester]

And that's the main story of Indigo Disk wrapped up!

Here's my final team when all's said and done.

Tomorrow, I'll just grind a bunch of BBQs, upgrade the Club Room, fight some Legendaries and just generally do any other Post-DLC nonsense that comes to mind.

Under the cut, I also got character bios for the team members again, as always. Feel free to check that out. Minor story spoilers below, tho.

First this time is one of the team's newest additions, Terry the Terapagos (He/Him). A bit on the timid and skittish side after being so rudely awakened by Kieran in the Area Zero Underdepths, Terry's grown fond of the other members of Abitha's team, but is somewhat distrusting of Abitha herself. He'll come out his shell (heh) in time, but it won't exactly be soon. His new big sister, Majora the Ogerpon, is more than willing to help warm Terry up, however. Hardy nature and takes plenty of siestas. Moveset is Tera Stastorm, Zen Headbutt, Earth Power and Aura Sphere. Ability is Tera Shift. Held item is Assault Vest.

Second is the starter who's been through and seen it all, Berdly the Quaquaval (He/Him). Between the events of Teal Mask and Indigo Disk, Berdly's become a grizzled old bird who doesn't move as much as he used to, but can still throw on a show for foe and ally alike. Modest nature and likes to scatter things often. Moveset is Aqua Step, Close Combat, Ice Spinner and Liquidation. Ability is Moxie. Held item is Mystic Water.

Third is an old ally from Abitha's Pre-Galar days having come back into the spotlight through spectacular fashion; Leichter the Dusk Mane Necrozma (He/They). Once the scourge of the Alola Region in ages past, Abitha managed to bring peace to his aching heart by willingly sacrificing some of her own life energy to feed them after they were left starving and weak. Leichter has since repaid this kindness tenfold, but vanished without a trace to make amends for their past actions when they stole the light from different universes and plundged them into eternal darkness. His quest having seemingly come to an end, they returned in glorious fashion to help Abitha once more by defeating Lacey and Drayton of the BB League Elite 4 when few other Pokémon could. If he'll stick around or leave once again for parts unknown is only for them to decide. Name is German for "Lighter". Relaxed nature and is somewhat vain. Moveset is Power Gem, Photon Geyser, Sunsteel Strike and Prismatic Laser. Ability is Prism Armor. Held item is Covert Cloak.

Fourth is Freddy the Bloodmoon Ursaluna (He/Him). A weary old man of a bear through and through, Freddy believes he is far too old for the shenanigans of his teammates, but can always be relied upon to pull through in tough situations when others would falter. He's the one who ended Terry's rampage after Kieran had Terastalized him at Briar's request, after all. In spite of this, however, he's earned a reputation on the team for having an unusual taste in food, preferring Pizza over Sandwiches or Berries. Named after Freddy Fazbear from Five Nights at Freddy's. Hardy nature and is somewhat vain. Moveset is Blood Moon, Earth Power, Moonblast and Calm Mind. Ability is Mind's Eye. Held item is Leftovers.

Fifth is Kiryu the Archaludon (She/Her). Originally an ordinary Duraludon Abitha had caught back in Galar, when she heard news of ways to make her stronger beyond Gigantamaxing (something Kiryu was not capable of outside Galar, of course), she leapt at the opportunity with earnest. Now, she feels as if she's on top of the world, with very little able to stop her momentum. Although, on a closer glance, it appears she may be hiding a dark secret, as if there was something lying just beneath her skin none should ever see. A phantom in her mainframe, a specter in her steel... A Ghost in the Machine. Named after the Millennium Incarnation of MechaGodzilla from the Godzilla franchise. Lonely nature and nods off a lot. Moveset is Electro Shot, Flash Cannon, Dragon Claw and Hyper Beam. Ability is Stamina. Held item is Magnet.

And, last but not least, the sixth and final team member is Jörmungandr the Hydrapple (She/They). A bit of a wildcard due to there being 7 Wyrms in one sticky sweet Caramel Apple, Jörmungandr-- or, simply, Jör for short-- is vastly unreadable by their allies, all five heads flipping moods and emotions like a coin toss at random. This behavior has made Abitha a tad frustrated, as they never seem to follow directions, but it's honestly better than nothing. At most, the lead head who does spend a majority of her time out in the open while the other four retreat to the internals of the apple they call home has shown itself to be a suck up, appearing to "apologize" for her cohorts' behavior and getting angry at them when they don't pay attention. Named after The World Serpent from Norse Mythology. Impish nature and is mischievous. Moveset is Syrup Bomb, Fickle Beam, Bullet Seed and Dragon Pulse. Ability is Supersweet Syrup. Held item is Miracle Seed.

[okami-zero]

Nine people I'd like to get to know better

Got tagged by @vasheden! Thanks, Vash! Here we go!

Last song: I Wanna Take You For a Ride (Inspired by Marvel vs Capcom 2) by the 8-Bit Big Band. Absolutely love their music - big band stuff just has so much energy, and I love that! I don't think I've heard any of their stuff that's bad, or even meh. All Really Good music! (Did you know they did a full version of Mordin's little ditty from ME2? >3 https://youtu.be/UxVekZRIWyg)

Favorite color: Okay, this one is tough. Usually Blue or Orange. Not the overly bright, pastel versions. LIghtest blue I like is sky blue, or azure. And lightest orange...well, the fruit. xD I tend to favor darker variants of the two, and which I like more depends on my mood for the day, or what the subject being discussed is (whether this influence my two favorite reptilian ninjas, or vice versa, I cannot say... xD)

Last movie/TV show: Okay, last movie, simple - The Jim Carrey version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Aside from the original animated film, this one is my favorite. Jim's very physical acting, plus his amazing facial expressions paired with the makeup, and he does the Grinch Smile™ perfectly! For new movies? Godzilla Minus One. Go see it. Just... you gotta go see it! TV Show would be anime, and that would be Burst Angel, a show I got a preview DVD for an never was able to find again, until on a whim (and after catching sight of my wall scroll of such) I looked it up on Crunchyroll and there it was! I think the transfer from Funimation may have dinged the subtitles, but it's still pretty good.

Sweet/spicy/savory?: Yes. Very yes. BUT, if I absolutely have to choose, savory is top, especially if it's got a little kick to it. xD I cannot handle super sweet stuff, like cake frosting that isn't buttercream, and even that needs to be moderate. Spice tolerance...is alright. But there has to be flavor that I can get before the capzasin kicks in. I think some of my favorite spice comes from Indian food, cause it is spicy AND savory. x3

Relationship status: I am but a single okami. Am comfortable with it, and have been for a while, but I do miss a few things I'd like to have again. I have some things to lock down first.

Last thing I googled: The proper spelling for "Capzasin", because I keep think there's an extra c in it for some reason...

Current obsession: Um... I don't have anything demanding my time, though HALO Infinite is close. It's fun playing Firefight again, and I want the Superintendent AI companion, goddammit! (ODST my favorite game? Why would you think THAT? >3) But as games go HALO, FFXIV (I have a house that needs decorating, and maybe learning some gpose things so I can do sappy screeenshots of AKagi and his girls. x3 Or Gev being...himself. xD) and Armored Core VI, and really wanting to tweak some of my gunpla, honestly. I need to adjust my toolkit some. :P Much like Vash, I think I will thumb through the activity page and tag folks who I don't think have done this one. No pressure, of course, I just did mine because I am trying to be more active and stuff. Cheers! @elveny, @reucrion, @techietacotrain, @kunstpause, @the-sith-in-the-sky-with-diamond, @vazaymir, @clockworkdragonffxiv, @thelorekeeper, @dragon-saint

[dappercritter]

Godzilla vs Kong: Brutally Honest Thoughts

(Took me long enough, eh? Depending on home video releases be like that.)

So first things first, I have a confession to make: I spoiled the movie before I watched it. I was impatient and they had only announced an HBO Max premiere in the states and a theatrical run in Canada at the time. Afterward, I got heads-up from a friend and immersed myself in the opinions of those lucky enough to see it early. I’m just saying that I have some preconceived opinions that I’m sticking to.

That said, Godzilla vs Kong turned out to be more fun than I expected! But you already knew that. Everyone did. The two kings of movie monsters had their rematch and this time it was with glorious Hollywood SFX powering it this time.

The human story was fun but it’s clear they stopped trying at this point. Team Kong stole my heart, especially Jia. Team Godzilla (although the Conspiracy Crew would be a more fitting term since they spend more time chasing down mysteries than trying to back or understand Godzilla) was more fun than I expected and their dynamic was surprisingly enjoyable. Bernie is actually kind of funny, it's nice to see Madison acting more assertive, and Josh was fine--he was the only sane man of the bunch but he was also the butt of the jokes. Still, all the hardcore conspiracy jokes got old fast and it feels off seeing the daughter of two scientists turn into an edgy conspiracy crackpot. Why not an edgy science major?

Team Apex are fun villains, especially Walter Simmons who's a great megalomaniacal CEO type, but Ren Serizawa is a joke. I like his actor's performance but he's just another footnote. Nobody bats an eye at his last name, although the only heroes he interacts with are Nathan Lind and he just misses Team Godzilla. He really could have just been any other villain, but instead, they had to sully Serizawa’s legacy further while robbing a good actor of some interesting material. (As is, it turns out he was just an egotistical jerk with daddy issues--an easy puzzle to solve on day one--after all...)

However, I still cannot and will not approve of the fact that somebody thought it would be a good idea to make the heroes of a sci-fi story into hardcore conspiracy theorists in this day and age. Likewise, I’m not a huge fan of how they essentially made the Hollow Earth into its own universe complete with a crazy portal and an environment with its own laws of physics, nor am I totally crazy about the huge leap in technology that was made between this and KOTM, or G’14 for that matter.

The monsters as awesome as they are, are the biggest mixed bag in the show.

Kong is at his best in ages, and while I am all for the new heroic warrior character that Legendary have crafted and I acknowledge that making him a worthy opponent for their god-tier Godzilla was going to be a hurdle, I think they did a splendid job. Seeing Kong using agility and acrobatics was a glorious sight to behold, and something about Kong becoming a tool-user and weapon wielder just feels right. It’s a far better demonstration of Kong as a “thinking animal” (*wink, wink*).

I’m much less thrilled about their treatment of his greatest opponent ever. After everything they’ve done to build up Godzilla as the incredible force of neutral good fighting to maintain balance and all the build up to ancient rivalry debating back to a great Titan war--even going as far as putting his name in front Kong’s this time!-- they’ve reduced Godzilla back to glorified bully for Kong. He only gets the minimum amount of sympathy from the cast of his movie before they go off to deal with the conspiracy plot or focus on Kong and the Hollow Earth. Worse still, he is somehow more powerful and more aggressive than ever for a good chunk of the movie which leads to an outcome I’m sorry to say we all saw coming. Somehow, I suspect that the reason behind this was how Wingard cited Godzilla vs. Mothra, vs. Destoryah, and Shin-Godzilla as influences for the monsters scale and story, which while cool and all, are all movies where he was played up as a mostly stoic antagonist rather than a three-dimensional character like Kong. (Though ironically vs. Destoroyah and Shin did a better job of making Godzilla feel more sympathetic and in both of them he was a walking nuclear reactor meltdown.)

Due to the unfortunate time constraints of the three-way deal between Toho, WB, and Universal at the time this was in production, Kong was unable to secure a proper sequel that could develop his skillset like Godzilla’s did. Nevermind the fact the filmmakers completely surrendered to the “nothing matters but the monsters” mentality that a chunk of the fanbase has been spouting since this universe unofficially kicked off almost 10 years ago. (Sidenote: Oh god, I’m turning in an old fart already.) As a result, the movie trips over itself trying to set up Godzilla and Kong’s rivalry as well as building up Kong as a worthy opponent to Godzilla while expanding on their shared lore, and as a result countless plot points set up in in the previous movie and tie-in movie are thrown out the window. I’m sorry to say but in spite of all hopes and illusions of grandeur, it’s safe to this damn thing is a Kong movie with Godzilla as the bad guy.

...at least until HE shows up. Yup, Mechagodzilla. The biggest spoiled twist of the centuries steals the show so the movie can pull a Dawn of Justice. But! It does it much better than the fractured DCEU’s most controversial entry ever could. Mechagodzilla’s inclusion gets a decent amount of build up thanks to Team Godzilla/the Conspiracy Crew, and when he shows up, does he make an impression! At first, I wasn’t sure how to feel about his inclusion or his design, but I’ve come to like this one. He’s basically a kaiju terminator built in Godzilla’s image made purely out of heavy machinery piloted by the best Ghidorah head. It’s a jarring change of pace compared to previous MechaG’s but it grows on you after a while. With the abundance of weaponry stuffed into him, he feels like a fitting update of the original killing machine, and even if his inclusion feels like an easy way out of the big showdown, it’s fun to see him played as a literal colossal heel for the kings to team up against. Not to mention he looks shockingly good with those red highlights. However, one still can’t help but wonder how and why he was made in this universe, or how he feels like pure heavy machinery one minute and then an extra-large Ultron unit the next.

As for the the big throwdowns we’ve all been waiting for... well, we’re still in the mixed bag deparment. While the fights are all exciting and excellently choreographed, and benefit from some more eclectic lighting and cinematograph, I’m sorry to say that as far as the rematch of the century goes they dropped the ball on this one.

Don’t get me wrong, the fights are all great in their own ways, but there’s a drastic change in the feeling of weight and power with the monsters. Godzilla, Kong, and even Mechagodzilla all feel strangely floaty in most of their fights. One moments they feel like true behemoths shaking the very earth with every movement and then it’s like they’re in Godzilla Unleashed, running, jumping, and throwing each other around with speed that feels that almost makes you wonder if the Hollow Earth’s gravity inversion stuff is leaking out into the world. While it’s all perfectly cool, you can’t help but wonder how Kong is able to leap between aircraft carriers and buildings, when Godzilla got the ability to blow a hole through the Earth itself, or how a colossal machine is able to move so nimbly or why it has to be flashing blue all the time.

It’s fascinating and fun but you just can’t help but wonder how we got from almost posthuman disaster and war movies exploring how we’re at the mercy of the ancient almost mythical forces beyond our comprehension, we’ve found ourselves smack dab in the middle of Bayformers meets Jurassic World levels of Hollywood absurdity where anything and everything can and will happen in the name of getting to the monster fights. Although I can’t say I’m surprised given the director’s take on Death Note made some questionable choices with it’s take on the infamous cast while still coming up with some genuinely inspired choices. Still, all things considered we could have gotten worse compared to ther cinematic universes made by WB and Universal.

As for some misc. thoughts to close up this rambling mess:

-The soundtrack is fantastic. A great continuation of the feel of Skull Island’s mixtape with some truly wonderful picks. Special mention goes to the opening and ending songs, and they GOT AN ELVIS PRESLEY SONG IN HERE! YES!!! The three kings of pop culture together at last!

-While this movie didn’t need to be any more overstuffed, it would have been nice if the rest of the Titans didn’t disappear entirely from this movie. I get that Godzilla: Dominion already explained what happened to them all more or less, but it really is a missed oppurtunity that we never got to see another Titan war. Or Rodan attacking Kong to avenge his pterosaur bretheren from days long past. Speaking of which...

-“Save Mothra” jokes be damned, Mothra would have been a welcome gues star, not just to help break up the big fight, but to show off Godzilla’s softer, more protective side. And yes, I want more Mothzilla. Shut up, we deserve it.

-Boy, Monarch sure does a whole lot of nothing up-top, huh?

-The cinematography is a great update but there’s a little too much neon lighting, especially in the Apex HQ and the Hollow Earth throne room. It feels like they’re trying just a little too hard to sell the more futuristic, Hollywood sci-fi feel.

-The score is... great but not that great. Of course, I’ve always had mixed feelings about Tom Holkenburg (AKA Junkie XL)’s music. I liked Kong’s themes, but they REALLY dropped the ball with Godzilla’s theme. Mechagodzilla’s works really well as long you ignore that it’s just Godzilla’s theme in this movie with an ominious choir added in.

-The new Hollow Earth creatures are all perfectly fine. Actually, I thought they were another highlight! Especially the Warbats, Hellhawks, and Doug the Titanus Foetodon Man.

-I want to do a release the extended cut campaign but I don’t think any of us have the energy for that s**t anymore.

[omnivorousshipper]

What are the Shaw siblings’ go-to clothing styles? Omg do they have ✨aesthetics✨

Oh, those three definitely have an anesthetic.

For Deckard, it's all about looking sleek and deadly. Nothing is ever out of place as he dresses to impress.

He'll wear mostly suits or a suit jacket over a turtleneck sweater. But he will layer up if he needs to, which is most of the time because he's always cold. So, his sweaters will be extremely thick

However, if he is in the mood, he'll break out a ballgown when going undercover. There's nothing wrong with wanting to look sexy in everything he wears

As for Hattie, she prefers suits as well. Just like Lucy Lu in the show Elementary, she can rock a suit like nobody's business

The last thing any bad guy sees before she kills them is her looking absolutely stunning in her suit and thin ties

Finally, for Owen, he loves his leather jackets. He doesn't care if he's not looking as sharp as his siblings most of the time. He enjoys looking good and being able to move around efficiently

But nobody can doubt that he looks amazing in everything he wears.

However

This is all when the three are out on missions

While they're just relaxing at home, that's a completely different thing

When they're home, it's all about comfort

Deckard will wear huge hoodies and pad around with slippers in the shape of cats.

Hattie will wear t-shirts with godzilla and other things on them, while rocking sweatpants all day long

And most of the time, most of the clothes Owen wears for comfort are 80% of the time not his. He'll steal things from Deckard, from his friends, and even current and past lovers

But, without a doubt, all three Shaw siblings can be seen wearing Luke's hoodies

It of course started with Deckard, but soon enough, Owen got his hands on it. And from there, Hattie got a little jealous and stole it from Owen. And then Deckard stole it back

It's an unending cycle that leaves Luke with no hoodies at the end of it

Hope you enjoyed this friend! It's always fun to think about what the Shaws do in their daily lives

[perish-the-creator]

I feel like you're thinking of chaotic-deity tbh, heard you guys had something

Of course I know it's not them. They aren't pathetic or even concerned about my existence.

I know for a fact you're a girl and a minor. That's it. There are only two creators who would be dumb enough to mention the AU part specifically.

One of them makes art that is so horrendous it makes me physically ill looking at it and I can't help my get legit angry whenever I see that horrid attempt at story telling and art.

The other makes shitty reddit style memes that literally revolve around swear words or taking some piss poor quality png or video that they stole from tiktok.

You have one more chance to just go ahead and expose yourself if you want even a crumb of an apology, but because I already have you cut from my life you don't even deserve that you useless scum. You think your dick is so big because I go into the source code anymore and find your account?

You're a pathetic excuse for a human being and to keep tormenting me just goes to show that my existence is more than yours because I occupy a space within that you constantly seek out my content even after I've had you blocked.

So fuck you. I'm tired of being nice. My paranoia is already hectic as is and having you digitally rub your grimy little fingers all over my blog is sickening.

I hate you. I abhor you. I would rather sit in a room surrounded by nothing but every shitty Godzilla oc known the man than to allow myself to think you are actually another human being.

You are the lowest of the low. The scummest of the scum and I don't care if you feel offended to knock up should've died on a bedsheet waste of a sperm and egg fucker.

Good fucking night bitch.

[marithlizard]

Ace Attorney: Rise From the Ashes (Day Two, Trial Latter) (part 3)

Wherein I attempt to liveblog a mostly text-based videogame.  The trial continues!  Lunch is over and yet we’re still being fed indigestible statements. 

Court has recessed briefly for information-gathering. The clock says it's not even noon, but I feel like we've heard hours’ worth of (mostly untrue) testimony.

Lana has been called to the judge's chambers for reasons unknown.  Ema is realizing just how much of a, what's the polite word, “freewheeler” she's chosen to represent her sister.  But Phoenix is still flailing about when any other defense attorney in this world would have given up, so she'd best appreciate him.

It's the cowboy!  Who pointedly mentions Lana's scarf, which he saw her wearing on the day of the murder.   Since she wasn't wearing it in the photograph taken afterward, presumably the missing muffler is...in the car muffler?  Was she trying to hide something, or give Edgeworth carbon monoxide poisoning?  And just why is Marshall dropping us this helpful hint?

Court resumes with Edgeworth on the verge of some kind of conniption fit.   The judge lists off his symptoms concernedly - oh NO surely you didn't eat one of the lunchboxes, Edgeworth!  I've already been wondering how Angel Starr resisted the urge to give you food poisoning for two years, and that was before you verbally eviscerated her on the witness stand.

...Hello, who's this?

Peach suit, white hair, pink glasses and an avuncular folksy charm.  You. I don't like you.  

"Udgey?"  Is that the judge's name, or some sort of twee pig-latin nickname for Judge?  And "Wrighto" and "Worthy".  And he can get away with calling people slightly demeaning and offbeat nicknames, because apparently he's the district chief of police,  Damon Gant.  Phoenix is chastised for not recognizing him, which is probably fair.

Okay, that technique of taking away the dialogue box for several seconds while Gant cocks his head and blinks at us is quite effective.  This, we're silently being told, is a character so powerful they can interrupt the flow of the game itself. 

The judge notes that it's been "over two years" since Gant was in the courtroom.  That matches when Angel was fired.   This is all about one case, isn't it?  The case Lana and the victim worked on, the case that got Marshall demoted.

Gant has brought some false sympathy for Edgeworth and also Lana's missing scarf, which was indeed found stuffed in the car muffler.   (So the lunchlady was telling the truth about at least something.)  The scarf was wrapped around a switchblade with a tag on it. So, not a personal possession like Edgeworth's knife, but...an exhibit?  Something from storage? Like, evidence storage?

Edgeworth is justifiably upset that the police investigation didn't notice a scrap of red cloth hanging out of the car muffler inches away from the body.  Gant's initial sheepish admission that "this is embarrassing, even for us"  suddenly turns into that blinking Look again.   I feel like a trap is about to be sprung.

It's the envelope from yesterday, the one delivered by the hapless mailman!  Who told Edgeworth it wasn't related to the case, so he refused to take it.   Ouch.  It is Edgeworth's error, but there's something gleefully malicious about the way  Gant just set him up and then sucker-punched him.  There was no need for this to be a public humiliation.  In fact, it could've been discreetly sorted out before Gant got on the stand.  Or before trial started this morning.

(Why IS he on the stand? He's not a testifying witness. He just kinda...strolled in and took over. )

The judge asks Phoenix to examine the switchblade.  The knife tip is broken off and the blade and handle have bloodstains.    The tag, when I zoom in focus to max, says "S-L 9 2".   As for the envelope, it appears to be an autopsy report on Goodman, and doesn't mention the muffler or switchblade at all.  It also has a much vaguer timeframe than 5:15. 

Edgeworth tries to regain face by demanding an explanation about the missed evidence.  This is a bad, bad idea. I could've told you that even before Gant delightedly agrees  to testify.

Gant says the knife is special, but that he can't say how unless a  "connection is proven between the knife and Goodman."   Um. Doesn't the very presence of the knife, deliberately concealed at the crime scene, in itself mean it's not only connected but vital to understanding what happened?  I don't think you should get to withhold that information.

Nor do I think "we were having a bad day" is an acceptable excuse for not investigating the crime scene properly.  Cops get aggressively motivated when one of their own is attacked, everybody knows that.  Or was Goodman some kind of pariah?  

...wait.  What???   What Gant's saying is so bizarre I misread it.  There was a SECOND murder, at precisely the same time (and that's an awfully precise time),  at the police department?  "Not officially linked to this case" my aunt Fanny.

And Phoenix isn't supposed to ask about it in cross-examination?  I predict that will last about five seconds, because we're going to press every one of these statements hard enough to extract olive oil.

Starting with the knife.  Both Phoenix and Edgeworth push for more, but Gant refuses.  Can I make a connection that will impress the judge?  My inventory contains a phone, a shoe...and a note found in the trunk of the car that says "6-75 12/2".    Which looks a lot like "2/21 SL-9" if you turn it upside down.

Gant is acting as though this is a circus and he's never seen a clown before, delighted at everything Phoenix and the judge say.    This conveys an impression of total contempt behind a fig leaf of friendliness that can't be questioned.  It's a passive-aggressive masterpiece.  Somewhere in the audience Himemiya Anthy is probably taking notes.

And his facade barely flickers when faced with the memo.  The knife was evidence in a case (duh).  Stolen from the evidence room...and that's it? That's all we get?

Oh, this guy is skilled.   Edgeworth quite reasonably asks why he wasn't told about this impossibly coincidental murder, and Gant promptly insinuates that he's incompetent because he didn't proactively ask.  As though a proper prosecutor would have called the department every day with a checklist of possible events.  Why, I bet you didn't even consider a Godzilla attack contingency, did you?   Tsk tsk.

Gant continues to playfully refuse to give information on this second murder (except that a suspect has been arrested).  He offers to give Phoenix one data  point of his choice: where, how or when.  Apparently this trial has turned into a game show.

We already know when, so I choose where.  And Gant makes a curious distinction.  The crime took place in the evidence room (where the knife came from), but he won't say where the corpse was found.    Was the body moved?  As they say, he is playing a game and it is called silly buggers.   I'm absolutely assuming he is behind both murders (though sadly he can't have committed both, unless something paranormal or very complicated is going on).

Phoenix points out that a knife being stolen from the evidence room and then found at crime A, precisely when crime B is committed in the evidence room, is a pretty "duh" link.  Edgeworth supports by mentioning the note.   Whoever wrote it (Goodman, the murderer, or Lana)  presumably either stole the knife or was investigating its theft.    Even the judge agrees this has to count.  Gant just does his blink thing again.

And says his men took two days to assemble that logic.  In other words, he knew. And he STILL wants to play games.  He'll talk "unofficially", but not reveal the name of the victim.  (Why is that so important?)  When pressed, he offers  another one-data-point choice.   I choose ID number which should be easy to link to a name...although apparently Gant doesn't think so.

Victim ID number: 5842189.   The judge looks expectant.  I have a horrible idea, and check the court record.

Yep. It's Goodman's ID number.

Simultaneous murders of the same victim in different locations? That's an impressive level of silly buggers, chief.  And you didn't want this to come out in the trial? If I didn't already know Lana was innocent by video-game rules, I'd know it now.

Even this doesn't faze Gant.   (I really wanted to see him look thwarted. Damnit.) 

Edgeworth keeps on asking "Why didn't I hear about this?"  even though the answer is always "Because Gant has it in for you, and you just gave him another opening to attack."   It's as though he can't quite believe what is happening.  

Yep, there's that trap-springing look again.  With the first honest expression I think we've seen on Gant's face so far!  Just for one frame,  a flicker of anger and malice. This time he claims the police department sent Edgeworth all the information in that envelope delivered by Hapless Mailman Meekins, which Edgeworth didn't look at.

Hang on.  That's not even true.  We have that envelope in the court record, and...*scrolls up*...it's an autopsy report on Goodman.   It doesn't say which.  Even if Edgeworth had read it, he would have had no reason to think there was a second crime and victim.   Moreover,  Gant already raked him over the coals for not reading it,  in this same trial session!   No...as the trap unfolds,  Gant seems to be claiming this is an entirely different envelope also delivered by Meekins(?)  It doesn't make sense.

But truth isn't going to matter here.  This is a career-destroying maneuver, and it's uncomfortable to watch.  Edgeworth is helpless under the crushing accusations,  protesting vainly that Gant could have submitted all this evidence  when the trial started.   Well, yes, that's what anyone but your enemy would have done...    The flicker of malice is back as Gant rubs it all in with a technicality about evidence law.

(Ah, this detail might be relevant:  Edgeworth  apparently submitted a list of evidence to be used in the trial, which of course did not include things he didn't know existed.    That flies in the face of all Phoenix Wright games past and present, in which new evidence is produced about every five minutes during trial, this one included.)

This morning's Public Career Assassination, I mean trial,  comes to an end with Gant mentioning the rumors about Edgeworth, and even using his own brief status as a defendant against him.  Edgeworth can do nothing but formally grovel.  He begs for one more day of trial to investigate all this new information.   The judge grants it,of course, but joins in condemning him.

I don't know why Gant wants to get rid of Edgeworth, but it's obvious the plan is to fire him after tomorrow's trial no matter what happens.   The only way to save Edgeworth (and oh yeah, our actual client who's barely been mentioned lately) is to bring Gant down.  I am on board with this.  He's a mean lying stinkyhead and he's smug about it.   Get him, Phoenix!

(Rereading my notes from last time,  I'm remembering the moment when Angel Starr told Edgeworth "I might be able to save you".  Did she know this was coming down? )

[f4liveblogarchives]

Fantastic Four Vol 1 #236

Mon May 04 2020 [08:31 PM] Wack'd: IT'S A MILESTONE!

[08:32 PM] maxwellelvis: A triple-sized issue, eh? [08:33 PM] Wack'd: All your favorite Fantastic Four characters are here! Wyatt! Norrin! Agatha! Franklin! Namor! Willie! Impy! T'Challa! And, uh. I guess some other folks? [08:33 PM] maxwellelvis: I'm going to guess that's a double-sized Byrne story and then a regular-sized one by Stan and Jack. [08:33 PM] Bocaj: Ah yes captain america and reed richards in one place at one time in a time and place that isn't the ill received special avengers 300 roster [08:33 PM] maxwellelvis: That's the rest of the Marvel Universe heroes here to party. [08:33 PM] Wack'd: Yes. [08:33 PM] Wack'd: Why isn't Alicia on this cover. [08:34 PM] Wack'd: Or, like, any number of Fantastic Four repository players. [08:34 PM] maxwellelvis: Had to make room for Stan Lee. [08:34 PM] Wack'd: Also who's that guy in the suit? Is that...Collins, maybe? [08:35 PM] maxwellelvis: I just told you. [08:35 PM] Wack'd: Oh [08:35 PM] Wack'd: ...where's Jack? [08:35 PM] maxwellelvis: Either he's on the back or John Byrne knows which side his bread is buttered on. [08:36 PM] Bocaj: maybe he's behind the special triple sized sticker [08:36 PM] Bocaj: Like he got Mike Wachowski'd [08:36 PM] Wack'd:

Clint: I can't believe it... Wanda: Oh, Clint, I'm so sorry... Clint: I'M ON THE COVER OF *FANTASTIC FOUR*!

[08:36 PM] maxwellelvis: 🤣 [08:37 PM] Wack'd: Can't believe Bocaj beat me to essentially this same joke [08:37 PM] Bocaj: My secret is that I didn't bother putting in extra effort [08:39 PM] Wack'd: Anyway, let's start our first story, shall we? [08:39 PM] maxwellelvis: Indeed. [08:40 PM] Wack'd: Oh good, we're doin this

[08:40 PM] Wack'd: I think this is our first real, proper origin retelling. We got one in the late 70s but it was less a retcon and more "this is a recap issue, please don't kill us if we fudged some details" [08:40 PM] Umbramatic: welp [08:42 PM] Wack'd: I guess instead of "first to the moon" it was "make it further into space than anyone else"

[08:42 PM] Bocaj: Time keeps on slipping, slipping into the future [08:42 PM] Umbramatic: what is time [08:42 PM] Bocaj: I know that the Slott FF has the idea instead that the rocket was FTL and they were trying to get to a specific planet, which turns out to be full of assholes [08:44 PM] Wack'd: So here's egg on my face [08:44 PM] Wack'd: The dialogue from this scene is taken note-for-not from #1 [08:44 PM] Wack'd: This isn't actually retconning anything at all, except for that one narrative caption [08:45 PM] Wack'd: Oh, and the addition of some jargon

[08:47 PM] Umbramatic: CAPTAIN SPACE ICEBERG AHEAD [08:47 PM] Wack'd:

[08:49 PM] Umbramatic: this is intense [08:49 PM] maxwellelvis: Both version are pretty intense. [08:49 PM] maxwellelvis: I'm noticing the dialogue's been slightly rewritten on the new version. [08:50 PM] Wack'd: Very slightly, mostly just to add technical terms you'd expect a rocket crew to be using [08:50 PM] Umbramatic: aha [08:50 PM] Wack'd: All of the original lines are still there, though [08:50 PM] maxwellelvis: And to keep Ben's manner of speech more consistent [08:51 PM] Wack'd: Punctuation is a bit different [08:52 PM] Wack'd: OH SHIT, WE'RE DOIN' THIS

[08:53 PM] Umbramatic: oh. OH [08:55 PM] Wack'd: In this reality, Reed's a college professor, Sue's a housewife, and Ben and Alicia are married and running a tavern. All in a little town creatively named Liddleville. [08:55 PM] Bocaj: Our Town Founders made a decision there [08:55 PM] Wack'd: Our Town Founder is Josiah Liddle [08:56 PM] Bocaj: Lets cut the head off his statue [08:56 PM] Bocaj: Like in the Jetsons [08:56 PM] Wack'd: Oh, also, Alicia can see in this reality. Alicia offhandedly mentioning she saw something makes Ben real happy and he has no idea why [08:57 PM] Bocaj: Hmm. [08:57 PM] Wack'd: But I do! It's this creepy fucker

[08:57 PM] Umbramatic: oh boy! oh BOY! [08:58 PM] maxwellelvis: We're actually doing the "Perchance to Dream" thing, aren't we? [08:58 PM] maxwellelvis: Is THIS where B:TAS got that idea from? [08:59 PM] Wack'd: Pretty sure they stole it from For the Man Who Has Everything [08:59 PM] Wack'd: Which incidentally won't exist for another three or four years [08:59 PM] maxwellelvis: Wild how time works [09:00 PM] Wack'd: Another dream sequence, this time for Sue! And with much more dramatic changes [09:01 PM] Wack'd: This time, Ben's complaints about safety concerns are much more substantial, and Sue's accusation that Ben is a coward is more to do with time and money running out to do this experiment and less to do with, uh [09:01 PM] Wack'd: Commies [09:03 PM] Umbramatic: "I'm going to the one place free from capitalism... SPACE" [09:03 PM] Wack'd: Also this happens

[09:03 PM] Umbramatic: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH [09:04 PM] maxwellelvis: It's a nice touch that in those first two panels, the Thing is more leathery, like he was in the early comics, and it's only when Reed starts stretching that he looks more rock-like [09:04 PM] Wack'd: Yeah, I liked that too [09:05 PM] Umbramatic: oooh [09:05 PM] Wack'd: So Reed, Johnny, and Ben meet up at Ben's tavern to discuss these dreams, and whaddayknow, they've all been having them [09:06 PM] Wack'd: Tragically, Ben's dreams give him super-strength, but no rock skin. Dream!Ben is scared to ask Alicia to marry him--but he doesn't know why. [09:08 PM] Wack'd: Reed then goes to work, where he's having problems with his dickhead boss.

[09:09 PM] Wack'd: Reed decides to try and work out what's up with these dreams, dozes off, bonks his head, and realizes when he wakes up that he is actually a superhero, and the Puppet Master is responsible for all this. [09:10 PM] Umbramatic: wha [09:11 PM] Wack'd: Reed, trying to figure out why he doesn't have stretching powers, makes the very smart and scientifically motivated decision to stab himself in a vein and bleed out in his office. [09:12 PM] Umbramatic: oh [09:12 PM] Umbramatic: i diagnose you with dead [09:13 PM] Wack'd: It's okay though! Turns out he's a robot and the blood is all fake. So are the bodies of Ben, Sue, Johnny, Alicia and Franklin. [09:13 PM] Umbramatic: ...IS DOOM IN ON THIS TOO?! [09:13 PM] Wack'd: It takes Reed no time at all to convince his friends and family of this and go confront Phillip. [09:14 PM] Wack'd: Wow, uh, you're ahead of me here, Umbra [09:14 PM] maxwellelvis: Lucky guess [09:14 PM] Umbramatic: damn this is the second thing i've predicted tonight [09:14 PM] Wack'd: Phillip apparently just wanted to give Alicia the life he thought she wanted, but Reed points out he doesn't have the tech to do this all on his own. [09:15 PM] Wack'd: Phillip, it turns out, has made the very smart and not-at-all-suicidal decision to mind control Doctor Doom [09:15 PM] Umbramatic: oh this is gonna be goooooooooooooooooooooood [09:15 PM] Bocaj: Oh geeeeeeeeeeeez [09:16 PM] maxwellelvis: This should be good. [09:17 PM] Wack'd: Of course this is Doom we're talking about. He doesn't make mistakes, he just lets people figure things out for stupid ego reasons.

[09:18 PM] Wack'd: God, the fact that this isn't an illusion, the Four, Franklin and Alicia are trapped in tiny robots, is a lovely extra layer of bonkers. [09:18 PM] Bocaj: Amazing [09:19 PM] Wack'd: ALSO "LIDDLEVILLE" ISN'T A SMALL TOWN JOKE, IT'S LITERALLY LITTLE [09:19 PM] Wack'd: INCREDIBLE [09:20 PM] Wack'd: Anyway, Reed asks Doom what his next move is, and Doom...doesn't have one [09:20 PM] Wack'd: He's just gonna leave them like this [09:20 PM] Wack'd: Forever [09:21 PM] Umbramatic: DOOM: "I don't know, I never thought I'd get this far.” [09:21 PM] maxwellelvis: The fact that he's resisted the urge to play Godzilla now that they know he's the one who orchestrated this shows he has way more willpower than I [09:22 PM] maxwellelvis: Assuming the shock of dying in robot bodies wouldn't wake them up. [09:23 PM] Wack'd: They do have one ace in the hole--Phillip! After all, Phillip's in this mess because he mind-controlled Doom, but he's not an idiot, surely he has an escape hatch. [09:23 PM] Wack'd: Well turns out he did. Doom turned it off. [09:23 PM] Umbramatic: oh [09:23 PM] maxwellelvis: Womp womp [09:23 PM] Wack'd: Reed examines it through and tries to see if he can get it to work anyway. [09:24 PM] Wack'd: Ben, meanwhile, is taking all this really hard. [09:25 PM] Umbramatic: aw... [09:26 PM] Wack'd: He's also decided to stay in Liddleville. The world has other superheroes now, and he's earned a normal, idyllic life. [09:26 PM] Wack'd: (The fact that Doom turned off all the fake villagers does not seem to be something he's noticed.) [09:27 PM] Umbramatic: Ben: The Last Man On Fake Earth [09:28 PM] Wack'd: So! Here's the plan. Turns out Doom built a real miniature particle accelerator at Reed's fake miniature college because Reed would spot a fake. [09:28 PM] Wack'd: So all they have to do is get it to spit out some cosmic rays. Easy. [09:28 PM] Umbramatic: excuse me what [09:29 PM] Wack'd: To which part? [09:29 PM] Umbramatic: the first bit mainly [09:29 PM] Wack'd: Yeah uh [09:30 PM] Wack'd: Doom wanted to taunt Reed with some cool science he couldn't play with to make Reed miserable [09:30 PM] Umbramatic: omg [09:30 PM] Wack'd: But he also knew Reed would know if it was a fake cool science [09:30 PM] Umbramatic: that's deliciously petty [09:30 PM] Wack'd: It issssssss [09:30 PM] Wack'd: So, as they're debating who gets a power up first, Ben has a change of heart and demands to go first. [09:31 PM] Umbramatic: Ben: This is insane. ...I’m in. [09:33 PM] Bocaj: Hahah [09:33 PM] Wack'd:

Alicia: ben you dingus i literally sculpt real people with pinpoint accuracy, you've seen my work, and also we've touched each other...a lot... Ben: Yeah I know but I got that danged body dysmorphia

[09:33 PM] Bocaj: Aww [09:34 PM] Umbramatic: awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww [09:34 PM] Wack'd: I joke because I love [09:35 PM] Wack'd: Ben/Alicia 4ever [09:35 PM] Umbramatic: ye [09:35 PM] Umbramatic: (though i felt the body dysmorphia part) [09:37 PM] Wack'd: With their powers restored, all they have to do is fight a bunch of miniature robots, scale the walls of their fake city, climb up to Doom's workstation... [09:37 PM] Wack'd: Aaaaaaand he took the battery out. [09:37 PM] Wack'd: Now the workstation can only turn left 😛 [09:38 PM] Umbramatic: -gasp- [09:39 PM] Wack'd: So! New plan. Use the Liddleville river to flood Doom's office, stick some live electrical wires in there, and hope the alarm goes off. [09:39 PM] Wack'd: No dice. [09:39 PM] Wack'd: They're gonna have to find Doom and bring him to them. [09:40 PM] Wack'd: And since Reed and Ben have fairly limited top speeds, and Johnny's flame can run out without rest, this task falls to Sue. [09:41 PM] Wack'd:

Reed: No! I can't permit you to go against Doom alone! Sue: Please, Reed! Must we go through this every time a dangerous task falls to me? I've proven time and time again that I can handle myself in an emergency situation. I'm the only one who can go. And you know it.

[09:42 PM] Wack'd: Sue puts up a good fight against Doom, pelting him with force fields, but she's still as big as a fingernail, and all he really has to do is put a cup on her like she's a bug he's found. [09:43 PM] Wack'd: But the goal is accomplished. Doom is going to check and make sure the other three aren't making any trouble. [09:43 PM] Wack'd: Just like they wanted. [09:43 PM] Bocaj: Good job Sue [09:43 PM] maxwellelvis: Was this inspired by the 1967 Fantastic Four cartoon intro?  [09:45 PM] Wack'd: ...hahahaha it coulda been! [09:45 PM] Wack'd: Oh hey, that's where this meme comes from

[09:46 PM] Umbramatic: this was a meme? [09:49 PM] Wack'd: 106k notes on Tumblr [09:51 PM] Wack'd: AND SO! Doom does not blindly stride into this childish trap, and then electrocute himself. [09:51 PM] Wack'd: He angerly fires some energy beams at the childish trap because he feels insulted. [09:51 PM] Wack'd: And then Reed, Johnny, and Ben use their powers to trip him into the childish trap. Which electrocutes him. [09:52 PM] Bocaj: Wow [09:52 PM] Bocaj: bad show doom, good show reed, ben, johnny [09:52 PM] Wack'd: This somehow instantaneously shunts everyone back into their real bodies. [09:53 PM] Umbramatic: welp [09:54 PM] Wack'd: Also, Doom is now in a stasis coma in his suit. [09:54 PM] Wack'd: To ensure he stays that way, the Four decide, well... [09:55 PM] Wack'd:

[09:57 PM] maxwellelvis: I must admit I am curious to see how he gets out of this one eventually [09:59 PM] Bocaj: If you die in Liddletown you die in real life [09:59 PM] Wack'd: Anyway, the quote-unquote "brand new story by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby" is a rejected script for the 1978 animated series, adapting Doctor Doom's first appearance. [09:59 PM] Wack'd: It is also not available here. So I am going to write it off as no big loss and move on. [10:02 PM] Wack'd: I did like this story, though! I think it coulda stood to spend a little less time on the mechanics and a little more time on how everyone felt about this situation, but overall it's really good.

[kariachi]

This episode, according to the summary, has my son in it. If the summary is lying, I will light things on fire.

The Monsters In Your Head

Kelly Turnbull! Always a good episode when she’s on board

Max- wants to enjoy a nice walk through the jungle, Gwen- is here on one of her conspiracy searches

Gwen I do not know how to tell you that you of all people should be less keyed up about finding aliens. Just a thought, but, consider

“Everyone knows aliens aren’t real” ~Benjamin Tennyson, 2020

Gwen: *turns Ben into Four Arms because is her cousin really this stupid* Ben: Well yeah, I mean besides me. And Kevin I guess.

“Vilgax. Those bountyhunters. High Override and that whole army-” I believe what you mean, Ben, is that aliens are real

Honestly it’s not like this isn’t something people should know about, he’s been on live news coverage doing his stuff, there’s witnesses all over the world. Even early on in the series people were referring to the Omnitrix as ‘alien tech’. Which honestly just makes this bullshit even better.

Gwen: *shoves Ben away from ‘casual’ conspiracy hunters* Ben: *falls down cliff, into cave, finds secret door*

Gwen, a good child, worried about her cousin and sorry she shoved him off a cliff

I’m getting Journey to the Center of the Earth flashbacks

Well that’s the most ominous looking cervid I’ve ever seen.

Deerdog (Ben tossed goat in, but honestly I’m not seeing it. maybe it’s the ears? but honestly it looks very mule deer to me)

The deerdog is friendly enough. It hasn’t bit Gwen at least

.....Animo. I mean we knew Animo it was in the damn summary but... Animo has been crossing critters with Kevin’s aliens. And while I love that warthog/Bootleg/Hot Shot cross with all my heart, I have to say my boy better be happily in on this Aloysius or I swear to fuck you are going in the pit with Vin!

Okay, so they’re chill right up until somebody turns them on and then suddenly they go for the jugular. What is it with Animo and this brand of trap? Just make a Godzilla like a normal person and have at

Many deerdogs

My son!!

Literally divetackles Ben out of the way of a stampede and what does he get for his troubles? A ‘get off me’. Really you boys are as bad as each other.

And to your left you’ll see Gwendolyn Tennyson, age 10, in the process of being stolen by a runaway deerdog

I’m glad they’re acknowledging that Kevin was last seen diving further into a tunnel in space and time in a fit of vengeance, even if the answer so far for how the fuck he’s back is “it’s a really long story”.

“These animals are more ornery than you are.“ “Go lick a lemon, Tennyson.“

Kevin saves Ben’s ass, then tries to abandon him to his fate when the danger has passed. He totally hates his guts. Ben, meanwhile, ain’t getting left behind fuck that noise

“-he promised he’d help me upgrade my watch, but instead he stole my dna matrix and used it to build that animal army” Okay three things, 1) how the fuck did you build a dna matrix my brilliant child?, 2) I’m beginning to think I should give reboot!Kev the Crest of Hope, with how often he’s still turning to adults for help even though it always backfires on him, 3) Oh Animo~ My dearest friend who I totally don’t have pitspace saved for~

Animo literally has a throne he makes one of his critters fly hin around on. The fuck dude, tone it back to a nine

Copycat frie- Aloysius you are already gonna die at least earn yourself a quick one!

Although the implication that the general villain population has decided that if you find one of the watchbearers you’ll eventually get the other one is amusing to me

Kevin pls

Kevin: Give me back my shit! Animo: Fuck no! Look at the shit I’m doing with it, I could’ve never dreamed-

I insist the last episode of this series include Kevin and let him say 1 bleeped swear. The child has earned it already.

The boys take advantage of Animo’s fucking slathering over his creations to transform. Kevin throws out the first hit, because of course.

Animo: Look at these creatures, so dark and brooding- Kevin: “I’ll so you dark and brooding-”

The boys fight very well together

Raise your hand if you didn’t see the critters having alien powers coming

Animo: *monologues the entire way his control over these animals works* The Boys: Why thank you

Seriously you just, need to see that whole sequence it is gold

Huh, Dark Matter is about as tall as Shockrock.

Ben takes out one collar, Kevin takes out another collar, leaving just the warthog left

Ben: Whoever takes out this one gets to punch Animo first Kevin: Please, I always get the first punch

These fucking children, I love them

1) Kevin won the first punch. 2) omg it’s a warthog/dog/Bootleg/Hot Shot cross! Puppy!

...Did that fucker straight up interfere with my boy’s watch? Because he’s cornered and he just did a thing and now shit is starting with my boy’s watch and I will upgrade you to the deluxe suite in Hell Aloysius-

He is mindcontrolling my baby. Animo is mindcontrolling my baby. I’m gonna need a new class of pit...

Also, the fucking necksnap after Animo takes control? With the glowy eyes? Dark Matter living the horror movie monster life Kevin designed him for.

Animo: “I did promise your little friend I was going to add some upgrades to his watch, didn’t !?“

If you find yourself feeling listless, or noticing an increase in the temperature of the Earth, don’t worry, that’s just me channeling the world’s rage

And Ben times out, while Kevin’s still got plenty of time, turning this into a fucking horror movie automatically

There is nothing quite so creepy as Darkmatter scuttling around on all fours with big glowy white eyes. And yes, scuttling is the only proper word for what he is doing. Add the horror music? And damn.

Scratch that! There is nothing quite so creepy as Darkmatter scuttling around on all fours, crabwalking like that kid from The Exorcist, with big glowy white eyes.

Well thank fuck the Omnitrix timed back in because Kevin had Ben trapped and I don’t wanna know what the fuck would’ve happened. I mean Dark Matter has always been proof Kevin likes his horror movies, I don’t want to find out that he’s seen like, Event Horizon or some shit like this

Armored Up Humongasaur to the rescue

Bitch do not talk shit at my boy you are already ten kinds of fucked!

I am about to take this child and hide him in a cabin in the middle of nowhere for his own safety

Humongasaur fighting a still-mindcontrolled Bashmouth and Animo at the same time. With a focus on Animo because he’s a good boy.

Ben timed out again and Kevin is still going. Just how short is the limit for armored aliens, because Kevin should be well done by now shouldn’t he? Or had he managed to expand the limit again? I mean I considered the possibility in the Weatherheads episode that he’s been trying to remove the time limit from his watch entirely...

The other Tennysons have gone full barbarian again and are here to save the day while riding Animo’s freed army. Thankfully, because Bashmouth has a hold of Ben and Animo looks like he’s gonna start swinging.

Well, Kevin’s timed out, finally. Is also impatient to kick Animo’s ass until he notices the animals doing his work for him. Very much enjoying the show.

Kevin, as they’re leaving: I should be allowed to mindcontrol the wildlife. Max: Kevin, you know first hand being controlled like that isn’t fun, do you think they enjoyed it any more than you did? Kevin: No... *engages ‘why do I have to have basic decency when all these assholes don’t’ pout*

Gwen wants to let the animals loose in the world, Max just hurries the kids towards the surface before any of them can get hurt.

Okay, but I need confirmation that Animo won’t be able to build something new to fuck with Kevin again. Also that the kid got his DNA matrix back. This shit is important to me.

11/11 my son is perfect, Dark Matter is perfect, Animo must suffer

[thehuntersretreat]

Ornaments

((Ornaments are Kanda Yu's tattoo, Allen Walker's facial marking,  a Godzilla eye for my son, a Tiki butterfly, and a simple No. 6 title ornament.)

So a while back I promised I was going to put up some photos of the christmas ornaments that I made for my tree this year.  These are horrible pictures and I'm not actually that crafty, so excuse my mess of share.. but I am actually very proud of them!  Sorry!  Long story short, three years ago I decided I wanted a really geeky, fandomy christmas tree to express my family's real personalities :P  So everything on my tree is handmade.  

Every year I add on ornaments if I feel like there is something new to add (or I see some really cool geeky ornaments I just have to try!).  Now.. I am not crafy in general, but this is how my ornaments looked this year :P 

A shrine to Yato, from Noragami.  I didn't put it away when Christmas was up because I wanted Yato to have a shrine year round, so it's on my bookcase.  Made of simple craft foam and fine sharpies.  I used a craft knife to cut the roof tiles and darkened them a little with paint that I rubbed off.  This is one of my favorites I've made so far!   Hope Yato likes it too!

Horrible, horrible first attempt at sculpting anything.  Ever.  I wanted to make Grell from Black Butler for my daughter (We both love the anime but she loves Grell far more than I do :P).  I thought I had some airdry clay, but I was wrong... so I decided to see what I could do with the huge amount of playdoh people keep buying my son (that he no longer plays with). 

L from DeathNote.  Again, playdoh.  :P  His hair kept breaking off and it was a pain in the ass to make his eyes so I ended up painting part of it instead of using playdoh like I wanted, but it was enough for me :P Remember how I said I am not that crafty???  :P

And the Deathnote itself!  So I made a little notebook by cutting and glueing some paper together and then making the black cover.  Handpainted the words on the front with a toothpick.

On the subject of notebooks.. have a couple Grimoires!  These are from Black Clover.  Same process as the Deathnote, though I used black, red, white, and brown to sponge paint some color onto Asta's grimoire, and I used white paint on green scrapbook paper (the rougher textured handmade paper kind), then used a highlighter to add some slightly darker color to the edges.  It blended into the paper pretty well, I thought.

Horrible pics, I know, but these were my D-Grayman ornaments.  The tattoo and face markings of Kanda Yu and Allen Walker.  Cheap metallic ornaments I had lying around that I just colored with a sharpie last minute :P

Another D-Greyman ornament.  This one is for Tiki!   You can see the butterfly much better in person, and on the other side are the markings across his forehead.  The second one is for the anime No. 6 (which I loved!).  I couldn't figure out what to do for that one, so I had this plain green glass bulb and I painted the No. 6 title on it.  Later I decided I wanted to try my hand at making the bumblee bee stained glass window from the show but that will have to be a project for next year's tree :P

This is for my son who is obsessed with Godzilla.  Old plain green ornament sitting around without nothing better to do, so I handpainted the eye on it.  :P  He loved it! 

How could I have a geeky tree without Yuri on Ice ornaments???  These were just something I threw together.  Not the greatest but just fun little crafts.  Felt with some pipecleaner and little embellishments I had on hand.  But not nearly as cute as ...

Makkochin!  Some felt I had at home.  A little white paint for the eyes, and I used a brown sharpie to color around the edges to give it a bit of definition.  

And of course, Ouran High School Host Club!  Again, just some felt I had at home and a lot of patience trying to cut it out right.  

I also tried to make a gun and sword ornament with a blue string trying them together for Blue Exorcist, and two rings attached by a gold thread for Spirit Pact, but both were too awful for me to picture here :P  I'll try to redo something for them next year.  Oh, I was also going to make a Volleyball for Haikyyu but I never got around to painting it so it just looks like a white circle at this point.  

Next year I plan on making something for Code: Breaker, Run With the Wind, Voltron, Tsurune, and something fabulously FMA (last year I had a tree skirt that had a transmutation circle on it but the dog ate it.  I was too tired to remake it this year so that will definitely be on the list... along with anything else I can think of.)  Also, I think a school jacket collection might get started for Free!, Haikyyu, Run With the Wind, and Tsurune athletic jackets!

Also, a couple pics of my tree from last year with my older handmade ornaments on it...

Ornaments in the picture: Happy Cocoa out of felt, 221B Baker Street front door, Star Trek Ugly Sweater, 60's Batman BIFF, Gandalf's hat made of felt, Blue Star Trek Insignia, Silver Supernatural Idjits ornament. (Captain America's shield was a cheat.  I stole the shield from an old toy and just made it into an ornament :P)

 Sailor Jupiter hand painted ornament, Green and Red Star Trek Insignias, Baymax handpainted ornament, Yellow Worf Star Trek Ornament, and felt Draco Malfoy (that we learned was a lot harder to make than we thought).

 Ornaments  are:  Weeping Angel made with a barbie, some spray paint and left over fabric.  Oh, and craft foam glued on for wings, Harry Potter broom made from twigs from my honseysuckle bush and a little gold floral wire, Quidditch Snitch from a tine gold ornament and some leftover craft feathers painted gold, hand painted Castiel's handprint, handpainted mockingjay (that looked much better before I tried to spraypaint a protective clear coat over it), an angry snowman from Dr. Who, and a stampunk top hat made out of random things I had at hand. 

Stranger things handpainted ornament, Harry Potter trunk made from a tictac container and some hot glue, a Teen Wolf ornament (just a red ornament and a sharpie), and a Superwholock ornament. (And yes that is a Lord of the Rings Barbie collection on top of my bookcase.  Don't judge me.)

A few close ups: Star Gate Earth Chevron, Dr. Who Weeping Angel, 60's Batman BIFF, and 221 B Baker Street Door .

Also: Dr. Who Angry Snowman, Harry Potter Sorting Hat (Made from felt and a used fabric dryer sheet), and my felt Ugly Sweater Fandom collection... featuring Lord of the Rings, Supernatural, Star Wars, Star Trek, and Teen Wolf.  I will be adding more onto that collection next year but I ran out of time this year :P

[weekendwarriorblog]

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND March 29, 2019  - GODZILLA vs. ROCKETMAN vs. MA

As I mentioned over at The Beat, this is gonna be a doozy of a weekend, one where we can see some interesting things at the box office as three fairly strong movies open against the second weekend of Disney’s Aladdin.

The big (and I do mean “BIG”) movie of the weekend, and one I quite enjoyed was Mike (Krampus) Dougherty’s GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS (Warner Bros.), which continues the story set in Legendary Pictures’ 2014 reboot and adds new characters, and more importantly, MORE MONSTERS!!! I think there are still fans of Godzilla out there who will want more monsters and hopefully an interesting way to build on the Shared Universe being created by Legendary with next year’s Godzilla vs. Kong. I hope this movie does well enough that they keep making these movies, which I’m sure aren’t inexpensive.

You can read my review of that here, and check out my interview with Mr. Doughtery over at The Beat.

A movie that I was surprised by how much I LOVED LOVED LOVED is Dexter Fletcher’s ROCKETMAN (Paramount), starring Taron Egerton as singer/songwriter Elton John.  It’s a straight-up jukebox musical of a biopic that uses John’s songs as the framework to share his memories with Egerton singing most of the songs himself. He’s absolutely amazing, and I wouldn’t even be remotely surprised if he is nominated and wins in the Lead Actor category, because he gives an unprecedented performance.  (I’m hoping I can finish up my glowing review of the movie soon, but as you can surmise from the above, I loved the movie and I recommend it highly to anyone not interested in Godzilla – but I question those who aren’t interested in Godzilla, too.)

MY REVIEW OF ROCKETMAN

I wasn’t quite a big fan of Tate Taylor and Octavia Spencer’s MA (Universal), a thriller with a fun premise that finally puts Spencer in the spotlight with a leading role. That said, I do feel like it gives way too much away in the trailers. It’s definitely a weird and pretty effed up movie, and Spencer is great, as is the young cast, but it just didn’t connect with me or wow me as much as I hoped. I wish I had more time to write a review, but I will have an interview with Tate Taylor soon. (Honestly, the interview didn’t go great, which didn’t help when I wasn’t that enamored with the film in the first place.)

LIMITED RELEASES

My favorite movie of the weekend, outside of Rocketman, and one of the few I’ve seen is the new film from Denys Arcand (The Barbarian Invasion). THE FALL OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE (Sony Pictures Classics) seems like a different movie from him, starring Alexandre Landry as Pierre Paul Daoust, a courier who happens upon a botched robbery and ends up taking millions of dollars left behind by the robbers.  Of course, he uses his newfound riches to hire a high-priced escort (Maripier Morin), who he falls in love with, and hires an ex-con imprisoned for money laundering (Remy Girard) to be his financial adviser. Unfortunately, the gang whose money he stole and the police are all looking for the money, and they get very violent with anyone they think might know where it is.  It’s another fantastic ensemble piece from Arcand that has all of his humor but is a bit darker and more violent, and there are aspects of the film that reminds me of the films of David Mamet. Ultimately, it’s quite an amazing fable about how if you help out others (as Pierre Paul does), things will come back to you in return.

Filmmaker Brian de Palma is back with DOMINO (Saban Films), which stars Game of Thones’ Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as a Danish police officer named Christian who wants to get justice for his partner killed by an ISIS member. This puts him into a conflict with a CIA agent (Guy Pearce) who is using that ISIS member to trap others. Sadly, I haven’t had a chance to see this, but it also stars Carice van Houten (from Black Book) and it will be in theaters and On Demand this Friday.

Premiering at Film at Lincoln CenterFriday is Dominga Sotomayor’s Too Late to Die Young (KimStim), which takes place in 1990 as Chile transitions to democracy as seen through the eyes of a 16-year-old named Sofia. The movie premiered at last year’s 56thNew York Film Festival, and Sotomayor will be in town for screenings on Friday and Saturday.

Premiering at the Metrographto correspond with and tie into the theater’s Northern Ireland: Battle of Images series (see below in Repertory) is Donal Foreman’s THE IMAGE YOU MISSED, which goes through thirty years of footage left behind by his late father Arthur MacCaig (who has two movies in the series) and shows never-before-seen images from the war in Belfast, Northern Ireland. I’m deploy interested in the “Troubles” that plagued the area for decades, and I hope I can get over there to see this and some of the movies in the series.

Some interesting stuff at the IFC Center (and possibly other locations) this weekend, including  A.B. Shawky’s Egyptian film Yomeddine, as well Joshuea Riehl’s doc The Russian Five about how a quintet of Russian hockey players helped save the Detroit Red Wings in the late ‘80s. (This has actually played in other parts of the country, but I missed the listing. Sorry!) Richard Miron’s doc For the Birds (Dogwoof) also opens there, looking at a woman named Kathy who has 200 pet chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys. It will then move to the Laemlle Monica on June 14.

New York’s Film Forum gets Gerald Fox’s doc Leaving Home, Coming Home: A Portrait of Robert Frank (Greenwich) starting Wednesday about the famed photographer.

I wrote about Andrew Slater’s doc ECHO IN THE CANYON (Greenwich) when it opened in L.A. last week, but I finally got a chance to watch it before it opens this Friday at Angelika Film Center, and it’s much better than I expected. The film covers the California Sound out of the Laurel Canyon area in the mid-60s, which included the Beach Boys, the Mamas and Papas, as well as the Byrds and others. I was never really into that scene or music so much but hearing some of these songs again in this context gave me goosebumps, as Slater and exec. producer Jakob Dylan, who does many of the interviews, did a fantastic job telling the story of this music scene.

LOCAL FESTIVALS

There’s some great festivals taking place in New York and surrounding areas as well as a place quite a bit away.

Let me start by mentioning that the New York African Film Festival continues on Thursday up at Film at Lincoln Center, beginning with Frances-Anne Solomon’sHERO: Inspired by the Life and Times of Mr. Ulric Cross, about a West Indian lawyer who joined the Pan-African movements in the ‘60s. The Centerpiece of this leg of the festival is Joel Karekezi’s The Mercy of the Jungle on Saturday about the Second Congo War. It’s quite a rich line-up that you can read about at either of the links above.

Next, let’s go down to the IFC Center for the 3RD ANNUAL SPLIT SCREENS FESTIVAL which celebrates the “Art and Craft of Television” with a number of amazing events and screenings, beginning Weds. May 29 and running through Monday, June 3. People who attend can see an early screening of Ava DuVernay’s When They See Us and Deadwood: The Movie (see streaming below), as well as events/presentations for CBS’ Instinct with Alan Cumming in person, as well as Pamela Adlon’s Better Things (she’ll be there, too!) and a special presentation of (S)Heroes: Women of Action.  Check out the schedule, because if you’re into television, there is a LOT of great stuff here every year. (I attended theVanguard Award presentation last year for Sandra Oh, for instance.)

If you don’t mind hopping on a train trip out of the city, you should try to get out to the 5th GREENWICH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, which will present early screenings of lots of movies, as well as panels and presentations with Eva Longoria Baston and Bobby Walker Jr. receiving special honors. Some of the filmsbeing shown include Gurinder Chanda’s Blinded by the Light, Tom Shadyac’s Brian Banks as well as Mads Brügger’s doc Cold Case Hammarskjöld and the doc I Want My MTV. Local animation house Blue Sky Studios has a special panel on Sunday, and there’s also an anniversary party including a performance by Kesha, so this is a pretty big deal.

A bit off the beaten path is this year’s Overlook Film Festival, held in New Orleans, which is becoming one of the must-attend genre film festivals. (Of course, I’ve never attended.) It’s being billed as “a four day celebration of all things horror in America’s most haunted city,” opening with Jim Jarmuch’s The Dead Don’t Die and Tate Taylor’s Ma, but also including a bunch of films that have played festivals like Ant Timpson’s Come to Daddy, starring Elijah Wood, and Peter Strickland’s In Fabric, which both played the Tribeca Film Festival.

Basically, there’s a lot to do this weekend if you’re not busy with some of the movies mentioned above.

STREAMING AND CABLE

I’m really looking forward to the Netflix romantic comedy ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE, which stars stand-up Ali Wong and Randall Park (one of my favorite comic actors) as childhood friends who have an awkward tryst in college and suddenly run into each other 15 years later. The two actors co-wrote the script, it’s directed by Nahnatchka Khan, exec. producer of Park’s show Fresh Off the Boat, and it also stars Daniel Dae Kim (as Wong’s fiancé who breaks up with her) AND Keanu Reeves! Can’t wait to see this!

Also premiering on Netflix Thursday is the Ava Duvernay=directed series When They See Us (premiering a night early at the Split Screens Festival mentioned above) about the Central Park Five.

HBO will premiere David Milch’s Deadwood: The Movie, which I’ll have to watch but only after rewatching the three seasons which ran from 2004 to 2006, which I haven’t watched since then.

I don’t have DC Universe (yet!) but premiering this Friday is the new SWAMP THING series produced by James Wan, which might finally give me the excuse to subscribe to the network so I can see this as well as Doom Patroland other things I’ve been meaning to check out.

Also streaming on Hulustarting Saturday is Ryan White’s doc Ask Dr. Ruth about Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the Holocaust survivor turned sex therapist who celebrated her 90thbirthday last year.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

This is a huge week at the Metrograph as they’re kicking off an extensive Jim Jarmuschseries with some of his best movies, ranging from his earliest film Permanent Vacation (1980) and Stranger than Paradise (1984) right through his 2016 films Paterson and the Stooges doc Gimme Danger. Jarmusch will be there for select screenings, although as of this writing, it hasn’t been announced which ones. This weekend sees Down by Law (1986), Dead Man (1995) and Stranger Than Paradise.

I’m also intrigued by another new series called Northern Ireland: Battle of Images, a series of docs and shorts about the “Troubles” in Northern Ireland. Sadly, I haven’t seen any of what they’re showing but I generally trust the Metrograph programmers and many of the films in the series only screen once, so don’t miss out.

Late Nites at Metrograph  presents Georges Franju’s 1960 thriller Eyes Without a Face which inspired both John Carpenter’s Halloween and Billy Idol’s hit song, while Playtime: Family Matinees is Jacques Tati’s Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday (1953), which is a great introduction to the French mime-turned-filmmaker. Also, on Wednesday, Metrograph is presenting a new restoration of Derek Jarman’s little-seen 1990 film The Garden (Zeitgeist/Kino Lorber), starring Tilda Swinton, which was never been released on DVD or Blu-ray.  (Tilda will introduce a screening of this Tuesday night as well as be there for a sold-out screening of Sally Potter’s Orlando.)

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

If I get this up on time, you may be able to see the Weds. matinee of Howard Hawks’Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), starring Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe. Weds. and Thurs. sees a double feature of Eve’s Bayou  (1997) and Daughters of the Dust  (1991), while Friday and Saturday is a Dorothy Arzner double feature of Dance, Girl, Dance(1940) and The Bride Wore Red  (1937). This weekend’s KIDDEE MATINEE is one of my favorite early Disney movies,The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes  (1969), starring a very young Kurt Russell. Friday night’s Midnight movie is Tarantino’s Death Proof, while Saturday’s midnight is the Canadian comedy Outrageous! (1977), starring Craig Russell – no relation to Jane or Kurt, I imagine. Monday afternoon offers a matinee of Neil Jordan’s Anne Rice adaptation of Interview with a Vampire (1994), starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. Also, Sunday and Monday sees double features of Stanley Donen’s gay comedy Staircase (1969) and John Huston’s Reflection in a Golden Eye (1967), starring Elizabeth Taylor.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

The Jewish Soul: Classics of Yiddish Cinema continues its run with Edward Ulmer’s 1940 musical comedy American Matchmaker. Harold Lloyd is back at Film Forum Jr with his 1923 film Safety Last! with piano accompaniment. Also, the international retrospective The Hour of Liberation: Decolonizing Cinema 1966 – 1981continues over the weekend with the 1969 Brazilian film Macunaima, the Bolivian film Blood of the Condor (also from 1969), Nelson Pereira dos Santos’ How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman (1971), Med Hondos’ 1970 filmSoleil O (which is supposed to get a 4k restoration soon), Perfumed Nightmare  (1977) and more.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

TheCassavetes/Scorsese: Love is Strange isn’t quite finished yet, but on Thursday, it continues with Love Streams  (1984) and Casino  (1995).Thom Anderson will be on hand to show his 2003 film Los Angeles Plays Itself on Friday, then on Saturday, there’s a Malcolm McDowell double feature of Cat People in 35mm(1989) and Time after Time (1979). There’s a special FREE event on Sunday for the TV show Good Girls with a panel of the creators/cast that’s followed by a screening of the 1980 movie 9 to 5.

AERO  (LA):

The late French filmmaker Agnes Varda gets a tribute double feature with screenings of One Sings, the Other Doesn’t  (1977) and the 2017 doc Faces Places on Thursday, and then Whit Stilman has a TRIPLE feature Friday for the 25thanniversary of 1994’s Barcelona, along with Metropolitan (1990) and The Last Days of Disco  (1998). Saturday sees a Terry Gilliam double feature of 1985’s Brazil – my all-time favorite #1 film by the way – and 1981’s Time Bandits, and there’s a family matinee of Brian Levant’s The Flintstones  (1994) with Levant in person, celebrating the film’s 25th anniversary. Not to be outdone by Metrograph, they’re showing a double feature of Jim Jarmusch’s Stranger than Paradise  (1984) and Down by Law  (1986) and next Wednesday, there’s a free screening of Jarmusch’s new movie The Dead Don’t Die.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

This weekend, Waverly Midnights: Parental Guidance shows Mary Lambert’s movie based on Stephen King’s Pet Sematary  (1989), Weekend Classics: Love Mom and Dad will screen the classic Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), and Late Night Favorites: Spring will show Dario Argento’s 1977 film Suspiria… again. (Has anyone not seen it at this point?)

ROXY CINEMA (NYC)

The Tribeca hotel-based theater is showing Luchino Visconti’s 1963 film The Leopard in 35mm on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, eand then the ‘80s classic The Lost Boys (also on 35mm) Friday.

FILM OF LINCOLN CENTER(NYC):

Ester Krumbachova: Unknown Master of the Czechoslovakia New Wav eends Wednesday, while the reshowing of Sergei Bondarchuk’s 7-hour 1969 adaptation of Tolstoy’s War and Peace (winner of the Foreign Language Oscar that year) will run this week through Thursday.

MOMA (NYC):

Abel Ferrara: Unrated wraps up this week with China Girl  (1987) on Weds., 2005’s Mary on Thursday and then Ferrara’s fairly recent Alive in France on Friday. TheJean-Claude Carrière series also continues.

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

The Queens-based theater is also showing Thom Anderson’s 2003 film Los Angeles Plays Itself on Friday (as part of an “Essay L.A.” program), but obviously, if you read above, you know that Anderson will actually be in L.A. that night. Saturday afternoon, Jackie Chan’s Police Story  (1985) is playing as part of MOMI’s “See It Big! Action” series.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART  (LA):

This Friday’s midnight movie is the Beatle’s A Hard Day’s Night  (1964).

Next week, it’s Universal’s animated sequel The Secret Life of Pets 2 vs. Fox/Disney’s Dark Phoenix! Plus Mindy Kaling and Emma Thompson’s Sundance hit Late Night is also released.

[stacks-reviews]

Must Reads Special #2

Welcome to the second special edition of Must Reads. 

This months episode: Stacks Favorite Movies.

--Balto “An outcast half-wolf risks his life to prevent a deadly epidemic from ravaging Nome, Alaska.”

It has been a very long time since I last watched this movie but I remember renting it a lot from the local video store. My mom even got onto me once because I kept picking it almost very time my sister and I spent the weekend at our grandparents. Not surprising really. What little kid wouldn’t love a movie starring a dog with his goofy polar bear best friends as he saves a town and gets  the girl he had a dog crush on? And the fact that it is a true story. Though it would many more years before I found out just how true of a story it really was.

--Better Off Dead and One Crazy Summer “After his girlfriend ditches him for a boorish ski jock, Lane decides that suicide is the only answer. However, his increasingly inept attempts bring him only more agony and embarrassment.” “Hoops McCann has the name but not the talent to carry on the family basketball tradition. He’d rather earn an art school scholarship by writing and illustrating a love story. This summer in Nantucket he’s going to get the necessary romantic experience...The annual Nantucket regatta sets the stage for Hoop’s bid to earn his lady’s love and a larcenous land developer’s party sets the stage for an attack by Godzilla.”

Yeah, this is actually two movies but I can’t think of one without thinking about the other. My sister and I watched both of these every weekend that we stayed at our grandparents house (after I stopped watching Balto all the time). At least once a day the whole weekend. They only have two things in common: John Cusack stars in them and they were directed by Savage Steve Holland.

Both are great comedies with a long list of lines that I quote regularly. It is also in watching these that we realized anything is possible when your in a montage. Including learning how to ski. In Better Off Dead you have a very persistent paper boy who only wants his two dollars, plus tip. Two brothers that will always challenge you to a race, a singing cheeseburger, and two very useful lines for getting out of something (”I gotta go, the Christmas Tree is on fire” and “See... the problem here is that...my little brother, this morning, got his arm caught in the microwave, and uh...my grandmother dropped acid and she freaked out, and hijacked a bus full of penguins.”).

In One Crazy Summer you have hilarious cartoon scenes starring a rhino searching for love but being thwarted by the cute and fuzzy bunnies, getting gassed by chili, and an attack by Godzilla as only Bobcat Goldthwait can. I love these movies.

--Ghost and the Darkness “Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer star in this tense, terrific and true adventure set in 1896 East Africa. There two lions on a man-eating rampage have shut down the construction of a railway. The beasts hunt for sport rather than for food - and they have an almost supernatural knack for knowing what traps await them. Big-game hunter Remington and construction engineer Patterson set out to stop these unstoppable monsters.”

Based off a true story that I became obsessed with. Even did a paper about it when I was in middle school. I also own the book The Man-Eaters of Tsavo by John Henry Patterson which details every encounter he had with Ghost and Darkness along with details about hunts he went on during the rest of his time in there. Everything that happens in the film really did happen. Although, there are some scenes that didn’t actually occur until after Ghost and Darkness were shot.

But I should elaborate first. In Tsavo, Kenya two mane-less male lions killed over 90 railroad workers over the course of 9 months (although that number is up to debate but we mostly have Patterson’s journal to judge by). Before Patterson’s arrival many attempts where made to scare the pair away but did not succeed. They tried campfires and bomas but the lions would ignore the fires and would climb through or leap over the bomas. They didn’t fall for the traps that Patterson set. Ultimately they were stopped but it wasn’t easy. If I remember correctly it took about 9 shots to killed the second lion. I can’t remember how many it took the first lion. There are a few theories about why they attacked and ate people but it is still being debated.

The first time I saw the movie I loved it. Still do. 

--Indiana Jones A series of films following archaeology professor; Indiana Jones, as he searches for lost artifacts.

A very poor description for a great film series. Except for number four.  From favorite to least favorite it goes Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana Jones and the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and then Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. 

That order because Last Crusade is just fantastic, so is Lost Ark but I have never been overly found of that last scene (I think it scared me the first time), Temple of Doom third mostly because of that was the one of the original trio that we watched the least. And Crystal Skull last because the alien idea was pretty fun but I would have preferred it to have been about an items with more historic importance (although Temple of Doom didn’t focus on one either). Plus, for just about every movie there is usually that one scene that universally people don’t mention around those who they know haven’t seen the movie yet. Because you just have to see it for yourself. You don’t want to ruin it. And then there’s the scenes that we don’t mention because it was just that bad. And Crystal Skull has two of them. Overall, it isn’t a bad film but it is the weakest in this series.

I watched the original three a lot growing up and I still watch them at least once a year. There’s action, humor, history, and Harrison Ford. Really you can’t go wrong with these films. 

--Little Miss Sunshine “Father Richard is desperately trying to sell his motivational success program...with no success. Meanwhile, ‘pro-honesty’ mom Sheryl lends support to her eccentric family, including her depressed brother, fresh out of the hospital after being jilted by his lover. Then there are the younger Hoovers - the seven-year-old, would-be beauty queen Olive and Dwayne, a Nietzche-reading teen who has taken a vow of silence. Topping off the family is the foul-mouthed grandfather, whose outrageous behavior recently got him evicted from his retirement home. When Olive is invited to complete in the “Little Miss Sunshine” pageant in far-off California, the family piles into their rusted-out VW bus to rally behind her - with riotously funny results.”

By far my favorite dysfunctional family movie ever. It is funny and sweet and sad. The family is on some hard times but agree to all take Olive to the pageant. With the prospect of selling Richard’s motivational success program along the way. But of course nothing is ever that easy as their van breaks down and now they have to push it in order for it to start. And it just gets worse from there.

But they grow together and become closer than before. And I’m trying really hard not to give spoilers but it’s proving difficult. On all of these really. So I’ll leave it at this. It really is a very good dark humor film. Abigail Breslin is adorable in it as Olive. She stole the show. And her dance routine at the end. I would highly recommend watching the whole movie instead of looking up the routine online; though I won’t stop you if you do. It makes its impact so much better.

[appinsta]

Comic-Con 2018 trailer round-up: Aquaman, Godzilla, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and more

San Diego Comic-Con wraps up today, and it’s been a busy week for pop culture news. While big names like Marvel and HBO skipped the show this year, the show nevertheless showcased a number of big trailers from the films and shows slated to premiere over the next year or so.

Warner Bros. stole the show this year with its massive, two-hour Saturday morning panel, during which the studio revealed its slate of upcoming films: Aquaman, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and Shazam. The clips and trailers served as the weekend’s highest-profile reveals, but also proved Warner is about to be more exciting than it has been in years.

Of course, there were plenty more studios in town to hawk some serious...

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[chicagoindiecritics]

New from Al and Linda Lerner on Movies and Shakers: Joker

Joaquin Phoenix’s transformation into Joker, body and soul, only enhances his unpredictably violent aura which has everybody on edge. The maniacal laugh of Phoenix’s committed performance lingers long after the last scene. Phoenix plays Arthur Fleck who, among other problems, has a condition called PBA, Pseudo Bulber Affect, which causes sufferers to laugh or cry uncontrollably at inappropriate times.

Director Todd Phillips (War Dogs, The Hangover movies, School for Scoundrels)  makes this Phoenix’ stage, completely. It is a re-imagining of the Joker first seen as Batman’s nemesis in DC comics that has been portrayed many times. There are few frames wasted without Phoenix in the mix. Phillips co-wrote this with Scott Silver (The Finest Hour, 8 Mile). The images outweigh the dialogue but there are several lines that help explain Joker’s descension into madness. “I used to think that my life was a tragedy, but now I realize, it’s a comedy.”  

Phoenix’s characterization is simply frightening. He lost 52 pounds for the role and looks bony and emaciated in the scenes with his shirt off. His hair is long, unkempt and greasy. It’s obvious he doesn’t think much of himself until later in the film when he emerges as the full fledged Joker. That’s when his body movement and body language changes completely well choreographed in a dance on an outdoor mountain of stairs used metaphorically frequently in the film. Phoenix performs a lithe dance that looks like a cross between ballet and Tai Chi that’s impressive, showing some inner beauty.

This film tackles a myriad of issues, especially mental illness. Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is working as a clown living in a slum with his sickly mother (Frances Conroy, TV’s Arrested Development, American Horror Story). He works for a clown temp agency. He chases some teens who bullied and beat him up after they stole the sign he needed for his job. This is just the first in a long string of degrading episodes taking him down the path to hate-laced insanity. 

He lives in rat infested, garbage-choked, slum in corrupt Gotham City, which doesn’t help Arthur in the job market. His dream is to be a comedian and get a guest-spot on the popular Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro) late night TV talk show. Set in 1981, De Niro is straight forward in his portrayal of this Johnny Carson type character. The casting choice, however, is fascinating considering De Niro was on the other side of the talk show desk as Rupert Pupkin to Jerry Lewis’ host in The King of Comedy.

Fleck sees a Black female mental health counselor, who is losing her job and is unresponsive. The Social Service agency is being eliminated because of funding and is another indication of the huge gulf between the powerful and the powerless. Fleck is being victimized again. He points out his problem, “The worst part of having a mental illness is people expect you to behave as if you don’t.”

Phillips introduces more issues besides bullying and mental health through images and incidents throughout the film. Bullying surfaces again on a train where three young Wall Street Types are bothering a woman. Fleck gets involved and the incident on the train sets him on the course of becoming a homicidal maniac. This becomes a case of rich vs. poor and for family reasons, he pursues Thomas Wayne, the billionaire he thinks he has some tie to. He also encounters young Bruce. As Fleck descends deeper into insanity, the film becomes more violent. 

Though the bodycount may not be as high as John Wick, the murders are more disturbing, partly because of how and when you least expect them. In a large part, this is due to the camera work of  Lawrence Sher (War Dogs, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, The Hangover). His camera captures Phoenix’s physical actions as well as the extreme closeups of the actor’s face as he unravels. The scene of him climbing into a refrigerator during a period of frustration is noteworthy. The camera seems to be lifted off it’s mount to go hand-held making an uneven truck toward the fridge door. It’s a short scene, unexplained, but makes an impact. So is Phoenix’s movement on the stairs finally dressed colorfully as the Joker, dancing to Frank Sinatra’s “That’s Life.” Music Director, Hildur Grônadóttir, provides ominous sounds to increase tension, but also adds some song choices for background that are too obvious. “That’s Life” is played 3 times, “White Room” (Cream) in the Mental Hospital, and “Send in the Clowns” over the credits were just too obvious.

Phillips has created a stand-alone version and Phoenix asserts he will not be the Joker ever again. But this film has elements that reference Scorsese and De Niro films including Taxi Driver and The Godfather,  as well as Network where the main character becomes a news sensation.   

Yes, this film is disturbing and violent, but it deals with serious issues. More than anything else about this film, it’s Joaquin Phoenix’ performance that stands out. For anyone trying to set up a comparison with other actors who have portrayed the Joker, including Heath Ledger, don’t. The only thing shared between them is that each had their own unique interpretation of this agent of chaos. Each leaves their mark as a mile post for this cinematic genre. Even though based on a cartoon character, there’s nothing cartoonish about this movie. 

Warner Bros.               122 minutes               R

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KONG: SKULL ISLAND review by S.Oatney —

Wholly implausible, but fun, if you can suspend disbelief of, well, most everything within. Setting the bulk of the film in 1973, towards the end of the Vietnam War, and not long after we put a man on the moon, made for a befitting time in history for the human race to discover a building-sized primate living on a newly found island.

In a nutshell, new satellite technology nabs a photo of the previously undiscovered island, and John Goodman plays someone who believes there are monsters living on Earth and convinces the US government to fund a science/military operation to explore the island before other countries do so. Of course the team is unaware that the island might be home to Kaiju-sized creatures, and all hell breaks loose as soon as they arrive.

One giant gorilla is just the tip of this film’s iceberg. Kong is huge, seemingly bigger than he has ever been portrayed before, and he does do some damage to the teams of scientists and soldiers who have come forcibly into his house, uninvited. Added into the mix we soon see deadly pterodactyl-type birds, a ginormous spider, a huge octopus-like lake-Kraken, and “Skull-Crawlers” (large reptilian creatures that come from under the Earth’s crust and which Kong keep at bay).

Samuel L. Jackson plays the superior officer of the military force and is hell-bent on killing Kong, once encountered, and going out with a bang in his long and illustrious career. Tough-guy tracker Tom Hiddleston, and the rest of the cast are, for the most part, simply trying to get to the extraction-point in order to get off the island as soon as possible (about three days).

Notable and well-played roles include that of Brie Larson, who will play Marvel's upcoming Captain Marvel. In K:SI, she plays an award-winning anti-war photographer and did a great job being the “lens” through which we could see the island without judgement. Unlike previous King Kong films, she was not the love-interest for Kong and was not a damsel in distress, a past Hollywood stereotype that is quickly becoming a thing of the past in modern cinema, and rightly so. Also worth noting are Tian Jing, from The Great Wall, and Corey Hawkins, both of whom played scientist roles which I wish had been larger in scope.

John C. Reilly who stole the show as his usual comedy-relief. His role as Hank Marlow, a downed pilot from WWII, has been living with the island natives for 28 years. His back-story is perhaps as interesting, or more interesting, than the battle-after-battle monster-movie’s. During WWII, he and a Japanese pilot apparently dogfight in aerial-combat and simultaneously crashland on Kong’s island. During their time there they not only become friends, but brothers. Hank outlives his “brother” and eventually accepts that no one is ever going to come to his rescue. The heartfelt and genuine moments where Hank is reconnecting with people from the outside world are gems in this film which sorely lacks in overall acting-depth. Granted, it *is* a monster-movie, but we first and foremost must care about the people, so that the fear of the threats to their lives will feel more visceral. Reilly and Larson give the best acting performances, and give we viewers reasons to care.

When you go see the movie be sure to stay for the credits and the post credits clip. There are specific mentions of creatures from... wait for it... the Godzilla franchise which tease at sequel crossovers. Not the first time that the two franchises have crossed-over, and hopefully not the last.

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