#granted its not The Best. but when it comes to kirby there is no such thing as a bad game

[veveisveryuncool]

i see a lot of mixed opinions on this so i'm ending the debate. there is no "maybe" or "it depends." after about 4 years of retrospection since its release...

[darkmetaknightspussy]

a fairly detailed kirby oc ask meme

🪐 (Saturn) - What planet are they from? Is it in Gamble Galaxy, Another Dimension, the Mirror World, the New World, or somewhere else? Where do they live now?

🧃 (Juicebox) - What species are they? What’s their biology and physiology like? Do they differ in any way from a ‘typical’ member of their species?

⚔️ (Crossed Swords) - What weapon(s) do they wield or specialize in, if any in particular? Any special properties? Do their weapons have names or epithets? [e.g. MK’s Galaxia, Morpho’s Doomblade]

🪄 (Magic Wand) - Are they capable of wielding magic? Is it a learned skill, or is it innate? What sorts of spells can they cast? Do they possess any magical items or artifacts? [e.g. the Dimensional Mantle]

💫 (Shooting Star) - If they were to wish on a clockwork star, like Galactic Nova or Star Dream, what would they wish for?

🪽 (Wing) - Can they fly, hover, or levitate? Is it through natural means or artificial means? If they have wings, what do they look and feel like?

🥘 (Stew) - Do they have any favourite foods or comfort foods? What are their eating habits like? If absorbed by the Cook ability, what healing item would they summon?

🧋 (Boba Tea) - Come up with a Kirby Café item themed around your OC! It can be a savoury dish, a drink, a dessert, or something else entirely.

☀️ (Sun) - What’s their morning routine like? Do they take a lot of time getting ready in the morning? How do they groom themselves? What are they having for breakfast?

🌙 (Moon) - Is your OC a particularly light or heavy sleeper? Somewhere in-between? Do they take naps?

🍅 (Tomato) - If Kirby absorbed them or their attacks, what Copy Ability [or Abilities] would he get? Alternatively, if they themselves are capable of using the Copy Ability, do they have a favourite?

⚡️ (Lightning Bolt) - Which Power Effects [Blizzard, Bluster, Sizzle, Splash, Zap] would their attacks grant? Do they have any particular weaknesses or resistances, elemental or otherwise?

🎶 (Music Notes) - Do they play any instruments? What kind of leitmotif and/or battle theme would they have? Are there any songs you associate with them?

💌 (Love Letter) - How easy are they to befriend? Are they more of a social butterfly or a lone wolf?

💥 (Collision) - What’s your OC’s combat style like? Do they adhere to any particular code of honour or ethics in a fight, or are they totally unfettered by that sort of thing?

⚙️ (Gear) - Do they have any knowledge of, or connections to, the Ancients? What do they think of them?

⚖️ (Scales) - On the subject of a certain someone’s lengthy rant; is your OC moreso on the side of magic or science? Somewhere in-between? Do they incorporate the two together in some way?

🍨 (Ice Cream) - The Invader Armour undergoes a drastic transformation depending on its pilot. If they were to wield it, what appearance would their mech take on? What abilities would it have?

🪞 (Mirror) - What would their Mirror World counterpart be like? If they are a Mirror World counterpart, what traits of theirs are reflected? Do the two of them get along?

🐛 (Caterpillar) - What are your OC’s greatest fears, and why? How do they act or react when they’re afraid?

💼 (Bag) - Inventory check! What items does your OC typically carry around with them? What do they carry them in?

🔮 (Crystal Ball) - Out of all the treasures in the Great Cave Offensive, Kirby is letting your OC pick one from his stash to keep! Which one do they pick, and why?

♟️ (Pawn) - Does your OC get possessed easily, or do they have the willpower to fight back against any possible attempts? Have they been possessed before?

🕸️ (Spiderweb) - Create a bouquet inspired by your OC! It can be based on their colour palette, flower language and symbolism, whatever they like best, or any combination of the three.

💜 (Purple Heart) - If they were corrupted by the Jamba Heart, which negative traits of theirs would be amplified?

🩷 (Pink Heart) - If they were a Dream Friend, what would their moveset be like? How much HP do they have? Would they be a strong attacker, or would they take on more of a support role?

🦁 (Lion) - If they were an animal — that is, of the Earth / Shiver Star / New World variety — which animal would they be? If they already are an animal, what real-life species or subspecies are they most similar to?

🕰️ (Clock) - What would a Dreamy Gear version of them look like? What sort of accessories would they have? What kind of role do they play?

🛡️ (Shield) - Which Clash role would your OC pick - Sword Hero, Hammer Lord, Beam Mage, or Doctor Healmore?

🦋 (Butterfly) - Does your OC ‘fear the reaper’, so to speak? If they fused with Morpho Knight, what sort of form would they take on?

🍒 (Cherry) - Out of all of the Dream Friends [Kirby included], which ones would they get along with the most? The least?

🥀 (Wilted Rose) - Do they have a Soul form? What would it look and act like? How much control over themselves do they have? Is it still possible to save them, or are they too far gone?

[cantsayidont]

December 1971-January 1972. If you've read any number of comic books at all, you probably have an idea what Jack Kirby stories dialogued by Stan Lee sound like. Here's a fine sample of Kirby's own writing and dialogue, unmediated by Stan Lee, in one of the best stories in perhaps the greatest series Kirby did at his creative peak: "The Glory Boat!"

The premise of "The Glory Boat!" is relatively straightforward: A squad of ocean-going villains from Apokolips called the Deep Six is wreaking havoc throughout the Atlantic Ocean, so Orion, champion of New Genesis, sets out to stop them.

Into his path comes a life raft containing three ordinary people, the survivors of a yacht wrecked by the villains the night before. Taking the raft in tow with a magnetic force beam, Orion follows a signal from his Mother Box (the sentient living computers of New Genesis and Apokolips) that leads him to "an ugly, misshapen craft made of aged wood--with a bound, man-like figure for a mast," as seen on the cover above. Having no time to take the shipwreck survivors to shore, Orion brings the three to this curious vessel, where he discovers that the figure on the mast is his friend Lightray, previously captured and bound by the Deep Six. Once Lightray is free, introductions are made:

This issue was published during the Vietnam War, so Richard Sheridan's conscientious objector status means that he's not merely a pacifist, but has been able to convince his draft board that he is so philosophically opposed to war that they have granted him alternative service. Achieving this, especially if you weren't a clergy member of some kind, was not easy, but Richard's father, Farley Sheridan, is obviously unimpressed. Lightray, however, finds it perfectly reasonable — although note the ironic cut to Orion, who is definitely not "like that!!" (Although he's a defender of New Genesis, Orion is a curiously feral individual, the reasons for which Kirby had not yet revealed at this point in the series. Orion himself is something of a monstrosity: the son of Darkseid, raised by his greatest enemy.) On the other hand, while Lightray is at least superficially more sympathetic than Orion is, note that he's really quite condescending, a consistent feature of his interactions with Earth people.

Orion and Lightray investigate the cabin of the strange craft, and discover that it houses a ghastly mutated thing, which Orion calls a "Sender" and which is controlling the sea monster the Deep Six are using to destroy ships. Orion is prepared to kill the Sender, but Lightray insists, "It shouldn't be destroyed!! It should be changed!!"

Lightray's Mother Box is in the front of his headpiece. In the original Fourth World books, Kirby modeled the Mother Box on tefillin, which are small leather boxes containing scrolls with Torah verses. Tefillin are worn strapped to the head and the arm; the New Gods generally wear their Mother Boxes on one or the other. (Orion, the contrarian, usually carries his on the front of his Astro-Harness, the glider he uses to access the Astro-Force.) Note that while Orion obviously understands what Lightray is doing, this is all Lightray's show; even Orion has to cover his eyes at the forces Lightray is unleashing.

Mother Box reduces the Sender to a cube-like "basic life form," but this is only the beginning of its transformation. Over the next few pages, it becomes "techno-active," growing and changing into something quite different, as we'll see.

Meanwhile, the Sheridans have what's clearly just the latest in a long series of arguments between Farley and Richard, with poor Lynn (whose nerves seem understandably shot) caught in the middle. The gist is that Farley, who, like Kirby, is a WW2 veteran, thinks that Richard's pacifism makes him a coward, declaring, "Well, at least I fought! When my outfit hit the beach at Normandy, I walked into that rain of bullets with the rest of them!!"

This argument is interrupted by the arrival of Jaffar, one of the Deep Six. Confronted by this monstrous creature, Farley freezes in terror, but Richard chooses to fight for his father and sister:

Despite Lightray's earlier contention that transformation is an alternative to destruction, for Richard Sheridan, it means not only death, but also the loss of his identity, in a way that obviously parallels the way Lightray previously turned the Sender into a simple "life cube." Another important point here is Jaffar's acknowledgement of Richard's futile courage; grudging respect for an opponent engaged in a struggle they can't possibly win is a device that recurs throughout the Fourth World saga.

Orion responds to this atrocity by killing Jaffar (the second of the Deep Six he's killed; he killed another in the previous issue), but seeing his son reduced to a literal faceless victim is too much for Farley Sheridan. He's gotten what he said he wanted — his son has leapt into harm's way when called — in a uniquely awful way, and his mind snaps:

Richard Sheridan is dead, but his journey isn't yet over. As his father imagines himself back on the beach on D-Day, Lightray carries Richard's body to the heart of the "techno-active" transformation still taking place within the weird craft. Orion, meanwhile, straps Lynn into his harness to carry her away from the imminent confrontation with the rest of the Deep Six. Farley Sheridan remains:

A lot of Kirby's dialogue in this series has the pace and cadence of a stage play. Note how Farley and Lightray narrate parts of the action the reader can't feel or hear. Unlike a stage play, though, this isn't a way of talking around battle scenes or vistas that can't be shown — there will be real fireworks, and imminently. Rather, Kirby uses this technique to add a sense of anticipation and gravity to the situation.

Orion grapples with the rest of the Deep Six on the deck of the wooden boat, which soon catches fire. However, there's still a bigger threat on the horizon: the villains' mutant leviathan, which is fast approaching, drawn by the signal of the transformed "Caller." To Orion's annoyance, Lightray has occupied himself making some seemingly dubious tactical decisions. A central aspect of Lightray and Orion's friendship in the Kirby stories is that Lightray is not really a warrior at heart, often seeing the war as an elaborate game. This frustrates Orion, sometimes for good reason, but it also sometimes gives Lightray insights Orion lacks:

Richard Sheridan is still dead, but the techno-active process has now restored the face that he lost when he chose to abandon pacifism to fight for the lives of his father and sister. Meanwhile, the big wave Lightray spoke of before is finally breaking, revealing the leviathan, the ultimate product of the Deep Six's more horrific transformations. However, Lightray has prepared an answer for that as well. This is what finally emerges from the transformed Sender, the final form of the "Glory Boat" of the title:

This strange torpedo collides head-on with the leviathan in an apocalyptic cataclysm: "Thunderous notes!— White-hot, elemental and all-consuming!! A Wagnerian offering to the Source!!" Lightray, who can fly at incredible speeds, carries himself and Orion away as the explosion consumes the leviathan, the Deep Six, and the mortal remains of Richard Sheridan. As for his father:

We can probably assume that Lightray and Orion later go back to retrieve Farley, or at least tell rescuers where he can be found — Orion is gruff, but he does have some concern for bystanders — but Kirby chooses to end on this tableau: Farley Sheridan coming to his senses, but still trapped in the wreckage of his shattered ideals.

This is heady stuff, and unlike many of DC's attempts at "relevance" in this period, it doesn't boil down to an obvious conclusion. Farley is a fool, to be sure (interesting, then, that he's the character closest to Kirby in age and experience), but the story isn't a straightforward endorsement of pacifism or even the need to change and compromise, which more conventional liberal morality plays (e.g., Star Trek) generally treat as the highest form of virtue. (Orion and Lightray kill all of their opponents in this story, and not even Lightray proposes that they talk it out!)

There's a line I often hear from comics fans and even comics pros who ought to know better to the effect that Kirby couldn't write (or, more offensively, couldn't write without Stan Lee to smooth things out). It's true that Kirby was never one for naturalistic dialogue, or the kind of quips and topical references that superhero comics often substitute for characterization, but "naturalistic" and "realistic" are not synonymous with "good." The Fourth World books in particular are largely unconcerned with realism (although they do contain a variety of topical references, some very pointed), but they're thematically rich and often vividly characterized, and Kirby's narrative drive and flair for the dramatic have few peers.

[moorheadthanyoucanhandle]

SHORT PEOPLE GOT NOBODY

Opening in theaters today:

Saltburn--The title refers to the enormous, somewhat faded English country mansion in which most of the movie unfolds. But it may also suggest the proverbial pain of salt poured into a wound, as might be caused by the very sight of such a residence and the class system it represents.

Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan), a slight, nebbishy scholarship student to Oxford, is befriended by a classmate, the blueblood Adonis Felix (Jacob Elordi), who invites him home for the summer to the title pile of bricks in 2007. Felix's family is a fairly gothic bunch--abstracted Dad Sir James (Richard E. Grant), blithe, cordial Mom Lady Elsbeth (Rosamund Pike) and addled wreck of a sister Venetia (Alison Oliver), along with the sneering biracial American cousin Farleigh (Archie Madekwe). Carey Mulligan is also around as Elsbeth's nutty parasitical friend Pamela, as is Paul Rhys as the imperious butler Duncan.

Rather quickly, Oliver finds himself enmeshed with each of the family members, and drawn into the intrigues and occasional casual decadence of their isolated and mysterious lifestyle. While Oliver initially seems like an honest but in-over-his-head parvenu, like Balzac's Rastingnac or Faulkner's Ben Quick, we gradually see that he has his own wormy, calculating, opportunistic side.

This is the second feature written and directed by Emerald Fennell of 2020's Promising Young Woman. If it's a sophomore slump, that probably says more about the incisive brilliance and focus of Promising Young Woman than it does about any shortfalls of its own. The fury that charged Fennell's first film was direct and uncomplicated. Seemingly wanting to get across something more subtle and nuanced about class, Saltburn flails around a bit and sometimes feels confused, overwrought, overlong, even borderline campy.

But stick with it. It ultimately adds up to a potent piece of moviemaking, and of storytelling. Shot with hallucinatory garishness by the marvelous Linus Sandgren, the movie brings its setting vibrantly to life; there's none of the comforting stodginess of, say, Downton Abbey to it. And Fennell's narrative is involving. Even as we sense the influence of everything from The Shining to Risky Business, we're also pulled into investment in a yarn we haven't seen before. And she doesn't let us down; despite the movie's gratuitous thrashing about, in the end the plot snaps together to a satisfying and fairly devastating point.

Fennell also gets uniformly superb performances from her cast. Probably the wittiest and most endearing is Rosamund Pike, but Barry Keoghan, maybe the single best thing about The Banshees of Inisherin, is spectacular here, giving a tour de force turn in a role that is not only wildly mercurial on an emotional and psychological level, but also required physical fearlessness. Saltburn may end up being most remembered for literalizing a common expression for finding somebody extremely attractive, but Keoghan's draining performance makes a splash.

Napoleon--Returning to France, uninvited, from exile in Elba, the title character is confronted with a regiment of soldiers he used to command. "I missed you," he tells them, seemingly sincerely. Soon he's back in charge.

Apparently there is some historical basis for this scene; Napoleon is said to have had a fond and comradely relationship with his troops, despite his willingness to get them slaughtered. But to the casual viewer of this Ridley Scott epic, the moment may come as a surprise. Nothing in the movie prepares us for it. Played by Joaquin Phoenix, this Napoleon shows little affection or even interest toward anyone or anything apart from himself, and a certain almost adolescent erotic fixation on Josephine (Vanessa Kirby). In between campaigns, he makes rather unromantic attempts to impregnate her, and reacts with sullen outrage when they don't succeed.

Scott's movie, based on a script by David Scarpa, is largely a pageant of carnage. It begins with a graphic depiction of Marie Antoinette's meeting with Madame Guillotine, then shows us Napoleon navigating the deadly mayhem of the Revolution and the First Republic. It then traces him from battle to battle: Toulon, Austerlitz, Moscow and some of his other greatest hits, culminating, of course, against Wellington (Rupert Everett) at You-Know-Where.

This Napoleon isn't boring. It's entirely watchable and well-staged. Scott deploys his forces with the care of a child playing with toy soldiers on his bedroom floor. But it doesn't really hit hard emotionally; something is missing from it. Early on, we see a cannonball splat into the chest of a horse, and the resulting explosion of gore is so obviously computer-generated that, for me at least, it carried little shock (it has this in common with the splatter effects in Thanksgiving, which, exhaustingly enough, I saw the same day). This sort of detached unreality hangs over the movie's horrors, and the same detachment extends to the central character. 

While Phoenix holds our attention with his movie star charisma, it's as if he's working in a vacuum. Except here and there in his scenes with Kirby's drolly unflappable Josephine, Phoenix seems to be anomic, walled off from the other characters by his own narcissistic self-regard. Maybe that's deliberate; maybe Scott is trying to dramatize the Napoleon of Walter de la Mare's unforgettable poem:

What is the world, O soldiers?

It is I.

I, this incessant snow,

This northern sky.

Soldiers, this solitude

Through which we go

Is I.

In any case, the movie has a point to make about the appetite for an autocratic "strongman" leader that seems to inevitably arise in reaction to the messiness of democratic movements. It's a theme which would, admittedly, seem to have a slight smidge of relevance to our current times. It should be noted that, warmongering megalomaniac though he was, Napoleon was also a tremendously intelligent and curious person, which puts him in a very different category than our most notable current would-be Emperor.

[kirby-souljourney-au]

🍅⚡️🩷 for any oc(s)!

Mm. Both, then!

🍅 (Tomato) - If Kirby absorbed them or their attacks, what Copy Ability [or Abilities] would he get? Alternatively, if they themselves are capable of using the Copy Ability, do they have a favourite?

Hara:

Well, Hara isn’t able to use Copy Magic, even though she is a Soul Matter Astral — it’s a very rare form of magic, and hardly any Astrals even in her time had it.

But if Kirby absorbed a Copy Essence from her… the ability would depend on what attack he’s absorbing for it.

Most of her attacks would give them Tornado, I think. In all honesty, i haven’t actually thought about this aspect yet, so I’m not 100% on what Ability she’d grant, but she seems like a windy type.

…If Kirby absorbed some of her raw, unformed Soul Magic, it’d give him invincibility for about 5 seconds. Soul Magic by itself in its raw form is incredibly powerful, hence all the greatest recorded Heroes of Yore have been Soul-Matters. Three of them had Copy Magic, including Kirby and… the first.

Auberon:

Again, even though he’s a Soul-Matter, he cannot use Copy Magic. Astrals are an endangered species on their own, but Soul-Matters are especially so because of the possibility of them wielding Copy Magic. They were explicitly hunted by some people back in the day, but the hunters have since been taken care of.

Anyway, when it comes to what Abilities Aubs would give, it again depends on what attack Kirby is absorbing from them.

Probably Fire or Spark, since Aubs usually attacks using his sword.

⚡️(Lightning Bolt) - Which Power Effects [Blizzard, Bluster, Sizzle, Slash, Zap] would their attacks grant? Do they have any particular weaknesses or resistances, elemental or otherwise?

Hara:

Because absorbing a normal attack from her would give Tornado, they’d probably give the Bluster effect to Kirby’s weapons.

Unless, that is, she’s using raw Soul Magic. That would grant Sizzle.

She’d likely be weak to most close-range attacks (like Finishing/Final Cutter, can’t remember exactly what it’s called), since she usually resorts to long-range battle. And for elemental weaknesses, I’d say Electricity would mess her up good. I don’t suggest attacking her, though. Gala will kill you for it.

Auberon:

His attacks would grant Sizzle or Zap effects, depending on what attack it is!

And he’d be weak to Water. Typical catboy.

🩷(Pink Heart) - If they were a Dream Friend, what would their moveset be like? How much HP do they have? Would they be a strong attacker, or would they take on more of a support role?

Hara:

Eh… she wouldn’t be the best Dream Friend, at least during the events of Soul Journey. She’s very much falling to her corruption, and it takes a god damn lot of willpower to remain sentient at her level of corruption, so she’d be relatively weak. It’d be like having a walking Glunk as an ally, or Splatoon 3 Side Order’s Pearl Drone with no upgrades except one (1) Drone Burst Bomb colour chip.

Sorry, Hara. I love you lots, but you are not built for fighting anymore.

Auberon:

His moveset… it’d probably be sort of similar to Meta Knight’s, but more powerful. Maybe with a few of Dameta’s moveset aspects? Oh, and they’d do Fire and Electricity easily.

He’d have a solid amount of HP as well. They’re a tough nut to crack! Unless you have a spray bottle full of water.

And yes, he would be one hell of an attacker! Their DPS would go off the charts in battle! Like, think a team of Flamberge and three Sizzle Dametas in Ultimate Choice. No one would survive.

Hehe… this was very fun to answer. I love these two so much

[44gamez]

Showtime review for Nintendo Switch

System: Change Launch date: March 22, 2024 Developer: Good Really feel Writer: NintendoI’m undecided if Princess Peach has a rivalry with Kirby or one thing, however she’s picked up a stunning quantity of expertise within the nineteen years since her final solo recreation. Briefly order, Princess Peach: Showtime duties the Mushroom Kingdom’s longstanding ruler with displaying all kinds of feats of expertise, from determine skating to baking to lasso-wrangling – effectively, both that or she’s apparently a very good actress. Peach’s second-ever starring function is an approachable, diversified, fast-paced journey with loads of memorable moments, and whereas it didn’t precisely go away me hoping for an encore, it’s refreshing enjoying a contemporary Mario-verse recreation that shines the highlight on somebody aside from the plumber himself.Princess Peach: Showtime is about throughout the surprisingly huge Sparkle Theater, a mega-complex that may apparently host twenty stage performs directly. After all, as custom has it, all the pieces goes horribly mistaken the second the protagonist arrives – a sorceress named Grape decides that might be the proper time to insert her minions into all of the productions and mess them up, and on high of that, she’s captured the ten sparkle sprites who might actually use some good, old school rescuing. What follows is a persistently entertaining expertise that has Princess Peach taking the stage, donning completely different transformation talents, and combating off the members of the Bitter Bunch which have rudely taken over the place.

One of many issues that I actually love about this recreation is how strongly the builders have embraced the “we’re in a theatre manufacturing” premise. Every stage actually does give off that feeling, principally because of the little particulars. Most issues onstage, like buildings and foliage, seem like the type of picket cutouts that you'd truly see in a present; enemies have puppet strings that appear to information them throughout the stage, and a highlight follows Peach round as she explores. Generally you’ll even catch a glimpse of the stage curtains as Peach rounds a nook or enters a brand new a part of the extent. It’s glorious, and helps give Princess Peach: Showtime an id that feels wholly its personal.Whereas the sport performs from a side-scrolling perspective, Princess Peach: Showtime is nearer to a brawler (a really, quite simple one) fairly than a platformer – though there's a little little bit of that scattered round, too. The primary gameplay focus of Showtime is mastering every of the ten transformations; relying on which stage play she enters, Peach will don a brand new outfit that grants her talents particular to that stage. Some are extra targeted on fight; others are extra targeted on puzzles or reflex-based challenges. They really feel much less like conventional power-ups, as a result of they’re not elective and are tightly built-in into the design of every degree. This method undoubtedly removes some participant company, in that there’s no actual decision-making that should occur to, say, discover one of the best route by way of the stage, which lowers the general problem. The good thing about this type of degree design is that it actually permits developer Good Really feel to fill every stage with thrilling set items and tailor-made gameplay challenges that retains the sport feeling contemporary from begin to end. Every transformation can also be solely used thrice, so that they don’t put on out their welcome.

There are a couple of transformations which might be extra targeted on fight. Swordfighter Peach lets the Princess slice and cube by way of hordes of foes, launch counterattacks and even assault upwards by way of platforms. Then there’s Kung-Fu Peach, which I don’t suppose feels drastically completely different when it comes to the moment-to-moment battles, however differentiates itself on the finish when the participant has to defeat a Kung-Fu Grasp by way of well-timed blocks and parries. These are maybe probably the most technical of the transformations in-game, and actually, they’re not all that technical to start with – controls are easy, and most gamers will doubtless face no problem attending to the tip. There are another transformations that technically do embody fight, however deemphasize it in comparison with different gameplay components. For instance, Cowgirl Peach wields a lasso she will use to choose up minions and objects and hurl them at one another, however the true focus of those phases is pulling off traditional wild-west scenes, like chasing pursuers on a horse or sprinting throughout the highest of a transferring prepare.One of many small issues I really like about Princess Peach: Showtime is that the format of the Sparkle Theater provides gamers a bit little bit of alternative about what they wish to do subsequent. Every flooring of the theatre has 4 phases connected to it (apart from the basement, which has ten) and as soon as a brand new flooring is unlocked, gamers can full every stage on that flooring in no matter order they select. I favored this method as a result of I might flip between the relaxed and fast-paced phases as I selected, relying on what I used to be within the temper for.On that word, I used to be truly fairly shocked at how a lot I loved the much less action-focused transformations. The number of gameplay in Princess Peach: Showtime is spectacular, and that’s partially as a result of not each degree is about beating up baddies. The phases that includes Patisserie Peach, for instance, deal with baking-centric minigames like adorning muffins beneath time strain and baking cookies in a bake-off kind state of affairs, and I discovered them actually enjoyable regardless of most likely not being the target market for them. For many who get pleasure from stealth, Ninja Peach’s ranges will doubtless be a spotlight – whereas its quite simple, there’s one thing satisfying about avoiding the road of sight of guards by slinking by way of foliage or sliding alongside a wall earlier than attacking from behind.

I believe my favourite transformation within the recreation, all issues thought-about, have been Detective Peach’s phases. Right here, you spend time poking and prodding by way of environments doing a little very mild sleuthing, like attempting to resolve an artwork heist in a museum. Once more, the logic puzzles right here aren’t very tough, however that’s not the purpose; it’s simply inherently charming watching Peach use her “Strike of Instinct” to accuse somebody of being a suspect in a criminal offense, or spinning some statues round to open a path to a collectible. There’s plenty of novelty in seeing Peach doing one thing aside from being a non-character for as soon as, and whereas that novelty does finally fade, for many of Showtime’s runtime I used to be having a ball simply embracing the silliness of all the pieces.The narrative in Princess Peach: Showtime is extraordinarily mild, as a result of past the principle premise of attempting to cease Grape, every stage has its personal self-contained story. It principally boils all the way down to “Oh no, the dangerous guys are messing up THIS play TOO” and going to rescue somebody or retrieve one thing that was stolen. It will be good if there was little bit extra happening, however I did discover the brand new characters fairly charming. Stella is Peach’s primary companion for this recreation, and he or she’s a bit floating star ribbon factor – not a very deep character by any stretch, however cute and really invested within the journey. It’s the Theets – the little yellow fellows that may be noticed operating throughout the place – who're the true stars of the present. They’re positioned because the workers, actors, and company attending the Sparke Theatre, and so they can have some fairly amusing dialogue right here and there, however I principally simply loved seeing them enjoying a task within the numerous productions.

Levels have a good quantity of replayabity too, relying on how thorough you might be. Every degree has someplace within the neighborhood of 7-10 Sparkle Gems the participant can gather. Generally, they’re simply floating in plain sight, however more often than not they have to be discovered – typically they’re hidden in backstage problem rooms, or behind a chunk of surroundings. In reflex-based phases like these that includes Cowgirl Peach, a well-timed leap may be your solely probability to seize one earlier than passing it by. They’re additionally awarded primarily based on efficiency in sure minigames, and the factors for a few of these will be surprisingly strict; when enjoying as Determine Skater Peach, for instance, the participant has to hit sure jumps and spins as they skate across the ice, and lacking even one may imply not incomes the gem for that phase. It’s not attainable to backtrack very far in a stage in Princess Peach: Showtime, which suggests if the participant misses a gem, the one method to try it once more is by replaying the entire stage – and a few of these phases are a good size. I undoubtedly missed fairly a couple of my first time operating by way of a degree, and so I anticipate that gamers who get pleasure from searching down collectibles will get fairly a bit extra playtime.An enormous spotlight of Showtime for me was the bosses, which I discovered to typically be fairly inventive and attention-grabbing. Generally, even mainline Mario video games battle with this – I grew bored with combating the Broodals in Tremendous Mario Odyssey, for instance, as a result of all of them appeared and felt so comparable and have been in a position to be taken down in only a few hits. I don’t wish to spoil all of them as a result of they’re so thrilling to come across for the primary time, however every one has its personal gameplay loop connected and so they all really feel fairly dramatic in contrast with the lighter, low-stakes fare of the principle phases. My favourite was Purrjector Cat, whose unsettling look and fewer predictable assault patterns lead to a really enjoyable battle.The animations in Princess Peach: Showtime are glorious – I liked the way in which Peach would slide down the railing of the steps when descending between the flooring of the theatre, or the way in which she would perform a little two-step dance to the beat of the music whereas idling within the Patisserie phases. The sport typically appears nice throughout the board, though it will possibly look a bit delicate in handheld mode on occasion when the motion is zoomed-out. The body fee isn’t all the time nice – it tends to be principally okay throughout gameplay, however virtually all the time drops throughout in-engine cutscenes and transformations, and within the hub space. I didn’t discover it so egregious that it took away from the enjoyable of enjoying the sport, nevertheless it undoubtedly doesn’t share the excessive degree of across-the-board polish that gamers have come to anticipate from a significant Nintendo launch – a disgrace, because the Change is able to extra.The Verdict

Princess Peach: Showtime is a pleasant little experiment from Nintendo, and whereas Peach’s second solo recreation could not have the scope or problem of one thing like a mainline Mario recreation, it received me over because of its diversified gameplay, inventive creative path, and sheer appeal. The varied transformations Peach makes use of are distinct, and make up for the sunshine platforming by specializing in always shaking up moment-to-moment gameplay and embracing the theatre setting. Strong replayability, nice bosses, and delightful animation assist elevate what might have been a easy kid-friendly recreation into one thing that ought to attraction to Mushroom Kingdom followers of all ages. Hopefully this launch represents only the start of a brand new period for Nintendo’s less-featured characters – I’m glad they took an opportunity on this new thought, and hope they’ll do it once more quickly.Princess Peach: Showtime copy supplied by the writer for the needs of this overview.Associated Source link Read the full article

[xmagicalpotatox]

Hi! If I’m not too late to the Kirby ask game, how about 💌🪐⚡️☀️🥘 for your oc?

OH MY GOD I WAS SEMI JOKING IDK ID ACTUALLY GET AN ASK

anyways here are them for vacay, my half joke half not oc!!!! 💌 (Love Letter) - How easy are they to befriend? Are they more of a social butterfly or a lone wolf? I'd think they'd be easy to befriend, he usually scares people off with his looks but for a loooong while now, he's trying to make himself more presentable and more silly and fun :) he's a former lone wolf who realized the lone life style wasn't what he wanted. a serviceable one, yes, but everything's better with a friend or two !! why was he a lone wolf though? he was scared of his own powers (he might still be, just a little ;)) 🪐 (Saturn) - What planet are they from? Is it in Gamble Galaxy, Another Dimension, the Mirror World, the New World, or somewhere else? Where do they live now?: Y'know, when I first semi-unjokified this guy he was originally from the Mirror World, an intentional contrast to the other dark and gloomy citizens, perhaps a message of "it doesn't matter where you come from" lies in there or something. his origin now? Idk, gm_construct ig oh and also he most likely lives on popstar now, its all so nice and happy and care free!!!! ⚡️ (Lightning Bolt) - Which Power Effects [Blizzard, Bluster, Sizzle, Splash, Zap] would their attacks grant? Do they have any particular weaknesses or resistances, elemental or otherwise? I think he'd be the one gaining power effects from attacks, however, he might have some moves that have specific elements attached to them. Weaknesses? idk, does votekicking count? jkjk! it'd probably be like possession, not really weak to the possession process (probably the same as anyone else), but worried to what would happen afterwards. ☀️ (Sun) - What’s their morning routine like? Do they take a lot of time getting ready in the morning? How do they groom themselves? What are they having for breakfast? wake up, check cellular device, breakfast(?), shower to the best of their abilities, dry, then do what they planned on doing. it tries to not take too much time on getting ready, he loves mornings! i dont know if he can take off his vacation shirt but he doesnt really mind so he just showers in it, hey, two birds one stone amirite? really it just depends, i dont think they need food, I just think that if he feels like it and maybe if kirby or somebody got him some food yesterday he could eat the leftovers. 🥘 (Stew) - Do they have any favourite foods or comfort foods? What are their eating habits like? If absorbed by the Cook ability, what healing item would they summon? I dont actually know, they'd probably eat almost anything that should be eaten, specific favorite foods are tough, watermelons probably, they have plenty of experiences with those. eat when low on health or if on a special occasion/craving something specific. If absorbed, probably also gonna go with watermelons.

[keenexpressions]

Nicho Lin

1. Name, Year, & Major

Nicho Lin, 4th Year, Economics & Statistics

2. If you were a luxury brand, what would it be and why?

If I was a luxury brand, it would be Prada. Prada produces a lot of dark or colorful, practical, and formal luxury clothing which I think fits me because I like darker colors and can be serious at times but also very light-hearted depending on the context.

3. Who is your personal hero and why?

My personal hero is ma dad. He a cool dude.

4. How do you react after a conflict occurs, and why?

I think when a conflict occurs, I will feel an initial fight-or-flight gut instinct, and try to process what is happening. I usually want to talk about things right away but if there are too many emotions I prefer to talk about the conflict in the near future once things have calmed down.

5. If you were granted 3 wishes, what would it be?

I would wish for an IRL Kirby friend, an unlimited food and water-making machine for the world, and access to a bank that restocks its vault with money once a week.

6. What would you Google about your life?

I would Google where I will be in 10 years, career and location-wise.

7. What’s your favorite thing about yourself?

hehe

8. What's your toxic trait?

I think that my toxic trait is that I can be impatient in certain situations. For example, to resolve conflict, it’s important to find a resolution the right way rather than the quickest way. However, at times I opt for the quickest way.

9. Would you visit the future or past?

I would visit the future to see how the world is progressing (or regressing).

10. What are the biggest differences between you today/now and five years ago?

Five years ago I was 17, so I was in my junior-senior years of high school. I think some advice I would give to myself would be to remember to stay humble because the world that I knew back then was much smaller than the world that I know today, and that there is strength in finding comfort and security in your own company. Throughout college I had the privilege to meet so many amazing people, and as time has passed my socialcircle has changed several times over. I would tell my old self that it is pretty common for people to come and go in life and that loving your friends doesn’t always mean that they are meant to stay close to you forever. I grew up with the same three best friends all throughout elementary school up until the end of high school, and if I told my past self that one day the four of us would reach a point where we barely talked to each other, I would’ve never believed it. Nevertheless, I think it still would’ve been an important lesson to learn back when I was 17. I would also tell my older self to truly value my time. As college students, I think we all are aware of just how busy and stressful college is, and nowadays life is pretty much a blur because of everything going on. Day in and day out is work, studying, or procrastinating (lol), and time begins to fly by before you know it. It felt like just yesterday I was a freshman in the dorm halls, but now I’m going to graduate soon and it’s bittersweet because of how much time everyone missed from the pandemic. I hope my younger self would appreciate my jaded advice, and I’m sure when I look back five years from now I’ll have a lot more to say to my current self.

[boydfiles]

they can make anything possible, so long as they have each other. to be affirmed by this want; to be supported in the most precarious of endeavours — he has never heard such a thing. well ... he has, and it's all came from her. perhaps blindly supportive, which does not extract the earnest intentions, so he is okay to be encouraged; to have her by his side through everything there is to come. if these desires are not fleeting, he can easily envision that life. he can envision himself being happy and free and being surrounded by their family. he emphasises with the doubt, as he had doubted he would be granted a wish so profound.

yet to be granted it, he must remind himself. it's a blessing and a curse for how easy it is to drift away with the thought of her. she has unlocked a version of himself he does not recognise but is growing fond of more and more as the days go by. after all — how can he not love something she has made by hand, so considerate and full of love that its also made him the best version he's ever been. that can't be a bad thing. he's been struggling his whole three decades of life to find something of this calibre. to have it not, and to be spoiled by the simplicity of over-anticipation, would be nothing short of tragic.

"we can do anything you want to, kirby," he affirms, stroking her soft blonde locks and leaving little kisses on her forehead and temple. "there's nothing stopping us from doing any of that; getting out of here, rolling in it, having ... "

the family he wishes he had. one that projects a wholesome, unconditional love and support to those apart of it. one that makes a person laugh endlessly and spark the most emotional responses when something in particular happens — good or bad. you could be limitless in an environment like that one, he thinks. to create that with kirby, and incorporate their own life ... he doesn't know the sound of anything better. the concept makes him feel so simultaneously elated and anxious that he can hardly think. elation for the obvious; anxiety for the breadth of the task. a little life is one not to be trifled with — especially one that's come from her. the both of them, in a sense. that's a part that worries him less, but worries nonetheless.

"well. i heard from a little birdie that you're pretty good on your own, though. might have to keep you to myself for a wee while."

and speaking of keeping her ... he surveys the rest of the room for a moment, before letting out a dry huff and giving her hand a gentle squeeze. have people always been this rowdy at this time of year? probably, but he's never had the displeasure of seeing it before. he wants to remember this night for them.

"i dunno about you, sweetheart, but a roasting tub and some classics at home sounds pretty good right about now. got that bloody vcr to finally turn on earlier. i don't think this horrible lot'll appreciate anything on it."

boydfiles​:

everything with him. what defines that? he has never been one to know the ways of an orthodox family life; one that feels secure and something to look forward to coming back to at the end of a tiresome day. he wonders if such a thing even exists in its entirety. if it’s just a utopia on the front of a pamphlet, or the corner of a screen, or in a dream not worth remembering. but with kirby, he dares to. she wants a marriage, hopefully with him. what has he done so far to garner a hope so intense? he has merely treated her well, loved her the way he wants to, the way she deserves — for he loves her more than he can recall loving anyone in this world. he can’t imagine loving anyone else this way again. he doesn’t want to — why would he?

he simpers, lowering his head. travelling. moving abroad. marriage. more than that. all with her. at this time, everything feels possible when they’re together. this future she ponders — the one he does, too — is ( rightfully ) romantic, but not so out-of-reach for him to deny it. he can’t deny how dry his mouth goes when she’s around; how his breath hitches every time she touches him, every time he sees her. her existence has him awestruck — which makes it hard to understand why anyone would want to kill her, let alone inflict any harm. it was undeserving, he knows. he will protect her from and improve the quality of her life, he promises.

but can he give her everything? he is a man of his word, yes, but he is not like most men. there are things he cannot ( naturally ) give her, and he cannot guarantee safety in a world so hateful. only the protection that he has the will to provide … unless something happens to him. unless the past creeps up on both of them, and he is gutted and hung the way others have fallen to the same fate. the way he knows how intricately they have. how she doesn’t know that he does.

“i want it, too,” he resolves, looking back up and leaning in to press his lips to hers. it may be breaking the rules for a midnight kiss, but some are meant to be broken.

“i’ve always … i’ve always wanted to make something of myself. use this damn doctorate for something else, something successful. something i can look at and say, ‘i built this myself’ and be remembered for it. and then when that shit’s done and dusted, you know … i’d wanna settle down. with you. maybe … maybe start a family. something we could build together, if you wanted.”

does he know how much he really means to her ? with all of her heart , or - what’s left of it , she knows that it belongs to him . everything of hers belongs to him , that’s what she figures . it’s strange , considering that she would never give her heart to anyone else , although , she has . he’s right in front of her , he always will be . secretly , she hopes that he knows that her entire future is right in front of her , as she is in front of his . kirby , though , is worried . wondering if she truly is the one for him or if this is some . . delusion that she has , is thinking , has been thinking since they’ve both laid eyes on each other . fact of the matter is that , she’s truly contemplating on telling him the truth , on spilling her guts to the point where she’s so far gone that she can’t even comprehend anything , anymore . to be with him is to be dizzy , in a good way , in the best way that she can possibly think of . in her eyes , he is absolutely everything that’s worth it to her , & she prays that he knows that she’s so incredibly lucky to have him in her life .

she normally isn’t the romantic type , but , of course . something about him is . . it’s changing her mind about things , so many things that even she has no control over it , over how her emotions work , all of that . is she supposed to feel human ? or is she supposed to ignore every single aspect of everything that goes on ? she doesn’t know what to do , except for allow it , allow the fact that she’s fallen for him & she’s allowing it to happen , without a doubt . without even thinking , she knows what she wants , she knows – that everything in her life makes enough sense with him in it . maybe it’s a good thing , maybe it’s a bad thing : but , for what it’s worth , she knows that her future wouldn’t exist unless he was in it . & call her a hopeless romantic , call her whatever , although , she knows . . that at the end of the night , she is his .

if there’s anyone who could give her anything , it’s him . it’s the one that knows her best , it’s the one who would want to protect her from the evil in the world & made sure that she was okay , by the end . she knows that her life is a mess , it’s everything filled with pain , anger , so much resentment that even she doesn’t know what the word means anymore , but , she’s still standing : with him . hell , she didn’t even know that she existed , however , in his stance , he makes everything so fulfilling that she forgets her pain , that she forgets the things that she so wants to forget .

“ you want marriage ? ” she asks , a smile forming before feeling his lips upon hers , shifting so she can get closer . so much for the new year’s , right ? nonetheless , she doesn’t hate it , she loves it . more than anything , truly . with how his lips feel on hers : how close they are , that it feels absolutely desperate .

“ then do it . i’ll be right here to support you , harvey . i promise . i’ll cheer you on the best way i know how to , the way you’ve done to me . & later on , down the line , we can start a family . . something i’ve always thought about , but didn’t know it was a possibility , you know ? ”

[hungry-skeleton]

Well golly gee whiz mister, what are your thoughts on Morpho Knight?

Alright motherfucker sit down because I'm about to go cringe mode

I want to reiterate that I am not normally a person to make theories because I am often wrong so before I started forming this I tried my best to actually research for a change but even with that I am not confident at all in this theory's validity and at this point I'm solely basing it on what I personally think would be cool despite it being wrong and bad. It's basically a glorified headcanon now. Also there's a possibility that I'm just reiterating what a million other people have already said but I've never seen anyone else describe it this way so yea

Okay so let's begin with what Morpho actually is, "the butterfly of Paradise" as it is referred to in game. We often call Morpho a grim reaper because of butterfly's connection to the dead in japanese mythology and the games describing Morpho as a sort of judge of fate. Morpho approaches weakened souls and decides their fate for them.

This gives us a few questions: how exactly does Morpho go about deciding the fate of a soul, and why has it chosen the souls that we've seen thus far? (galacta and forgo)

My theory is that when a powerful being is weakened (specifically one that has caused thousands of deaths) the souls of those it had unjustly ended will call upon Morpho from the afterlife to judge the being's fate. Morpho judges a soul by absorbing it's power and testing it's ability in battle against a worthy opponent.

Let's start with Galacta Knight (rest in piss king 😔) it's pretty obvious why Galacta would be a target for Morpho. Galacta is an incredibly powerful being who is implied to have killed uncountable people, and I'm sure those souls are rightfully pissed. Another question is why is Galacta in a weakened enough state to be judged? I don't really have an answer for that right now but let's worry about that later. The souls of the damned called up Morpho and said "get his ass" and this is what lead to the first canon Morpho fight. Pretty self explanatory.

Now onto Forgo's fight which has a few very interesting details. We can safely assume that forgo (or at least elfilis in full form) has killed a lot of people so that checks the "the dead wants you dead" box. The interesting part here is that upon defeat, Forgo isn't killed like Galacta. The general consensus is that Forgo absorbed Morpho's energy and fled, but I propose a different interpretation.

Morpho purposely allowed Forgo to escape. Morpho is not a villain, it is the grim reaper doing it's job and it will judge a soul's fate accordingly. Being something that has such great connection to souls it would make sense that Morpho could see that Forgo is not a complete soul. Forgo is a missing half to elfilin, its not whole. Because of this, Morpho granted it's energy to Forgo to become chaos elfilis, knowing that it will be defeated by Kirby and reunite with its other half, completing the soul.

This brings us to our final set of questions: why does Morpho follow Kirby around and why does Morpho deem Kirby to be a worthy opponent in judging the fate of a soul. It seems kind of obvious doesn't it? Even if Kirby isn't necessarily weakened he has absolutely killed... quite a few people and is incredibly powerful. It makes sense for Morpho to be following him around, waiting for the time to judge his soul. Or perhaps Morpho is just fascinated by him. It would also make sense for Morpho to deem Kirby a worthy opponent to judge souls against. A baby that kills space-eating beings on the regular is surely powerful enough to spar with death.

Now some of this I'm sure has been said before, but the main part of my theory comes from how Morpho judges souls and why Forgo survived judgement. Is this all dumb and bad? Probably. Do I care? Not really, because it's cool. In conclusion:

[maxwell-grant]

On Final Crisis: Secret Files, Grant Morrison describes Doc Fate as part of the Society of Super-Heroes, and says that amoung it's members is, sometimes, "the mysterious Bat-Man". Obviously, this Bat-Man haven't appeard in Multiversity. But how do you think this pulp version of Batman should be? It thought of him as Kirk Langstrom, the Man-Bat.

It being Kirk Langstrom could work. Maybe Bruce Wayne could exist in this world but he's not really Batman, maybe Batman's agent or secret identity or the source of Langstrom's money. I'm not particularly interested in Man-Bat as a character but the idea of him being this world's Bat-Man, or at least "a" Bat-Man, could be a good idea.

I find most versions of "Batman but he's pulp" to be generally really boring because they largely just go by the painfully standard route of "Batman but his outfit looks shabby and he's got a gun" and it often seems like it just amounts to a Batman that now kills and is less of a character than just an amalgam of pulp cliches (which is what Batman used to be before they created Robin and the iconic villains and the no-kill rule and started fleshing him out as a more unique character).

In fact I'm gonna just go ahead and stipulate that "Pulp" Batman should at least adhere to the main dude's policy of no guns. Whether he's killing or not, or how effectively he can manage himself, is up to debate, but let's get the obvious out of the way. Bill Finger described once that he envisioned Batman as combining traits from Douglas Fairbanks, Sherlock Holmes, The Shadow and Doc Savage, so we're gonna use these as some of the basis to work with.

Personally the best take on a Batman redesign schewing closer to pulp that I've ever seen would be "The Batman Investigations" by Imson on Deviantart, you can read more about it's respective designs there but I'll post it's idea for Batman below

Bruce Wayne was born with high sensitivity to sunlight, keeping him indoors most of the day, and forcing him to wear tinted glasses when not. When his parents were killed by a mugger, the blast from the gunfire damaged his hearing, forcing him to wear hearing aid from an early age.

Bruce had a knack for mechanics, and living off the remaining funds left by his parents, he developed a few surveillance gadgets for police use. While trying to market them for the local police, he was hired by commissioner Gordon as a freelance detective. As his involvement with the force continued, he got the nickname The Batman from his striking appearance.

As a hired gun, his role grew to take on undercover investigations. He could use his equipment to take the cases further than regular detectives could risk, and the police would turn a blind eye to these acts, provided Bruce denied any involvement with the police should he get caught.

His most useful gadget is his mechanic surveillance bird dubbed Robin, used to keep watch on suspects without gathering attention.

This one I think works particularly well for a take on Batman that's more centered around street-level detective work, and I mean actual detective work. A Batman who's strong, but not much of a fighter, and his hearing disability doesn't lend itself to superpowers, it's something he has to work around through allies and gadgets and quick-thinking once he starts getting further into trouble. More of a Sherlockian Batman who contends with the kind of darkness that doesn't come with a status quo to sort itself out.

Now, if we wanna go more along the route of gritty pulp Batman, a more traditional Batman who's actually gonna out there in the night suplexing crime into the sidewalk, what comes to my mind design-wise is something of a cross between Denis Medri's Rockability Batman and Francesco Francavilla's Batman 1972

A Batman who's not exactly wearing a skintight superhero outfit full of gadgets but instead a coat of surprises, who's only really got a mask and goggles to protect his identity and also protect his face. A Batman who's smart and can do detective work, but really he's going out there every night to get the shit kicked out of him until he figures out what he needs to know to solve the case, no police involved. Sort of closer to how Denny Colt or The Moon Man operate, more in the Robin Hood and Zorro molds. This one is also somewhat in line with Golden Age pre-Robin Batman where his main distinguishing feature as a character was how utterly reckless and prone to jumping into a fight he was even by usual comic book/pulp hero standards.

The third option I'm thinking of is to take Batman closer to the superhero he is but still mired in enough pulp ingredients remixed differently to be recognizably different from his ordinary self. So instead I'm thinking to play up respectively the parts of Batman that are The Shadow + Doc Savage, to create Dark Science Batman. This one I think is a better answer as to the question "What would a fusion between The Shadow and Doc Savage look like" than my initial response of a depowered Black Terror, and this Batman would be considerably more inhuman and grandiose in scope than the other two, this would be a Batman who could dominate Justice League meetings by force of personality and create moon bases and contend with dimension-warping supervillains and whatnot.

This one is inspired by a redesign by Arryn Diaz and Dan Schkade's Jack Kirby Batman:

“In a WORLD gone MAD, this lone DETECTO-SCIENTIST must operate OUTSIDE the laws of society in order to defend its FUTURE!! BEWARE — THE BAT-MAN!!!” - Alternate Universe Jack Kirby, 1972

So these are three different directions as to how I think you could do a "Pulp Batman" well, although maybe not necessarily operating by how Earth 20 works. DC already has a billion zillion Batmen as is so I'm sure all these may have already been done at some point in Batman's history.

Of course, realistically speaking if Batman was a long-running and successful pulp hero he could have gone through variations of these depending on the decade, or the country (see: the many global variations of characters attached to the name Fantomas or Zigomar), if not the same narrative arc outright. Pulp heroes are shapeshifters by nature.

[drysuitdivingdrone1950]

MANSION BY THE LAKE

Chapter 13—MARINATED

As long as they were taking, I knew they were cooking up something more than just a snack to eat. They could have made and consumed a three-course meal by now.  I was becoming concerned about how much time I had left on the tank. I had no way of knowing how much pressure was left in it.  Even if there was a gauge, I was still fastened to the wheel and had no way to move.   Fuck! How do I get myself into fixes like this?  I had no choice but to relax and trust them.  

Finally, I heard someone one coming down the stairs.  Matt came thru the door carrying some stuff that he set aside on a table.  He came over and released the lock on the KIRBY HELMET that I was trapped in.  

I sucked up the fresh air as it began to fill the helmet.  I could smell the food that Matt had brought down with him.  Matt hooked up the KIRBY to a cable that was on a winch. He then loosened the safety straps that secured the helmet to the wheel.  

“click, click, click, click---” clicking continued on as Matt turned the crank on the wench. Slowly the KIRBY rose above my head. I looked up into it.

                        “Man, I love that view!” I reported as I gauzed inside the KIRBY

“Me too!”  Matt replied.  “Turns all my switches on!”

He locked the wench in place with KIRBY an inch above my head.  Matt then started to feed me while I was still in my soiled diaper, inside my new dry suit, fastened to a wheel of fortune.  I chewed and swallowed my first bite.

“I guess this means you guys plan to keep me on here for a while?”  I asked.  

“Ya, Think about your file a bit!”  Matt guided me to my answer as he gave me a second bite to eat.  

I chewed on it for a while until I was able to swallow it, “Marinating me for a while!  Not sure yet if it will be for 24 or 72 hours?”  

“Only time will tell.” Matt let me know he was not giving away any more clues as he offered a sip of juice thru a straw.  

“Thanks!”  I responded, “My mouth was getting pretty dry.”

Another bite of food was offered and I eagerly took it.  

“I wonder what Master is up to?”  I asked

Just then the outside door to the basement was opening, “You can ask him yourself.”  Matt pointed out.

Soon Master entered the room and I did not need to ask.  He was dragging in an umbilical from the compressor.  Tanks had a limited time but the compressor could live on until the power supply was cut off.  I could surmise I was in for a long session.  

“More juice?”  Matt offered

I chuckled “You know what kind I like!”

“You’re awful!” He continued, “I love how your kinky mind never quits.”  

I took a long draw on the straw filling my mouth with the apple ale.  “I wish it was your sweet juice!”  

“Granted!”  Master replied and left the room briefly.  

When he came back, he had in his hand a jar about half the size of a cup.  It was filled with a white creamy substance.  

“You been milking Matt also?”  I asked

“Certainly!”  Master replied as he handed the cup over to Matt who could serve it up to me with a straw.  I relished my mouth filled with this much sweetness.  

“Hell, you even warmed it up for me!”  I complemented Master on his effort.

“Served best warm!” He replied.

I did not want to eat or drink anything else.  I wanted to savor the aftertaste in my mouth for as long as it would last.  

Master used a step ladder to take the tank hose off of the KIRBY and attached the umbilical in its proper place.  

“Should have done this to begin with and not even messed with the tanks.”  Master thought out loud.

Matt patted me a couple times on the chest as Master stepped off of the ladder and moved it out of the way.

I nodded, “Let’s do it!”

“IN YA GO!”  Matt announced with the familiar words that are music to my ears.  

The winch started clicking as Master slowly turned the crank.  I quickly looked up for an outside look into KIRBY and then faced forward as Matt guided KIRBY into place.  I was in again.  I took my final breaths of fresh air before the neck ring was secured.  Sealed in!  At least I had the sweet taste of Matt lingering in my mouth.  

Matt secured the helmet to the wheel and vigorously checked it before removing the winch cable.  The balloon inside the helmet was inflated again. I tried to move my head.

“SNUG AS A BUG.”  I reported.  

Matt rechecked all of the straps to assure I was well secured to the wheel.  That was followed by the familiar taps on the head.  

“OFF YA GO!”  Matt reported

Matt rubbed inside my leg as the wheel slowly turned clockwise.  He firmly squeezed the crotch of my already soggy diaper that now was very squishy and slippery with J-lube.  He also rubbed his junk against my hand from time to time. I figured out a way to grasp it when he put it in the right place.  

“You been hanging out all day?”  I asked

“Yep!”  Matt replied, “I love doing that as much as possible.”

“Come and get me Matt when you are done playing with him.  I will set and test the automatic system when you are finished.”  Master indicated as he walked out of the room.  

“Some private playtime.” I thought out loud.  

With the taste of Matt still fresh in my mouth, I wanted him to enjoy this as much as I was.  We had a good grip on each other now.  

“Think of being at the bottom of the lake like this!”  I instructed Matt

After a brief pause, he replied, “You put my head in a perfect place!”  

“You can picture it, right?” I asked knowing full well what the answer would be.  

“UH HUH!”  and Matt took a deep breath as I squeezed even harder.

He continued rubbing and squeezing me with much more vigor now.  

“Give it up boy!”  He called out to me as he switched over to steady pounding me between my legs.  

“Cum Matt cum now.”  I replied as if we were in a contest to see who could get the jizz out of the other guy first.  

“OH MAN.”  Matt replied as he started shooting his jizz on me.

“I won this round!”  I declared myself the winner.

“I ain’t finished with you yet!”  He yelled out as he started really smacking me hard below the belt.  He was whooping on my boys as if they were a punching bag.

Only the restraints of the wheel kept me from doubling over.  I could feel the tears streaming out of my eyes until finally he did it.  My jizz was now joining all the other stuff that was in my diaper.

“STOP!”  I yelled out just too late as Matt landed one final blow to my aching nuts.  

My whole body went limp.

I opened my eyes to Matt’s tapping on the KIRBY.  

“OKAY!”  I said and felt my hand making the signal as well.  

Matt put his lips on the lens of my helmet.  

“You’re fucking awesome man.”  I reported

Matt just gently patted me on the chest just above the restraint.  

After a few moments he checked again.  “Doing okay buddy!”

“YEP!”  was my reply.  “Man, that was pretty intense!”  

“I’ll be back soon!” I saw him leaving the room.  

I just relaxed, breathed and listened to the air coming into the helmet.  

Just as Matt came back into the room, I heard a loud ringing of a bell and noticed that the air was no longer flowing.  I panicked as an on-line breath control video I had once seen flashed in my head.  It was not one of my fantasies.  I saw it once and it scared the shit out of me.  

“DON’T PANIC!”  Matt yelled out as I began to panic.  “Master is just testing the alarm system. In one minute, the bell will stop and the air with come on again.  If not, I will get ya out of there.”  

The bell stopped ringing and the air was flowing again.  I took a deep sigh of relief.  I was grateful that Master had thought of the alarm for the air system. Hopefully he did not think I had any breath control fantasies.  I began to worry more about other things that I had view.

“It worked!” Matt reported as Master entered the room.

“I know, I could hear it all the way in the garage when I cut the power.”  Master indicated.  

Master then handed a remote-control device to Matt and started to instruct him on how it functioned. It could be set so the wheel spins on its own as fast as the second hands on a clock.  It could be slowed as much as one spin every five minutes.  It was also set to change position and stop at 3, 6, 9 and 12 for fifteen minutes in each position every hour.  

“It will only rotate in one direction for a maximum of 5 turns and then automatically rotate the other direction for 5 turns.  That will prevent the umbilical from getting all twisted up. But you still have to keep an eye to assure the umbilical it not compromised.”

Then Matt reported to me. “We can set the wheel to run automatically but Master and I will take turns watching over you and everything to assure your safety.”

“Thanks man!”  I replied, “I appreciate the reassurance.”

“I got first watch!”  Matt indicated.  “Master will take over when he wakes up in the morning. If you can try to get some sleep. How would ya like to have this set?”

“Let’s try the change every 15 minutes so I don’t get any pressure points and still be able to relax.” I indicated.  It wasn’t long before I dozed off.  The first time I was positioned at 6 o’clock I awoke briefly and fell back to sleep.  The next time I awoke I was heads up.  

“Ya slept good.”  Matt reported “It is about 7 am and you been out for close to 8 hours.”

“I do feel refreshed.” I shared, “Still got some junk for me to play with?”  

“Energizer bunny!! Matt stated, “Don’t you ever wear out?”

“Oh ya!” I replied, “You been awake all night.  

Matt’s junk was within my grasp and I could tell he was pretty limp.  I gently caressed him while he effectively dealt with my morning wood.

“You won this round.” I reported.  “When is your shift change?”

“Between 8 and 10, Soon I hope.”  Matt druggily replied.  

The bell rang and air stopped flowing for 15 seconds.  

“Master must be on his way. He was going to signal us with a test of the air system.”  Matt reported.

“Great idea!”  I replied.  “Love ya Big Brother!”  

As Master entered the room Matt dragged his ass to a bed to crash in.  

“Good morning SIR!”  I greeted Master

“You’re perky!”  He replied, “You must have slept well!”  

He released the helmet from the wheel.  I struggle initially to hold its full weight up.  Master made it easier by increasing the tension on the wench line.  He then unfastened the neck ring and gave the wench several cranks until KIRBY was above my head.  I was encouraged to consume lots of fluids along with my breakfast.

“Want to keep you well hydrated.”  Master indicated.  

KIRBY was returned to me after I was completely filled up.  Master set the remote and sat down in a recliner with a good book.  Every once in a while, he would change the settings on the remote.  About four hours into his shift, I wondered if Master had ulterior motives for keeping me well hydrated.  I was in the inverted position when I began to notice the leaks from my diaper running down my chest.   I was thankful that it stopped at the neck gasket of my dry suit.  It filled up my neck and upper chest and upper back.  It also started to run out of the back of my diaper.  

“Oh no!”  I thought out loud.  

“What’s the matter?” Master asked

“I am becoming a sewer rat and just upset that it is my new suit.”  I replied

“Ah, good! My plan is working.”  Master indicated. “We will clean the suit for ya when we are all done with it. I know from your file that you like to swap diapers with other boys.  Why not try a full diaper and suit swap with another sewer rat.”  

“OH FUCK!”  I gleefully replied.  

“Be right back!” Master got up out of the recliner, “I will go tell Matt to get suited up!”  

A couple minutes later Master was back. “He is changing!”  

About 15 minutes later Matt was coming down the stairs and thru the door.  

“Need a ZIP!”  Matt indicated and backed up to Master who zipped him into his new suit.  

“You fucking owe me big time!”  Matt said to me.  

“Don’t let him sucker ya bABy!”  Master injected, “That sewer rat loves the idea just as much as you do! By the time you are well marinated on this wheel, both of you will be ready for a good swap. Don’t tell Matt yet but I think after you swap out with him, he will be ripe for some wheel time.  

While Matt got some wheel time, I helped Master rig a place where Matt and I could hang out together. We set it up across from the wheel.  Master would alternate us from hanging out together with time for each of us on the wheel.  

[a-man-for-hire-and-his-archives]

TV Review: Preppers is a raucous satire

★★★★☆

Nakkiah Lui and Gabriel Dowrick's ABC comedy series is fully committed to its satirical targets, and it made Mel Campbell laugh.

written by Mel Campbell

In 2019, in the season-two finale of parody morning chat show Get Krack!n, Nakkiah Lui and Miranda Tapsell played Aboriginal lifestyle TV hosts whose bland, smiling banter quickly gives way to political rage. Perhaps this was the inspiration for Charlie, the breakfast TV-host character Lui plays in her new six-part comedy series Preppers.

We first see Charlie fleeing through the bush. Then she wakes up on what she thought was her grandmother’s land, only to learn it’s now ‘Eden 2’, where an assortment of doomsday preppers are led by a wily old man named Monty (the delightfully impish Jack Charles), who claims to have been close to Charlie’s Nan (played in flashback by Miranda Tapsell). Monty calmly informs Charlie he has signed a 10,000-year lease on the property.

‘I just want my land back!’ Charlie says.

‘We’re Aboriginal people – we all want our land back,’ says Monty.

Preppers has a satisfying premise: that having survived the crisis of colonisation, Aboriginal people are well placed to cope with any future catastrophe. But not all the Eden 2 preppers are Aboriginal – as Monty explains, the others are there to help pay the rent.

The first Eden 2 preppers Charlie meets are Guy (Meyne Wyatt) – a surly survivalist and self-styled Aboriginal tough man – and Fig (Luke Arnold), an enthusiastic white himbo who just wants to be accepted. Then there are Kirby (Eryn Jean Norvill), the secretive white host of conspiracy-theory podcast Agent of Truth, and Jayden (Aaron McGrath), an earnest, relentlessly political youngster who can’t wait for an apocalypse to usher in Aboriginal self-determination. And Kelly and Lionel (Ursula Yovich and Chum Ehelepola) are a mixed-race couple of reformed swingers who found Jesus and are now saving themselves for marriage or the rapture – whichever comes first.

But what has made pampered city girl Charlie run away from her life? While everyone else at Eden 2 lives in a state of readiness, Charlie’s in the throes of a personal doomsday she barely saw coming.

She co-presents a breakfast TV show deliciously called Wake Up Australia, and is engaged to her smarmy white producer, Thomas (Grant Denyer), who constantly sidelines her in favour of her white co-host Sophie (Brooke Satchwell). But when Charlie pitches an on-air Invasion Day editorial, Thomas talks her out of it – isn’t Charlie’s mere onscreen presence enough of a political statement? Why not let Sophie ‘be an ally’? When Charlie is prodded into participating in a gimmicky Australia Day outside broadcast, and comes to suspect Thomas is cheating on her with Sophie, she snaps on live TV – and her rage goes viral.

Some of the best moments in Preppers are at the expense of the casually racist Australian TV industry –

and Denyer and Satchwell are clearly enjoying this chance to subvert their familiar onscreen personas. Satchwell’s white-teary appeals to Charlie’s feminist solidarity are a particular highlight.

The supporting characters are broadly drawn, especially in Episode 1 when their shtick hasn’t yet been well established and so they mainly seem annoying. But they offer Lui and her co-writer Gabriel Dowrick some fun opportunities to satirise sanctimony on many fronts: race, sex, class, religion, gender, media, conspiracy thinking and wellness hucksterism – even the ideological rigidity of activism.

There’s some slyly hilarious and very dark Frontier Wars humour when the gang kidnaps an ‘Aboriginal Aboriginal archaeologist’ (Luke Carroll) to help identify a skeleton in an unmarked grave. And an absolute series highlight is Kate Miller-Heidke’s guest appearance as the legendary Penrith Panther. But there are also fraught moments when the limitations of Charlie’s soft politics become clear, as when staunch activist Casey (Shari Sebbens) calls her out for her complicity with white supremacy. And in the final episode, an all-white bourgeois prepper community, Shangri-La, offers a ‘treaty’ with Eden 2 that may be yet another land grab.

The series is cleverly structured so that the full scope of Charlie’s January 26 meltdown is revealed gradually, in social-media fragments and flashbacks prompted by her interactions with the preppers, and only reaches its raucous, fiery climax in Episode 6. The persistence of this scandal in the news cycle is what keeps Charlie at Eden 2, where she gradually comes to better terms with her Aboriginality and her hippie mum, Marie (Christine Anu), and finally feels like she’s somewhere she belongs.

However, I was a little hazy about what would be involved in the ‘bounty on her head’ being advertised by a rival network. I mean, are they going to offer Charlie a job, or stalk her with paparazzi… or kill her? Never mind – it’s comedy! Preppers is fully committed to its satirical targets – and most importantly, in an industry where comedy is often just ‘quirky drama’, it frequently made me laugh.

4 stars ★★★★

PREPPERS Creators: Nakkiah Lui and Gabriel Dowrick Executive Producer: Liz Watts and Margaret Ross Producers: Sylvia Warmer Writers: Nakkiah Lui and Gabriel Dowrick Director: Steven McGregor Six episodes showing on ABC and ABC iView.

Source: ScreenHub Australia

[ratingtheframe]

Everything That Happened at the 2021 Golden Globes

The first two months of the year are finally over and as the days grow longer, we can start to see the early signs of spring. With spring comes summer and with summer comes an influx of movie releases, with the majority of films that were put on hold last year scheduled to be released in the following months in cinemas across the world. You know, cinemas, as in those big rooms where you pay to sit and watch movies from start to finish without pausing it? Gosh have I missed the pre movie adverts, comfy chairs and super wide screens. It's not the same at home and despite Netflix, HBO and Amazon Prime thriving, we shouldn’t set anything in stone when it comes to the quality and accessibility of film. 

Cinema is tradition whereas On Demand is convenience and usually choosing convenience over tradition does impact the quality of work being distributed. There are a bunch of films on streaming platforms that would be too inappropriate for cinemas, seeing as they lack a cinematic or dramatic feel to them to be good enough for a big screen. This allows mediocre to downright awful films to find an audience via streaming platforms. All well and good, seeing as these platforms are great exposure for upcoming filmmakers but at the same time it's a capitalistic system that puts views above the quality of content. It doesn’t matter if what you’re watching on Netflix is bad, they just want you to keep coming back for more. This can be said for mainstream cinema too, but to a lesser degree seeing as cinemas typically release around 68 movies per month, whereas Netflix has the ability to add up to 200 releases on their platform per month. It makes perfect sense that Netflix has the viewers that it does, as we can see that it releases almost twice the content of cinemas per month. For the avid cinephiles, this leaves us wanting a lot more as we’re only able to enjoy maybe one or two films a month from online streaming services, because the quality is so inconsistent. I hope that cinemas open soon so that I can relax knowing that the film I’ve paid money for will be of a good quality. 

Speaking of good quality films, Chloé Zhao, director of Nomadland (2021) became the second woman in the 78 year history of the Golden Globes to win an award for directing. This is an exceptional triumph and from the moment I saw Nomadland, I knew that it would have an incredible impact on awards circuits this year. Nomadland also won Best Picture, which proves something that up and coming filmmakers may need to start getting their heads around. People may not necessarily be gravitating towards cinema for a chance of escapism any more. I thoroughly believe those days are behind us, buried in the 70s and 80s with films that defied the laws of filmmaking and went to extreme lengths to serve us an entire universe that we couldn’t even comprehend. However, as the world grows more fragile and people start to realise the fragility of life, we want to connect with one another authentically and realistically. 

The way that film can do this is by showing our real selves on screen, showing our pain, redemption, emotions, fear, honesty, laughter, race, gender, humanity, darkest secrets and biggest dreams using the backdrop of cinema to sell us a story. People want films that are honest and are a reflection of humanity as well as the current society we’re living in. Not necessarily “a slice of life”, but a slice of humanity that we never see because it’s never impacted us directly, yet we still want to be made to feel like it has through film. That’s the key to success in any film, making the viewer feel like they’ve experienced something on screen even when they haven’t. If the film is too far away from our own psyche or humanity, we switch off, as we can no longer relate or even want to relate to something so obtuse and boring. Nomadland was the complete opposite to this theory, bringing us humanity in all its glory; its sadness and pure emotion that affects millions everyday, especially in such a time when loneliness is rife.

This is why Mank (2020) lost out. In a time where the world is in a sensitive disposition, Mank came as ineffective to the world of film. Though triumphant in it’s making, the film proves the fundamental foundation of film that Mank failed to do; have a good story. Mank just wasn’t the story people wanted or needed to see and one can appreciate a filmmaker’s efforts to make films but at the end of the day, the story is truly the only thing that’ll carry a film and if it's uninteresting and impersonal, people switch off. And they clearly did, seeing as Mank lost out to all SIX of its nominations. Less is more, I suppose, seeing as Nomadland won two out of four awards, including the top prize of Best Picture. David Fincher even took a shot every time he lost a category. Better luck next time.Other snubs included Emerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman (2021) starring Carey Mulligan ,which was released on VOD last month. The film was nominated for four prizes and I suppose the lack of release in cinemas worldwide or at a Film Festival meant the lack of hype for the film. Regina King’s One Night In Miami...failed to pick up a prize, having been nominated for three awards. King shouldn’t be too disheartened, seeing as her debut definitely got her the recognition she deserved.

Aaron Sorkin most notably won Best Screenplay for his amazing picture, The Trial of the Chicago 7. I had the fortune of catching this in cinemas and the musicality of this screenplay was unreal. An incredibly authentic, riveting and honest piece of work, I believe we can safely say that Aaron Sorkin is the greatest writer for cinema and TV in our day and age. Sorkin is used to being showered with accolades, from Primetime Emmys with The West Wing, to an Oscar with David Fincher’s The Social Network.

The late Chadwick Boseman was honoured in full glory, having won the award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for his role as Levee in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. An exceptional performance that reeks with Oscar success, Boseman is the first actor to be awarded the prize posthumously.

What’s also to be noted is the amount of British nominees and winners at this year’s ceremony. It seems like the American Film & TV market is wide open for Brits, seeing as Emma Corrin, Josh O'Connor, Daniel Kaluuya, Sacha Baron Cohen, Rosamund Pike, John Boyega and Anya Taylor Joy all won awards for acting. Helen Bonham Carter, Olivia Coleman, Vanessa Kirby, Riz Ahmed, Gary Oldman, Antony Hopkins, Dev Patel, James Corden, Hugh Grant, Jodie Comer, Lilly Collins and Nicolas Hoult all received nominations and were all born in the UK. The Crown in particular just seems to be getting more successful with each year and despite its controversy, the show has won Netflix 7 Golden Globes and 10 Emmys. What does this tell us about our actors and their ability in comparison to our friends overseas? Is it just a stroke of luck that the majority of actors who won this year are British or are we doing something different? Only time will tell as more British actors begin to be recognised for their flare over in the US.

If anything, we’ve learnt that The Golden Globes is for everyone. Anyone can win an award despite their background as long as those who control the awards ceremony are willing to give a variety of films a chance, not just ones directed by David Fincher. Nomadland is certainly an underdog for cinema, one that may not have done as well had other films been released last year. COVID-19 created space for this film to be seen and has truly been taken in as a work of art, proving that films of the same kind deserve to be seen in the up and coming future. British actors can and have made it big in Hollywood and it seems like American audiences welcome them with open arms. Sacha Baron’s Cohen’s humour in Borat Subsequent MovieFilm wasn’t unrequited, seeing as it won Best Musical / Comedy at this year’s award season, meaning every moment of that film (incriminating or not) WAS WORTH IT. Even though Regina King and Emerald Fennell lost out on their respective films, their work has been courageous and profound in helping to give space to women in the film industry. The fact that they were even nominated along with Chloé Zhao, was an achievement in itself and has women like me looking up to the success of these three women and realising that I could have the same shot. Mank came at the wrong time, and though good visually, it lacked a beating heart that the Golden Globes could identify with enough to give it at least one award. Soul was named Best Animation Feature Film of the year, also winning an award for music with a beautiful score by Atticus Ross, Trent Reznor and Jon Batiste. The Queen’s Gambit also reigned supreme, as Anya Taylor Joy won Best Actress for a performance in a mini series / tv film and the overall series won Best Television Mini Series / Television Film.

This has to be the best Golden Globes I’ve ever witnessed. Not only did it champion diversity in the film categories, British Actors and female directors, it actually gave consumers as well as judges, something that actually wanted, which was to see underdogs thrive in an environment that’s usually laid bare for the same characters. Let’s keep this up for the next ceremony !

ig @ratingtheframe

[purplerose244]

Thoughts journal Ninjago season 13!! 🖤🖤 (4/4)

Here we are, at the end of just another season of Ninjago! And I've gotta say, until now it has been very good, I think I'm liking this season better than Prime Empire and Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu. I liked them too, but this one feels more complete and deep, also LILLY GOT A BACKSTORY HECK YEAH 😍😍

Prime Empire had one really great ending, so I'm very curious how this season will conclude! Spinjitzu burst? Some last minute plot twist? Cole and Vania confirmed...? 🙄

Here we go!!

THE DARKEST HOUR

So I'm guessing the guys aren't doing too good at the moment 😅

I know this is kind of a tense situation, but honestly Kai looking so confused at having to lead cracks me up 😂 "Do I have to say it? Is that what being in charge means?"

Lloyd: YOU

Jay: SHALL

Kai: NOT

Zane: BE GRANTED THE PERMISSION TO TRAVERSE BEYOND THIS POINT

I have no words, that was such an obvious reference in full Zane style so in character, I have tears. Beautiful 🤣🤣

Also they all look SO COOL 💚💙❤🤍

My ninja babies fighting together screaming NINJA-GOO!! Really this season feels like we're back in the old days, so cool! And they are so in sync, Kai lifting Lloyd up and Zane pushing others away and I LOVE THE FIGHTING ANIMATIONS 🤩

Poor Skull dude, he's trying to do his big bad guy monologue and he keeps getting interrupted 😂

It was cute that both tribes immediately refused to surrender, not sure if it was for pride or they actually care about their new ninja friends, but it was nice

Aahh, near death life experiences, the best way to elicit teamwork 👍 Nice scene, nice cute scene

Nnnnnyyyggg, Lloyd, that's the sacrifice look right there 😱 At least they just turned themselves in peacefully after reuniting the tribes... aaand of course he was lying, I hate that Skull dude 👿👿

THE ASCENT

Back to team Cole! Back to the Upply! 🖤 Quick guys, we're only three episodes left!! NEED TO GO BIG!!

Heeeeeyy, Wu back in business! I kinda missed him a bit taking control of the situation, it used to be him because he was the master. It really is a jump into the past this season! 🤩🤩

Sure let's go with the explosive cart, not like Cole and the other ninja haven't been piloting a falling apart rocket back to Earth before 🤷‍♀️

A Mech on rolleskates, why not? Does Cole even know how to go on those though? He was already out of the Tournament of Elements during Chen's Thunder Blade so I don't really know...

Lolz the monster was actually waiting staring at the wall, guess you don't get much fun in this mine 😅

COOL FIGHTING SEQUENCE COOL FIGHTING SEQUENCE COOL FIGHTING SEQUENCE 🖤🖤🖤

And a poor old couple of civilians traumatized. They need to be trained by the people of Ninjago City on how to deal with weird appearances 💪

I guess we're doing this 😅 Gonna be honest, this is the first very evident sweet look I see from these two. I like Vania, a lot, but another classic love interest? Uuuuhhh, Idk, Imma see the rest of the season and see what happens 🤷‍♀️

A baby dragon on a giant spider, one of my favorite things ever on one thing I fear... I'll let it pass just because Adam is a good boy 🕷🕷🕷

GO VANIA GO GIRL LET HIM KNOW WHO IS THE BOSS HERE!!! 💛💛💛

THE UPPLY STRIKES BACK!

I really like these DnD guys, they've grown on me, let's see what they have in store! 😁

Munce and Geckles under chains, ninja in a cage, the Skull dude has the control, we're back when we started... sucks to be a ninja sometimes 😅

Omg I'm loving that this dude is trying so hard to be menacing and he keeps getting ignored 😂😂 Aww cute, you think you're the first that wants to destroy the ninja? Such a special little snowflake 😘 Evil monologue, we've been going for 13 seasons now with various specials and a movie, we heard it already 🤷‍♀️

Also the reveal, and he's all "Your friend Cole is dead" and Lloyd "That's what they all say, buddy" 👌👌

Poor Cole just wants justice for his mom HELP EMOTIONAL AGAIN

I'm all for Cole's personal team, they should do missions together, like Jay's team in Skybound!... that technically never happened, BUT STILL COOL 🖤💙🖤💙

Oh boy oh boy oh boy got the swords, confrontation ready, BRING IT!! Ninja team is all in for this!! ❤💚💙🤍🌊

REVOLUTION!!!! 💪💪💪💪

Swords aren't usually Cole's weapon of choice... BUT DANG IT HE CAN SWING THEM, HOLY GARMADON!!! THIS IS THE FIGHTING SCENES I WANT!!! 😍😍

How is this the episode prior the finale? It already feels like the finale! What else is going to happen?

SON'S OF LILY

Oh with a title like this, it's a given that I will not survive. Oh boy, here goes, the FINALE!

Chaos, chaos, beautiful dragon of death and distraction, also gently reminder that Mino is also a very good boy 💕 Are the skeletons connected to the skull? Are they gonna stop reform when Cole defeats the Skull Sorcerer?

The swords are not actually magical? Huh, first weapon in this show that turns out to be a fluke, apart maybe the Dragon Armor of the Firstborne... that one stayed intact at least 😅

HERE COMES THE VALKIRIES!!! *classic related music plays*

THIS. FIGHTING. SCENES. ARE. SO. FREAKING. GOOD 😍 Also wow sensei, full kamikaze with a dragon? I guess the sacrifice gene really runs into that family 😅

COLE NO DON'T HURT ROCK BABY 😭

"Always." KIRBY STOP MAKING ME CRY WITH YOUR AMAZING VOICE ACTING SKILLS ALSO HOLY HOOLA GANG

THAT'S LIKE A SPINJITZU WITH THE TRUE POTENTIAL OMG HECK YEAH SHINE COLE SHINE!!! 🖤🖤🖤

A bit red, could mistake it for Kai's, but it's an orange earth lava burst so I understand

Cole: okay guys, done my part

Cole: wake me up when next season is out

LOOK AT VANIA BECOMING THE QUEEN WITH THAT BEAUTIFUL ATTIRE AND USING COLE'S MOTHER QUOTE BECAUSE SHE LEARNED SO MUCH FROM COLE AWWW 💛

Okay, since there weren't evident references to Nexo Knights this season, can I pretend Fungus shooting fireworks is one? Merlok used to do that almost at every season finale... IMMA PRETEND 🙃

She is so adorable, I really love her. Wished we've seen more of her bond with her father, it felt a little easy her giving up on him. Idk, Sky and Chen didn't have that much of a bond but she struggled a lot! But she is super cool and cute, I ADORE her 💕

This sounds like a pretty good experience for Lloyd who FINALLY spent a season without being scarred for life!!! He even met a princess who didn't plan his death!!! Montgomery things are getting better 💚

Well, that surprised me, I guess Cole and Vania like each other but not heavily? Just a very light mood, like they care a lot but no other step further. I'm very happy about this choice, you can see it as a couple if you want, but you can also say they are just good friends. Nice 👍

Oh no, Wu got his midlife crisis, SOMEBODY STOPS HIM 😱

Wherever the wind will take them okay, wherever the producers will decide to torture them 😗

Overall, great finale! 😁

FINAL THOUGHTS

I think I enjoyed Prime Empire's finale more than this one, but this season with all of its episodes was absolutely AMAZING 🖤

The Skull Sorcerer wasn't necessarily a bad villain, but the story kinda went into another direction in my opinion so his part wasn't fundamental. Which isn't a bad thing for me, it's actually new and exciting see the attention to the story instead of the villain, and I did enjoy how they made fun of how cliche he was being 😂

Vania was GREAT. Wished we had more time with her father to really establish what kind of bond they had, but overall I loved her, new best girl acquired 💛💛💛

FREAKING ROCK MOM!! FREAKING LILLY!! I'm so emotional just thinking about this family, omg, THIS is the content I want for Ninjago! Impactful, that makes sense, connected to the heart that makes you so much closer to a character! Finally the Rock family is getting more complex 🖤

I think this season really gave Cole justice, we got her mom's story, we've got him leading a team again, we've got him with a cool new power! 😍😍

For the other ninja it was okay, I really liked the shenanigans with the tribes and the cultures were really fun to explore. Was kinda like a side quest and for me didn't bring that much to the main story, but it was fun and it's fair, Cole had all the attention he deserved 👌

FIGHTING ANIMATION OMG HECK FREAKING YEAH 10/NINJA-GOOOO ❤💚💙🖤🤍🌊

Beautiful designs for the characters, in particular the Shintaro citizens, and also wonderful backgrounds and sceneries, that I thought were starting to lack but here seems much nicer to look at 🤩

What can I say? Ninjago still knows how to mess with my heart, and I'm so very happy about it. I think the so wanted Cole season was definitely worth it 🖤🖤🖤

Now, I heard voices about a possible Nya season... ABSOLUTELY YES, YES TO EVERYTHING, QUEEN GETTING HER OWN SEASON YES YES YES!!! 😍😍😍🌊🌊🌊 Besides that apparently Maya will come back, which is a dream coming true, if they give Nya the same attention they gave to Cole this season, I will be happy 😊

[nclkafilms]

My 2021 Oscar Predictions

It seems like it was a decade ago, that I cheered for and celebrated a historic night for Parasite as Bong Joon-Ho first surprised by taking home the Best Directing Oscar ahead of Sam Mendes only for the film itself to surprise even further by taking home the biggest of them all. What a film, what a night! And what a year it has been since then; the film industry - as anything else in our lives - has been turned on its head by the global pandemic that continues to redefine our reality. Many big films and award contenders have been postponed. But where one could have feared that this would have given us a lacklustre group of nominees, this is in no way the case. Instead the lack of the big budget films has granted space for smaller, indie films treating us to interesting visions, stellar performances and new cinematic experiences. The biggest loss of course being the lack of cinema experiences; out of all the 56 nominees I have shockingly and sadly only seen 2 in the cinema: Tenet and Mank. I did, however, manage to see ALL nominated films before the show for the first time ever.

So who will win? Here are my predictions: (In paranthesis are my personal ratings of the films from 1-5)

Best Picture

The Father (4,5)

Judas and the Black Messiah (4,5)

Mank (3,5)

Minari (4,5)

Nomadland (5,0)

Promising Young Woman (5,0)

Sound of Metal (4,5)

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (4,0)

The biggest of them all seems likely to be one of the most predictable of them all. Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland, which triumphantly transcends the boundaries between documentary and fiction, has taken home close to every major award possible. The story of Fran, who’s lost everything and embarks on a spiritual journey through the America of the modern day nomads, is an awe-inspiring achievement and will be a deserved winner. The only films that might have a slight chance of causing upset seems to be my personal favourite, Promising Young Woman, the wonderful Minari, that could continue the Korean triumph of last year, and Aaron Sorkin’s Oscar-bait ensemble hit, The Trial of the Chicago 7, which could end up as the Green Book of this year. It is amazing to see films such as The Father, Judas and the Black Messiah and Sound of Metal be acknowledged with this particular nomination, but I don’t see them winning. Mank seems like an easy film to like, but a hard film to love and as such, I don’t see it winning - especially taking the preferential ballot system into consideration. I would have loved to see Soul continue the tradition of nominating animated features for its beautiful take on life. 

Who will win: Nomadland

Potential spoiler: The Trial of the Chicago 7

Personal favourite: Promising Young Woman

Should have been there: Soul 

Actor in a Leading Role

Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal (4,5)

Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (3,5)

Anthony Hopkins, The Father (4,5)

Gary Oldman, Mank (3,5)

Steven Yeun, Minari (4,5)

Chadwick Boseman is the only actor here, whose film is not nominated in the Best Picture race, but yet, he is the one on everyone’s lips before the big night. Sadly, this - of course - is partly due to his tragic and way to early death. The entire narrative surrounding his death and the fact that only he knew about the illness, while filming Ma Rainey, adds a truly tragic nuance to his powerhouse performance. To me, he does, however, balance on the edge of being too theatrical (goes for everything concerning that film) and it is mostly in his more subtle scenes that he surprised and impressed me the most. The performance of the year is undoubtedly Anthony Hopkins in The Father in my opinion; he manages to capture all the little nuances, confusions and frustrations of growing dementia. A truly ruthless performance! I also have tons of gratitude for Ahmed’s deeply moving and involving work in Sound of Metal, and Steven Yeun’s subtle performance in Minari. Gary Oldman is good as always in Mank, but yet, I see him as the one who could have been snubbed. I would have liked to see the likes of Delroy Lindo (Da 5 Bloods) or Mads Mikkelsen (Another Round) here.

Who will win: Chadwick Boseman

Potential spoiler: Anthony Hopkins

Personal favourite: Anthony Hopkins

Should have been there: Delroy Lindo/Mads Mikkelsen

Actor in a Supporting Role

Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7 (4,0)

Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah (4,5)

Leslie Odom Jr., One Night in Miami… (4,0)

Paul Raci, Sound of Metal (4,5)

Lakeith Stanfield, Judas and the Black Messiah (4,5)

This one is Daniel Kaluuya’s to lose. And he will not be doing that. While you can argue that he might close to a leading role in Judas, but that does not take anything from his truly stunning performance. Such an interesting actor creating such an interesting character! His closest competitors seem to be Cohen for a role that hopefully can open up more dramatic chances for him and Paul Raci, who creates an endearing character in Sound of Metal. Oh, I would also love for him to win! Leslie Odom Jr. will probably have more open doors in Hollywood after his deserved nomination and Lakeith Stanfield will be asking himself how come he ends up as a supporting role for a film in which he was clearly the leading force of the story. His performance, however, is brilliant and impressed me further upon a recent rewatch of Judas. Could have been great to see Bo Burnham here for Promising Young Woman, but honestly I do not see who he should have replaced apart from Stanfield, who - as said - belongs in another category.

Who will win: Daniel Kaluuya

Potential spoiler: Sacha Baron Cohen

Personal Favourite: Daniel Kaluuya / Paul Raci

Could have been there: Bo Burnham

Actress in a Leading Role

Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (3,5)

Andra Day, The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2,0)

Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman (3,5)

Frances McDormand, Nomadland (5,0)

Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman (5,0)

Perhaps the most unpredictable race of the evening! Everyone except Kirby has taken home a major award in the run-in to the Oscars. For that reason, I am having a hard time seeing Kirby take home the win for her otherwise stunning and powerful turn in mediocre Pieces of a Woman. Andra Day took home the Golden Globe, but I think the questionable quality (nicely put) of the film will make it hard for her to repeat that victory here. McDormand is beautifully subtle in Nomadland and could easily deserve the award, but the narrative is against her as she has already won two Oscars and took one just a couple of years ago. With this in mind, I think this is between Davis and Mulligan. Davis’ performance - not unlike Boseman’s in the same film - is close to being overdone, although it is a truly transformative performance. I will, however, say it should have been nominated as a supporting role. She took home the SAG and has a strong narrative for a win. Mulligan, in Promising Young Woman, is the best performance in my opinion and a minor favourite to win; she surprises with something completely new and risk-taking while still delivering the quality and nuance we have come to expect from her. A cheeky bid for who I would have liked to see, would be Jasna Duricic of Quo Vadis, Aida?, who I think carried that film on her shoulders with an intense performance.

Who will win: Carey Mulligan

Potential spoiler: Viola Davis

Personal favourite: Carey Mulligan

Could have been there: Jasna Duricic

Actress in a Supporting Role

Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (3,5)

Glenn Close, Hillbilly Elegy (1,5)

Oliva Colman, The Father (4,5)

Amanda Seyfried, Mank (3,5)

Yuh-Jung Youn, Minari (4,5)

For a long time, Seyfried seemed like the one to beat here with a lot of buzz before Mank was released. While her performance is delightful, her role is, however, extremely limited and I actually ended up being surprised she was even there on nomination morning. Colman and Close famously battled for the leading actress award two years ago with Colman surprisingly (yet, deservedly) taking home the award. That left Close Oscar-less still, but while the narrative might be with her, it would be a shame to give her the award for this performance in this film. Bakalova is the surprise: raunchy and ruthless, she is not only the rare comedic nomination, but also one of the most daring performances of the year. I would love for her to win, and should she win it will not just be because of THAT hotel room scene. Her turn in Borat is surprisingly funny and layered. I do - however - think that everyone has been as charmed by Youn as I have been. Her grandmother in Minari is the heart of the film and she creates one of the most memorable on-screen grandmothers in recent time. I would have loved to see Dominique Fishback from Judas, although her role was also quite small.

Who will win: Yuh-Jung Youn

Potential spoiler: Maria Bakalova / Glenn Close

Personal favourite: Yuh-Jung Youn

Should have been there: Dominique Fishback

Animated Feature Film

Onward (3,5)

Over the Moon (3,0)

A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (3,5)

Soul (4,5)

Wolfwalkers (4,0)

Soul is winning this one with no real competitor. It is an amazing film by Pixar - both storywise, philosophically and in particular technically. But it is also daring as it is close to being there first truly film MAINLY for adults. Pixar competes against themselves, as Onward is also here. Netflix joins the animation race with the charming Over the Moon, while Aardman Studios are here with Farmageddon, which is a simply delightful children’s film. Wolfwalkers is perhaps the most interesting when it comes to animation style as the handdrawn animation follows the emotions of the characters.

Who will win: Soul

Potential spoiler: Wolfwalkers

Personal favourite: Soul

Cinematography

Sean Bobbitt, Judas and the Black Messiah (4,5)

Erik Messerschmidt, Mank (3,5)

Dariusz Wolski, News of the World (3,0)

Joshua James Richards, Nomadland (5,0)

Phedon Papamichael, The Trial of the Chicago 7 (4,0)

I was happy to see Judas being recognised here, but it hardly stands a chance, despite its great work with depth. The same can be said about Papamichael, whose nomination I honestly do not understand, and Wolski, who produces some stunning vistas in the otherwise disappointing News of the World. Messerschmidt’s black and white work on Mank is a joy to behold, and while the Academy typically love black and white cinematography, I only see it as a potential spoiler. Joshua James Richards manages the otherwise small Nomadland into a grand and stunning film with some of the most beautiful images that I cannot wait to enjoy in a cinema. I would have loved to see Hoyte van Hoytema be nominated for his work on the otherwise faulty Tenet. 

Who will win: Nomadland

Potential spoiler: Mank

Personal favourite: Nomadland

Should have been there: Tenet

Costume Design

Emma (3,0)

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (3,5)

Mank (3,5)

Mulan (3,0)

Pinocchio (1,5)

This is Ma Rainey’s to lose with all of its broadway costumes. Personally I rate the costumes in both Pinocchio higher and I would have liked to see Promising Young Woman nominated, although I know how rarely contemporary nominees are in this category.

Who will win: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Potential spoiler: Mank

Personal favourite: Pinocchio

Could have been there: Promising Young Woman

Directing

Thomas Vinterberg, Another Round (5,0)

David Fincher, Mank (3,5)

Lee Isaac Chung, Minari (4,5)

Chloé Zhao, Nomadland (5,0)

Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman (5,0)

It is a historic year for this category; the first time that two female directors are nominated in the same year. Chloé Zhao will also find her way into the history books as the only second female winner of the category for her work with Nomadland; a film which would never have existed without her. Fennell and Chung are her closest competitors, but despite their deeply personal and commited work they do not stand a chance. Mank is as Fincher as it gets, but the films is just not very good in the end. Finally, as a Dane, I am of course ecstatic to see Vinterberg here for his masterful work on Another Round. I would have loved to see Florian Zeller for The Father, though!

Who will win: Chloé Zhao

Potential spoiler: Lee Isaac Chung

Personal favourite: Chloé Zhao

Could have been there: Florian Zeller

Documentary (Feature)

Collective (4,5)

Crip Camp (4,0)

The Mole Agent (3,0)

My Octopus Teacher (4,0)

Time (5,0)

For a long time, Time or Collective seemed to be the ones to beat here. While Time, which I reckon to be one of the best, most impactful films of the year, remains my favourite, I think it might be too slow for some people. Collective shares the same issue as the entertaining The Mole Agent; they are in a foreign language. Thus, we end up with Crip Camp and My Octopus Teacher. The first is undoubtedly the most important of the two, but I do think that the heart-warming and surprisingly effective story of man and nature in Octopus Teacher will charm its way to a surprising Oscar! The fascinating micro-cosmos of American politics portrayed in Boys State was snubbed here!

Who will win: My Octopus Teacher

Potential spoiler: Crip Camp

Personal favourite: Time

Should have been there: Boys State

Documentary (Short Subject)

Colette (3,5)

A Concerto is a Conversation (3,5)

Do Not Split (4,5)

Hunger Ward (3,5)

A Love Song for Latasha (4,0)

Notoriously difficult to predict, this years documentary shorts are no exception. Four of them are mainly journalistic, with A Love Song for Latasha standing out with its artistic aspects. I think that will tip the votes in its favour.

Who will win: A Love Song for Latasha

Potential spoiler: A Concerto is a Conversation

Personal Favourite: Do Not Split

Film Editing

The Father (4,5)

Nomadland (5,0)

Promising Young Woman (5,0)

Sound of Metal (4,5)

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (4,0)

Traditionally the film featuring the most and the most clear cuts will take home this Oscar, making Trial the traditional favourite here. However, Mikkel E.G. Nielsen’s close collaboration with the sound designers of Sound of Metal seems to have pushed that film closer to a suprising yet deserved award. For me, however, the confusing, unstructured work of Yorgos Lamprinos in The Father is the best of the year. Mank would have liked to have this on nomination morning.

Who will win: Sound of Metal

Potential spoiler: The Trial of the Chicago 7

Personal favourite: The Father

International Feature Film

Another Round (5,0)

Better Days (3,5)

Collective (4,5)

The Man Who Sold His Skin (3,5)

Quo Vadis, Aida? (4,5)

Collective follows Honeyland’s example from last year with a double nomination for international and documentary, but it will not win despite its high quality. The Man Who Sold His Skin is an interesting and thought-provoking take on the refugee crisis and Better Days is a surprisingly effective YA adaptation with some criticism of the Chinese school system - they will be happy just be there. Quo Vadis, Aida? Is a really good film with a towering lead performance about one of the most gruesome historical events post WWII. However, and this is not just because I am Danish, Another Round will take this home. The film that grew from initially being a celebration of the Danish alcohol culture organically grew into a celebration of life in the shadows of a personal tragedy for director Vinterberg. At its heart is a beautiful performance from Mads Mikkelsen and a fascinating study of the Danish alcohol culture in the universally recognisable struggle of life. Its take on the built in paradox of our teenagers being stressed out in order to gain access to the same life that the film’s four protagonists desperately try to escape, is thought-provoking and well-portrayed.

Who will win: Another Round

Potential spoiler: Quo Vadis, Aida?

Personal favourite: Another Round

Makeup and Hairstyling

Emma (3,0)

Hillbilly Elegy (2,0)

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (3,5)

Mank (3,5)

Pinocchio (1,5)

Despite being a horrible film, the makeup and prosthetic work in Pinocchio ought to secure it an Oscar here. However, this will be given to the theatre makeup work in Ma Rainey.

Who will win: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Potential spoiler: Hillbilly Elegy

Personal favourite: Pinocchio

Music (Original Score)

Da 5 Bloods (3,5)

Mank (3,5)

Minari (4,5)

News of the World (3,0)

Soul (4,5)

News of the World is a good yet classic western score, Da 5 Bloods is a nice score to listen to but does not fit in the film and Emile Mosseri’s brilliant score in Minari might be a bit too simple for some people. This means that this a battle between Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross and themselves for their buzzing 40’s score in Mank and amazing collaboration with Jon Batiste in Soul. Reznor and Ross will be taking the stage along with Batiste! It is close to robbery that Ludwig Göransson is not nominated for his towering Tenet score!!

Who will win: Soul

Potential spoiler: Mank

Personal favourite: Soul

Should have been there: Tenet

Music (Original Song)

“Fight for You”, Judas and the Black Messiah (4,5)

“Hear My Voice”, The Trial of the Chicago 7 (4,0)

“Husavik”, Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (3,0)

“Io Si (Seen”), The Life Ahead (3,0)

“Speak Now”, One Night in Miami… (4,0)

“Husavik” is a great song and is the only of the songs to truly play a part in the film rather than just being a credits song and I think that should always be a factor! However, this is Leslie Odom Jr.’s for the beautifully subtle “Speak Now” - he is an amazing singer! “Green” from Sound of Metal should have been here, I have to say.

Who will win: “Speak Now”

Potential spoiler: “Husavik”

Personal favourite: “Husavik”

Should have been there: “Green”

Production Design

The Father (4,5)

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (3,5)

Mank (3,5)

News of the World (3,0)

Tenet (3,0)

The wonderfully simple, yet effective production design of The Father really should be winning this. However, The Academy always love representations of Hollywood and - to be fair - the work in Mank is incredibly detailed and beautiful to look at. Honestly, I would have loved to see Emma - that film was one of the most beautiful of the year!

Who will win: Mank

Potential spoiler: The Father / Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Personal favourite: The Father

Could have been there: Emma

Short Film (Animation)

Burrow (4,0)

Genius Loci (3,0)

If Anything Happens I Love You (4,5)

Opera (5,0)

Yes-People (3,0)

Yes-People is funny but uninteresting. Genius Loci is visually fascinating but also very abstract. Burrow is classic Pixar charm. If Anything Happens I Love You is an emotional gut-punch. Opera is transcending the film media being more of an art installation rather than an actual shortfilm; it is however both visually and visionary in a league of its own. So obviously, it will not win. Disappointing not to see Out here!

Who will win: If Anything Happens I Love You

Potential spoiler: Burrow

Personal favourite: Opera

Should have been there: Out

Short Film (Live Action)

Feeling Through (4,0)

The Letter Room (3,5)

The Present (4,0)

Two Distant Strangers (2,0)

White Eye (3,0)

Two Distant Strangers seems like a late frontrunner here, and while it is impossible to disasgree with the importance of the film’s topic, I simply did not like the film. I found it both exploitative and overly symbolic leaving me with a bad taste in my mouth; difficult opinions to have regarding a film about such an important topic. None of the other four truly stand out, but I would love to see the inclusive and touching Feeling Through receive the Oscar.

Who will win: Two Distant Strangers

Potential spoiler: The Letter Room

Personal favourite: Feeling Through

Sound

Greyhound (2,0)

Mank (3,5)

News of the World (3,0)

Soul (4,5)

Sound of Metal (4,5)

Rarely has a film been so defined by its sound as Sound of Metal. It is not only groundbreaking but also deeply fascinating, impressive and involving; a main factor in the film’s success. It is difficult to predict as this is the first year the two awards (Editing/Mixing) have been combined. Greyhound might have been able to grab an editing award had they been separated still…

Who will win: Sound of Metal

Potential spoiler: Soul

Personal favourite: Sound of Metal

Visual Effects

Love and Monsters (3,0)

The Midnight Sky (2,5) 

Mulan (3,0)

The One and Only Ivan (3,0)

Tenet (3,0)

A category that would probably have been dominated by films such as Godzilla vs. Kong, Dune and Black Widow in a normal 2020, has now granted space for the charming animals of The One and Only Ivan and the surprisingly entertaining and heartfelt Love and Monsters. It does, however, seem like an obvious opportunity to give the supposed “saviour of cinema” Tenet one award. 

Who will win: Tenet

Potential spoiler: The Midnight Sky

Personal favourite: Tenet

Should have been there: Soul

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (3,5)

The Father (4,5)

Nomadland (5,0)

One Night in Miami… (4,0)

The White Tiger (3,0)

The White Tiger is the odd one out here with its overly told and clumsy voice-over, whereas Borat is another example of the weird definition. While the main character is not new, the film is obviously an original story. One Night in Miami… is a much better adaption than Ma Rainey, but The Father is even more successful in its journey from stage to silver screen. Zeller’s screenplay is masterful and daring in its ruthless depiction of dementia. However, it faces stern competition from Chloé Zhao who might add her first of many Oscars of the evening with this award for a rare adaptation of a non-fiction work into a fictional story. 

Who will win: The Father

Potential spoiler: Nomadland

Personal favourite: The Father

Writing (Original Screenplay)

Judas and the Black Messiah (4,5)

Minari (4,5)

Promising Young Woman (5,0)

Sound of Metal (4,5)

The Trial of Chicago 7 (4,0)

I was immensely happy to see Judas and Sound of Metal here as they told well-structured and well-paced stories, while this was the biggest nail in the coffin for Mank as David Fincher’s father missed out on a nomination for the film about one of history’s best screenplays. The battle is seems to be between the king of screenplays Aaron Sorkin and a certain promising young woman, Emerald Fennell, who has written the best screenplay of the year in my opinion. Look out for Lee Isaac Chung as he will be ready to pounce with his deeply personal screenplay for Minari, should the battle between Fennell and Sorkin fall flat. The extremely charming and funny Palm Springs should have been here!

Who will win: Promising Young Woman

Potential spoiler: The Trial of the Chicago 7

Personal favourite: Promising Young Woman

Should have been there: Palm Springs

I wish everyone the best of Oscar nights! May the best films win!