#great thriller top tier

[ken-katayanagi]

It’s What’s Inside is a solid 4.5/5 for me because I actually didn’t play Cookie Run during it and I took out a piece of paper to write notes. - .5 for being mean to Brooke.

[deanmarywinchester]

best sf/f/horror I read in 2024

hello esteemed colleagues. here’s stuff I read in 2024 that I liked, in no particular order outside of the ranking tiers. find previous years of this reclist here

top 5

the bright sword by lev grossman: “lev grossman wrote a shockingly melancholy, hopeful, and expansive novel that hurts a little to read, about a young man who dreams of the age of heroes but finds that that age is over” and other unsurprising statements. this one is a take on Arthurian legend that happens after Arthur is dead, and is really interesting to me for how it portrays England as abandoned once by Rome’s great architects and then once more by the magic of Arthur’s court. with the age of legends twice dead, can anyone bring it back for real or can they only try to make it RETVRN?

the traitor baru cormorant + sequels by seth dickinson: there was a version of this post, before I went back and checked my list of what I read this year, where the top 5 was only Seth Dickinson books. these books are about how far you’ll descend into evil (ie how many war crimes you’ll commit as an imperial operative) to save your colonized home. they’re all good but the first one goes CRAZY. the author was a police bias researcher and it shows. portrays lesbian desire really really well. “hard fantasy” isn’t REALLY a thing but it’s this, they’re barely fantasy and more political drama

exordia by seth dickinson also: what if a reality-warping anomaly was hotly pursued by the US military while they were hotly pursued by aliens with planet-killing power? what if you got your whole village killed as a child and now you’re in a romcom with an alien? the Acknowledgements say, nearly word for word, “i wrote this between Barus for fun because those really take it out of me. anyway I’d like to thank the researchers who helped me with astrophysics, nuclear weapon functions, Kurdish feminism and history, and translation into five languages.” read if you like meticulously researched thrillers, Annihilation, and Challengers situations.

everything for everyone by eman adelhadi and m. e. o’brien: told with a framing device whereby the authors mention their own experiences with activism and revolution after the 2020s and compile an oral history of the future anarchist New York Commune, each chapter of this book is an interview with someone about a different aspect of how they contributed to revolution and setting up a new society. my gripe with this book is that I wish it talked more about problems that will still (or newly) exist in utopia, but I still loved it.

we have always lived in the castle by shirley jackson: I finished this book and immediately went to that blog that was running the literary incest tournament earlier this year because I was certain that Merricat and Constance had placed and lo and behold they had. those gothic themes are gothic themeing. read if you want jackson’s theme of small-town distrust and paranoia and isolation taken to the extreme

honorable mentions

the raven tower by ann leckie: what I love about ann leckie is her ability to write non-human protagonists without sci-fi jargon and with totally alien concerns and viewpoints that you can nonetheless buy into. this protagonist is a rock living on a hill that is a local god. read if you like folktales, loners, and twist endings.

the sapling cage by margaret killjoy: even though this is middle grade, all you had to say to me was “Margaret From Podcasts does transfem anarchist Song of the Lioness” and I was in. in a medieval fantasy world without a concept of transness, a trans girl swaps places with her friend so her friend can become a knight and she can become a witch and discover who is leaching the life from the forests for their own gain. the witch politics/interpersonal drama is done with the eye of someone who’s lived in communes most of her life and the way it straddles lingering love of knight tales and distrust of armed people with the legal right to kill you is refreshing

do you dream of terra two by temi oh: the most elite graduates of a cutthroat boarding school are selected for a mission to explore a potentially habitable planet in this character-driven meditation on what it takes to believe in something you can’t see and may have to give up your whole life for

monstrilio: a piece of flesh from a woman’s dead son grows into a person of its own, initially shaped like a monster but molded by his parents into a more-or-less normal-looking young man with a taste for human flesh. cringe moment but this is what Jack Supernatural could have been. to me. litfic with themes of monstrousness/normality, grief, and the various meanings of consuming flesh.

long live evil by sarah rees brennan: listen I know how it sounds but I’m putting this book so high up this list because I had a blast. a teenage cancer patient gets isekai’d into a book series that her sister loves but that she only half remembers, and has to use her vague memory of the plot to avoid execution long enough to obtain a magic item that’ll cure her in the real world. it has something to say about how it feels to live in a body that’s healthy after being desperately sick but it’s also just catnip for your inner teen fangirl daydreaming about getting your first kiss from a tortured prince

the terraformers by annalee newitz: in three different stories of people at different times in the planet’s political development, the story of a privately-owned planet terraformed to be habitable is told. this is for you if you like future politics about privatization and the rights of non-human persons a la Murderbot

silver under nightfall by rin chupeco: this book was selected for me by my friend and favorite bookseller @literally-irreverent because i like romance IN things but I don’t usually like when romance is the whole plot. anyway this is about solving a dangerous strain of vampirism while having a vampire/vampire/vampire-hunter romance that is. mwah. chef’s kiss. read if you like politically disastrous polyamory and The Witcher

the adventures of amina al-sirafi by s. a. chakraborty: i read the daevabad trilogy and I liked it but didn’t love it, but I liked this book a lot. mostly I think it’s really fun to have a seagoing adventurer who’s a mom, and it was done with a lot of care for her perspective.

runners up

to shape a dragon’s breath by monquill blackgoose: in an alternate history New England, an indigenous teenager finds a dragon egg and must become the first non-European to attend a school for dragon riders near her island. YA with prose that skews young and easy to read but with a good story. themes of colonialism and resistance.

things have gotten worse since we last spoke by eric larocca: I don’t love larocca’s prose but I felt like this book succeeded because it’s written in internet dialogue + therefore hid larocca’s tendency to get purple prose with it. horror about the quick rabbithole that is getting socialized/groomed mostly online.

the lion will slaughter the lamb & the barrow will send what it may by margaret killjoy: novellas where a group of wandering punk-house dwellers find out what’s raising supernatural horrors and how to stop them from killing again

running close to the wind by alex rowland: this felt like an attempt to bottle the Our Flag-type chaos and comedy pirate romance vibes without feeling like straight-up fanfiction. a pathetic meow meow of an ex-intelligence agent tries to sell state secrets without getting caught aboard his ex’s ship, while the two of them bet on who can break a hot monk’s vow of chastity first

the gone world by tom sweterlitch: this felt like christopher nolan writing a detective novel, as government agents travel to parallel realities to solve a murder

autonomous by annalee newitz: in a future society, this follows a scientist on the run from the governments and pharma companies that are out to get her for her work to make patented medications available on the black market, as she tries to fix a mistake she made in making an addictive treatment available to the public. this book is broadly about intellectual property and about the concept of property at all

the deep sky by yume kitasei: weirdly this book is a very different take on the same concept as another book on this list, do you dream of terra-two, where graduates of an elite school are sent on a generation ship to start a new colony. the twist is that all the characters are expected to bear two children to carry on the generation ship, which leads to some wild mostly-unexplored gender dynamics. this one is much more sci-fi/mystery to Terra-Two’s character-driven drama.

the atlas six by olivie blake: well-written dark-academia thriller that is obvious booktok fodder. with the vibes of the mortal instruments (everyone is so hot and powerful and tortured!) meets the secret history, a group of young magicians is recruited to learn the secrets of the library of alexandria

Ursula, kill this clown: dishonorable mentions

I don’t have enough dishonorable mentions for their own post this year but HOLY FUCK. THE FIVE BOOKS OF ROBERT MOSES. this book is FOURTEEN hundred pages of absolute dogshit that I should have DNFed but I liked the concept so much that I wanted to find something to like in the execution. Nope! the pitch is “a dirty bomb turns NYC into a wasteland and the city is picked up and moved wholesale, with the maps of the five boroughs remaining more or less the same, into a Nevada desert refugee camp guarded by the army, and a major character is Robert Moses’ disaffected younger brother.” on a petty level, this is the New Yorkiest pitch possible for someone who absolutely doesn’t give a shit about developing the new desert New York with any interest or fidelity. on an unpetty level, this is a slop “political” “thriller” that doesn’t develop a strong political perspective and moves at a sloth pace. skip.

[chappcdlips]

//   (  spike fearn .  cis man  .  he/him  )  .    ⸻  griffin talbot ,  a  twenty-one  year  old  ,  has  survived  another  day  in  red  creek  where  they  have  lived  for  his whole life  .  the  introvert  is  known  for  being  attentive  and  timid  and  is  often  associated  with  notes scribbled in margins, not speaking unless spoken to, long walks with no destination  .  in  a  small  town  where  they  work  as  a cashier at red creek pharmacy  word  travels  fast  .  it’s  hard  to  keep  a  secret  ,  and  it  looks  like  the  boogeyman  knows  that  redacted .

STATS

full name: griffin douglas talbot   hometown: red creek, mi   sexuality: bisexual  birthday: june 30   zodiac: cancer sun, cancer moon, capricorn rising  height: 5’9”  languages spoken: english, some spanish marital status: single children: none  traits: attentive, imaginative, independent, timid, oversensitive, evasive 

BACKGROUND tw drowning mention, anxiety  

the youngest of the talbot clan, griffin knew from a young age that his family was a Big Deal 

when he was little he liked the attention, he was a rambunctious and loud child, always running around trying to keep up with his older siblings 

this changed when he was 9; that summer, he was playing in a creek with some friends, he fell into a deep drop off and in a freak accident his foot got stuck in a sunken log and he was trapped beneath the surface for too long 

his friends eventually freed him but he had lost consciousness and was rushed to the local hospital 

he lived obvi, but the event left him traumatized and embarrassed and anxious all the time 

he started to withdraw, wracked with fear and anxiety, to this day he has pretty horrible social anxiety and is afraid to go near water 

he exceeded all expectations in school though, getting great grades and eventually getting into every college he applied to, including his dad’s alma mater, princeton

but he decided to stay local, commuting to school from red creek 

he’s in school to become a pharmacist which is why he works at the pharmacy part-time; he isn’t exactly passionate about pharmacology (he’ll happily collect those nice checks someday though) 

PERSONALITY & FUN FACTS 

painfully shy, social anxiety beating his ass daily 

much prefers to spend time alone or with very few close people 

reads a lot (likes horror, thriller, mysteries, but HATES true crime), plays videos games (idk which ones, i don’t go there), watches a lot of movies (letterboxd top four: star wars episode i, wallace and gromit (were-rabbit ofc), the parent trap, snakes on a plane) 

really into herpetology as a hobby and has a lizard, bearded dragon named wallace, and a snake, rainbow boa named gromit 

always has a plastic baggy of yellow starburst on him (he only really likes the yellow ones but will eat a different flavor if it’s offered by someone else) 

has so many pairs of socks that he just keeps them in a large cardboard box in the corner of his closet 

has never been in a relationship, is incredibly scared to do so and would not know where to begin 

but definitely has a number of crushes and a tier system for them 

writes shitty poetry and short stories for fun in a notebook he always carries around with his starburst baggy 

in typical baby brother fashion, thinks his older siblings are the coolest people alive 

a really good listener, he is observant and notices everything, so even though he’s probably not talking a lot he’s absorbing everything you’re saying 

hates the prominence of his family name these days, would rather live anonymously as some local nobody than be in the spotlight 

has had problems w insomnia since the incident at the creek, but he’s kinda okay with it bc more time to read and fall down a wikipedia hole or just go on a long ambling walk to nowhere 

big into tea, never drinks coffee 

sweet and very sensitive, like okay water sign 

incredibly caring towards those he loves 

 character inspo: jughead (riverdale), fez (that 70s show), ferb (really a ferb sun, baljeet moon) (phineas and ferb), quentin (the magicians), marcus (the bear) 

[gemsofgreece]

recs for a beginner in greek? my interest is spurred via ancient greek, but i'm sure there are tons of tv shows and films that i'm missing out on

Do you mean Greek course recs? Or media recs? Couldn't tell.

If this is about courses, right now Duolingo is the one I would recommend the most for beginning up to reaching a low intermediate level.

Tons would be... an overstatement haha I do have some good recs though. You can watch all content in ERTFLIX, the ott platform of the Greek state TV channels, which is entirely for free and available worldwide. The TV series I personally recommend there is Καρτ Ποστάλ (Card Postal), it is gorgeous, introspective, philosophical. Then there is another famous show there, Κάνε ότι κοιμάσαι (Pretend you are asleep), which is crime / mystery / thriller, but I haven't watched it. A lot of people also love Τα καλύτερα μας χρόνια (Our best years), which is a family / period show set in the 60s-70s. I haven't watched this one either. Another personal rec would be Αγάπη παράνομη (Unlawful love), which is based on an old novel, but it gets very dark in a realistic way, so that's something you should know. Other than that, ERTFLIX also has foreign content with Greek subtitles, with which you could practice. And it has great Greek documentaries.

You could watch Maestro in Blue on Netflix. Season 2 will be out this spring! Beautiful show, fantastic performances, great music.

There's also a man, George, who has been making English subtitles for various classic Greek series, comedies and dramas, including top tier Είσαι το ταίρι μου (You are my soulmate), a hugely clever and unusual rom-com, Στο παρά πέντε (In the nick of time), a crime and mystery comedy which is considered one of the two best Greek comedies ever and must have the thickest plot I have seen in a comedy (very popular show with the Greek tumblrs here) and OF COURSE ΤΟ ΝΗΣΙ ΑΚΑ THE ISLAND, a drama which is the best Greek series to date and for which I have entirely normal reactions. Here I link the post I had made about George's platform.

If you don't care to have subtitles at all you can find these shows and many others in DailyMotion and especially the website greek-movies.com. (this needs vpn, you know). This one has it all. Literally all, including the classics, classic Greek cinema of the 50s-60s-70s was by far the best era.

I am currently watching Η Μάγισσα (The Witch). There are some talks that it could go to some international streaming platform after it ends but you can watch it in the aforementioned website anyway without subtitles. I love this show, it's semi-daily, so this season will have 70 episodes, and obviously it comes with the limitations of daily shows, but as semi-daily shows go, it is bloody fantastic, I am obsessed right now.

YouTube also has a lot of old Greek series. The first thing you should do after starting any Modern Greek course is to start watching Κωνσταντίνου και Ελένης (Constantine and Helen's) on youtube, the best Greek comedy, or maybe the best comedy in the universe, with only slight exaggeration 😜😇 The aforementioned Είσαι το ταίρι μου, is also available on youtube with George's subtitles.

Some additional links of older posts to check:

10 best animated movies to watch in Greek (foreign ones with great Greek dubs)

My favourite Greek movies

Check my #greek tv series and #greek movies tags for more.

[wondereads]

WLW Book Recommendations

Happy Pride!

Recommendations are under the cut due to the size of this post. The books listed below are:

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

Crier’s War by Nina Varela

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

The Winter Duke by Claire Eliza Bartlett

Ace of Spades by Faridah Abike-Iyimide

Seven Devils by L. R. Lam and Elizabeth May

Malice by Heather Walter

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon (high fantasy)

Yes, this book is a monster, but it is well worth your time. Told from multiple perspectives spanning a huge fantasy world, an ancient evil is waking up, and humans must be prepared. This book does a great job of blending many different cultures into one narrative, and the way it deals with organized religion is better than any other book I've ever read. While this is a fantasy over a romance, the sapphic relationship in this book is top tier. It develops slowly and naturally; it's not big and sweeping like a lot of romance in fantasy, but the smaller things really come through.

Crier's War by Nina Varela (high fantasy)

In a fantasy world, humans are ruled over by automae, artificial beings that were initially created by humans but have now taken over as the 'superior' beings. Ayla's family was killed by the king, and she vows to take revenge by killing his own family, his only daughter, Lady Crier. I find the history of the automae very interesting in this book, and Crier's story in particular has a lot of good reveals. While this is an intense high fantasy, there is a bit of humor in it. Told from both Ayla and Crier's perspectives, I find it incredibly funny that a human girl is scheming how to assassinate a princess while said princess is experiencing her first crush on said human girl.

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri (high fantasy)

This book is set in a world inspired by ancient India, and tells the story of a maidservant and princess. The maidservant has a dark past that involves illegal magic and old societies, and the princess has been imprisoned by her cruel and despotic brother. This book is very much on the slower side, but some people prefer that. Similar to Priory, this book is told from multiple points of view, not just the two main characters. The unrest in the kingdom is slow and creeping but happens steadily and realistically. Also, concerning the romance, I actually quite like that the two main characters, Priya and Malini, don't exactly have a very healthy relationship.

The Winter Duke by Claire Eliza Bartlett (high fantasy)

One of my favorite books, The Winter Duke is about Ekata, one of the many children of the duchy of Kylma Above. All she wants to do is leave this place and her family to pursue her dreams of scholarship, but when her family falls into a permanent sleep the day before her departure, she must step up to rule. As someone who loves political fantasy, this book is right up my alley, and yours too as long as that's something you like. I really like that this book explicitly states that Ekata has zero interest in men romantically and is only interested in women. Her romance with Inkhar definitely brings out the YA aspects of this book. Ekata is forced to grow up so quickly, it's nice to see her have a crush and get flustered over it like any teenage girl.

Ace of Spades by Faridah Abike-Iyimide (mystery thriller)

At a predominately white private school, the only two Black students are targeted by an anonymous texter, Aces. Though they have nothing in common, they team up in order to uncover Aces and protect their secrets. Plot wise, this is by far my favorite thriller I've ever read. It's tense, it'll keep you on the edge of your seat, and it discusses institutionalized racism, especially in academia, masterfully. One of the main characters, Chiamaka, has a great sideplot of coming to terms with her sexuality. However, when it comes between her safety and her romance, I love that she keeps a level head on her shoulders and always chooses the former. (There is also MLM rep in this book with the other POV character.)

Seven Devils by L. R. Lam and Elizabeth May (space opera sci-fi)

An intergalactic empire spreads across the universe, and it's up to a ragtag group of rebels to stop it. Eris was once heir to the entire empire, but she gave that up to be part of the Resistance, and one mission may be the deciding factor in the universe's continued freedom. While Eris is technically the main character, this is fundamentally an ensemble cast with multiple perspectives. This book has quite a bit of LGBTQ+ representation, including a sapphic relationship between two of the POV characters. While not a huge focus of the book, their relationship is sweet and touching.

Malice by Heather Walter (high fantasy)

Malice is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty following Alyce, the Dark Grace, who is reviled but used by all in the kingdom of Briar. Alyce dreams of escaping Briar until she starts to master her powers and meets the Princess Aurora. I will admit that I prefer the plot to the romance in this book for the most part, but the ending really gets me sometimes. Alyce's powers and her people's history are so interesting, and Aurora is a great, understanding, and kind love interest.

Stay tuned for more pride recommendations all throughout this month!

[knee-stockings]

So I’ve been listening to lots of podcasts at work lately to break up the monotony of my office job. Mainly they’re horror, suspense/thriller, drama, that kind of thing. Trying to give ratings without spoilers~

(Check out updated pod recs here)

The Left Right Game (a journalist investigating an urban legend that gets increasingly more dangerous as they go): 5/5, this being one of the first ones I listened to set the bar really high tbh, it was great, immersive sound design, genuinely suspenseful and creepy moments, interesting plot, my only gripe is that I didn’t love the ending but I couldn’t dock a star just for that, highly recommend, maybe I’ll retire to Wintry Bay someday 

Alice Isn’t Dead (delivery trucker goes searching for her believed dead wife, comes across supernatural towns and creatures and a conspiracy that goes way deeper than one missing woman): 5/5, so so good, enjoyed a lot, I loved learning the truth about the Thistle men, still don’t completely understand oracles but that’s okay, some delightfully creepy moments, this will be high on my recommendation list (also it’s by the Welcome to Night Vale people, which I actually haven’t listened to lmao)

Harley Quinn and the Joker: Sound Mind (it’s a Harley Quinn origin story basically): 5/5, very enjoyable, sound design great, plot was fun, I don’t know how accurate this story is to the original Harley Quinn origin story but I liked this a lot

The Burned Photo (two women try to fight a familial curse haunting their bloodlines): 4/5, not bad at all, I thought the sound design was great and immersive but I thought the monster’s voice was a bit goofy idk, the plot wasn’t bad though ofc it was pretty bittersweet and sad in the end, tho I think it was never going to be happy for everyone involved

Blackwood (group of teens investigate the town urban legend and uncover more than they bargained for): I can’t decide…3.5 maybe? It was okay. I didn’t love it or hate it, I’m pretty neutral about it. It was interesting enough

Gaslight (girl goes missing and then reappears to her best friend years later with little explanation): 3/5, feels like there should be another season, wasn’t as dramatic/suspenseful as I thought it would be (maybe that’s my own fault tho, from the description and stuff I thought there would be more to it)

Ice-Cream (teens suspect the friendly neighborhood ice cream man of abducting little kids and uncover a dark secret): 4.5/5, interesting and a lil creepy, there’s something oddly funny about hearing someone scream “fuck you Beelzebub” even in context, sound design is pretty good and voice acting is great, finale was also pretty good but I’m docking half a star bc of that very last bit and bc I said so, overall short n’ sweet, no pun intendo (I’m kinda glad that it’s only the one season and not super long, gives the feeling of not overstaying its welcome. Also in awe that they made it within like a month, gonna go listen to their other podcast Cascadia too)

Cascadia (submarine expedition to uncharted waters, gone wrong, we almost died!?): 5/5, by the Ice-Cream people so I expected great sound design and voice acting and said expectations were met tbh, yes god love the drama, ocean depths are inherently scary to me so this is top tier horror, season one was chef’s kiss beautiful and I heard season 2 is coming so I’ll be waiting eagerly for that

Listening now:

Within the Wires (season 1 is relaxation cassette tapes from another world, season 2 is a guided museum tour I think): also by the WTNV people, interesting so far, the plot that unfolded in the first season was cool to watch as it played out, but also I am so sad. I like it so far

Rabbits (girl goes searching for her friend who disappeared because of this mysterious Rabbits game): feels like a really slow start after a few episodes, I kinda wanna get to more action soon please

Wake of Corrosion (apocalypse where characters are trying to find other survivors and also answers): mild shrug, not sure what to make of it just yet. Only like 2 episodes in so I think I need to give it a bit

Ars Paradoxica (scientist accidentally invents time travel and is thrown back to the 1940s): pretty interesting so far, science is fun 

Spoiler comment for Cascadia under the cut bc it's the one I just finished and I have Thoughts

As much as I enjoyed Cascadia, when I think about the expedition for more than 2 seconds I get confused. Not the whole alien thing, that’s fine, it’s Badger and Maria and their ulterior motives. Why in the world did Badger spend millions of dollars to make a submarine that’s faulty on purpose? And there was so much media coverage around it so the second something went wrong reporters were practically beating him over the head with microphones, so why risk so much bad press? Plus sacrificing three other talented divers who trusted him with their lives??? That’s the most confusing to me. There’s no way Badger foresaw them getting attacked underwater and losing Declan alone, so he must have been fully prepared to lose captain AND crew. Holden said that he saw Badger as a father, and yet he chose Holden to die? He said he handpicked them, so what did Holden, Alia, or Iris ever do to him to deserve being sent on a suicide mission? Doing all this just to get rid of Declan and be with Maria doesn’t feel right. Feels like there should be something more there. Tldr: surely Badger had another reason for conducting the suicide mission, right? Also since season 2 starts with Lila all grown up, a diver just like her father, I wanna know her opinions of her mother and of Badger. Did she learn about her mother’s betrayal? Is Badger still involved in funding deep sea diving or did the FBI take him out of that? Omg who’s the father of her little sibling…I’m so curious…

[fuckyeah-jessicabiel]

Jessica Biel for Elle USA - June 2007

From the moment she appears, Jessica Biel is gracefully deflecting the attention of men. Wearing Roger Vivier white pumps and snug True Religion jeans, her hair tightly pulled back in a ponytail, she walks out of the elevator in the Hotel Gansevoort in New York City's Meatpacking District at a rapid clip, shedding two young men who had the incredible good luck to have ridden down with her. She nods them off nicely as they walk away grinning and no doubt mentally compiling lists of buddies who'll be receiving the following text message: "DUDE! I WAS JUST IN AN ELEVATOR WITH THE SEXIEST WOMAN ALIVE!"

Next in the gauntlet is a Moby-looking scenester with a paunch who descends upon her in Ono, the Gansevoort's bustling, dimly lit Japanese restaurant, introducing him- self as if he's an old friend. The fact that he's wielding a Treo device like a video camera goes unnoticed by Biel, who later refers to said implication as "creepy." She dis- patches him into the darkness with a tight smile and walks through the large restaurant to a back booth, caus- ing a ripple of chopsticks to go still as heads turn.

If the rhythms and rotations of the mass entertainment media complex are to be trusted, we are currently living in Jessica Biel's Big Moment. After getting her foot in the door in 1996 on the show 7th Heaven, the now-25-year- old actress won the hearts and minds of the boys with her badass ability to wield a meat cleaver in the 2003 remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and a bow and arrow in 2004's Blade: Trinity. Her turn in 2005's Stealth, which bombed (literally), may have gone largely unnoticed, but the trailer highlighting Biel under a waterfall certainly didn't. Then in the fall of 2005, Esquire bestowed on her the magazine's "Sexiest Woman" honorific. Last summer, she deftly skipped over the threshold from hottie to respectable actor with her supple performance as an early-twentieth-century duchess opposite Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti in The Illusionist and since then has become a red-carpet flashbulb magnet, wearing Valentino to the Golden Globes and, to present at the Oscars, a fuchsia halter-top Oscar de la Renta dress that strikingly revealed her toned shoulders.

And yet "it's still a struggle," Biel says, sitting up straight with the alertness of a ninja. Her tan sleeveless Preen turtleneck highlights her muscular arms. "I thought the Esquire cover was going to be really positive for my career," she says. "But it wasn't, really." Biel recalls being told by one director, "I'm not looking for the sexiest woman; I'm looking for the girl next door."

"Parts that I really want aren't going to me," Biel says. "Like The Other Boleyn Girl with Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman." But she stops herself. "I don't want to say that there's nothing I love that I can have. But there's still the occasional script that the director doesn't want to see you for. They want that top tier of girls."

So how does she go from Big Moment to top tier? Gaug- ing from her acting heroes-Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, and Annette Bening (with whom she will costar, along with Sean Bean, in a screen adaptation of Oscar Wilde's play A Woman of No Importance)-it seems she has good taste. And in addition to working with Nicolas Cage and Julianne Moore in the recent thriller Next, Biel is finally getting a turn at comedy-something she's been longing for-opposite Adam Sandler and Kevin James in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, due out next month.

"Jessica is a great actress who also happens to be smart, sweet, and funny," Sandler says. "But the best part of working with her was watching her beat Kevin James at arm wrestling." Not that the movie, about two firefighters who pretend to be gay in order to claim domestic-partner benefits (Biel plays their lawyer), refrains from reveling in her sexiness-she sheds her clothes for a gawking Sandler, and when his character first sees her, his world goes into super slow-mo.

"She's capable of attaining the Julia Roberts crown," says Chuck and Larry director Dennis Dugan, referring to Biel's healthy-American-girl vibe and comic timing. The actress herself is wary of such pronouncements.

"The scary thing about having this opportunity is that if it's 'your moment,' that eventually disappears," she says. "I think about reaching for 'the moment' but never really achieving it. That way, I'm always striving."

BIEL CARRIES HERSELF WITH THE CONFIDENCE OF A DANCER OR AN ACCOMPLISHED JOCK-BOTH OF WHICH SHE HAS BEEN.

When Biel walked onto the set of The Illusionist, director Neil Burger was impressed with her athlete's readiness and resolve. She carries herself with the confidence of a dancer or an accomplished jock-both of which she has been. "She completely gave as good as she got" with her Oscar-nominated costars Norton and Giamatti, Burger says. "That's a testament to her poise and her talent."

Early in the production, Biel had a scene with Norton that put the two of them in a stream in the Czech Republic in March. "It was essentially liquid ice. It was like an elec- tric shock, and it knocked the breath out of both of us and Jess turned blue," Norton says. "When we watched it back on the monitor, you could see it hadn't played out exactly right. Neil and I both wanted to do it again, but some- times you have to give up perfect for safety, and we were hesitant to ask her to get back in that water. But she said, 'It wasn't right, was it? Let's do it again.' And I thought, All right, she's a pro."

"She doesn't take herself too seriously," says her friend and producing partner Michelle Purple.

Stephen Collins, who played Biel's minister father on 7th Heaven, agrees: "She has an incredible goof-off, tom- boy streak," he says.

So what was a tomboy doing in the front rows at fashion week in Paris early last March? ("An intimi- dating and overwhelming environment," Biel says.) Scoring some clothing, including the Preen number she's wearing now, and also celebrating her twenty- fifth birthday. "Someone said, 'You have five years till 30.' I started to think, Wow, over the next five years, my life could really change personally," Biel says smil- ing, with a slight squint of her catlike eyes.

When the tabloids started spotting Biel with Justin Timberlake in January shortly after his breakup with Cameron Diaz-the two were seen snowboard- ing together in Park City, Utah, during the Sundance Film Festival; sharing a glass of champagne at Prince's Golden Globes party; and backstage at Timberlake's concert in San Diego-her personal life suddenly became of great interest to the public. She dodges a probe about her relationship with Timberlake while knocking back shrimp tempura with aplomb, saying that she was in Park City with girlfriends and holding

"WE DIDN'T LOCK OUR DOORS," BIEL SAYS OF HER COLORADO CHILDHOOD,

meetings for her production company, Iron Ocean Films. Nor does she want to discuss her past relation- ships with actors Ryan Reynolds and Chris Evans, or Yankee star Derek Jeter, "for no other reason than I can't even go to the dry cleaner by myself anymore," she says. "You're seen in public with anybody that you might not even know, and you're speculated about."

Asked if the constant attention makes dating hard, she says, "It makes everything hard because you can't even go to pick up a prescription without somebody trying to snap a photo of what you have in your Longs Drugs bag. Thank goodness I'm a nice person," she says. "Thank you, Mom, for teaching me that.

"The day after Biel was born, in Ely, Minnesota, her parents took her to a dogsled race; it was 30 degrees below zero. By age one she was in a canoe. Her mother, who is "New Age," grew up in Colorado, hunting for arrowheads as a child; her father was a "mountain man" who ran an Outward Bound school and worked as an international business consultant. His career took the family (her brother, Justin, is three years younger) from Texas to Connecticut and, finally, to Boulder. "We didn't lock our doors," she says. "We snowboarded, hiked, climbed, rafted. We grew up without a fear of the world."

Although Biel thrived at athletics, she doesn't remember a time when she wasn't dancing or sing- ing. At age 11, she signed up with a talent agency in Denver, which got her to the International Modeling and Talent Association convention in Los Angeles, which in turn got her into meetings with managers and agencies.

"I wanted to be Whitney Houston for a long time. I would be onstage and I would just come alive," Biel recalls. "I begged my parents to let me go out for pilot season."

When she was 14, she landed her central role in 7th Heaven, playing the oldest daughter of seven kids in a wholesome Christian family. But after a few years, she wanted to mix things up personally and professionally. At 17, Biel posed seductively for a Gear magazine photo shoot, topless with scant bottoms. It was a clear sign that she wanted to be off the show. "I was all over the place," she says now. "I was being a rebellious teenager." She feels that she was exploited by the magazine, but 7th Heaven's producers cut her out of the series. (She eventually returned in a more limited role.)

"The Gear thing, while embarrassing, wasn't exactly bad for her career," Collins says. True enough, in that between Gear and Esquire Biel worked on seven major films. But none of those movies had anywhere near the impact that taking off her clothes did . Julianne Moore says that Biel's "extraordinary" beauty appears as if "she were carved from marble," but she also has a body that you'd think only a comic book artist could draw-curvy in just the right places-and yet still healthy. 

"WE SNOWBOARDED, HIKED, CLIMBED, RAFTED. WE GREW UP WITHOUT A FEAR OF THE WORLD." 

Biel works out three times a week, primarily heart-rate training, doing fast-speed soccer exercises, squats, and running. She also does yoga regularly. Still, she feigns dismay at the suggestion that she looks buff.

"What do you mean? This is the thinnest and the least muscular I've been in a long time," she protests. "I'm so lean and feminine!"

As we order tea after dinner, the large party of 20 at the banquet table perpendicular to ours has mostly disbanded, allowing four of the men left at the table to reshuffle themselves so that eventually they sit on one side, facing her. It's as if they're at dinner theater. Biel may feel she has yet to land the role that breaks her out, but until that time, she has no shortage of fans who will be happy to watch her along the way.

When asked to go bowling two days later, after her ELLE photo shoot, Biel scarcely raises an eyebrow. She throws on a black ensemble and arrives ready to roll at Chelsea Piers between two lanes of bouncy seven-year-old girls. Despite doing pretty poorly, losing for eight frames, she pulls a spare, a strike, and two nines at the very end to win the contest. "I was really sucking, but I'm a closer," she says gamely. "You should see me at beer pong."

[maximumwobblerbanditdonut]

Review : The Couple Next Door

ON 17TH JANUARY 2025 🇺🇸

It takes less than five minutes for Starz and Channel 4‘s new six-part series The Couple Next Door to make its first reference to Desperate Housewives.

Pete (Alfred Enoch), a journalist at a struggling newspaper, and Evie (Eleanor Tomlinson), a pregnant primary school teacher, are moving into a cul-de-sac in Leeds. They’re reflecting on a version of suburbia that’s more American, or even fictional American, in nature than British, so the comparison is close to inevitable; Pete looks at the dog-walking, lawn-tending, externally obsessed neighborhood they’re moving into and assumes a communal beneath-the-surface rot that does, indeed, eventually emerge.

It’s the last Desperate Housewives reference in the series because, to put it simply, The Couple Next Door isn’t finally all that much like Desperate Housewives, especially the top-tier early seasons of Desperate Housewives that one might want to be compared to. The adaptation of a Dutch format — Nieuwe Buren, which I definitely haven’t seen — offers very little humor and fails completely as a twisty, propulsive thriller, making its only appeal as an exploration of a modern polyamorous relationship, a thing it examines on a level far less sophisticated than what was featured in Starz’s Three Women.

And if you’re thinking, “But you didn’t like Three Women!” Indeed, I did not. Three Women was a well-acted structural failure, but it had things on its mind and an interesting take on female desire. The Couple Next Door avoids almost anything thoughtful, and as an erotic thriller, written and directed by men, its top gear stops at “hungry glances” as opposed to actual sexual provocation. Because its stars are inarguably attractive and capable of stirring up at least a modicum of chemistry, there are times when The Couple Next Door maybe lives up to its junk-food aspirations, but it’s mostly thin gruel.

Anyway, Evie and Pete move into their new hood and they’re immediately greeted warmly by the couple across the street — the show isn’t great with geography, but I’m pretty sure its title is inaccurate — Becka, a yoga instructor and VERY low-level social media influencer (Jessica De Gouw), and Danny (Sam Heughan), a motorcycle cop. Becka and Danny have a son when it’s dramatically convenient — I’ve never seen a show so casually eager to tell us when a child character is being watched by unseen relatives or staying over with unseen friends. But mostly they’re swingers and their interest in Evie, embodying what Eric Carmen described as “Hungry Eyes,” and Pete, uncomfortable with everything to the point of accidental comedy, quickly escalates.

Keeping the show watchable, at least until the violence-filled finale when it mostly is unwatchable, are the four main stars — including Enoch’s semi-comic turn that’s either unintentional or discordant with everything else in the series, but made me chuckle once or twice.

Bulked up to an almost Reacher-ian degree, Outlander star Heughan makes a strong case to join 50 Cent as Starz’s main poster boy. His mumbling, brooding presence has little hints of Stanley Kowalski magnetism and he has the only subplot that improves as the show progresses. Very little that De Gouw’s character does makes much sense — the logical flaws in almost everything become all-consuming by the end — but the Aussie actress is convincing enough to briefly make you believe that somebody with no interest in social media would be enjoying the fruits of being an influencer, and that somebody with only 30,000 followers would be notable as an influencer. Tomlinson is great for the first half of the season, as Evie goes through personal grief and comes out desperate and damaged. But as the show gets into late-series moralizing that was already retrograde back in the days of Fatal Attraction, anything grounded about that character gets lost.

Channel 4 has already ordered a second season of The Couple Next Door with a new cast, which points not to the finality of any of the story arcs in these six episodes, but the likely finality of viewer interest in those stories. So keep trying again with this partner-swapping stuff, Starz! Third time might be the charm.

**Daniel Fienberg Chief TV Critic joined The Hollywood Reporter in 2015. A former president of the Television Critics Association, Fienberg also hosts THR's weekly television podcast, TV's Top 5, with Lesley Goldberg.

————————-

It hasn't gone unnoticed who is STARZ's “eye candy” 🍭

Well, maybe this was the right time to be practical and reasonable. As soon people are aware that something is not working, immediately the result is quite different. 🎯 💣💥

Posted 18th January 2025

[invisibleicewands]

A Very Royal Scandal review – Michael Sheen is excellent as Prince Andrew in THAT interview

If you haven’t seen the lively Scoop, Netflix’s version of the catastrophic (for him) Prince Andrew Newsnight interview about his relationship with the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, then you might find more to appreciate in A Very Royal Scandal. This is the second time the story has been given a “real events, fictionalised for dramatic purposes” preamble in the same year. As with Scoop, it’s a buffet of top-tier acting talent. Here, Ruth Wilson is Emily Maitlis, and takes the deep voice very seriously, while Michael Sheen is Prince Andrew, and Joanna Scanlan his adoring and doomed private secretary, Amanda Thirsk. The performances are predictably strong, but it lacks the heft you might expect from a such a heavyweight cast, and from a series that follows the excellent A Very English Scandal and A Very British Scandal.

Over three steady episodes, it follows Maitlis and her Newsnight team as they pursue the interview with, and allegations against, the Prince, before re-creating the interview and exploring the fallout. Scoop focused on the producer Sam McAlister, played by Billie Piper, and turned her dogged pursuit of the sit-down into a sort of thriller. This sidelines her almost completely. Instead, it sticks with Maitlis and the Prince, fleshing out their private lives and offering a more in-depth character portrait of each, as they move towards their shared fate. It is elegantly done, though it ambles forward rather than sprinting for the finish line.

That means Maitlis at home, with her husband and sons, having a post-work vodka, talking to her whippet and Googling the links between Epstein and Andrew. We join her as the BBC is under pressure from the right-wing press and the government for its seeming partisanship. Maitlis is rebuked for a Brexit-inspired, on-camera eye-roll, and while Paxman and Humphries would be applauded for that kind of thing, she says, she still feels she has to prove herself. The Andrew interview would be perfect. “I’m not losing out to bloody ITV,” she booms.

The TV industry stuff feels pleased with itself, particularly when it is placed against the absurdity of royal life, shown here to be a surreal catalogue of hunting, golf, fine dining and charades. This goes far deeper into Prince Andrew’s world than Scoop did, and you can see that it is fascinated with his psyche, and the question of not only why he would do the interview, but why he seemed to think, in the immediate aftermath, that it had gone rather well indeed.

We get to meet Fergie (Claire Rushbrook), loyal and amoral, who describes herself and Andrew as “the happiest divorcees in the world”, and has sent her ex-husband off to his old friend Epstein with “a fucking begging bowl” to settle her many debts. Sheen’s Andrew is a near-tragic buffoon, a man-child who believes that he is charm personified, but berates his staff with endless “fuck offs” and furious tirades. If the drama makes an effort to humanise him, it does so through his daughters, Beatrice (Honor Swinton Byrne) and Eugenie (Sofia Oxenham), who by the end appear to if not accept, then at least comprehend the mess their father has made.

A comparison to the later Crown here is inevitable, not least because this spends so much time in the royal households, and runs into the same problem of trying to dramatise very recent history, still fresh in the minds of most viewers. It is hard for it not to dip into caricature. Still, Sheen is great as the ranting Prince – “I am the second fucking son of the fucking sovereign” – but the underplayed star of the whole thing might be Alex Jennings, who plays the late Queen’s private secretary, Sir Edward Young, a smooth master of the old ways. He warns Thirsk against the Newsnight interview, explaining that the royals need protecting from themselves. They live a “frictionless existence”, he says. They will never know what it is to miss a train, because the train will always wait for them if they are late.

The fallout from the Newsnight interview had no intention of waiting for the Prince. This ends with a closeup of that 2001 photograph, of Andrew with the then 17-year-old Virginia Guiffre at Ghislaine Maxwell’s London home, re-created with the actors for both A Very Royal Scandal and Scoop, but also powerfully left in its original form in the final moments here. It is a reminder that this isn’t a simple case of a stupid man making a stupid mistake. When Maitlis replied to Andrew’s description of Epstein’s behaviour as “unbecoming”, she did so with an astonished rejoinder that Epstein was “a sex offender”. Like Maitlis, A Very Royal Scandal handles itself with comportment and class, but as a drama, it is too frictionless for its own good.

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Crown Jewel

We're skipping the discourse around this one. Ginny is Bonney's mother, Kuma's her daddy, and there's the potential of a half-Tenryubito bloodline which would explain a fair amount of leeway we've seen. Bonney is also only 12 years old. Love how it all fits well with her intro, do hate how grim Ginny's story ended up. But she kept that spark until the end, like the wrinkle of not wanting to be seen and trying to hide the pain. Out of respect for that we're not dwelling on the horrific circumstances of Bonney's conception.

I gotta say though, I was already wondering before that if film buff Oda wasn't striking again because Kuma's story of a humble guy weaving around big events was reminding me big time of Forrest Gump. If Wano was the Kabuki revue you'd pick and choose parts you care about...is Egghead a night at the movies? Sci-fi B movie vibes obviously. Then maybe these segments away are almost like, say going to the bathroom and catching a snippet of another. Hence missing parts of it. I'm rambling...

Absolutely adore the origin of the "jewelry" part of Jewelry Bonney. Both this cute scene and how the Sapphire Scale disease hearkens back to Thriller Bark. The core stakes of losing your shadow. Same with the origin of "If you could travel, where would you go?" In hindsight...I bet Perona reminded him of Bonney. It's also pertinent to point out they were at Sabaody around the same time. There's a lot to say about her after this chapter, starting with...

Bonney, welcome to the top tier of the blorbo rankings. How can I hate a chapter that gives me a feisty five-year-old flagrantly flipping the forbidden finger? Young Bonney you are so precious. Er...younger Bonney. So we don't just have the Sapphire Scales connection either. This chapter hits that running Egghead theme of callbacks so hard. I love this bit about calling her a vampire and brandishing a cross, especially with her flatly pointing out she lives in a church, but a lot of things honestly. Talking about wanting to see a Sky Island was nice.

We're gonna peel this one off for tomorrow, but there is one thing I do wanna note. Actually being 12 with a fruit like that is a different angle, but it has that fundamental thematic harmony with a quartermaster. Just like an elegant but lowkey scary big sister with an actress vibe, a bossy little sister with the infinite possibility of distorted futures suits bringing order and wearing many hats. Kiku's deal was being shown as legitimately good but not great at others'skills. The ultimate redundancy. Bonney is the blank slate. Strap in friendos, I have a lot to say on the matter over the next few days.

This is what I was thinking last week, the part that really gets there. The ability to just pop up at island after island is hellacious for a Revolutionary. Makes it easy to pull something like Sabo's simultaneous uprisings which is smart. Paralyzes a World Government that can step in it prioritizing the wrong ones. But yeah, Kuma goes on a tear after Ginny is taken. We get a great run of back-and-forth shots though between the hero and the doting father. Love that. He goes into a pit of despair, but the last remnant of Ginny becomes a reason to live again.

My guess is ultimately we'll see something like he agreed to the cyborg program at least partially because he could take on Bonney's disease himself. That would make sense for something. Kinda dig the theory Im suffers from Sapphire Scale. I know they said Bonney had a limited time but that may be because she'd already started to turn. Im if anyone has the resources to ensure you'd never encounter natural light and it'd be incredibly thematic. I will also laugh my ass off if we end up making the World Government functionally run by the Sohma Family from Fruits Basket. Sickly lil shut-in who was handed control for stupid reasons.

Hearken well, dear reader and don't look away. For what comes next is the tragedy of Sorbet. From priest to tyrant, from man to machine. A tragic tale who's end has already been seen.

Talk about callbacks, yeah this familiar nightmare reminds me a lot of Drum and Dressrosa. It is cool how Wano fits into that, a more benign version of reinstalling the ancient dynasty. This here is the perfect setting to shift us into the parts we already know a bit about. It'll be interesting to see what happens. Somewhere this kind pastor and loving father became known as a tyrant and he was referred to as King of Sorbet. We've only got a short window to cram in a lot of big things for Kuma. That said, could see us out of this by or in 1100. So a break and a big one-two punch?

[uriekukistan]

Top 5 TV shows? ^_^

ty for the ask!!

this is gonna sound crazy bc i have a blog dedicated to 3 tv shows but i dont actually watch a lot of tv + actually ranking the ones i do watch is sooo hard, so instead of doing numbers, im gonna do tiers 🤞

shows that changed my brain chemistry, they’re a part of me, for better or for worse

death note has been a part of my life for soooo long. genuinely i watched it when i was 12, and i’m about to be 22 soon, so almost 10 years now. i still rewatch it frequently, i’ve probably seen it close to 15 times now…i based my whole closet and a lot of other things on mello & misa sksjsk

tokyo ghoul is of course one of my favs, also has been a part of my life for a while, maybe 6 years? i prefer the manga tbh but i still watch the anime a lot bc sometimes im too lazy to read…my comfort show fr tho i always turn to it when i’m feeling down

jujutsu kaisen is the newest addition to this category but i love it just as dearly, as you may have notice lol i wasnt sure about it at first but it quickly made itself out home in my heart and life. tmi but i was in the middle of like a year+ long mental space where i just couldn’t feel things or process emotions, and jujutsu kaisen is what brought my feelings back to me…a lot of sad feelings but feelings nonetheless

other shows i like a relatively normal amount

blind is a kdrama that i never really see that many people talking about but its soooo good and so worth watching. it follows the investigation of brutal serial killer, but it feels like so much more than that. there’s really great psychological horror aspects, as well as commentary on how society fails children, and i literally never saw the end coming. soooo good a bit gory but really worth the watch. watch it when you have a few days off tho bc it’s so hard to look away.

i was torn for what to put as the last show, but i decided to go with another kdrama sweet home. highly recommend for tokyo ghoul lovers, it’s sci fi/thriller and it’s about this disease that turns humans into mindless monsters, and the MC turns into like a half-half…won’t say too much more bc spoilers but the parallels are endless

[hologramcowboy]

The whole branding and social media thing is too confusing for me. If I am trying to be cast for a very much negative character - ie a pedophile or a psychopath - I need to refrain myself from posting good stuff in my personal sm and try to portray myself as a potential evil to make investors believe in me? 😶

I don’t know anything about Hollywood, but I have seen the most goofy person of the industry playing a devilishly psycho and rapist and giving a great hit in my country’s film industry. I have repeatedly seen a man maintaining absolutely normal family man image in social media and subsequently doing romantic hero, villain, tough police officer, comedy, drama or thriller all efficiently. That makes me think social media and PR image is for public, and not for insiders of industry- they have different team to play out that. I mean, if I maintain an image of romantic hero publicly and get cast in such roles only, won't I get typecast? And most importantly what is my credibility and efficiency as an actor if I cannot break myself over and over again and deliver all kind of roles?

Anon, at the beginning of your career and up until you reach top tier you will be typecast. In fact, the only way to get into the industry and work steadily is to typecast yourself based on your essence and then target buyers that need that character type. E.g. let's say you match the superhero vibe, that means your buyers are those who produce those types of shows/movies.

As you career advances and you rich top tiers, let's say you get promoted from recurring to series lead, as your brand becomes established now you have more leeway. You have the option of rebranding your materials to aim for your new desired tier. But, even then, you must be careful to stay faithful to your essence or you risk alienating your fanbase. By essence I don't mean past characters you've played. I mean what makes you YOU. If you are goofy then the way you play a lawyer is very different from how a serious, dark, moody man would and that's perfect. You are you. If your uniqueness centers on being able to be lighthearted and playful because that is who you are at the core then you will play different character in those main notes and you will be credible playing them.

Trying to be everything to everyone ensures failure. The only actors who can pull off a wide range are transformative actors like Meryl Streep, Charlize Theron, Jared Leto, for example, they can fully transform into a character due to intense studies, prep and using behavioral psychology. Unless you are at a tier where you are Tom Cruise famous, you will have to have a defined brand and character types that match your target goals. Once you reach the offer level of your career (meaning you get offered roles directly because you are an established, trustworthy professional and your name resonates in the industry), you get to have way more creative control but, cautiously, because as I've mentioned earlier, if something works, don't ruin it. Don't try to be something you are not. It will always backfire.

No actor is expected to deliver all kinds of roles, they are expected to realistically live the circumstances they get hired for and those will always be in line with their essence. Know who you are. Because who you are does not change. The character type might change, you might get called in as a doctor but your job is to deliver that role along with your uniqueness so your version of a doctor will match your essence and not be a general idea of what a doctor is like or a copy of what some actor actor is doing.

What you say you've seen is impossible. Most likely, the actor you are referring to is from a country where american actor branding does not apply OR you are missing the common thread in all of his roles and how it ties into his essence.

An actor's brand is his essence and under the umbrella of that brand are character types he can play, as I explained earlier. His look, physique and essence are well suited for certain characters so he gets cast as those. It has nothing to do with his family man image, unless that's his main type. All actors may post something about their family but how you do it needs to be inline with your brand or you dilute your image.

I'm really curious about this goofy actor who played a rapist. Which country was this and what is the name of that actor, most importantly, what is his look?

As for an actor social media, it is always, always, always geared at his buyers and goals unless said actor is clueless about his own industry. Do not fall into the trap of thinking that what actor present online is who they are in real life. They are maintaining an image and it is for PR purposes that they make certain posts. It is a part of their job. Their actual private profiles( if they have any because not all do) are not something you will ever be privvy to. An actor is a product and any smart actor knows this and carefully curates their online image.

[septembersghost]

oooh book rec time! 📚

- house of leaves (so good, but can be confusing considering its ergodic literature!)

- the kite runner (top tier, very emotional tho)

- sula (omg, toni morrison is a god, this book was amazing and very sad)

- Ishmael (amazing book, really makes you look at life in a different light, think everyone needs to read it at least once!)

- the viscount who loves me (but any of the bridgerton books really, im partial to romancing mr. bridgerton too though)

- anerican prometheus (this is a biography about oppenheimer but it really is pure poetry as well, and i recommend robert oppenheimer letters and recollections as well, just because oppies own writing is something to behold)

- rabbit and robot (a book from my childhood technically but still has to make the list just because of how utterly hilarious it is)

- ethan frome (such a sad beautiful story, very poetic and tragic)

- girl from nowhere (this has nothing to do with the netflix series lol, but its a pretty good suspensful spy thriller romance!)

- where the crawdads sing (very very interesting and the twist at the end is def amazing)

- the sound of waves (this novel was translated into english from japanese and it's a very beautiful, simple and life loving romance)

those are all i can think of right now but I also of course have to recommend the classics such as the great gatsby and dr. jekyll and mr hyde!

your last sentence flashing me back to the unhinged dni @arthurwilde showed me this morning that had gatsby, to kill a mockingbird, frankenstein, dracula, wuthering heights, and the phantom of the opera listed as "irredeemable media" (along with the magic schoolbus and garfield..?). 🤓 i'm surprised jekyll and hyde wasn't on there too. what did the classics ever do to that person?! i have read and enjoyed them, lock us up for literary crimes!

thank you so much for this list and your thoughts, i appreciate it and am always glad to have new things to add to my to-read ideas!!! ❤📖

[wistfulwatcher]

Very glad you've joined the yellowjackets ranks! Please tell us all your thoughts

Thank you! Oh man, my only real thought right now is

All the women are so interesting and complex and so incredibly fucked up!! And all of their relationships are amazing, and there is such a variety both in 1996 and 2021, and they've (especially Shauna/Tai, but I suspect this will apply to many more in s2) only grown between those timelines.

But not only do we get so! many! great! women!! I am very interested in the mystery/thriller of what happened in the mountains (ESPECIALLY TAI OMG I NEED MORE), and how the cult developed and the symbol and everything. This is all the good parts of Lost right now with triple the women and I am THRIVING.

Anyway I love all of them, but Shauna and Taissa are tied for favorite character right now. And there is no ship/dynamic I don't love (of the women at least - Travis is too consistently misogynistic for me to be thrilled about him/Nat, but I definitely care about them for Nat, which tbh I think is the point anyway), but Shauna/Tai is very top tier for me! (Though I am also feral about the tragedy of Jackie/Shauna, like. A R T.)

[kb-amnewt]

Movies are my JAM!

The wonderful and beautiful @return-of-miss-mgm tagged me in a recent post, and I've decided to follow suit. The following are 9 movies that really meant something to me. My list of movies goes on and on, but here's some that stood out at the time.

Evil Dead 2 was one of the first horror movies I really remember watching. It's been one of my favorites for a long time to the point where I've listened to the commentary multiple times. It really set itself apart by appealing to my sense of humor, and including a level of derangement I rarely see in films since.

Godzilla vs Megalon is an absolute classic of a Godzilla movie. The showa era of Godzilla films is definitely a favorite with their weird story-lines and their occasional 4th wall breaking moments. This one holds a special place though as being on my son and I watch together frequently. Plus it features Jet Jaguar, a fan created hero for this specific film.

Singin' in the Rain makes my list as one of my favorite musicals ever. Gene Kelly was a marvel in his own right and this roll was a perfect fit and he got surrounded by talented costars. The whole movie just makes me feel good and makes me want to dance. Plus I can sing along to the whole darn thing.

Spirited Away was my fist Hayao Miazaki movie. I think it is a beautiful and stunning movie just as much as the first time I saw it. I think the story is sweet and weird. The world it painted was strange and whimsical while also having its dangers. I've since learned that most Studio Ghibli films have the same effect, but still, this was my introduction to a great collection.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind just hits super hard on my interest in aliens. As with most Steven Spielberg films it was kind-of a big deal what with the budget he normally works with. The fact that so much of the movie is done with practical effects really drives home how much better it is to be creative with whats available. It's one of the reasons I wanted to get into special effects in the first place. (along with the evil dead movies) Also you get to watch Richard Dreyfuss go absolutely bonkers for a solid hour and a half.

Tremors 2: Aftershocks made me not want to walk off the bike path behind my house for fear of getting devoured. Eventually it turned into a comfort movie that I would play it on my laptop to help me fall asleep, which I can admit it could be seen as a little odd as this installment in the franchise introduced the shriekers, which I would not describe as comforting to hear. Again, lots of practical effects as well as a very entertaining Michael Gross.

Little Shop of Horrors is again one of those top tier musicals for me. I can sing the whole movie. It's a fun, weirdly dark story wrapped up in a delightfully uncanny package. The baddies get their comeuppance via a hungry meat-eating plant voiced by Levi Stubbs. The special effects are mind boggling and the choreography leave nothings to be desired. Put simply, I love this movie.

Labyrinth to me is not just a great movie. I am incapable of thinking of this movie without also thinking of my wife. We've both loved this movies since before we met and now it's something we can experience and enjoy together. The day our son asked us to watch it together was one of our favorite experiences together. We've since seen some of the puppets, props, and costumes in person. The combined work of David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly, Jim Henson and his team made a piece of art that has brought my family closer together. (And like that I've made myself cry a little)

Scream was another favorite of mine when it came to the horror/thriller genre. Obviously at this point I know whodunit, but there's still enough substance there where I can watch it time and time again. It puts so many tropes on blast while following many of those very same tropes to a T. Upon re-watching you find that it frequently tells you exactly whats happening or about to happen without you realizing it. The cast was great, the cinematography was on point, and I've had a thing for Drew Barrymore since I was in high school.

All in all I have varied taste when it comes to films. I tend to bounce around from kaiju films, to musicals, to horror, and back to light-hearted animation. I have far to many favorite movies to count but these 9 should hopefully give some insight into what helped form my love of the art of cinema. I'm curious what some mutuals might have in there lists so hopefully I can look forward to what, @drgoblins @fat-tea-fat @kolkhozmilf or @transfatfemme @bigfatbuck @brendakthedonutgirl @the-grove and @chubote have in mind. Of course anyone is welcome to give it a go, I don't always remember everyone who's following me back.

Thank you for coming to my post, I hope I'm not bothering anyone by tagging them. This list was in no particular order.

[justagalwhowrites]

hello love!

I hope you’re doing amazing and taking care of yourself I wanted to ask you since we gotta till 2025 for season 2 of TLOU I don’t know what to watch in the meantime so what shows or movies do you like or recommend???

OMG hi lovely!

I'm doing great thank you so much for asking! I hope you are, too!!

I haven't been watching much lately, I've been spending basically all my downtime writing lol BUT here's some stuff that I've generally enjoyed over the past few (maybe 10?) years!

Shows:

The Sopranos - Watched this right at the start of the pandemic and almost immediately saw why it was considered one of the best TV shows ever made. The idea of a mob boss going to a therapist? 10/10, fabulous. (HBO/Max)

The Newsroom - I'm a former journalist and lover of Aaron Sorkin so this show was addictive for me. Give me a good walk and talk dialogue sequence any day. Season one is far and away the best but the other two ain't bad. (HBO/Max)

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - This show was CRIMINALLY underrated. Several new musical numbers every episode, the writing is so damn brilliant it should be taught in school if it's not already. It also tackles mental health beautifully and is hilarious without being overly silly. (Netflix)

Fleabag - Brilliant, insightful, funny and heartbreaking all at once. Phoebe Waller Bridge is a genius. The worst thing about it is that it's so damn short. (Amazon)

Andor - Probably the best Star Wars series so far (SORRY MANDO I LOVE YOU SO MUCH) the storytelling and character work here is so damn good. If you haven't seen it yet, make it a priority. (Disney+)

Movies:

Baby Driver - A love letter to what you can do with sound in film, it's got so much to enjoy. Great performances, editing that's pure genius, excellent storytelling with fun action and a great script. Watch it if you haven't!

500 Days of Summer - in my opinion, this is the best "romantic comedy" (not sure it can REALLY be called that) since When Harry Met Sally. A really critical look at what it means to put the idea of someone over the actual person, it's funny and insightful while making its point.

Promising Young Woman - It's dark and funny and truthful and cathartic all at once. It's a movie length middle finger to the patriarchy and I'm all about it.

Knives Out - Everyone's probably already seen this but the fact that Daniel Craig plays a southern gay detective and is having the time of his life now that he's free of James Bond, it brings me so much joy. The mystery is great, the performances are top tier, it's damn near flawless. Will watch at any time. (Adjacent recommendation: Logan Lucky, a heist movie with a bunch of rednecks robbing a NASCAR race including Daniel Craig debuting his kooky southern drawl. Super fun!)

Nightcrawler - This was one that was super underrated (even though it was up for Best Original Screenplay at the oscars), a noir psychological thriller about a stringer who shoots video freelance for local TV stations. The appetite for bloody content pushes him further than you would expect. It's dark but so well done!

These might be a bit all over the map but hopefully there's some stuff here you've never seen and it's helpful!

Thank you for asking and for being here! Love you!