#guan vs rai

[popentertainment-moviereviews]

WICKED (2024)

Starring Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Marissa Bode, Ethan Slater, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Keala Settle, Bronwyn James, Bowen Yang, Aaron Teoh, Guan Ti, Adam James, Colin Michael Carmichael and the voice of Peter Dinklage.

Screenplay by Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox.

Directed by Jon M. Chu.

Distributed by Universal Pictures. 160 minutes. Rated PG.

Have you ever wondered what came before Dorothy and the yellow brick road? Wicked answers all of these questions and more in the most spellbinding fashion. Jon M. Chu’s long-awaited film adaptation of Winnie Holzman and Stephen Schwartz’s hit Broadway musical, Wicked, gives audiences an inside look into how Elphaba Thropp became known as the Wicked Witch of the West, and how Galinda Upland became Glinda the Good Witch.

For those who don’t already know, Wicked is the musical prequel to L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (my fellow musical theater geeks know that Elphaba’s name is derived from Baum’s initials). Baum’s novel took the world by fire and earned its very first film adaptation in 1939, The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland, Jack Haley, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Frank Morgan, Margaret Hamilton, Billie Burke, and Clara Blandick. Unsurprisingly, the film quickly became a cult classic which led to numerous sequels, retellings, and, you guessed it, prequels.

In 1995, Gregory Maguire’s novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West was published, a prequel to Baum’s award-winning tale. The novel tells the previously untold story of how Elphaba and Glinda’s complicated relationship came to be, exploring themes of Good vs. Evil, Identity, Discrimination, and Friendship. With the success of Maguire’s novel, further conversation sparked about translating the story into a musical.

In 2003, Wicked made its Broadway debut at the Gershwin Theatre with music and lyrics composed by Stephen Schwartz and script by Winnie Holzman. The award-winning original cast featured Idina Menzel as Elphaba and Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda, making the pair household names.

Being lucky enough to have seen Wicked twice on Broadway, I, as well as other theater enthusiasts, had extremely elevated expectations for its highly anticipated film adaptation. Recent movie musicals have let me down, so I was curious how Wicked would fall on my wickedly misguided to thrillifying rating scale.

Needless to say, my expectations were defied.

The film begins exactly as its musical counterpart does, picking right up where The Wizard of Oz film left off, with the Munchkins of Munchkinland celebrating the melting (death) of the Wicked Witch of the West, belting opening number “No One Mourns the Wicked.” Glinda (formerly GA-linda) floats down in her iconic pink bubble to “rejoicify” with the Munchkins. Glinda’s sudden appearance prompts one of the Munchkins to ask Glinda if she was ever friends with the Wicked Witch, to which she responds that she was. Glinda then goes on to tell the origin story of the green witch (Elphaba,) and the trials that she endured as early as a newborn baby.

The story continues as Elphaba grows up and enrolls in Shiz University, with Galinda as her roommate. The duo become unlikely best friends, even after expressing that they equally “loathe” one another. Over the course of the girls’ first semester at Shiz, the talking animal professors of the university begin to lose their voices, reverting to their animalistic bleating, mooing, selves. As Elphaba has such a passion for the rights of all living things, she seeks out the help of the great and powerful Wizard of Oz to serve justice to the animals. Elphaba and Glinda make their way to the renowned Emerald City, not knowing that their adventure is just beginning.

I was concerned that Elphaba and Glinda’s characters would get lost in the mix of Wicked’s star-studded cast, but this was not the case at all. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande transformed into the film’s iconic pair on the screen before me. Be prepared to see Erivo and Grande as you’ve never seen them before – their chemistry and talent are unmatched. Wicked is a true masterpiece and Erivo and Grande are coming for those Oscars.

Between Jonathan Bailey’s charisma playing Fiero, Michelle Yeoh’s mesmerism as Madame Morrible, and Jeff Goldblum’s allure as the Wizard, every single person in this cast carried their weight and more.

Alongside the incredibly brilliant cast, Wicked’s cinematography is another massive contributor to its success, in my book. The film is jam-packed with breathtaking landscapes including Munchkinland’s radiant tulip field (including nine million real planted tulips,) the effulgent Emerald City (which was actually a physical set,) and the ethereal Shiz University, complete with its very own lake and stone academic buildings (surprise – another physical set.) Aside from the sets, the vibrancy of every shot in the film is unrivaled.

Regarding the film’s musical aspect, I am still speechless, even after departing the theater. Not only can this cast act, but they can sing. Beautifully. It is rare for a film adaptation of a musical to hit the mark with its soundtrack, but Wicked did much more than hit the mark, it smashed it with a giant broomstick.

Stephen Schwartz, who wrote the entirety of Wicked’s original songs, co-wrote the film’s musical score alongside John Powell. The scoring evoked such emotion and tied the whole feature together with a pink and green bow. 

After watching Wicked, I can confirm that pink does go“good” with green.

Kayla Marra

Copyright ©2024 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: November 20, 2024.

[hugthepanda12]

Bobo rant

Ok, @narvana27 this one’s for you coz I’ve mustered up some motivation to finally write some analyses just like you or @medeaminte​

This one will cover our beautiful Brazillian boy Raimundo Pedrosa. Some spoilers are inevitable to mention, but the main focus is on the episode titled ‘The Return of Master Monk Guan’.

1.1 short synopsis of the episode:

Master Fung, seeing how the forces of evil grew in power, decides to send monks to another temple for their training. It turns out the new master that is destined to teach them is Master Monk Guan. 

As for his methods, they are surprisingly cruel. Our heroes are not allowed to take breaks or even ASK QUESTIONS! Guan becomes that horrible general in military school who likes when cadets are blindly following his orders and train to the point they collapse due to severe exhaustion. 

Rai, of course, sees that the way Guan treats his students is unfair and stands up for the rest. Which ends up bad for him. Guan punishes him with additional training and what is worse humiliates him through giving him insulting nicknames! Later on, the audience learns that this disrespectful behaviour of Master Guan was intentional. What is more, Raimundo knows about it as well. It was a part of the agreement between them, reached off screen without the knowledge of the other monks. The main goal of such a strategy was to lure Hannibal Roy Bean out of his hiding, let him believe Rai is ready to turn to the Heylin side (again) and snatch the Treasure of the Blind Swordsman from his little evil vines. 

As the episode reaches its end, this plan as well ends in success. Bean is mad as hell and promises Raimundo that he’ll pay for it. Yeah, yeah happy ending. Cool. Rai gets one of the Spears of Guan as a gift for a succesfull colaboration with Master Monk Guan bla blah 

BUT!

Even if it was all the play on Guan and Rai’s part throughout the whole episode, in my opionion Guan was too harsh anyway. I get it. He had to be plausible, but man... Rai literally cried when he banished him from the temple!  

And this is an issue I wanted to talk about. 

1.2. Let’s look at all ‘nicknames’ Guan came up with for Raimundo. 

1. Young prince 2. bobo

3. someone dark, ruthless, shady, rebelious

I WANT TO PROVE RAI. IS. NOT. ANY OF THESE. 

1.2.1.The insult ‘young prince’ (or princess) is often used when a young person is too lazy to finish chores or he/she is not willing to do them at all. Maybe it was Raimundo in s01, although he had never said ‘no’ to master Fung. He just wanted to go easy way, like swiping the dirt under the sofa instead of getting rid of it in a proper way. But mind you, it is season 3 and this boy has changed a lot. Sometimes you don’t have to work hard to get your task done. All it takes is an adequate situation assessment and good organisation of your work.

 It looks as if Guan just doesn’t get it. Just like how vital breaks are in order to rise productivity. 

Rai made a right decision to stop training and lay on the grass. He knows what’s good for him and he stands by this intention to REST. Life is not ALWAYS about saving the world. He’s just a kid. Just like Omi, Kimiko or Clay. He’s defending his boundaries, but it appears no one’s respecting that choice. 

1.2.2. What about Bobo? Up to this day I thought that Guan wanted to underline that Rai acts like a clown, so he gave him a clown name. However, I came across this site. And guess. Bobo in Portuguese means ‘silly.’

And my question is: Did Guan know? Hmm!? Did you know about it, Guan? If yes, I’m very disappointed in you. ‘Silly little clown boy’ - this is what Rai is? No, it’s not like he was the only one brave enough to fight Mala Mala Jong... or EVEN OMI when he turned heylin!

It’s not like he has feelings or something... He’s the fun guy! Always chill! Not allowed to cry! His purpose is to entertain the rest, righ?

NO. Rai is not only a capable warrior but also a very dedicated friend, who can sacrifice ANYTHING in order to save the rest. Let’s ennumerate how many people he saved throughout the series. People who live near the vulcano in Brazil, that Lady who turned out to be the Bird of Paradise.... OMI. The rest of his team a couple of times... 

And what is more, every encounter TAUGHT HIM SOMETHING or had left some scars. He was possessed by Wuya, got beat up, and constantly he is accused of having EVIL TENDENCIES. What? Because ONE TIME he betrayed them? And that betrayal was justified because he felt hella ineadequate? 

But yeah, Guan. Go on. He is just silly to get all the punches for the team. It’s not like he isn’t bothered when the forces of evil are victorious.

Not at all. 

1.2.3. Ok, I agree Rai is rebelious, but as I mentioned earlier - HE HAS REASONS to be that way. He feels something is wrong - he exclaims why this is wrong and tries to FIX IT with the help or without it. The thing is, in s1-2 prefers facing problems alone due to that inadequacy he’s often reminded of by his peers. It’s sad to see that monks never realised Raimundo feels that way. Luckily, in season 3 Rai grew as a character. He displays more and more leader characteristics. He comes up with better strategy and is ore connected to his friends. As a result their cooperation during fights is on a higher level, just like in the last showdown in that alternate timeline. 

DARK, RUTHLESS, SHADY. - those are lies and I won’t comment on that

He can be ruthless only if someone hurts his family and friends. They’re gonna pay for that. Respect Rai for that. 

2. My opinion on  ‘ The Return of Master Monk Guan’

2.1. Guan’s behaviour - this post is about it. Just wanted to add he is very inconsistent as a character and writers probably had no idea how to write him so they just randomly threw him to some plot points in order to give episodes smooth flow between scenes. 

But yeah in that particular ep Guan is a jerk. First kidnapping Dojo, then overworking children only to kick out the most responsible one outta his temple with numerous sculptures of him, Dashi and replicas of his fav spear.

2.2 Monks’ behaviour - wanted to help, turned out bad. Omi as always was questioning Rai’s value and laughed at him bc of his new nicknames. Very mature of the chosen one, really. 

2.3 My review

This episode was good because:

1. It's rai-centered

2. He put to use that clever brain of his and gave master Guan the idea how to retrieve the most powerful wu from Bean

3. He can KICK ASS, only refuses to use that against his friends. 4. good preparation for cheeseball to reconsider he's NOT ALWAYS THE BEST and should be aware of Raimundo's skills

2.4. Summary

Raimundo Pedrosa has one of the best character developments in animation history but most importantly he is the complete opposite of those things the other characters tell him he is. He learns from his mistakes and utilises the knowledge for his benefit to protect what he believes is right. He’s very compassionate young man, who can do great things and he WILL with guidance of his temple family.

But most importantly, he well deserved the position of the Xiaolin Leader. His name is not Bobo. Only Raimundo Pedrosa. Good friend, leader, warrior, the future hope for making the world a better place. 

[grasshopperdoingdogpaddle]

Rely on your martial arts skills.

You can really tell that Chase was serious about teaching Omi how to handle himself in a fight without leaning on Shen Gong Wu. 

Chase has passed along a lot of his tricks. In Heylin Omi’s one-vs-three fight against the other monks, Omi even utilized the exact same tactics Chase used against them all when he first fought them back in Master Monk Guan.

Clay tries to lasso him, so he gets the drop on Clay by grabbing the rope and using it against him instead.

Kimiko blasts a weapon at him, and he deflects the magical blast right back at Kimiko, which is strong enough to incapacitate her since she’s caught off guard.

Raimundo aims a demobilizing Shen Gong Wu at him, and he dodges, leaving the weapon to hit whoever was behind him (Jack in Chase’s case, Clay and Kimiko in Omi’s case). While Raimundo was distracted by hitting the wrong target, he quickly sneaks behind Raimundo and hits him straight to the wall, simultaneously knocking the weapon out of Rai’s hand.

The monks are even all knocked to the wall and cornered in a similar way, backs to wall, trapped while he sneered at them.

All else aside, Chase was definitely a very effective teacher for Omi. Omi’s picked up not only specific moves and tactics from Chase, but also a really practical, creative form and strategic thinking that he was a bit too rigid to utilize before. It’s no wonder Chase was so proud of Omi after this display.

[xiaolindude]

‘rai was the least skilled monk’

he...... he literally single-handedly beat wuya, chase, guan and hannibal all at the same time, 4 vs 1.............. i...... 

[spookycatcrusade-blog]

25 TIPS ABOUT Diet, Exercise, AS WELL AS OTHER Lifestyle METHODS FOR A WHOLESOME Digestive System

Chills, aches, abdominal cramps. Finally, on Monday, it strike. Yep, Mommy had the belly bug. The husband had just remaining early that morning hours on the business trip. Crap. The question is, though, how will you know if your gut is in fact healthy ? Let the experts we spoken to help you decipher a genuine problem from simply a bad circumstance of bloat. She's now in remission, but Lindsay placed searching for a way to help other patients. Raw cultured dairy - Probiotic wealthy foods like kefir , amasai and yogurt can help repair the gut by destroying bad bacteria like candida. Drinking caffeine can also awaken your gut, in a good way. It can improve the levels and activity of health-promoting bifidobacteria. I would recommend taking all the natural sunshine you can get as well as eating oily fish like outrageous salmon or sardines regularly and probably a supplemental dosage of 4,000 or 5,000 IU of vitamin supplements D3 per day for most people. That is kind of away there… but I've got some severe digestive issues before two years. I'm of strong belief that it's anticipated to gut dysbiosis & leaky gut. Within the last year I've possessed intense fatigue, irritability, gut problems (constipation, pain, nausea), etc. The healthy individuals intestine is Whilst taking into account that the causal vs. associative aftereffect of the gut microbiome on health outcomes are not completely teased away, our gut microorganisms do may actually own an important part to learn in keeping us well, and caring for this community shouldn't be underestimated in medical care. Severe or long-lasting gut problems can lead to serious health issues and can prevent HIV drugs from entering the machine and struggling HIV. It is best to report these symptoms to your health care provider to determine if they are a side-effect of treatment or an indicator of something much more serious. Big pharma is aware of American guts are busted, that's why they can be making BILLIONS on PPI's. Supplement K2 also inhibits against supplement D I think that a sodium or magnesium established EDTA is an improved idea when compared to a calcium based one. One particular product that can prove helpful is a magnesium di-potassium EDTA in suppository form called Medicardium. Co-investigators included Naama Geva-Zatorsky, Esen Sefik, Lindsay Kua, Lesley Pasman, Tze Guan Tan, Adriana Ortiz-Lopez, Tsering Bakto Yanortsang, Liang Yang, most of Harvard, and Ray Jupp of UCB Pharma, the uk.

[hugthepanda12]

Dojo reacting to Rai calling him ‘gecko’

1x01 - The Journey of a Thousand Miles vs  3x07 - The Return of Master Monk Guan

Gotta hand it to Dojo he went through character development, too. Mind you in ep1 he’s angry at Rai because he considers such a way of adressing him an insult. Do we have the same reaction in season 3? NO. On the contrary, Dojo is  bewildered. He would never expect Raimundo to repeat the same mistake and insult him on purpose for a simple reason: Dojo knows Rai is a good friend!!

season 1 Dojo: Who does he think he is? Ugh kids nowadays! I’ll show him! Someone has to teach him to respect elders! Especially ancient dragons with experience!

season 3 Dojo: My RaiMuNdOoo??? Calling me a GECKO!? Impossible! Something’s wrong with my son! No, srsly something smells fishy herewhatisgoingon?oh hi the rest of the groupIdOn’tUnderstandWhat’suPwithRaiHELP

[narvana27]

Jwbcosnstx Omg thank you for THAT, hat. WAS . AWESOME! I MEAN I-... I've never thought about this episode like that, to me it was just like - Ok, Rai and Guan did that, they both knew whats gonna happen', we're good. But now Im like... 🙉🤯 I dont know how to feel about the fact that 'Bobo' literally means 'silly' in Portuguese, and to add to this that in chronicles Rai was a little boy working in the cirqus wearing clown clothes, Im-... Guan, are you ok? Rai, are YOU ok?! 😭 I mean if they both thought of that and Rai said: "Yea, Im good with that even tho it's a little bit triggering but hey - it's the part of the plan and if that will make me more authentic then Im in" it only shows that this boi wont take ANY STEP BACK to save the world 😭😳 And yea, the best part of this Episode is the fact it is about Rai 😏 But also as you wrote - That it showed Rai could beat Omi's freaking ass without even trying, and he Omi would totally LOST IT BABY, HA!

Bobo rant

Ok, @narvana27 this one’s for you coz I’ve mustered up some motivation to finally write some analyses just like you or @medeaminte​

This one will cover our beautiful Brazillian boy Raimundo Pedrosa. Some spoilers are inevitable to mention, but the main focus is on the episode titled ‘The Return of Master Monk Guan’.

1.1 short synopsis of the episode:

Master Fung, seeing how the forces of evil grew in power, decides to send monks to another temple for their training. It turns out the new master that is destined to teach them is Master Monk Guan. 

Czytaj dalej