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chopperpirate · 6 years ago

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MCU Retrospective

I've decided to, in honor of Avengers Endgame, write about my thoughts on the MCU as a whole. Well, obviously I love it, but am cautiously optimistic about its future. It's easily one of my favorite film franchises, and though I don't think it ever really reaches the highs of The Dark Knight, it's better than any other Superhero related thing in the realm of Live-Action film, with the only things like Logan and The Dark Knight surpassing it in my heart. I still think DC animated films can sometimes be better, but it shouldn't be a competition.

I've been seeing people participating in this "One Marvelous Scene" thing lately, so I'll do that as well after ranking every MCU film I've seen from best to worst. I won't bore you with too much writing, though because I know I'll get flack, I'll try to justify my top and bottom 5 with some comments. With that said, here's Chopperpirate Mun's MCU film ranking!

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - Anyone who knows me knows how much I love things that value the connections between ragtag "nakama" who aren't related by blood, but were brought together by circumstance and are now the closest thing each member has to family. Not to mention that this film has emotional payoffs for Nebula and Gamora's heartfelt rivalry, Rocket's tsundere hangups, and Peter's heritage that I'd say are all easily the most emotional resonant things out of the MCU. The comedy in the film is probably only rivaled by Thor: Ragnarok. My two personal favorite jokes being the Mary Poppins bit, and Drax shouting "MANTIS! LOOK OUT!" mere seconds after Mantis was already hit and knocked unconscious.

The highlight for comedy is easily Drax, but his speech to Mantis about why her perceived ugliness is a good thing because if someone loves you despite your ugliness, they love you for who you are, really might be one of my favorite moments in the film. Same with Yondu's speech to Rocket about how they're the same. Believe it or not, I cried more during Yondu's death than I did for Tony Stark's in Endgame. I can't really tell you why. Something about his last line just reminded me of Whitebeard from One Piece.

Yondu's death scene aside, my favorite scene in the film is easily when he, Groot, and Rocket are slaughtering the traitor Ravengers to the tune of "Come a Little Bit Closer."

On that note, the villains of this film are some of the best. They aren't bland, generic evil points of contention for the film to have a climax! Taser Face is hilarious, The Sovereign are hilariously arrogant and I find the fact that they only engage in combat through arcade simulations to be perfect for their personalities, and Ego might be the best Marvel Villain besides Loki up until that point in the MCU. The reveal that he killed Meredith was shocking, and might very well be the best "Wham Line" in the MCU to this date. His death scene showed a lot of depth to Peter, and like a good villain, he had a lot of parallels and contrasts to the protagonist instead of just having a clone of their abilities for the sake of a final boss fight.

The Winter Soldier - Captain America at his finest. Bucky was awesome, Black Widow was finally given a lot of vulnerabilities and depth as she bonded with Steve, Falcon was alright, HYDRA as a collective is an amazing source of paranoia fuel, and this movie might have the best action out of any MCU film, or at least my personal favorite brand of action. Instead of CG magic and shit, we get to see visceral knife fights, punches, kicks, and close-quarters martial arts. It's surprisingly brutal for a PG-13 film. I recall one point where Bucky kicks a SHIELD agent into a helicopter propeller.

As for my favorite scene in this film, I'd have to say it's the Elevator sequence. The build up was perfectly suspenseful, and the payoff of the line "Before we get started, does anyone want to get off?" felt badass and perfect for the character of Captain America, who, instead of being snide or arrogant, shows that he's ready to fight, while willing to let his enemies back out if they so choose.

This film might also be Nick Fury's finest. I was very disappointed that Captain Marvel didn't enhance the character more than this film did, but oh well. The way Fury communicated words with Steve while showing him what he really meant through writing was clever while also perfectly exemplifying his character. Fury is very secretive, never showing vulnerability or letting himself get attached to others, yet we can tell from his actions and concerns that he is a good person, even if he isn't a nice person. The way he says one meaningless thing while displaying another more pressing thought really shows that the Russos understood the character.

Infinity War - The Empire Strikes Back of the MCU. Thanos is an amazing villain protagonist, and arguably the only character with a full arc in this film, Gamora is probably at her most interesting here, and a lot of the interactions between characters who never got to interact before this film are some of my favorites. I'm especially fond of the chemistry between Doctor Strange and Tony Stark.

Despite how dark and serious this film is, it understands how to keep up dramatic tension while never losing its sense of humor. The same film with Vision dying willingly and pointlessly at the hands of his lover is the film with lines like "Why is Gamora" and "I am Steve Rogers." It's probably the most perfect film in the MCU in terms of story structure and emotional stakes. It's just lower than the ot hers because it lacks the personal love from me that the above films had.

Avengers: Endgame - Now that I've had time to stew on it, this film isn't as good as Infinity War, but it's still great. To clarify, Infinity War was a better structured film and a more entertaining one for the most part. I'd say the first two acts of Endgame were somewhat weak by comparison, but the final 1/3 was so perfect that it almost tempted me to rank it above Infinity War, even if Captain Marvel's presence ruins a lot of things.

I want to remain positive for the most part here, so I won't talk about too many of my gripes, but because I know I'll get asked why I think Captain Marvel ruins the stakes, let me explain. In the MCU, Captain Marvel can canonically move at Lightspeed, and probably faster too. So... when she got the Infinity Gauntlet in the final act's little "Hot Potato" portion, why didn't she just fly to another galaxy and hide the gauntlet away with some trusted civilization, come back to help defeat Thanos' army, then bring the gauntlet back to return the stones to their timelines? Remember, because of this plot hole of MCU Carol Danvers being so overpowered and fast, yet not doing anything to help, Tony Stark is dead. � We know the meta reason is because RDJ and most of the Phase 1 actors are done, but you guys can now totally blame Captain Marvel for it In-Universe.

Positives though! This film made me genuinely love Nebula. She fits so well with The Avengers (arguably better than with the GotG), and the small details of her pity and attachment to Thanos during his early death adds a lot of pathos to her character. Thor's "Big Lebowski" phase was hilarious, Tony and Thor getting closure with their dad/mom respectively was sweet, and the final battle was one of the greatest spectacles to behold. I don't know if it's controversial or not, but I personally loved that Captain America got his happy ending (even if it creates a huge plot hole with this movie's time travel rules). It just lacked the oomph of Infinity War.

Thor Ragnarok - This film saved Thor, made him entertaining and interesting, and gave us yet another great villain in the form of The Grandmaster! It has a similar issue, villain-wise, in my opinion, to Black Panther, in that the secondary villain is far more entertaining than the main villain. Great comedy, Loki's redemption is emotionally fulfilling, and Korg is my MCU waifu. My only issue is that Hela is kind of boring, and the stuff on Sakaar is far more engaging than the "important" plot.

Guardians of the Galaxy The Avengers Spider-Man: Homecoming Iron Man Doctor Strange Captain America: Civil War Iron Man 3 Ant-Man Ant-Man and the Wasp Captain America: The First Avenger Iron Man 2 Black Panther - Very overrated. T'Challa is far less interesting here than he was in Civil War, Wakanda is far better in Infinity War... Really, it's not a "bad" movie. It's just not that special. It's more comparable to the Phase 1 films between Iron Man and Avengers than it is to, say, Wolverine Origins. Glad I saw it. Wouldn't see it again. Didn't care of Killmonger either. Sue me.

Avengers: Age of Ultron - This gets... better on rewatch, but it still sucks. It's a garbage standalone movie, but if you look at it as an in-between film that's setting up things for the Thanos arc, it's actually not so bad. Could've used more scenes like the "Trying to lift Mjolnir," or "chilling at Hawkeye's house" scenes. Just The Avengers hanging out and interacting in low-stakes environments. Instead we get empty, loud, almost Michael Bay-esque action scenes.

Thor: The Dark World - On rewatch, it was surprisingly more entertaining than Thor 1 in a lot of ways. Mostly involving Loki. The human characters, especially Jane and her friend, are horribly boring, and I think we should be thankful that Natalie Portman left the MCU out of frustration for her character being an empty love-interest! She made the right call. Thor isn't really interesting yet, but at least the death of his mother gives him and Loki some legitimate character arcs.

Thor - Eh... it's just kinda bland. Not much to comment on. Loki isn't really fun yet, the human characters are boring, and Thor is probably the least interesting Phase One Avenger aside from Edward Norton's Bruce Banner. It has its moments, but on my most recent MCU rewatch, we were most bored with this one.

Captain Marvel - The most insulting installment of the MCU. Captain Marvel insults people for having those evil Y chromosomes. It's the story of a strong, brave, powerful, beautiful, flawless, overpowered woman who just wants to... umm... be an Air Force Pilot, I guess. She's apparently never met a supportive male in her whole 30+ years of living, because all of her memories are of cartoonish archetypes of men with 1940s values telling her that she can't become a pilot. After all "You know why it's called the cockpit, right?" Ugh...

Not only is the feminist message forced, but it's one of those negative feminist messages that I hate so much. Instead of preaching equality between the two genders, women being just as good as men, it preaches that women are amazing, brave, beautiful, powerful creatures and men are pathetic morons who underestimate women at all times. There's even a scene where her father is yelling at her for crashing a Go-Kart in pure anger and disdain instead of, I dunno... calling a doctor and worrying about his injured child? This movie is... ugh...

Carol herself is either boring and unremarkable or irritatingly condescending depending on the scene's writer. If I recall there were like... 4 or 5 different writers and it really shows. But anyway, she's annoying. She constantly "Womansplains" things to Nick Fury, and her tone is just so smug that it makes me want to slap her. Listen to the way she says "I'm here to stop the shapeshifters that are infiltrating your planet. You don't have any idea what's going on, do you?" It's so demeaning to have Nick Fury, the coolest character whose presence is so demanding and badass that even god-tiers like Thor and a war veteran like Cap shut up and listen when he speaks, be talked to by an unproven character just so Kevin Feige can get some feminist brownie points.

This carries into Endgame where she basically calls Rocket "furrball" and retorts his complaint by harshly explaining why she's not around. In response to this, Rocket, who is characterized in the first film by getting so angry at being called names for his oddities that he almost attempted to murder Drax for it in the bar, simply nods, lowers his head, and says "that's a good point" in a defeated tone. WOW! YOU GO GIRL! CAPTAIN MARVE IS SO TOUGH THAT SHE CAN TALK DOWN TO NICK FURY AND ROCKET AND THEY KNOW BETTER THAN TO COMPLAIN! WOOOOW!

Speaking of feminism, the movie skims over the whole "Air Force discrimination" subplot within under a minute, so we can't really connect to that. As such, one would expect the fact that she's "the most powerful hero in the MCU" to be the big feminist selling point, but she didn't work for that power at all. She got it through sheer coincidence by standing too close to the Tesseract powered engine before it exploded. As such, I suppose the moral is, "Girls! If you wanna be a strong, brave hero, go stand next to an exploding engine!" If so, I caution all viewers to not do that.

Nick Fury is mostly okay in this movie, but he feels underutilized. The retcon of his eye being scratched out by Goose is embarrassing and infuriating. It makes the line from Winter Soldier "Last time I trusted someone, I lost an eye," meaningless and if you were to count this movie as non-canon because of it, I'd be right there with you. He just keeps getting demeaned and treated as a joke, and strangely, the eye retcon isn't even the worst part. I groaned even harder when Carol's friend's daughter says she might build a space ship some day, Fury doesn't know. And Carol replies by saying "You're right, he doesn't know." Pushing the feminist message by knocking Fury down a peg instead of by preaching equality. :\ It wasn't like he said anything misogynistic throughout this film, so I have no idea why he's often the film's punching bag.

Oh, and just a side-note. You wanna know something hilarious? That friend's daughter shows Carol some photos of them together from six years ago. Literally the same actress. Literally the same age in the photo. This child hasn't aged a day in 6 years, so I welcome you to reply with some crack theories so that we can call the writers geniuses instead of incompetence? Is the kid a watcher? A time lord?

Incredible Hulk - Boring, boring, boring. Edward Norton was always a terrible Bruce Banner, the plot is as generic a hulk story as you can imagine, and the character of "Bruce Banner" is almost nonexistent aside from turning into The Hulk when stressed. This Bruce Banner is a handsome, tall, athletic martial artist. If I had to praise it anywhere, the fight between Hulk and Abomination toward the end is actually pretty decent, but aside from that, this film is an embarrassment. It's very telling that the MCU and all its executives swept this one under the rug. It's difficult to find in your Best Buy's "Marvel Studios" section.

There. Proceed to insult my opinions. :D

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sssssssim · 7 years ago

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Can you please write a review for Thor : Ragnarok?

oh my god

I CAN SURE TRY!

Spoilers ahead, obviously. Also, a few disclaimers. This are my own personal hella subjective opinions. And I read the last Magnus Chase book right before seeing the movie. Magnus Chase is a Norse demigod and in the last book, he stops Loki from starting Ragnarok, and I really think the series influenced me a little. Still, you asked, I shall deliver.

Let’s split this review into several parts, nine points of interest: general plot, intrigue and shock value, funny vs drama, visuals, character personification and development, character relationships, actors, integration in MCU and miscellaneous.

(This has 2700 words. oops.)

1. General plot

The plot of this movie was a pretty complicated one, I think, in the sense that a lot happened. The action takes place on three different planets, but to be fair, the action is linear, mostly, (except for the two flashbacks). There are just a few scenes that Thor isn’t a part of, a couple from Hela’s POV, from Skurge’s or Heimdall’s.

I found the start a bit… boring. Until Thor ends up on Sakaar, the plot was used to explain things, to update the viewer at where the world is at, in that moment. While this was needed, I found myself yawning, a little, thinking they should hurry things up.

But then, the action did change its pacing, or maybe I just got more interested in the actual plot of the movie.

I can’t really say anything too bad about the general plot. It was okay, it was entertaining, it was simple enough to understand but complicated enough for it to not be boring.

I’ll say two things, though.

It may have been a little obvious. I mean, I kinda figured out the main outcome of the film a little earlier than they expected me too. I knew they weren’t going to stop Ragnarok from happening since Loki made it to the final fight on Asgard.

They never actually said the whole Ragnarok prophecy out loud. Granted, had they done so, the major plot twist at the end wouldn’t have been so shocking. Cause, as far as I know (from Magnus Chase, maybe it’s different in the actual Norse Myth), there are a lot of “steps” that need to happen before Ragnarok, and Loki triggering it (with the helmet and the fire) is one of them.

2. Intrigue and shock value

When it comes to this, Thor: Ragnarok delivered, and it delivered a lot. There were a lot of times I gasped out loud (or acted like a child and hit my friend’s arm in excitement oops), and not just at the big, major plot twists. There were times when I realized a reference, when I made a correlation to mythology or to something else from Marvel, and so on.

In my opinion, the smaller intrigues were a lot better than the big one.

In most stories, there is one main plot twist, the intrigue which leads to the final outcome. In this movie’s case, it’s the fact that Ragnarok is triggered. That Thor makes a choice and doesn’t stop Ragnarok from happening, urging Loki to actually start the apocalypse.

And like I said before, I saw that one coming.

But. A lot of the smaller intrigues, the mini plot twists, those I hadn’t seen coming, the ones that made me gasp in excitement, I enjoyed the heck out of them. Hela being Odin’s daughter, the quinjet showing Nat, Heimdall stealing the sword, Loki actually joining the fight, and so on and so forth.

And the best one, the one shocking scene that pushed all of my buttons, is the one when Thor, one eye down and presumably killed by Hella, lands on the bifrost ready to fight. Ya know the scene I’m talking about. The one where there’s electricity coursing through his veins and lighting up his eye, the scene that made you think more of Zeus (and Jason Grace) before you remembered that Thor is the God of Lighting and that you’re finally seeing it. The scene where Immigrant Song started playing in the background, as Thor was more badass than ever, and you, as a fan, completely lost it in the movie theater. That scene. I loved it.

3. Funny vs drama

Thor: Ragnarok is a funny movie. There’s no doubt about that.

You have various types of humor, be it situational (Thor screaming his lungs out while he’s in the chair on Sakaar, Valkyrie falling off her ship) or intentional (I’ll be Tony Stark).

Some of the humor is cheesy, some of it is cringy, some of it is amazing (Korg was the absolute best).

Bottom line, it is a comedy. It makes you laugh.

When it comes to the drama, though, it’s a bit… weird. Because, for me at least, the moments that were supposed to be dramatic and were supposed to make me Feel Things didn’t do much (Odin’s death, Valkyrie’s last battle). Not immediately, any way.

I feel like when it comes to drama, Thor: Ragnarok is a film that delivers it like a saline drip. Drop by drop, over a long period of time.

For example, Odin’s death scene didn’t affect me as I was watching the movie. But as I started thinking about it afterwards, holy fuck did it hurt. Because Odin wanted both of his sons there, and Loki finally got the recognition he always desired from Odin. But Odin was still Odin, and he left them with the biggest problem they ever faced, a problem they knew nothing about. And the worst thing, the thing that made me cry when I realized it, was the fact that Odin, as opposed to Freya, he chose when to die. Which must have been such a horrible feeling for Thor and Loki, wasn’t it?

And another example I wish to mention is a scene with Thor and Loki on the ship, at the end. Thor saying I’d hug you if you were here, and Loki responding with I’m here. That was brilliant. I’ll get back to that on a later chapter.

4. Visuals

The visuals are 100% the best part of the movie. They were absolutely brilliant.

The CGI was incredible, have you seen Fenrir? The Hulk really got an upgrade, the scene with the Valkyrie’s last battle was breathtaking, the fight between Hulk and Thor was badass (was anyone else having flashbacks of Gorilla City, then? Of Barry vs. Grood?). I mean, hell, scene 1, Thor meets Surtur, the evil dude was beautiful. And don’t get me started on Korg and all the other aliens we catch a glimpse of.

The cinematography was incredible. Well done slo-mo just when you needed it, cohesive framing throughout the movie. There were a couple of scenes that were above the else. Like Hela walking into the Throne Room where Thore is waiting, the camera panning to the ground, we just see her shadow growing horns. The Valkyrie’s last battle was a Renaissance painting come to life.

The sets were incredible, Sakaar especially. A weird combination of steampunk and trash, with a little wannabe class inserted into the higher ups of society. Honestly, I loved the whole 80s vibe it had going on.

The costumes were incredible. Not just Thor’s armour. Not just the Valkyrie’s battle gear, Loki’s fighting suit, Hela’s sinful curves. But also the Grandmaster’s outfits, the people’s outfits when they were celebrating the Hulk, the suit Loki wore on Earth. All the clothes of the hundreds of extra in the background of Sakaar scenes.

The makeup was incredible. While Hela was wearing a full on black smokey eye, it was made special by its shape. The white symbols the bounty hunters wear on Sakaar were different from person to person and from day to day.

Thor: Ragnarok might just be the best good looking Marvel movie. There’s a clear 80s vibe all throughout it (not just in the visuals, but music as well) and I didn’t hate it. I actually kind of freaking loved it.

5. Character personification and development

This wasn’t something I particularly paid a whole lot of attention to as I was watching the movie.

But as I thought about it afterwards, I came to the conclusion that that happened because of all characters acted so well, so organic, nothing bad caught my attention.

In this movie, we see Thor, finally!, as what he’s supposed to be: a king. Everything we see before he takes the throne in the end of the movie, is to make us realize that Thor will be a good kind. He evolves in this, of course he does. From the moment he loses his father and his hammer, he starts to mature, heading towards the responsibility of being kind.

… Not all the way, though. He still bickers with Loki and has no idea how to talk to a woman (poor Valkyrie), so he’s still the Thor we know and love.

But he is something more. He’s a new king, which is a job he took even before he took the throne. There have been discussions about how Thor manipulated Hulk/Banner into doing his bidding. I kinda agree with that statement, and it was a crap thing to do, but it was a necessary crap thing Thor needed to do in order to save his people. Honestly, most kings screw up like this, sooner or later.

Now, let’s talk about Loki. He had the most evident character development, considering he finally redeemed himself.

If you know me or you’ve been around here for a while, you know I usually don’t like redemption arcs. And I still don’t.

But this one, I liked this one. Probably because I liked Loki a whole lot since his very evil begining, but not just because of that. I also enjoyed it because it didn’t happen instantly. After the first Avengers, Loki got two movies to redeem himself.

And he did so by still being an asshole, by still stealing and cheating and being kind of horrible.

He stole the Tesseract, but he did redeem himself in Ragnarok. And I feel like his redemption story isn’t over yet, it’s still at the start.

And, I’ve mentioned the scene before. Thor and Loki on the ship towards the end, I’m here. That was such an emotional scene for me, because for the first time in what felt like forever, Loki actually showed real affection for his brother. And the fact that he was there means so much, in terms of his development. Honestly, I left the movie thinking “I can’t believe Loki’s there”.

Valkyrie needs a mention in terms of character development, it’s pretty evident. I thought it was nicely done, too. I won’t say too much about it, it really is hella obvious, and I enjoyed watching it. Because we got to see a glimpse of how awful her story was, but we also got to see what a Valkyrie is supposed to be, a strong (amazon-like) fighter.

If I start talking about Banner, I’m gonna start crying. I don’t want to do that, so I’ll just say this: you should think about Banner’s state of mind. Waking up after 2 years of Hulk brain, the terrifying thought of never changing back to Banner again, but he still decided to do it. For Asgard and for Thor. The way he play-fighted with Valkyrie in Hulk mode, that was a first, we never saw that side of him before. Bruce’s development is too complicated to explain in words and I just wanna hug Bruce, really.

6. Character relationships

The relationship between Thor and Banner is a tricky one. I’ve mentioned before, the manipulation Thor does with Hulk and Bruce both. But, in the end, they’re still Avengers. They still fight together, side by side to defeat evil. Maybe this relationship wasn’t portrayed in the most healthy manner, but all the Avengers are various levels of fucked up when it comes to mental health. You can’t really accept healthy relationships.

I don’t know if I should be shipping Valkyrie with Thor or with Banner. I don’t wanna ship either, to be honest.

But in terms of relationship development, I feel like it was nicely done, in the sense that it was organic, going with the flow of their own character development.

And I most definitely ain’t shipping her with Loki. I mean, if you do, you do you, boo. But I don’t wike it.

7. Actors

Honestly, I don’t feel like I can say man, this person was absolutely amazing in this scene. I’m not saying the acting was bad, cause it was not. It was good, constantly, everyone did their characters well. But I don’t feel like the scenes gave them an opportunity to showcase their incredible acting scenes. Ya know? I hope that makes sense.

8. Integration in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

First thing first. I think it was the first time a post credits scene was actually included in the next movie. The Doctor Strange post credits scene was a part of Thor: Ragnarok, they just expanded the scene. Which was a very nice touch.

It was also a nice point of start, for introducing Doctor Strange to the Avengers.

The thing is, I was kind of frustrated by my lack of information. If you’ve been here a while, you know I don’t know shit about the comics. All my information comes from the MCU and random wiki pages.

So I just knew enough to know I didn’t know enough. I’m positive I’ve missed so many things. Especially on Sakaar, there were so many aliens and characters I knew nothing about. And it frustrates me, because I know there were probably hella cool references to the extended Marvel universe.

I need to mention the post-credits scene. The first one. The ship one.

I screamed, not gonna lie. Because I was expecting something for the Black Panther, and when I realized what it was, who it was… Yeah, I screamed.

I can’t fucking wait for Infinity War. It’s going so hella epic and I am so not prepared for it, it’s ridiculous. But I loved that we got to see it. How it starts.

9. Miscellaneous

Let me tell you a few other random reasons why I liked Thor: Ragnarok.

The 80s type of music and Immigrant Song.

I recognized Kree writing on the prison on Sakaar.

KORG is the best comic relief in Marvel (and he’s voiced by Taika Waititi, amazing).

We saw Thor on Asgard’s throne (even if it was brief).

The running gag with Thor throwing things at Loki to check if he’s really there.

Loki in chains was a direct reference to the Ragnarok myth.

So was the story Thor told, about Loki and a snake. Kind of.

The fact that Thor said I love women, a little too much sometimes (or smthg like that). Thor confessing he’s a player, bless.

I’ve been waiting to see Thor actually be the God of Thunder since 2011. You don’t understand how much I enjoyed seeing it.

I equally enjoyed seeing Thor in The Helmet. I MEAN.

Thor and Valkyrie destroying those ships, in the sky, while flying was so fucking epic.

Thor and Hulk fighting was even more fucking epic. Great use of slo-mo.

Valkyrie’s flashback was amazing, another great use of slo-mo.

Hela. Everything about her. The costume, the makeup, the hair, the head piece, the transition between the hair and the head piece, her takenobullshit attitude, her badassery.

I laughed a lot when Zachary Levi died, cause they announced he signed a contract with DC just a few days before Thor premiered.

Karl Urban’s ridiculous accent.

Cumberbatch and Hiddleston getting on each other’s nerves.

Thor’s new look.

The whole Valkyrie/Hulk I feel like I know you gag.

Thor. Getting. Powers. Without. The. Hammer.

Let me tell you a few other random reasons why I didn’t like Thor: Ragnarok.

It ended.

I wanted to see more of Bruce, actually talking and dealing with his trauma.

Odin dying a peaceful death. I feel like a god isn’t supposed to die like that.

When they first announced Bruce is gonna be in Ragnarok, I was very excited about seeing him interact with Darcy. … Nope.

I know I missed a lot of things. But… yeah. I loved Thor: Ragnarok. It’s the best of the Thor movies. It might not be the best Marvel movie, but it might have surpassed Guardians when it comes to light and funny Marvel movies.

#thor #thor ragnarok #ragnarok #marvel #sim watches thor

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mylifeasilivedit · 6 years ago

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Catch Up With Me

Hello

Wow, it sure has been a long time hasn’t it? I think it’s been almost exactly two years since I last posted here. If anyone actually read what I wrote (which I HIGHLY doubt), I’m sure you’ve been very disappointed that my mind hasn’t been put into words in such a long time. For that, I apologize. I guess I should catch you up on my life.

It’s currently summer 2018, im living with my parents again on the dawn of my junior year in college and to be honest, I can’t wait to get back to Flagstaff. Summer has bored me to tears and I miss my home. I just want to be around my people again, and learn more, even if that means I have to keep working at FUCKING TARGET.

Yeah so anyways, its been two years. My freshman year was kind rough, I ended up getting back together with my ex-boyfriend and we had a not surprisingly rocky long-distance relationship. Whatever, I like playing with fire right? I cheered and roomed with my sort-of best friend from high school (We’ll call her B). As of current, both of those decisions have crashed and burned. B and I aren’t on speaking terms because she is a bitch, and I fucked my wrist up beyond repair so I had to retire from cheer.

For the most part, I’m in a pretty good place. I did read through my last post about being so angry and cynical, and suffice to say some parts of me still feel that way. I continued to date my on-again off-again ex-boyfriend, and we even seperated for a six month hiatus before he wiggled his way back into my good graces. Honestly, he’d completely changed but so had I.

I am no longer that soft, sweet girl I use to be. I am hardened, calloused, and so brash that a lot of things don’t get to me anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I have developed crippling anxiety that flares up during inconvenient times, but in terms of relationships and love, I am a rock. I don’t budge, and I’m pretty sure the last time I cried was MONTHS ago, so I’m grrrrrreat.

I miss cheer, and I miss being young. (Yeah okay I only just turned 20, but I feel OLD)

I still want to be a badass lawyer, and I’m currently killing the game. I took two of the hardest law classes to date, and I aced both of them. I don’t think I’ve ever been so proud of myself for persevering. I had to miss my brothers college graduation to take the crim final, and cried for hours over it. I guess the A makes it worth it, and I have to say: the validation is sweet. It makes me feel like I’m actually doing something right, and I’m on the right path.

Okay, so I know I did a terrible job summing up the past two years, but thats all you really needed to know right? Otherwise I’m a pretty quiet, boring person. I do my own thing in my own way, and I’m happy about it. I guess...

My ex and I broke up again, but I wanna say this time it’s permanent. I know, smite me. But since our hiatus last year, we’ve been sort of together for the past couple months. He’s sweet, caring, kind, considerate, and everything I ever wished he’d be. But I can’t fall in love. I am too hard, and too scarred. I have felt myself completely close off and I can no longer offer my heart.

Sometimes I get sad and wonder if i’ll ever be so deeply in love again. I want to be so badly, so smitten with someone. I want to wear my heart of my sleeve, but its just not with my ex, and I finally did something about it. Writing about it now is making me glum, and I’m already bummed enough as it is, so let’s talk about the positives in my life!

I’m writing a novel.

I know! I can’t believe it either. I found a topic Idea I love, and I’ve been plotting it out. As of the past week I’ve been a little blocked, but I’m so in love with my idea i’m sure I’ll persevere eventually. It’s too good an idea not to write. I just hope I’m doing it justice. Maybe you can read it if it gets published. Far fetched dream, but hey, whats wrong with dreaming? I dream about being an author and a lawyer, and I’ll make it happen.

In other good news, I’m flying to Minnesota in a little less than a month. I know what your thinking, EUCH what is in Minnesota? Well, family. My biological dad and I are going to see his parents since I haven’t seen them in like four years. They missed my HS graduation and I missed my brothers UNI graduation, so I guess they miss me? I’m still a little irked about them missing my HS graduation, but hey, they gave my a college fund and now are sponsering a trip for me to go see them, so I can’t complain too much. I think i’m most excited about see my Aunt Lisa. She went to law school! Did she graduate, UH NO she dropped out to marry my uncle, but she did the basics. She passed the LSAT and got into college, so I’m a little impressed. Anyway, she can help me, and I am open to any and all help in the law school department.

I’m getting my wisdom teeth out in a couple weeks. I bet your thinking why this is good news, so let me explain. My wisdom teeth are impacted, so my jaw fucking kills (excuse my eloquent writing). I tried putting ice into a blending to make a slushie to aid my aching mandible, but it tasted like tap water so naturally I gagged. Anyway, I’m excited to get these suckers out of my head because they hurt. My mom did schedule the appointment for Friday the 13th, so odds are I’m not gonna wake up after surgery. Hopefully, thats not the case cause that would suck. Then you might never hear from me again, as opposed to only hearing from me every two years HA!

Overall, I’m okay. I’m bummed about being single, but also VERY excited for it. I mean, I’ve only ever had sex with one person. Who know what else is waiting for me out there! Kidding, I’m not looking for hookups, but meeting someone new and having that excited crush feeling is so appealing, I’m thrilled to be single. I need to be by myself, work on myself, and maybe stare at dreamy boys from a distance. Yeah, let’s go with that.

Well I kind of said all of my thoughts, but for memory’s sake I’ll put a few of my current obsessions. Maybe the next time I write in two years I can look back and laugh at what I loved when I was twenty.

Favorite Songs: Blossom by Milky Chance, Thor Ragnarok Immigrant Song, Suddenly I see by KT, and others I guess.

I am completely obsessed with Tom Holland, like it’s really bad. Peter Parker died in infinity War but he’s got a second Spiderman movie coming out in the coming years, so I’m convinced he’ll come back.

My dream of being a YouTuber is still strong, but I doubt anyone would wanna watch me, so I once again shelf that dream.

I also have a new obsession with Tom Hiddleston? What is my obsession with british boys? This girl NEEDS to travel to the UK and fall in love with a british boy, like badly.

Hey man, my name is korg.

As stupid as all of the above sounded, it feels good to type a little. I need to do this more often, its nice to express some feelings. Maybe soon I’ll write more in depth posts about my feelings but for now, I’ll spare all of my non-existant readers.

I was feeling a little upbeat on 27 June 2018 xx

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theimmediateband-blog · 7 years ago

Audio

Songblog #003: ’With The Fireflies’

Introduction:

A friend of mine, who also happens to be one of the most brilliant songwriters I have ever heard, baulks at the idea of finding catharsis through the writing and performance of his songs. I think great writers want to evoke, or explode, or humour, or transport the listener regardless of their own personal experience: the writer’s, that is. I think that a great writer, too, can tap into whatever it is that makes us human, without having to resort to salacious over-sharing or cliche.

Catharsis, then, is more easily generated than wisdom is accrued and shared. It’s like hanging your dirty washing up and inviting a storm of other people’s tears to clean it for you.

I am, the last time I checked, 97.8% catharsis. I can only write when I’m wrestling with something deeply personal that I couldn’t, otherwise, comprehend or come to terms with.

So, much of our album ‘Manbuoy’ (still on sale at a very favourable price on bandcamp... cough! cough!) is songs either about divorce or about falling in love… two life-changing events that could only find release through the medium of ham-fisted chords and embarrassingly unambiguous lyrics.

I like both of these things: the ham-fisted-ness and the embarrassingly unambiguous.

It is my way, but it is not the only way.

My dad went through a Subway menu board of cancers following his first diagnosis in 2007: prostate, bladder, kidney, lung and liver. He and my mum bore all of the challenges that the disease put in their way with remarkable bravery and - I have to say - a real lack of melodrama. I know that some might - ultimately - interpret me writing a song about my dad’s death as incongruent with the quiet dignity that they showed - after all, you - dear reader - are not Dermot O’Leary thrusting a microphone into my noggin on flagging early Saturday evening ITV - however I had no choice in the writing of this song. I sat down full of the biggest sadness I have ever felt, mostly unaware how that that sadness had permeated every cell, and this song is what came out.

When my marriage failed and, eventually, broke apart, I found such succour and comfort in music, particularly The Joy Formidable’s ‘The Big Roar’ and particularly, particularly ‘The Everchanging Spectrum Of A Lie’ and ‘The Greatest Light Is The Greatest Shade’. They saved my life, I think. Certainly saved me from finding relief in things that would have considerably shortened it.   I’ve found sanctuary in other music over the years… The Smiths ‘Hatful Of Hollow’; The Cure’s ‘Disintegration’; Bob Dylan’s ‘Blood On The Tracks’; De La Soul’s ‘3 Feet High and Rising’; Wire’s ‘Chairs Missing’; Husker Du’s ‘Candy Apple Grey’… all at different points in my life, facing different challenges, and all for different reasons. Some deal with emotional turbulence in a very explicit way (‘Disintegration’), others offer a soundscape and poetry that I could escape into with my emotions (not from them) (‘The Big Roar’); and the rest either offered actual escape or a proxy defiance (see also every great soul 7” inch I own that isn’t ��just’ about fucking).

This song, then, is part of the way I’ve been coming to terms with my dad’s illness and then his death. I actually started writing it a week or so before he died, at the end of July.

I think I wanted to write something that reminded me of him and I together, and of his unremitting love, sense of adventure and curiosity… all of the things I hope I most share with him. I don’t think I knew exactly what I wanted to achieve, in all honesty. It was an exhausting and very emotional period. At times like that being able to pick up a guitar, and play, and leak tearful music, even when actual tears won’t fall, is a salvation. This song came from that, but the nuts and bolts of the writing are lost in the turbulence of the time, which means that the next section will be atypically light on detail.

The Writing:

The biggest difference that I’ve found between writing now and writing then, in the original run of the band (1992-1997) is that now, when I’m writing, I’m not forcing something out. It’s enough for me to hold the emotion that I’m feeling somewhere within me. To let it osmose and to not interfere with it too much.

The sense of imminent loss and love, tiredness and confusion that I was feeling about my dad, was a fertile primeval gloop. I didn’t have to encourage or search for any images, they came unbidden. The chords sort of fell under my fingers, because they sounded like the kind of chords that my dad would have liked… the kind of progression that he might have enjoyed.

I wanted it to remind me of James Taylor’s ‘Fire and Rain’ because that’s a song that my mum and dad like, and it’s also a song about loss, and living with a sense of loss, trying to put it into some kind of perspective.

I didn’t want it to be a facsimile of that song, though. So it’s a different set of chords, a different progression.

While the chord sequence was taking shape, just strumming and picking in front of the TV, the mournful cycle of reminiscence about my dad was continuing somewhere in the background of my conscience. I think that acknowledging this aspect of writing, without explicitly calling on it, is important. Brains will find words to fit your music if you give them a bit of flour and water (the music, even in its most nascent state), some yeast (whatever emotion it is that you’re holding within) and the gentle heat of, say, an airing cupboard (the act of gently bringing all of this together.)  This is how writing is working for me, currently.

I’m appalled it reads like a hooky guide to meditation. Or baking.

It doesn’t matter how long you have to leave the dough to prove, the less consciously you try to force something to come, the more likely something interesting will eventually arrive.   “Use your feelings, Luke…”

I’m not saying that a whole song will come, fully-formed, like this… but its shape may come, and some of its defining features…

Remember, hard, that you can jot down any old nonsense in the first instance. Don’t baulk at words or ideas that are either patently shit or useless. Think of it as a song gradually coming into focus. There is plenty of time to tighten things up once the basic form has been summoned.

That’s what happened with this song.

A friend - a great songwriter and lecturer in popular music at the University of South Wales - suggested that this blog might be more useful if his students (who find lyric writing - in particular - a challenge) could see the different drafts of the lyrics, but these days there are rarely drafts. One of the benefits - I’ve found - of working digitally is that I can move, amend, change as I go… without obscuring the original sense of the song with too many words and annotations. Having written that, though, I’m intrigued to write in ink on paper again!

 Ultimately, of course, you can do what you want, however you want... that’s the only truly pertinent wisdom in this section.

The Tools:

Yamaha LA8 acoustic guitar (circa 1997), Vintage AV3 semi-acoustic guitar, Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi fuzz pedal, Korg MicroKONTROL MIDI keyboard, Shure SM58 dynamic microphone, Aston Origin condenser microphone, Unbranded condenser microphone, Roland DUO-CAPTURE EX USB Audio Interface, Sontronics ST-POP Pop Filter, Aston Spirit & Origin Shockmount made by Rycote, Garageband 10.2.0 Audacity MacBook Pro

Various rubbish microphone stands.

Lyrics & chords:

A It was a storm-heavy night Em7 I could taste the thunder on my tongue G A head full of adventures D G Well I loved them when I was young

We were so far away from home And many sights had passed our eyes You said you’d worry about me Until the day that I die

A D We were on a hillside G D With the fireflies On a hillside With the flreflies

You said that I’d try things Out of curiosity And you were worried Those things would be bad for me

There was a night in Liverpool When your words came back to me Coming up in a bathroom And I could hardly breathe

We were on a hillside When I was just a child On a hillside Chalking up the miles I was on a hillside With the fireflies You were calling out my name But I was swallowed by the lights

Dm A Why do they glow and float upon the evening breeze (breath)? Is it all electrons or are they supernatural beings? (Where do they go when the sun is out instead?) F D A When I have a question who will I ask it to? G D Well dad I tell you now that it will still be you… Dmaj7 Still be you…

We are on a hillside With the fireflies Forever on a hillside With the fireflies

Influences:

James Taylor’s ‘Fire And Rain’. It’s one of my mum and dad’s favourite songs. Also, Bob Dylan’s ‘Tangled Up In Blue’, especially in the way that it dances around those A major chords.  

Lyrically it’s part Tangled Up In Blue (if Dylan’s travelogue had been enabled by a borrowed Maxi hiccuping along the motorways of Western Europe in the late 70’s) and part ‘Something Wicked This Way Comes’. The opening to that book is one of my absolute favourite openings to any book. It’s poetic without being Poetic.   The main influence were the memories, and sitting down in front of a keyboard and just letting them wash over me… typing out words when they coalesced out of the images. 

Recording:

I recorded this at home. I recorded the first 2/3rds of the song to a click (the ‘metronome’ on Garageband) and turned the click off for the last chorus, so that it would accelerate naturally towards the end. The main reason for using the click was so it would be easier to do multiple takes of the fiddly guitar bits, if necessary, and then comp the actual finished guitar track from the takes when I got it right. Without the click that would have been nightmarish. In the end, the click made the recording of the guitar nightmarish, anyway. If you’re playing arpeggios with any degree of feeling, you have to have the freedom to let them roll and ring out at their own pace. By trying to weld them to a click track, I spent many hours frustrating the hell out of myself, killing the spirit in the part, and hurting my fingers (and going through strings).

In the end, the majority of the acoustic guitar track in the finished recording is the guide track I sat down and recorded in the first ten minutes of the session. There’s a bit of a tuning issue in the second set of runs (after the first chorus), but that take captured the flow and the feeling of the part much better than anything else I subsequently recorded. Also, the guitar - whether it was down to the newness of the strings, or a serendipitous mic placement - just sounded so much better for the guide track than it did subsequently.  Up until this session, I hadn’t quite realised what a huge difference mic placement and orientation can have when you’re recording an acoustic guitar. I’m sure it’s true of other acoustic instruments, too. I’d blithely assumed that sort-of-knowing where to position the mics, and sort-of-remembering in which direction they were pointed would allow me to replicate the same sound across different takes on different days. I was wrong. So so wrong!

Subsequently I have learned that this is a major issue for engineers. Some high-end microphones even come with built in lasers so that their placement can be measured, and replicated, to the greatest accuracy possible. It’s not just enough to think, well I pointed the shitty, unbranded condenser at the 12th fret on the guitar and had the Aston Origin vaguely pointing in the direction of the soundhole.

Try to remember how far the microphones were away from your playing position. Try to remember how they were orientated in their cradle or grip. Try to remember how you were sitting, and what was around you, especially if you’re not in a sound-treated room (a rug on the floor in front of me made a noticeable difference to the sound arriving at the mic, for example).

I experimented with a few different mics and combinations. I tried a Shure SM58 with the cover / popshield off (in essence, an SM57) so that I’d have a combination of dynamic and condenser mic to blend, imagining that this would give me the best of both worlds, but the SM58 was quiet and - when boosted - too noisy.  I tried combining a DI from the Fishman Rare Earth humbucker I have in my acoustic, but that sounded noisy and pretty awful, in all honesty.

During this session I had *massive* problems with the boom mic stands I was using. The Aston Origin is cast metal, and not a light microphone, especially in its shockmount. I struggled terribly with the boom arms gradually shifting due to the weight, on both of my stands. These are unbranded stands bought from a local music shop for £20-ish? As soon as I have the funds I’m definitely going to invest in something much more heavy duty, perhaps with a counterweight (although balance wasn’t really the issue) but with a proper lock on the arm.  Don’t scrimp on cheap mic stands (like I did). Eventually you’ll end up buying a half decent mic, and if it keeps moving or falls over and gets damaged because of a shitty stand, you will not be very happy, trust me!

My hands must sweat pure hydrochloric acid because I went through a couple of packets of strings recording the acoustic parts for this song, and that’s despite rubbing the strings down between takes. Once the strings went dull, the part went dull. The Yamaha acoustic that I use has a relatively small body. I imagine that bigger bodied guitars will carry what tone there is better than a smaller bodied guitar, when the strings lose their initial zing.

That initial zing can be a pain on some recordings, but here, with lots of open notes alongside fretted notes at higher neck positions, it’s essential to give the part a sparkle. You can’t eq that sparkle back in, in my experience. Once it’s gone, adding top-end in the mix is just going to make things sound thin and - potentially - noisy.

As with the guitar part, I had envisaged comping the final vocal from a number of different takes so that I could build one, ‘perfect’ (ha ha!) vocal. It didn’t work like that, though. I’ve used that approach numerous times in the studio, but there I had a brilliant engineer working with me (Russ Hayes) who could make sure that the sound was consistent; whose editing skills are seamless and well beyond what I can achieve on Garageband / Audacity; and whose presence meant that I could concentrate on performing the vocal.  When I’m recording by myself, there are so many factors that can interrupt the flow. I have to press the buttons to start recording, for example, and then place myself in front of the microphone in a consistent position. It sounds like a small thing, but it can be very disruptive, especially when I was trying to drop in for certain lines.  The finished comped vocal - assembled like this - sounded dull and bitty. I tried to bounce some of the tracks down to keep things manageable, but forgot to turn all compression and limiting off for that bounce. When I came to assemble the final take, some of the lines had more compression / limiting and eq on them than other lines. It was a mess.  In the end, I decided I’d do a one take run through of the song through the Aston Origin and use that - warts and all - and that’s what is on the final mix. It’s not perfect, by any means, but it does have a narrative to it and it does give the song a shape.

I recorded the handclaps with the Aston Origin. They’re quadruple tracked, which is a trick I learned off Russ… it just makes them sound fuller, and stops the transients from them dominating the mix (when I’ve only single-tracked handclaps before, they cut through the mix without having any real presence (as in actuality, not in terms of their eq).   Backing vocals were quadruple tracked too, to soften and widen them (each take is panned to a different degree, to give them a natural stereo width).  The lead guitar at the end was suggested by a friend who heard an early mix of the track. It’s just my cheap Vintage semi acoustic DI’d via my Big Muff.  The final thing I added was some keyboards to add a little texture to the bridge and the later choruses, via my Korg MicroKONTROL MIDI keyboard, triggering one of Garageband’s preset sounds.

I had some issues with a couple of plosive sounds in the vocals, so copied the problematic ‘p’ sounds ( for example, “many sights had *P*assed our eyes”) to a separate track, and dipped 50hz-100hz via an equaliser, and that sorted the problem out.

And then I mixed it. Which was relatively easy because the key parts - the main vocal and guitar parts - were all in one take and had the necessary dynamics in their performances.   It’s only very lightly limited and compressed (barely mastered, you could say) because I very much wanted to preserve the dynamics / the narrative of the track. I think this is really important for solo, acoustic recordings. I hear a lot, via my work, of acoustic songs that are limited to high fuck and lose any sense of development because of it. A highly compressed / limited, cheap(ish) acoustic guitar sounds dreadful, too. For my tastes, anyway.

If you have any questions, hopefully I’ve worked out a way for you to comment below!   Good luck with your recordings. I hope this has helped, even the tiniest amount.  

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