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smokeybrandreviews · 3 years ago

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Fly By Night

Black people don't care about Superman but making him Black in the next series of films, isn't going to solve that the problem. It's his upbringing, the cultural touchstones which define him. Clark Kent is intrinsically White. He looks White, definitely, but he was raised in Kansas, too. That's a Heartland State, places notorious for their aggressive intolerance and laughably disproportionate ethnic breakdown. Eighty-four percent of the people who live there are White and, while that's a stark cry from, say, Idaho's Ninety percent, only five percent of the populace is Black. How the f*ck can Clark BE full-on Black; ethnically, mentally, and culturally, when he's surrounded by so much White?

The short answer is that he can't. He doesn't have those values or experiences. How can he? He'd be part of five percent in two million. What is that? One hundred thousand, spread out across an entire state? I mean, at that point, he's more Kansas than he is Black so what does "fighting for truth, justice, in the American way" mean to someone from Kansas? A State as Red as a baboon's ass? A State where Trump won fifty-seven percent of the vote in both 2016 and 2020? A State that seems to support the same people that refuse to accept Joe Biden won that race, even after several recounts on their terms, several court cases lost to their judges, and a whole ass attempt to overthrow the government because they didn't like all those L's piling up? Never mind the question of raising a demigod with those incredibly problematic "values", how can a Black person come up in that level of racial animosity, cultural alienation, and abject disdain based solely on how he looks, possibly be all of America's Superman?

At the end of the day, JJabarams wanting to make Clark a Black man in this next run of films, is just a tone deaf, performative, dog whistle for all the little Blue Checkmark, fake woke, twatter asshole to fellate themselves over. I don't know a single Black person who is gassed that Clark will look like us. Dude basically represents everything wrong with America, to us. Clark is an out-of-touch White guy, born with unheard of power he didn't earn, imbued with a f*cked up savior complex, raised on a steady supply of zealous Patriotic ideals which borders on straight up Nationalism, in the cultural vacuum of Smallville, Kansas. Turning him Black without fixing that origin is tantamount to throwing Blackface on some White actor to play T'Challa instead of casting Chadwick Boseman. Imagine how THAT should would have gone over with the Blacks. Exactly.

You can't separate Clark from his cultural identity as the Whitest motherf*cker not from this Earth. You can't. It literally defines his entire worldview. Clark's Whiteness is intrinsic to who he is as a person. However, there are alternatives to that which ring truer to a Black Superman, to the Black experience, one of which has a dope ass backstory. Val-Zod, son of THAT Zod, took up the mantle of Superman in nu52 Earth-2. That version of the character could work because his race is intrinsic to his character on both sides; The Kryptonian and the Earthling. He is vague enough of a character to play around with content wise but recognizable enough for literally everyone to not lose their sh*t over Blackfacing Clark. Another lesser known option, the one i would personally pass on, is Kalel of Earth-23. He's a blank slate because no one remembers anything about the dude. Calvin Ellis' last appearance was in 2009 so, you know, have at it, i guess? Both of these options are much better than forcing a White Kent into a Black Peg.

I'm not usually one to be so uppity about bent characters, be they gender or race. They're just another take on an established fandom and i think that's great, as long as that alteration is respected and adapted into the character properly. Superficial sh*t like turning all of the ginger characters into Black people, just because they're going to be onscreen in some form or another, is f*cking ridiculous to me. Sometimes it doesn't work out all that well, like Iris West in the DCEU. Kiersey Clemons had, like, a minute of screentime in The Snyder Cut so why the f*ck was she even in there? I get you need to establish her as part of The Flash's lore but wait for his actual film if that's all we're going to see of her. Other times, it works very well, like with Mary-Jane and Zendaya. That case was a little more tricky as, at the time Homecoming was in development, Marvel didn't have the rights to the Mary-Jane character so they had no choice but to create Michelle. She's a brand new character who fills the role of MJ but in a completely unique, standalone, fashion. I adore that chick. She and Pete have this adorkable energy together, chemistry attributed to Zendaya and Holland. Ms. Coleman really sells MJ as a proper “MJ” and that's because her MJ is her own “MJ”. And, while we're on the topic of Spider-Man, Miles Morales is exactly how you racebend an established character with any hope of success.

Mile Morales is the blue print you need to follow in order to make your ridiculous reach at altering such an established persona, in such a drastic way. Miles is, from top to bottom, Black as f*ck. Every ounce of that character resonates with the culture. Early on in hi genesis, it was a little iffy but, as the character has grown, his swagger and identity has become much clearer. It's more defined and rings truer to what we, as Black people, see in the world. Hell, his movie, Into the Spider-Verse, is arguably the best Spider-Flick ever made and it is properly Black as f*ck. From the swagger, the cultural language, the music, the animation style, the tagging; All of it is too Black for words and the country ate that sh*t up. I saw SO much of US in that film and it really lent itself to giving comic Miles the boost necessary to really come into his own. Not to slight his Puerto Rican heritage at all, you get a bit of that, too, but, for all intents and purposes, society at large sees Miles as Black and Spider-Verse leans into that, heavy. Because Miles has no choice but to so as well. Pete had a lot more going for him growing up in Queens thank Clark's halcyon experience in f*cking Kansas, so he was already accepted in the community. You don't do the numbers Spider-Flicks consistently do at the box office without them Black dollars, but Miles was whole ass embraced by the culture. No one is mad at kid now that he is finally himself in the suit. He's not a legacy, he is a Spider-Man. That's how you do it. That's how you make racebending such an intrinsic character to the American zeitgeist, work. You don't dress Michael B. Jordan up as Clark and tell me he's my Superman. That's a lie and everyone is going to see through it. Everyone already has. You don't need x-ray vision for that.

#Superman #Kal-El #Kalel #Val-Zod #Clark Kent #Calvin Ellis #DC

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flying-elliska · 4 years ago

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So I watched Happiest Season (livewatch with @beeexx my fave penguin enthusiast 🐧🐧🐧)

Overall I enjoyed it ? But it's not the light-hearted romcom it's been promoted as.

Spoilers !

The positive:

- Kristen Stewart, het icon of my teen years, is just glowing in this, like she is so happy to be finally playing gay lmao. This is really her story. Her character, Abby, is by turn charming, adorable, funny, and relatably awkward. Also, her glam butch style is just A++. And she has good chemistry with her co-star - they feel and behave like a believable couple (which has been a problem with actresses playing wlw in the past where you could really see they weren’t fully into it.) They were super cute together. This still feels cathartic somehow, like Bella Swan decided to go see a therapist instead of going off the deep end and finally figured herself out.

- I loved that this isn't the "token gays in a sea of straightness" trope. Abby's BFF is gay and really funny - and this particular trope feels a lot less annoying when the gay BFF is there for another gay person so it's more like queer solidarity instead of him being a prop for a straight person's development. Him trying to play straight was just hilarious. Aubrey Plaza plays Harper's (the other part of the main couple) ex and she is just great, seems a bit shady at first but her helping Abby out was just...so compassionate. Also she is probably the hottest character in this movie let's be real. And I loved the bit where she takes her to a drag bar (the straight bar where Harper goes to seems so drab in comparison fjfj)

- There were some funny, classic rom-com shenanigans moments - the sneaking around, getting stuck in the closet, etc...the creepy twins were quite funny too, if infuriating. My favorite was definitely Jane, the overlooked kooky sister, who "has been writing a fantasy book for the past ten years" (I can relate) and whose overachiever family has pretty much given up on her (I can also relate).

-Ngl the whole ‘rich people being fake and neurotic and making everything x100 times more difficult than it has to be’ bit felt very realistic. Like, I’ve met those people, and they are just as annoying in this movie as they are in real life. Also a very realistic rep of having to fake who you are in a town full of fake people pleasers and over achievers (even if it was stressful to watch lmao) and how Christmas can bring out the worst in people.

- Even though it has issues, the ending was very heartfelt and I definitely cried. This movie is just really raw and sad in some parts, but in a way that felt genuine and you can tell that a lot of queer people were involved in making it. It really touches on this deep seated anguish of possibly being rejected, of not knowing whether your family is going to accept you or not, on desperately trying to pass because you’re afraid of change...I think a lot of that comes to the actors being really good, like all of them, and really acting their heart out. And the moment where the dad decides to forego a big donor/supporter because he doesn’t want to force his daugther to hide really touched me. I also really liked the part where the BFF talks about how everybody’s coming out journey can be different and it’s important to remember that, especially if you have the chance to come from a very tolerant background.

The Less Positive

- The movie has been criticized for being weirdly apolitical (for instance the dad is a mayor but we never learn anything about his actual political opinions) but tbh this is supposed to be a Hallmark-like holidays movie I think that’s kind of part of the genre to be in this sort of happy slightly tone-deaf bubble and I don’t think straight movies of this type get this sort of criticism so yknow i’m fine with that bit i guess not all queer movies should have to be deeply political (even tho yeah it’s still very homonormative and ‘all about family values’ etc etc)

- Most of the issues I have with this movie center around Harper, Abby’s love interest and the one who lies to her family about their relationship. Now, I think Mackenzie Davis is a really good actress. And I do feel sympathetic for the character. The movie really makes you understand all the pressure she’s under, how her parent’s love is conditional, all the public scrutiny, and why she behaves the way she does. And her finally pulling through made me cheer for her. However, there were a lot of moments in the movie where I was genuinely unsure if I should be rooting for Abby and her to stay together. She does a lot of things that are definitely deeply unhealthy and questionable and had me going ‘Abby pls run away while you still can’. I feel a lot of compassion for her. But I simply don’t think the movie gives us enough happy time with Abby and Harper for me to really want them to be together as a couple -they spend a big part of the movie being mad at each other. They should have given us more scenes with them at the start to really get a feel of who they are as characters and as a couple, so when it gets rough, we actually root for them to pull through. This is an issue a lot of mediocre romances have - they assume we will root for the characters just because they’re said to be in love. For me, that doesn’t really work. And even though the ending made me quite emotional (again, great acting) - as a romance, it doesn’t really work for me.

- I really liked the bit where the family realized they had been putting this pressure on each other to be perfect and as they shared all these secrets they finally came together as a family. But...honestly, the family started out as just so profoundly neurotic it felt a bit unbelievable (and their social circles felt like a nightmare). A bit like Abby and Harper’s relationship being all ok after Harper’s big change of heart. The whole ‘mom’s secret desire to do karate but it’s unlady-like’ being put on the same level as her daughter’s coming out had me rolling my eyes. And there is a forced coming out scene which I really really hate.

- I think what I am really tired of, is queer movies who center coming out so much, the anxiety of being accepted or not, etc. And who present coming out as this revolutionary process that is going to change everything immediately. In my experience, at least, it’s often a process of small inches, towards self acceptance, towards your family coming to terms and learning to be less unconsciously bigoted, sometimes good intentions, sometimes microagressions or being erased, etc etc. I also just really want queer stories and queer romances who are not centered on coming out, on ‘what will others/my family think’, who have shenanigans and tension based on other things, with characters who might struggle with self acceptance sometimes (or not) but who have other things going on as well and who are fuller characters. It’s about damn time. Until then, the movies we have will end up feeling a lot like a PSA for straight people.

Overall

I still think this is a pretty quality movie. Good acting, believable and often funny dialogue, good chemistry, etc. (And let’s be honest, the bar for wlw movies is uhhhh not very high.) I really enjoyed watching Kristen Steward play gay and have chemistry with pretty ladies. There was room for holiday gay movies (even tho I want to see more, with more diverse characters).

It feels like wish-fullfillment for a certain type of queer person - (upper) middle class, with parents who are...ambiguously accepting. It does transcribe well this tension of not really being to predict their reaction - and illustrates the importance of being very obviously accepting with your children - like tell them it’s okay for them to be gay from the start, even if they turn out to be straight - otherwise they will be left wondering if they’re not. It’s this fantasy that everything will turn out all-right after you come out, you will fit in your family better than before, your mistakes will be forgiven if you are earnest enough, and life can go on as usual but better. And it is sweet, and cathartic, in a way, even if not revolutionary.

But yeah, as a romance, I wasn’t entirely sold on it. And I think it was promoted as a lot more uplifting than it really was.

#happiest season #wlw movies #lgbt rep #movie review #kristen stewart #ellie watches movies #wlw rep

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gremlin-writes-angst · 3 years ago

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The Unkissable Prince Ch.3

The third and last chapter of The Unkissable Prince

2.2 k words

Trigger warning: Making outs( Not descriptive) Cursing, mention of being used

Let me know if I missed a trigger or if you spot any spelling mistakes.

Feedback is encouraged!!

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It had been months since Kaminari and Hitoshi shared the first of many kisses. Every time Kaminari practiced a scene that involved a kiss, Hitoshi was there, and neither of them had a problem doing a little extra on the kissing part. Sometimes one of them would suggest that a scene needed to be redone just so they could have an excuse to connect again. At one point the kisses turned to make-out sessions, ones that made Kaminari forget what scene or line he was on.

Though their physical relationship evolved, that was it. There were no dates, no confessions, nothing but rehearsal with more lip action. Kaminari had no problem with physical attention but he did have a problem with having no emotional attention. Kaminari didn’t want Hitoshi to think that he was using him for his kisses but he also doesn’t have the confidence to confess to Hitoshi

For Hitoshi, he was facing similar issues. He loved the feeling of Denki so close to him, their lips on each other. Though he also didn’t want Denki or others to think that Hitoshi just used people for his own needs. Hitoshi doesn’t have a great reputation, and if a rumor that he used people got around, most wouldn’t bat an eye at such an idea. Hitoshi had kept most of his emotions locked away, he’s realized that any time he speaks, his words are twisted and he becomes a monster, event o those close to him. SO when he becomes close to Denki and the rest of the drama club he fears that his emotions will push them away, no matter how positive the emotion, including his love for Kaminari. Hitoshi has seen Denki around school, before they had ever interacted, Hitoshi was envious of the blonde’s ability to interact with people. Eventually, Hitoshi no longer watched out of envy but out of curiosity, the curiosity turned into infatuation. Then he conversed with him and it was no longer something he could label as envy, curiosity, or infatuation it was the beginning of love like was too simple of a word, but at the time he wasn’t in love with Denki, but now he was.

Hitoshi could never confess his feelings to Denki, and Denki’s self-esteem was too low for him to think he even deserved to confess to Hitoshi. So for months, they were stuck with just kisses and makeout sessions, confessions left unsaid and unheard. Now it’s been at least three months, with every kiss came more trust, every self-deprecating word was followed by the reassurance that whoever put that thought in their head was wrong, every silent glance and moments were followed by suspicion from the people who surrounded them.

The people who watched them interact weren’t blind to the chemistry. They never saw the kisses but they saw the smiles and glances that the two tried to hide. Even the director could see the love the two were trying to hide, and he was tired of it and so were the other students. Jirou wasn’t blind either, she acutely one of the only people who brought attention to it, and just like before her insecurities and jealousy clouded her better judgment.

It was the last week of rehearsal, Friday was opening night and everyone a part of the show was stressed. Most of them were reaching the breaking point and the time between each other breaks became shorter and shorter. This morning Mina, who had been playing ursal at all minutes of the day, had finally broken character during her first-period class. Then Aoyama frecked out when the lunch lady gave him his food. And now not even 30 minutes later their lead lady was breaking, Jiro Kyoka.

Jiro, Momo, Shinso, Kaminari, Kirishima, and Bakugou all sat in silence at their lunch table, they were all trying to avoid the inevitable. They were already missing two of their tablemates and feared that one of them was next. Denki and Hitoshi sat next to them and across from them were Jiro and momo, kirishima sat between momo and Hitoshi while Bakugo sat between Denki and Jiro. Hitoshi and Denki were making eyes at each other, Hitoshi moving his eyebrows trying to indicate that they go somewhere else, Denki agreeing with what he thought was a sneaky smile.

“Denki and I are going to go work on some of the scenes, we’ll see you lat--”

Hitoshi was already standing and ready to leave when Jiro stood up and interrupted. It was her breaking point

“Oh really, so your not going to go make out”

Denki became embarrassed and hung his head in shame, still seated. Jiro took notice of this.

“Look at him, he’s uncomfortable because you’ve been using him. That’s all Denki is to you, a pretty face.”

Shinso looked to his side and saw the uncomfortable stance Denki was in, realizing that she was right and he was once again losing his friends.

“Jiro, calm down, sit down, and let’s finish our lunch.”

Momo was lightly tugging on Jiro’s arm, begging her to sit down.

“No she’s right I’m going to go, ill see you all at rehearsal”

Shinso’s hand was floating above Denkis shoulder, afraid to touch him and make him uncomfortable, he decided to leave with no contact. Jiro finally sat down feeling victorious. Kirishima moved into Hitoshi’s seat, wanting to comfort Denki, but when he moved to touch Denki, Denki reacted negatively. Denki who was still shelled in on himself specked very quietly.

“I’m gonna… go I guess.”

He got up and left, leaving the table in more shambles than it had ever been.

Bakugou was fed up with them and decided to butt in for once.

“You’re an idiot. Shinso wasn’t using Denki, they liked each other, but they’re also stupid, and its wasn’t your place to say or assume any of those things.”

He got up and left, deciding that he was done with this conversation fifteen minutes ago.

It had been four days since then and almost every person in the show had hit their breaking point, but they were still good actors and tried to not let this affect them while on stage. Offstage Denki would chase around Hitoshi trying to tell him that Jiro was wrong about Denki being uncomfortable and that he doesn’t care if Hitoshi is using him. Hitoshi spends his time working and hiding from everyone, especially Denki, afraid that the next time he talks to him, he’ll break and his emotions will all come flooding out. Jiro has been wondering if she did the right thing, knowing deep down that she hadn’t. She had decided that she wanted to fix it, this had nothing to do with her new girlfriend.

Jiro found Shinso stapling what looked like drama-related papers, so much was clear when she saw the purple three-ring binder that he uses for theater only.

“Can we talk?”

Jiro’s voice was barely above a whisper. Shinso didn’t look over and ignored her for a few seconds, stapling the papers harder. Eventually, he replayed.

“Yeah just let me ‘use’ this stapler”

He stapled another piece of paper harder than ever before. He was using the word used in the same sense that Jiro did when talking about Shinso and Denki.

“It’s actually about that. Um, You like Denki right, like romantically?”

Jiro was nervous to bring up her own mistakes. Even if she was only implying it.

“Yeah Jiro, I do, but that doesn’t matter because he and everyone else thinks that I’m some selfish person and that I used him and his body, I wonder why they think that?”

She wasn’t surprised at his angry tone, she deserves it.

“I’m sorry about that and saying those things about you, I was caught up in my own shit, and I’m sorry.”

Jiro wasn’t lying and she really did feel sorry and luckily Shinso could hear it in her voice, he turned his head to finally address her, also seeing the sincerity on her face.

“Thanks for apologizing, I accept it but it doesn’t fix my problem with Den-Kaminari.”

Shinso was no longer sure if he was allowed to call him by his first name. Jiro was excited that she could help her friends out.

“Actually that’s the other reason I came to talk to you. I want to help. Denki clearly likes you, he just has some issues with the idea that people could love him.”

Jiro knew it was partly her fault he felt this way but she didn’t need to say that to fix what she did to Shinso.

“Yeah cause Kaminari totally wants to be with me.”

Shinso responded his voice trying to hide how much it hurt, but it slightly slipped out.

“Are you blind and deaf? Every second of every day, he follows you around trying to get you back, but you ignore him.”

There silence while Shinso cleans up the rest of his papers

“I have a plan.”

Jiro announces and Shinsou can’t think of any reason to reject the idea.

“Fine I’m listening”

It was the next day, meaning it was opening night. Denki was still following Shinso around trying to convince him that he still wants to be friends, and Shinso continues to ignore him. It was easier than it had been for the past week, he was to catch up practicing his confession lines for later tonight.

It was later that night and they had just finished the last rehearsal and had about an hour to kill. Their director had a tradition of buying pizza for the whole cast and crew on opening night, and the food had arrived. Everyone was eating and having a good time when Shinso snecked outside for some fresh air. He knew Denki would follow him, that was the plan.

Denki walks out the door locking around for Shinso when he was suddenly pulled further outside. A short squeal came out of Denki, and Shinso whispered a sorry. The two now faced each other body almost flushed against each other, Shinso holding Denkis elbows. Both blushing from the close contact, they hadn’t been this close in almost a week and it made it feel like the first time being so close. Denki pulled away, it was too much too soon, especially without the clarification he wanted.

“Listen Kaminari”

“Denki”

Denkis voice was barely above a whisper, he hated that Shinso was calling him by his last name.

“Yeah um, listen Denki. I wanted to talk to you about, well this”

He waved his hands in between the two of them. Denki was starting to feel his nerves get worse, he knew that being avoided was a way of saying ‘I don’t want to be around you’ but he wasn’t ready for Shinso to officially say it.

“I wanted to address what Jiro said on Monday”

Here it comes

“I wanted to tell you that she’s wrong, I value you as a friend, and I wasn’t using you that way. I figure that we were both enjoying ourselves, I think that we should have talked more about the kind of relationship we were in.”

Shinso stopped and took a big shaky breath, nervous to utter the next part. This just raised Denki’s nerves as well.

“And I would like to have that conversation now, because I, god she never said it was this hard.”

Shinso muttered the last part, but Denki heard it and was a little confused.

“I love you Denki. I know we haven’t known each other for long and it kind of weird to have these feelings so early, but, well that it, I love you and I understand if you don’t love me yet but I would like to try having a real, romantic relationship.”

Shinso let out a shaky breath, his nervous final settled after saying everything that’s been on his mind. But they returned when he looked back up to see a stressed-looking Denki. Denki was frecking out, he dreamed of such confessions but now he was getting one he wondered what the joke was because this wasn’t possible. He was so in his head that Shinso had to lightly grab Denkis elbows again.

“Denki, Denki, I didn’t mean to stress you out. Denki are you okay?”

Denki snapped out of it a little, nodding his head.

“ I like you to”

Shinso smiled and pulled Denki in for a hug. Leaning his head into Denkis shoulder. Denki felt his shirt and shoulder become damp, realizing that it was Shinso tearing up he started to rub Shinsos back

“Shh it’s okay Shinso, it’s okay. But this is the costume, so maybe not cry on it too much.”

Shinso pulled away, still holding Denkis elbows as he whispers

“Hitoshi. “

It was in the same type of whisper that Denki used when he engorged Hitoshi to use his first name. Denki nervously laughed at the similarity, then Hitoshi giggled. The two broke out into laughter, then it started to rain, the two of them looked up and then at each other.

“ We better get back inside, prince eric cant show up with running mascara.”

Hitoshi smiled and went to open the door

“You first prince”

“Thank you, boyfriend”

Shinso blushed at this but was happy to know they were on the same page.

#shinso #jiro #mina #aoyama x tokoyami #bakugo #kirishima #jiro x momo #jiromomo #shinsou x kaminari #shinkami #mha #au #quirkless au

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fanmode-activated · 5 years ago

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Things I ought to talk about regarding skam france s5 (basically a long ass rant)

Being the first original Skam season to be made by a remake, there is, of course, going to be many things to discuss about Skam France. It has always been the more dramatic one of the remakes in terms of cinematography and events. The show looks like you’re watching something very produced and professional as opposed to the more “authentic” look that the original show had. It’s not that important honestly for me regarding the quality of the show, it’s more a question of taste, whether you like it or not. The actors are older than their characters, which is not a bad thing in and of itself. It hasn’t been affecting the show negatively is what I’m saying (unless we’re talking about Charles, but I lowkey love Michel and Marilyn’s chemistry, it made me care about their relationship in s2. Only s2. Otherwise fuck Charles). Like every other version, the cast is talented and fits each other well. I think my main issue is that Skam France (and some other remakes, but this is about France) seems to have missed the purpose of Skam, which is to give teenagers hopeful stories that teach them how to communicate.

I want to start by saying that there were a lot of good things in s5. The choice to make it about Arthur was smart, because he is a mysterious guy who would say the weirdest shit unprompted, like how he slept with a 34-year-old woman (we still don’t know what that was about btw), and we basically knew nothing about him, except that he thought his dad was an asshole. He was a blank slate to work with, which is somewhat of a dream.

Making the main theme of the season be about deafness was, in my opinion, a good idea. It had the ability to teach people about a community that is very rarely portrayed in media. It gives D/deaf people representation, which is always good, as long as it is done carefully and respectfully. Luckily, the Skam France team seems to have done its research. They worked with a deaf run theatre company and made sure to hire deaf actors, just to be accurate. Whether every medical detail of Arthur’s sudden deafness is realistic and accurate, I can’t say. It seemed reasonable to me, but someone with more experience would have to tell me. On the technical front, everything seemed fine.

Having Arthur’s dad be abusive was a good idea, because it is a reality, and it would be beneficial to show in the Skam style how this reality affects teens and how to potentially get out of a bad situation. In theory, I am on board with that. What I have an issue with is the second part of that story, which I will address here.

Like I said earlier, the deaf storyline was a great idea. They managed to include other disabilities through the characters of Melchior and Laura, which was amazing. They are adorable and I know some people felt really happy to be represented that way. Noée and Camille are a great addition to the cast, I mean Noée is an adorable badass, and Camille is a toned-down Mika, I could not have asked for more, they’re literally perfect. I think there was a great potential to make them sort of guides for Arthur, friends he needs in this new journey and they achieved that in many ways. However, I could have done without the love triangle. Mainly because, love triangles are so overdone at this point, it’s painful. I mean, literally everyone is so done with love triangles, can we come up with something else, please? From Skam, I would expect a little more originality. Especially Skam France, who unnecessarily pushed the love triangle in s4 with Manon, Sofiane and Imane that didn’t really exist in the original and got a pretty huge backlash. I thought they would learn from their mistakes, considering that the characters often mention previous seasons in s5 to refer to mistakes they made as people, so it’s kind of ironic that the team wouldn’t make an effort themselves to correct their mistakes.

The first major problem with this for me is that they introduced Arthur and Alex as being in a happy and loving relationship. Now, personally, I would have loved if they weren’t in a relationship at all because I mean a) imagine a season where the main character’s problems don’t revolve around a ‘love’ problem somehow, and b) it’s not really realistic to me that they would all be in relationships seeing as they are teenagers. But, forgetting about that because my personal experience of being a teenager is not necessarily universal, since they decided to have them be in a relationship, what was the point if it was only to throw trouble at it? It’s absolutely believable that they would have problems in their couple, and the first part of the season was actually very good at showing that. Arthur’s main problem was acquiring a disability and having to learn to accept it and live with it. The journey was very realistic, and the way Alexia reacted to it was also good and realistic. I was absolutely happy with that. But then, at the same time, we had Noée. She was purposely coded as a romantic interest, but not too much (she was introduced in a pool, the most romantic Skam location, I mean subtlety much?), just enough to confuse the audience. She was what Arthur needed a lot of times, a friend, a guide, and we could see that she had some feelings for him, but if we actually look at the facts, they didn’t interact that much, and a lot of those initial interactions were spent fighting because they had different views about Arthur’s deafness. But let’s say that I ignore the facts and focus on their emotional connection, which I totally believed, on Noée’s side anyway. Why did they do it? I have a few theories. Arthur is constantly torn between his hearing and the deaf world and they decided to represent that with his relationship with Alexia and Noée. Now, I’m not one of those people who need to pick a team (because binary is bullshit, black or white, male or female, good or bad, life is more rich and complicated than that, I don’t subscribe to a binary view of anything), and for those who do, remember that both of them are amazing representation, a confident bisexual girl and a deaf girl as romantic leads is badass either way. But, I reiterate, why make the effort of making Arthur and Alexia’s relationship strong and rootable for, if you’re going to introduce another viable love interest? My guess, like I said is that both girls are representative of the deaf and hearing world, and his relationship to Noée mirrors his relationship to his disability in some way, but if that’s the case then, it’s pretty reductive to both girls.

Noée was shown from the very start as being this independent, strong, confident, caring badass woman. She immediately reached out to Arthur when she saw that he looked like he needed help and guidance. She headbutted a guy who came onto her when she repeatedly told him no. She’s very proud of her deafness, and she has issues with hearing people because of childhood bullying and her father not loving her. In short, she seemed like a complicated, three-dimensional person. So, when clip 12 of episode 8 happened, I was very confused. The way the scene was written is very messy. First off, Arthur only “breaks up” with her because he doesn’t want to be like his dad (which is another thing we need to address later). He refers to the obstacle of their relationship as being communication, which is not actually an obstacle because, with patience and care, any language barrier is obsolete. I mean there are plenty of couples who don’t speak the same language that exists, deaf and hearing people included, so, not really an argument on his part. The second problem with that scene is that it’s constructed in a way where Noée is the one who has to run after Arthur and make the effort of talking out loud. Disregarding the fact that I hate the trope of “the deaf person who doesn’t like using their voice using it in a dramatic moment to be perceived as romantic” (I didn’t like it in Switched at Birth, I don’t like it now), it’s a very ableist view of what qualifies as romantic. I guess there is an argument that could be made about the fact that it’s like if let’s say someone is afraid of heights, but they go on top of a building to save someone who’s about to jump or other instances of conquering one's fear for a loved one. I don’t agree with it, but the right arguments could convince me maybe one day. Noée having to go against something she’s been uncomfortable with forever to say “I love you”? I absolutely do not believe it at all. She doesn’t love him. She cares about him, sure, she likes him even, that of course, I see it, I have eyes, but love? Big word for someone you met what, 4 weeks earlier? Either she doesn’t know what love is and said it out of fear, which I don’t know about, but it could be realistic I guess in some parallel universe, OR it was a ploy by the writers to be dramatic and have Arthur look back at her in a telenovela, 90s soap opera, early 2000s K-drama fashion right before getting hit by a car. Now, could it be argued that Noée suffers from abandonment issues because of her dad? Maybe, but if that was the case, based on the content we’ve had, it’s a pretty far-fetched theory that seems like an attempt to redeem bad writing. I mean, just the fact that he literally gets hit by a car adds to the very unrealistic dramatic flair of the entire clip. It feels like every drama show, which Skam is not supposed to be. It’s hard to enjoy the good acting when the story is so out there. My other main problem with this story is that they want us to believe that Arthur is also in love with Noée. The problem is, they don’t show us, they just tell us. “Show, don’t tell” is a pretty basic film technique, especially in Skam. If they wanted us to really believe that he loved her, they would’ve shown him stalking her Insta, or researching CIs after she talked to him about it, we would’ve gotten some clips of him alone obviously thinking about her, but we never do. The only time she’s relevant is when she’s physically there, or when it has to do with Alexia somehow, he never seems to think about her in a romantic way, only when she might be a problem. So when he tells her that he loves her in the last episode? I don’t believe it for a second.

The love triangle also reduces Alexia to an “issue”, because in the second act of the season, she goes from loving supportive girlfriend to “oh no I hope she doesn’t find out”. At that point, the only outcome was for Arthur to end up alone and figure himself out, which I think was their goal, they wanted him to end up alone and figure himself out, and that’s an amazing lesson to have, I mean it was the ending of season 1, but they didn’t execute it well. There is something there that didn’t need to happen or needed to be handled differently, and it wasn’t, which just left a bad taste in my mouth. I’m not going to sit here and pretend that I know better than professional writes, but as a Skam watcher and general TV and movie watcher, even I can tell that this was not handled properly. I did like Alex’s break up song, not gonna lie.

Now, onto the matter of his dad. As I mentioned before, him being abusive is a good storyline. Arthur had mentioned before that his dad was an asshole, so that being the reason is actually good. However, I don’t think the execution was well done. The set up was perfect for a good story, but somehow it fell short. The first clip Arthur’s father was introduced was perfectly executed from a storytelling perspective. There was an immediate shift in both Arthur and his mom’s demeanor, where they tensed up as soon as he got home. Then Arthur looked clearly uncomfortable when his dad was pressuring him into medicine. Everything about that scene screamed “something is not right here, but I can’t tell what”. Very good setup for a physical or emotional abuse situation. For the next few weeks, every scene with the dad was a bit meek, meaning he was being harsh, but so was Arthur and it was understandable. Arthur was going through the biggest change in his life and his dad just wanted him to look out for his future. While the way he talked seemed a bit asshole-ish, it can easily be explained as a parent wanting his kid to be okay. It was confusing, because the “threatening” aspect seemed to be gone, so we were left wondering where was this going. Then came the big reveal in episode 7, that Arthur’s dad is the one who made him deaf in the left ear by hitting him too hard (which by the way, I did not need to see, what is this, wtfock?). Before we continue, let’s take a second to look at the format the original Skam followed for its stories. The main character is faced with an initial problem that lasts for half the season or a few weeks more (Eva is friendless and she doesn’t trust Jonas, Noora is falling for William but doesn’t want to, Isak is gay but can’t admit it, Sana struggles with her dual identities and liking Yousef). That first problem is half-resolved and the main is faced with problem 2 (Eva cheats on Jonas and is being bullied, Noora gets assaulted, Even turns out to be bipolar, Sana loses herself and fucks up with her friends). Then by using communication, they fix both problems (Eva fixes things with Ingrid and her friends and breaks up with Jonas to find herself, Noora talks to Mari, confronts Nico and fixes her relationship with William, Isak talks to his friends and Sonja, accepts his sexuality and gets back with Even, Sana talks to Isak and her friends and fixes things with them, before fixing things with Yousef). If we follow this model with Arthur, this could have worked perfectly. Problem one, Arthurs becomes deaf and now has to learn to live with it. We see the impact it has on his relationships and himself. Problem 2, we learn that his dad is abusive and now this is his problem for a few weeks, like he tells Noée about it, and she tells him that this is abusive behaviour, and he tries to be like no it’s not, but then it becomes undeniable as the weeks go by and then he talks to someone about it, maybe his mom and/or the police, and so we get a mini-resolution that’s not necessarily immediate, just like with Noora and Nico, where we don’t see the trial or anything like that, but just the action of admitting that his dad is an abusive person and taking actions to protect himself. Then we conclude with him finally fully accepting being part of two worlds, and maybe those two worlds start to merge. This would have perfectly followed the format of the original and would have kept the realistic yet hopeful message. And there is no need to put a love triangle in the middle of it!

This was a very long tangent that addressed both the abuse and the love triangle to get to a specific point, which is that, the dad cheating storyline is very out of place in a show like Skam. I’m not saying it’s not out of character for him, I very much got cheater energy from him, but the stories told are supposed to be about problems faced by teenagers that can be fixed by learning to communicate (or made better, I’m not saying Noora’s story was fixed by talking, it just made her more in control of her situation, but it was still a very serious problem.) But Arthur’s dad cheating on his mom is not something Arthur can fix, it’s not even related to him, it’s a parent problem. All he can do is live through it. Does it affect him? Yes absolutely. But did they need to parallel Arthur’s behaviour with that of his abusive father for him to realize that it was wrong? There are other ways to do that! It feels like they just wanted to have the dramatic dinner scene, where Arthur and his dad scream at each other and reveal everything in a very dramatic Hollywood way. ( And that storyline took us away from his deafness for a while by the way, like did he momentarily stop being deaf? Idk, it was weird for a while. Also, did Arthur need to out Alex at dinner? Lmao, talk about trying to shock your parents.) And, quick tangent, when Arthur told his friends about cheating, can we talk about Yann and Lucas’s responses? They tell him not to say anything? May I remind you of season 1, when Emma tells Lucas about her cheating and he told her not to say anything because he knew that if she did, she would be forgiven? And Yann, who knows what it’s like to be cheated on, and knows that telling her himself directly might help (or not, but still) is also telling him to not say anything. Like, did they forget about their own lives? This is just more proof that they wanted drama from this situation, which is kind of sad. Basically what I’m saying is they made the second half of the season a dramafest, which turned me off so much. It reminded me a lot of s3 of wtfock, which relied on drama way too much for its own good and mad me constantly mad at a bunch of fictional teens. And, maybe this is going too much into details, so I understand if not a lot of people agree with me on that but, Arthur was never alone. In every season, the character reaches a point where, in their POV, they feel like they are utterly alone and that no one cares for them, and they have to be the one to make a move to reach out and communicate with others. It never felt that way with Arthur. He always had either the boys, Alexia or Noée in his corner, he never reached that point of total despair. It’s not a bad thing per sé, it just feels like something that is supposed to happen in Skam, it’s part of the character’s journey, and here it was left out, but instead, we got a lot of useless plots.

Now, the last thing that irked me about the season, (and I know it’s nitpicky and detail-y) but I realized applied to the whole series was the dialogue. Skam France’s dialogue was always too fast, but I always saw it as “oh well the French speak quickly in general and their humour is very quick and dry”, so I didn’t mind it much, because I was used to it and at least we had some quiet times. But in this original season, they talked so much! It’s like, they’re always on, there’s no pauses, no awkward silences, and Arthur doesn’t have many clips where it’s just him alone thinking. They don’t seem to realize people aren’t always funny, they’re not on all the time. It worked well when it came to showing Arthur’s personality, he’s the guy with the jokes, and he makes them even at awkward times, but in group settings, it’s like we were in Gilmore Girls, like, breathe.

Last thing I want to address before concluding this very long and unnecessary rant. The finale. I didn’t want to write about it before I watched the live on youtube after the season, but I was translating and the live was lagging, so I barely caught glimpses here and there, therefore I cannot talk about season 6, since I have no idea what they discussed, and I can’t talk about what Niels or David said about the choices for the season. But I can talk about the finale. That last scene with Noée and Alexia was very weird and felt very forced. What was its purpose except make Alexia and Arthur be on good terms for next season? I don’t know. It’s like they wanted to wrap it up immediately when it’s not something that can be done naturally that way. I do wanna shout out Alexia for learning more signs than Arthur in days than he did in weeks, what a queen. Second thing, I don’t know what all the thing with season 6 is, like what veto on characters they got from NRK or whatever, but what is clear is that they wanted the season to revolve around Daphné, since she’s the one we’ve been getting hints of for the entirety of season 5. But if that was the only way they could thing to introduce Lola, it was weird. She just appeared out of thin air (except that one scene in detention where we saw her back), and so I don’t care about her at all. Like, I have no investment in seeing her POV, so making her appear suddenly in the finale is not the greatest move. I wish they had built her up at least a little, like her herself, not just by having Daphné acting weird. And let’s talk about that last shot, where a group of people stood in the middle of a party in front of a mural, holding hands. Realism who? is what they said. I mean sure it was cute or whatever (why was Lucas crying, y’all are seeing each other next week, i-) but it did not have its place there. It felt like they really wanted that scene but didn’t know how to wrap the season nicely. Something felt really off to me. Then again, the entire second part of the season had me very confused, so maybe my perception is biased. Maybe I’ll love it on a future rewatch. All I can say is that it didn’t feel Skam like at all.

I don’t want to end this on a negative note, I mean I tried giving my opinion with somewhat coherent reasoning behind it because you can love something but still critique it, but I know negativity is a very easy train to get on, so let’s finish with the stuff that I loved this season.

Emma and Arthur’s relationship, I actually missed her and loved that they managed to seamlessly bring her into Arthur’s life, I was afraid she would be left behind because Manon isn’t there.

Basile and Arthur’s friendship, it was honestly the highlight of my week a lot of times, they literally destroyed toxic masculinity.

Alexia in general, I was glad to see her be overall amazing, we love the bi rep.

Lucas’s hair. Do I need to explain it?

Background Elu and Background Sofimane. We like happy couples.

No Marles (I don’t hate them I just don’t care for them).

Episode 2, Clip 3.

Camille watching the drama unfold in the background and being like 👀

The LSF lessons

Melchior and Laura

Camille and Mika

Robin’s acting, he’s very talented, he made me care about Arthur.

Some other stuff that is not coming to me right now.

#skam france #skam france season 5 #skam france s5 #skam france rant #arthur broussard #élu #alexia martineau #lucas lallement #lucas and eliott #eliott and lucas #eliott demaury #wtfock #skam remake #skam france arthur #arthur and alexia #arthur and noee

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mostweakhamlets · 4 years ago

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responses to staged stuff under the cut everything tagged as “staged wank” for your blacklists

lovinghorsedonutsalad:

With all due respect but has it ever crossed your mind the fact that they are both back could actually help? With this second season they may reflect how the world is dealing with the virus after lockdown when everyone’s trying to get back to a sort of normal life. Michael may have given Simon and co inputs on how it is to go back to work with all the new regulations and things they have to pay attention to keep everyone safe.

Plus I don’t think they would go for “we are two actors trapped at home” when it’s no longer the case. First because it wouldn’t be true, second because it’s something they dealt with in the first season and third it wouldn’t reflect the current times so people would relate to it.

*wouldn’t relate to it

I would love for them to take this route! I think it’d be interesting! However, based on how series one went, I don’t see them doing that. The point of Staged was that it was an “actors trapped at home during a new stage show.” That worked really well despite its shortcomings! I think that they had a great idea and that there was great chemistry between the characters. It just wasn’t executed as well as it could have been.

My main concern is that there’s been a very, very short amount of time between series one and two. I don’t think that that’s enough time to reflect on things that could have been better (and that’s always a step any creator should take) and then re-work things. From the small clip that we saw, they’re still going with the same characteristics of Michael Sheen being the grumpy guy prone to outbursts and David Tennant being the awkward peace-maker that doesn’t achieve much. I really doubt that if they didn’t change that, they aren’t going to change much else.

But I would love to be proved wrong! I would love it if the women in the show were written better and if they treated some topics with more sensitivity.

blueturkeycroissanttrash:

Yes both David tennant and Michael Sheen are back at work. And I think Just like the first season reflected the times we lived in few months ago, the second season would reflect the current times we live in; how hard it is to go back to our lives, to go back to work while social distancing and stuff. And I’m curious to see how it turns out.

And I think you’re missing the point. It’s supposed to entertain people, to make them laugh and give them a distraction to every day worries. Michael Sheen and David tennant are trying to move on with their lives just like the rest of us. Whether it is in their huge houses, with their nannies I don’t really care, because that’s not really the poi t

Plus I don’t know why people are already throwing shit at something they haven’t seen yet.

And frankly I’m grateful that my favorite actors are making context for me to watch while the world is falling apart

I’m hoping that it does have a more updated feel. I just worry that any Covid Comedy right now is just going to be very insensitive and tone-deaf no matter what.

I don’t think I’m missing the point at all! I understand it was for entertainment. I was entertained by it until I thought about all of the criticisms I just made. The women are written poorly. The topics were handled poorly in hindsight. I think I made very good criticisms of the show.

And it’s not that we’re “throwing shit any something” we “haven’t seen yet.” We saw Staged! We saw series one! Some of us don’t feel like it’s worthy of a second series unless they make massive changes (which as I said above, I really can’t see having happened in such a short span of time).

I can judge Staged just like I can judge any other media I consume. It was a show that was good at the time, but looking back it wasn’t executed as well as it could have been. I have my criticisms and say that there needs to be major improvements to the show, but I can also acknowledge that people enjoyed it.

#staged wank #okay we can be done now #we can acknowledge that we have different opinions and that criticizing things that genuinely bug you isn't evil

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girls-scenarios · 5 years ago

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The Silenced

Idol: Doyeon (Weki Meki)

prompt: please do a doyeon scenario where she gets casted in a drama but she needs to kiss a girl (reader). She hates it at first but then gets feelings for the reader. (Doyeon from Weki Meki. Ps. Please make it fluffy 💕)

Writer: Admin Lee

A/N: the drama that the reader and Doyeon are cast in is similar to The Silenced (a really good SK movie!!), however, in this tv-remake the title also serves as an allegory for South Korea’s treatment of the LGBT community (in general). Doyeon doesn’t know much about the plot other than the fact that it is a thriller series. Your character: Juran & Doyeon’s character: Yeondok. I’m so sorry it’s been so long since I’ve last posted :( I’m about to graduate from high school, so finals and AP exams have been keeping me busy.. I hope you can all understand! Anyways,I had a lot of fun writing this scenario! The Silenced is by far one of my favorite films, and I thought it’d be cool to put it in a sort of series-form for this request. Hope you enjoy!

Warnings: Internalized homophobia, angst

A few weeks after Weki Meki’s Crush promotions were finished, Doyeon had discovered that, after meeting with the CEO of Fantagio, she was to be cast in an upcoming drama. Specifically, a series remake of the 2015 movie, The Silenced. She remembered bits and pieces of the film, as she had seen it shortly after it was released. Needless to say, she was excited to act in something other than a rom-com, as many other female idols have done in the past.

Conversely, you were cast in a rather unconventional way. It wasn’t really a “official” audition, but apparently some employees sent out by the production company had attended a short film festival held at your university, and consequently saw your acting in one of the films. They were thoroughly impressed, and had contacted you a day or so later, asking for your interest in the project. You were quick to agree, of course, as this could be your big break in the acting industry, especially since you hadn’t yet decided to audition for an entertainment company.

So, without either of you knowing you would be side-by-side for the next few months as you filmed the first and only season of the drama, you and Doyeon went on preparing for the roles ahead of you.

It was nearly two weeks before the filming was scheduled to start, and you were called in for a script-reading of the first episode with the whole cast, as well as a costume fitting to ensure that everything was as good as it could be before the real work begun.

You arrived at the building and found the correct room without a hitch, and upon entering, were greeted with the director, writer, and one of the producers. They introduced themselves, let you know how excited they were for you to be involved in this project of theirs, and handed you the script along with a good-luck wish for your first big production. Then you made eye contact with Doyeon. You knew of her, of course, Weki Meki had been a group you followed and enjoyed listening to. Your face flushed and your eyes darted away, looking down at the script you had been handed moments ago. It was almost surreal to be this close to someone you admired - a celebrity at that. She, on the other hand, looked nonplussed.

Thankfully, the director clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention, and beckoned the actors over to the table nearest to him. Everyone then took their seats and buckled down for the reading of the pilot episode.

It was nearly a month into filming; three episodes down, and fortunately your relationship with Doyeon was improving quickly. Filming side-by-side proved to be a good catalyst for the betterment of your chemistry both on-set and off. You had discovered that the cold-looking idol you had met on the reading day was nothing like the Doyeon you knew now. Her façade was now thoroughly broken through, and it gave way to a bubbly, goofy, laid-back girl who always knew what to do to make someone laugh. She relaxed you, and you did the same for her. The dynamic shared between the two of you allowed a sense of peace whenever filming a particularly tough scene, and you were grateful for it.

At the end of this past episode, your character - who was struggling with tuberculosis - had been making strides in her recovery due to the medicine she was being administered. Doyeon’s character, at first a serious, speculative girl, had now opened up; even going as far as breaking the rules to bring your character outside of the confines of the manor they were living in for a breath of fresh air and an adventure through the forest surrounding the area.

Today, the filming for the fourth episode had begun.

Just before you were to begin filming, the director had approached you about a twist he had wanted to put on the series.

“(Y/N), I know I haven’t talked to you about this before, but I’ve been mulling it over for a while… I want to add a little more to the girls’ relationship, you know? When I was going over the original movie, the undertones - intentional or not - that their dynamic has makes me think that they would work really well as ‘more-than-friends’ if you get what I’m saying. It’s be a really fresh perspective to get out in the mainstream media, don’t you agree?”

At first, you were taken a bit aback, but within seconds everything sort of clicked. After taking take outside of work to watch the movie yourself, you could now look back and completely see where the director was coming from. And though he had phrased it like a question, you had realized that it would be in your best interest to comply. However, this was not to say you weren’t happy to do it, this could be a huge step in the right direction.

“Yes, completely. I’d be more than happy to do it! Have you talked with Doyeon about it?”

“I’m just about to bring it up with her. I’ll see you on set!” He replied, leaving you to finish getting ready.

The scene began in a room tucked away from most everyone’s eyes at the boarding school, and it was you and Doyeon’s characters who sat together under the dim light of an old lamp, sitting close together on a quilt.

“I’m getting better,” you began with a hopeful tone, nudging the other girl with your elbow. “Maybe I’ll be picked to go to Japan with you when the examination comes. Everyone knows it’s a given that you’ll go.”

Doyeon’s character stayed silent, picking at one of many red flowers that sat in a vase in front of her.

“Wouldn’t that be fun?” Your character continued, prodding the other again.

To this she nodded, yet her focus was diverted to the petal she clutched between her fingers.

“Yeondok.. Is something bothering you?”

“No, not at all,” She replied with a light lilt to her voice, looking at you with a soft expression as she brought the petal to your lips. “It’d be great to go with you.”

To this you moved even closer to her, intertwining your fingers while chewing on the petal thoughtfully. She turned to face you, looking into your eyes for a moment with a sense of nervousness you hadn’t seen thus far. Her hand now felt clammy as she clutched yours tighter, swallowing the lump in her throat. You knew it was in the script that she had to kiss you, but she wasn’t making any move to. So, to prevent having to re-film, you brought your free hand up to her cheek, stroking it with your thumb gently as you attempted to calm her down, hoping it would seem natural on-screen.

“Yeondok,” You began, your voice barely audible as you brought your face closer to hers. With your lips now mere centimeters apart, Doyeon seems to have finally gotten the nerves to take the reigns. She kisses you and your eyes flutter closed before she breaks it unceremoniously moments later. Doyeon stands and walks off-set without warning, giving no time for the director to properly cut the scene.

“Doyeon!” You called after her, but your voice fell on deaf ears as she stormed off.

It’s been days since that scene was filmed, you’ve attempted to talk to Doyeon multiple times about what had happened, but every time you had approached her, she somehow managed to avoid you each time. It eventually came to the point where your chemistry on set was being affected, so the director suggested that you both have a heart-to-heart for the sake of the show.

“Doyeon, please, I don’t know what I did wrong. If you’ll actually talk to me about it, I’m sure we can work this out and finish the show with no problems.. But I just need you to talk to me.”

She turned to you, expression unreadable.

“I- I don’t…I think I like you,” Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes as she stumbled over her words, and her voice was shaky. “But,” she continued. “My career, my family.. I can’t be a lesbian.”

“Doyeon,” You started softly, attempting to hide the surprise in your voice at her revelation. “There’s nothing wrong with how you’re feeling, you know that, right?”

She shook her head, not meeting your eyes. “I’m scared.”

Your brows furrowed as you frowned, reaching out a hand to rest on Doyeon’s shoulder. She flinched at this, and you almost pulled away, but she put her own hand on top of yours.

“It’s going to take time for me to figure all of this out.. Will you be here for me?” She asked you, her tone almost desperate.

“Always.”

#weki meki scenarios #weme #weki meki #doyeon #doyeon scenario #doyeon scenarios #kpop girl groups #girl group scenarios #girl groups #kpop scenario

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arbitrarygreay · 5 years ago

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Crunchyroll Expo 2019

This is mainly in response to the things I heard at the feedback panel. 1. I have so much sympathy for the staff who were the panelists. I also hope they don't give too much weight to the criticisms they heard there. The panel seems to self-select for the most obnoxious tone-deaf non-central attendees, given that the vast majority of attendees were enjoying themselves elsewhere, instead of bombarding the staff with their hare-brained suggestions. 2. From what I experienced, Crunchyroll Expo has a distinct identity as a large anime convention: succeeding strongly where Japan Expo USA failed, as a convention centered around professional guests, and even moreso around guests from Japan. I'd say all of the panels were associated with people working in the entertainment industry in some form. Thanks to the Crunchyroll origins, they had the connections to be credible to the Japan guests, the clout and name recognition to attract attendees early on, the capital to fund the production value, and very importantly, the local expertise to much better handle location logistics than JXUSA could. I quite like this distinct identity, and CRX shouldn't stray too far from that. It's not Fanime, PAX, or SacAnime, and it shouldn't try to be. There were lots of suggestions at the feedback panel for more community events, and I wouldn't want the con to go too far in that direction. Keep gaming centered on Japanese arcade stuff, with maybe some Japanese game E-sports, but don't go full LAN party with any games allowed. Add a tabletop room, but don't let just any American/US game be there, try to introduce attendees to specific Japan-associated games, like hanafuda, kabufuda, or karuta-based games, and the few translated Japan TTRPGs. The point is, CRX is a con where attendees are funneled towards learning new things about Japan's entertainment industry, through industry professionals, and to experience new anime. Don't let things non-central to that take up too much air. Again, the vast majority of people weren't attending that feedback panel exactly because they were enjoying all of the central content of the con, so the people complaining about the con not being about other stuff, trying to turn CRX into other cons, were atypical attendees. 3. On that note, I was very impressed by the breadth of industry aspects showcased. Previous cons tended to be actor-focused, both in guests and in which panels were popular with attendees. Thanks to work by sakuga enthusiasts, especially the folks behind Sakugabooru, lots of people are paying more attention to technical staff. CRX, too, did a great job making the case to prospective panel attendees why they should be excited to see these guests. The moderators would give the audience context, and the guests themselves would often be just as excited to see the clips of their own work, giving them inspiration for commentary to make, and the live drawings, of course, were just great. Major kudos to the moderators, in general. You could tell that they were all passionate about their guests, had thought really in-depth about the questions to ask, and they often had a nice chemistry with the guests, which helped bring out some less stiff answers than might be expected. (Translator quality varied as usual, but I know that the guests are usually bringing their own, and not something CRX can control. And there were certainly some stellar translators there, too.) But yeah, breadth. There were directors, producers, animators/storyboarders/character designers, mangaka, all sharing their special insights, and I was very pleased by how much music content there was, as someone who tends towards that part of the industry. The only aspect that was arguably underrepresented would be writers (script writing/series composition for shows, or LN authors). 4. I was also very impressed by the scheduling. Guests were almost all slotted for 2-3 events, and events overlapped so that if I missed a particular guest on one day, I could catch them at another event at least once on another day. As with the previous point, the way the breadth was overlapped was that even if I attended all of the music-related panels, I was still attending panels for all of the other aspects of the anime creation process throughout the day. Very excellent scheduling. The only panels that I missed (weeping for missing Junji Ito's kitties) were because I let my guard down after Friday, and didn't camp for some events that ended up full room. And even then, those few panels probably didn't need insane amounts of camping, either, just 15-30 mins. That's a heavenly amount of camping, when I'm used to having to block in 2 hours before anything I want to attend, at other cons. Thanks very much for the large capacities afforded to every panel. 5. Criticism: screenings, of all things, should not ever go off schedule. Panels, I can understand, because panellists might run late, but there's no reason for a screening to start late, unless there was technical difficulties. I had scheduled a particular screening which would end 15 minutes before the next panel I would attend. Instead, the screening started over 15 minutes late, and I missed a good chunk of the end because I had to leave for that other panel. Luckily this screening was for something already released in the US, so I'll be able to finish the movie, but there were a few unique premiere screenings at the con, and that room being off schedule could have soured other attendees' experiences a lot more than it did mine. 6. Minor criticism: The app wasn't accessible on my phone. I was able to get by with internet, as new schedule content was added on the website as well (and thank you for that!), but I wouldn't get updated time stamps as the app users did. Please don't assume that everyone has the newest OSes when writing the app in the future. My phone isn't even that old, only a couple of years. On that note, I wasn't thrilled with the format of the schedule. With the way everything overlapped in offset intervals, sometimes it wasn't obvious where events in different locations were in relation to each other, and I did miss some panel content once because I had misread the time, due to how the single-column scrolling obscured the amount of overlapping. The location filters do nothing to help with that. I understand that a traditional spreadsheet timetable (location columns, timestamp rows) isn't sexy aesthetics, and has very unsexy horizontal scrolling in a smartphone context, but that's actually where the oversized newspaper con guide could shine, or in a traditional booklet, a foldout insert. (Btw, I thought that the newpaper con guide was fine. It gives more space and bigger font size for reading accessibility, and was likely cheaper to print and assemble than a booklet, which needs glossy paper, more pages, stiffer folding, and required stapling.) 7. Very minor criticism that CRX may not be to control: as said before, I tended towards the music content of the con, but only Flow had their music on sale at the con. So there would be all of these artists promoting their work, and I'd be fired up about them after their panels...but there would be nowhere in the con for me to throw money at them. I understand that bringing stuff to sell is on the artists, but maybe coordinate some sort of "music guest merch" table somewhere, so that the logistics burden for selling products is lowered for all of them? Anime NYC did it for their Anisong Matsuri lineup last year, where there was a single merch table, manned by a few cashiers for all of the artists there, so that each artist didn't have to provide their own sales staff, and shipping costs of importing the stuff was also reduced because of consolidation. Even for artists who don't have physical CDs, they could do something like sell a code to redeem the purchase later. But yeah, overall, I had a great time at the con! I learned a lot, laughed a lot, danced a lot, and what more can you ask for?

#crunchyroll expo #crx #crunchyroll expo 2019 #crx2019 #crx 2019 #category: anime #category: fandom #congoing

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thesffcorner · 6 years ago

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The Upside

The Upside is a film directed by Neil Burger, based on the French film Intouchables. It follows Dell (Kevin Hart) a man who’s been released on parole, and is struggling to get his life in order, most notably find a job. Thinking that he’s applying for a janitorial job, he accidentally walks in on an interview for caregiver to Phillip Lacas (Bryan Cranston), a very wealthy paraplegic man. Despite having no qualifications and no desire to do the work, he gets the job, and an unlikely friendship between the two men drastically improves both their lives.

I had no intention of seeing this film, since I’m not a huge fan of this feel good, inspirational genre, but I did, and I’m glad I did. It was a funny film, with some genuine punch, and I think it’s definitely worth seeing. With that being said, I know the film garnered some controversy, since Bryan Cranston is not disabled, and yet he plays the part of a paraplegic man. I don’t think my take on this is particularly relevant or groundbreaking; in an ideal world, where every actor would have equal opportunity to be cast for any role, I’d say it shouldn’t matter whether Cranston is disabled or not; in our real world, where so few roles, especially major ones exist for disabled people, giving this role to an actor who isn’t disabled is at best tone deaf and at worst malicious.

What I can talk about however, are the story and performances. I found this film had a good balance of dramatic serious moments, and comedy. I though for the most part the comedy was well executed and funny; there were only a few scenes where I thought the joke went on too long or too far, and most of them had to do with Hart being loud, and repeating a phrase over and over to shock and horror of the rich white people around him (most notably DAMN). The gross out humor that’s present in any scene that has to do with poop, or Cranston’s penis was a bit much, though I could see it was definitely within character from someone like Dell; it’s just well, I thought he was supposed to be a tough guy who went to prison, and yet catheters make him want to puke. Right.

Hart and Cranston have excellent chemistry, and they play off each other really well. Their friendship and banter was natural and believable, and it was honestly what made the film for me. Hart actually has a lot of chemistry with all of the characters; he has a few funny scenes with Nicole Kidman’s Yvonne and Golshifteh Farahani's Meg, as well as Tate Donovan’s Carter.

His character arc, while straightforward was still fun to watch; this unfortunately tends to be a common story, and while I do think Hollywood likes to present the black man who has abandoned his family because of crime and jail a little too often, I did appreciate that Dell quickly steps out of that stereotype. As soon as he sees that his job is a positive thing for him and Philip, he starts changing his behavior, and though he makes mistakes with his son, it’s very clear from Hart’s performance and the character’s actions that he does try. One thing I really enjoyed, though it’s completely accidental was setting in Harlem and later Brooklyn; I lived in Crown Heights, so seeing some of that neighborhood and buildings in Harlem I’ve been to was quite fun.

As for Philip’s character I appreciated that though his condition isn’t easy, what causes him pain and depression is the loss of his wife, rather than the state he’s in. He is at least, at peace with being immobile, and for the most part what bothers him is that so few things are out of his control. The two scenes that really spoke to me were when he’s arguing with Yvonne about how the only thing he can control is his time and the people he spends it with, and the lunch scene with his date. That scene in particular was heartbreaking for both sides; both for Lily who overestimates her own comfort, and for Philip who got his hopes up, and can do nothing to change his situation.

Overall, I thought the film was very good. It’s a good mix of funny and sad, and at its center it has a solid, healthy friendship, and shows how two people can really make a difference in each other's lives, while not providing any magical cures or answers for their problems. I recommend it.

#the upside #the upside review #film review #moni talks

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tvmoviechristmas · 6 years ago

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A Majestic Christmas (Hallmark, 2018)

If I can just get him to stop and smell the pine needles....

Starring: Jerrika Hinton, Christian Vincent, Ellen David, Matthew Gagnon

Plot Synopsis: Christmas in the charming town of Briar Falls will be bittersweet this year when architect Nell goes back to her hometown having been given the job of turning the historic Majestic Playhouse into a modern multiplex, much to the town’s objections. This job is Nell’s first promotion, and one she wishes she hadn’t been chosen for, especially when she meets the new owner of the theater, Connor, whose vision and ideas clash with Nell’s. Since Connor hasn’t had much experience celebrating Christmas, Nell hopes that if she can give him a crash course in Christmas during the town’s Twelve Day Festival, that he might just change his mind about modernizing the Majestic. (x)

In My Humble Opinion: I feel guilty for wishing this upon an actress I like, but I hope Jerrika Hinton does another Hallmark movie in the future. I know that there are bigger and better career options out there, but Jerrika Hinton is charming in A Majestic Christmas and whenever a female lead rises above her material, you can’t help but want them to stick around. Make more movies, make better movies.

She’s charming enough that she rises above kitschy material that looked really tiresome in the commercials Hallmark cut together for the film (commercials that barely featured any lines, but did feature a lot of narration about lighting about Christmas, so).

That’s not to say A Majestic Christmas isn’t tiring. It really is very paint-by-numbers. A landmark town institution is dying. A woman from the city returns to her hometown and really needs to quit her job. Everybody in the community loves each other and Christmas more than real people do in real life. It’s ho-hum plotting.

But the actors have enough of a chemistry that there are scenes that spark in a really engaging way. I had more enjoyable time watching this than some movies I expected to enjoy based on their commercials. So, come back around, and do something better, Jerrika Hinton? Please?

Watch If: You’re an architect who happens to love Christmsa, if you were kicked out of eighth grade choir, or if your favorite movie is King Kong.

Skip If: You can resist Christmas decoration, if your town needs a multiplex, or if you don’t want tone deaf people in your choir.

Final Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

If you like this blog, consider donating on my Ko-fi page!

#a majestic christmas #3 stars #review #hallmark

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smokeybrand · 3 years ago

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Fly By Night

At the end of the day, JJabarams wanting to make Clark Black in this next run of films, is just a tone deaf, performative, dog whistle for all the little Blue Checkmark, fake woke, twatter asshole to fellate themselves over. I don't know a single Black person who is gassed that Clark will look like us. Dude basically represents everything wrong with America, to us. Clark is an out-of-touch White guy, born with unheard of power he didn't earn, imbued with a f*cked up savior complex, raised on a steady supply of zealous Patriotic ideals which borders on straight up Nationalism, in the cultural vacuum of Smallville, Kansas. Turning him Black without fixing that origin is tantamount to throwing Blackface on some White actor to play T'Challa instead of casting Chadwick Boseman. Imagine how THAT should would have gone over with the Blacks. Exactly.

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kcaruth · 6 years ago

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Movie Mania: Top 10 of 2018

This one was difficult. Those who have followed this blog for a while will know that for the past two years I have done a top 15 list of favorite films. That is largely because 2016 and 2017 cranked out so many great films, and I could not restrict myself to 10. However, 2018 turned out to be a rather lackluster year for film, in my opinion. Sure, there were some high points, but overall it was disappointing. It was actually easy to stick to a list of 10 this time, and those 10 films are all deserving of praise. I just wish they had some tougher competition to go up against. I digress, though. I now give you my spoiler-free list of favorite films of 2018.

Honorable Mention: Bumblebee

A collaboration between Travis Knight, the director of Kubo and the Two Strings, and Hailee Steinfeld? Count me in!

I stopped following the Transformers franchise after 2011′s Transformers: Dark of the Moon. One can only endure so many mind-numbing Michael Bay explosions before all of his or her brain cells die out. Here is a fun exercise that one of my college professors taught me; try it next time a Michael Bay Transformers movie comes on. Every time there is a cut, tap a pen or pencil or clap your hands. Frankly, it is quite overwhelming and hard to keep up with, and it is difficult not to notice every single unnecessary, jarring cut after becoming conscious of them through this exercise.

Contrast that with 2018′s Bumblebee. At Knight’s direction, the film forgoes most of those flashy explosions in favor of a more intimate approach to actual character development. Knight wisely chooses to keep the audience grounded and focused on the human characters, namely Steinfeld’s Charlie Watson, a teenage girl who is still struggling to come to terms with the death of her father while harboring resentment of her mother for remarrying. As far as the robots go, while the other Transformers movies went overboard with filling the screen with as many Decepticons and Autobots as they could, Knight really only has the titular Bumblebee and a couple of Decepticons hunting him down, ensuring that the action scenes and the film itself do not feel too bloated. Bumblebee is the course correction that this franchise so desperately needed.

#10: Eighth Grade

I was cringing throughout the run time of Eighth Grade, but somehow that is a compliment to this film. Uncompromising in its excruciating honesty, Eighth Grade hits the bullseye when it targets the audience’s empathy for an anxious 13-year-old during her last week of eighth grade named Kayla Day, played by Elsie Fisher. As his debut feature film, writer-director Bo Burnham has stated that he drew inspiration from his own struggles with social anxiety, so the script feels genuine and absent of any Hollywood edits. While Kayla is certainly the main focus of the film, Burnham provides a surprisingly touching character arc for her single father, Mark, played by Josh Hamilton. Mark desperately attempts to connect with his teenage daughter, but it seems like all she cares about having a connection with is her phone and social media. With themes of mental health, heavy use of social media, and sexuality, Burnham delivers one of the most uncomfortable scenes I have ever sat through in a movie theater, which is most likely exactly how he intended it to feel.

I cannot help but compare Eighth Grade to 2016′s Edge of Seventeen, another coming-of-age comedy-drama about a teenage girl by a debut director. If I was given the choice between the two films, I would pick Edge of Seventeen, which I believe is much more re-watchable, garnering that intended empathetic response from the audience with half the cringe. Both are brilliant, but those who have not seen Edge of Seventeen should do themselves a favor and give it a watch.

#9: Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

With so much hate and negativity in the world today, Morgan Neville’s documentary about Fred Rogers is a shining beacon of hope that restores one’s faith in humanity. Using archival footage as well as interviews with those closest to Rogers, Neville paints an intimate portrait of the man who welcomed audiences into his neighborhood through his pioneering television program. Without deifying Rogers, Neville shows how this American treasure dedicated every fiber of his being to teaching children how to be upstanding human beings who care deeply for one another, despite our differences. This documentary proves that Rogers’ lessons were not just for children, though. In fact, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? often feels like a one-on-one session with Rogers, encouraging audience members that they are all capable of good through simple acts of kindness.

#8: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Unfortunately, this American western is sure to fly under most people’s radar because it was a Netflix release that I do not recall having much fanfare and advertising. Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, this film is an anthology of six different vignettes set in the American West. Sporting a stellar cast with the likes of Liam Neeson, Tim Blake Nelson, James Franco, Zoe Kazan, Brendan Gleeson, and more, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs flexes the Coen’s signature style of dark drama and black humor while impressively tackling all of the sub-genres within the greater Western genre.

Each of the vignettes are tied together by death in some form or fashion. While my ranking of them changes from day to day, my favorite and least favorite remain consistent. It is virtually impossible to not fall in love with the first vignette, “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” which is about a cheerful outlaw known just as widely for his singing as his gunslinging. The final vignette featuring a handful of characters cramped together on a stagecoach ride called “The Mortal Remains,” on the other hand, feels somewhat out of place and ends the film with a bit of a dud. Along the way between these two vignettes, however, viewers encounter enchanting tales of a bank robber, an impresario and his artist, a prospector, and a wagon train on the Oregon Trail.

As the Coen’s first film to be shot digitally, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs boasts some impressive cinematography, especially when it comes to wide sweeping shots, like any decent Western should. It also features a wonderfully delightful score that I desperately hope gets an Oscar nod. Not a week has gone by since I have watched this film where I do not find myself humming one of the songs or music from it. The acting throughout the different vignettes of the film is topnotch, and the actors look like they are having a blast in their roles.The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is a fun time that leaves viewers longing for more time in the American West. For those who cannot find the time to sit down for the whole film, I must urge them to at least watch the first vignette about Buster Scruggs, which is worth the price of admission on its own.

#7: Isle of Dogs

Set in a dystopian Japan, Wes Anderson’s stop-motion animated Isle of Dogs tells the story of a boy searching for his dog on Trash Island after an outbreak of canine flu. Voiced by an all-star cast including Bryan Cranston, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson, and Bill Murray, Isle of Dogs is an epic adventure with its fair share of plot twists along the way. Alexandre Desplat provides a brilliant score for the film that matches Anderson’s comedic quirkiness and thematic choices. I would not consider myself a fan of Anderson’s distinct film style, but I do consider myself a huge fan of dogs and enjoyed Isle of Dogs. (Get the title of the film? Pronounce it out loud quickly. I Love Dogs.)

#6: Game Night

Game Night made me laugh out loud like I have not done in a long time at the movie theater. Starring Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams, the film follows the hilariously ridiculous premise of a group of friends whose game night gets wrapped up in a criminal escapade. In addition to Bateman and McAdams’ great, fun chemistry as the husband and wife duo of Max and Annie Davis, Jesse Plemons’ portrayal of Gary Kingsbury, Max and Annie’s weird neighbor, delivers some moments of pure laughter. For a film that is high on laughs, Game Night manages to string the audience along with its surprisingly competent mystery, complete with reveals and twists that both shock and amuse viewers. Be sure to stick around for the credits and post-credits.

#5: A Quiet Place

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a big baby when it comes to horror movies. I absolutely loathe jump scares and will watch horror movies through my fingers if I am forced to watch one. However, I had heard so much positive buzz about John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place that I could not allow myself to make this list without seeing it first, and boy am I glad I summoned the courage to see it. A Quiet Place is a masterclass in tension, tone, pacing, sound design, and character development.

The plot centers around the Abbott family in a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by blind monsters that attack any source of sound with their heightened sense of hearing. Nothing is known about the origins of these monsters, only that they have wiped out most human and animal life on Earth. In this hopeless world, Lee and Evelyn Abbott struggle to fill their children with hope for the future.

The performances in A Quiet Place are some of the best of the year. The actors have an added degree of difficulty of having very minimal to no dialogue during the entire film, so their facial expressions and body language have to do most of the talking. One of the more impressive feats of A Quiet Place is the characters communicate in American Sign Language, and the actors actually learned ASL for the film. Millicent Simmonds, who plays Regan Abbott, is deaf and knows ASL, so she was able to help her co-stars with ASL, make corrections, and suggest improvements.

Krasinski has said that A Quiet Place is all about parenthood. Along with this theme, the film contains many Christian images and themes that are fascinating to pick apart and ponder. With so much depth, A Quiet Place delivers an original story that grips audiences. Although I did not see it in theaters, I am sure that people could hear a pen drop in their viewings.

#4: Bohemian Rhapsody

For all of its inaccuracies, creative liberties, and unevenness, Bohemian Rhapsody took the world by storm as the highest grossing music biopic and reinvigorated a love of Queen and its leading man, Freddie Mercury. Rami Malek runs away with the film as he disappears into his role as Mercury, so much so that audience members might have to pinch themselves to remember that they are not watching the real Freddie Mercury. Seriously, Malek has to be a surefire Oscar contender for this performance. Not only does he masterfully recreate Mercury’s mannerisms and moves onstage, he also channels his pain and feelings of isolation to bring audiences a fully realized depiction of the superstar. The supporting cast is good too, although Malek’s stellar performance does overshadow them, through no fault of their own.

For its finale, Bohemian Rhapsody gifts audiences with one of the most moving, memorable set pieces in all of film for 2018, the 1985 Live Aid concert. In a word, it is epic. Bohemian Rhapsody teaches lessons of acceptance, love, individuality, and the power of music and leaves viewers wishing they could have had a few more years with the amazing Freddie Mercury. This is one of those instances where the majority of critics should be ignored. Even if viewers are new to Queen, they should not miss this film.

#3: Green Book

Bolstered by fantastic performances by Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali, Peter Farrelly’s Green Book takes a relatively unknown true story about a concert tour to the Deep South in the 1960s with African-American pianist Dr. Don Shirley (Ali) and his driver/bodyguard, Italian-American Tony Vallelonga (Mortensen), and tackles its subject matter without being too heavy-handed and maintaining respect for its characters. The script treats Vallelonga and Shirley as real human beings. Contrary to most film tropes, neither completely changes his character after a single event or incident. Instead, that change occurs slowly over the course of their road trip. Both men learn from one another, despite their disparate backgrounds. Mortensen and Ali are both worthy of Oscar nominations, though I think I would give the edge to Mortensen.

For a film about racism, identity, and the dangerous Jim Crow South, Green Book remains accessible to all audiences. It is full of heart and is brimming with that feel-good aura. As Mick LaSalle wrote in The San Francisco Chronicle, Green Book is “so big in its spirit, that the movie acquires a glow. It achieves that glow slowly, but by the middle and certainly by the end, it's there, the sense of something magical happening, on screen and within the audience.”

#2: Annihilation

I have not stopped thinking about Alex Garland’s Annihilation since it came out way back in February. Garland, the director of one of my favorite films released in 2015 Ex Machina, puts together an impressive cast starring Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, Tuva Novotny, and Oscar Isaac to deliver a truly intoxicating film that leaves audiences deep in thought well after the credits roll. Based on Jeff VanderMeer’s novel of the same name, Annihilation follows a group of scientists who enter a mysterious quarantined area known as the Shimmer. Inside the Shimmer, flora and fauna undergo uncontrollable mutations. The scientists explore the Shimmer in an attempt to learn its secrets and discover what happened to the military team that was sent in before them.

The atmospheric, bone-chilling score sticks in viewers’ memories and adds to the intense tone of the film. Speaking of tone, Annihilation might bring audiences to the verge of suffocation because of how breathtaking it is. It has possibly the scariest, most dreadful scene of any film from this decade that comes from the stuff of nightmares and leaves audiences haunted. For all of its terrifying elements, however, this sci-fi film also showcases some downright gorgeous scenes that let the imagination run wild. Unlike many sci-fi films these days, Annihilation is not afraid to slow down and let scenes marinate in viewers’ minds. With so many avenues to explore as far as themes go, from ethics to grief to depression to humanity’s propensity for its own self-destruction, Annihilation is a film that should be talked about for a long time to come.

#1: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

This was the easiest decision on my whole list. No other film came close to the number one spot after I saw Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. I remember seeing trailers for this film throughout 2018, but I did not have high expectations for it and almost blew it off. After all, with all of the Spider-Man films we have had in recent years, how could this one stand out apart from its animation?

The hype is real. Spider-Man is one of the most well-rounded films of 2018. It expertly balances its genuinely funny comedic moments with its emotionally moving dramatic ones. It takes risks that pay off with its bold storytelling, which is full of charm and satisfying superhero action. There is obvious care and attention to detail poured into every frame of this film, a work of art that is a love letter to superhero comic books. The creators of the film wanted it to feel like "you walked inside a comic book," and they hit it out of the park. The computer-generated animation works in concert with line drawings, paintings, dots, and various comic book art styles to make the film look like it was created by hand. It even has word boxes and bubbles that somehow are not too obstructive or distracting. As Todd Howard, the director and executive producer at Bethesda Game Studios, is famous for saying, “all of this just works.”

For such a large ensemble of characters voiced by ingenious choices like Mahershala Ali, Hailee Steinfeld, and Nicolas Cage, Spider-Man gives each of them equal footing while keeping the spotlight squarely on Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), the new Spider-Man. Lily Tomlin voices what may be my favorite version of Aunt May, and many other Spider-Man staple characters make great appearances.

The soundtrack is catchy and fits the bill for what a kid Miles’ age would listen to. There are tons of Easter eggs for hardcore Spider-Man fans to uncover, and there are pop culture winks and nods that most people familiar with the Spider-Man franchise will understand and enjoy. Of course, the late, great Stan Lee has a touching cameo, one of his best yet.

Every part of this stand-alone story feels fresh, and the characters have so much depth to them. It is hard to come up with an original concept that reinvents the superhero genre, but Spider-Man has done just that and more. This revolutionary, culturally important film was a joy to watch, and it may go down as the best Spider-Man film yet. Certainly, it has to be a serious contender for the best film of 2018.

The following are a list of all of the films I saw from 2018, in no particular order:

· Green Book

· The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

· Pope Francis: A Man of His Word

· My Hero Academia: Two Heroes

· Black Panther

· Annihilation

· Game Night

· Ready Player One

· Isle of Dogs

· A Quiet Place

· Avengers: infinity War

· Deadpool 2

· Solo: A Star Wars Story

· Incredibles 2

· Ant-Man and the Wasp

· BlacKkKlansman

· Bad Times at the El Royale

· Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle

· First Man

· Ralph Breaks the Internet

· Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

· Aquaman

· Bumblebee

· Bohemian Rhapsody

· Bird Box

· Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

· Eighth Grade

My 2017 film list: http://kcaruth.tumblr.com/post/171040800751/movie-mania-top-15-of-2017

My 2016 film list: http://kcaruth.tumblr.com/post/156340406236/movie-mania-top-15-of-2016

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harryandmeghan0-blog · 6 years ago

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To Hate-Watch Or Not To Hate-Watch: A Discussion Of 'A Christmas Prince 2' - HuffPost

New Post has been published on https://harryandmeghan.xyz/to-hate-watch-or-not-to-hate-watch-a-discussion-of-a-christmas-prince-2-huffpost/

To Hate-Watch Or Not To Hate-Watch: A Discussion Of 'A Christmas Prince 2' - HuffPost

Warning: Spoilers below!

Every good romantic comedy needs a sequel. How else will we find out about how that fluffy, swoony happy ending turned into a relentless morass of disappointment and misery? That’s entertainment!

So it was with immense excitement that audiences awaited the sequel to Netflix’s breakout 2017 holiday rom-com “A Christmas Prince,” titled “A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding.” American blogger Amber Moore (Rose McIver) would finally be tying the knot with budget Armie Hammer and Aldovian King Richard (Ben Lamb)!

But is “A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding” a frothy nuptial romp or a grim look at what comes after the whirlwind fairy-tale betrothal? Is it, as some viewers have suggested, an oddly timed cinematic attack on labor unions, a clumsy piece of pro-monarchy propaganda?

Claire and Emma, two “Christmas Prince” fans, talked through their complicated feelings about every second of this romantic comedy cum political procedural.

Emma: Claire! From one intrepid journalist to another, I can’t tell you how #blessed I feel to be talking about the instant holiday classic “A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding” with you. There’s a lot to dig into here. Cryptocurrency! Class tensions! Blogging! But let’s start with a general review. Did you … enjoy this sequel?

Claire: “Enjoyment” is such a simple metric to quantify my reaction to this movie. I felt a lot of emotions, such as irritation and confusion. I enjoyed tweeting my critiques. As a romantic, I felt no thrills when Amber and Richard were onscreen together, which saddened me. However, hate-watching is one of my favorite hobbies. In that sense, I did enjoy it. What about you? Was this the sequel you were hoping for?

Emma: As someone who both loves hate-watching terrible holiday rom-coms and has recently felt very bitter about love, who can even say what I was hoping for? I laughed several times, so that seemed like a plus ― though perhaps not during moments that the writers intended to be played for laughs. I also got a wry enjoyment out of watching a movie that so terribly portrays journalism writ large and specifically female journalists. (Although I did note that even in Amber’s fictional world, media seems to be falling apart. RIP, Beat Now magazine!)

You bring up an important point when you say you felt nary a flutter in your heart watching Richard and Amber’s chemistry. I was struck by how … un–in love they seemed to be with each other. They are supposed to be playing a couple that has just been through a yearlong long-distance engagement, and now they finally are in the same place and get to be married. And yet … they didn’t even make out until the very end of the movie??? Was this movie even a love story, or was it more like a story about saving an increasingly irrelevant and antiquated monarchy?

Claire: I think you already know the answer to that question. We see a montage of them romping through North America and Europe, holding hands and giggling like teenagers, but when they’re supposed to speak lines of dialogue to each other, they seem like distant acquaintances. Or maybe she’s his Uber driver?

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The chemistry is undeniable!

She has arrived in Aldovia for the holiday season, which will apparently be spent feverishly planning a wedding for Christmas Day. (They’ve had all year to plan a royal wedding, and they’re just starting now, about three days in advance? Sure, fine.) Due to protocol ― keep an eye on protocol, it’s one of the central players in this drama! ― Amber has her own bridal suite instead of staying with her fiancé. But they also never, IDK, sneak off to make out? Have naughty assignations in the armory? Do these people feel visceral repugnance for each other’s bodies? It’s so bizarre.

When Amber arrives in Aldovia, we also see that her chemistry with Richard is not the only element from “A Christmas Prince” that has been downgraded in this sequel. We need to talk about Rudy. Emma, please explain what happened to Amber’s sweet diner-owning pops.

Emma: So this took me a beat after he was introduced ― I hadn’t watched the original since last year ― but I quickly realized that they had recast the father. I get it: It’s a Netflix holiday movie. Actors have conflicts. It happens. But more concerning than the fact that they made her father a totally different human ― something that the writers wink at the audience about when Richard’s little sister, Princess Emily, comments that “he looks different in person” (apparently it’s all about his shaved facial hair) ― is that this new Papa Rudy has a completely different personality from the old Papa Rudy.

The new Rudy has zero sense of manners or decorum, constantly threatens to fight people when they do things like attempt to get a taxi from the airport, and decides that he is more qualified to cook for an official event than the (female) royal chef. This personality transformation is an inexplicable choice on the part of the writers. It added nothing to the plot and just made me even more aware that Rudy had been recast. All I could think was, “Oh, I guess her dad is a total asshole now. That’s weird.”

Another frustrating character that we desperately need to talk about is Sahil, the royal wedding planner who is flown in from India. Claire, please let the people know why we both were supremely peeved about Sahil’s portrayal.

Claire: Well, I’m not the expert here, but it’s pretty simple. He’s the only character of color with a significant speaking role, except for Amber’s friend who shows up halfway through and immediately starts trying to get with villainous dweeb Count Simon. Sahil is by turns obsequious and hysterical, as he caters to the grandiose vision of the queen mother and important secretary Mrs. Averill while ignoring poor, blond, innocent Amber, who doesn’t want his ridiculous high-fashion designs. He’s played by British actor Raj Bajaj, but he speaks in an exaggerated Indian accent. He’s a caricature and not a flattering one. His portrayal felt tone-deaf at best and, ironically, a reminder of how snowy white Aldovia is.

Though Sahil is in charge of the royal wedding, he actually spends most of the film off camera … because this movie isn’t about a wedding. It’s about Richard bumbling around like your grandmother with her spectacles pushed up on her head asking, “Now where have I put my spectacles?” ― but instead of his eyewear, it’s all of Aldovia’s money. Where did he put it? Why can’t he find it? Emma, what the ever-loving hell was the political plot of this movie?

Emma: Claire … The short answer is, I have no fucking clue. The longer answer is that I can list off some elements of the political plot, and they all add up to one excellent lesson: Monarchic rule is where it’s at.

1. All of Aldovia’s money is flowing mysteriously out of the country causing all of the working people to lose their jobs.

2. The biggest issue with said unemployment and the ensuing mass strikes is not, in fact, that Aldovian people are unemployed. Rather, the true tragedy of this loss of wage labor is that Emily might be denied her right to awkwardly flirt with one of her classmates in the upcoming Christmas pageant.

3. It will take Amber’s “journalistic instinct” that “something more” is going on with Aldovia’s bleeding economy to solve this economic crisis.

4. Also, hacking!

5. The answer to said economic crisis is ― dramatic pause ― CORRUPTION. But not the corruption of an antiquated government system in a nation that has a prime minister but for some reason gives its hapless king all power over its economic policy. The real corruption comes down to one powerful individual who no longer lives in Aldovia, the white-bearded Lord Leopold, who has created a shell corporation that is publicly registered under his name and is single-handedly draining all of Aldovia’s business profits.

This all seems very plausible and definitely has no holes, right? Shell corporations are bad, monarchies are good. The end.

Claire: I’m a monarchist now, thanks to this good, good propaganda movie. Let’s rewind this to the beginning: King Richard, having ascended to power thanks to an enormous acorn in the first movie, is trying to make his mark with a new agenda. That agenda is: modernization. Modernize Aldovia! This is supposed to be an investment in the country’s economy, but instead, the money is all going somewhere else, and the Aldovian businesses are all bleeding capital and laying off workers.

Where is the money going? Richard doesn’t know! He barely seems to care, to be honest. Much of the movie is just the king and his family and advisers standing around mutually affirming that modernization is very good for the economy in the long run and that unfortunately the workers just don’t see it. The plebs’ lack of foresight is ruining Christmas for the royal family; they’re sending mildly peeved holiday cards to the queen mother about their financial ruin, for example. Tween Princess Emily is meant to be starring in a Christmas pageant in which she’ll kiss a very cute boy. But then the theater workers go on strike. Those unbelievable assholes! Don’t they know the princess of the realm wants a smooch from her handsome subject? That is their job!

Amber, our little go-getter, brings her American no-nonsense approach to solving this little union problem: She orders the palace workers to be scabs. The pageant is held at the palace and staffed by palace employees. Strike busted! It’s honestly so heartwarming.

But Amber isn’t just a great anti-labor innovator; she’s also, as we know, a journalist. And being a reporter-slash-royal, she has all the tools to uncover what’s really going on. Emma, did Amber’s journalistic capers ring true to you?

Netflix

Amber does journalism!

Emma: Every good journalist knows that joining the royal family while reporting on the royal family and matters that intimately affect them is totally kosher. What are journalistic ethics, even? But seriously, all jokes about Amber’s completely egregious conflicts of interest aside, I want to talk about the way she does journalism.

To Amber, journalism isn’t so much a process as an instinct. She was born with that instinct, and she’ll have that instinct until she dies. That instinct is Amber. Amber is journalistic instinct. And that instinct leads her all over Aldovia, from the confines of the palace to the virtual Hall of Records to a dive bar where a bedraggled and beaten-down unemployed man is drowning his sorrows in beer. Oh, did I forget to mention that she found this source because he wrote a justifiably embittered holiday card to the royal family that they read aloud in their parlor as a fun Christmas activity?

Amber recruits her #journalism friends ― both of whom seem to exist solely to bolster Amber’s confidence in her journalistic skill rather than to do any reporting of their own despite the fact that they both worked at Beat Now mag with her ― to join her on her renegade reporting mission. They approach the man and give Amber, cleverly disguised with sunglasses in a dark bar at night, the in to talk to him. She asks him if he knows what the hell is going on with all of Aldovia’s money disappearing. And in a stroke of unbelievable luck, he does! This low-level worker not only names one of the three companies that seem to be behind all of the economic corruption, but he also tells her that the aforementioned company seems — what’s the word? — fishy. And being the investigative blogger that she is, Amber takes painstaking notes.

They read as follows:

– Meadowlark – Fishy

Netflix

Amber is very good at journalism!

Everything you need to write an explosive single-source story about high-level corruption in the Aldovian government! Naturally, our fair heroine does not write any pieces about this. Instead, she takes that info right to the king so he can save the day by announcing that corruption has been rooted out and everyone gets a Christmas bonus! One-time bonuses: the tried and true way to solve an entire nation’s labor issues. Long live King Richard!

Claire: Let’s not forget Princess Emily’s contribution: Staying up all night hacking into the Hall of Records database to find the incorporation documents for Meadowlark and the shell corporation. Why is this necessary? Wouldn’t these be public documents? Even if not, Amber is engaged to the king of the entire country ― is he not able to look at this?

The monarchy seems like a flawless system: He is completely in charge of the entire economy, but when it comes to questions like “Where is all our money?” he isn’t allowed to check or just doesn’t feel like checking in the most obvious possible places, like “Who owns all the companies that we’re giving huge government contracts to?” Amber, your man is useless.

But of course, Amber is also pretty much useless. Aside from her little corruption exposé ― which she uses to help a monarch consolidate political power ― her blog is not so much journalism as a platform for expressing her me-ness. After a year of engagement, she tells her readers at the start of the movie, she’s unaltered by proximity to royalty. She’s still … just her! Unlike Prince Harry, it seems, Richard did not have the hard conversation with his fiancée about shutting down her personal blog before joining the royal family. When she pisses off the protocol police by posting, er, a fun photo blog about the royals having humanizing holiday fun, the post is removed. “DID YOU CENSOR MY BLOG?” she asks. Yes, Amber, they did ― but finally Richard relents and lets her have it back.

At the end of the first movie, the idea that Amber could continue to be a hard-hitting journalist while being a queen seemed untenable. What’s weird is how the second movie keeps trying to make this work.

All this, and still there is a wedding ― planned in three days, only to be scrapped for something that Amber feels is just a little more “me.” Emma, what did you think of the fairy-tale wedding at the end?

Emma: So, one of the moments that I was truly on Amber’s side was when she objected to the heinous, fluffy cupcake dress that Sahil and Mrs. Averill wanted her to wear for the wedding. And yet ― even when presented with the chance to pick something new that would reflect her, with, one can assume, an essentially unlimited budget, Amber went with a dress that I found almost equally repellent. I think the first time we talked about this, you described it as the gown version of a white collared shirt that old women wear? And that summed up its aesthetic perfectly.

Amber in her wedding dress!

I’m sorry, but being a “normal girl” doesn’t mean having terrible taste. I know lots of normal women who got married in all kinds of traditional and nontraditional wedding outfits. And let me tell you, not a single one was as hideous as Amber’s get-up. It was ill-fitting, had lace stripes that served no purpose, aesthetic or otherwise, and was primarily made of a shiny fabric that showed every single wrinkle in excruciating detail. Whyyyyy, Amber? Why? Your coats are far better tailored than this blousy monstrosity!

Claire: If my mother-in-law wore this as a blouse to a summer dinner party (ideally in a linen-cotton blend), I would find it quite nice. The appeal just doesn’t translate to ballgown length. Not everything needs to be the same! That’s all.

This is perhaps supposed to convey that Amber is normal and not like the royals, but most of us boring heteronormative lady proles wear sweetheart necklines and heels for our weddings, so this didn’t exactly feel relatable. Nor did it feel like escapist, marshmallowy fairy-tale fun. So thanks for ruining royal weddings for me, Netflix.

This has been “Should You Watch It?” a weekly examination of movies and TV worth ― or not worth! ― your time.

RELATED COVERAGE

Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/a-christmas-prince-sequel-netflix_us_5c0aedb1e4b0ab8cf693490b

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movietoovie · 6 years ago

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Florence Foster Jenkins

Why did I hate this movie so much? I don’t understand. It was a set-up for success. Hugh Grant, Meryl Streep, and the guy from Big Bang Theory.

Premise: Tone-Deaf Socialite of New York decides to play Carnegie Hall for the troops, against her husband and pianist’s wishes, as she is a laughing stock and she has syphilis.

1. This is actually the most impressive acting I’ve seen from Hugh Grant. You knew he really loved Meryl’s character and he dropped all of his typical Hugh Grant acting mannerisms. Really a warm character that I truly liked. He actually had GREAT chemistry with Meryl, which I was surprised about.

2. The pianist annoyed the living shit out of me. I can’t tell if it was because of the character or the actor, but it felt too real to be a character mannerism. Stop forcing yourself to laugh. Say phrases like a normal person, instead of sounding like a singing off-pitch parakeet. He sounded like he tried to be 40s Mid-Atlantic chic. It was frustrating.

3. This is the least impressed I’ve ever been with Meryl’s acting. Was she lovable and sweet? Yes. But I saw Meryl acting, instead of Meryl being the vessel for the character. I saw too many Meryl mannerisms that she has in other movies. She’s a great actor, but she really just seemed like An Actor Acting in this.

4. Why was the blonde sugar baby suddenly in love with Meryl’s character? It came out of nowhere. I know she turned out to be a nice person according to Hugh’s girlfriend, and she probably realized how mean she looked when she laughed, and then heard all the other guys laughing. And I guess she saw her again because her boyfriend wanted to appear cultured. Again, still confusing.

5. And yet, after all that griping about acting, I felt like this was the inverse of Zodiac: I preferred the acting over the stylistic choices of the design and DIRECTING. Direction was nil. Barely did anything. Research?????? Where is the dramaturg they must’ve only had a good costume one. The set was OK but for some reason Meryl’s house seemed very awkward to me. The room set-up was weird. Sam with Hugh’s apartment.

6. I had no idea where the story was going in the beginning. I wish we saw that Hugh and everyone was trying to protect her from early on, because I felt like he looked a little cold and then eventually we realize oh he loves her. Like, I had no idea why they were hiring McMoon. Then they were like LETS GO TO CARNEGIE.

7. I feel like there wasn’t a tone. What was the tone? The mystery fell into frustration. Was it a comedy? Or was it supposed to be light-hearted? Because the lady literally carries her will around in case she keels over. That’s pretty sad. I did like that everyone tried to protect Meryl until the very end. Was it a dick move? Possibly, but this was the rare occasion where I don’t think that’s the case. She really wanted to perform and be loved and hold “300 people in the palm of her hand” like that one opera lady she saw. And the people she loved wanted her to do it. Also if people hated her then she might like…die.

8. Also what was up with that opera trainer? For a second I thought she was having an affair with him, but he seemed super shady and never showed up again.

9. I feel like the issue was that there were some major script issues. They focused on too many people, but ended up not focusing on specific issues with those characters and left them hanging. What’s McMoon up to ???? Where did the ex go? She should know that Meryl’s got money lol, she pays for the apartment! If you’re only going to focus on Meryl’s timeline, COMMIT TO HER TIMELINE. What is she like when she’s alone?

10. Of course she dies dramatically right after Carnegie. I mean I think that’s true for the most part, but it was so predictable. You could tell which parts were true and which parts were added for dramatic effect.

11. Hugh reciting poetry before bed made me wonder if Meryl actually liked him. Didn’t feel like it. Also, he was an actor and then he wasn’t? What happened.

There were a lot of questions that needed answering far faster than the director decided to answer. Logic was secondary in this movie. What's strange is I'm not sure what needs to be cut out, because I got very bored but it was all very needed to push the plot, except maybe it was the pacing that made it so terrifically boring at times.

Overall, really disliked it. Script sucks 6/10.

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its-just-like-the-movies · 8 years ago

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Logan (17, B)

Word on the hill is currently that the conclusion of the Avengers: Infinity Wars double feature will also be the final outing of Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, or so a random twitter person I follow who writes about movies has suggested. I can’t find any corroborating sources to this that aren’t a year old, so who knows, but haven’t rumors of retirement plagued that whole ensemble, Downey especially, for a little while now? Maybe they’ve all seen Logan and are praying to be sent off with anywhere near as good a final outing as Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart have, retiring their characters in a sad, violent film that offers both of them to stick the landing with indelible, tragic performances after so many years in PG-13 fare that’s seemed unsuited to the potential of the characters and their actors. I’ve basically enjoyed the X-Men films I’ve seen - fond but faded memories of the first two, faded memories entirely for the third and X-Men: First Class. I have seen The Wolverine, but not his first solo film, or any of the First Class sequels. Nor have I had any particular attachment to these actors in these roles, enjoying them without see them as worthwhile, or having the capacity to go anywhere near where Logan does with these characters. This also counts as a significant step up in my estimations of James Mangold: The Wolverine was frequently a messy film, and I barely believed we were ever in Japan. I’ve seen fragments of Walk the Line and Girl, Interrupted, both fine but not projects I’d be tempted to seek again if not for their recognition at the Oscars. But none of that changes the potent if not quite absolute success Logan represents for all of its participants, functioning equally well as the kind of one-shot that’d only ever see the light of day as an animated film or hollowed out for inspiration in other projects (like the original Bane arc for Dark Knight Rises), and a stunning showcase finale for character and actor alike.

For a little while, it’s hard to believe that there’s any greatness left in Logan himself, using his real name and abandoning the Wolverine moniker after a great calamity only hinted at that’s left Xavier dithering in a great metal dome with fellow mutant Caliban to look after him. We first find him drunkenly passed out in his limousine, waking to the vibrations and sounds of his ride getting tire-jacked. The confrontation with the carjackers goes horribly before it even starts, as Logan’s dazed, hungover journey to walk around the other side of his car is enough to show how weary he already is and has been for years. Trying to placate the men only gets him two barrels of lead in his chest, and the retaliation is messy, brutal, uncomfortable to watch and deeply satisfying as a feat of utilizing Logan’s claws. Logan is as violent as you’ve heard it is, both in general and for a comic book film series of this saturation. I don’t know if this is why I find it discomfiting, maybe it really is too much, but it’s a laudable choice that serves the film and feels like the first time that his adamantium claws are really being stretched to their best advantage. Never has he been so feral on someone who couldn’t inevitably repair themselves or dodge his most brutal swings in previous films. Here, we practically open with a man getting a bladed uppercut to the jaw, to someone else losing their arm in pieces, to irreparable violence inflicted by a man whose own healing powers have slowed down far past their original capabilities, even as they’re still going. Maybe a second viewing will give me a firmer opinion on the violence in Logan, but from where I’m standing it’s a specific and character-appropriate addition that feels as grotesque and horrible as the wrath of a man with knife hands probably should be. I’ll squirm in my seat, but I support it.

From here we are re-introduced to Charles Xavier and his deteriorating mind, as well as a semi-post-apocalyptic Western setting that the film totally earns. Again, I don’t think the film needed to explain the lack of X-Men in Logan the way it does, but it’s rich shading for Logan himself and Charles, even as he struggles throughout to remember what’s happened to the rest of the team. His attempts to grasping at those memories, knowing he’s done something but unclear about what it is he’s done, are poignant struggles for the character to handle, made all the more desperate in his least present moments early on as he prattles off advertising slogans or goes full Cassandra, shouting warnings to Logan about events and people doomed to fall on the deaf ears of a man who already considers him and mutantdom lost. Not long after we’re introduced to the rest of the film’s refreshingly small cast: Dafne Keen’s mute, somewhat menacing child; Stephen Merchant as the albino mutant tracker Caliban, now a caretaker for Charles; and Boyd Holbrook’s vaguely threatening non-presence as the film’s villain, who’s name I can’t remember anyways. Wikipedia says his name is Donald Pierce, which sounds plausible, Wikipedia also says Mangold was really taken by Boyd’s performance, which I can only agree with insofar as he didn’t try and furnish an oppressive personality to compensate for a lack of one in the script. His first encounter with Logan in the limousine is menacing, but fairly low-key, furnishing his character’s credential’s without acting like his role is anything more than a glorified functionary. Stephen Merchant’s Caliban is a weary, snippy presence that gets delightful chemistry with Hugh Jackman that gives his character proper dignity and sorrow in his abuse. Elizabeth Rodriguez is even better as Keen’s doomed protector trying to get the pair to Canada, fearing for their lives without doing overtime to tell us her last scene is her last. Even if her warning videos suggest she spent all her spare time editing tapes on an iMovie, it still lands despite the weirdness of its mere existence. The setting, not just in Texas but in the rest of the country as well fits snuggly in the film’s tone and genre, suggesting not a smaller world but an emptier one, sporadically introducing new characters in such a way that even their presence is precarious to the narrative. Maybe I’m giving the benefit of the doubt to a writer/director that struggles suggesting anyone outside our three heroes truly matters, but that uneasiness worked even as the seams showed.

But for the difficulty Mangold has in convincing us of a future for nearly all the characters, for better and worse, he capably reveals and implies the pasts that these people have lived, hoisting up the baggage that’s brought them to where they are now. The various troubled histories of Logan, Charles, and X-23 (renamed Laura) are all poignantly affecting and believable at all times as their backstories go even deeper than presumed, or as characters directly state what had been implied in their performances already. A special bullet’s very obvious purpose is stated out loud by a drugged man nearly ninety minutes after it had been first discussed, and the moment lands, getting past the awkwardness of everything set up to make this happen through sheer willpower of turning that subtext into text, the power of the performer, and what it means for that character. Xavier’s own attempts to discover what he’d done that broke his mind culminate into a moment of peace, no longer tormented in the abstract now that he knows what he’s done, making amends with himself and simply happy he even found out what happened on his own after so much time spent on the edge of madness. The shared histories between Lopez and Laura, Pierce and Caliban, Caliban and Xavier and Logan, all ring true, not just in emotion but in the years and toils that have forged these relationships.

The scope of their journey and the threat they face also feel more potently real than many a superhero film that feel as though they’re plucking a random villain from a spreadsheet and try to find a reason for them to want to blow up the world. It’s not as though these villains are particularly distinct, but their lower-tier status and low-key menace is simply what Logan wants, needs, and gets. Here, Holbrook’s Donald Pierce and Richard E. Grant’s backgrounded super scientist (apparently named Zander Rice. Zander. Rice) are merely the faces of a large, shadowy corporation hunting down Laura. Rice’s character carries important connections to Logan, Laura, and to Rodriguez’s Gabriela Lopez, in perhaps equal measure, but he’s mostly an evil face on the sidelines, engineering narrative events without directly taking part in them himself. In fact, the film has the good sense to make his “I will create a race of peoples” monologue mercifully short, allowing him to explain why he’s even in this film before he gets cut off explaining how humanity can control mutantkind or whatever the fuck he was yammering about as the final boss appears. The omniscience of the Transigence corporation is a real, viable threat made even more awful by their secret experiments, trying to grow mutant children and turn them into soldiers, only to turn around and start killing the kids once newer programs with stronger mutants and more unquestioning obedience advance beyond the capabilities of these rebellious, uncooperative children. Lopez’s rescue operation and escape to Canada through North Dakota have all the trappings and unreliability of a pipe dream, much Logan and Charles’ dream of buying a boat and living happily alone with each other, especially once Logan finds out the name of the hideout, Eden, is a reference to an X-Men comic.

The meta-commentary as Logan berates Laura for believing in these tales is obvious, but it rings with some truth and does double duty on a few variants of comic book media that’s a lot more interesting than James Marsden quipping about how implausible yellow-colored spandex would be as a costume for a group of atomic supermen about to stop Ian McKellen from accidentally eradicating humankind. Silver screen comic-book fare seems almost physically impossible to tread anywhere near the kind of stylization and storytelling that Golden-Age comic books are famous for, though it certainly seems to be thriving in animated features and all these CW shows. But nowadays most comic films have taken the grim stylization of an early X-Files episodes, all grim color palettes and poor lighting, but with “darker” and “mature”content that seems to rebel against the idea that these characters could ever be happy, and could only ever exist in the “real world” if they’re violent rejections of what those characters were often meant to stand for. Aside from whatever nasty implications these directors (Zack Snyder) are standing up for by making such nasty representations of source material they ostensibly love, and taking stock that maybe the second wave of X-Men films has pulled this off and I just haven’t seen it (I think Guardians of the Galaxy is close), I don’t think Logan’s overt violence and Western-style fall into the same sort of betrayal of character I’m accusing the DCEU of perpetrating (I also wouldn’t accuse The Dark Knight of this either). It’s unusual tone, full worldbuilding, and the confidence it’s executed with gives its melancholic setup far more credibility than the dour, murderous pessimism of Batman or Lex Luthor’s jittery bitchiness. Mangold’s realizations of the characters also honors them, taking liberties to suit the story that honors their histories without betraying the basics of the characters. Logan’s self-hatred and Xavier’s mental degradation are plausible interpretations that work within the established traits of the characters and their previous film appearances. They’re still Charles and Logan, but not the ones we’ve spent over a decade watching.

Are you as amazed as I am that I’ve gone so long without gushing over the three lead performances in this film? I know I am, not just because they’re so spectacular, but that what works about the film is easily creditable to how well these performers carry out everything that the script demands of them, filling in gaps and lending emotional sense to a flawed script. Newcomer Dafne Keen is probably the most convincingly angry Murder Child in a decade full of Elevens and Arya Starks traipsing around pop culture. Her stunt double deserves some joint credit as well, but Keen’s own physicality and rage are potent in her silent expressions and homicidal war screams. She’s more Wolverine than Logan ever was, Sarah Connor scaled three feet high, and it’s too her credit that the character never felt unbelievable or repulsive despite such a feral performance. I quibble that her language skills develop when and why they do, but she carries that character’s preternatural intelligence in a way that felt in the ballpark of Marlene Dietrich’s gypsy fortune teller in Touch of Evil. Maybe there’s too much bathos baked into the part of Xavier for Patrick Stewart to dodge them completely, but he earns the pity his character inspires while adding plenty of venom, patience, and uncomplicated kindness in his interactions with Logan and the outside world, evoking a richer history reminiscing about the first time he saw Shane than he ever did with Ian McKellen. Hugh Jackman carries the least tangible arc of the trio, having to present the character as an ornery, unmovable object whose plot-required changes of heart must appear spontaneous against all that foreshadowing and basic narrative obligations. Against these obligations, Jackman thrives, offering a full characterization that’s a bitter, sad, and savage as the film needs him to be without lending his fallen superhero any unearned sympathy, leaping the narrative and hurdles to make the whole film, but especially the final half hour feel so horrific and affecting even as the tragic inevitability of it flirts with the painful obviousness of the machinations needed to make it happen.

In the time it’s taken me to write this, I’ve read and listened to several more reviews of Logan, and it has knocked down my estimation of it a few pegs. There’s simply too many individual facets of the script worth quibbling over, adding up into a narrative mainly held together by the work that the director and especially the actors are doing to give the material real emotional weight. I’ll budge on the script, listen to any suggested rewrites, but I’ll give Logan credit for having the guts to approach this kind of material and tone at all. That last half hour ends with an unthinkable yet inevitable conclusion to our titular hero, and as Laura adjusts a single prop before running off into the woods, leaving us with a final shot that nearly made me cry, I couldn’t think of anything but the insane risk that must’ve come for Mangold to create this story, and tell it the way he did. It’s not a great script, but what Mangold filmed is surely the best realization of it he has in him, aided and abetted by three stunning performances to make the whole thing feel as sad and muscular as it deserves. Surely this will only help Hugh Jackman’s probable Oscar bid for The Greatest Showman, nevermind the spare critics’ groups that’ll recognize him for this instead (surely Stewart and Keen will get theirs, and recognizing the screenplay seems the best way to recognize Mangold). But after Prisoners it’s amazing to me that as good as Jackman is as a theater-groomed musical man (this gleamed from his award show hosting gigs, not Les Mis), I’m stunned that his most effective cinematic persona could be summarized as “Angry Murder Dad in Pulpy, Sad Genre Film”. That’s surely a limited type, and Jackman’s an actor whose filmography I need to get caught up with. But after such a glorious final outing in Logan, I’d be happy to see what else this man can do.

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