#i love thomas wachowski

[orionshounds]

i cant wait to see how many people tom punches in this one

[serialadoptersbracket]

Bonus Round: Tomfight Rematch, Madelines Not Included

(Mod notes: This bonus round is mostly an apology to O’Malley, for having to fight Batman in round 2. I’ve cut all of Wachowski’s propaganda that mentions his wife, as he fights here without her. On a similar note, reminder to Houston’s fans that his bio-kid, for the purposes of this tournament, does not matter. [Sorry, Tim.])

Without further ado…

Submitted kids:

O’Malley: Marie, Toulouse, and Berlioz

Houston: Lex and Hannah Foster

Wachowski: Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles

Propaganda under the cut!

O’Malley:

“That cat was immediately all about the family of the lady cat he fell for. Well, he was slightly put off at first but he adapted quickly and was all about keeping them safe.

He was Disneys first canonical stepfather!”

No propaganda has been submitted for Houston

Wachowski:

“they're canonically found family; at least Sonic & them are 100% confirmed, & Tails & Knuckles are implied.

Tom may be a cop but he actively goes against the government in both movies. in the first, to protect this alien hedgehog kid he just met in his shed & shot with a tranquilizer dart by accident, & in the second, his kid & his new friend (Tails), both of which just came tumbling through a ring portal & crashing Maddie's sister Rachel's wedding.”

[misscammiedawn]

I Am Also A We - Integration and Functional Multiplicity in sense8

CW: sense8 depicts suicide, transphobia, medical trauma, deadnaming, chronic alcoholism, drug abuse, homophobia, homophobic slurs, intense sexual themes, plays sexual assault towards men for humor. Check DoesTheDogDie for more information.

If you watch the show be warned the first episodes involve a family forcefully trying to (allegorically) detransition a transgender woman and circumvent her agency in a medical setting. This may be more than most can handle.

"I've been thinking about my life, and all of the mistakes that I've made. The ones that stay with me, the ones that I regret, are the ones that I made because of fear. For a long time, I was afraid to be who I am because I was taught by my parents that there's something wrong with someone like me. Something offensive, something you would avoid, maybe even pity. Something that you could never love. My mom, she's a fan of St. Thomas Aquinas. She calls pride a sin. And of all the venal and mortal sins, St. Thomas saw pride as the queen of the seven deadlies. He saw it as the ultimate gateway sin that would turn you quickly into a sinaholic. But hating isn't a sin on that list. Neither is shame. I was afraid of this parade because I wanted it so badly to be a part of it. So today, I'm marching for that part of me that was once afraid to march and for all the people who can't march - the people who living lives like I did. Today, I march to remember that I'm not just a me but I'm also a we. And we march with pride." Nomi Marks (sense8 - Season 1, Episode 2)

Humans are fascinating and varied creatures.

Imagine for a moment, a transgender hactivist in San Francisco, a closeted homosexual movie star in Mexico City, a cop in Chicago, a Nordic expat DJ living in London, an orphaned gangster in Berlin, a bus driver in Nairobi who has never lived in a home with running water, a Hindu bio-chemist in Mumbai and a kickboxer in Seoul whose father owns a powerful investment firm.

Lives so disparate that it would be simple to create walls of division to keep them wholly separate and incapable of acting as a whole...

And yet the show is all about erasing the division between people and as the show goes on these 8 people with all their unique and individual perspectives and backgrounds, will become one and many. A collective as one.

That seems like something I may want to talk a little about.

sense8 is a Netflix drama that ran for 2 seasons (and had 2 specials) between 2015-2018. Created by the Wachowski Sisters of Matrix fame and J Michael Straczynski of Babylon 5 fame.

It is a show about radical empathy, the full spectrum of the human experience and the virtues of living openly and connected in the face of a world that pressures the marginalized to hide and remain divided.

Yet in listening to our contributors, especially those with Indigenous ties or who identify as people of color and/or not bound by the ties of Western medicine, dissociation as it’s been described so far [...] can mean many things that are not helpful. A general consensus from these contributors is that trauma survivors ought never be shamed for doing what they have to do in order to survive, especially because so many of the contexts into which people are born promote division, disconnection, and marginalization. Usually this context is shaped by a dominant culture that relies on separation in its most unhelpful and wounding sense to uphold the power that the dominant culture so readily craves. (Dissociation Made Simple - Jamie Marich)

To acknowledge the flaws in both shows and creators, The Wachowski's tend to have a lens of privilege and blind spots to their works that undermine their messages of radical empathy, most famously their fumble in the diversity of Cloud Atlas' cast and the use of white actors in Asian roles (Natalie Portman was originally offered the role that went to Bae Doona).

sense8 is not immune to this and does have issues with connecting the 8 main characters without consideration to certain biases. Some mild examples are that the Christmas special having all 8 unanimously celebrating the Christian holiday (including a Hindu and a character with religious trauma centered on Christianity specifically) to the unchecked Copaganda and the show completely erases asexuality as a valid lifestyle with dialogue even going as far to say that sex is why we exist and to deny it is to deny being human.

Also as someone with an extreme aversion to depictions of suicide... this show does like to offer suicide as The Only Way Out a lot. The show opens on a suicide and the final episode involves no fewer than 3 attempts by various characters when they are cornered. One even succeeds. Lana's experience with her suicide attempt was important to her coming out as a trans woman. A version of that moment is even depicted in the 4th Matrix movie with Neo (allegorically Lana herself) helping someone else wake to their own identity in a suicide attempt. I do not want to rob her of the transformative power of that event and memory. It's clearly important to her and her work, but it's troublesome that averted suicide attempts are always depicted virtuously in her work. Again... it's a matter of blind spots and biases.

I acknowledge the show is flawed in these and many more respects but it does speak to empathy and connection in a way that though not perfectly placed upon the screen, is a message worth internalizing. Though it's okay to be uncomfortable with how it is presented and opt out.

Regardless of imperfect execution and the early cancellation, it is still a miracle of a show. In many ways it is a show that shouldn't exist. It cost $9 million per episode and its filming schedule required flying between 11 cities for 3 weeks of shooting a piece. It features full nudity, multiple sex scenes involving huge swaths of the cast at once.

To put all of that in perspective, the entire experience is literally bookended by a rainbow strap-on glistening from use.

But... this is not a show about dissociative disorders. Mental illness is only represented in that characters briefly question their sanity. So why am I talking about it in my Media, Myself and I essay series on positive representation of dissociative disorders in fiction?

Well... it just so happens to also feature the best depiction of Functional Multiplicity in all of television.

Functional Multiplicity or "Integration" is a goal in treating complex dissociative disorders where the dissociative system are able to function as a single person with minimal division between parts.

It is important to note that intergration and fusion are two separate concepts and are both valid outcomes for treatment within CDD therapy. Where fusion is the concept of merging all dissociated personalities into a single unified personality, integration allows the system to communicate and cooperate with full access to memories and skills with no inner-conflict exacerbating symptoms.

The final approach in Fraser’s article addresses the issue of fusion or integration, a strong area of potential controversy for those diagnosed with or identifying as DID. Many individuals with DID strongly resist or oppose a psychiatrist or any other provider’s insistence that they integrate the various aspects of their personality into a cohesive whole. This process can feel disrespectful to the members of a system, and if you are reading this passage and have ever felt triggered at the suggestion that you need to integrate, you are not alone. (Dissociation Made Simple - Jamie Marich)

The terms “dissociation” and “integration” have long been synonymous with one another—meant to signify that the only reasonable goal in working with splitting and compartmentalization must be the fusing together of dissociated parts to create one single “homogenized” adult. Daniel Siegel, however, makes a strong case against defining integration as fusion. He asserts (2010a) a different view: “Integration requires differentiation and linkage.” Before we can integrate two phenomena, we have to differentiate them and “own” them as separate entities. We can’t simply “act as if” they are connected without noticing their separateness. But, having clearly differentiated them so they can be studied and befriended, we then have to link them together in a way that fosters a transformed sense of the client’s experience, facilitating healing and reconnection. - (Healing the Fragmented Selves - Janina Fischer)

Acknowledging the separateness and clearly differentiating people to befriend, link and foster a transformed sense of experience, facilitating healing and connection.

Now that sounds like sense8 to me.

As mentioned above the shows protagonists are from different walks of life. Nomi, Lito, Will, Riley, Wolfgang, Capheus, Kala and Sun are all "born" into a "cluster", a nest of 8 connected minds who share their every thought and experience with one another.

The core 8 are able to share control of one another's bodies as well as speak telepathically in one another's heads. "Sharing" and "Visiting" respectively, if we are to play the YA Novel game of naming every single concept in a fictional world.

Each character has their strengths and weaknesses and connections that make up for their weaknesses.

To give an example Lito is an actor who has a little bit of a diva streak. He's good at lying under pressure, he can flirt with women effortlessly, he is deeply in touch with his emotions and he lives in absolute terror of his homosexual lifestyle being discovered for fear it will ruin his career and the comfort he has earned in life.

Wolfgang is ruthless and blunt and so leans on Lito's ability to lie under pressure, something that he is typically incapable of doing because he does not value roundabout methods of deception when he can just brute force his way to solutions. Lito helps him lie when the situation calls for it.

Sun is emotionally repressed, choosing to work her emotions through her fists, though she is one of the most privileged members of the cluster she has more than enough reason to be sad with a father who refused to show her love, the worst brother on the planet, a dead mother and a plot that involves her being wrongfully imprisoned and subject to multiple assassination attempts. She can offer the rest of the cluster her fighting skills but it is Lito who helps her to be able to cry when she needs it. In a beautiful scene late in season 2 a depressed Lito is crying in Sun's hotel room and Sun admonishes him saying that she is the one with reason to cry and Lito responds plainly "But you never would. Maybe that is why I am here."

On the flipside whenever Lito is in conflict about his life in the closet he pulls up Nomi, a transgender woman who has been through the entire coming out process, and leans heavily on her.

Though it takes much of the first season for the characters to understand what is happening to them we eventually get to see all 8 of them completely at home with one another's thoughts and perspectives.

They are separate, yes. But they are of one mind.

This is akin to the end result of trauma focused parts work in therapy. When a person is not yet treated for trauma based dissociation their inability to integrate their experiences creates a fracture and a disharmony that breeds emotional volatility and a breakdown in inner experience.

Disowning requires selective attention, a focusing away from whatever is “not me.” The senses fail to register what is taking place around us; we don’t feel our emotional responses, good or bad; we are in a zone. We can’t “own” our anger or dependence or fear when we don’t feel them. We can’t “own” traumatic events that we haven’t witnessed. We can’t know ourselves as whole human beings because only those qualities valued in a traumatic environment are accessible to consciousness. Segregating intense feelings, though, results in affect intolerance: if we can escape our emotions by automatically and involuntarily shifting into a different part of the self or different feeling state, we never get the opportunity to exercise our “emotional muscles,” and all feelings gradually become more and more intolerable. Inner conflicts are never resolved, just distanced. When that happens, acting out (self-destructively or addictively) and “acting in” (through self-hatred, self-judgment, punitive introspection) become the only avenues for regulating emotions and autonomic arousal. Splitting or fragmentation must become more complex and creative. - (Healing the Fragmented Selves - Janina Fischer)

As the main cluster of the show are able to expand their horizons via empathy and connection to one another they are able to challenge their blind spots and achieve a level of comfort in their world that was not accessible before. From our above example Sun can process her emotions thanks to Lito.

In a similar fashion, in Season 2 Kala becomes guilty about her lifestyle because she discovers that the company she works for is sending inferior medication to Capheus' region of the world and through experiencing life through Capheus' eyes she is aware of her position of privilege and uses her power to make positive change.

Had the show have been able to continue on this empathy would have been the center of the show with Capheus running for political office, Lito embracing his role as a queer icon who can inspire others and Riley risking exposure by touring her music and making contact with other sensates.

Alas. We'll never get the promised potential of the show's premise.

Another factor that was promised but was not fully paid off on was the concept of blockers.

In the show other sensates could visit (but not share) with a single member of a cluster if they make eye contact (Cloud Atlas which shared 3 directors and 3 writers with this show also included this concept of eye contact creating a human connection) and the only way to prevent their intrusion was to take blockers. A medication that cut off their empathetic connections and turned off their psychic ability.

The blocker allegory was about masking and hiding and working to blend in with the dominant culture without standing out. Part of the show's humanity was the characters wishing to go against the narrative that they needed to hide and to live loud and proud and inspire others to do the same.

It would have been interesting to see each of the sensates on blockers learning to act in ways their cluster would without being able to let them take control of their body. Show that the integration of the system is not a matter of separate parts in their own boxes but a cluster that is fully connected and capable of sharing their sole life.

To go back to my discussion on functional multiplicity, the concept of being able to share memories and skills is emphasized as a part of both integration and fusion models.

Sharing roles, responsibilities or tasks also enables other parts to help the System’s successful functioning in the outside world. Then, these parts can grow and mature individually. It also gives the System the opportunity to feel first-hand appreciation for what parts have done and contributed to the System’s survival and success, as well as better understanding of what it takes to keep the System functioning well today. (Got Parts? - ATW)

We are all in this together.

A beautiful thing that the show displays outside of the core cluster is the radical empathy and acceptance that exist within the side characters.

In the final episode of the show Wolfgang's surrogate brother and only true family Felix arrives to the help the cluster Capheus rushes over to him and embraces him exclaiming "MY BROTHER, FELIX!" and laughing with joy. This was Capheus' first time meeting Felix but the empathetic connection travels between them.

The same connection causes Kala's love for her husband to be felt by Wolfgang and allow the three of them to engage in a polyamorous relationship. The final orgy scene of the show literally climaxes with Kala's non-psychic husband exclaiming "My god, I didn't think such things were possible" after a threesome with his wife and Wolfgang who share the same love for him. This is the very last line of the show.

In a dissociative system conflict can breed between parts that are not integrated when their needs, desires and drives are not in alignment.

To give an example from our own life, Wynn is a part that is capable of turning off our empathy. When she perceives a threat to us from the idea of someone emotionally manipulating us (a parent trying to shame/guilt us into ceding to their demands or a partner threatening suicide) she will lock out the rest of the system who may be swayed and force us to act with hostility and coldness. More than once this has ended with us in further danger or emotional turmoil and it leads other parts to over compensate to try and "fix" the damage done when we were "emotionally compromised" by the part acting in our interests of survival over the harmony of the system and our relationships. Especially because the dangerous situations that necessitated her existence are not part of our present and her reactions may no longer be appropriate.

This kind of divide is natural in a dissociative system early in their healing journey.

The range of emotional experience, including both positive (e.g., joy, love) and negative (e.g., anger, fear, grief) affects, plays a vital role in human adaptation by promoting closeness in relationships. Relational distortions result when emotions repeatedly fail to achieve their purpose, when they are persistently activated, or when their expression is blocked or punished. Distortions in emotional regulation (and associated defensive distortions of behavior) refl ect distortions in care (Bowlby, 1969/1982) that manifest as dysynchronies between caregiving behavior and child emotional experience and needs (Sameroff & Emde, 1989) [...] A lasting split between self-preservation and integrative self-regulation leads to a vicious cycle. Extreme affective states become infused into the person’s selfand other-representations (“bad objects,” Benatar, 2003), producing disorganized and unstable mental representations, which further destabilize and fragment affect, perception, and behavior. Thus, dissociation results when extreme stressors necessitate a lasting split of the integrated relationship between self-preservation and selfregulation. (Dissociation and Dissociative Disorders, DSM-V and Beyond - Paul F Dell)

But towards the end of therapy parts, even when activated, are able to act in a way that benefits the stability of the shared life, preventing further dissociation and division between parts.

It is when one part, who wants to deny our condition to prevent thinking about our trauma, accepts that our multiple nature is integral to who we are and how one of our closest relationships function and in accepting this allows for us to carve spaces in our life to exist as a system. To take off the mask. To stop hiding.

To march and state boldly I Am Also A We.

There are times where we worry about using the term "Plural". We view our condition through a lens of psychopathology and constantly try to justify our existence through reading psychology textbooks and working with our therapist and constantly justifying.

We play by the rule books written for us and about us but not by us. Not by others like us. Well... mostly.

One of the quoted books in this essay is from Jamie Marich who is openly a diagnosed dissociative system. Her book is written from an insiders perspective there to promote love and acceptance. I selected her quote at the top of this post with care. She does get it. Got Parts? Is also written by collaborators with DID sharing lived experience.

There are so many things which divide us as people who experience plurality. There is syscourse raging in Tumblr inboxes Just Asking Questions about whether a person should be diagnosed to openly present as a system, there is fakeclaiming trying to witch hunt those who really have a CDD and those who are "roleplaying", the tone policing in support communities that admonish anyone who glorifies or fetishizes that which is a hard to live with disorder...

Over the years we internalized many of these narratives ourselves. We lived in fear of scrutiny, worried for the day we were exposed as Not Traumatized Enough, Not Performing Our Disability Correctly, Not Divided Enough or a number of other accusations.

We still are. It's terrifying to think that at any point someone could just deny all of our truth and no amount of paperwork, testimony or evidence would be able to make us any more legitimate than we already are.

In some regards we shouldn't be proud of being who and what we are. The fact that there is always going to be a part of us stuck in London reliving the worst experiences of our life is not a source of pride.

But we survived.

We survived. We kept one another alive. The part that needed to be an adult when we were a child kept us safe. The part that needed to seal off our heart kept us safe. The part that kept our emotions alive kept us safe. The part that pretended to be what our abuser wanted us to be kept us safe... and yes. The part that handled erotic concepts kept us safe.

We survived and we protected one another and we are the only Family who have been here the whole time. Experienced everything. Shared in all the pleasures and all the joys. We survived. And we will continue to... but not we're not surviving anymore. We're living. And we choose to live together. We choose to be 5 and 1. We are an I.

I am proud of that and this show helped us feel just a little bit more confident in saying that outloud. We are plural... and there is no shame in that. None at all.

-

Forgive me for the less than stellar work on this one. This essay was more a vehicle to talk about positive integration and use the show as a framing device for the topic. Plus I just wanted to be a bit Plural Pride because the show made a compelling argument as to why I should be.

The promised Act 6 of In Stars and Time essay and the Umineko follow-up essay are both in the research phase. Act 6 of ISaT is looking at characters who share a common history and I want to make sure I have some good examples without treading on other creators I respect's toes and the Umineko follow-up requires replaying all of Chapter 7 of that game and it's a long one.

Media, Myself and I is a series of Tumblr Essays for positive depictions of dissociative disorders.

Other essays include:

Time Loops and Dissociation (In Stars and Time) A History of Murder Alters Discworld and Plurality Incidental, intentional and accidental representation Gender, Dissociation and Clinical Stigma in The Third Person Recontextualized Memories in Umineko Derealization in Night in the Woods and Metal Gear Solid The Dangers of Hypnotic Personality Play in Penlight System Origins in The Incredible Hulk Relationships with Systems in The Incredible Hulk The Healing Journey in Mr. Robot

[heckinconfusedparade]

Thomas Michael "my son builds superweapons faster than i can confiscate them" Wachowski

That’s literally an every day struggle for him.

Nobody told Tom that when adopting a genius flying fox, he’d have to routinely stop the incoming destruction of planet Earth.

Don’t get him wrong, he loves that his son is creative and smart, but at the same time it worries him.

Some examples of things Tom has had to take away from Tails:

- a glock

- pipe bomb

- flame thrower

- super pogo stick

- some kind of gas?

- wireless welder

- hijack-inator

- an explosive chess board

- sonic speed amplifier 

- additional 7 mechanical tails (it was cool, he’s not gonna lie)

- multidimensional portal gun

- fire bullets

- Bob-om dropper

- metal turtle shell with built in homing device

- GIANT CLAW

And many more. This was the first 2 months Tails was living with them, mind you.

[vahsaw]

I updated my list of movies I watched and loved in alphabetical order:

12 Years a Slave (2012) DIR. STEVE MCQUEEN

45 Years (2015) DIR. ANDREW HAIGH

About Dry Grasses (2024) DIR. NURI BILGE CEYLAN

Aftersun (2022) DIR. CHARLOTTE WELLS

Alcarras (2023) DIR. CARLA SIMON

Annihilation (2018) DIR. ALEX GARLAND

Anatomy of a Fall (2023) DIR. JUSTINE TRIET

Arrival (2016) DIR. DENIS VILLENEUVE

A Quiet Place (2018) DIR. JOHN KRASINKI

Black Swan (2010) DIR. DARREN ARONOFSKY

Blue is the warmest color (2013) DIR. ABDELLATIF KECHICHE

Blue Valentine (2010) DIR. DEREK CIANFRANCE

Brokeback Mountain (2005) DIR. ANG LEE

Burning (2018) DIR. LEE CHANG-DONG

Carol (2015) DIR. TODD HAYNES

Close (2023) DIR. LUKAS DHONT

Dallas Buyers Club (2013) DIR. JEAN-MARC VALLÉE

De Rouille et d’os (2012) DIR. JACQUES AUDIARD

Drive (2011) DIR. NICOLAS WINDING REFN

Fire of Love (2022) DIR. SARA DOSA

Get Out (2017) DIR. JORDAN PEELE

God’s Own Country (2017) DIR. FRANCIS LEE

Gone Girl (2014) DIR. DAVID FINCHER

Gravity (2013) DIR. ALFONSO CUARÓN

Great Freedom (2022) DIR. SEBASTIAN MEISE

Girl (2019) DIR. LUKAS DHONT

Her (2013) DIR. SPIKE JONZE

Hereditary (2018) DIR. ARI ASTER

Ida (2014) DIR. PAWEL PAWLIKOWSKI

Io Capitano (2024) DIR. MATTEO GARRONE

If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) DIR. BARRY JENKINS

Incendies (2011) DIR. DENIS VILLENEUVE

Inception (2010) DIR. CHRISTOPHER NOLAN

Interstellar (2014) DIR. CHRISTOPHER NOLAN

Irréversible (2002) DIR. GASPAR NOÉ

It follows (2015) DIR. DAVID ROBERT MITCHELL

Jagten (The Hunt) (2012) DIR. THOMAS VINTERBERG

Joyland (2023) DIR. SAIM SADIQ

Kill Bill (vol. 1 & 2) (2003) DIR. QUENTIN TARANTINO

Leave No Trace (2018) DIR. DEBRA GRANIK

Loveless (2017) DIR. ANDREY ZVYAGINTSEV

Manchester by the Sea (2016) DIR. KENNERTH LONERGAN

Melancholia (2011) DIR. LARS VON TRIER

Midsommar (2019) DIR. ARI ASTER

Mommy (2014) DIR. XAVIER DOLAN

Moonlight (2016) DIR. BARRY JENKINS

Nightcrawler (2014) DIR. DAN GILROY

Nomadland (2020) DIR. CHLOE ZHAO

Oslo, August 31st (2012) DIR. JOACHIM TRIER

Parasite (2019) DIR. BONG JOON HO

Past Lives (2023) DIR. CELINE SONG

Poor Things (2023) DIR. YORGOS LANTHIMOS

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) DIR. CELINE SCIAMMA

Rabbit Hole (2010) DIR. JOHN CAMERON MITCHELL

Respire (2014) DIR. MÉLANIE LAURENT

Revoir Paris (2023) DIR. ALICE WINOCOUR

Riceboy Sleeps (2023) DIR. ANTHONY SHIM

Saint Maud (2021) DIR. ROSE GLASS

Shame (2011) DIR. STEVE MCQUEEN

Short Term 12 (2013) DIR. DESTIN DANIEL CRETTON

Take Shelter (2011) DIR. JEFF NICHOLS

TAR (2022) DIR. TODD FIELD

The Babadook (2014) DIR. JENNIFER KENT

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) DIR. MARTIN MCDONAGH

The Beasts (2023) DIR. RODRIGO SOROGOYEN

The Broken Circle Breakdown (2012) DIR. FELIX VAN GROENINGEN

The Eight Mountains (2023) DIR. FELIX VAN GROENINGEN & CHARLOTTE VANDERMEERSCH

The Farewell (2019) DIR. LULU WANG

The Father (2021) DIR. FLORIAN ZELLER

The Handmaiden (2016) DIR. PARK CHAN-WOOK

The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) DIR. YORGOS LANTHIMOS

The Lighthouse (2019) DIR. ROBERT EGGERS

The Lost Daughter (2021) DIR. MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL

The Matrix (1999) DIR. ANDY & LANA WACHOWSKI

The Revenant (2015) DIR. ALEJANDRO G. INARRITU

The Tale (2018) DIR. JENNIFER FOX

The Way He Looks (2014) DIR. DANIEL RIBEIRO

The Worst Person in the World (2022) DIR. JOACHIM TRIER

To Leslie (2022) DIR. MICHAEL MORRIS

Under the skin (2013) DIR. JONATHAN GLAZER

Wadaean Julia (2023) DIR. MOHAMED KORDOFANI

Whiplash (2014) DIR. DAMIEN CHAZELLE

[dangerliesbeforeyou]

Ten TV shows

Game: Add 10 gifs from your favourite shows and tag 10 people. Tagged by the amazing @dollopheadsandclotpoles <3 <3

this was honestly SO hard cos i love so many series lol...

Doctor who

no one's surprised this is my top series pfft... it just means so much to me lol... i genuinely can't imagine a future where i don't get excited for new series of the show, even if all i do is complain about said new series oops lol

Supernatural

... i'd apologise for putting this so high but i'm not sorry... for better or worse (mostly worse) this show changed my life... also thinking about destiel makes me brain go !!!! even after all these years so that's gotta count for smth lol

Russian Doll

this series is genuinely one of the best pieces of tv i've ever seen like both seasons are great but that first one is just a goddamn MASTERPIECE honestly!

Merlin

yes this show STILL has such a big hold over me lol... i regret nothing (also this is an iconic gif and an iconic moment pfft)

Ghosts

this show genuinely features some of my absolute FAVOURITE characters from any media ngl (the captain <3 kitty <3 thomas <3) and it's so funny and heartfelt and if anyone HASN'T watched it then wtf are you even doing?!?!

Miranda

not a show i talk about that much on here (since it never had the biggest online fandom anyway) but this is such a comfort show for me :') i regularly rewatch the episodes if i just want something easy going and funny to watch and it still makes me laugh even though i've heard the jokes 3000 times pfft...

Killing Eve

let's ignore the ending (and the kinda... weird final series) and focus on how GOOD the rest of the show was lol!!!!! villaneve are THE ship of all time to me like.... the chemistry between them is so unparalleled ngl

Sense 8

just the most beautifully queer and diverse series i've ever seen which makes my heart sing whenever i think about it :') like can y'all actually believe we got a series like this??? created by the wachowski sisters no less??????? insane!!!!

Inside no 9

a relatively new addition to the list but i've recently become really obsessed with this show (like i've been watching it for years but i was never that into it until it ended this year, go figure lol)... it's weird and creepy and utterly batshit at times, but you can't help but admire just how creative and interesting it is lol!

History 3 Trapped

ok so is this show good? no. do i care?? ALSO no lol. this show utterly changed my brain chemistry... whether that's for the better, you decide lmao... but tangfei will forever hold a special place in my heart so... i couldn't NOT include it here :')

Tagging (no pressure ofc!!!): @coquelicoq @aerialworms @abnerkrill @asoftspotforangels @micamicster @daikunart @ewnor @asimplestrawberry @mousetaur @yagirlyacchan

[ljones41]

Top Favorite Car Racing Movies

Due to the upcoming release of "GRAN TURISMO", I had decided to list my current favorite movies about car racing:

TOP FAVORITE CAR RACING MOVIES

"Speed Racer" (2008) - The Wachowskis wrote and directed this exciting and very original adaptation of Tatsuo Yoshida's late 1960s Manga animated series about a young American race car driver. Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci and Matthew Fox starred.

2. "The Love Bug" (1968) - Robert Stevenson directed this funny and first-rate adaptation of "Car, Boy, Girl", Gordon Buford's novel about a sentient Volkswagen Beetle named Herbie and his relationship with his driver, Jim Douglas. Dean Jones, Michele Lee, Buddy Hackett and David Tomlinson starred.

3. "Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies aka Monte Carlo or Bust" (1969) - Ken Annakin directed and co-wrote this all-star comedy about the European car rally , the Monte Carlo Rally. Tony Curtis, Susan Hampshire and Terry-Thomas starred.

4. "Rush" (2013) - Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl starred in this biopic about the rivalry between two drivers, the Briton James Hunt and the Austrian Niki Lauda, during the 1976 Formula One motor-racing season. Ron Howard directed.

5. "Ford v Ferrari" (2019) - James Mangold directed this biopic about automobile designer Carroll Shelby and racer Ken Miles, who were hired by the Ford Motor Company to lead a team to build a race car that would defeat the perennially dominant Italian racing team Scuderia Ferrari at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans race in France. Matt Damon and Christian Bale.

6. "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" (2006) - Adam McKay wrote and directed this sports comedy about an immature yet successful NASCAR driver. Will Farrell starred.

7. "The Great Race" (1965) - Blake Edwards directed and co-wrote this comedic and fictionalized account of the 1908 New York to Paris Race. Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and Natalie Wood starred.

8. "Grand Prix" (1966) - John Frankenheimer directed this story about the fate of four Formula One drivers through a fictionalized version of the 1966 Formula One season. James Garner, Eva Marie Saint and Yves Montand starred.

9. "Viva Las Vegas" (1964) - Elvis Presley and Ann-Margaret starred in this musical comedy about a romance between a race car driver competing in Las Vegas' first annual Grand Prix race and a hotel swimming instructor. George Sidney directed.

10. "Cars" (2006) - John Lasseter directed and co-wrote this Disney animated film about a hotshot rookie race car named Lightning McQueen who gets stranded in Radiator Springs, a rundown town that is past its glory days. Owen Wilson starred.

[doomfox]

Tom and Maddie - Monster Hunters

Something I’ve been brainstorming with a buddy, not feeling up to writing anything for it at present but I wanted to share the deets!

Thomas and Madeline Wachowski were an ordinary young couple, once. But a doomed vacation to an isolates cabin deep in the wilderness changes their lives in ways they never could have expected, when they find themselves fighting for survival, their friends slaughtered, during a ritual hunt by a pack of evil-worshipping werewolves.

The pair are hurt, Maddie losing an arm below the elbow, while Tom is unable to prevent his injuries from taking him and turning him into one of the very monsters they’re fighting to survive. The last two alive, alone, they come together and make a final stand, arming themselves to the teeth to take the fight back to the monsters that slaughtered their friends.

Despite the odds, the couple survive the night. They destroy the pack, with whatever weapons they can cobble together, emerging from the cabin come morning to find their lives completely changed. With no choice but to hit the road, they make a vow to hunt down and destroy the FORCES OF DARKNESS wherever they find them. They make new friends, have relationship troubles, and kick Evil’s ass along their adventures!

MADELINE WACHOWSKI: Resident badass. Alpha. Leader of the pack. Half-feral after her experiences in the Cabin, Maddie is no delicate flower and WILL have no mercy. Darkness killed her sister, forced her into a life of violence and killing, and she takes her work VERY seriously. Favoured weapons: Sawed-off shotgun, prosthetic arm blade, colourful language.

THOMAS MICHAEL WACHOWSKI: The first victim of that original fateful night, Tom survived his wounds at the intervention of his uncle Carl, only to later undergo a painful transformation into a lycanthrope himself. He retained his senses thanks to the love of his wife, though his condition is permanent. A large part of the couple’s life on the run stems from Tom’s perpetual lycanthropy, though his abilities are put to good use in their roles as Hunters of Darkness. Favoured weapons: Chainsaws, baseball bats, microwave ovens... Tom is a master of the ‘grab the nearest blunt object’ method of combat. Dislikes using his teeth to fight because MONSTERS TASTE BAD!

CALLIE MCPHERSON ( @mama-qwerty’s oc!): Former owner of a small book store, Callie finds herself joining the pack as a researcher and budding psychic when her shop is haunted by a demon, prompting the Wachowskis to investigate and promptly blow its ugly brains out. Fascinated by the nature of the Evil her friends fight, she simply MUST join them in their adventures! Favoured weapons: Her MIND - she likes to step back and think about a situation instead of jumping in boomstick-first, and can also sometimes make monster’s heads explode if she concentrates hard enough. 

WADE WHIPPLE: A small-town cop, Wade abandons his old life when a series of strange supernatural events lead to his mother, the only family he has left, being killed by Dark Entities. Nervous, naïve, lacking confidence (thanks largely to his overbearing and condescending mother), Wade is nevertheless brave and will do anything to protect his friends! Especially Callie. He REALLY like Callie. Favoured weapons: Wade is still searching for his own fighting style, though he is proficient at the ‘flail and scream loudly’ form of combat.

[canadachild9]

A New Tribe | A Wachowski Brothers Playlist

Look How Far We’ve Come - Imagine Dragons / Heroes (We Could Be) - Alesso & Tove Lo / Prophecy - Reez / People Like Us - Kelly Clarkson / Home - Vince Staples / Love & Loss - Two Steps From Hell / You Don’t Have to Be Alone Anymore - Junkie XL / Look Through My Eyes - Phil Collins / Little Wonders - Rob Thomas / Feel the Light - Jennifer Lopez / Your Heart Will Lead You Home - Kenny Loggins / A New Home - Junkie XL / I Will Always Return (Finale) - Bryan Adams / Always Know Where You Are - John Rzeznik

[YouTube link]

[everythingmaxriemelt]

Films I like in 2021 (some weren’t released in 2021 and I haven’t seen most of the newer films in other Best of 2021 lists - I mean I am still waiting to watch ‘The Worst Person in the World’ and ‘Benedetta’!)

So, in no particular order:

1. The Power of the Dog (dir. Jane Campion)

2. Drive My Car (dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi)

3. Saint Maud (dir. Rose Glass)

4. Riders of Justice (dir. Anders Thomas Jensen)

5. Sound of Metal (dir. Darius Marder)

6. Summer of 85/Été 85 (dir. François Ozon)

7. Minari (dir. Lee Isaac Chung)

8. The Lost Daughter (dir. Maggie Gyllenhaal)

9. The Dry (dir. Robert Connolly)

10. The Card Counter (dir. Paul Schrader)

More I like from 2021:

The Matrix Resurrections (dir. Lana Wachowski - it’s too queer, too camp for some but that’s why I love it… and of course, the Max Riemelt and Sense 8 connection)

The Vigil (dir. Keith Thomas - horror is not my usual genre but I watched quite a few good ones in 2021)

In the Earth (dir. Ben Wheatley - as above. Has been a good year for horror)

Nomadland (dir. Chloe Zhao - should be up there but when I made this list, I almost forgot about it, so…)

[fuckyeahwomenfilmdirectors]

10 Most Anticipated of 2021

Yes, 2021 is 1/12 done. Oh well, better late than never with this list. Here are a few films by some great directors that I look forward to watching this year:

Don't Worry Darling dir. Olivia Wilde

I was totally charmed by Wilde’s directorial debut (which was co-written by Susanna Fogel a pretty charming director in her own right). Don’t Worry is a period piece about an unhappy housewife boasting an all star cast including Florence Pugh, Kiki Layne, Harry Styles and Gemma Chan. At the very least it will be beautiful to look at.

Little Mother dir. Céline Sciamma

Not much has been said about Sciamma’s 5th film aside from the fact that it will focus on the friendship between two 8 year olds in Paris but a new Sciamma film is always a cause for celebration.

The Nightingale dir. Mélanie Laurent

This was supposed to come out last year but covid-19 completely mangled the shooting schedule and it was pushed back a year. The film features the real life Fanning sisters (Dakota and Elle) playing French sisters trying to survive in German occupied France during WWII.

Marry Me dir. Kat Coiro

I make no secret about the fact that I love a good romcom and this one sounds delightful. Jennifer Lopez will play a pop star who at the last second marries a fan instead of her celebrity partner she’s discovered is unfaithful. It sounds delightfully tropey, like a screwball comedy. I can’t wait. It’s also good to see Coiro back in the directing seat again. She made a slew of solid indies before disappearing into TV work.

The Matrix 4 dir. Lana Wachowski

I kind of rolled my eyes when I first heard about this because it seemed like a cash grab from the WB. The last Matrix movie came out in 2003! Yet everything I keep hearing about it sounds bananas. Details have been kept under wraps but the leaks sound bizarre and meta (the Matrix trilogy exists in world in the Matrix 4 which means Keanu Reeves plays Keanu Reeves who is actually Neo???) I don’t know if this is real but I can’t wait to find out. 

Passing dir. Rebecca Hall

An adaptation of Nella Larsen’s novel of the same name Passing is about two women, both of whom appear white but have black heritage and one of whom decides to live a life passing as white and the other who doesn’t. It’s personal material for Hall who has a black parent.

Persuasion dir. Mahalia Belo

This is probably going to be a 2022 film but I’m already excited for it. An adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel Persuasion the film will follow former flames Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth who reunite later in life when their fortunes are reversed. One of my favourite Austen adaptations this one is also written by Jessica Swale (who wrote and directed Summerland) and looks to race-bend Wentworth’s character (which actually would work extremely well with the story). I love it, I can’t wait, and I’m excited that there will be another “straight” adaptation of Austen’s work directed by a woman (in addition to all the modernizations and spin-offs).

The Power of the Dog dir. Jane Campion

This is not a drill people! Campion is back with her first movie since 2009!  Based on the book of the same name by Thomas Savage it follows two brothers who fall out over one brother’s new wife. Kirsten Dunst is in it and I can’t think of a better match up than Campion and Dunst, both of whom have championed women directors (well, white women directors) over the years.  

The Story of My Wife dir. Ildikó Enyedi

This was supposed to come out last year but covid-19 disrupted its scheduled release. Based on a novel of the same name The Story is about a man who makes a bet that he will marry the next woman to walk into a café and then becomes jealously obsessed with her once he succeeds. Léa Seydoux is the titular wife but I’m more fascinated with what Enyedi will do with the material as she’s such a thoughtful charming and playful director.

Women Talking dir. Sarah Polley

It has been a decade since Polley last directed a film, her amazing self-reflective documentary Stories We Tell. Well she’s back, uniting with Frances McDormand to adapt this novel by Miriam Toews about a group of Mennonite who have been given an unbearable choice: to either forgive and welcome serial rapists and leaders of their community back into the fold or be expelled themselves. Heavy stuff that I have confidence Polley will adapt thoughtfully.

[rocketonthemoon]

Alrighty-roo I’ve been tagged by THREE of y’all wonderful people @mike-wachowski @i-am-robie and @kg1507 (THANKS Y’ALL) for Five Books I’m Excited About/Planning on Reading Sometime This Year:

1) Crier’s War by Nina Varela - this gets first slot because I’m about to read it, I’ve taken the dust jacket off, it’s sitting on my nightstand staring at me for the past four nights, I’m gunna do it I swear (Summary according to flap: Serving Girl falls in love with a Noble Girl she’s supposed to kill one of them might be an automaton?? “One human, one Made”).

2) Cemetary Boys by Aiden Thomas - pitched to me by my old bookstore manager/friend as “TransGuy falls in love with a ghost with lots of Latinx gender feels” so I’m really excited for this one honestly.

3) Ice Planet Barbarian by Ruby Dixon - listen. My romance podcast people won’t shut up about it and it’s now in paperback so I just. I gotta ok. Don’t look at me.

4) Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse - I’m about a quarter of the way through another book of hers, Trail of Lightning (going very slowly because while it’s very good it’s also very spooky imo and I can only do that level of Spook in small bites) and really like her writing style PLUS! This one’s a Hugo and Nebula Award finalist and again comes highly recommended by my bookstore friend so I’m excited for it. No clue what it’s about other than it’s “political intrigue” and “inspired by the civilizations of Pre-Columbian Americans and their stories” so at the very least it will be something new.

5) The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune - everyone I’ve heard talk about this book basically says it’s like getting a warm hug with words which I think is exactly what this year is going to require. 

Tagging @worldsubmerge @sapphic-luthor and @rosepetalrevolution and literally anyone else that wants to because I always need more titles for the TBR pile and like robie said, these are basically fun little chainmail activities. But of course as always no pressure at all! 

[jimbotnik]

◎ opinion on Thomas Wachowski?

"I'd love to take him apart surgically, piece by piece, until he's begging and pleading for mercy... And then I want to let Sonic watch him die from his little grounded cage!"

[humanityinahandbag]

More Moments from the Wachowski Family

Pre-Movie

Sonic: [Sitting in his cave, staring up at the stars through the burrow’s entrance] If I had a family, all we’d do is say how much we love each other. 

Sonic: [Watching the little town wistfully] If I had a family, all we’d do is hold hands and say how important it is that we have one another. 

Sonic: [Watching a baseball game, hidden under the bleachers, almost in tears] If I had a family, I’d hug them every day, and remind them how grateful I am that they allowed me to be a part of their lives. I’d try every day to remind them how much I care and how much I’ll never be able to repay them for all their love and generosity.  

Post-Movie

Tom: [drinking coffee] Hey, have you seen Sonic?

Maddie: [reading the newspaper] Not yet. Why? 

Sonic: [moonwalks into the kitchen wearing three pairs of raybands and a YO’ MAMA t-shirt]

Sonic: What? No breakfast, Thomas? 

Tom: You came down late. 

Sonic: Fine. Let your beloved child starve. It’s not like I need to eat anyway. I swear. It’s a wonder Madeline hasn’t divorced you. Now, if you don’t mind, I shall retire to my room. Good day, sir. 

Sonic: [dabs]

Sonic: [moonwalks out] 

Tom: oh my god. 

[articianne]

the matrix: resurrections thoughts below!!! spoilers :O

i never watched matrix 3 and i watched matrix 2 at a young age, but i did watch matrix 1 several times!

i think the best, most succinct description someone on twitter wrote out was that it was a very "weird and heartfelt" movie. i really, REALLY liked it. my brother, who was a huge matrix fan and was super inspired by it when he was a kid, also really liked it (though the film was a bit too self-aware in the beginning for him).

i think it's okay if u end up not liking it, too. this one is up to personal taste. this really was made BY and FOR Lana Wachowski and I think she's amazing for not giving a shit and just making whatever she wanted to make. some people like it, some people don't, and everyone should live by that rule.

my favorite parts of this film included:

jonathan groff, oh my god, that tension with neo. i got chills when he called out "Mr. Anderson!!!"

honestly? loved the flashback moments. none were ever that long (tho all put together, I'm sure it amounted to like three or four minutes of screen time). given that the flashbacks were literally supposed to be the "cutscenes from the matrix games", i just took them in stride.

obsessed with how this film turned "getting neo out" from the first film to "getting trinity out" in this one.

BUGS AND MORPHEUS—MWAH. what a fun cast all around!!!

bugs saying "what's up, doc?" that one time 🥺

the fact that "tiffany's" husband was named Chad LMAO

and the fact that chad's actor's name is...also chad HAHAHAHA

just generally liked how Neo wasn't polished, wasn't really Cool, he was just a guy who needed his other half, and this mess of a legend who was still picking himself up still had some huge support from people who had nearly idolized him for decades.

ill say it. i love that the movie was so self aware and literally called the matrix trilogy a video game franchise. mostly cuz I knew where it was going. i thought that was a clever way to fit every single Fuck You Lana had while making the movie she wanted to make.

did i mention jonathan groff. 🥵

there's more for sure but those are off the top of my head!

(the soundtrack was amazing. Neo and Smith fighting in the... basement (??) of wherever they went which was honestly really homoerotic stood out a lot.)

i'll say perhaps the only thing i wish was worked on more is the dialogue. it's all fine and dandy, there isn't really a problem with any of it, but in some scenes the dialogue could've been more natural. there are a couple of scenes with neo and trinity (in this case, thomas and tiffany) in the cafe, which i think was called Simulatte, and while i got the point that they're supposed to have a connection that can't be cut even if their memories were used against them, the conversations could have gone more smoothly.

"tiffany" is talking about playing the matrix series that "thomas", so-called video game designer, founded. and then she goes on to talk about her husband not liking the fact that she connected with the character "trinity"... and while the moment is sweet and the intent is clear, it feels kind of choppy and awkward, since by this point neo and trinity are strangers who've interacted perhaps two other times. but again, the intent is clear, cuz they're supposed to be connected and be aware of each other regardless. it's the matrix, so i'm not gonna focus on the campiness in dialogue... it's basically the matrix's trademark LMAO

when it comes to the story and narrative design, i loved it. right up my alley!

[weekendwarriorblog]

THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS Starts Out Quite Meta But Ends the Series on a Glorious Grand Finale

I’ve actually been looking forward to some sort of The Matrix relaunch, even though I highly doubted it might ever happen, maybe because the “final” installment, The Matrix Revolutions, just killed off any joy I had from the first two installments… and then, that movie bombed as well. Maybe it was the idea that Warner Media could put it on its streaming platform, HBO Max, along with the original trilogy was too great a lure to just let it fade away.

Now, it’s 18 years later, and Lana Wachowski is directing without her sibling, and well, it’s a very different animal, but not necessarily in a bad way. We start out by meeting Jessica Henwick’s Bugs, the type of hacker who would have been hanging out with Keanu Reeves’ Neo back in the day. After being chased by agents, she ends up convincing one of them (played by Yahya Abdul Mateen II) that he is, in fact, Morpheus reborn, and she tries to convince him that Neo is still alive, and they need to find him. Neo (Keanu Reeves) is actually back in his guise as Thomas Anderson, now the world’s greatest game developer, and apparently, that first “Matrix” trilogy was actually his award-winning game. He’s now been commissioned, mostly against his will, to make a fourth game. Yes, kids, Lana Wachowski has fully taken us into Meta territory, literally making fun of her earlier movies as if they were literally just a video game in the current world. (Semi-Spoiler: Carrie-Ann Moss in this world is known as Tiffany (vs. Trinity) and her new husband Chad is actually John Wick director Chad Stahelski, just to make things even more Meta.)

It takes some time before we’re back into the Matrix we know and love, particularly the “real world” where the battle between humans and machines is now over, and they’re now working together to make the world better. How sweet. Having found and revived Neo, the new rebels’ next mission is to revive Trinity, but there are still forces standing in their way, those who preferred the old Matrix, and they’re going to do whatever it takes to keep the two of them apart.

Obviously, it’s a little difficult writing about The Matrix Resurrections too in-depth, since there are some spoilery surprises and twists throughout, especially in the second half, so I’ll try to be as vague as humanly possible. As far as the two main actors, Keanu Reeves has successfully carried on the good will he’s earned from making the “John Wick” movies and his decision to return for last year’s Bill and Ted Face the Music. His 20-year-older Anderson/Neo seems fairly laid back and maybe not quite so serious as the early aughts version. Maybe it’s just the long hair and beard the character (and Reeves) has grown in recent years. Carrie Ann Moss has a notably smaller role, but she’s still great and even gets to show off her ability to do just as much of the martial arts we loved Trinity for in the earlier films. Henwick’s martial arts ability more than makes up the difference otherwise.

More importantly, there’s some great new characters besides the ones mentioned earlier, including Jonathan Groff as… well, spoiler!.. “Smith,” Thomas’ boss at the game company, and Neil Patrick Harris as Thomas’ analyst, known as The Analyst. Without outwardly spoiling anything, you can probably figure out what part they will eventually play in the story. Abdul Mateen makes for a fantastic Morpheus surrogate, although his version of the character is where things start getting a little weird.

For much of the first half, the movie reminded me of the late Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, because it was so Meta even in terms of making fun of its own legacy. That was fun for a while, but the movie then frequently started hitting its fair share of lulls, as it delved into over-exposition and psycho-babble. Some might like that stuff more than others, but it’s obvious that Ms. Wachowski just does stronger work as an action director.

Because of this, the last act just slays, as we’re treated to some of the amazing fight sequences for which The Matrix is famous. A seemingly innocuous (but very cool FX-heavy) fight in a coffee shop turns into what is called “swarm mode” where literally every human in the Matrix is being thrown at Neo and Trinity. It’s the kind of big screen spectacle at a scale with which the Wachowski name was made, and boy, does it feel good to get to that point in the movie without the need for a lot of groaning or kvelling. Everyone’s mileage may vary, but to me, it was just a nice way to bring the earlier coolness of the premise back.

The Matrix Resurrections looks pretty great and is frequently weird as hell, but it’s also a suitable grand finale to the original trilogy, to the point where you might feel justified for giving it a chance even if you had issues with how the original trilogy ended.

Rating: 7.5/10