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frankbelloriley · 1 year ago

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Here's some of the best things I've watched in 2023.

New releases (an incomplete list because I'm gonna catch up on more stuff in January, so I'm only going to put seven):

Godzilla Minus One - An absolute hoot of a time at the movies. A human melodrama interrupted by a giant city destroying lizard. A fascinating deviation from Shin Godzilla which is more of "what if the bureaucracy of In The Loop had to deal with a radioactive monster" satire, while this goes for pure thrills and audience pleasing moments. Between this and last year's RRR, how are other countries better at pure audience pleasers than us?

The Boy and the Heron - I walked out of The Wind Rises in 2013 thinking, "Yeah, that perfectly caps Hayao Miyazaki's career. After telling the story of how a man's imagination ran away from him and questioning the impact of his life's work, what else does he need to say?" I walked out of The Boy and the Heron thinking, "So that's what."

Barbie/Asteroid City - I'm putting both together because Greta Gerwig has joined Wes Anderson in making movies with one singular moment that seem genetically engineered to wreck me (I will not say what they are here because chill bro, I don't know you like that.). That and both telling their stories through production design. I would hope that the lesson from Barbie making a billion dollars would be, "maybe shoot things on actual sets instead of green screen studios," but it's going to be, "find me another doll to make a movie from." As for Wes Anderson, it's so weird that the criticism he gets is, "it's too Wes Anderson-y." You want him to dilute his voice and make it...what exactly? Look, you like what you like, but why do some people want Wes Anderson to make less what he likes? Anyway, I thought this movie was Wes's clever way to be introspective about his storytelling process, and it's one I'm going to revisit soon.

Killers of the Flower Moon - I've seen this twice, and while I never thought the three and a half hours dragged the first time, it flew by the second time. I also never thought The Irishman dragged on either, almost as if Thelma Schoonmaker and Martin Scorsese know what they're doing, but then again I don't have a two second attention span (some of y'all need to get off the damn TikTok and quit making me feel older than seeing the startling amount of grays I see on my head and in my facial hair in the mirror when I say that). The criticism that it should have been centered on Mollie instead of Ernest almost willfully misunderstands what Scorsese's artistic choice to focus on one of his most unsympathetic protagonists in his career. Scorsese is placing you in Leonardo DiCaprio's shoes because you in the audience are more likely to be Ernest than you will ever be to Mollie, and he wants you to sit with that uncomfort. That and Martin Scorsese knows the limits of empathy in that while he can understand Mollie's pain and the trauma endured by the Osage nation still felt today, he cannot truly know it to tell their side of the story. That should be clear from the start if people knew what empathy actually was, but some of y'all think empathy is binging a season of Ted Lasso in a weekend (wow, 2023 really left me cranky).

Ferrari - My joke to a friend coming out of this movie was, "you will believe Adam Driver is Italian," but Michael Mann's latest has hung around in my head ever since. Some call Driver's performance stilted or stiff as if that isn't a creative choice of needing to seem still while anxiety and peril go on behind his eyes in the face of very real peril and danger in 1950s motosports. Almost as if Mann has history of exploring themes of masculinity as a mask that both helps and hurts depending on the context. Penelope Cruz is also incredible here, adding life to a role that, played wrongly, makes the movie fall apart, but ties the whole thing together emotionally. I haven't seen two actors play off this well against each other since James Gandolfini and Edie Falco when I finished The Sopranos earlier this year.

Oppenheimer - Like this year's Miyazaki and Scorsese's works, feels like a culmination of all of Nolan's previous films. Great stuff, in addition to being a movie you can say, "hey, it's that guy" literally five minutes. I've written too much on all these already, so I will say is: Christopher Nolan is never going to work for Warner Brothers ever again.

Some new to me watches in 2023 I really loved:

Written On The Wind - This by Douglas Sirk was a revelation to me. I had no idea white people were emotionally capable of making Telenovelas.

Rio Bravo - Every time I've watched a Howard Hawks picture, I come away thinking they're among the most entertaining things I've watched. A Western that is less about the codes of honor than it is just hanging out.

The Heroic Trio/Magnificent Warriors/Royal Warriors - all of these were part of Criterion Channel's Michelle Yeoh collection, and they're all great with fantastic action set pieces. Michelle Yeoh stars in, respectively, a comic book movie, a period serial kind of like Indiana Jones, and a cop action drama that starts with her foiling an airplane hijacking.

Mississippi Masala - American independent movies used to be "find two hot and talent actors that have chemistry and build a movie around it." We used to be a proper country.

Decision To Leave - Probably would've been my favorite movie of 2022 if I had gotten around to seeing it then.

The Yakuza - In recent years, Robert Mitchum has become one of my all time favorite actors. We used to have guys with lines on their faces that would tell a story without saying anything (RIP director Sydney Pollack's Michael Clayton castmate Tom Wilkinson while I'm at it). The story of friendship and duty between Mitchum and Ken Takakura is the stuff of Dudes Rock (Melancholy Edition).

Strange Days - Incredibly prescient in how we would use phone cameras and how social media would rot our brains back in the 1990s. Doubles as the origin of a Fatboy Slim song. Worth a watch for Ralph Fiennes and Angela Bassett's chemistry alone.

Going to throw in a rewatch that blew me away this year, and that was Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Cure. I hadn't seen it since a Horror In Film class in undergrad, and it is an utter clinic in how film editing can make a viewer feel dread at any moment. The final shot is incredible.

#i wrote this post on here in my drafts so i could post to facebook and figured 'why don't i post it on here?'#the facebook post also has my 2023 reading but since i already posted about that kinda didn't see the point

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charliesinfern0 · 3 months ago

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CHARLIE HEY!!! sorry to hear you are/were sick :( i hope you feel better soon and that the weekend treats you well too!! for your ask game: 🍩🍦🍧🍮 for both ichi and pyro please!!!!! [ps: i wanted to thank you for motivating me to finally sit down and watch godzilla :) {shin godzilla in specific!!!} it was really really genuinely captivating and interesting in ways i did not expect and i will be trying out other movies from the franchise asap!!! seriously thank you thank you thank you. your recent fnv and tf2 posting has been extremely fun to take in as well so thank you for that as well :) goodbye!]

Selfship Ask Game

im finally getting around to answering these!! im so sorry it takes me so long to answer ask game asks i just need to think a lot about it before answering T_T (also um you can still send me asks for this ask game i love getting asks!!)

also OMG WHAT THATS SO COOL!!! im so glad I enjoyed it shin godzilla is so awesome!!!! I def recommend minus one, it’s one of my fave Godzilla movies ^_^ and I’m also glad u enjoy my fnv and tf2 posting hehe :3

🍦 - what's your f/o's favorite way to show affection? are there any little things they do to indicate their appreciation for you?

Ichimatsu likes physical affection, but is too shy to initiate it most of the time. When he has the courage to initiate it, or when Ai initiates it, he will be very clingy hehe ^_^ He mainly likes hugs and cuddling, anything where he can hold Ai close. He also likes resting his chin on her shoulder or her head lol :3 and he also shows his affection through gifts! little things like charms and paper cranes and plush keychains ^_^

Pyro is also very physically affectionate, it’s the easiest way to show their love for Janitor!! They nuzzle their heads together, and Janitor loves laying on top of them (they’re always warm!!) But they also do love to give them little gifts like drawings of them together :)

🍧 - which of you is the better chef? what's their favorite thing to make for the other?

They both aren’t completely helpless in the kitchen, but Ichimatsu is a bit better at cooking than Ai. She prefers getting premade meals and snacks from the store lol ^_^ Ichi is good at making curries and sir-fry and onigiri, which just so happen to be Ai’s favorite foods! He is also getting into baking, but he’s still getting the hang of it (their oven still smells like burnt cookies…) Once he improves though, he wants to make Ai a carrot cake (her favorite ^_^)

Janitor is definitely the better chef of the two lol no offense to Pyro but they do have a tendency to burn things ^^; Janitor is kind of the team’s unofficial chef, basically them working overtime, but they don’t mind. They do bake together though! Pyro loves making pretty cakes and cookies with them ^_^

🍮 - what's something you do that always makes your f/o smile, and/or vice versa?

Ai being cute with the stray cats they always feed together never fails to make Ichimatsu smile, while Ai catching Ichi secretly doing nice things for her (making her lunch and leaving it in the dining room, writing and pinning up a sweet note on the fridge for her to read, always washing her favorite mug so it’s ready to use whenever) always makes her smile ^_^

Janitor always smiles whenever Pyro is around, but what really makes them giddy is when they hold hands, and Pyro gives theirs a squeeze to let Janitor know that they’re listening, or that they’re with them ^_^ and Pyro always smiles when when Janitor smiles :) especially when they smile because of them!!!

🍩 - what are some irl things that remind you of your f/o?

Stray cats that I see around my neighborhood and purple flowers remind me of Ichi ^_^

And of course fire reminds me of Pyro hehe, and also cool gas masks!! And also anything Pyrovision-y like bubbles and rainbows lol

#self ship #self ship ask game #selfshipping #oc x canon #yumeship #yumejoshi

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hopeymchope · 3 years ago

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Godzilla Singular Point

I came into Singular Point with some trepidation because Godzilla’s history in anime is both very recent and extremely bad. The three anime movies released between 2017 and 2019 are easily the worst work of famed writer Gen Urobuchi and honestly contain more bullshit than I can even get into here. Those movies and this series were both Godzilla anime properties commissioned by Netflix, which didn’t get my hopes up very much. Thankfully, Singular Point is a very different beast from the anime trilogy. One could argue it’s very different from most Godzilla media, actually — at least from my perspective. And I’m still a pretty entry-level fan of Toho’s Big G, all things considered.

Let me just warn you right up front: This smartphone-based virtual assistant is basically the breakout star of the series.

When you think “Godzilla,” you probably don’t think “incredibly dense sci-fi concepts,” but with the big G’s first-ever anime series, the writers clearly set out to change that perception. Before the first kaiju even appears, the lead characters are plucked from obscurity and dropped into a mystery that involves fourth-dimensional time travel, physical objects that look different from all sides, theoretical math concepts, self-propagating A.I., and a whole lot more. And it’s NEVER made clear how all of it connects to the rampaging kaiju! Although we spend a lot of time investigating a red dust or sand that is very obviously tied to the monsters in SOME way, no one ever makes a connection that explains the relationship. Maybe we’re supposed to wait for a later season to connect the threads... but let’s get into the idea of “another season” later.

I like to think of myself as someone who typically enjoys hard sci-fi, but even with the characters spending loads of time trying to explain the high concepts driving the story, I was never able to fully wrap my head around what was going on in the mystery at the center of GSP. I rewound and rewatched a few explanations, but I still walked away feeling lost. I eventually settled on some vague, loose understandings of most of the ideas mentioned, but those understandings were subject to being ripped apart in subsequent scenes when I was shown or told something completely at odds with what I thought I knew. I can’t say I was ever bored with the thick, dense scientific concepts on offer — trying to find purchase with these far-out ideas kept me glued to the screen — but damn, I sure wish I was able to comprehend them.

What do we want?! DENSE SCIENTIFIC DISCUSSION AND DEBATE! When do we want it?! AFTER THOROUGH RESEARCH, TESTING, AND PEER REVIEW!

Another weird thing about this show is that the lead characters remain in separate locations and on separate tracks for the entire duration. We have Yun — a mechanical engineer and programmer who has an amazing grasp on physics and human behavior. And we have Mei — a grad student who is deeply invested in theoretical science, UMAs, cryptids and other far-flung concepts. Both of them are basically geniuses in their fields, and even though they take opposing views of just how flexible reality is, their shared ability to think “outside the box” becomes the crucial component in solving the mystery at the core of the series. Because they don’t even know one another (despite being separated by like, ONE degree), they only ever interact via text messages and behind screen names, which feels pretty damn weird. At least I immediately liked both of them, with Yun being the standout to me because of how his lowkey reactions to crazy shit generates a lot of humor.

This soundtrack cover LIES; you will never see these characters in a room together like this.

Alas, we don’t get to know the characters a whole lot beyond what we learned of them in the first two episodes. It’s not long before they’re trapped in a series of complicated exposition dumps, endlessly attempting to explain the high concepts of the show to other characters as well as my dumb ass in the audience. The fact that I liked them in the first couple of episodes carried me through more than half of the show, but I was always hoping to see them share more of themselves or just display more emotion. Anime as a medium excels at emotional storytelling. But despite the major, world-altering events the characters are constantly warning us about, none of them seem to have many emotions about said events.

Further complicating matters is how, when major events finally occur in this show, they are often kept off-screen. One character shockingly dies, but the portrayal of that death is so piss-poor that I didn’t even realize it’d happened until someone mentioned their death in the next episode. After that vague death, I was particularly sensitive to anything that looked like it might possibly be lethal. Yet a later event that is played up as a tragic, fatal occurrence ends up... fine, somehow? It’s not clear how the character survives, because — even after one of our heroes is left screaming their name in despair as they seemingly die — nobody ever talks about or explains how he’s just fine a couple of scenes later. And near the end of the series, there’s a major transformation that occurs for one of the characters, and we never see it happen nor do we understand HOW it happened. It’s just that suddenly, this character is extremely different due to off-screen reasons that are only vaguely verbalized.

I guess these two really bonded at some point for some reason? And what you are seeing here is literally the height of emotion shown in the entire show.

Even though the overarching story of the series so far pretty clearly wraps up in episode 13, we then get a post-credits tease for a potential second season. So the question becomes: Would I watch that?

Well... Godzilla Singular Point is a series with a lot of issues that kept me at arms’ length from it — tons of extremely confusing dialogue, highly frustrating choices in direction that lead to baffling storytelling, characters who are mostly exposition-dumping — and yet there’s still some foundational work here that I appreciated a lot. When the action occurs, it’s pretty cool/fun. And when urban destruction occurs, it can be awe-inspiring. The human characters, though little-explored, have likable and interesting foundations to them that could be expanded upon. And I didn’t even mention the soundtrack, which features a variety of musical styles combined with the classic Ifukube theme music and an OP that is an absolute banger. (I have a weakness when it comes to music; a good soundtrack can carry me through even the blandest series sometimes.) Even the core idea of centering a Godzilla series around hard science and mathematical concepts is a compelling one, I think! I just hated the execution of it; they went waaaaay too far on poorly explaining incredibly complex, mind-bending concepts for my pea brain to handle it. They spend so much time trying to explain things, yet somehow they never succeeded for me.

Ultimately, I’d probably give the show another chance. But if I do give another season a chance, it’ll be on probation. I wouldn’t watch the entire season unless I could see within four episodes that they’d definitely improved things.

Would I recommend that anyone watch the series as it currently stands? I mean... not really? I guess if you really dig complex math, hard theoretical science, and/or Toho’s stable of monsters, then maaaaaaaaaaybe give it a shot. But otherwise? Naaaahh. It’s not good enough at anything to make it stand out from the anime crowd. I didn’t hate it like I hated the Godzilla anime films, but Singular Point is still something that both casual viewers and most fans can comfortably ignore for the time being. It’s not a complete disaster, and it’s not without its highlights... but it’s definitely disappointing in my opinion.

OKAYOKAYOKAY, so let’s talk about the kaiju for a bit!

Below will be SPOILERS revealing all of the kaiju that appear in Godzilla Singular Point and giving my feelings on them.

Godzilla — It’s interesting to see a version of Godzilla that borrows some ideas from Shin Godzilla. Shin G has been incredibly unique until now, but this Godzilla manages to fold some of Shin’s distinctive aspects in with the more classic/typical versions to build a fun new depiction. Be forewarned that Godzilla doesn’t show up until the series is halfway over, and he doesn’t get a ton of screen time, either. He’s used quite sparingly and kept in hazy settings, often framed from the neck-up when they show him. It’s a little frustrating that they felt the need to shroud him so much, but I respect the fact that whenever Godzilla is shown, the destruction he causes is on a scale far beyond anything that the rest of the kaiju ever do. He is pure devastation.

Rodan — He’s easily the biological kaiju with the most screen time in Singular Point. Rodan is first introduced as one gigantic pterosaur, but if you’ve seen ANY trailers for this show then you already know that his depiction transitions into an asston of smaller pterosaurs, all of whom are also called “Rodan.” (Apparently the word Rodan is both singular and plural, like the word “buffalo.”) Although he looks kind of cool at first, pretty soon Rodan showing up isn’t special or threatening anymore. Rodan appearances go from “a big goddamn deal” to “some bland background noise” before the series is even 1/3 finished. The design might be a little too far removed from the original for my own taste, but even if I didn’t think that, I wouldn’t be able to care for this Rodan simply because he’s rendered so unimportant and unimpressive.

If you go out in the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise...

Anguirus — Now check this guy out! Anguirus gets one of the coolest fights in the show and also demonstrates some powers that are well beyond anything we’ve seen him do before. Because he sticks to unpopulated areas, we never see him do much damage to Japan, but he is definitely holding all the attention when he’s on-screen. He’s a highlight for me — a total badass who is very unique in his abilities. And the stated origin for his name is goddamn adorable.

Manda — Yup, Manda is in this series... but I don’t have much to say for him. It seems like the creators of the anime didn’t have much to say about him either. His role amounts to little more than a repeated cameo, and in most of those cameos you only ever see his tail. When we finally see his full body, it’s done so briefly and kept at a distance, leaving me with no real impression. I had to look up his design online and... yup, that sure looks like Manda. Final score: MEEEEHH.

Kumonga — I definitely did not see this appearance coming! Kumonga is much smaller here than you may be used to, but she gets to star in the most suspenseful sequence in the series and easily earns the most exciting cliffhanger moment at the end of an episode. I was utterly glued to the show during her screen time, which comes with a lot of icky twists. Good ones! I honestly like Kumonga here more than I ever have previously.

NEW PHONE WHO DIS

Salunga — Uh, who? This is the one monster that isn’t based on a classic Toho kaiju but instead is a brand-new creation. I suppose that everybody who touches the Toho Kaiju franchise wants to make their own mark on it in some regard. But a big part of the fun of this series for me personally was the anticipation of seeing new interpretations and designs of classic Toho monsters. And so, given that he kind of resembles both Baragon and Gabara, I never stopped wishing they’d just used one of those guys as the basis and namesake. Taken on his own, however? He’s... pretty neat. Not unique or exciting, but solidly above par. He resembles a cross between a lizard/dinosaur and an ape, plus his head has some nifty coloration.

Our Jaguar!

Jet Jaguar — I guess Jet Jaguar isn’t exactly a kaiju in the traditional sense because he’s a Giant Robot. However, if you want to consider him one, then I wager he probably gets even more screen time than Rodan! We meet him almost immediately when the series begins. Initially an odd pilot-driven robot that was constructed at the whim of a quirky old factory-owner with too much disposable income, Jet Jaguar grows and changes over the course of the show, ultimately undergoing a transition in episode 7 that makes him pretty damn impossible to dislike. In fact, I utterly adored him by then. This is definitely the best Jet Jaguar I’ve ever seen. His design is recognizably similar to the original yet utterly distinct, too. Like many of the other kaiju here, he’s not nearly as big as he was when he was first introduced to the movies, but his size is ideal for battling the smaller-scale monsters that we spend most of the series on.

#godzilla #godzilla singular point #anime #anime reviews #kaiju

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audisamu · 4 years ago

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𝘎𝘖𝘋𝘡𝘐𝘓𝘓𝘈 𝘉𝘙𝘐𝘕𝘎𝘚 𝘜𝘚 𝘛𝘖𝘎𝘌𝘛𝘏𝘌𝘙

character; iwaizumi hajime x reader

genre; fluff

wc; 1.7k

synopsis; when your local movie theatre announced that they would be running a one night only Godzilla movie marathon, you already knew you would be going with your boyfriend, Iwaizumi. What you didn’t account for was his date crashing friend who claimed he could ‘steal your man’.

You went into your relationship with the knowledge of the odd interest your boyfriend had. When you had met him, you thought the only things you’d have to fight for his attention would be volleyball and Oikawa. You were sadly mistaken though, there was one more boss to fight before you could finally claim the status of “Iwa-chan’s favourite.” Godzilla was always present within your life. It was like you could never escape it. It had to be the worst during Iwaizumi’s birthday and Christmas. Anyone who knew him would get him something Godzilla related, gag gift or not. Even you gave in to the trend and bought him his signature Godzilla phone case.

All in all, he was a man who was obsessed with the scaly monster. You could never understand the hype but hey, if it made him happy, what were you to say? You’d only start having complaints if he started cuddling his Godzilla body pillow instead of you.

When you saw the advertisement pop up on your Twitter line, you counted down the minutes until Iwaizumi started begging you frantically to go with him. In the end, it took him under ten minutes to be on his knees and ‘convincing’ you to go, aka bringing up the fact you’d get movie popcorn if you went.

To be frank, you didn’t have any reservations about going in the first place. You knew how much your boyfriend would love for you to go and seeing him happy was all the reason you needed. When you could finally get a breath in between his flustered rambling, you ruffled his hair and agreed to go.

On the day of the movie, you both woke up early. It was a Saturday morning, so neither of you had work and could sleep it fairly late. The movies would start just after five and would stretch until after midnight, so you knew it was better to dress with comfort in mind.

Everything seemed fine when you left. You were sitting in the passenger seat and he was driving. It was usually a ten-minute drive to the theatre, so you scrolled through your phone for most of it. You started getting suspicions when you noticed that you were not going in direction of the theatre. You cast a side glance at Iwaizumi, who held no reaction at all and just kept his eyes on the road. You shrugged and figured he had made some sort of the wrong turn or thought he could take a shortcut that didn’t exist.

Unfortunately, by the time you pieced together what was happening, it was too late. It seemed the thought that this would be a date slipped your boyfriend’s mind and he thought it smart to invite his oblivious, albeit sweet, friend Oikawa.

“Iwa-chan! I was worried you two had forgotten about me,” he walked to the car with a slight skip in his step. It reminded you of a little kid trying to waddle to their friends when they couldn’t yet stand on their own.

He slipped into the backseat of the car and leaned forward between Iwaizumi and yourself. He attempted to wrap his arms around both of your shoulders, but Iwaizumi gave him a stern look and he quickly went to sit down properly.

“Ah, finally the gang is back together. You shouldn’t keep your girlfriend from me, Iwa-chan!" You loved Oikawa’s company most days. He kept Iwaizumi on his toes and allowed you to see a different side of him. While Iwaizumi grounded Oikawa, the latter seemed to have the opposite effect. Oikawa could get Iwaizumi to loosen up more and relax. Sure, you could do so as well, but it wasn’t the same bond the two best friends had.

You loved Oikawa’s company when you weren’t trying to have a romantic date night with Iwaizumi. You weren’t mad or anything, you were just kinda bummed that you wouldn’t be able to sneak a kiss from your boyfriend during the movie without Oikawa pointing it out or making some sort of ‘deal’ out of it.

It took around fifteen minutes to get to the movie theatre and when you got there, Iwaizumi rushed out of the driver’s seat. You laughed under your breath and followed behind him towards the entrance. Both of you failed to notice the whining Oikawa behind you, telling you to wait up. Iwaizumi was too distracted with the thought of what movies they would play and in what order, while you were just taking up the rare sight of your boyfriend fanboying.

“Rude much. You were the one who invited me out, Iwa-chan! You should at least wait for me to get out of the car.” You thought of apologizing to Oikawa, but before you did, you noticed the mockingly playful smirk on his face. You sighed and turned back around to the building. Even after a year of dating, you still weren’t exactly accustomed to the humour the pair of best friends shared. On multiple occasions, before you got to know Iwaizumi and in turn Oikawa, you had genuinely misjudged their banter for fighting. It was only after you went to a meetup with some of their old team that you really ‘understood’ them.

The warmth that hit you when you entered the building was a breath of fresh air, and you unzipped your jacket and put on your mask as soon as you could. You looked behind you to see the pair still ‘bickering’ between themselves, Oikawa claiming that he looked better in a mask that Iwaizumi did. You smiled at them and waited for them to catch up with you so you could get in line for tickets and popcorn. While you were still a bit irked at Iwaizumi for leading you to think this would be some romantic night, you were quick to forgiveness after seeing the look of pure joy painted on his face.

“Three tickets for the Godzilla marathon, three medium popcorns, three medium drinks-” he paused, looking back to you and Oikawa to see what you wanted to drink. You asked for water and Oikawa told him to ‘surprise’ him- “Pepsi, seven up, and then water.” You watched Oikawa’s face contort in anger. You giggled silently along with Iwaizumi, who had a proud smirk dawning on his face. You knew the Pepsi was for him, he lived on the stuff even though he would yell at people he trained for drinking it, which meant the seven up was supposedly for Oikawa. The only problem with that was Oikawa despised seven up and any sort of sparkling water. Not that he didn’t like carbonated drinks, he just had some weird picky problem with the specific drink. Iwaizumi of course knew this and decided the few seconds of pride in his prank would outweigh Oikawa whining for the rest of the night.

“Sometimes I wonder if you’re a sadist, Iwa-chan,” he turned to you, “I’m so sorry for you, y/n. It’s hard, isn’t it?” You blush at what Oikawa implies in his words and turn away to pick up your food and drink. While you walk away towards the theatre, you can hear Oikawa yelp and know that Iwaizumi gave him a good hit in the head. You loved Oikawa, as a friend of course, but you wondered how Iwaizumi was able to handle him for all his life.

“They say that the movies will be going on until tomorrow. It shocks me how many movies were able to be made about one monster.” You make small talk on your way to your assigned theatre. You all find your seats easily as they’re all socially distanced and not many spaces are taken up. You settle down with Iwaizumi in the middle and you on his left, leaving Oikawa to his right.

“If it gets scary you’ll hold me right, Iwa-chan?” Oikawa coos and sends you a wink over your boyfriend’s back. Now here was what you were expecting. You knew that Oikawa and Iwaizumi were only friends, and you that if he had to choose between Oikawa and yourself romantically, he’d pick you, but Oikawa still seemed to enjoy ‘making you jealous’ which had never worked in the slightest.

“Sure, sure. Whatever you want.” He wasn't paying attention when he responded, but that didn’t seem to deter Oikawa, who smirked at you and winked playfully. You raised your eyebrows and went to respond, but as you did, the lights faded into darkness and the previews started playing.

Throughout the first movie, everything was as normal. If there was an especially gory or ‘scary’ scene in the movie you’d hold on to Iwaizumi and Oikawa would do the same, earning a glare from him. As the second and third movie came around, you became impatient and went for another drink run for yourself and the boys. Oikawa begged you to get him a ‘drink that won’t poison me’ and you obliged.

When you got back, you found Iwaizumi leaned forward in his seat and Oikawa leaning slightly onto his shoulder. You sighed and scooted past them as silently as you could. You rolled your eyes at your boyfriend who was now ignoring you for Godzilla and Oikawa of all people.

When you finally reached the seventh movie of the night, and the last movie, it was a sight to behold. The two of them were leaning into each other on the edge of their seats, and it looked more like they were on a date than you. When the final credits rolled and the lights came back on you waited for the two to say something. It stayed quiet for a moment and you went ahead and clean up the trash. A few seconds after, you heard a high-pitched scream from Oikawa and a grunt from your boyfriend.

You turn to see Oikawa halfway into the next row and Iwaizumi wide-eyed and looking back at you. “Why did you let me cuddle with that asshole?” he talked as if you had betrayed him in the front lines of battle and you couldn’t help let out the monstrous laugh you had been holding since the fifth movie, Shin Godzilla.

“You know, if I knew this was going to be a date between you and Oikawa, I would have just stayed home," you tease. Iwaizumi brushes you off and turns with his garbage in hand (not including his best friend), and leaves a mentally wounded Oikawa and you still trying to contain your laughter.

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butterflyinthewell · 5 years ago

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I’m going to tell you the story of why I love Godzilla.

When I say not to make fun of an autistic person’s special interests, I say it from a place of deep understanding and pain. For me, an autistic SpIn is like being in love, or (for the aro folks out there), it’s like being with your best friend ever and it just feels so comfortable and good.

Sooooo in January my dad mentions wanting to watch KOTM with me. Any excuse to watch KOTM is good, so of course I jumped on it. We watched Godzilla KOTM. It’s the movie I spent all of 2019 talking about from January to May. I got it for Christmas 2019 because mom knew I was going to want it as soon as the first roar hit the screen in the theater. (I took her to see it as a Mother’s Day gift, she liked it too.)

Lemme tell y’all something: when I was a young kid, my dad got me into Godzilla. Starting when I was around 5, he told me the stories of the movies he’d seen (the whole Showa era and Godzilla 1985). So I knew about Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, King Ghidorah, Minya, MechaGodzilla, Gigan, Hedorah, Megalon, etc long before I ever saw them.

My dad said “these are important characters.”

Then he started renting the movies when he felt I was old enough to not be scared by them (age 7 in 1987) and pointed out who was who.

And my first ‘real meeting’ with Godzilla was the same as the people in 1954, when he popped his head over that hill and roared that haunting sound I never forgot, and I was hooked forever.

I loved it. I loved all of it. Dad warned me about the ending of the ‘54 movie, so I wasn’t surprised by it, but I still cried! He got me over it by showing the the rest of them, as if to go “see, he’s okay!” Then dad warned me that Godzilla was ‘the bad guy’ again in Godzilla 1985, but didn’t tell me how it ended. I was reaaaaally upset when he fell into that volcano. I probably cried about it for three days. That scream still hits something in my soul.

My favorite childhood Godzilla movie is Godzilla’s Revenge. It’s the first Godzilla movie I ever owned. I loved Ichiro’s dreams of making friends with Minya, outsmarting his kidnappers and standing up to his bullies. I even tried to pick up Monster Island using a little portable am/fm radio I had as a kid. It didn’t work, all I got was static, but I sure tried! 😋

I wanted to be an island lady like Saeko from Son of Godzilla who could call monsters for help. I wanted to be a cyborg like Katsura, except I would use MechaGodzilla to make friends with Godzilla instead of trying to hurt him.

Anyway...

Dad’s interest in Godzilla stuff kinda dropped away as the 90s hit and my autistic traits began to make me deviate more and more noticeably from my peers. I had seen all the Showa era movies, so he stopped telling stories because there weren’t any more to tell.

My love for Godzilla carried on into the Heisei era and beyond. Dad acted like I should “leave that crap behind” when I kept buying movies and talking about them to him. He didn’t want to watch them with me or look at pictures in the Godzilla Compendium I picked up.

I didn’t stop my enthusiasm for Godzilla, I just stopped sharing it with dad. I kept at it through high school. I sobbed over Godzilla vs Destroyah because I thought that was the end of the franchise, and I can’t even mention what happened to Godzilla in that movie. If you’ve seen it, you know.

In the year 1998 the rumblings for the ‘98 movie started around New Years, so of course I made noise about going to see it. Because GODZILLA, y’all!

Well, dad surprised me and took me to see Godzilla ‘98 when it came out. I had been bugging about going to see it and he kept giving me a hard no, then had me convinced we were going to a baseball game that night instead. I did nothing to disguise my boredom or hurt in the car, and it broke when we pulled up to the theater. Okay, he pulled a fast one on me and he said I did an emotional 180 spin, but it was worth it. (I still like that movie, but I don’t call that creature Godzilla. I call him Zilla or GINO instead.)

Literally right after that my dad would get mad if I talked about Godzilla. He griped that I was “so obsessed with that stupid monster” and that I needed to grow up. I was almost 18, and I had, just not the way HE wanted, I guess...

Godzilla 2000 came out. Dad grudgingly took mom and me to see it, and I finally got to live my dream of seeing a legit Toho Godzilla movie in theaters. I was yelling and clapping (as were other people) and just had a huge blast. In the car, he told me to knock it off when I talked excitedly about what I liked in the movie. He slapped down all talk of Godzilla.

I still continued to be a fan. When more Millennium era movies came out, I grabbed them when I saw them on the shelves. I got everything from Godzilla vs Megaguirus to Godzilla: Final Wars in a little Japanese shop my dad found near where he worked at the time. I was in my early 20s then. I also got some figurines from that store: a Heisei era Mothra, a Heisei era King Ghidorah and a Millenium era (Final Wars) Godzilla. Dad rolled his eyes when I walked out with them in my arms.

And so began his weird pattern of indulging my interest, but getting upset at me if I talked about it. I was discovering the online fandom at this point, so I had another outlet, but still, it used to be our thing, and his behavior really stung.

I only discovered there were more movies in the Millenium era becuse I happened across GMK on HBO and realized I didn’t recognize that Godzilla suit or the setting.

Then I missed the ending because of a very badly timed phone call. But I was like “omg more Godzilla movies...hey dad, can we go to that shop?” (And then I was like a dragon with treasure when I came home....)

I grabbed the two Kiryu movies first because a certain fanfic author in the fandom had written some Mechagodzilla fanfics where Kiryu (Kiryuu in her stories) was sentient and sexy af. The idea of the original Godzilla being brought back as a robot was amazing and that author basically took the idea and ran it to another level. She’s the reason I headcanon the 54 Gojira as Heisei Godzilla’s dad.

ANYWAY, I got all caught up on the Godzilla movies and blew up to a boiling fan girl froth when the 2014 movie got advertised.

I took mom to see that becuse dad’s Parkinson’s had advanced so far that he couldn’t go out much anymore. Mom likes Godzilla movies and sci-fi in general. While she’s not as into it as me, she enjoys them for the entertainment. We both liked G2014, so I got it for Christmas.

We watched it with dad as a family, he said it was okay.

Through 2016 and 2017 I was rattling on about Shin Godzilla. Got that as a late 37th birthday gift because it came out on dvd a few days after my actual birthday. I watched it for the first time with dad, and he complained the whole time and kind of ruined the experience for me, which pissed me off. HE was the one who wanted to watch it with me, now I wish I watched it alone instead.

2019 came, KOTM happened. So that brings me to sitting down to watch it with dad. I was excited see his reaction to the monsters he introduced me to in childhood realized with modern cgi effects and all. I love seeing things that remind me of happy times in my childhood, and I thought those memories were fond for him, too. So I watched, waiting for him to recognize Mothra, Rodan and King Ghidorah.

He said nothing when they came onscreen. I got engrossed in the movie and sort of forgot about it, but when it was over I bounced up and asked, “Wasn’t it cool to see the guys you told me stories about when I was 5?”

I thought back while I waited for him to answer. I thought back on the stories, the fun and the movies.

I thought back on how my love for this character has grown, and how in KOTM it was physically realized in that painful moment when Ishiro Serizawa looks up at Godzilla with such reverence and lays his hand on his snout. I feel like that was Dougherty telling all the fans he sees their love for Godzilla and gives them that one singular, intimate audience with the big guy through Serizawa. Because who wouldn’t want to give him a pat on the nose and thank him?

The director of KOTM understands what Godzilla means to the fans. He understands how they feel and what they want. In my mind he gave it in spades.

But my dad...

My dad, the man who taught me enough to get me into Godzilla forever, looked at me in the eyes and said, “I don’t remember any of it. They’re not that important anyway.”

“These are important characters.” Much younger dad said to much younger me.

“They’re not that important anyway.” Older modern day dad said to older modern day me.

I thought my heart had stopped and my soul fled through the floor. This franchise, these characters he brought to me with such enthusiasm, something that grew into a lifelong love, meant nothing to him. It was as if he gave me a diamond and later told me it was worthless glass to him. Godzilla was and still is a huge part of my life and who I am, and dad acted like this “us” thing I thought we bonded over during my childhood didn’t matter to him.

It’s almost like he expected me to take passing interest and then move on, but because I’m autistic and because I relate to Godzilla so much, my interest turned into love and respect for the character, what he represents and the messages he has sent throughout the years.

Part of who I am is shaped, literally, by Godzilla, something that started because my dad told me he existed. And in a sentence my dad took that root from my childhood and ripped it out because he decided it was a worthless weed.

It’s not my love for Godzilla that was ripped out. It’s the love I thought my dad felt for me when he was telling me all those stories and showing me the movies. I’m sharing this because I love Godzilla, because I love what he represents and means to me, and I thought my dad shared it with me for the same reason. This is a very autistic thing...I’m sure autistic readers can feel my love for Godzilla just by reading this.

I thought my dad did, too, once.

But no. There was no love at all like I thought there was, so I was not pouring my love into an ocean that still existed, I was throwing it into a black hole.

Dad didn’t care to remember Rodan, or Mothra, or King Ghidorah. He didn’t care to remember what all that meant to me during my childhood because he doesn’t and never has cared about my feelings.

He doesn’t care about my feelings.

He wants me to shut up about Godzilla.

I will not.

I love Godzilla. I don’t need dad’s approval anymore. I will turn 40 this year (2020) and there is no stopping what began 35 years ago. The plant that grew around the root dad planted is shaped like me now, and like Biollante I will keep blooming because Godzilla was my first love fandom-wise and that admiration and love for him stands on its own.

Dad no longer has a say.

But, my God, my dad has this remarkable ability to tell me something is important when I’m young and then claim it isn’t so many years later. He’s done it for a lot of things, but hearing him say Godzilla isn’t important after instilling his importance into me at a young age just...gutted me...and it gutted me as much as the time he asked me what I did to make kids bully me when I was being bullied as a teen.

I got bullied because I’m autistic. I existed. He said it was my fault for being that way. I was a newly diagnosed teenager when he said that. It was 1995, ironically, the same year Godzilla vs Destroyah came out.

And I was an adult when he ripped at that root of Godzilla he planted in me.

Godzilla was the last part of my childhood that he hadn’t sunk his abuse into, but he finally did in January of 2020. Now there is no part of my life untouched by his emotionally abusive crap.

It shouldn’t hurt like this. I feel ridiculous to be hurt so deeply, but I can’t keep pretending that I’m not hurt by it anymore.

I will get over it. My absolute love and respect for Godzilla is something my dad can never destroy no matter how much he tries to shit talk about it. I’ve let him ruin so many things, but not Godzilla.

Godzilla will never be a trigger for me. He is an anti trigger. On this day of April 19, 2020, I’m realizing he is the protector my dad failed to be.

To all parents of autistic kids, be careful that you don’t belittle the things you said were important when they were young. Don’t introduce something that becomes a special interest, say it’s important and then belittle it when they grow up.

Even if you don’t think it’s important anymore now, even if you think it’s silly now, even if you didn’t know they were autistic at the time and would dive in like that, it may still be important to them.

It may become their safe place. It may become treasure.

Don’t try to destroy that safety. Don’t treat it like trash.

#actuallyautistic #special interest #godzilla #emotional abuse #gaslighting #dad issues #swearing #ableism #gifs #long post #tw emotional abuse #tw gaslighting

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ericmhe · 3 years ago

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Godzilla Singular Point

I'm not much of a “binger” for the most part but I got the whole series Godzilla: Singular Point watched in about 4 days I think. Let's start positive: I think the 3D models for the monsters work a lot better than most anime 3D models, they're still fairly apparent but it seems like they blend with the rest of the art alright. The designs are mostly fairly good too, there's some ugly ones in there but I kind of don't mind them? Monsters can be ugly sometimes and not just cool looking, a few here and there in the cast doesn't hurt anything. It's nice to see some nods to the more obscure kaiju too, there's a lot of interesting and fun monsters from Toho's old movies and it gets a little tiring to be hit with nonstop Godzilla-Mothra-Ghidorah-MechaGodzilla incarnations every single time there's a new take on Godzilla. I like a lot about the premise, the apocalyptic rise of kaiju around the world as they bring their habitat/environment with them into our world, terraforming it into a world of monsters. It's not new by any means, but it's usually not the approach taken witht the Toho monsters and it's a good excuse to fit a lot of them into a setting quickly. The end credit sequence is pretty great, I hit 'watch credits' every time on my watch. Heck, the whole series might be better if it was more like its own end credits.

I think Godzilla: Singular Point could have been better, but we've also seen worse recently. I've only dabbled in storytelling but I suspect a lot of its problems come from overcompensating, specifically: “Godzilla movies/media are dumb” being met with “Oh yeah, well how about one based on theoretical quantum physics” just didn't work out. I actually think what they use in the series is a fine technobabble excuse for the monsters having powers and durability beyond science, but I also don't feel like kaiju media really needs that excuse. It's fine though, I think the sheer quantity of the technobabble is the biggest problem with it. I've been listening to discussions of theoretical multi-dimensional physics for a while now, so I think I might have been better prepared than average but it's still a chore to get my head around so I know it's going to lose a majority of the general population. One big question I have is why did they give the main characters the wrong interests? Yun, who is into future predictions deals with the monsters, and Mei who is studying theoretical impossible animals deals with the future predicting technology end of the plot... I could get that if the idea was to raise tension by making the wrong people have to work outside their field of expertise, but that's not what happens, they're both pretty good “omnidisciplinary scientist” sorts who don't have much problem learning a whole new field. Honestly they really should have been assigned the other interests though, Yun studying fantastical creature ideas and Mei the future stuff.

While I like the premise and some of the stuff they do with the monsters, there's also a lot that's disappointing – The Kumonga-Megalon-Hedorah hybrids really need some explaining. Why are there three monsters in one species? Just to reference as much old material as possible at once? As far as I'm concerned Anguirus is the stand out star of the series and they kill him far too quickly. The series could also be called a fairly cozy catastrophe too, for the most part the worst thing happening for most people is losing their internet connection, kind of seems like a monster apocalypse should have a bit more than that going on. That said it's not nearly the disappointment that the Polygon Pictures trilogy is, which managed to take the most interesting and unique premise the Godzilla franchise has ever had and do basically nothing with it.

I might give Singular Point something like 6 out of 10, and I think a second season might have enough room for improvement that I'm not against it.

For the heck of it:

Shin Godzilla: The most common criticisms are right (dull, Godzilla has no personality, the humans are more random bureaucrats than characters), but so are most the common praise (topical in its way, punchy with its political critique, holy hell that weapons upgrade on Godzilla). Which one outweighs the other is a simple matter of personal preference. I don't have super strong feelings about it and it will be one of my least re-watched Godzilla movies ever, up with Godzilla's Revenge.

Polygon Trilogy: AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRG. The only things worth watching are Godzilla Earth avenging Godzilla filius and Ghidorah's destruction of the spaceship (wasn't it Atrium or something? I'm feeling too lazy to look it up) but unfortunately there's an awful lot of crap around those bits. Ok, I exaggerate a little but not much. I kind of appreciate how they tried to subvert the classic “your life goals or your love interest” kind of scenario, but she wasn't much of a character so it didn't have much impact to kill her off and the main character is an unlikable jerk too.

Legendary's Monsterverse: Godzilla 2014: Too much of its run time is boring for me to recommend it but the monster stuff is too well done for me to ever dismiss it outright.

Godzilla King of the Monsters: I get why people have a problem with it, but I appreciate the story between Godzilla, Ghidorah, Rodan and Mothra enough to forgive it and it's my favorite of the Monsterverse. I don't have as much problem seeing the monsters through the weather effects as some people seem to, the only one I really can't follow is when Godzilla drags Ghidorah into the Gulf of Mexico. It does cut to the humans too much during the monster fights, but it's also trying to connect the stories. The goal of the human characters lines up with Godzilla's well enough that they can be considered to be on the same side, and that's why we see things like Godzilla charge Ghidorah, then cut away to humans where Ghidorah's heads slam into the earth somewhere in the background. It's fairly flawed, but...

Godzilla vs Kong: Holy shit over-correction much? I think it might actually work better as a stand alone movie than a continuation of King of the Monsters, yet it actually can't because of some elements like the Ghidorah heads. Notice how they say one skull holds the pilot, there's another skull in Mecha Godzilla? - clearly supposed to be the side heads incinerated by Burning Godzilla not the one Godzilla tore off in the Gulf of Mexico – not sure why everyone misses that. ANYWAY, it's a fun movie that gets to the main event as fast as it feels like it can and the monster action is solid. With the one exception that I really hate Godzilla being portrayed as defenseless against Mecha Godzilla – outmatched and needing help is fine, but utterly unable to do anything but get stomped is just not enjoyable to me. As soon as Kong comes to help double team Mecha G it gets a lot better though. - Quick note, why did “Team Kong” see any reason to sic Kong on Mecha G? We the audience know that since the robot is possessed by Ghidorah that once it kills Godzilla it'll go on to wipe out all humanity and anything else it comes across, but does “Team Kong” know it? If Kong knows it, would he care beyond Jia? I mean, it doesn't matter but it does nag me a little bit.

I honestly thing the basic story teased at the end of King of the Monsters in the news reel stuff sounds like a better movie than Godzilla vs Kong turned out to be but I'm fine with what we got for the most part. Except why did they dump all the other monsters? They've come up with all these interesting new monsters and they have Rodan and what-not and they just say they all haven't been seen? It's the most disappointing part of the Monsterverse so far if you ask me.

#Godzilla #Kaiju #Godzilla Singular Point #Singular Point #Godzilla vs Kong #Godzilla King of the Monsters

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draken049 · 6 years ago

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Godzilla King of The Monsters Review

So...the other day I went and finally seen Godzilla King of The Monsters and holy balls was it amazing. I have not been filled with so many different emotions from any Godzilla film before this one. Shin came close but King of The Monster?

...It was beautiful. The whole movie is beautiful. The story is simple, the message is clear and standard for the franchise, the characters both human and monster were amazing. The score was heart wrenching and it makes any fan feel like they are watching a pride and true Godzilla film from the homeland of Japan.

I was sitting in a theater room with only six other people, three couples, all of which had an affection for the franchise and the character of Godzilla. By the time the credits rolled, all of us were clapping and even some, myself included, were crying. IT’S ABSOLUTELY CRIMINAL THAT THIS MOVIE IS DOING POORLY...though...it’s not the movies fault...no. In fact, this is really on the hands of Hollywood and the blatant pacing issue it has. This movie is by definition a definitive summer blockbuster but thanks to Avengers Endgame...-grumble grumble grumble- another awesome movie...-grumble grumble grumble- being THE box office monster that it’s been, there just wasn’t any spare change for the film that is undoubtedly the better film for summer. Then of course there was also Detective Pikachu and John Wick Chapter 3 and Aladdin...just too many large named movies coming out within such a short span. There’s no room to breathe, at all and I believe that among these large movies, they all could have benefit if they were not released on the heels of Avengers Endgame.

Now with my two cents being said, I would absolutely love to point out that this is NOT, I repeat, IS NOT your typical Hollywood movie. It just isn’t and you’d be lying to yourself if you said otherwise. What I saw was a movie made by a devout fan of Godzilla, made for the people who LOVE and CHERISH each film in the franchise. This is a movie that was fun filming, fun creating and it made itself known that this IS a Godzilla movie. If you say that the characters are trash, the plot is trash, or the monsterverse is trash...then I’m sorry, you should just stop watching these movies all together or go back and watch the older movies. Yea, you can have your opinions but they’re wrong, they straight up just are.

Non-Spoiler Territory Ahead

There’s so much this film does right and none that I can see that would make it deserve ill-wanted words. The tone of the movie is excellent. It provides us as viewers with an ever escalating landscape. There’s much more to lose here than there was in Godzilla (2014), that if something isn’t done, we’re going to be in for a world of hurt. The world is affected by the actions of Jonah and his eco-terrorism group to the point that even they would be affected if the source of the problem wasn’t dealt with.

The character dynamics between Emma, Madison and Mark are simplified but nonetheless strong. It’s your typical family member lost, dad becomes a spiraling drunk, mom isolates herself and arguably loses her sanity and the daughter is left with the fallout from both but is forced to be by moms side. There’s much talk and allusion to redemption which is strongly paid off by two parties, even though I think one was less deserving than the other. Jonah has a motive that is much larger than just some action film bad guy and it needs to be known that he only partially succeeds but never fully gets what he wants. This gives him every reason to be the dark human element of Godzilla vs. Kong. Even by the time the credits rolled, you could tell exactly that he was planning something far more dangerous than what we were given. Dr. Serizawa is a penultimate character that is the yin to Godzilla’s yang. We see that he is still a devout believer that Godzilla is the key to balance among the Titans. His interaction and care for the large deity is something to really behold and it absolutely tugs your heart when it comes to giving the big lovable guy a good kick in the nuclear tank.

The monsters themselves are all unique despite only seeing like what? Four new titans? The behemoth(????), the octo-spiderboi, a second female muto, and the large mountainboi. They are each dynamic in a way that they almost encapsulate a piece of cinematic history in the areas if which they appeared which I really wouldn’t put past Michael Dougherty because he is a horror anthology guru. However, the four that really shine above the rest are Rodan, Ghidorah, Godzilla and Mothra.

Rodan; The Fire Demon...such a badass moniker. His initial appearance really draws on his Showa portrayals, being associated with the volcanos that both take and giveth his life. His design is MUAH, perfection. The mix of traditional reptile skin and possible fire feathers really give Rodan a naturalistic but also a unique look for the world of the Monsterverse. I really think he is the most animalistic of the four titular Titans, his actions reflective to that of an eagle or hawk but also as an aggressive bird when Ghidorah finally enters Rodans airspace.

Godzilla; King of the Monsters...a much deserving title for the apex super predator. I was well and truly shocked when it’s revealed that Godzilla is or was worshiped by ancient peoples of an advanced civilization. His mannerisms, animalistic display intelligence and cunning flesh him out to be this thinking creature. His reservations about humanity is just but he develops an inherent trust of humanity thanks to Dr. Serizawa. It’s this trust that makes Godzilla feel like this unsung and much needed hero of the world. His leadership and stature among the worlds Titans seems akin to Aaragorns position when he finally takes up the mantle of king in Lord of the Rings. They both now have lives to look over and keep in line, to be the order and balance that the title of king implies. I want to point out that with the revelation that Godzilla has an actual home and was worshiped, that this is inspired from the Heisei Gamera films where an advanced civilization create Gamera in order to defend them from the Gyoas. All Alpha models of Gamera were sunk to the bottom of the ocean floor, creating this vast landscape of ancient bodies. The feeling there feels identical to the feeling you get when entering Godzilla’s domain.

Ghidorah...The One Who Is Many...Sweet baby Zilla...All I can say is that this Ghidorah, this false king, is by far the most intricate, the most developed and the most critically thinking version of Ghidorah in the history of the franchise. He is not one creature but three and feels like three creatures with one body. Each head thinks and acts independently, the right is the follower but hyper aggressive, more so than the middle head. The right will do what is needed by the middle while the middle head is actively the leader. This one is unique because it looks like he is the one pulling the strings, the one actively strategizing and the one getting things done. The left head, I think is adorable...is liiiike just there it feels like. He’s a crucial part to Ghidorah sure but he seems like that one dog who’s hell bent on barking at you but gets distracted when he sees a squirrel and then all of his attention is on that one squirrel. I love it. I really do because it just solidifies that this Ghidorah has independent thought for each head, allowing it different personalities. His roar is genuinely terrifying but also sounds pretty damn close to the his Toho counterpart in the same way Rodan and Godzilla sound similar to their Toho counter parts.

Mothra...my mothra...GOD WHY IS SHE SO FREAKING PERFECT!?!?!?!?!?! Mothra; The Queen of the Monsters...She is so beautiful, so majestic and hands down THE best monster of the movie for me. What makes her stand out from her Toho incarnations is that this gorgeous lady is actively searching for Godzilla. She doesn’t wish to fight him and as the film suggests, the two have a symbiotic relationship. To me, I believe that the Mosura and Gojira species actively fight together or at the very least come to the aid of one another. Her hovering over the location of Godzilla’s home seems to be odd at best if she were just looking to fight. Now that doesn’t mean I think the two go for booty calls with one another like Barnes thinks. Though, I do feel like this Mothra is highly sentient if not overly tied to the notion of her species naturally fighting alongside Godzilla’s species. She is also a reaallllll scrapper, even though most of her time was spent fighting Rodan. I would have loved loved LOVED to see her fight against Ghidorah at full strength. Her song also plays which is a newly created version of her 1961 musical composition. Any time that she’s on screen and that music plays, I will cry cry cry CRY!!! It’s beautiful in every sense of the word. Her devotion to Godzilla is admirable and her assistance is amazing.

The climactic battle is a sensation of fighting, roars, destruction’s galore, and a visual spectacle. By the end and Godzilla standing tall, your heart will be filled bliss. However, stand tall until the after credits scene!

LITTLE RANT

So I’m not gonna say what’s at the end for the after credits scene, or at least not until I make a Spoiler Ridden Review but I see so many people claim that mechas or a Mecha-Godzilla type weapon will come to fruition. Yea, okay it’d be cool but where the bloody hell are you going to get that much finite resources let alone a power source strong enough to run the damn thing? Just because the military has a flying super carrier doesn’t mean that a Super X weapons system or a Mecha-Godzilla is going to come to the monsterverse any time soon. When this franchise began (the Monsterverse), it was clear that these movies are grounded in a reality where our resources are not unlimited. You have to stop and think about just how much it’d be to cost for these kinds of weapons let alone if it’s going to work. The amount of metals and other resources you need, it’s just unruly. Maybe if we found a way to harvest resources from stars or planets then sure but in the reality of the Monsterverse, that’s just not going to happen.

FINAL VERDICT: 10000000/10 MUST SEEE!!!!

#Godzilla #godzilla king of the monsters #Mothra #Rodan #Ghidorah #Monsterverse #michael dougherty #Toho #legendary pictures

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adamwatchesmovies · 7 years ago

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2017/10/01 - Adam Watches Movies’ Top 20

Before we dig in, I wanted to clarify a couple of things. This is my “Favorite Movies” list, not necessarily the ones I think are the best, but the ones I enjoy or cherish the most. There are so many to choose from that I expect this list to change significantly between now and the next time. My only rule was that I needed to have seen the film more than once. If there’s a title that you expect to see here, it’s likely because I’ve only viewed it that one time… or maybe I still haven’t watched it!

20. Seven Samurai (1954)

A recent addition to this list, I watched The Seven Samurai in order to get prepared for the 2016 remake of The Magnificent Seven. I was blown away and wound up seeing it twice in a row. It may seem impulsive to include it, but it really made an impact on me.

19. 12 Angry Men (1957)

A lot of the pictures on this list could be categorized in the sci-fi, fantasy, or musical category. You will notice that a number of them also share a certain trait with 12 Angry Men in that they’re boiled down to their essence. There’s no fat to trim in this film. You don’t even find out a whole lot about the case the jurors are debating because you don’t need to. It’s all about that immediacy of what’s going on right there and then.

18. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

I vividly remember the first time I saw Singin’ in the Rain. A friend of mine invited me to see it with her in the theatre. I haven’t stopped thinking about Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds since. Like my #16 pick, it’s pure jubilation on-screen.

17. Beauty and the Beast (1946)

Similarly to the next film on my list, this version of the fairytale perfectly brings child-like wonder to life. I love the sets, the costumes, the black-and-white cinematography, the fact that it isn’t ashamed of being what it is. It never smirks or winks at the camera. Beauty and the Beast doesn’t need to; it enchants you from the very first frame. There are many other versions of this tale out there, but don’t overlook this one.

16. The Wizard of Oz (1939)

I literally just re-watched this musical last night. I’ve seen it many times and it never loses its charm. Everyone reading has probably seen this film, but have you REALLY seen it? I’m not talking about bits and pieces on TV with commercial breaks or fleeting glimpses between laundry being folded. To me, The Wizard of Oz isn’t just a movie, it’s a feeling that’s been captured and immortalized on film.

15. RoboCop (1987)

Dark, violent, funny and deceptively smart, this is much more than a story about a cyborg shooting criminals. The sequels weren’t kind to RoboCop and while the remake was ok, it isn’t on the same level as the original. It’s got great villains, many quotable lines, an iconic look and feel… so many of its scenes are permanently imprinted on my brain that this was an easy pick.

14. The Terminator (1984)

I remember the first time I watched The Terminator. I snuck downstairs while everyone else was asleep so that no one would know that I was viewing an R-Rated movie. That was the beginning. Over the years, I’ve flip-flopped between this first chapter in the series and its sequel. In fact, Terminator 2 was “my favorite movie” for a long time. Today, I’m giving my love to the one who started it all.

13. King Kong (1933)

One of my favorite things about this film is that it’s bigger than anyone working on it could’ve imagined. There’s a reason why we’re still talking about this movie today. I love the visuals, the storyline, and that ending; it’s unforgettable.

12. Godzilla vs. Monster Zero (1965)

This could’ve been any number of Godzilla films. I could’ve put anything from the 1954 original to last year’s Shin Godzilla in this spot, but Monster Zero is the one I’m most nostalgic for, the giant monster film I used to watch the most as a kid. There are so many lines from this one that I know by heart and wish I could quote… but how often do you get to slip “The Monster is Zero” in a conversation?

11. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

The most recent film on this list and one of the greatest action films ever made. It’s also beautiful and features surprisingly well-developed characters. This movie goes for it, all the way. There’re no superficial aspects. It’s just blazing action all the way through. I saw it what… Five times in the theatre? and it just keeps getting better.

10. The Iron Giant (1999)

Another childhood favorite of mine, I had the pleasure of watching the Signature Edition on the big screen with some friends when it was re-released in 2015 and it reignited something in me. I’m also fairly certain that I saw this one in its original theatrical run in 1999. It’s got so much heart and so many laughs. I fall in love with every detail of this Brad Bird film every time I watch it.

9. Batman (1989)

Tim Burton’s Batman is not a faithful adaptation of the comic book character. The Joker’s origin is different, Batman’s methods of fighting crime are not consistent with what’s been printed on the page for decades now, the characters’ dynamics have been vastly altered… but there’s something about it that captures the spirit of the character nonetheless. It all builds towards that final, epic shot with Danny Elfman’s music in the background that tells you what this character is all about. You watch this movie and it brings you back to when it was first released. You understand why it was such a big deal. You don’t get that feeling from any run-of-the-mill movie.

8. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

My #2 movie is another horror film, and I love it for its historical value. It’s higher on my list, but it doesn’t frighten me like this low-budget chiller does. When I pop The Blair Witch Project into my player, I’m immediately filled with a sentiment of dread. I don’t want to put my back to the window, I don’t want to go to bed afterward. It’s a film like none other because it doesn’t even feel like a film, it’s real footage of something horrible that happened. It doesn’t matter that I know that isn’t the case, that I know how it ends. The impact never diminishes.

7. Ben-Hur (1959)

1957’s 3:10 to Yuma was in this spot until the last second when I remembered Ben-Hur. How could I forget the betrayal, the galleys, the chariot race, the delicate balance of themes, the tale of vengeance? This list was hard to make and I’m sorry 3:10. You’re great, I love you very much but when a film lasts 212 minutes and never feels long, it absolutely must be placed on the list.

6. X2: X-Men United (2003)

This is how you do a sequel right. I could’ve put several of the X-Men films on this list, but this is the one I’ve seen the most times. I love the way it builds upon what we’ve seen before and raises the stakes.

5. Star Wars (1977)

Surprisingly, I don’t really have nostalgia for Star Wars. I saw the originals as a kid a couple of times and of course saw the prequels when they were released, but my love for it comes from an adult viewpoint. The way this first chapter takes familiar story elements and makes them feel fresh again, the characters, the iconic moments, the things it brought to cinema as a whole is what made me go back to it over and over. Over the years, It’s brought me back to that time that didn’t actually happen but feels like it does, that moment where I first saw the colorful aliens and laser battles and was blown away.

4. Fantasia (1940)

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen Fantasia. As a kid, I loved the Rite of Spring segment. As an adult, it’s the combination of music and visuals that gets me. This would be a great first movie to show to your children. I think it would spark their imagination in the way few films would.

3. The Little Mermaid (1989)

My favorite Disney animated film, at least today. This could’ve easily been Snow White and the Seven Dwarves or Beauty and the Beast on a different day. I remember the moment I truly fell in love with this one. It was in high school and suddenly, something clicked. As soon as I got home, I scoured the shelves for our VHS copy and watched it. My family couldn’t understand why I suddenly needed to view this animated musical, but I sat there and drank it all in. The colors, the details, the character designs, the songs, they all work so well together. Ariel and I both have a passion for collecting and a ferocious curiosity. Maybe that has something to do with why I relate to her so much.

2. Halloween (1978)

When I think I get tired of this film, I find something new to like about it. Like in 12 Angry Men, I love the simplicity of the story. You’re home, alone. There’s a man with a mask and a knife. He’s trying to get you. That’s all you need for a horror story. Even the killer isn’t fancy, it’s just a white face, but if you saw that mask starring at you through the window late at night, you’d wet yourself.

1. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

I’ve mentioned my love for the Universal Monsters before. I could’ve put some of the other films on this list; Dracula and its Spanish Counterpart, The Invisible Man or The Creature from the Black Lagoon but I don’t like any of them as much as I do Frankenstein. Since this one squeaks past it by just a hair, it’s only fitting that it takes the #1 spot. Will it stay there the next time I make this list? I can’t say for sure, but I’m excited to find out.

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ezzydean · 8 years ago

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happy birthday, iwaizumi

“It is time,” Oikawa announced, voice loud in the small building, “for the Traditional Semiannual Birthday Camping Excursion Extraordinare.” He looked around proudly, not even a little upset when he saw no one was actually paying him any attention.

“Is is ‘semiannual’ or ‘biannual’?” Hanamaki asked, leaning heavily against Matsukawa and yawning; unlike most of the others he had needed to be up at just after four that morning to make it to the meeting point. Matsukawa shrugged, nearly dislodging Hanamaki.

“They both mean the same thing really,” Watari answered, “and then biennial means every two years.”

“My boyfriend is so smart,” Matsukawa cooed. Watari flushed a little but mostly just rolled his eyes and let Matsukawa drag him closer and bury his face into the hood of Watari’s sweatshirt.

“You’re making a huge deal out of this, like usual.” Iwaizumi batted Oikawa’s hands away from him, hands that held some sort of shiny sash that Oikawa seemed determined to get over Iwaizumi’s head. “It’s just my birthday.”

“Just your birthday?” Oikawa gasped, smacking Iwaizumi in the face with the sash. “Just your birthday? Is that how you feel when we do this for my birthday too? That it’s just my birthday?”

“You like your birthday,” Iwaizumi snapped back as he tried to catch the sash Oikawa was now using to gesture wildly.

Kyoutani bumped Shigeru’s shoulder and winced in sympathy when Shigeru gulped thickly. “Still recovering?”

“Why did no one tell me Kindaichi could drink that much? Why did you guys let me go drink for drink with him?” He asked between his teeth.

“Because it was his birthday and it was the first time you’ve been back in like three years and we were all having fun?” Kyoutani patted his back gently and ran his hand down Shigeru’s spine. “You know, no one here is going to be upset if you want to skip it. We’ll all be back in a month for Oikawa’s birthday anyway.”

Shigeru considered it, really considered it, and he knew that Kyoutani was right. For all that they might poke some fun at him and tease him a bit if he really didn’t think he could survive the weekend camping trip they’d send him off with promises of lots of photos and checking up when they got back. But Kyoutani just said it. This was the first time he’d been back in years - four and a half years actually, but who’s counting right - and he was done missing his friends’ events.

Even if the event was starting with Oikawa putting a giant sparkly ‘I’m the Birthday Boy’ sash on Iwaizumi before slapping his shoulder and marching out of the small shelter they had met at and into the woods.

“I’m riding this train of chaos and I will see the end destination, you hear me?” He managed to grit out, eyes focused on the giant shining star near Iwaizumi’s shoulder.

“I hear you,” Kyoutani said with no small amount of amusement. “I’ve got extra mouthwash and aspirin in my pack if you need either.” His hand lingered against Shigeru’s lower back for a moment before he stepped away to swing his pack into place and follow Oikawa out of the shelter. Shigeru closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he listened to the others leaving as well. The sudden quiet rushed in on him and he relaxed for a moment until he felt a hand warm on his elbow and his eyes snapped open to peer down into Iwaizumi’s concerned gaze.

“You good?” Maybe it had just been the four years he had been gone, the four years he’s had little to no friendly arm touches and hands warm on his spine and secret smiles, but he can’t help but feel like every touch he’d had the last few days had been lingering.

“I’ll be fine. We better go before Oikawa comes back and drags you out by your sash.”

“Don’t be sassy, Yahaba, or I’ll make you wear this sash.”

“I’m not the birthday boy, though,” Yahaba answered easily as he led the way out of the shelter, “and if you don’t have that sash you know you don’t get any gifts. Oikawa’s rules.”

It only takes a moment for Iwaizumi to follow him and they’re walking shoulder to shoulder by the time they make it to the trees.

—

“This is the last time I go camping with any of you,” Kyoutani was grumbling as Shigeru and Hanamaki stumbled back onto the campsite, arms loaded with firewood. “The last time.”

Shigeru watched, heavily amused, as Iwaizumi teetered precariously on the picnic table bench with one hand on Kyoutani’s shoulder and the other pointing frantically at the ground near the fire pit. Matsukawa and Oikawa weren’t doing much better, having clambered onto the stump a few feet away, and were clinging haphazardly to each other while they tried not to fall off. Watari, predictably, was sitting on the ground laughing. This had obviously been going on for a couple minutes judging by the tears in Watari’s eyes.

“I’m not sure I want to know,” Hanamaki muttered to Shigeru before glancing back over their shoulders. “You suppose if we just move quietly they won’t realize we were even here and we can come back in like five minutes?”

It was a sound plan and Shigeru’s head still hurt just enough that he was debating going along with it.

“You gonna leave your boyfriend clinging to your best friend in fear for his life just like that?” Shigeru asked softly. Matsukawa and Oikawa teetered dangerously on the stump and yelped, clinging tighter to each other.

“You gonna leave your boys all alone?” Hanamaki replied without hesitation. Shigeru watched Kyoutani roll his eyes and pat Iwaizumi’s hand.

“Kyoutani’s got it covered and neither of them are mine.” Shigeru ignored Hanamaki’s quiet “They could be” and turned on his heel. They could use a bit more firewood after all, he decided.

By the time he came back the second time the scene is much calmer. There was apparently a snake, Watari told him excitedly, that Oikawa shrieked was coming straight at Iwaizumi and himself. Then minor chaos had unfolded as he and Kyoutani watched their former senpai scramble for higher ground while they were left to find the snake. Things were going fairly well until Hanamaki came back and launched himself onto the stump with Oikawa and Matsukawa and sent them tumbling into a pile of limbs and shouts and cries of warning about killer snakes. Hanamaki had barely avoided a black eye thanks to Oikawa’s elbow and then Kyoutani has spotted the snake and bent to grab it, knocking Iwaizumi off balance enough that he tumbled to the ground as well.

“And that’s how he got the giant scrape on his chin that Kyoutani is mother-henning him about,” Watari finished with a grin as he settled back against Matsukawa’s shins.

“I’m not mother-henning him. It would just suck to have him get an infected cut like that on his birthday or something.”

“Plus he gets to touch Iwaizumi all gentle and lovingly,” Matsukawa teased as he mimicked Kyotuani’s movements against Watari’s face, a little clumsily with the angle, until Watari bit Matsukawa’s thumb. His voice lowered and he leaned over til his head was between Watari and Shigeru’s. “Just like you wish you could do,” he whispered.

If it had been anyone but Matsukawa, Shigeru would have most likely turned and decked them. But Matsukawa and Watari had been the ones who had sat up with him before he left, the ones he had called every time he had started to waver while he was gone, the ones who had seen him at his worst. The other four might have an idea of his feelings but Matsukawa and Watari knew. So the most he could bring himself to do was shove Matsukawa’s face away and fall onto his side away from them with a groan.

—

Iwaizumi sat near the fire with his new hedgehog plushie in his lap - how Oikawa had managed to hide that huge thing in his pack none of them had figured out - with Kyoutani stretched out in a chair next to him tapping his foot against Iwaizumi’s every once in awhile. Matsukawa had presented him with a air-horn that had ‘Oikawa-Away’ scrawled across the can with little pouting Oikawa’s drawn all around it. Hanamaki had tossed him a box with “Extra Strength Growth Candy for Aces” printed on it that had been filled with candies. He was perfectly content, or that’s what he told the others as they had gotten ready for bed. The night was ticking towards it’s end and soon it wouldn’t be his birthday anymore.

“So did you get me a gift,” he asked Kyoutani playfully. Shigeru was curled up in his own chair on Kyoutani’s other side, eyes glazed and distant as he watched the flickering flames.

“Shinji and I kind of went in on one together for you.” Shigeru wondered when exactly it was that Kyoutani and Watari became Kentarou and Shinji to each other. Wondered what else he had missed in the last four years since he left. Wondered, not for the first time, if it had been a dumb choice, the wrong choice to leave.

“Together? It’s not supposed to be anything extravagant, Kentaoru,” Iwazumi scolded playfully.

“I know, Hajime. But believe me. I’m pretty sure you’re gonna love it. We both are.”

Shigeru had thought about giving something whimsical to Iwaizumi like the volleyball plush or the Godzilla keychain he had seen at the airport. Or something at least a little practical but still silly like the little pocket knife with the pink hearts on it at the train station. In the end the only thing he could think of was nothing more than just showing up. Which had been fine. There was no rule about bringing gifts or any expectation to. He just wished he could have done something to make Iwaizumi smile the way Oikawa had or laugh the way Hanamaki had.

He was wrapped up enough in his thoughts that he barely registered Watari stumbling back out of Matsukawa’s tent and digging into the one Kyoutani and Iwaizumi had set up as their own for a moment before humming happily and carefully making his way to Shigeru. He wondered if Watari would actually be sharing his tent tonight or if he and Matsukawa had kicked Hanamaki out. Watari’s fingers digging into his sweatshirt and latching onto his wrist pulled him out of his memories half a second before Watari pulled Shigeru out of his chair. He followed along as Watari yanked him past Kyoutani and shoved him forward.

It took him a moment to register that he had just landed in Iwaizumi’s lap and by the time he does Iwaizumi’s already shifted the hedgehog plushie to the side and carefully slid his arm around Shigeru’s waist to keep him steady.

“Happy birthday, Iwaizumi,” Watari declared with a grin on his face. Then he turned around and made his way cheerfully back to Matsukawa’s tent.

“My gift from you and Watari?”

“That was less subtle than he suggested and I agreed to,” Kyoutani grumbled, halfheartedly throwing his empty water bottle towards the tents. Shigeru wanted to pull away, to yell, to growl at them. But Iwaizumi wasn’t pushing him away or upset. He was actually shifting to accommodate Shigeru’s weight and settling Shigeru closer to him. Kyoutani was looking at them both fondly enough as well and Shigeru let himself hope for just a moment. “But yes. Yahaba is our gift to you. More or less. I was just going for bringing him back and maybe suggesting you guys go on a date. Shinji insisted that shoving you together and demanding you kiss things out was the better option.”

Shigeru seriously considered smothering Watari in his sleep. At least until Iwaizumi laughed softly and pulled Shigeru a little tighter against him.

“And what does my ‘gift’ have to say about this?”

“I might have to kill my friends,” Shigeru stated even as he shifted all the way down into Iwaizumi’s lap. Then he turned and pressed a kiss to Iwaizumi’s cheek, ignoring the flush on his own and Kyoutani’s hand reaching out to ruffle his hair and run a comforting knuckle down his spine. “But happy birthday, Iwaizumi.”

#haikyuu #iwakyou #iwaizumi hajime #kyoutani kentarou #yahaba shigeru #iwayahakyou #background #WataMatsu #and #OiMakki #watari shinji #hanamaki takahiro #matsukawa issei #oikawa toorou #happy bday iwa #hq writing #IwaKyou fic #IwaYahaKyou fic

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its-just-like-the-movies · 7 years ago

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Date Night!: Death Note (17, F)

I think part of the reason it’s so much harder to really analyze a perfect film than a perfectly shitty one is that a great film leaves you wondering how they did it. What geniuses had the decision to write that score, to edit in this style, to write that character in such a way, to interpret them so fully? I can’t imagine how much time I’ve spent wringing my hands at Annette Bening in 20th Century Women, trying to understand Dorothea Fields as a creation, as a conscious work of art by way of multiple collaborators as well as the actress playing her, amidst a film that feels utterly human and alive, and without seams in any way. I bring up this film here because I had this thought watching Adam Wingard’s disgusting, dull take on Death Note only a few nights ago. You may be asking “Why is it that both of your Date Night pieces have been centered around demonstrably monstrous acts of garbage?” and I say wait a minute, we’ve seen good things. One day I’ll talk about Shin Godzilla. But that’s just me postponing the inevitable. Tommy and I, and our very good friend David, sat down on the first of September and decided to watch a train wreck that was even worse than we could have imagined. It hasn’t just been whitewashed, but striped of all the source material’s morality and mythology, about as far removed as one could be from anything in the original series while vaguely needing to use certain character names and still actually having a death note, and Americanized in the worst possible way. But it steals baldly from other films and makes it central character completely unbearable while everyone else is vaguely more interesting and doomed to the sidelines of the story. No one wanted this film, necessarily, but is it too much to ask that it be good?

The first immediate example we get of the film’s selective pilfering of its Japanese source material is that our central character is named Light Turner. It’s not in any way a typical American name, especially for white boys with dye-blond hair, but because the source material starred a dude named Light, why not? They couldn’t let that central character stay Japanese, though, because this is America, so it has to be about a white dude and his white girlfriend trying to dodge the world’s greatest detective, a young black man who is still called “L”. The white soon-to-be girlfriend is named Mia, and we know that she is Serious and Not Like Other Girls Or Whatever because we see her looking Hardcore and Bored and Over It during cheerleading practice, a brunette in a sea of blondes, who finally just starts smoking rather than letting the Other Girls catapult her in the air. This is probably because they wouldn’t hurl her into the sun itself, which is the only thing Hardcore enough for her to join. And we know Light is Hardcore and Over It but Still Has Morals because we see him doing another student’s homework and later trying to save another student from the most college-graduate-looking motherfuckers who ever decided to teleport from the 90’s to now and bully someone.

It’s almost too easy to tear down this shambling mess of a film. Wingard shoots Ryuk as though the filmmakers either couldn’t afford to make him look presentable or were just embarrassed to look at him. Light is a terribly bland protagonist, made even blander by the far more interesting sociopathic tendencies of said soon-to-be girlfriend Mia and the truly bizarre spectacle of Wingard’s remodeled L. This version of L is at least someone interesting to watch, even if it’s in such a conventional way as to have almost no resemblance to the original version of the character. Mia, on the other hand, is only altered insofar as her obsession with Light is really just an obsession with the death note itself, and a desire to kill off people more indiscriminately than he does. There’s something deeply uncomfortable about how Mia and Ryuk are eventually aligned as the villains of the piece for lacking a moral compass, especially when Light’s feels superficially arbitrary and utterly dull, and even moreso given that Mia’s eventual betrayal of Light feels like some version of “bitches be crazy”, but both are still the most captivating characters on the screen. If Ryuk has almost no real reason to be there after his introduction, Willem Dafoe’s self-satisfied line readings make the character a welcome presence. That this character egs on Light to commit his first killings was perhaps the biggest sticking point to David early on, given the manga version’s role as an excited but impartial audience surrogate more than anything else, but his presence is still entertaining. Dafoe’s reading of the line “Humans are so interesting!”, one of the few moments where Ryuk got an actual close-up, was also the only actual chill I got during the whole 100 minutes, though credit must partially be given to my shock that any line from the manga - let alone one of its best, in the early going - even made it into the film.

My previous interactions with the Death Note media empire is having gotten partway through the manga and the anime dub in early high school, losing interest a little while after the death of a major character, though not necessarily because that character died. Maybe it felt like the end of the series, or maybe I just straight up lost interest, or moved on to a different property. That being said, I still remember Death Note and its characters fairly well, and certainly well enough to know how butchered this abominable film was. It’s astonishing how much Wingard tries to alter these characters away from any resemblance to their source material, but it brings up what strikes me as the largest question I have about this film, and all the grossest politics and connotations I can think of surrounding the terms “whitewashing” and “Americanizing”. Of course America’s version of Death Note had to star a white boy in the lead role, because Hollywood can’t just have a leading character of color for no reason at all. Of course he had to be saddled with a faux, crummy version of “morals” with a faux-tragic backstory behind his killings while his girlfriend is giving the depravity that made the original so noteworthy and framed as the eventual Big Bad for it. Mia Sutton is perhaps the only character Death Note has going for itself, a genuine female sociopath on film who barely seems motivated by her hubby-in-crime and is more than willing to ditch him once he gets cold feet. Apparently Wingard credits Mia as having more of Original Light’s traits instead of Misa Amane’s, which makes sense to think about but speaks plenty about Wingard’s seeming disinterest in actually adapting his source material. I kept thinking about The Hateful Eight’s Daisy Domergue, featuring another case of villainous characters whose only point of agreement is that the lone lady of the bunch is the worst of them all, though there her crimes are left mainly vague, her threats treated like bluffs once she has the room to say them rather than getting smacked around by her walrus-moustached captor. It’s the film’s most toxic element, one that I’m not convinced Jennifer Jason Leigh’s performance makes the right decisions about in portraying her. The Hateful Eight is also a much better film than Death Note - what film isn’t? - albeit with its own, significant flaws, but in Death Note Mia’s crimes and the crimes of her allies and enemies are all equally defined, because the film is so awful it needs her amorality if only to give the viewer someone compelling to root for, as my squad saw it, because Margaret Qualley commits to her character and makes us sad to see her go. I don’t mean to imply that Qualley is a better actress than Leigh, nor is her performance necessarily stronger in these respective films. But sometimes mere competence in a shitty film is easier to like than a commendable misfire in an uneven one, and Qualley’s work is one of the few umbrellas we can run under in this heaving shitstorm of a film.

I truly don’t know how to engage with L, who seems like the most conspicuous victim of Wingard’s rewrites. LaKeith Stanfield is clearly giving his all to the performance, and if you told me he was the only person on set who’d ever read the manga I’d believe you in a heartbeat. But all the intrigue of his work, the intensity it achieves in certain moments, is drowned out in how overly mannered this character is. Repeatedly L is seen sloppily eating gummy bears ascribed with ingredients that enhance thinking capabilities, rather than strawberry shortcake because it’s fucking delicious, that’s why. Twitchy behaviors are augmented by the character’s complete lack of chill, rather than the naturally super-intelligent, laid-back L the manga gave us, one in terrible physical shape and complete physically incompetence. Here, L gets a chase scene by car and by foot, and brandishes a firearm. Here, L gets a traveling Victorian set to be imported into the middle of the San Diego Police Department’s office area. At least he still gets to keep his own brand of amorality, perfectly content as he is to use some criminals as bait to see where “Kira” is based, but he’s not the savvy liar and manipulator detective of yore. This character is conventionally compelling, but perhaps the most emblematic case of Wingard’s seeming desire to write a Death Note film that doesn’t actually resemble any previous Death Note property. Who knows why this character was cast with a black actor in a shocking white version of San Diego - or even if there was a “reason”, and Wingard just liked Stanfield’s ideas about the character - but the spectacle of him being placed in a chokehold by SDPD chief Light’s Dad was easily the grossest thing Death Note had in store. I can’t help but wonder what Stanfield really saw in this opportunity, how much he got out of it, and what the disparity is for having highlight roles in the best and worst horror films of 2017.

And then there’s Light, remixed from a type-A, grade A model student into an angsty loner who has literally nothing going for him but a wonky dye job and being lucky enough to get a handheld killing machine. Putting a hat on the guy makes him instantly the blandest man alive, and he as much as anyone else is shorn of the traits that made the character such an interesting protagonist. Yes, Mia gets so many of Light Yagami’s traits, but can Light Turner have anything going for him? Can he not nearly shit himself once Ryuk (in such a bitchy spectacle of an arrival) storms onto the scene? Can he not have a motivation so forgettably stitched on the film all but abandons it twenty minutes in, and can his morals actually be interestingly complicated instead of bland, Americanly contrived? Nat Wolff’s Light, possibly the worst performance of the year, is such a guileless goon that his last-act transformation into a criminal who’s actually capable of planning out a long con to save his own life and kill one of his enemies is easily the least believable part of the film. It’s astonishing how much the want of having Evan Peters and Emma Roberts in the lead roles is present in how Light is styled and in how much Margaret Qualley just fucking looks like a less actively bitchy version of Emma Roberts. There’s even a little card that says “Normal People Scare Me” in the American Horror Story font in Light’s locker, like some emo kid in 2011, which gets to the heart of this character’s deep mischaracterization. Why make this kid into a Tate Langdon-type who’s so blatantly angry at the world it’s honestly shocking his father takes as long as he does to realize his son is a fucking mass murderer? How is it in any way a bold, difficult statement that the valedictorian can be a sociopath, that kids with ostensibly no real problems can also want to end the world themselves? There’s a lot I didn’t like about the fourth season of AHS but at least it gave us an emblem of corrupted white, heterosexual male privilege and prejudice that this film just can’t recognize, or won’t.

A funny, somewhat poignant, and very quick moment in Okja sees a character flash a newly made tattoo on his arm that says “Translation is Sacred”. Death Note is not just an abominable act of translation, but of adaptation, of fidelity to a source material’s characters and themes. Outside of its vaguely compelling supporting cast, a lot of Death Note feels haphazardly cobbled together from a multitude of sources and bad ideas all meant on making the film more palatable to an audience that only wanted this film because the source material was so rich, most notably that killings in the Death Note seem to be primarily carried out by Final Destination, Rube Goldberg spectacle-type accidents, rather than simple, mundane accidents. Why make a Death Note film if you’re not going to make it resemble Death Note at all? It feels late in the game to say that I’m not fundamentally against molding source material to suit an adaptation, especially with something as dense as Death Note into a feature film under two hours. But there’s not a single alteration that this film makes to the material that helps it in any conceivable way, no small high point worth the heaps of garbage you have to sift through to get it. It’s not so much a misfire as a willful rejection of any sharp edges or idiosyncrasies that made the original property the hit that it became. It’s also, hopefully, the kind of misfire that kills a hoped-for sequel dead in its tracks. If there’s one thing we can do to reckon with the fact that this shambling corpse of a film exists, the best thing we as a viewing audience and as people who want adaptations of ambitious, international properties can shout from the rooftops that hypnotized FBI agents are leaping off of like synchronized divers. We liked them for a reason, and if you shear off that reason to be more appealing, all you’re left with is a boring white boy nattering on about his schemes in a hospital bed, outshone by a demon barely in focus, and failing in every way to live up to that demon’s last, great line. In the world of Adam Wingard’s Death Note, humans aren’t interesting. They’re cardboard cutouts of characters that aren’t tarnished by association, but shine a little brighter in comparison. You couldn’t ask for a less ambitious take on this property, no one did, but we got in anyways, and if no one will bother to learn from it, then all we can do with this maddening pile of shit is heave it straight into the sun and hope it burns into an even greater state of nothingness than the film has achieved just by existing in this neutered state.

#death note #my posts #my reviews #date night #this 1s 4 u bb

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smokeybrandreviews · 6 years ago

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Smokey brand Movie Reviews: Coronation

First review of June, and it’s not even a real review. It’s just gonna be me fanboying for a little bit. Anyway, Godzilla: King of the Monsters was f*cking amazing! Absolutely outstanding! I can’t review this movie without bias. I love the Godzilla franchise. It’s one arm of my childhood trilogy; Transformers, Godzilla, and Spider-Man. It takes a lot of terrible for me to dislike anything in these franchises (or just Michael Bay) so you have to take this rant as more fanboy gushing than a legitimate critique. As such, this won’t follow my usual format. Instead, here’s a bunch of stuff i noticed while watching this incredibly epic flick.

The scale of this movie was absurd. In my review of Aladdin yesterday, i mentioned the choice on how to shoot that film, shrunk the scale. Goji is almost a diametric opposite to that! This thing is massive in expanse. It feels like those old timey, 1930s sagas. This is Ben-Hur with a three-headed, space dragon and the King of the Monsters.

The Oxygen Destroyer ended up killing Serizawa! That sh*t was dope! There was this whole homage to it and i loved every second. Ken Watanabe, as always, steals every scene he’s in. Unfortunately, this was his last rodeo in the Monsterverse. Still, he went out like a boss.

Everyone of the Titans SOUNDED accurate. I was surprised when Ghidorah did his little rattle screech. It made my fanboy heart skip a beat!

The human cast of this thing, while decent to great, is superfluous overall. They don’t do anything and you’re never invested in any of them. They are tools used for exposition dumps and that kind of sucks. It’s like, in the 5 years since this last one, no one could figure out how to make the actual people, people. I mean, their performances were good but what they HAD to performs, was barely a script.

Like, most Goji flicks are just framing devices for violent, monster destruction but the best ones have that human element is spades. Goji vs. Mothra, Goji vs Biollante, Goji 1954, the first part of Goji 2014 until Bryan Cranston got killed in one of the most notorious bait-and-switches in cinematic history, and Shin Godzilla. KOTM did not have that.

What it did have was some of the most visceral, brutal, violent monster battles, yet. America might not know how to adapt nuance and subtlety when they remake foreign films but, what we DO get right is the destruction. we good at violence, and this delivers that in spades.

Vera Farmiga’s plan is very Thanos-esque but real stupid.

The second they said Monster Zero was off the books, i knew Vera was the traitor. Literally no one else did until she f*cking called them and told them. These are scientist and intellectuals but no one could do that math, apparently.

Where the f*ck was Kong?

Spaking of the Kaiju, the Titans, these new designs are GLORIOUS! I hated the Muto, they were corny and disappointed immediately but, at the same time, American adaptation of foreign property. It was always going to suck. But these new Kaiju? Nice. I don’t know what any of their names are, but them things is pretty legit.

The Big Four (Mecha-Goji is still absent, much to my dismay but soon. maybe. Hopefully?) on loan from Toho, though, they got the glamor treatment! Ghidorah, Rodan, and Mothra were all expertly updated to make sense. Specifically Mothra. I always though she was mad lame because, i mean, have you seen Mothra? Not in this one. No, that American penchant for murder really made her presence threatening. Even when she was a larva, she was horrifying.

The Hollow Earth route is mad corny but it makes sense. I think Middle Earth is a decent reason for why no one knew these thing were a thing. There’s a lot there to deconstruct if cats moving forward want to. By that, i mean if Toho wants to. Please, Toho, WANT TO??!

Millie Bobby Brown was interesting to see outside of Stranger Things. She has talent, for sure, but i think she needs to pick better vehicles for herself. This is a major franchise that will probably open the same amount of doors that Finn got with the first IT, which is good because she was crazy limited in what she was allowed to do within the confines of this script. She had a number of spotlight, emotional, scenes but they all felt forced and inorganic. Hopefully, she’ll get offers that will allow her to properly act out of this.

There are two distinct songs that are integral to the Goji mythos and they get a bit of that glamor treatment as well. I lost my sh*t when they started playing. The guy next to me was a huge Goji fan, too, and when that heavy brass started croaking,he literally started crying. I know them feels, bro. I know them feels...

F*cking Burning Godzilla, man! Everyone said nah but this was Burning Goji, right down to the nuclear meltdown.

I don’t know how you follow this. There’s no way Kong is anywhere near the threat Ghidorah was. Like, Space Goji and Destroyah are the only two kaiju that can be considered equal to the fallen King and Toho hasn’t given the green light on either. I suppose they will after this thing makes some loot but we’ll see.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters is f*cking awesome! If you’re a fan of Goji, you’ll love this. If you’re a fan of tokosatsu, you’ll love this film/ If you’re a fan of big budget disaster films, sci-fi cataclysms, or massive summer blockbusters, you’ll love this film. If you’re looking for an Oscar worthy performance from any of the actors or a heartfelt drama, pass on this one. I loved it and, of course, give it the highest of my recommendations but i understand that this is a little bit of a niche genre. Do yourself a favor and give it a chance. I think it’s a pretty strong SFX extravaganza.

#Godzilla: King of the Monsters #Godzilla #Goji #Gojira #Smokey brand Movie Reviews

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smokeybrand · 6 years ago

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Smokey brand Movie Reviews: Coronation

Everyone of the Titans SOUNDED accurate. I was surprised when Ghidorah did his little rattle screech. It made my fanboy heart skip a beat!

Vera Farmiga’s plan is very Thanos-esque but real stupid.

Where the f*ck was Kong?

F*cking Burning Godzilla, man! Everyone said nah but this was Burning Goji, right down to the nuclear meltdown.

0 notes

reg-reviews · 8 years ago

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Train to Busan - Remembering the Wheel

Train to Busan was my favourite film of last year. Not just my favourite Korean film; not just my favourite genre film - it was without any doubt in my mind my favourite film of 2016. Before I bought my ticket I hadn't heard any hype, hadn't seen the trailer, and literally all I knew about it going in was that it was a Korean zombie movie (which should be enough in anyone's book). So it's fair to say I wasn't expecting to have my mind blown as much as it was when I sat in my seat. But blown my mind was, to the point where I seriously considered standing in my seat and applauding when the credits finally rolled. No, seriously.

Now, naturally I was in a serious rush after that first viewing. Looking back now, it's possible that while a significant part of that was the quality of the film, some may have been the excitement of discovering something new that I hadn't heard anyone else talking about – not my friends nor any film buffs or reviewers I followed. There's something to be said about being The First in your circle to discover something amazing, as well as the hope that you'll inspire others to seek it out and the satisfaction in hearing their approval. But there's also something to be said about staying power, and when I started to come down off the high I began to wonder if I should dare a second viewing. Would it be a film that reinforces my love on a second viewing, like The Spectacular Now, or would the roller coaster be to some degree less exciting once I knew all of its twists and turns ala Snowpiercer?

As you may have guessed, I was pleased beyond measure to find it to be the former. If I was surprised Train to Busan made me cry the first time I watched it, I was astounded to find myself crying again for round two. And I guess that’s when I began to wonder. I've seen a lot of the tropes in many films before, but why had they worked so well in this film, yet fell flat in so many others attempting the same? Why could I find myself remembering every character and dramatic moment in, of all things, a zombie movie? Over the many long, wearisome months between the film's cinematic run and its (thank God) eventual Blu-ray release, I found myself mulling over it in my mind, and now after watching it again, I feel compelled to get some kind of attempt at an analysis out of my system.

I should admit from the get go that I did not study film at University, and that my relatively limited knowledge of film technique comes primarily from various Internet essayists (both text and video). So I'm in a somewhat difficult position – I'm convinced the film demonstrates amazing storytelling, but I'm far from an expert in deeply analysing them. The main reason I feel compelled to even try is, well, I can't find any kind of in-depth analysis of the storytelling in this film. Hell, I can't really find any analysis at all. I mean, without looking, I can guarantee there are some fairly complex analyses of recent films like La La Land, Moonlight, and even genre movies like Arrival and Shin Godzilla, and they're all deserving to their own degrees, but I'd easily consider Train to Busan as worthy of such discussion. So, since I can't find anything to help me understand why this film worked so well, I'm left to try and get my own thoughts down and attempt to work it out for myself.

When I initially started this piece, I was going to keep the spoilers to a minimum. That plan will go out the window by the end, but for the first few paragraphs at least I'm going to focus primarily on the clip below. For context, it takes place about a third of the way through the film after the passengers have disembarked from the zombie-infested high-speed train, at a station they believe is safe from the infection. As an aside, I love that this clip is available on YouTube. Not only do I feel it perfectly encapsulates everything I love about this film, but the lack of subtitles (a feature I wish were available on the Blu-ray) and no familiarity of the Korean language allows for a complete focus on the visual storytelling on display.

For arbitrary reasons, let's start with why I cared about all the characters so much. While it must be mentioned that the casting is amazing, the actors all charismatic, and the costume designs are visually distinct and striking, I feel there's more to it than that. If that was all it took, then I why did I care so much more for the characters in Train to Busan than those in a film with equally strong examples of those attributes, like The Force Awakens? There are vague terms I could throw around like "flawed", "likeable", "realistic" or even "badass", but I guess if I were to do a post-viewing analysis as to why I found these characters compelling, I think it comes down to a little bit of visually demonstrated personality, a little bit of understanding character behaviour, and a feeling sense that the characters are driving the story while remaining true to themselves.

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Let's look at the clip above. Now, at first glance it would be easy to see this as just everyone running away from zombies, which in a way it is. But to paraphrase a quote or idea I once heard somewhere that's stuck with me (though for life of my I can't remember if it was in a storytelling, inspirational, or political context, weirdly enough), "We are not our situations – we are how we react to our situations". And that's exactly what's on display in that scene – yes, everyone is running away from a horde of zombies, but their distinct personalities and psychologies are evident in HOW they're reacting. The degree of their emotional responses, their body language, and especially who they prioritise (whether themselves or others) speak volumes about each of them.

Let's get more specific and look at the main cast of characters one by one. We first see Sang-hwa in the blue jacket descending on the escalator. He displays an immediate reaction of panic and fear upon seeing the oncoming zombie horde, but he follows this up with a (relatively speaking) calm and coordinated move of lifting his pregnant wife (Seong-kyeong) over onto the stairs before following himself. Later we see him risking his own life by charging to attack a zombie before it grabs the little girl Soo-an, and sticking around to hold the doors allowing the survivors more time to escape. So, on paper this sounds like he's a generic hero, but his facial expressions and body give him some more depth. Sure, he looks scared and concerned, but you can also see hints of frustration and perhaps even anger there, which I think is also expressed in the way he punches the zombies almost out of spite and annoyance. This reinforces earlier and later scenes which demonstrate his short temper, and can even be seen in the way he hurries the Homeless Man out of the way, and when he calls out to the business man Seok-woo to hurry up (hell, in the subtitles he calls him "Asshole"). As an aside, I've seen some websites claim Sang-hwa is meant to be a professional martial artist, but I don't agree. The actor who plays him is a mixed martial artist in real life, so I believe they may be projecting those attributes onto the character. If anything, to me the fighting looks scrappy, raw, and full of anger and annoyance, which feels a lot more appropriate for the character.

As for Seong-kyeong, while we don't see as much in this particular sequence, we can get more than just "pregnant wife" from her character. She too maintains a constant look of fear and panic, naturally, but like her husband she remains relatively focussed and in control. We see her run towards her husband and Soo-an, focussed primarily on getting the latter to safety. Before descending the steps to the station, we see her check out the window, showing her intelligence and attentiveness (also seen quickly after they're on the platform and she's looking around to ensure the coast is clear, whereas most everyone else is running in a blind state of panic). Soon after, we see them pause temporarily upon seeing the zombie that's fallen between the two elderly ladies, then move TOWARDS one of the ladies to help them, further demonstrating both being selfless. But even in this brief scene we see she may not be so perfect, namely in her reaction when the Homeless Man blocks the door. She clearly hesitates, perhaps worrying that letting him in would let a zombie in too (perhaps even worried he's become a zombie), and after she opens the door for him she steps back with a look of disgust on her face (which wouldn't be the only time themes of classism are brought up in the film).

Now let's look at Soo-an's father, the business man Seok-woo. As extra context for this scene, the reason he, Soo-ann, and the Homeless Man are on this walkway instead of descending with most of the others is because Seok-woo called a business associate in the area (listed in his phone as a "lemming" indicating both his position in the corporate hierarchy and his attitude towards those beneath him) to find out a way to avoid the quarantine they were all heading for (The Homeless Man overheard him on the phone). We first see him talking to his daughter, like he's trying to reassure her, before he walks towards the military officer across the walkway. But this isn't a typical "Everything is going to be okay, I'll be right back" type of reassurance – it's incredibly brief and detached, as evident when he immediately starts running away while Soo-ann visibly wipes tears from her eyes (tears shed because she was upset at her father's selfishness) and the camera zooms back to emphasise her feeling of abandonment. But while he may not care very much about Soo-ann's feelings, he clearly cares about her – as soon as he realises things have gone to shit, he immediately looks back and runs towards her. As for aspects of his character, as well as the business attire (which I should stress he didn't even really need to wear that day), his default expression of fear comes across as desperation and stress, and as when he's called over towards the glass doors by Sang-hwa he doesn't even consider helping anyone else on his way, only himself. We also see he's not a violent or aggressive person, perhaps exemplified by the fact he literally tried to fight off a zombie using a book.

Rounding out the rest of the cast (besides Soo-ann, whom I think I more or less covered across the previous entries), the Homeless Man is clearly a clumsy, panicking, even somewhat cowardly man (seen not just in his facial expressions and limp, but also in how he doesn't stay and help secure the glass doors), he's not completely selfish as evidenced by his brief assistance of Seok-woo with his coat. Yong-guk (the young male baseball player) is seen urging Jin-hee (his female friend) to escape, the latter hesitant to leave (and all of this is clearly told through maybe 3 seconds of body language), both showing their selflessness by his helping with the glass doors and her assisting others into the train. And finally we have the elderly business man Yon-suk, who is clearly not only scared and desperate but completely selfish. While he appears to grab someone and help them when they see the horde, this is only because that man was the train driver and hence somebody useful to him. Though this may come across as thoughtful, once he's on the train he hysterically grabs the train employee in a desperate plea to get the train moving, showing he only cares about his own safety. Then later once the door is closed does it again but more threateningly, even going so far as to shove aside Jin-hee when she objects.

As well as the above-mentioned visually-reinforced character traits, each character has a consistent psychology throughout. You constantly understand why each character behaves the way they do in every scene, so it never feels like a character is acting inexplicably or "stupidly" for the sake of raising the tension (unlike, say, the more recent Alien films). Even the arguable villain of the piece, Yon-suk, feels all too human and in a way pitiful, despite him acting consistently selfish and destructively.

So, that's enough about visual characterisation for now, so let's try and analyse some of the other storytelling techniques in this one scene (again, I'll stress I'm somewhat limited in my knowledge here, so bear with me). If there's one thing I'm a sucker for, it's a film with great editing. Hell, I'll admit that The Accountant is a bad film, but I thoroughly enjoyed the hell out of it because the editing was so damn good. In any case, Train to Busan is no exception. Even setting aside vague notions of the rhythm of scenes, and appropriate length of shots to let the emotional beats play out, there's just some solid cuts going on here. One of my favourite examples is the quick close up shot of Sang-hwa reacting to the horde before panning outwards, allowing the audience to become more invested in the situation by focusing on a personal reaction amidst the chaos. Another is right after the zombies attack the soldier pleading for help on the walkway. We pan from the Homeless Man to Seok-woo, cut to a close-up of him from the opposite angle turning around, then cut to where he's looking (his daughter waiting as commanded while chaos ensues behind her), then cut to his feet starting to run. It's simple but elegant motivated editing – seeing a person looking a direction and then cutting to their point of view – but it works.

Another of my favourite little techniques in this scene in the use of slow motion. It's common to see slow motion in other films used to make an action sequence seem more exciting or give it an epic feel, but here (like in its rare use throughout the rest of the film) it's used to emphasise the panic and desperation, mimicking what happens when the adrenaline kicks in (along with the sound drowning out). And like with one of the previous editing examples, it allows the audience to focus on another personal situation amongst the chaos, and also give us time to take in all that's happening in what is for the characters a short amount of time. As a cherry on top snapping back to real-time when the immediate danger is briefly alleviated with Sang-hwa's elbow gives that strike additional weight.

While it's hard to pin this down to a single technique, I must also really praise the film's sense of geography. Whether it's something vague like genius storyboarding or the above-mentioned motivated editing or what have you, you really do have a strong sense of where everyone and everything is in relation to each other in every scene and shot. Another classic example of this idea: the station shoot-out in The Untouchables. This may not seem relatively important, but as a recent example my enjoyment of the recent Free Fire was hindered because I was frequently confused as to the relative locations of all the characters. Now, you could argue that this sort of spacial awareness is harder to get across in a more open environment like an abandoned factory than a more two-dimentional setting like a train carriage, so it may be an unfair comparison, but I still feel that a little bit more understanding and cohesion like this can go a long way in terms of engagement.

Let's take a look at my favourite scene in the film, which I think exemplifies this idea perfectly. This scene comes much later in the film, so let’s raise the spoiler warning to the next level.

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Even if you go into this scene fresh, you can tell exactly where everyone is in relation to each other, including the zombies, without ever showing the two main groups of characters in the same shot. It's mostly told through the framing and angles of each shot, and the editing flowing naturally from where each character is looking to what or whom they're looking at, and all in the space of less than 20 seconds. On top of that, the "Oh fuck" moment is beautifully executed. First we have the classic countdown, second we have the rising tense music with the slow zoom in, third we have the established pattern with the shots cutting back and forth between the two characters, and then finally that pattern and hence the tension is broken with perfect sound mixing – following up the isolated, enhanced sound of the soda can being crushed with deafening silence. Setting up the pattern, building the tension, then releasing it to maximum effect.

Speaking of tension, I must also take a moment to praise how Train to Busan manages to frequently raise it without feeling too contrived and forced. Focusing on the station escape sequence once more, the few moments where more shit hits the fan all feel believable and organic given what has already been established in previous scenes. A zombie runs into Seok-woo because it's already established that area is swarming with them. A few survivors accidentally open a carriage full of zombies because they were in too much of a panic to take the time to remember which carriage they came from and look through the window. Zombies crash through the glass walkway where we saw Seok-woo and the Homeless man earlier. Later on, the darkness caused tunnels becomes a major plot point, and again this feels genuine enough because firstly of course trains would go through tunnels, and secondly because it plays on an already-established and reinforced attribute of the zombies.

Now, if there's one thing I know less about than visual storytelling in films, its writing and story structure in films, but what the hell, let's have a crack at it. There's a term going around some parts of the web describing an ideal form of story structure, popularised by Matt Stone and Trey Parker of South Park fame - "Therefore/but". It basically boils down to character-driven cause-and-effect, and that's Train to Busan in a nutshell. For example, let's look at what happens after that station escape scene. The main characters are now split across three carriages, and which carriages they wound up in was determined by their character traits and actions during the escape. The fact they are now separated sets up the tension for the next stage in the plot – some characters try desperately to cross zombie-infested carriages to their loved ones, while others try to prevent their crossing due to fear of becoming infected. The actions each group of characters takes is completely consistent with their actions and choices during the previous scenes including the escape, and the progression of events feels organic and natural, with a logical progression and order. Contrast that with a film I watched only recently but with some similarities - 30 Days of Night. In that, you also have a small group of survivors that slowly dwindle, but the progression of events feels disconnected, like you could jumble up a majority of the set pieces and it would have as much impact. If Train to Busan demonstrates the "Therefore/but" idea of storytelling, then 30 Days of Night demonstrates the "And then" idea, where story beats often aren't impacted by what came before, and don't really influence what happens next.

Continuing on with storytelling and structure, another film I watched recently that gave me a little bit of inspiration was Their Finest. In it, a character comments that while (or perhaps because) in real life a person's death may not feel like it has a point or meaning, in a story a character's death absolutely must. And again, Train to Busan nails this idea almost perfectly. As well as the numerous nameless victims littered throughout to remind us of the constant threat and tension, almost every death of a main character (see below) is effective because it's either caused by another character's actions, it has a clear and distinct impact on the story or another character's arc, or a combination of the above. We care about the characters because they impact the story, and we mourns their deaths because we see how they impact the remaining characters. Compare this again with 30 Days of Night. Setting aside isolated deaths like heroic sacrifices or characters wondering off by themselves and dying, there are a couple of moments when we're clearly supposed to feel something when the main character is forced to put others out of their miseries. But these scenes fall flat primarily because the characters that die aren't well established or impactful, and because the main character's choice to kill them doesn't really feel like it's in service of any sort of clear development or arc. They're trying to come across as emotional, but they haven't earned it.

But here's where I must raise the spoiler warning level to maximum, because, believe it or not, I'm going to talk about what I think was the weakest part of the film and some other major plot points in the last third. Yes, believe it or not I'm going to not only be slightly negative about this film which I adore, but I'll even get a little pretentious and suggest an improvement.

So let's talk about The Homeless Man.

Now, I must say up front that the character's weaknesses have nothing to do with him being homeless. Rather, the character doesn't completely work because it's lacking in a lot of the qualities I've mentioned above. While his fear, clumsiness, and shock are all solidly depicted visually, his actions don't feel completely consistent. Just before the station escape clip, he's calmly and stubbornly refusing to leave the walkway because he overheard Seok-woo on his phone organising an alternate escape route, but at that time he was visually shown as still being in shock and hysterical. During the escape, his choosing to help Seok-woo by covering the attacking zombie with his coat also doesn't feel completely consistent with his desperation and clumsiness.

A friend of mine has a theory that by setting up the Homeless Man as an intruder on the train, along with the editing fake-out just before we first see him, the audience associates him with the infection and thus gets us off on the wrong foot. I agree, and would add that on top of that he is reinforced as a hindrance and liability for the group on at least two other occasions. But these might not have necessarily been death knells of audience empathy, and could've served as functional set-ups for a redemption death. In fact, let's take a closer look as his death scene.

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Now, on paper this should've worked – the once-cowardly character here sacrifices himself so Soo-ann and Seong-kyeong can escape, culminating in a bleak yet almost beautiful sequence in which zombies pour through the breaking glass like gushing water. And yet whilst its far more stylish than the deaths of both Sang-hwa and Seok-woo, it falls completely flat emotionally. The reason, I think, is that unlike the other two deaths this one feels completely one sided - the tragedy is the Homeless Man and his alone, whereas the deaths affected other characters. Sang-hwa's death worked because he bonded with Seok-woo and helped him grow as a character, and Seok-woo's death REALLY worked because he tragically died just at the moment he finally became a decent father to Soo-ann. The Homeless Man needed some sort of relationship and arc associated with another character, and I believe there's an obvious candidate: Seong-kyeong.

As you can see in the clip, just before The Homeless Man dies, Seong-kyeong looks back at him, as if (from a storytelling perspective) it's meant to be a pay-off for an emotional beat that wasn't fully established or fleshed out (perhaps, and I should stress I'm completely speculating here, in a scene or two that were cut for whatever reason). I mentioned above how Seong-kyeong appears to briefly react to The Homeless Man with disgust and weariness when he jumps in their carriage at the infected station, so one possibility could be that her look was her coming to realising her own misguided prejudice of him. Personally, while this this fits into the themes of classism well enough, I don't think this works psychologically for Seong-kyeong at this moment – she's undoubtedly still mourning her husband, and THAT'S what the filmmakers could play off. Remember that clip above with the soda can? Just before that sequence, The Homeless Man was lagging too far behind, and after he steps on the can it leads to the situation where Sang-hwa is bitten by a zombie and doomed, so it's entirely possible that The Homeless Man could feel responsible in some way for Sang-hwa's death (or for Seong-kyeong to be even more disgusted in him). So all we'd need is an extra scene to reinforce one or both of these dynamics, perhaps after they're kicked out of the "safe" carriage or as they're walking along the tracks. After an accidental glance, the two shy their eyes away quickly, her in disgust and maybe hatred, and him in shame and guilt, all in the space of even 5 seconds, and that might've been enough. That way, The Homeless Man's death becomes not just a heroic sacrifice, but a moment of redemption for him, and forgiveness from her

As an aside, a further nit-pick of this scene is the forced setup. While I praised Train to Busan for cleverly raising the tension in previous scenes, here the cause is a literal fiery trainwreck that comes out of nowhere . Again, might be minor, but a sense of contrivance (even subconsciously) probably didn't help.

Looking over all of this, it looks like I’ve only pointed out tried-and-true storytelling techniques – body language, character interactions, motivated editing, slow motion, basic sound mixing, cause and effect storytelling – and haven’t really highlighted anything truly experimental or innovative. But that’s exactly my point, and perhaps the reason why this film isn’t being talked about more and why I feel it should. Train to Busan doesn’t really break new ground in terms of storytelling, and if anything sticks quite rigidly to established tropes and cliches of the zombie genre, and yet it’s still incredible. So many recent big-budget blockbusters fail in these basic areas that we need films like Train to Busan to show everyone how it’s done.

Train to Busan doesn’t reinvent the wheel. It remembers why the wheel worked in the first place.

#train to bus #busanhaeng #sang-ho yeon #yoo gong #soo-an kim #Yu-mi Jung #dong-seok ma #woo-sik choi #sohee #eui-sung kim

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popwasabi · 8 years ago

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My Complete Incomplete Best films of 2016

Every year I go out and watch a lot of movies but not all of them unfortunately. A combination of laziness and not wanting to be that asshole in the theater who watches the movie alone because friends are too busy will keep me from seeing a lot of the year’s more celebrated films.

So I compiled a top 5 list based on the 20 or so new films I saw this past year (about a quarter of them being old films that I had never seen on Netflix) and if it seems like I’m missing a major movie off this list it’s most likely because I didn’t see it. So don’t flame me for not putting “La La Land” or “Manchester by the Sea” on my best of list. Blame them for shitty marketing and not having super heroes and weird space aliens to compel my more shallow interests as a film viewer to go see them right away.

Anyways, without further ado here’s my complete incomplete best films of 2016 list, enjoy…

5. “Captain America: Civil War”

A few weeks ago this might have been higher on this list but upon a re-watch on Netflix, it was slightly less amazing.

It lost some steam but there’s no denying this was the MCU’s biggest film to date placing the most super heroes we’ve ever seen on screen together, while delivering a solid story and most of all not fucking it up like other not to be named blockbusters this year...

(*Cough*...)

“Civil War’s” greatest strength is the strong chemistry of Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. and the competing personalities of their characters Tony Stark and Steve Rodgers. This film not only is a great Captain America movie that highlights who is he and his best characteristics but also in my opinion the best Iron man film as we see Stark do more than just deliver quips over and over again. He’s a sad and beaten hero and we see more how his sarcasm and wit masks a much more burdened man underneath.

We also get a fairly strong sub story involving newcomer Black Panther played expertly by Chadwick Boseman who captures not only the warrior king in this character but his strength and wisdom.

(Sometimes literal strength)

On top of all this of course it’s a damn fun action flick, sometimes to a fault of silliness but nonetheless a great popcorn flick that delivered last summer in more ways than one. Paul Rudd is even more funny as Ant-man in this film than his solo venture a year ago and we get a nice teaser of Tom Holland as Spider-man which should make this year’s reboot fun and not a dumpster fire like another not to be named blockbuster.

(*COUGH!*...)

If “Civil War” established anything it’s that the Russo Brothers are a pair of directors fans should place trust in moving forward, so have your popcorn ready for the Infinity Gauntlet when it arrives in a couple summers.

4. “Deadpool”

It’s rare to see a film match gargantuan hype and even over deliver in spots but last winter’s raunchy “Deadpool” did just that.

“Deadpool” is a successful film because, much like its titular character, it doesn’t give a fuck. For a film about this character to work it needed to be over the top and anything in between, ie: lightening it up for a PG-13 audience, would’ve been a disaster.

(If Disney made this the guns would be digitally replaced with walkie-talkies)

Deadpool has to be a foulmouthed, politically incorrect, immoral, crazy bastard (with a heart of course) and the film did this all perfectly. There’s countless great one-liners, fourth-wall breaking and ludicrousness going on and yet somehow through all this the film still has a heart with a decent love story going on in between all of this.

And much like “Civil War” it’s also a damn fun action flick. It’s a glorious display of sophomoric violence that the whole family many movie fans enjoyed last winter and in many ways the most comic accurate film to date.

Ryan Reynolds is already as synonymous with Deadpool as Christopher Reeves is to Superman and all us fans should be looking forward to the sequel in the near future.

3. “Rogue One”

I’ve already talked at length recently about my love for this latest “Star Wars” film (which surprisingly is divisive amongst fans) but it needs to be said again that Gareth Edwards really knocked it out of the park with this movie.

“Rogue One” is a great example of taking established source material and mixing something new into it without disrupting what’s familiar. Yes there are a lot of references in the film but few that actually made my eye roll like some films I’ve seen this year.

(*cough*)

For the first time in the series we see how dirty the war between the Rebel Alliance and the Empire was and how desperate that struggle was and it’s part of what makes the story and the set pieces compelling. Finally war in Star Wars is shown the way it really is: fucking awful.

But the greatest strength of Rogue One is its cast, that while may have been better served over a long miniseries, still remain compelling and tragic across a two and a half hour film. The diversity (yes that horrible word, my estranged Breitbart neckbeards) is a primary reason for that. No, diversity doesn’t automatically make a film good but it adds depth and color (heh) that can ultimately make an already good film better. And once again, what the fuck is the problem with having a few more brown people in your movie anyway?

(You tell’em, Donnie...)

The visuals too, regardless of how you feel about the story, are the best there has ever been in the series easily and has the best space battle, at least in my opinion, to date. And while you may find the fan service-y elements annoying, can we all agree that last scene was fucking epic?

Good, let’s move on.

2. “Shin Gojira”

I’m probably the only person you know who saw this movie and I’m sure a bunch of you were vaguely aware at best that a new Godzilla film came out last year in Japan but it did and its arguably the best and most poignant one to date.

Generally speaking, when making a giant monster flick you do it one of two ways; you either make it super campy and over the top with lots of action like 2013’s “Pacific Rim” or you make it more grounded and serious like the original 1954 “Gojira.”

This is largely an example of why 2014’s “Godzilla” didn’t work (Gareth Edwards has of course redeemed himself with “Rogue One”); trying have it both ways by having a campy monster flick while also trying to make a dark American take on the famous King of Monsters. It might not have been a complete disaster but it was definitely forgettable.

(Pro Tip: Never give your hero two last names for a full name)

“Shin Gojira,” which literally translates to “New Godzilla” btw, falls into the dark, grounded end of the monster film spectrum, focusing instead on film’s message revolving around Japanese sovereignty and the frustrating and stagnant pace the government has when it comes to responding to real threats.

The film might require a bit of post WWII Japan study before viewing but the message can really be applied anywhere to those that feel frustration with their government’s inability to function.

(*COUGH*)

There’s even a bit of “Dr. Strangelove” going on in the early parts of the film with the constant red tape the Japanese government must go through in order to take action against the giant fire lizard.

“Shin Gojira” also contains my favorite overall action sequence of the year which combines great cinematography alongside a haunting score with Godzilla’s first scene breathing fire on Tokyo. Compared to the 2014’s own first sequence with Godzilla, it truly highlights why “Shin Gojira” is everything Edwards’ film should have been.

(I’m going to tease this to you like Edwards did all of “Godzilla 2014!”)

“Shin Gojira” is the first true reboot to the 1954 original and just as successful delivering its message to film viewers on the dangers of an incompetent government and not taking action when destruction is staring you in the face.

1. “Arrival”

Perhaps the only film I saw lastyear that will (hopefully) be nominated for an Oscar, “Arrival” was just a smidge above my previous two on this list but nonetheless a great movie.

The quality of the film is undeniable; with a harrowing performance by Amy Adams and strong supporting roles played by Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker alike, “Arrival” delivers a beautifully positive message in the shit storm of 2016.

It’s a homage to traditional sci-fi in the best way, while delivering a metaphorical middle finger to more modern “sci-fi” like “Independence Day” showing that maybe humanity can united for more reasons other than to just kill a common enemy. It’s a film that will make you ask questions and start discussions about existence, purpose and the importance of talking and communicating.

("Science Fiction”...)

“Arrival” is also compelling on a visual and cinematic level combining great cinematography and art direction alongside a beautiful musical score by Johann Johannsson that at times are so breathtaking you might be moved to tears by this alone.

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(I’m not crying, you’re crying!)

“Arrival” is a beacon of light in a very cloudy time humanity is in right now, regardless of what side you may fall under, and represents why more nuanced views and solutions are needed in society, that our presumed enemies or even just people we may not fully understand can be our friends if we try.

One thing for sure, Denis Villeneuve is a director everyone should have on their radar going forward and definitely has me excited for his next project later this year...

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Soon...

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