#idk there's nolan movies I really like but this was kind of the worst parts of all of them

[doedipus]

I watched oppenheimer the other night and I think if I were to describe it with any single word it would be "overproduced"

nolan has never been very good at developing characters through dialogue, and I feel like this is probably the roughest it's been. trying to discuss the pre-bomb and post-bomb parts of rob's life led to an unfocused scope with dozens of characters that mostly were around for a small handful of scenes each, and human connection between characters was cut in order to make room for more plot points to happen. the emotional core of the film felt hollow while the runtime ballooned.

people mocked the movie when it came out for ostensibly being a pity party for a guy who led development of the bomb, but I felt like in the end the movie only weakly gestured towards rob's interiority at all. there are a handful of scenes where he seems nonplussed about the jingoism of wartime america and imagines the bomb being used on his own people, but these threads get lost in the weeds as nolan chooses to focus on things that are more interesting to him. and beyond that, his presence in his romantic relationships seems incidental and tertiary. rob is a very emotionally detached character, which frustrates his lovers periodically, but again, these threads are lost in the weeds and not followed up on satisfactorily. they briefly hint at his interest in various areas of spirituality, but it doesn't noticeably tie into the plot or imagery besides explaining where that one quote is from. he's one of the only characters with significant dialogue, but he still says very little.

nolan also clearly was very excited about drawing a parallel between rob and strauss, as this forms the core framing device(s) of the film, but without much development of strauss beyond and handful of scenes which were repeated every half hour or so, it's unclear what the parallel was supposed to mean. in the end they just seem like two public figures with a petty rivalry that got out of hand rather than, again, any particular insightful commentary on either. this whole arc of the movie is a huge culprit contributing to how convoluted the presentation is, and ultimately fails to justify itself.

and this is the case for so many more plot threads beyond this. like if nolan's aim here was to make a movie about a complicated guy that properly conveyed how convoluted and meandering his life was, that's interesting I guess, but a big part of the job of biographers and documentarians is to help filter and weave narratives out of the chaos of real life, and nolan has staunchly refused to do that at all.

with respect to the bomb itself, I feel like the discussion of it here was very lackluster. we're far enough removed from the event by now to have documented things like the actual contemporary debate around whether we should've used it, what the bomb, like, did, changing narratives about it afterwards, etc. but instead we're treated to the layer 1 "a land invasion of japan would've been too costly for everyone, so we used the bomb to force a quick end to the war" interpretation we've all heard in high school. they even bring up the euphemistic phrasing of "a vital war plant with a large number of workers closely surrounded by the workers' houses" or whatever, but this is accepted uncritically by the film and not like, analyzed at all. going too far into discussing postwar japan or whatever would be more needless scope bloat, but I feel like one of the villain characters quoting stats at rob, while elsewhere the typical line is toed as usual, was not sufficient and did not do the subject matter justice.

people have been comparing oppenheimer and ziller minus one for covering similar material, but like, the political bent of both is just... bad. ziller swings for the fences with the political commentary but strays into wildly misplaced sentimentality that comes off really bad at times, and oppenheimer is seemingly petrified to say fucking anything interesting about the debacle at all.

[forgotteneilionora]

Character Analysis

THE BASICS: 

Character’s name: Eilionora Stafford

Role in story:  Queen/supporting character

Physical description:  Katie McGrath

Age: 26

MBTI: INFJ (the advocate)

Enneagram: Type 1 (the reformer), 1w2, 126

Zodiac: Aquarius

INTERNAL: THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER

What is his/her greatest fear?  Of being corrupt/evil/defective

Inner motivation: to be good, to have integrity, to be balanced, to be right, to strive higher and improve everything, to be consistent with their ideals, to justify herself, to be beyond criticism so as not to be condemned by anyone

Kryptonite: To be reproached, regarded as defective, etc

What is his/her misbelief about the world?  That she is unworthy of the great responsibility placed on her shoulders bc she is fundamentally flawed

Lesson he/she needs to learn: Everyone’s flawed and its the struggling to be better than we were yesterday that is the true definition of worth!

What is the best thing in his/her life?  Her loved ones and her ppl, her country <3 Would literally die for them no joke <3

What is the worst thing in his/her life?  Well, atm that would def be this whole conquest-which-might-spark-the-apocalypse/unleash-death-and-endless-winter-upon-the-world or whatever situation sdlkjfksjldf so yeah.  not amazing laskjdafakjlsdf But also its this feeling that she's let her ppl down, let the whole world down, bc they were the one standing between humanity and apocalypse and she tried so, so hard, she did every single thing she could think of to make this world a little brighter and her ppl a little happier, and nothing she did was enough. i ts kinda playing into all her doubts abt herself and now the world is doomed bc of it...its kinda heavy ngl. now, she is faced w the notion that effectively giving up and embracing a lesser evil is the only way she can help anyone, bc if she can convince Roderick to legalize the old religion again then perhaps she can save the world -- and the only bargaining chip she has is her country, so basically she sells her own and her ppl's soul to save their lives? is that right? or is it just her flawed nature telling her so?

What does he/she most often look down on people for?  cruelty, egotism, a lack of principles/willingness to harm others esp for selfish gain, lack of manners lol she can be a lil prickly sometimes ngl but i mean…she’s literally a perfectionist so, like, are we ~that surprised

What makes his/her heart feel alive?  Love and friendship, the warmth of the sun, the laughter and smiles of her loved ones and her people, sweet summer fruits, the sound of water, peace, calm, wellbeing, the satisfaction of a job well done

What makes him/her feel loved, and who was the last person to make them feel that way?  im sure it was aria!  warmth, comfort, and encouragement, kindness, playfulness and childlike silliness, sharing in her altruistic ideals, persistance, total trust

Top three things he/she values most in life?  Her loved ones, trust, and a generous spirit

EXTERNAL: NOT NECESSARY, BUT GOOD TO KNOW AND SAYS A LOT ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER

What’s his/her favorite book, movie, and band?  Oh, man, she’d probs love historical dramas!!  Both for the personal/event analysis AND for things like the pretty sets and costumes hahaha she’d be esp enamored of Elizabeth I like Elizabeth: the Golden Age?  She’d love it and probs cry every single time she sees it ngl smdh  Another Florence + the Machine lover also classical music and soundtracks and operas and esp ballets!  Big Tchaikovsky fan over here!  She’d really enjoy Wonderwoman and The Dark Knight and the Prestige and, actually, the Nolan brothers in general, probs.  I feel like she’d really enjoy speculative fiction, science fiction, and horror esp the more intellectual things bc she ~is a snob but she also dearly loves to laugh and btw P&P 2005 is probs her all-time fav movie, hands down <3

Is there an object he/she can’t bear to part with and why?  Idk if there’s a royal signet ring but her dad probs gave her that w his dying breath, entrusting her as the future ruler and that’s a trust that she takes V E R Y seriously and she does noT take that thing off she is married to her country 100%

Describe a typical outfit for him/her from top to bottom.  Well, she’s a queen so she always dresses in the latest style™ to show respect to her country etc and to play into the queenly iconography as expected tbh that promo shot from merlin where she’s lounging on the sofa in purple w that bejeweled headpiece dripping down her forehead is pr…on brand i feel like

What names or nicknames has he/she been called throughout their life?  Your Grace haha no but Eilia, Ella, Norr, Nora

What is his/her method of manipulation?  correcting others – insisting they share her standards

Describe his/her daily routine.  Eilia does like to inject a little change into her routine daily for a bit of relish -- no two days should feel precisely the same! but generally, she gets up early, eats a little bit, receives petitions, meets w her vizier to discuss goals/makes orders largely informed by that prev activity, does correspondance etc, receives more petitioners, writes up and ratifies pending legislation etc, receives yet more petitioners, wraps up the day

Their go-to cure for a bad day?  Helping others wherever she can always makes her feel better!  esp if she can correct misfortunes etc!  spending time w her sister and friends, taking a few brief moments for herself, a walk amongst the gardens in the sunshine or by the water or amidst the trees -- out in nature!, quality time esp w Eithne and her sisters!

CHARACTER GOALS:

How is your character dissatisfied with their life?  well, two things.  rn they’re ~invaded so that def sucks!  but also she feels she’s intrinsically flawed and thus a bad choice for the throne!  but she’s also all the ppl got rn what w invasion happening so she’s tryna hold on and be everything to everyone and just…oof

What does your character believe will bring them true happiness or contentment?  if she can fix literally every single thing!!! she will be happy!!! this is obv absurd but!! so is perfectionism tbh

What definitive step could they take to turn their dream into a reality?  well, on a small scale, any lil change she makes is helpful, but to the bigger stuff she’s in a biT of a catch-22 bc if she yields to this marriage, she's surrendered her nation to the corruption that is the varmont empire -- you only need to look at the varmont family to see this dude shouldn't be father of a nation tbqh! but if she doesn't (w/ the caveat that the old ways would be respected of course! she def aint giving in w/o that! which is why its been two years of stalement bc both she and roderick are stubborn af), literally everyone is doomed! so there's literally no way to keep true to her integrity and still achieve her goals! this is pr much a nightmare scenario for eilia ngl

How has their fear kept them from taking this action already? ultimately, eilia has v little real trust in herself. she is determined and unswerving which keeps her from giving up, but part of her wishes she simply could. bc she fears that someone -- perhaps anyone else -- might be better for the role in which she finds herself, she second guesses every choice before her, but she won't give up the fight. there's a way to save everyone -- she has to believe that there is

How does your protagonist feel they can accomplish their goal while still steering clear of the thing they are afraid of? eilia believes that if she can keep one ohand on the wheel, even as roderick's latest bride, she can help steer the world towards a better outcome than it currently faces, even if roderick cannot be swayed on matters of religion. bc of this, she is currently contemplating relenting and marrying him in order to quietly rebel from within, but she feels this might ultimately ultimately lead to the worst outcome of all, which has so far stopped her from going forward with this option

[owenteagued]

You said you have a list of directors that you really don't like so I'm curious to know which directors are on it and for what reasons

Oh, this is gonna be hateful at best… please be warned that my reasons are in no way caused by any sort of critical approach to their work, so they’re entirely founded in personal prejudices and taste… also this might come out misandrist af so bear with me…

kubrick: he’s boring. I don’t necessarily dislike him but damn I’ve never been able to watch any movie of his without having to pause it at least a couple of times. I also don’t like how he directed actors… almost, if not all, of his actors’ performances are cardboard at best and totally blown out of proportion at worst. The fact that you can’t go a month without some old man heralding him as a cinema god just makes me more unsympathetic towards his work.

nolan: his “manstories” are just too much for me. I can’t bring myself to care most of the time and he can’t direct or write women to save his life. I mean just look at Marion Cotillard’s death scene in the dark knight rises! WTF is that shit??? How could he do that to her??? Also the fact that I can’t go a week without some guy performing a public fellatio on his work makes me more uninterested towards him, cuz his fans can’t fucking take any sort of criticism and they don’t leave until you agree with them so most of the time I’m just forced to say “yeah, the cinnamon tarkovsky was really good!” and i hate it. tho I do respect him for dying at dunkirk so white twinks could have representation in movies!

nicolas winding refn: drive (2011) was one of the most boring experiences in my life. I have ptsd from that movie to the point that I, thankfully, don’t remember any of its scenes but at the same time I can’t watch any other movie with ryan gosling if he doesn’t talk in the first 5 mins just out of fear that it all might come back to haunt me. also the fact that he dedicated the neon demon to his wife is one of the most heterophobia inducing things i’ve ever had the displeasure of seeing.

damian chazelle: this dude’s movies are basically just a man going “RAAWR IMMA FUCK THE MUSIC ARGHHG!!!!!” while his girlfriend, cuz they all have a girlfriend for some reason, just goes “i don’t understand anything!! why don’t you hold my hand anymore? :’(” and I just can’t deal with that kind of stuff.

wes anderson: i can’t stand that all his female characters are way too fucking beautiful for the men they’re supposed to pretend to be in love with or whatever. tho meh that’s just hollywood sexism at its finest and we should grow a tough skin for that but then he goes and makes his actors move with that rhythm that’s neither too fast nor too slow and that it was probably snatched from buster keaton’s rotting corpse with the help of some occultist ritual. add to that his damn obsession of always putting things at the center of the frame and you have me being totally uncomfortable throughout it all like if you wanna torture me really bad just tie me down to a chair and force me to watch moonrise kingdom. I’ll probably end up giving you everything i have to my name just to make it stop. (I do like fantastic mr. fox tho)

bertolucci: this one was in fact a pig and I never understood why anyone was ok with a pig directing a film. idk, that part of film history never quite checked out with me. i have not even seen any of its films because i don’t actually care what a creature that’s commonly raised for the slaughter or as a pet has to say about human nature or the world, it just bothers me that good money was wasted on helping a pig achieve its vision.

woody allen: ever since i found out he was a child molester i can’t watch any of his films. the argument of “separate art from the artist” is completely useless in this case, cuz most of his films are basically that… you got an old white man in a position of power that starts a relationship with a way younger and beautiful woman… ugh, I mean, to use the classic homophobic mantra: don’t rub your sexuality on my face. i do like some of his more female centric movies like blue jasmine, tho i can’t get the footnote of “this was done by a child molester” out of my mind as i watch it and it completely ruins it, so why bother…

[mysterious-prophetess]

Review: Ready Player One

as some of you might remember, I did a live blog of reading part of novel this movie is based on about five-six months ago. I had to read it for a Video Games in Literature class.

Suffice to say, I found parts of it a pain to read.

It got a bit better but really it’s mid-rank as a novel in quality over all. Not terrible. Not great. Certainly not movie-worthy but then again, as it was pointed out in the aforementioned class, Cline wrote in such a way that it all but said “Adapt me! Adapt me!” So, there is that.

Anyway I’m going to do both a review of the movie and a comparison to its source material. Where it succeeded, where is sucked, and where it just was “meh.”

Spoilers ahead, so I’m placing this under a read more.

Quick spoiler free coments:

The movie isn’t horrible, and is less painful than the book at times. It’s also a case where if you haven’t read the book prior to the movie, don’t. The movie is a bit more enjoyable if you haven’t read the book. The movie is evenly paced but predictable.

The Review

As usual I’m going to break this down overall story, pacing, characters, effects, enjoyability, and a special specific category to the film. In this case: Video Games. Which is to say, how they handle the various aspects of game play in this film.

Pacing

Speilberg knows how to pace a movie. The writing didn’t always match it but the pace was fairly even.

So. Point there

Plot.

Oh boy. Where to begin.

Even if I hadn’t read the book, the plot would have been a bit “meh” as I’ve seen the whole “unlikely hero ends up as part of a “resistance” and finds a selfless goal only after he meets a girl with a selfless goal and the underdog wins” story.

For the sake of an action piece, the first (and worst) parts of the story were thrown out, so fair that, but then again, they did a SAO where everyone knew where the first level of a challenge was but no one had passed it yet.

Also, the fact that NO ONE was live streaming the race is a bit suspect. I mean, social media age folks.

Chances are, there are those who go to these things with drones and shit to broadcast it to those who aren’t skilled enough to do it themselves. So, the fact only the High-5 and the 6-ers found out, is bullshit.

Then again, I will allow that maybe the game blocked it.

It’s also way too convenient that Aech, Sho, and Daito are all buddy-buddy.

The romantic subplot was clumsy in the book. It was even clumsier here with Wade/Parzival confessing his love to Art3mis like that like “boom.”

The resistance subplot was kind of stupid. I get that there should be people in the real world doing shit to resist but, these idiots kind of deserve to get caught.

Tip: if you’re going to be some sort of resistance person? Don’t have a very distinct tattoo anywhere on your body. It makes you easier to identify.

The fact they game Samantha/Art3mis a “damsel in distress” subplot was so fracking sexist. I’ll get more into it later with character.

The second key challenge, I appreciated a bit. Not sure why they had to use the shining whenever they had a plethora of other 80’s movies to go through, but then again that clue reminded me more of Frankenstein. That would take a leap of logic that fits with the whole “think like Halliday” thing.

Moving on to the “real world” meeting between Wade and Aech/Helen. That was actually pretty good. Gotta admit making Sho and Daito appear as well was ok. The “fixer” woman was a nice touch. The in game assassin was meh. Made sense, though.

Act 3. That was so-so. It was almost beat-per-beat the book’s climax plus or minus some extra things the movie added such as Art3mis’s whole “on the inside thing” because of the damsel in distress plot line they gave her and the corporate executive being gutsy enough to attempt to kill Wade himself, which made no sense to me. Guys like that usually use their professional killers like what’s-her-face who’s name sounded like “Finale.” Then there’s the fact that this ruthless asshole has a chance to take the shot, and for some reason doesn’t? With all his prior actions this doesn’t really mesh.

Also, I missed about five minutes of the climax because I really had to pee but I can gather that Wade/Parzival shot Samantha/Art3mis in the game to hide the fact she was there. That’s actually a smart move. Bravo movie.  The stupid action sequences in the final moments, well the adjective I chose says it all.

The moral is stupid.

“Reality is real.” Thanks Captain Obvious. Wouldn’t have known that without this movie telling me that.

That ghost in the machine mystery was tantalizing for all of a few second before they moved to the ending.

Overall enjoyability: Average.

Not terrible, but not great other. It’s trying so hard to be a Tron or a Star Wars but, it lacks any of the charm.

It’s a nostalgia blast that banks on that and that alone.

Effects: I get that the uncanny valley thing was on purpose to differentiate the real world and the oasis and all but that would really defeat the purpose of a Virtual Reality that’s supposed to be as groundbreaking as this Oasis was alleged to be. Beyond that, the effects were fine.

Video Games: They integrated a lot of the mechanics of a game fairly well into the movie. It wasn’t front and center but they at least attempted to keep the rules of their game consistent in presentation and function. Except once. That office scene with the hologram. How would that even work? Would they have a feed back into the Oasis relayed to the player? Wouldn’t that be, idk a HUGE security hazard if a hacker gained access? They could spy on the villain any time they pleased.

Characters:

Let’s start with the one whose character I’m actually pleased with: Aech/Helen

First the bad: I hate Aech’s avatar’s design. It was supposed to look realistic. Not some big old freaking cyborg.

The rest I liked, especially how Helen was a confident character in the real world. Whereas her book counterpart wasn’t exactly confident in herself during her reveal to Wade. I’d look for a page number but that would mean I actually care and I don’t. There are others who can if they wish.

Sho

He’s a kid in this version. Ok. Makes sense.

Daito

Is much younger too, but not a little kid. Also makes sense. A bit of a stereotype.

Samantha/Art3mis

Where to start. How about the obvious: They were too chicken to cast an actual curvy girl as the romantic lead. I’m surprised they were brave enough to keep her birthmark. Even more surprised they didn’t make her a blonde supermodel-ensue girl.

The “extra” tragic backstory and her being in a resistance was completely unnecessary.

Her getting a damsel in distress storyline was insulting and really sexist. They slightly “redeemed” that third act fuckery by having it vital to the plot that they have an inside man, but I still was disgusted by it.

Wade/Parzival

Honestly, they somehow made him blander. Wade/Parzival of the book isn’t going to end up on top ten sci-fi protagonists lists anytime soon. Maybe not even top 100. Wade/Parzival of the movie is a generic geeky male protagonist who starts of selfish but realizes through love that there’s more to life!

He’s not a terrible character, and at least his actions are consistent with his semi-predictable characterization.

Unlike the villain whose name escapes me at the moment. Let me google it…Nolan Sorrento.

Now let it sink in that he left next to no impression on me to the extent that I forgot his name and his inconsistent actions.

First, he hires a cyber-assassin to go after Wade/Parzival and then the idiot orders a strike giving his target a chance to flee.

Then, during the negotiations he just blatantly admits he wanted to subvert the company’s wishes on feed that the company likely has access to and if they were any sort of intelligent were listening in on as he offers the first player to get a key a job. So, shows he’s a bit too stupid to be in that position of power.

Then he waits to blow everyone up on Doom. He could have handed the Cataclyst off to a goon, offered them a wiping out of all their debt owed to IOI if they blew everyone up, then logged in an won if he was really that ruthless about the whole thing.

There’s the whole gun thing. He had Wade in his sights in the real world. He could have shot him and everyone in that car, but because Wade’s got the egg, he just can’t do it? This is a man who was able to order the strike earlier in the movie to kill Wade if he didn’t comply. I guess it’s a he’s too much of a wussy to actually sully his hands thing, but that’s not how the actor played it. If he was too much of a wuss to do his own dirty work, he’d have balked sooner. It just seemed really really silly for him to give up because the kid was so happy he was crying at having the egg in his hands.

Now onto the nitpick Comparison (well full tilt nitpicking section)

I understand why all the school stuff was cut. I really do. It was, as I already wrote the worst part of the first section of Ready Player One. Not a fan of how they glossed over how Wade’s parents died. Here they took his actual tragic backstory and stuffed it in the trash and tacked on an extra tragic background to Samantha/Art3mis.

But it also undermined the whole point of the first key’s dungeon. Which was, it was on the school planet because you learn there and Ludo comes from a word that means “play” so it was a very clever play on the planet’s name. The Ohio-planet’s exclusion and replacement with the archives was actually a good choice for a movie but also made moves by the High-5 too easy to track and the point was it was hard for the IOI 6-ers to patrol the whole of the Oasis.

The High-5’s cooperation in the movie was too convenient whereas in the book there was this “everyone man for himself” mentality that persisted up until the end practically.

Art3mis’s competency was reduced in the movie. In the book she’d found the first key on her own before Wade but she sucked at Joust.

Og’s deus ex machine appearance in the book was written out, and probably for the better but on the other hand I missed him a little. Plus the sentiment at the end was almost a bit too shoehorned in, but that’s at least better than the horribly worded “moral.”

The fact the movie had Wade acknowledge that there were people who didn’t play as their own sex/gender in the Oasis was a correction of a mistake in the book where Wade didn’t really even think about it aside from his anxieties that Art3mis might be a man. Something that, when he’s presented with Aech/Hellen later makes it seem that—to him—the idea wasn’t one he thought would actually happen.

As a female gamer who often plays as male avatars, I know this is not an uncommon phenomenon.

Making Sho(to) and Daito kids was a weird twist to me at first. And, unless I’m mistaken, they’re brothers for real in the movie whereas Shoto and Daito of the book never even knew eachother.

Daito of the book dies. IOI killed him and made it look like a suicide. Og rescued Shoto, whose book name was Akihide Karatsu. They did keep the “Tsu” bit and made it into it being changed to “Sho” as a nickname but that name change was weird to me.

The High-5 all made it to the end in the movie,  whereas Daito/Toshiro, died.

It was Wade not Samantha/Art3mis who ended up being arrested by the IOI, but he did it on purpose to steal codes and shit and it was like really easy to escape custody. That was a bit OP in the book, I’ll admit but that whole “man on the inside” plotline was negated by the fact Wade had Sorrento’s Password. Let’s forget, for a moment, how monumentally stupid it is that he even had it on a post-it note on his immersion rig in the first place and how, in the second, how stupid it was to have Parzival the hologram in his office and able to see shit. I already mentioned how bad it was up in the video game section.

Anyway, Wade has his password from the end of the first act of the movie. That means they could have just hacked the whole kit and caboodle anytime they pleased and maybe used it to figure out a way through firewalls to get inside the barrier. Idk it just was one of those things that both made sense but also could have easily been sidestepped.

The Van chase. In a world of recognition software, why oh why, wouldn’t you make sure your vehicle was as plain as possible if you were on the run or, if you had been spotted by a drone identifying your van, why wouldn’t you try to change the outside with some paint or dirt or SOMETHING. Book Helen was already on the move constantly for her own safety reasons. Movie Helen, while more sure of herself, didn’t seem to have as good survival instincts as her book counter part.

Everyone is too conveniently located near each other.

In the book the closest ones together were Helen and Wade. Samantha was Canadian. Shoto/Akihide and Daito/Toshiro were Japanese, and they all had to be brought together by their deus ex machina Og, who had located the survivors after Daito/Toshiro had been murdered and brought them to his place for the final assault.

Surprisingly, though, aside from changing the pop-culture references (obviously due to copyright issues), the climax was still similar enough that the changes here and there didn’t affect the whole thing. Though, the Art3mis being tapped out early because she was undercover shit wasn’t in the book. She just got plain wiped out by the Cataclyst like everyone else. Which, btw was done by a rando IOI person, not Sorrento.

Tl:Dr They’re both middling properties in the end.

However, I’d say the characters from the book make more sense than the movie characters, but the movie world makes more sense than the book world.

This is also a case where if you hadn’t read the book, the movie’s actually more enjoyable. Well, marginally.