#imo it was eerily straight | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

blueskittlesart · 3 years ago

Note

hey do you think link is scared of zelda in breath of the wild? saw someone say that today, that he has mostly bad memories of her? i think. and that that’s why they don’t work together- im so confused lol had this person actually watched their interactions because he’s definitely not scared of her— but that’s just me, maybe i’m wrong

ABSOLUTELY NOT. i think link and zelda have an incredibly nuanced relationship ESPECIALLY post-calamity but under no circumstances do i think he is ever scared of her. pre-calamity there's this intense lack of communication from BOTH parties that i believe leads to them basically mutually deciding that the other does not like them. Zelda assumes link is stuck-up and hates her because he isn't able to talk to her, and link witnesses zelda at some of her lowest moments and is quite often the only person around for her to take her feelings out on, so he assumes the vitriol she spits at him is personal. obviously as they grow and spend more time together they begin to facilitate communication and realize that they actually don't dislike each other (zelda's diary is proof of this) but post-calamity link lacks most of that context. that being said i HIGHLY DOUBT link ever fears zelda. the very first introduction we (the players) get to breath of the wild is this very bright, soothing golden light, paired with zelda's voice urging us awake. what can be considered the tutorial portion of the game is all completed at the urging of zelda herself ("link! go to the location marked on your sheikah slate!") and if the player follows the opening of the game as intended they essentially allow her to guide them through an unfamiliar and obviously somewhat hostile environment, establishing that trust in her very early on. From then on she only really appears in memories and yes, she is often portrayed negatively AT FACE VALUE. but there is always always ALWAYS something very obviously lurking underneath the surface, and i honestly think it's a huge disservice to link's character to suggest that he wouldn't pick up on that or notice her (honestly pretty obvious) internal struggle despite his relative lack of context. she really doesn't hide it that well. there's a memory where she straight up tells you everything in simple terms. (tbh im getting the feeling that whoever said this missed some memories?? lol) Aside from that, it's just. unrealistic imo to suggest that link would do all this shit for a girl he is afraid of or who he believes hates him. From his perspective, hyrule is doing relatively alright without zelda. Breath of the wild is unique in that it is one of the few loz games that doesn't have obvious consequences to leaving zelda in limbo. In most other games, the world will begin to deteriorate as ganon rises to power and zelda becomes trapped. Breath of the wild introduces a world where ganon has essentially already won, but hyrule at large still continues on with some semblance of normalcy, and from amnesiac link's perspective, it's all he knows. He could leave zelda in the castle forever and he has a fair amount of evidence that hyrule will continue to be fine without her, but he DOESN'T. because he doesn't fear zelda, he cares about her. he can't leave her trapped there even if all he remembers is her yelling and crying and cursing the destiny she was born into, because he also remembers her waking him up from a hundred-year sleep and guiding him through eerily familiar ruins when he could hardly remember his own name. she is not and will never be a negative force in his life. even barring any subtext, the game itself makes it very clear in its writing and visuals that zelda is LIGHT.

#the only way i can see this take working is if you confuse zelda with the hero's destiny as a whole #and she can be representative of that in some scenarios of course. but it's important to remember that she is also affected by it.#she isn't the reason link is tied up in this fate. she is ALSO tied up in this fate and she is playing the part she is forced to play #and i think link understands this more than anyone. especially pre calamity.#in fact i think that was a lot of their relationship struggles pre calamity; working out the fact that the other wasn't at fault for it all #ugh anyway. who the HELL is saying that link is afraid of zelda. i'll kill them #asks #i came on here to post about finishing my first year of art school. but this ask made me so angry i had to write an essay about it lol #zelda analysis

137 notes · View notes

apricops · 3 years ago

Note

Food and gas shortages suck, but the idea that they represent, IDK, an indicator of the ultimate end of civilization or something is ... it's just an artifact of people thinking that everything was just going to get better and better forever. As opposed to the reality where bad shit just often happens, even if your leaders are perfectly morally upright. I don't know if this is a hopeless way of viewing the world or not. Maybe I just want to not view my lifetime as uniquely cursed.

I don't think anyone involved meant to imply that about food and gas shortages, I was more just impressed with 1. David Byrne's eerily accurate predictions about the internet before the internet even existed and 2. the irony of saying "at least we don't have shortages" the year before COVID hit.

I don't know if this is a hopeless way of viewing the world or not. Maybe I just want to not view my lifetime as uniquely cursed.

If it's any consolation, every lifetime is uniquely cursed! Before this it was generations of all-consuming global warfare and mass genocides in the 20th century. The 19th century saw the horrors of laissez-faire capitalism in full force, where capital owners were free to add formaldehyde and borax to the food they sold and hire private armies to have straight-up shootouts with anyone attempting to unionize. (Also, y'know, slavery, but it's imo useful to note that even if you were born to the 'winning team' for lack of a better word, you were still at the mercy of pure capitalism.) A bit before that was a period some historians call "The General Crisis*," which was as fun as it sounds. You can pick any 50 year period at random and find a massive existential crisis.

* ('Some Historians' is kind of a loaded term, because it often means 'especially eurocentric historians,' and afaik the original coinage of The General Crisis was eurocentric in nature. However, given that the same time period also saw the collapse of the Ming empire and the decades-long Mughal-Maratha Wars in India, as well as the Little Ice Age which contributed to major droughts and famines throughout the world, some historians have tried with varying success to rebrand The General Crisis as, well, more truly general)

7 notes · View notes

nighttimescribbles · 3 years ago

Note

any literature recommendations?💗

ohhhhh my gosh. my heart did a little happy dance when i saw this! you dont know how excited this ask made me! (and also a little bit nervous bec i know my tastes run on the unusual end of the spectrum 😅) i shall do my best to include some familiar titles! >:3

straight out of my goodreads, in no particular order:

1. for a light read when you just want the warm and fuzzies

fanfic writer reading about fanfic writers? surprise surprise. my first rainbow rowell book. i blew through all her other books after this gateway drug but i remember loving this best. it isn't earth-shatteringly amazing or noteworthy in a literary sense, but it was relateable, it was easy to read, comforting, and addicting 😆

2. the fast-paced, bittersweet, but ultimately satisfying read

i've got a couple of faves from him and this is one of them. it takes a bit of technical understanding to *really* appreciate the depth and urgency of the book but the themes and message are universal, imo. professionally, it was a really interesting read for me because it was a specific, cross-section view of an american legal system, which is so similar and yet so different, from ours. so it was a learning experience for me, too.

3. the classic

enough said. poignant read. there's a reason this is a classic and this book lives up to its fame.

4. another classic, but heavier

ngl this creeped me tf out. but it was worth it. it's eerily relateable to our digital era where everything is monitored and personal information about the pettiest things are gathered, analysed, and used for just about anything. pretty great warning against police states and a frightening depiction about loss of humanity. will always recommend!!!

5. the personal fave (from a writer's pov)

i don't always see this at the top of rec lists of russian literature, but this is legit my absolute, all-time fave. it's a short read, but packs a great big human, emotional punch. the depiction of the characters, their motivations and sufferings, are unparalled imo. the use of contrast is extremely effective and the final scene, even though it was a natural and expected progression of the events, was so well done it was the perfecting brushstroke that stitched the whole book together. i thought about this for days and days afterwards. as a writer, i just really love this book. learned so much from it.

i don't stop talking about my adoration of v. nabokov in this blog, but i didn't rec any of his works because he is an acquired taste. i always thought people either really, really loved him, or objectively understood his skill but were ultimately meh about him. nabokov is much better approached on one's own initiative. so while i will always sing his praises, i'm not going to go around urging people to read him. his works are like gems to me, things to be hoarded, taken out and admired every so often, and open secrets to be quietly discussed on stormy nights with the fellow obsessed. 😅

thank you thank you for this ask! i had so much fun answering it! 🥰

#asks #literature #books #recommendations #rainbow rowell #john grisham #harper lee #george orwell #leonid andreyev #litblr

2 notes · View notes

miss-musings · 6 years ago

Text

“THE BLACKLIST” & WHY PEOPLE HATE LIZ SO MUCH

I’ve discussed on here several times how much I’ve been annoyed with the way TPTB have written Liz’s character over the course of the show. But, I tried to keep my frustration and annoyance directed more so at the writers/showrunners and less on the character herself or the actress Megan Boone.

However, after watching 6x10 “The Cryptobanker,” I think I may have finally hit the point where I really started to hate Liz in and of herself. So, I started writing this post, which I’ve added to and edited over the past few weeks, but I still stand by my original point.

Now, I follow the Blacklist on Facebook, and almost every single time there’s a new post, the top-voted comments are always praising Spader/Red and hating on Liz. I’ve seen people say she’s annoying, that they didn’t like this S6 plotline with her and her sister, that they hoped the show kills her off for real soon, etc.

I always thought that most of the comments were somewhat valid but maybe a little overblown (especially the ones about wanting her off the show). But, it really made me wonder why so many people hate -- and I mean HATE -- Liz so much.

While I admit that her character is starting to really get on my nerves, I’m going to try to put my personal feelings aside and tackle this objectively. I want to really look at what reasons within the show, its writing, its format, etc., Liz receives so much more hate -- vastly more than any other character on this show. As I said, Red/Spader is always highly praised along with Dembe, and I rarely if ever see comments complaining about Samar, Aram, Cooper and Ressler. I would guestimate that 95 percent of complaints about any one character are directed at Liz.

A THEORETICAL POSSIBILITY

Now, I will theorize -- and keep in mind that this is only a theory -- that part of the reason for this hatred toward Liz has to do with some male fans being misogynistic/sexist and some female fans’ annoyance at what a crappy avatar Liz makes for. (I’m talking about straight viewers, FYI.)

With regard to male fans, I think they look at Liz -- who at times has been terse, mean-spirited and vindictive -- and see her as a giant bitch. After all, that was the whole idea that Liz herself sets up in the pilot. She is not who her male colleagues expect her to be. She doesn’t play into the traditional feminine role of simpering, smiling and content to sit on the sidelines and let the men sort things out. (And, I’m really generalizing here.) So, I think it’s a fair assumption that some male fans have the same sentiments about Liz that her colleagues canonically have too.

As for the female fans, I think Liz might come off as a poor avatar. When you’re plunged into a fictional universe, usually there’s a character who’s plunged into the story along with you, and you learn as they do, to the point where you start to project yourself onto them. Think Neo in “The Matrix” or Harry Potter or Luke Skywalker. It’s every person’s fantasy to discover some great power within, harness it to defeat the bad guy and win the heart of the beautiful woman/handsome man in the process.

Liz was clearly meant to be our avatar into this universe. We were brought into the world along with her, saw her learn about Red, begin the Task Force, and plunge into this world of the FBI and the Blacklist.

Now, I imagine that for older women, especially, the fantasy is to be the kind of gal that a guy like James Spader would absolutely devote himself to. And that’s exactly how Red treats Liz -- like a woman he would do anything for. However, unlike many viewers, Liz is ungrateful for Red’s devotion and continual sacrifices for her benefit. Instead of seeing him as a savior and white knight, she often sees him as a nuisance and a terror in her life. I personally think she’s often justified in that, but I’d guess that 80 percent of the current audience is watching it simply for Spader’s performance alone. So, when the favorite actor’s character is not appreciated and is continually hated on by his co-lead character, it makes for uncompelling television from a “I want to project myself onto this character” kind of way.

But, with the theoretical discussion out of the way, let’s examine some more concrete reasons as to why people hate Liz.

LIZ IS OFTEN WISHY-WASHY (ie, has little conviction) WHEN IT COMES TO HER FEELINGS AND DESIRES.

This is what I’ve often described as the “Liz loves Red, Liz hates Red, Liz forgives Red” song-and-dance routine. But, there’s much more to it than simply Liz’s relationship with Red.

Liz was first introduced to us as a woman who wanted to start a family, and yet she thought about giving up her baby for adoption and then later gave Agnes away to her mother-in-law so she could spend more time on her revenge plans. The entire pilot goes out of its way to show Liz struggling with the demands of being an FBI agent and a prospective parent, and drives home the whole “Mommy Liz” vibe with the admiral’s daughter.

Yet, when she finds out she’s pregnant, she hesitates and thinks about giving it up for adoption. Then, when she has Agnes, she agrees to Kaplan’s plan to fake her death so she and Tom and Agnes can be happy and safe away from his world. And, later when Agnes gets kidnapped, she frets and worries about her constantly.

But, the minute she wakes up after being in a coma, she’s totally cool with pawning Agnes off to someone she’s never really met. Cool.

I realize there are mitigating circumstances, but this is a woman who made all her loved ones -- Red, Cooper, Ressler, Samar, Aram, any family members she had left (except Tom) -- believe she was dead so she could live with her daughter in a safe location!!!

The idea that Liz wouldn’t just drop everything and give up the Task Force indefinitely to heal and spend time with her daughter after losing 10 months of time with her is absurd, IMO.

But, no, revenge is far more important.

It’s also really annoying that after finding out Tom had betrayed her, she was able to give him a second chance and continued to love him despite all sorts of stuff in Seasons 2-5, but the minute Red does anything, she wants to drop him like heavy airline luggage.

So, in case you forgot: in S1, she found out that Tom had been lying to her, manipulating her, and abusing her. So, after shooting him in the S1 finale, she chains him up on a boat for several months in an effort to make him useful to the Task Force. However, the minute that she hits the “hates Red” part of her “love Red, hate Red, forgive Red” cycle, she runs right back to Tom and very quickly forgives him. And, while her positive feelings for Tom continue from late S2b until his death in 5x08, her feelings about Red are all over the place, as mentioned.

Now, in her defense, her feelings about him seem to waver whenever a crucial piece of information about his involvement in her life is discovered. When Tom’s fake passports were traced back to Red in 1x06, she blamed him and said she didn’t want to work with him anymore. But, then the very next episode, when he offers to leave the Task Force completely, she doesn’t tell him to do so.

And, when Red admitted to killing Sam toward the end of S1, she was again ready to let him leave. But then at the end of the episode, she stops him.

In S2, when Liz believes that Red was only interested in her for the Fulcrum, and never really cared about her, she gives him the cold shoulder. And then when he admits that he did hire Tom to be in her life, her coldness toward him again grows.

While they’re on the run together in S3, their relationship is at its best, arguably. Until she finds out she’s pregnant and he tells her that the fight is not over, and she doesn’t want her child to be in Red’s world. (Which is understandable)

And on and on it goes through S4 and S5 and now S6. The minute Liz realizes that he stole her father’s identity, she’s ready to burn him to the ground. But then only a few episodes later, she’s teary-eyed and regretting that she turned him into the authorities.

AS OPPOSED TO RED’S ...

But, what really makes this all so annoying is the fact that while Liz’s feelings toward Red are cyclical, his feelings for her are constant, enduring, and never wavering. I mean, he’s basically Garth Brooks’ “Shameless” in human form. He is completely devoted to her, would give his life for hers without hesitation, and has loved her (in some form or another) far longer and far deeper than she has seemingly ever loved him.

If both of them liked each other, or if both of them disliked each other initially but then grew closer over time, the show would be much better. For instance, ABC’s Castle -- while it definitely has its flaws -- started off with the two leads liking each other from the start. Yeah, maybe they’re trying to get used to each because he’s a goofball and she’s kind of a hard ass, but it seems like by the end of the pilot, they both generally like each other as acquaintances.

Or NBC’s “The Enemy Within” -- which is eerily similar to TBL and I’ll have to do a whole post on their similarities some other time -- which starts off with the two leads being tenuous with each other. He hates her, and she is kind of neutral toward him, but the two of them need to cooperate to accomplish a shared goal.

This was never the case with Liz and Red on TBL. In the pilot, Liz is very wary of Red, as she should be. However, he -- according to Zamani -- is obsessed with her, and it’s clear that he cares about her far more than he should. To our knowledge, Red has never met adult Liz. He’s seen her from afar and kept tabs on her, of course, but this was the first time he’d met her (presumably) since The Night of the Fire. And from that meeting, his love has only grown, while hers -- as discussed -- has been all over the place.

THE TWO ARE NOT EQUAL

As I’ve said in previous posts, while the show wants Red and Liz to be partners, they are really so unequal on multiple levels. The same could be said of the two leads on “The Enemy Within, but their inadequacies tend balance each other out. She has all the know-how, but he has the freedom and jurisdiction to do things, and he is the one who ultimately makes the decision on what his team should tackle and how. She has some of the power in their dynamic, and he has some as well. Thus, their advantages tend to cancel each other out.

This is not the case with Red and Liz. All this time, Red has withheld crucial pieces of information from her, which he gives to her in piecemeal and only when she demands them. I won’t judge whether that’s the right or wrong thing to do, but it puts her at a disadvantage as far as their dynamic goes. And while Liz should be given some advantage of her own, she really doesn’t have one. Red has an immunity agreement and gets to do pretty much whatever he wants, unlike on “The Enemy Within” where the male FBI agent has some say over what privileges the female CI has because she’s still in custody.

I guess the one advantage that Liz has over Red is that he’s told her he will never lie to her. And she has confronted him and asked him direct questions before because she knows he *has* to tell her to truth if she does. But, that doesn’t stop him from stalling, changing the subject, or trying to do a verbal workaround.

And then, when the show was promoting S6, they made it seem like the power was finally in Liz’s hands -- she knows he’s an impostor and he doesn’t know that she knows.

But, while the show tried to give Liz a bit of an edge over Red, it ultimately fizzled out. She knows he’s an impostor, but she no longer has an interest in pursuing it. Which goes back to my previous point about her not having conviction. She wanted to destroy Red, and betrayed him to ensure that he wouldn’t get in the way of her and Jennifer’s quest to find out his true identity. But then, she drops it.

Again, I realize there was a lot going on -- Jennifer was kidnapped; Red was almost executed. And while I think the fact that, right now, she’s fine with not having all the answers is a sign a maturity, it’s also incredibly frustrating to see how she went from 0 to 100 in such a short span of time.

Anyway... moving on to my next major point:

LIZ DOESN’T FEEL LIKE A REAL PERSON

Relative to the screentime she’s received, Liz does not feel like a real person, but merely a plot device or a vehicle for Red’s schemes and/or the Task Force’s missions.

Very rarely do we get to see her on her own, doing her own things, outside of Red/the Task Force -- going to the store, doing chores at home, hanging out with her kid, etc. The only times we do are when it’s relevant to the overall plot. Like when she gets beat up in the parking lot in 3x11 or when she brings that Lady Ambrosia kid over to her house, tries to cook him something, and then the fire alarm goes off.

She seems solely to exist within Red’s/the Task Force’s orbit.

I feel like the fact that Liz doesn’t have any friends or family outside of the Task Force, Red and Tom (when he was alive), really speaks to how she seems to exist more as a character, not as a person within a fictional universe.

She doesn’t seem to have any hobbies, and outside of her mentioning the Wizard of Oz and a few other things, she doesn’t really seem to have any interests in anything.

By comparison, we have lots of scenes with Red and Dembe, doing puzzles, playing cards and board games. We know Red enjoys art and food/alcohol and traveling, and he has a penchant for some types of drugs -- his favorite being sex.

And even Aram enjoys Doctor Who, biking and cooking.

I’m not saying that Liz needs to start chatting with Ressler about Monday Night Football or playing pool at some local dive bar, but something! Just a line about how she Skyped with Agnes last night, or her talking to Samar or Aram about her trying to decide whether she should download Tinder and try to get back into the dating scene, or a scene of her running around a park but she’s disturbed by memories from her past. Just something. Something to make her feel like a real person, who does things outside of the Task Force.

Again, I always hate the fact that Liz was supposed to have all these friends in S1 (the house party at the end of 1x03 and the vow renewal later in S1), and yet, they seemed to have vanished. I hate the fact that Liz doesn’t have any support system outside of Red and the Task Force. The girl needs friends! Hobbies! Interests! Something!!!

LIZ TRIES TOO HARD TO PROVE HERSELF, GETS IN TROUBLE, AND OFTEN NEEDS TO BE RESCUED BY RED AND/OR THE TASK FORCE AS A RESULT

This gets into a personal pet peeve of mine where Liz reassures people that she can do things. In the most recent case, she told her sister that she was definitely capable of deceiving Red and keeping him from finding out that she knows.

But then within the episode or two, Red definitely knows that Liz is up to something because she has been acting weird around him. And, before she begs Dembe not to tell Red that she was the one who betrayed him, Red was pretty certain that she was the one who did. I would suggest that the minute he was arrested, he had a good suspicion it was her. Hence why he said that what he would do to his betrayer would depend on who they were. He was hedging his bets, in case it was Liz.

Liz and Jennifer kept going back and forth on trying to convince the other that they could pull off this “Find Red’s true identity” side-plot, but ultimately, Jennifer got kidnapped, Liz killed a dude, and ended up having to recruit Ressler and Red to help her find Jennifer and confront the people who took her.

This type of situation happens A LOT on the show. Liz will try to do her own thing (finding Red’s true identity, etc.) and it ultimately gets her into trouble. It seemed to happen more often in S1-3. One example I can think of was when she didn’t kill Tom, but instead captured and imprisoned him, and then he killed the Harbormaster and forced Liz to face charges for murder. Red and the Task Force and even Tom had to come to her rescue to make sure she didn’t face the consequences of her choices. Yes, Tom did kill the Harbormaster, but Liz was the one who had decided to chain him up on the boat in the first place. The murder is on him, but the imprisoning is on her.

Liz also killed the Attorney General, and Red and the Task Force (and Tom, once again) were ultimately responsible for saving her from the Director’s plot while she was trapped in The Box, bringing the Cabal’s actions to light, using the Director as the scapegoat for Hitchen and then getting Liz out of the murder charges by bringing in Karakurt. And then, later, Red was responsible for leveraging the President into pardoning her so that she could become an agent again.

Now, there have been a few occasions where Liz was kidnapped simply because she was an FBI agent, not because of her connection to Red or anything else. For instance, in 1x04 “The Stewmaker,” she’s kidnapped and almost killed because she had her own personal history with that Lorca guy.

But, again, too many times Liz is put in the “damsel in distress” position where either she’s in trouble or her life is threatened and others have to be the ones to save her, either by saving her life or by saving her from legal repercussions, etc.

In a way, this whole S6a has been the consequence of Liz’s actions, which she regretted and then was looking for any and all help to make sure Red wasn’t executed after she’d turned him in. Yes, Red was the one who insisted on the death penalty, but he never would’ve been in that situation if she hadn’t betrayed him. And ultimately, it was Cooper who came through and pressured the President into staying Red’s execution.

Going back to the “Red and Liz aren’t equals” thing, very rarely is Red the one who needs saving. And, even when he is, it isn’t always Liz who’s rescuing him. Again, Cooper was the one who saved Red from execution. Liz has saved him a few times that I can recall -- she stopped that guy from shooting him in 2x14 and she leveraged the Director into calling off the hit in 2x19.

But, again, Liz seems to be in trouble far more often than Red is, and she very rarely is able to save herself (with the solo-Liz episode being one of the few times she does). Meanwhile, Red is able to get out of jams on his own much more often, such as when he escapes Anslo in 1x10. And, he and the Task Force save her far more often than Liz and the Task Force save him. And, even then, sometimes Red saves her single-handedly (like in the S2 Super Bowl episode) while she usually has to work with others to save him.

Once again, I realize there are a lot of mitigating circumstances. Red has a vast criminal empire and more knowledge and resources than Liz does, most of the time. But, I do wish that 1) Liz wouldn’t be kidnapped or have her life/livelihood threatened so often and 2) that Red’s would be a tiny bit more frequently, so that *she* can save *him.*

It also doesn’t help that she was sidelined in S3b partly because she was a felon who was no longer able to be an agent on the Task Force and because both Liz the character and Megan Boone the actress were pregnant. And then she was sidelined again in S4a because of the whole felon thing / trying to get Agnes back.

TL;DR

I believe the reasons why people hate Liz are similar to why people hate Sakura from the “Naruto” Universe (as YouTube channel SwagKage describes in this video):

Liz doesn’t get the character development she should relative to her screentime; and any development she does get seems to be cyclical and inconsistent. (ie, she acts however the writers need her to for the given arc/episode)

Liz often tries to do her own thing, despite warnings not to; and while she’s by no means useless to Red or the Task Force, she often has to be rescued (either directly or indirectly) far more than she does the rescuing.

Liz often acts demanding, ungrateful, and selfish -- or at least relative to how the audience might want her to act, especially with regard to Red. And, jumping off the second point, also has a bit of an ego and can be proud and willful, which as I theorized, might be a turn-off for some male viewers.

Also, the Lizzington shipper in me could point out the parallels between Sakura liking Sasuke (who was a giant dick to her) and hating Naruto (who was constantly helping her out) and Liz’s dynamics with Tom and Red, respectively, but I’ll leave you all to watch the video for yourself.

Overall, I think some of the reasons for hating Liz are valid, but as I said, I *try* not to direct my annoyance toward the character of Liz herself or Megan Boone, the actress, but rather the writers, who I feel need to take responsibility for what they’ve done and continue to do with this character.

Don’t take this to say that I hate the writers, but rather that I want them to do better. I want to see this show succeed and I want to see Megan have some amazing material to work with the same way that James seems to with Red.

I’ll say it again: I don’t hate this show; I merely want to offer up my criticisms and objective-ish insights into why I think people hate Liz so much. In that way, we fans can have a discussion and perhaps maybe the writers will take some of our points to heart.

For my next major TBL post, I’ll try to tackle the similarities between TBL and The Enemy Within. :D

#lizzington #reddington #raymond reddington #liz keen #elizabeth keen #the blacklist #nbc the blacklist #nbc blacklist #blacklist #james spader #megan boone #harold cooper #donald ressler #samar navabi #aram mojtabai #red reddington #masha rostova

95 notes · View notes

todaysbiggesthits · 5 years ago

Text

The Exam

Best Music Moment of 2019

BC: Three straight hours of this

youtube

in my Chapman Ryder Cup match with Code -The Robert M. Chennault Playlist in my Ryder Cup match with Laser -Vampire Weekend's "M79" with Parks and Rec theme interlude in Pawnee Peytonville with my babe -Late night music game with JD and Chaps this Fall -My kids competing for best air guitar solo to Daft Punk's "Digital Love" -The Stones soundtracking Raceday morning with Counterfeit Kenny and the Kennel Boys

Codem: -Picking up the keys after closing on #our house and listening to Arden's dreams for the pad while listening to the songs that brought us together in the first place. -Perched in the balcony of Park West watching Chromatics live and in person. -The Chapman format playlist that Brendon and I put together. It was just one song on repeat. Xtal - Aphex Twin -Plugging in my klipsch's for the first time in the new house to listen to elliott smith on the day of his death. the sound of his discography wafting throughout the whole house was a true delight.

Bronco: My 6-year-old discovering Green Day. My 9-year-old discovering Metallica. Both discoveries have awakened something in them that is hilarious and awesome to behold. And seeing Tool was pretty flaming awesome.

JD: March: Realizing I’d never heard this Stones song, nodding along to the opening riff, and exploding into my biggest laugh of the year at the first line.

youtube

June: The Joni Mitchell performance in the Rolling Thunder Review documentary on Netflix. June: Catching the Thom Yorke Anima short film at the IMAX theater on the Upper West Side. July: Code and I getting a perfect 99 score on the greatest rendition of “Emotional Rescue” karaoke you’ll ever see. October: Playing the music game WAY too deep into the night with BC and Chap (look for the next day’s hangover on my worst moments list).

Chap: Patrick Stickles singing "I'm sorry dad no I'm not making this up" to his dad in the audience.

Nasty: Listening to music at BOB. Nothing but jams that whole weekend. Driving in with Laser - GOOGLE MUSIC JAMS. Trip to the casino - JAMS. Hanging out on the deck - JAMS. Driving to the course with Blazer Black - Fuck Buttons - Sweet Love for Planet Earth aka JAMS. In the cart with Code - JAMS. Driving Chappy and Sfreddo to the rental car - JAMS (but quietly).

Larse: Greta Thunberg speech dubbed to metal

youtube

Best Shows Seent in 2019

Nasty: The Killers @ Summerfest. Hot Fuss will always be an all-time favorite album and Mr. Brightside is the best pop song of our lifetime, IMO. Also, my wife loves them which is about the only band in middle of the venn diagram.

Larse: The Lonely Island at Summerfest

BC: Dead & Company

JD: 1. The Rapture at Music Hall of Williamsburg 2. Viagra Boys at Bowery Ballroom 3. The Strokes and Parkay Boys at the All Points East fest in London with drunk lads screaming along to the guitar parts 4. B Boys at Union Pool 5. Titus Andronicus at Bowery Ballroom 6. Avey Tare at Market Hotel 7. Tame Impala at MSG 8. Weeping Icon at Elsewhere 9. Priests at Elsewhere

Code: interpol - chicago theater illuminati hotties - hideout it looks sad - subT downstairs robyn - riviera steve malkmus - art institute eleventh dream day - hideout colleen green - sleeping village swearin' - lincoln hall surf curse - subT shura - the bottle

Chap: TA was the only show I saw. It was great!

Bronco: All of them. They were each great in their own way. Aside from Tool I was able to interact with the band members at each of the shows. One I didn't have a ticket for and scored one at the door. One was in the tiniest venue I've seen a show at. One had a surprisingly entertaining opening act. And Tool surprised me with how much I enjoyed an arena show despite being so far away I couldn't see the facial features of the band members. And there was SOOOOOOO much weed being smoked in the Garden that night. And I was with a few good buddies. And I was able to sell my fourth ticket for twice what I paid, simulatenously covering me and my fourth friend who had to bail because his life sucks because his wife sucks.

Confession of 2019

Nasty: I consume more music at my cushy, suburban OrangeTheory workout classes than in my own free time. S/O to Coach Vanessa for having some Girl Talk on her playlists.

Codem: i had more fun listening to stuff that i already knew about than stuff that was coming out.

BC: I saw a Yacht Rock cover band and didn't hate it -I succumbed to social pressure and saw DMB -I didn't realize until the last minute that my favorite album was released in 2018 (Wild Nothing). Removing it greatly reduced my loyalty to my list.

Bronco: I'm losing my edge. I enjoyed way more lady singer bands this year than in any other year.

Chap: Couldn't get my shit together on the tracks list so just posted a random playlist

Larse: Not really a confession but more of a TIL (today I learned), but Raphael Saadiq was an original member of Tony! Toni! Tone!

Biggest Disappointment of 2019

Bin: The National @ Summerfest. From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "the frontman was completely detached, even confessing at one point that he was excited to get back home to his family. The result was an incredibly depressing show — which, given the band's dour songs, is really saying something." ... Huge Bummer.

BC: Didn't see nearly enough shows with nearly enough of yous

Chap: Sturgill Simpson... unlistenable!

Bronco: Baroness.

Laser: Modest Mouse opening for The Black Keys

Code: i was really messed up by dave berman's passing. i had tickets to see him play at the end of august. it was going to be my first catching him live and in concert. i had waited for this moment since i picked up american water back in 2003. two weeks before he was supposed to come through town, he up and died. also, much less of a bummer, the chromatics show in miami that Arden and i were going to attend got canceled two days before the show.

Most Overrated of 2019

Nasty: Kanye's shoes

Chap: LEGACY! LEGACY! – Jamila Woods seems to have been highly regarded? Not my thing

BC: FKA Twigs

Bronco: Baroness.

JD: Big Thief

Code: cancel culture

Larse: Mayor Pete

Make it Stop 2019

Chap: In my house, the Nutcracker Suite. It's great, until the 300th time that day.

Nasty: Cage the Elephant (but children, instead of elephant, and in real life, not the band)

BC: Lizzo

Code: lizzo

JD: Memes

Larse: Trump

Bronco: News

Biggest TBH Regret of 2019

Chap: Can't seem to get to more than one show per year; Jessica Pratt in a church by my old place

JD: Missin’ dat Pratt yet Nick!

BC: Should've listened to the Kanye album. Should've spent more time with the Deerhunter record.

Rotty: Skipping CHVRCHES at Summerfest

Code: another year with no fog party

Nasty: Not going to Indy 500. lol jk.

Bronco: I didn't buy tickets to a few shows I would've liked to have seen. One of them I went to the venue and didn't get in. That bummed me out, but I crossed the street and had a few beers by myself for good measure, so it wasn't a total loss.

Detective Murtaugh of 2019

JD: Everything.

Bronco: Shows that don't start until 10pm. That Girl Band show nearly wrecked me.

Chap: How much I loved Bruce Springsteen's adult contemporary western-themed old-man album.

BC: The ten seconds I lasted with 1000 GECS

Nasty: For the life of me - I cannot figure out how to operate the "play next" queue on these apps.

Laser: Lizzo at Summerfest - lot of younglings running around; people were racist towards Lizzo's security guards, she vowed not to come back to MKE, one of the most segregated cities in America :(

Resolution for 2019 Status

Laser: — How It Went: Who can even remember this shit...I'm sure it was that I'd do better at keeping track or listen to more shit people suggest and I'm sure I failed.

BC: Listen to one new album a week; reboot the Classic Album Review Club How It Went: Noooot toooo gooooood

Code: catch ovlov, pictureplane, washer, chromatics, EMA and colleen green live this year. How It Went: i saw chromatics and colleen green. last i checked .400 gets you into cooperstown.

JD: Greater consciousness of how I’m using my attention - an ineffectual and meaningless protest of the ways the world is burning down in pursuit of it. How It Went: Not bad! I especially nailed the “ineffectual and meaningless” part.

Chap: Learn Piano; Guilt Joe Dons into finally inviting me to a concert. How It Went: Learned some piano but got to busy for it... Couldn't guilt JD to invite me anywhere but I DID invite him to a show! The same one I went to! With him!

Bronco: Read more 'classic’ books. I didn’t read many of them, even in school (especially in school? Never could read a book I was told to read). But I’m leaning in the sci-fi direction of 'classics’. I just read Dune this summer, and wrapped up Fahrenheit 451 the other day. I’m feeling an unexplained need to beef up my nerd credentials and this seems the way to accomplish it. How It Went: Nope. Fell back in to zombie-apocalypse genre series that I've been reading for a while. But I am currently reading arch-nerd Neal Stephenson's "Fall; or, Dodge in Hell". It's almost 900 pages, I feel like I've been reading for months now, and because I'm a stupidly slow reader, I read only before going to bed, and can only make it 10 minutes before falling asleep and hitting myself in the face with my phone, I'm only 25% of the way through. But man is it painting a creepy yet eerily plausible scene of the near future. Guy just knows how to write.

Nasty: Hope last year I was smart enough to leave this blank. (editor’s note: [removes shoes, pets cat, puts on slippers, retires to favorite easy chair, sips martini, slowly pulls reading glasses out of cardigan pocket, dusts them off, loads todaysbiggesthits.tumblr.com, scrolls to ‘Resolution for 2019’] “Nasty: I’m sticking with it - get to NY for a show with JD.”)

Resolution for 2020

BC: See Phish in 2020

Codem: i'm making it easier this year. catch ovlov, washer, EMA and colleen green live this year. bonus points: see dom's much anticipated return to the stage.

Bronco: Build a vinyl collection. I know I dumped on Brendon for suggesting he press copies of Carpet Affair, but my kid's getting way into music and listening to it on his own (via Alexa in my bedroom which is super fucking annoying), so we're getting him his own record player and I think it's going to be a cool activity to go record store diving for whatever classics we can scrounge up.

JD: Get to more shows. Take more aimless strolls spinning tunes.

Bin: Send an email about music on the TBH! thread.

Larse: None

Chap: Eh I'm cool

Most Anticipated of 2020

Code: my man dom said that he is coming back to the world this year. i have to believe that he'll keep his word. i'm thinking 2020 is going to be the year for chromatics' Tommy.

Chap: TWOD, Perfume Genius, Jason Isbell

BC: Huey Lewis and the News, Tame Impala, Run the Jewels

Bronco: Kvelertak and Mastodon, maybe some surprise extra Tool material?

JD: Working Men’s Club

Nasty: Spotify getting Jay-Z's catalog back.

1 note · View note

gleekto · 6 years ago

Note

I didnt realize this article was going to be such a hot topic. This situation is definitely catch 22 isnt it? Damned if you do, damned if you dont. I myself have never found a problem with straight people playing gay characters. And it shouldn't be a problem IMO. However there are definitely people in the LGBTQ community who would prefer to have gay roles played by gay characters. I feel like I even saw Andy Mientus mention this once and he's really good friends with Darren.

Andy Mientus did an amazing chain on this issue re: the casting of the Disney gay character with a straight actor - and I completely agree with him (and I am pretty darn sure that Darren does too - literally fits with exactly what Darren has chosen to do) Here is the link and here it is reproduced for all you who didn’t see it out there - This is the right lens (imho ha ha)!

And my point about this being the right time in Darren’s career is well highlighted below - Darren is now a bankable name. When he was cast as Blaine, he was not famous at all, just the right dapper kid for the job (as determined by RM), and with Cunanan, he was an eerily good fit for several reasons (and connection to the lbgt community has to be one of them, but certainly not the driving one) - and now, he is a bankable name who is going to step away.

Andy Mientus says:

RE: this Disney casting controversy, my thoughts as an out actor are complicated. I don’t want to get to a place where casting must be literal and I can only play polish/Italian bisexuals, but in the case of gay/straight casting, I don’t think turnabout has been fair play so far.

I have never played straight on television. The few queer male actors who have possess traits which society has decided “pass” for straight and some were still in the closet at the time they did. Remember that Newsweek article? Oof.

It’s a sad fact that casting directors, producers, and directors have a hard time seeing past an actor’s queerness and thus queer actors are often only really considered for queer roles.

That’s okay, because there are some great queer roles out there despite the disparity in representation, but sadly, those roles are also seen as prestigious and are often snapped up by straight actors with more bankable names.

Why do they have a more bankable name? Because they have had more opportunities. It’s a vicious cycle.

When the pool of available roles is so small, it can be frustrating to see a role described as “camp” go to an actor who is going to have to affect that in some way rather than to an actor whose camp-ness keeps them from getting other work, especially when it is a historic first.

So, my PERSONAL feeling is that straight actors can and should play gay roles but until the playing field is more even, the powers that be should be making every effort to bring queer actors to the table and really consider what casting them might mean for their community.

A major role for a queer actor might create a new queer household name who might become an idol for a young queer kid in a place where they don’t feel seen or accepted. It’s bigger that just a job, for now. I look forward to the day when it isn’t.

#gleekto asks #andy mientus #representation matters

60 notes · View notes

ask-a-w · 8 years ago

Text

[OOC: Long ass recap of RE: Vendetta]

The more I drafted the post, the more my review became a recap with my own personal snarky comments. So here is my recap of Vendetta for those who can’t see the movie yet and want to spoil themselves lol. Spoilers will be under the cut.

Let’s talk about the characters.

Leon is no longer the person we know. He’s ten times more cynical and jaded, an alcoholic, and really doesn’t care any more. He has essentially lost the drive to keep fighting. It’s a stark change from his RE6 self. In fact, he asks Chris, “How long can we keep doing this?”

Poor guy needs a long break or at least retire. IMHO, he needs to see a psychiatrist. He has issues. There’s a very brief line about his childhood which is like, the first attempt in RE history to have one of the main characters talk about what they were as a kid.

I don’t like Leon in this movie so it is relieving that he doesn’t have a lot of screen time. Focus is more on Chris this time.

Chris may look and have a different VA but he’s still Chris in terms of personality. Boulder Redfield shines in one instance when it should have killed him lol. Oh and Chris utilises Leon’s suplex move for one of the action scenes. It’s fun to watch.

Rebecca is surprisingly the voice of reason and raises so many good points! Too bad she doesn’t get to fight much in this movie.

Unfortunately, the RE characters succumb to a dose of stupid by not killing an infected person ASAP and instead, hesitate for many seconds until said infected is already on them. I can forgive Rebecca as she transferred from field ops to science work so it’s been years since she’s been on the front line. But Leon and Chris need to be smacked in their heads for their slip up.

The villain Glenn Arias, has serious issues. He should be BFFs with Carla and Simmons, if they were alive. Oh and he would make a good sparring partner for Svetlana. The villains lately have gone to the school of martial arts. It’s written in his wanted profile that he’s a master in hand to hand combat.

Enough about the characters, let’s talk about something else. The animation and music are beautiful, as usual. I have a dislike for slow-mo in movies and thankfully it’s minimum here. The slow-mo scenes in the movie are cringe worthy.

It’s more violent this time with generous amounts of blood and disembodiment galore so it’s not suited for kids.

So yeah, flawed characters, a beautiful looking/sounding movie, and now let’s jump to spoilers ‘cos I want to talk about the story! It’s gonna be lengthy so grab a drink while you’re at it.

The beginning of the movie has Leon walking into a morgue. He has a internal monologue about how when he was a kid, he wondered what he would do when he grew up and did not expect his life to end up like this. I feel a little sad for him and I have no issues there.

Next is Chris and his team infiltrating a base/mansion that Glenn aka weapons merchant of death is holed up in. Glenn has also taken over Tricell and Neo-Umbrella. Chris is asked for advice by a soldier. Chris says “Be willing to kill friend or family when the choice comes down to it.”

He doesn’t give the advice of shooting the undead in the head and also killing the undead right away. So, it’s no surprise his team gets killed by a kid zombie because they made the dumb move of asking a shuffling human being if “he’s okay”. *sighs*

Yep, we finally see a kid zombie! But the kid is there because his mom from the BSAA went under cover in Glenn’s mansion. Why would you bring a kid along to a house that has a known merchant who deals with BOWs??!

Also the kid can talk/respond coherently while infected. He’s the only that does so throughout the movie and it’s never explained why.

Oh and everyone but Chris wears helmets. I don’t know why. Maybe Chris’s head isn’t squishy like the rest.

There’s a female zombie that is crawling with just her spine and the rest of her body is gone. That’s some Evil Within inspired shit right there.

Anyway, Chris is naturally the only one that survives the mission. Two of his soldiers run into a supposedly empty corridor but there are wires criss-crossing everywhere so they get cut into pieces. That’s kind of impossible IMO but they’re obviously paying homage to the first live action movie with the infamous laser corridor.

Chris fights Glenn outside the mansion and the villain gains the upper hand before boasting that his new virus is so good it can discern friend from foe. Glenn also relieves Chris of his handgun but instead of shooting Chris’s unprotected head, he shoots in the general direction of Chris’s armoured back but Chris somehow ends up with an injured leg. Eh, I swore Glenn was pointing straight into Chris’s back instead of pointing down.

Glenn gloats some more and walks away with his minions that includes a blonde leather clad femme fatale whom I shall henceforth call FF because I can’t remember her name and also a Nemesis-Ustanak monster who used to be a human named Diego. Glenn then instructs the zombies to kill Chris.

BSAA helicopter shows up to save the day and the pilot doesn’t die. That’s a plus! Explosions ensue whilst Chris holds the body of the BSAA undercover agent and screams “Nooo!”

There’s a flashback of Glenn’s wedding day and his bride’s facial features as well as silhouette eerily looks like Rebecca. A fighter plane comes by and drops a bomb on the garden party. Yikes. Scene ends with Glenn bloodied and holding his wife’s disembodied arm as he screams “Nooo!” Oh boy, if any more characters scream no, this could become a drinking game but thank goodness it does not repeat.

Scene transistions to Rebecca Chambers in a lab running test simulations on which vaccine combination works best on the new virus spreading throughout the US in the past four months. Yeah, four months have past since Chris’s failed mission at Glenn’s mansion. A post doc student that looks much older than her comes in with coffee for both of them, kinda flirts with her, and Rebecca uses her Professor status to ask him to go check on something. I should note that Rebecca is breaking lab safety by drinking her coffee in the lab. RULE NUMBER ONE OF LAB SAFETY, YOU DON’T CONSUME ANYTHING IN THE LAB!

Glenn’s FF from before proceeds to kill the post doc student, infects the campus with the mysterious new virus via the airborne route through the vents. Rebecca is infected but thank goodness her lab test simulation is complete and one of them contains the perfect formula for a vaccine which gets manufactured immediately in another room within the building! So she stumbles out of lab, goes into another lab and injects herself with it and is cured. Of course, all her colleagues and friends have turned into shambling zombies. She blungeons her zombified post doc student with a fire extinguisher and stabs another undead fella with a pair of scissors. I shall attest that we do keep scissors in the lab so plus one point for that lol.

Rebecca hides in her lab and is apparently so thirsty that she lunges for a water bottle and drinks it with so much gusto. I’ve never seen someone drink water with so much vigour. FF tries to kill her by causing an explosion that shatters the protective glass barrier between her and the rest of the zombies. But Chris and the BSAA swoop in just in time to save the day. Chris and Rebecca are reunited after a long time.

So, the outbreak is contained and in the aftermath, Rebecca asks Chris why she is casually sitting outside beside a BSAA van instead of being in quarantine since she had been infected. OMG this is the first time I’ve seen a character speak sense! Chris brushes it off and says he needs her expertise and since she cured herself, quarantine isn’t needed. *facepalm* Rebecca makes a joke later in the movie about Chris being the brawn and she being the brains.

Rebecca has been mapping out the outbreaks and knows which populations are infected. She also suspects that the virus is linked to the Plaga used by the Los Illuminados years ago since the undead can be somewhat controlled and know friend from foe. It is one of the reasons why FF targeted the campus because Rebecca is too darn smart and knew too much. So, they go on a field trip to "consult with an expert”.

It’s time to go back to Leon aka the expert where he is currently on vacation in a random tavern in the Rocky Mountains. Leon is obviously not happy that his vacation is interrupted by Chris and Rebecca. His personality is a complete 180 so he’s a rude asshole that doesn’t give a fuck any more. The reason for drowning his surrows is that he was leading a team in DC for an op regarding the recent outbreaks but someone from the inside ratted them out so the whole team except him died. So, Leon doesn’t want to help any more as he is tired of losing everything. Hey, looks like the writers are touching upon that aspect of his life which the fans have pointed out long ago! It only took them 6 games and 3 movies to get there…

Chris and Leon almost come close to duking it out but don’t. Chris merely grabs Leon’s bottle of alcohol and Leon responds by pulling out a hip flask from his belt. Okay, that was funny to me. Chris makes a comment about Leon spending the rest of his week drowning his sorrows while Leon says “He doesn’t plan that far ahead.” At this point, I feel a tiny bit sorry for Leon after his bout of rudeness.

In the end, Rebecca is tired of both their shit, gives them a sample of her blood and tells them to get their act together to save the lives of the citizens at risk across the various states in the US. Apparently this new virus is lying dormant inside of everyone and is waiting to be triggered. They’ll explain more later. She leaves in a huff and heads to the washroom to calm down but that’s where she gets kidnapped by FF. Oh yeah, did I mention Glenn managed to track them all the way to the Rocky Mountains and is spying on them?

Chris and Leon talk about Glenn. Our villain ended up on the US government’s hit list for a lot of shady shit so the government dropped a bomb on his wedding day. I was a little WTF at this revelation… Leon makes a point on why he should help Chris take out Glenn when the government was the one who killed Glenn’s family. Wow Leon, I don’t know either, why don’t you tell me since you’re a government agent?

Their conversation gets interrupted by a random man barging into the tavern and Leon goes ape shit upon seeing him. I shall christen this dude as RM 'cos I can’t remember his name either. There are too many minor characters in this movie. RM is the rat who sold out Leon’s team to none other than… Glenn Arias. RM begs Leon to save his family 'cos Glenn has held them hostage. Leon doesn’t give two shits about saving RM’s family but Chris attempts to persuade Leon to do so since RM has been inside Glenn’s operation so he knows some secrets.

Before anything else happens, Diego arrives with a minigun and a small team of armed soldiers. No prizes for guessing what’s next, they shoot up the place. RIP tavern waitress. RIP RM as well. Leon and Chris have plot armour so they survive without a scratch. Oh and Chris notices FF carrying Rebecca away during the shootout.

Where do they go next? According to Rebecca’s map, it’s New York so off they go~ It’s unclear if it’s NYC and I know New York is pretty big so I’m not gonna say it’s NYC. But wait, RM passed Leon his phone before the gunfight which contains a memory card full of information about Glenn Arias. His phone rings and Leon gets freaked out upon seeing the name on the phone. He answers the call and surprise, it’s RM’s wife on the other line asking her husband if he found the man that would help them. A little girl squeals on the line and asks to speak to daddy. Leon remains silent throughout the whole conversation and RM’s wife becomes really suspicious and demands to speak to her husband which makes Leon hang up. The phone call somehow makes Leon agree to help Chris. Leon’s weakness 101, helping women/family members in distress.

Rebecca wakes up handcuffed in a room, dressed in a wedding dress. The room’s walls have gardens and flowers projected on them. There are a few guest tables in front of Rebecca and all the chairs have coffins on them which are shaking/shambling within. Glenn walks in wearing the same outfit he wore at his wedding. He comments on Rebecca’s intelligence on figuring out the virus and how much she looks like his dead wife, Sarah. He uncuffs Rebecca and remarks that he managed to reanimate all his dead guests in the coffins but since his dead wife was blown to pieces, only the arm remains.

Rebecca is understandably weirded out and proclaims her friends will stop him. Super long virus explanation time! In short, the infection contains three components: a latent virus that was spread via drinking water which was why Rebecca was so eager to drink from the water bottle earlier, a trigger virus that will… trigger the latent virus via a gas, and a vaccine that will nullify the effects to make the undead calm and obedient. Essentially, Glenn can control everyone more effectively than Saddler, I guess?

If it’s not obvious yet, Glenn wants to destroy/control the whole world 'cos the government killed his loved ones. I told you he would be BFFs with Carla 'cos one event made them really pissed… And his fixation with Rebecca can also make him friends with Simmons. So there you have it folks, the vendetta-vengeance-revenge plot is finally revealed.

Glenn points out that Rebecca is wrong and thanks to her blood sample, he managed to make the “A virus” stronger… through the power of RE science. Believe me, I was befuddled upon listening to his words that I have to re-watch the movie again to make sense of what he’s saying. Anyway, we have gone down the ATCG DNA sequence in naming the viruses! How “clever”.

Glenn takes Sarah’s arm and pulls off the wedding ring, intending to marry Rebecca. Of course she resists and he slaps her, saying he will replace Rebecca’s arm with Sarah’s… This man seriously has issues which could have been healed via therapy. Oh and it is also revealed that his two friends at the wedding, Diego and his daughter, FF, were brought back to life by Glenn. Apparently being brought back to life either makes you a big hulking Nemesis-Ustanak or a super sexy femme fatale with superior fighting skills.

At the same time on a BSAA chopper heading to NY, Leon and Chris read through the info in RM’s memory card which reveals that Glenn has the airborne vaccine in gas canisters labelled with a green symbol. Said canisters are hidden in Glenn’s hideout duh. Only a select few have already been vaccinated. They have to find the canisters to save the rest of NY’s populace. Oh and everyone on the chopper has been vaccinated with Rebecca’s concoction which would keep them safe from infection. I like Chris’s new team, there’s a guy with a mohawk, a dude with sunglasses, and a badass lady sniper. They need to show more female SOAs in the games and movies.

The trigger virus have been hidden in disguised water trucks. Needless to say, the gas is deployed on the ground via the trucks and shit goes down really quickly. The BSAA have to destroy the water trucks as well and they can conveniently be wrecked via explosives… I don’t know how an explosion won’t make the gas disperse quicker but it’s RE science at work once again. So, the BSAA has four objectives: Destroy the trigger virus trucks, find the vaccine, find Rebecca, and nab Glenn if possible.

The BSAA chopper finally touches down where Leon, Chris, and I think mohawk guy disembark. Sunglasses dude and lady sniper remain on the chopper to provide aerial support. The BSAA kindly loans out a Ducati motorcycle and a jeep. Leon calls dibs on the bike 'cos it’s the only vehicle in the franchise that he has not destroyed so far lol cool-looking. And surprisingly, he does not crash the motorbike at all for the rest of the movie. xD

It’s a long sequence of them destroying trucks and zombies. There is one moment where I want to smack Leon and Chris in the head. They find a van that shakes and growls. Who do they send to open up the back of the van? Mohawk guy. Who dies? Mohawk guy. What’s in the van? Two undead dogs that Leon and Chris can’t even land a hit on. Seriously, why would you open a growling van?! Why do you send an inexperienced person to open the doors?! That’s a death wish right there.

Leon decides to let the dogs chase him while Chris continues to fulfil the other objectives… If you’ve seen the teaser video of Leon on the highway, Leon does let two innocent drivers die when he shoots down one of the dogs. Those are NOT Glenn’s men at all. I guess it’s all part of the collateral damage.

Chris makes it to Glenn’s NY hideout and is joined by Leon on a motorbike. Apparently Leon rode up the stairs with the bike. Err… okay then. Again, if you’ve seen the teaser video of the corridor fight, that’s what you get along with a few more minutes of extra action of them shooting zombies in many stylish ways possible. That’s where Chris suplexes a zombie.

Both men eventually split up so Chris goes to find Rebecca while Leon goes on a zombie killing spree. Instead of getting her arm replaced, Rebecca has been injected with the new virus and only has twenty minutes before she turns/dies. I guess Glenn had a change of heart…?

Chris finds her with minutes to spare, they go up to the rooftop office where Glenn is keeping the vaccine. Of course, Glenn doesn’t let them pass. It’s a re-match between Chris and Glenn. Both end up in a stalemate and land on a glass fixture where Glenn proceeds to smash Chris’s head against it approximately three times, causing the glass to shatter. This should have made Chris’s head crack open like a nut but this is Boulder Redfield who didn’t need a helmet when we first saw him. Chris throws Glenn through the opening in the glass where he falls down many floors and lands on the ground with a splat.

Thinking that all is over, Chris supports Rebecca and leads her to the office but villains don’t die easily as per rule number one of Capcom lore. Diego finds Glenn’s broken body and Diego activates his final form which are plaga-like appendages on its back. It is implied that Diego and Glenn merged to become that hideous monster that screams “Redfield!” in the trailer. I shall call this monster Glego.

Chris attempts to face off with Glego and looks like he’s about to lose when Leon comes charging in on his motorbike. Glego turns his attention to Leon and Leon keeps forgetting to aim for the big pulsing red heart that is conveniently located on all tyrant-like creatures. It is a pain watching Leon waste his bullets as he gets tossed around like a rag doll. Glego is about to land a final blow on Leon with his extendable finger-claws when he gets saved by Chris’s aerial support. In the mean time, Chris has found the vaccine canisters and more weapons… Oh goodie.

Badass sniper lady uses a brand new laser-ish weapon that punches a hole through Grego and five buildings. I’m not kidding about the five buildings. Who builds this kind of weapon?! Do you not care about civilians any more? Glego jumps and lands on the chopper, punches a hole through the chopper with said finger-claws and nicks sniper lady’s shoulder. Chopper starts losing altitude (as always), Leon revs up his motorbike and sends it off the rooftop into Glego. He shoots the gas tank in a big fiery explosion but Glego still lives. Pfft, you should know that fire and tyrants don’t mix.

Chris shows up with what I think is a grenade launcher which finally finishes off Glego. The chopper and its two occupants miraculously survive. They have broken the helicopter pilot curse! Rebecca inhales the vaccine and with seconds to spare, is cured.

The BSAA load up the vaccine canisters into the chopper and spray it all over the city. And for the very first time in RE history, the infected are cured and are turned back to normal. Well, they weren’t killed in the first place since they turned upon inhaling the trigger virus so I guess the vaccine reversed the effects. I’m not sure about the dead though. It’s never explained…

All of our heroes get on the chopper and fly off. Leon asks Chris how long they can keep doing this to which Chris replies with “I don’t plan that far ahead”. Haha, very funny. So err, I guess Leon renewed his drive to keep fighting? It’s really unclear. It’s not even said if he’s gonna save RM’s family anyway! Jeez.

You know, we are forgetting someone. We see FF finding her father’s mask on the floor. She looks into the camera and the movie ends right there. Great, I guess it’s a no brainer who is taking over Tricell & Neo-Umbrella.

There are no post-credits scenes and the credits aren’t as catchy as Damnation’s.

And there you have it, what I remember of Vendetta. If I left out some scenes, I found them either mundane or I really forgot them.

Are there a lot of plot holes in the movie? Oh yeah. Should they end the series and let the characters retire? OF COURSE. Can’t you see how messed up and tortured Leon is? Is it mindlessly amusing and entertaining? It’s Resident Evil, when is it never cheesy and stupidly entertaining?

I still prefer Damnation and Degeneration over Vendetta though. 6/10 for me if you want me to rate it.

And boo ‘cos there’s no Jill, Barry, any of the characters from Revelations, Ada, Hunnigan, or any one from the DSO.

#crossbow down #resident evil #resident evil: vendetta #Leon Kennedy #Chris Redfield #Rebecca Chambers #resident evil vendetta

15 notes · View notes

calamity-bean · 8 years ago

Text

American Gods 1.01

AT LONG LAST, after literally YEARS of waiting and waiting and clinging to the faintest of rumors, two of my favorite flavors of weirdness -- Neil Gaiman and Bryan Fuller -- collide on screen. The result is as bizarre as expected, in an extremely exciting way.

Not everything in the premiere worked for me. I reckon there will continue to be things that don’t work for me. But honestly, I’m just so dang HAPPY that one of my favorite books is in such capable adaptation hands, and I can’t wait to see how elements get translated to screen. Regarding the first episode, here’s my very personal & informal take on what was good, what was not so good, and what made me glance around nervously and giggle, “What the fuck? What the fuck???”

Spoilers for episode 1 and for a few comparisons to the novel, but only to book material that was covered in the ep.

The Good

The CASTING. Of everyone, so far. I actually wasn’t really familiar with Ricky Whittle before this, but dang — that man can carry so much emotion in just the twitching of his jaw and the trembling of his hands as Shadow spends a large part of the episode alternately numb and quaking with suppressed grief and rage. Ian McShane is not as rugged in appearance or wolfish in manner as I always imagined Wednesday, but he’s got this charm that is at once oily and debonair and very intriguing. I approve.

Pablo Schrieber, meanwhile, is just so fucking fun to watch as Mad Sweeney — always one of my faves. He’s got this infectious streak of madness and high-spirited but mostly good-natured bloodlust that you can truly see shining in his eyes even before he unleashes his fists. The coin tricks and the bar fight were both two of my favorite parts of the episode, and I also love his whole character design, particularly his hairstyle. Yetide Badaki, likewise, is enchanting to watch, absolutely radiating sensuality, mystery, and a hint of deep vulnerability -- a neediness that is partly a show but partly genuine. I’ve always had a soft spot for Bilquis, and her sex scene is honestly incredibly hot except for all the ways in which it’s not.

But my favorite so far may actually be Jonathan Tucker as Shadow’s cellmate. Like, his eccentric mannerisms, his bad teeth, his accent and rapid speech ... On one level, all of that so strongly telegraphs that this is some kind of backwoods petty criminal, one of those twitchy, kind of hillbilly guys. But it's all anchored by that perfect dagger-sharp, lopsided, mischievous smile. I really liked how Shadow “sees” him in the airport; I wonder if that’ll continue to be a thing?

On that note, I’m glad they managed to fit in the “don’t piss off those bitches in airports” anecdote. Giving it to Tucker’s character was a smart choice. A good lesson for us all, and again, I loved Tucker’s delivery of it.

Wednesday’s introduction was, I thought, an example way of showing things that the novel largely tells at first. The show gives his and Shadow’s initial meeting a lot more breathing room and space to play out in, and the sharp contrast between when we first see him -- disheveled and seemingly senile -- versus his smoothness on the plane serves both as a great establishing character moment for the audience and as an excuse for Wednesday and Shadow to connect over the fine art of the con.

Shout-out also to the poor beleaguered waitress at the Crocodile Bar. She expected better of you, Shadow. She expected better.

The cinematography. Visually, of course, the show is stunning. Gorey and gritty and high-contrast, like an extremely color-saturated noir. Unsurprisingly, it reminds me fondly of watching Hannibal, which is never a bad thing. The vikings’ battle in the prologue was a bloodbath of straight-up “Mizumono” proportions, and just as beautiful, in that very special way that bright, vivid splashes of slow-motion blood splatter are.

And the titular bone orchard! Eerily gorgeous and fascinating. I want to visit. Probably not the smartest travel decision I’ve ever made, but also probably not the worst.

The music. I had a notion that I’d probably be pretty damn into the music on this show; the first trailer set my expectations high by using Fantastic Negrito’s version of “Black Girl,” so I’d been hoping that the overall auditory landscape of the show would likewise be in keeping with my tastes. The verdict: heck YES it is. I need this soundtrack stat.

Oh, and did I mention Ricky Whittle is great? Cause he’s great. My mum and I have been fan-casting our perfect Shadow for years, but I don’t know if we ever hit on someone who does such a good job of combining Shadow’s imposing physicality with his soft-spoken and often gentle demeanor. And then to see his reserve shatter at Laura’s graveside, as he’s speaking to her and finally lets his heart pour out ... I loved that scene. Right up until the moment I didn’t.

Which brings us to...

The Not So Good

*sighs* Audrey.

Apparently, the only reason that scene didn’t actually progress to the proposed blowjob is that Neil Gaiman, bless his heart, threatened to throw himself in front of a bus if it took place. Thank you, Neil. In the original, fellatio-filled version, was Shadow supposed to be into it, I wonder? Or would it still have been sexual assault? Because that’s what we got on screen, at least: Audrey aggressively and physically assaulting him, though thankfully all she managed to do was shove him around.

I don’t entirely know what the point of that scene was meant to be, in terms of character or of narrative. Audrey, poor drunken Audrey, spends all of her appearances stumbling back and forth between sympathetic and repugnant — which is actually exactly how her character should be. But was it really necessary to do that by having her alternating between assaulting and hugging Shadow?

In the novel, Audrey’s shocking moment is at the funeral itself, when Shadow sees Audrey walk up to Laura’s open casket and spit on her corpse. I’ve always thought that moment extremely effective. It’s a much smaller gesture than trying to revenge-fuck Shadow, of course, but that’s kind of what I always liked about it. Not a grand, aggressive assault; instead, a small but stunning slap. And directed against Laura herself rather than at a proxy.

I don’t know. That whole scene just felt immensely uncomfortable, which I know was the point, but also unnecessary. Moving on, though—

I also did not particularly care for the Technical Boy’s goons. Their costuming / character design was weird and ineffective, imo, and doesn’t it rather undercut the entire nature of the Technical Boy — whose big threat is to delete Shadow, to literally overwrite him in the programming of reality, such that he never was — that he follows up that deletion threat by having his “children” just ... kick and lynch Shadow instead? That’s ... not really in keeping with his theme. Technology has advanced a lot since this novel was first published back in 2001, and although some aspects of the Technical Boy’s scene, such as the virtual-reality-limo interface thing, reflected that, the “children” and their methods felt incongruously low tech.

Overall, though, I didn’t really have many legit complaints with the episode. Just some things that made me cackle with incredulity, horror, and delight:

The WTF

An ARM flew through the SKY with a SWORD in its hand and STABBED A MAN in the THROAT.

It was VERY ELEGANT and AMAZING and I LAUGHED OUT LOUD.

Also laughed out loud at the viking who became a human quiver. I’m honestly so baffled by that. It’s a striking image, but it doesn’t make a lick of sense. That honestly seems like more arrows than any locals were likely to have on hand, and even if they did, why would they shoot them all into one person. For the sake of my sanity (and the show’s dignity), I have chosen to believe that things like this and the arm did not, in fact, happen; that they are merely embellishments on the part of Mr. Ibis, who has a lively and imaginative mind, after all, and who possibly has watched a few too many action movies.

And then there was That Scene. The one I had been eagerly awaiting above all others. The Bilquis Scene.

Bilquis’s first chapter is one of those moments in literature that fundamentally changed me as a person. I had a life before I first read the Bilquis scene, and I continued to have a life after, but it was not the same life as before. Ever since this series finally started moving forward, my number one question has been how the HECK they were going to execute it, and ... well. They executed it, by golly. They really really did. I think I’m pleased by how they executed it, but also deeply, viscerally disturbed, which is as it should be, I suppose.

Overall? A really interesting and promising start. Even though I’ve read the book many times, I still feel as though I don’t truly know how to expect, which ... is honestly a delightful feeling, considering how much faith I have in the creators. (It is not always a delightful feeling. Even before GoT surpassed ASoIaF, I increasingly found myself uncertain what to expect from it, too, but in a much more aggravating and disappointing way.)

Whatever happens, this is going to be a wild ride. The book is also kind of a wild ride, but the show is, I suspect, going to be even wilder. And I’m all for that. Now where is that soundtrack? I need it in my ears.

#american gods #neil gaiman #meta #my meta #reviews #op

27 notes · View notes

mikewhatthehellareyoudoing-blog · 5 years ago

Text

I made a “top 25 favorite albums of the decade” list, Part Five

Well, this is it. You’ve probably noticed most of my picks come from the first half of the decade. I think that’s mostly because it takes time for stuff to grow on me, but also, I missed a lot of music the last couple of years. Feel free to tell me what I missed. I’ll shove a big blob of honorable mentions at the end.

AND HERE’S THE LAST FIVE!

5. Magnetic Fields - 50 Song Memoir 2017

Stephin Merritt has, in interviews past, made it very clear that the vast majority of his work is not autobiographical, and that he considers authenticity overrated. So, this was a surprise: 50 Song Memoir is exactly what it sounds like, a 50 track autobiographical album about Stephin Merritt's life (one song for each year). The concept is reminiscent of the much earlier (nonautobiographical) Mag Fields album, 69 Love Songs, in that they are both mammoth collections of pop songs around a shared theme. The concept is, of course, tighter here, and while I have always appreciated the pop universality of 69 Love Songs, knowing that each track in 50 Song Memoir is about the same person's life really brings it together: it's a complete package with one story rather than a collection of unrelated vignettes. That said, it can still be enjoyed for its individual songs like its older brother, and there are some really memorable ones here. Stephin Merritt is a national treasure.

youtube

4. The Avalanches - Wildflower 2016

While my tastes tend to lean more towards rock and folk, I do have a thing for albums like this, made up entirely of samples. While I wasn't that huge on The Avalanches' Since I Left You, especially compared to say DJ Shadow or J Dilla, Wildflower stayed in my rotation for a long time. It's beautiful and fun, and really turns these disparate sources into strange audio collages rather than just mashing multiple pop songs up to make a new pop song or anything like that. Wildflower is a real achievement in this musical medium of making songs out of other people's songs.

youtube

3. Alvvays - s/t 2014

After hearing "Red Planet" on WPRB and really digging it, I sought the album out. I was expecting more songs like that: slow, simple, synth-based ditties. Maybe something like Au Revoir Simone. Even though I already expected to like it, this album managed to leave me pleasantly surprised. It is hard to pick one stand-out track to represent this album since they attempted a few different styles here and nailed it each time. Really, “Red Planet” ended up being the only song on there like it, and you could say the same for this track below. Their follow-up, Antisocialites, also got a lot of plays from me. At first glance, it seemed disappointing after their debut, but Antisocialites grew on me (just not to the point where I would hold it in as high esteem as I do their s/t). I am hoping for a third Alvvays album in the near future.

youtube

2. Titus Andronicus - The Monitor 2010

It is hard to believe that T.A.'s concept album juxtaposing a young man's destructive impulses (both self- and otherwise) with the American civil war (eerily prescient considering the zeitgheist of the years to follow) is almost a decade old. This one really connected with me, as I'm sure it did with all the other people who shouted "you will always be a loser" repeatedly along with the band in the sweaty basement of Philly's First Unitarian when Joe and I went to see them. The band has released good albums after the Monitor (Local Business has good songwriting imo but terrible production (live versions of some of those tracks exist that sound great). The two albums after that were very ambitious and well-executed. Worth your time if you like this one.) but they haven't stuck to my brain like the Monitor has. Quick aside: between T.A.and Parquet Courts, the 2010s really saw punk sounds get stretched and warped into interesting shapes and sizes.

youtube

1. Frontier Ruckus - An Eternity of Dimming 2013

This album really defined the years 2013 to about 2017 for me (By then I had actually played the songs too often and they had finally started to loosen their hold on me). I had it on 3 successive phones, like I would break phones faster than I tired of it. But enough about me. An Eternity of Diming was, at the time, Frontier Ruckus perfecting the sort of songs they had been putting out up til then: twangy folk meets alt/indie rock tunes with dense lyrics (You might say overwrought if it weren't your jam. It's certainly my jam. I think a Dylan comparison would be fair, though each of these two songwriters have their own style.), sung by an admittedly nasal frontman, often joined by a banjo player and a female back-up singer. You might be thinking that there are plenty of indie acts doing that sort of thing, especially at the time, since Mumford and Sons had just exploded in popularity. I won't fight you on that, but I would consider this band to stand out, even in a crowd of that size. An Eternity of Dimming is a 20 track album built around the theme of nostalgia (both nostalgia’s more pleasant modern associations, and it’s more classical negative connotations as a painful longing to return to a home which no longer exists). If you have a long trip coming up, I strongly recommend listening to the whole thing straight through. No filler, no duds i.m.o. Their album after this one, they tried for a more polished, poppy sound that wasn't bad but certainly wasn't what I wanted.

youtube

Here’s that promised blob of Hon. Mentions: the over the garden wall soundtrack, the walkmen - heaven, the sword - warp riders, woods- at echo lake, kurt vile - square shells EP, candy claws - ceres and calypso in the dark time, randy newman - dark matter, deftones had a good decade esp. with gore and koi no yokan, the decemberists - the King is Dead and to a slightly lesser extent I'll be your girl, belle and sebastian - girls in wartime want to dance, Eli "paperboy" reed - 99 cent dreams, the last okkervil river album, the babies - our house on the hill, tash sultana - notion e.p., camera obscura - desire lines, cloud nothings - here and nowhere else, jens lekman - life will see you now, mewithoutyou - pale horses or ten stories… also I just started checking out ghost but I don't have like a fave album by them yet, rubblebucket (i like survival sounds and sun machine pretty equally), public broadcasting system, subrosa's first two albums, the war on drugs - lost in the dream, deerhoof had some great tracks this decade but no overall albums as good as their albums from the 00s... there are many artists whose aughts output I loved whose 10s output I need to catch up on... This took longer than I thought it would to put together. Thanks for looking at it.

0 notes