#instead we get Ken dance sequence

[transgnckon]

Ngl. I don’t like how a lot of the new Barbie movie merch has to do with Ken. Get that man out of here & out of my sight.

[danyllura]

The final Ken war turning into a dance battle is another example of how the film explores toxic masculinity and how dismantling it helps men form deeper emotional bonds. The Ken’s are not a united force. They allow jealousy and competition over the Barbie’s to get in the way of their relationships with one another. This is one of the reasons why they’re so hurt by the Barbie’s lack of interest, as the only form of praise or attention they get is from them. This plays into the issue of men not allowing themselves to be emotionally vulnerable with their male friends, and instead often pushing their turmoils onto women in their life. And when these women can not or will not shoulder their emotional burden they lash out.

The Ken’s go to war in a traditionally masculine way, with horses and weapons. But it isn’t until they start their dance battle that we see them stepping back away from toxic masculinity.

The Ken’s initially dance in competition, which is reminiscent of the former dance sequence in the movie. At Barbies dream house the Barbie’s dance together in unity, with love and admiration for one another. They are basking in their sisterhood and having fun. Meanwhile the Ken’s dance with the intention to impress the Barbie’s. They are in competition with one another, dancing in unison but not as one.

In the final dance battle this changes. The Ken’s begin to dance together, in unity. And we see as they begin to look at one another as genuine friends their actions become softer and more emotional (eg; kissing eachother on the cheek and hand holding). They are no longer mimicking the men Ken had read about, and instead allowing themselves to form the healthy, emotional friendships men are often discouraged from having. Under patriarchy men lose the chance to be caring and loving with their friends. They are told to bottle up their emotions and not express their feelings in a gentle manner. Being deprived of this emotional depth hurts men and their future relationships. And it is why the Ken’s are only able to begin finding acceptance in themselves and their identities once they allow themselves to be open with people other than just Barbie.

[svynakee]

1 serving of feminism, societal change not included: a critique of Barbie's conflicted storytelling and feminist message

Really enjoyable movie. I don't see the point in actually reviewing the movie itself as a movie. I would recommend it. Watch the trailers if you're on the fence. If you like what the trailers show, the movie is basically that, but more.

Unfortunately, whatever the movie tries to say about girl power keeps getting undermined by itself for sassy jokes about The Patriarchy. And it doesn't have much to say.

Spoilers ahead.

I'm going to spoil the whole ending here so seriously, last warning.

The final thesis of the movie seems to be "allow women to embrace human flaws instead of demanding perfection from them", or something along the lines of how women have the burden of keeping within a very narrow set of standards just to be acceptable. This is delivered by Margot Robbie's Barbie choosing to become human, embracing old age and eventual death. No longer Stereotypical Barbie, but Barbara Handler. Which is a powerful ending and a logical one to a journey that started with Barbie thinking about death, i.e. deviating from the plastic perfection of Barbieland towards self-realisation. Her individual journey as a character and how that journey relates to the feminist message works well.

The issue is that the rest of the cast and the setting doesn't seem to follow. It's like watching one of the movie's many group dance sequences, but the background dancers are moving at an entirely different tempo to Barbie's lead.

At the beginning of the movie, the narration says that the Barbies believe they've fixed gender inequality because of their female empowerment, the tone clearly sarcastic. It's laying out to the audience that Barbieland as a whole is naive and misguided, but well-meaning. If we think of Barbieland as a character itself, then the arc is pretty clear: Barbieland will have a rude awakening via Margot's Barbie, learn the error of its ways and take a more nuanced approach to feminism.

The actual arc that happens is that Ryan Gosling's Ken learns about patriarchy, brings patriarchy (or his parody of it) to Barbieland, which causes all the Barbies to become brainwashed. Margot's Barbie, which has been to the real world and seen (real) patriarchy, becomes the only Barbie capable of resisting the brainwashing and has to educate the other Barbies about their self-worth to undo their subservience to the Kens.

Firstly, some interesting conceits that the movie completely avoided exploring:

If Barbieland's empowered female leaders could be so easily brainwashed by a version of patriarchy that's "give men beers and listen to everything they say", it raises questions about how shallow that empowerment was. The Barbies completely forgot their self worth and autonomy because a guy told them men and horses run the world. Does this mean their plastic version of feminism is inherently fragile and centred around male perception? Or a reflection of how Mattel (in the movie) is company controlled by men who manipulate the idea of gender equality/female empowerment to protect their power? Really mad this isn't addressed beyond "the Barbies have no self defence against patriarchy, like a disease". I'd like to think that a woman raised in a matriarchal society would have some, if not more, resistance to the ideas of patriarchy.

Barbieland's normal culture: all the Barbies had careers and lead society, the Kens were background decoration. Margot's Barbie even says she doesn't know where the Kens live (my theory: they sleep on the beach). She refuses to let Ken stay for girls night at her house, which is reversed when Ken takes over and hosts a boy's night at her house. But it's not a complete reversal: Ken invites her to stay as his wife or girlfriend. He offers her what he was denied, albeit conditionally. And we see other Barbies in the house during the boys night. In Barbieland, Kens are second class citizens, excluded from most activities besides choreographed dances (I think one of the nurses might have been a Ken?). In the Kendom, Barbies are second class citizens...but they are included in the normal activities because Kens need to mansplain and play guitar at them. They need to hand Kens beers, so they are interacting with the Kens. They don't need to demand attention from Kens the way the Kens had to in Barbieland, doing flips and saying "hi Barbie". Both societies are flawed...but Barbies have more value in the Kendom than Kens had in Barbieland.

"It's like a spa day for your brain". That's what the former President Barbie says to Margot's Barbie when asked why she agreed to do patriarchy. This actually fits in with the movie's message about the demands placed on women to always be role models, always excel. That's apparently a demand borne of patriarchy, but this one line of dialogue shows that in the Kendom, Ken's patriarchy offers a relief from that. But all Barbies are 'freed' from patriarchy by being reminded of their achievements and self worth. This line of dialogue just sits there, like a big fat fly in the pudding. At the end the Barbies return society to the same as before, but with a few Kens in minor government positions and an acknowledgement of Weird Barbie and the other discontinued outcasts. So the choice for women is to stay in Barbieland and chase perfection, or be ordinary and human and die? There's no in-between, where a normally high-achieving turbo-empowered woman can decide "today, I'm going to read a cheesy romance novel where the man has galloping abs and a hazy idea of consent". All Barbies must be what their label says. President Barbie must always be President Barbie, even during sleepovers. She can never play guitar badly at someone on the beach, or do a shitty drunk podcast about horses. She can't be goofy and fail a flip on the beach. A Barbie can't do Ken things.

The outcasts. Weird Barbie is the only one who is acknowledged at the end, where President Barbie apologises for calling her weird behind her back and also to her face. Weird Barbie responds with something like 'it's fine because I like being weird'. But she's not the only outcast of Barbieland (and the Kendom). Growing Up Skipper, Sugar Daddy Ken, Magic Earring Ken, Midge the pregnant doll, Videogirl Barbie and even Allan form the group of discontinued dolls, who don't really have a place in their society. Like the movie's initial critique of Barbieland's feminism, the plastic nature of it means its inflexible. It does not acknowledge those that cannot perform their roles: girl power* (*terms and conditions apply). I hate how that's handwaved with an apology and the spokesperson of the weirdos saying "no problem sis". That's not how it works. Except it is; if you're a minority you've seen it. It's the "I have a black friend so I can say it", the "my nephew is autistic so I can argue about autistic issues", the "there's a gay comedian who said it wasn't offensive to the gays". It's so poorly handled. No, it's not okay because Weird Barbie doesn't mind being Weird. That's not the issue. The issue is that Weird Barbie was excluded from society because she was weird. The problem isn't her weirdness, it was Barbieland's attitude to it, and that CANNOT be fixed with an apology to ONE MEMBER of the community. Weird Barbie gets to join the government though so yay big win for the weird girls out there, really feeling the love and empowerment here.

Overall the issues regarding women's rights or whatever that the movie raised felt very stale, which led to several scenes falling flat for me. Most notably the big cathartic rant by America Ferrera's character, a human woman and mother who works for Mattel, just completely failed to land. I think the idea is that she's giving voice to all the frustrations faced by women daily under our society but I've heard all these talking points 10 years ago by female comedians. It didn't make me feel Seen and Valid, nor did it raise new points that made me think. In my life, women are already talking about these things, and the frustrating thing is that we can't seem to agree on how to address them. The fact they exist is old news. The one point I actually liked during the rant is the acknowledgement that women do turn on other women for being "too high achieving", I feel like mainstream girlpower movies usually avoid talking about that.

Maybe it's because I'm queer POC in STEM so my exposure to feminist discourse is different from the mainstream (American?) audience Greta Gerrig was aiming for but those scenes just bogged the movie down. It said nothing, and I felt nothing. I guess I felt a bit bored. I'm not saying that I expected the Barbie Movie to solve feminism, but I do feel like if that's the big climatic moment the movie's building towards, I needed to hear more than "stuff my coworkers rant about during lunch break". And we do say it in front of our male and nonbinary colleagues. They don't care. It's old news. They've heard it before too.

Also this rant is apparently the key to fixing the patriarchy-brainwashed Barbies. The movie washes its hands of Barbieland with the line "the Kens will eventually have as much power in Barbieland as women do in the real world" which I felt was really cynical and completely fails the message for a cheap final dig at patriarchy.

If Barbieland started out as a naïve, inaccessible, unrealistic, inflexible, shallow and corporate idea of feminism/gender equality...where does it end up? Where does that line, delivered by the all-powerful narrator, leave it? Barbieland thought it was an inspiration to little girls, empowering them to be strong and successful women. It wasn't. So that means it can never achieve that? Is the message of the movie that Barbieland is always fated to be a mere reflection of ours, with all its limitations and prejudices, except men and women have swapped places? Maybe that is Gerrig's message but holy shit is it a dark one.

The ending I would have actually liked to see is something like this:

We return to the beach. The volleyball court has mixed teams of Barbies and Kens playing, with 2 cheerleader Kens and a cheerleader Barbie. One of the Barbies playing is Doctor Barbie, who gets hit with the ball. The ambulance rushes over and Doctor Ken (possibly Magic Earring) helps her. Doctor Barbie says its nice to be the one being treated for once.

Reprise of the award show. Gosling's Ken is receiving an award for being 'dedication to Beach'. Midge and Skipper are also in the seats, ready to receive awards. A Barbie receives an award for something completely mundane, because ordinary women are supposed to be celebrated too.

President Barbie gets a brewski?

The movie left me with the impression that the story about womanhood, motherhood and surviving as a woman in modern society was at odds with feminist talking points. I couldn't tell if it wanted to critique or support modern feminism, whatever its idea of modern feminism is. The character's journey would sometimes just hit a pause button to Educate about Discourse, but without actually saying anything meaningful enough to educate. That detracted from the impact of the character's journey and took away some of the interesting points about the setting.

I felt like Gosling's Ken had a much better storyline, it was compact and tied up neatly. Maybe because it's a woman's take on a male narrative ("what if the GENDER ROLES WERE REVERSED? and men were OPPRESSED? ooOOOooHhh"), whereas the "being a woman is hard under patriarchy" story is something I've seen too many times. Or maybe Ken's struggle with self worth is simpler than Barbie's struggle with existential dread. I almost feel like Ken's subplot should have been cut, if its sacrifice would have allowed more focus and polish on Barbie's narrative.

[femmeleatherface]

Spooky Movie Marathon 2024: Week 5

Day 27: J'accuse ! (1919) - French version; unknown restoration info

Day 28: 13 Ghosts (1960) - 2D version :(

Day 29: Un monstre à Paris (2011) - English dub; loosely inspired by Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux

Day 30: The Werewolf (1956)

Day 31: The Tingler (1959)

BONUS! KIND OF! Day 32: Coraline (2009)

closing thoughts:

J'accuse ! (1919) - it is... so long... and because it's a silent epic i can't even work on something else while i watch because i need to pay attention to the intertitles so i know what the heck's happening. aghGHGh. but okay. it is an interesting film! there's early use of a moving camera, quick cuts, and montage editing, which is all really neat in a film history way. there was also a lot of location shooting, including in real ww1 battlefields and of the battle of saint-mihiel, which is both extremely impressive and extremely unsettling in a "how much of this is an unintentional snuff film" kind of way. and in terms of its unsettling aspect, it's far more of a romantic war drama than a horror film, but there's certainly horrific elements. i'd classify it in the vein of social horror akin to freaks (1932), where it's primarily a human interest social drama but when the characters are not permitted to pursue their own needs and desires due to larger societal issues, horror elements are drawn on toward the end to leave a final lasting terror in the audience for their own complicity in those issues. (let's call this "horrific social drama.") in freaks the larger issues are ableism and the eugenics movement, in j'accuse it's the devastating impact of ww1. this is scattered throughout in the film's hilarious repeated shot of the grim reaper and his dancing skeleton minions, then culminates in a proto-modern!zombie "return of the dead" sequence at the end. idk, i don't love it as entertainment since it's not really my thing, but it's interesting. also, random note, but i like how they handled françois's character... he was a scumbag abusive husband but got decent character development and felt like a fully-dimensional person. still a scumbag, but a well-realized one.

13 Ghosts (1960) - oh shit, new fave movie dropped. this movie is so fun!!!!! genuinely creepy but also with a goofy 3D gimmick that combined doesn't always work, but is presented with such classic william castle ballyhoo that i can't help but be charmed. i should be irked by the completely ridiculous ending where the (blissfully not annoying) kid watches a man who was about to kill him gets freaking MURDERED and is clearly traumatized by it and then the next day is just like "wow :) this house is great! i hope we never leave!!! :D," but i am too busy adding "watch this in the original illusion-o vision" to my cinematic bucket list.

Un monstre à Paris (2011) - felt kind of lousy and decided to go for something light. got exactly what i needed <3 this movie is really cute! the human characters are all either kind of boring or not very original, but francœur the monster has all of my heart, which combined is pretty standard for monster movies so i am okay with this. the music was also really good, and as poto-related media goes, i really love that the voice they picked for francœur is a very high, soft voice. not only does it make me feel great about MY voice, but if i remember the book correctly that's the voice erik has (or at least how i interpreted it) instead of the deeper "sexy" voice he tends to get given in adaptations. i've only ever seen/heard one erik with that kind of higher and gentler voice before, peter straker in the ken hill musical, so this was really exciting for me and i loved it a lot. that said, this movie SHOULD have been a 2D animated film oh my god. the concept art and storyboards they had in the end credits were SO gorgeous and i think would have really made the film pop much more than the pretty standard and unappealing 3D animation we got.

The Werewolf (1956): puts my grubby gay fingers all over the celluloid. this movie is a metaphor for being gay in the 1950s! you've got this average family man doomed by an encounter with two mad scientists who work and live together in a tooooootallllllyyyyy heterosexual way who then infect him with evil gay werewolf disease (that is related to nuclear stuff because it's the 50s and everything needs to be about nuclear stuff). he forgets his hetero identity and the wife and son he has waiting for him at home, promptly goes into a bar where a man asks him to buy him a drink and then attempts to rob him, leading to them lying on top of each other in an alley while a little old lady gawks and screams at the horrible sight of their entangled man legs. then mr. average family man kills the evil propositioning man and goes and kills more men, turning into an evil gay werewolf by his emotional reactions to them. he doesn't want his wife and son to see the monster he has become and avoids them, seeking solitude so he won't shame them and be tempted to murder by the sexy murderificness of men. and then of course in the end he dies by mob violence, forever doomed to never return to the non-lycanthropic heteronormative life he once knew. A+++++

The Tingler (1959) - my favorite vincent price and william castle movie ever... an underrated masterpiece of meta horror. i've seen this movie before, and ugh! everything about it is perfect to me. if ever anyone wants to understand me better they should watch this because it's got everything: vincent price, a goofy concept played completely straight, meta filmmaking, a really amazing partialized colorized sequence... this is a movie i need to see in a theater SO BAD, but only so long as the percepto gimmick is in place for peak experience.

Coraline (2009) - this was unplanned but we needed to endurance test a room over an extended period of time at work, and the best way to do that is by watching a movie, and this is what got picked! i had to step out to run and errand in the middle of it, so i didn't technically see all of it, but that's okay, i've seen it before. definitely need to see this one in theaters someday when i get the chance--just watching it on a large projector screen with all the lights off and blinds closed was great, the colors and stop motion really really really POP and are so gorgeous and UGH. i love it. this movie shows in theaters every year in the area where i live, but never at good times so i constantly miss it and then am all >:( because everyone i know keeps getting the chance to see it instead of me. someday, though! someday...

okay. phew. this was fun. i don't normally put this much thought and attention into all the things i watch, or watch movies back to back like this, and for good reason because it. is. exhausting. fun, but EXHAUSTING.

no more! i return now to my vegetative tv viewer state... at least until i do my pride movie marathon in june. but that's another story <3

concluding rankings, ratings, and lists (bonus extra sorting into needless categories for my personal amusement):

top tier masterpieces, faves or new faves

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) (duh)

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

The Tingler (1959)

Planet Terror (2007) was good! will definitely watch again

The VelociPastor (2018)

The House on Haunted Hill (1959)

13 Ghosts (1960)

The House on Haunted Hill (1999)

Coraline (2009)

The Black Cat (1934)

The Skeleton Key (2005)

The Curse of King Tut's Tomb (1980)*

Son of Dracula (1943)* glad i saw it, might not watch it again (at least for a while)

Un monstre à Paris (2011)

Witchcraft (1964)

The Werewolf (1956)

Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam (1920)

The Comedy of Terrors (1963)

Willy's Wonderland (2021)*

Lyle (2015)*

Return to House on Haunted Hill (2007)*

J'accuse ! (1919)* could have been better except for one thing...

I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)

White Settlers (2014)

The Mummy (1959)

Bijo to Ekitai-ningen (1958)

Prometheus (2012) eugh

The Creature with the Atom Brain (1955)

XX (2017)

Mary Reilly (1996)

Death Proof (2007)

Encounter with the Unknown (1972)

[wolf97]

"The words chance and gemine do not denote any really existing thing and therefore cannot be defined. Those words only denote a certain stage of understanding of phenomena. I do not know why a certain event occurs; I think that I cannot know it, so I do not try to know it and I talk about chance. I see a force producing effects beyond the scope of ordinary human agencies, I do not understand why this occurs and I talke of genius.

To a herd of rams, the ram the herdsman drives each evening into a special enclosure to feed, and that becomes twice as far as the others, must seem to be a gems. And it must appear an astonishing conjunction of genius with a whole series of extraordinary chances that this ram, who instead of getting into the general fold every evening gets into a special enclosure where there are oats-this very ram, swelling with fat, is killed for meat.

But the rams need only cease to suppose that all that happens to them happens solely for the attainment of their sheepish aims, they need only admit that what happens to them may also have purposes beyond their ken, and they will at once perceive a unity and coherence in what happened to the ram that was fattened. Even if they do not know for what purpose they are fattened, they will at least know that all that happened to the ram did not happen accidentally, and will no longer need the conceptions of chance or genius.

Only by renouncing our claim to discern a purpose immediately intelligible to us, and admitting the ultimate purpose to be beyond our ken, may we discern the sequence of experiences in the lives of historic characters, and perceive the cause of the effect they produce (incommensurable with ordinary human capabilities) and then the woods dance and genius become superfluous."

Leo Tolstoy - War and Peace

[script-nef]

So why won’t you realise it '^' | Gojou Satoru

Category: fluff

1.9k words; Movie date [2/6]

Spoilers of Howl’s Moving Castle!! Beware!!

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“Eh, Shouko! What do you mean you can’t make it?”

“I mean, another person is about to come in and they need me to heal them. By the time I’m done the movie will be finished.” Shouko’s voice over the phone is laced with annoyance and sadness coupled with lethargy. You don’t know how she pulls off such a unique combination of emotions but she somehow accomplishes it every time. “And I was looking forward to it…”

This would have been the first time you had a break with her since the trip to France. And while she enjoyed it a lot, the same couldn’t be said for the two males. Which was weird since Gojou is infatuated with sweets and Ken-chan agreed to come. So it was kind of weird when there was a tense atmosphere between them. You know your brother and Gojou are nearly polar opposites, but their animosity wasn’t usually that strong. 

They brushed it off as nothing when you asked if something was wrong, which was sort of dubious since you could kind of see the black cloud looming over the both of them, but you let it go. If it was something important, they would be able to handle it themselves or report it to you. You couldn’t sense any cursed spirits nearby so you guessed that they were just in a bad mood for some reason.

Still, you had a wonderful time and found some new snacks that everyone enjoyed. So a day well spent, all in all. 

And Ken-chan told you to tell him if Gojou ever offers overseas trips or anything similar, so he must have enjoyed it. Maybe you can ask Gojou to take all of you to Denmark one day.

“Ah… my dear Howl. Life and curses separate us again.” Her voice is full of sadness now, no doubt mourning over her chance of watching her favourite character on a huge screen with surround sound disappearing. 

“It’s okay! I’ll bring you the figurine and we can watch it again here in about… uh…”

“Ten years?” She sounds like she’s about to drop dead.

“Uh… yes… But maybe five years? Hopefully? You know, I shouldn’t watch it without you. I’ll come back to school.” 

“No, no. Watch the movie. At least you’ll get to see it. Ah, they’re coming now so I have to go.”

“Ah, okay. Bye, Shouko! Stay positive!”

A non-committal sigh accompanies a small “Bye” before the call clicks off. A frown takes over your face at the lost opportunity for her. She was looking forward to this for a long time and you leapt at the chance for another girls’ day out. Being able to watch a childhood favourite is an added bonus. But now you’re standing in the movie theatre, the ticket desk just across the room and an extra on your hand. 

It’s a shame because it cost quite a lot. Shouko is definitely going to mope about this when you get back and maybe start smoking again. She always has a pack on her even if she said she quit, and smokes one if she’s stressed or angry. You should call someone and make sure somebody takes it away from her.

You should probably hold onto the ticket and give it back. Or maybe that would make it worse for her, serving as a reminder of this day. Conflict rages inside your head. There’s a high possibility of either decision breaking her heart. Again. A buzz from your phone saves you the trouble of deciding.

Shouko: I sent someone as my replacement. 

A tap on the shoulder makes you turn as you type in a reply and you come face to face with a black jacket. Gojou’s head pops down.

“Hey there. I think you called for a replacement!” He seems to be in a ridiculously good mood, even more so than usual. Maybe his students successfully finished another mission. Which is great. It also means more paperwork for you. Which is not so great.

“How did you com—ah. Teleportation.”

“Ding ding ding! Correct!” He's been using the skill more frequently lately, popping in and out of places like one of those Whac-A-Mole games. . It gives you heart attacks all the time and you’re sure he gets a kick out of it. You saw how his smiles widen when you flinch or react. Thankfully it’s when you’re alone so other people never see you jump what feels like a metre into the air.

“Do you want popcorn?” He breaks you out of your thoughts. “I think they have the new caramel flavour. Apparently it’s way too sweet.” So perfect for Gojou. Even though he’s asking if you want it, there’s a spring in his step which definitely means he’s getting some. Probably the biggest option they have.

And you’re proven right because he comes back with two huge buckets which look impossible to finish. When you try to object, he cuts off with “I’ve eaten three buckets before. Alone.” With the smile he’s giving you, it really doesn’t sound like he’s joking. You try to take one to lighten the load but he says it’s alright. 

He signals the way to the theatre rooms with his head, walking beside you as you find your way.

“So what’s the movie?” Your head snaps to him in confusion.

“You don’t know?” A shake and a shrug. “It’s Howl’s Moving Castle. This was Shouko’s idea since she loves it and this year is Studio Ghibli’s 40 year anniversary. The cinema is having an exclusive showing of their movies this month. Only one session per movie, for some reason. Surely they would make more money if they played it over multiple days, but. I dunno. Executives make weird decisions.” A light scoff from him to tell he knows exactly what that’s like. His hatred for the higher-ups runs deep. You don’t push it.

“So she wanted to come but got held back at the last minute?”

“Yeah. Ah, here are our seats.”

You’re placed in the very middle of the room and you both make yourselves comfortable. Shouko went all out for this movie, upgrading the seats and making it a recliner. Your poor back, abused after sitting in chairs and hunched over computers for so long, practically melts into the plush cushion. It’s so comfortable that you might fall asleep in it if it isn’t Howl that’s about to start. 

Feet dangling in the air, you look over to Gojou to see him on his phone. It looks like he’s in a chatroom and you catch the words ‘Shouko’ and ‘favour’ before looking away. You didn’t mean to peek, but it’s not like you can consciously not read something. It was in your line of sight and you averted your eyes as soon as you realised what you were reading. Your brother brought you up better than to pry into other people’s businesses, even if it’s really, really tempting.

“Phones need to be placed on silent, you know.” The ads are coming on the screen. He smiles at you, slipping it into his pocket.

“Just talking to Shouko. She says she hasn’t even started properly.”

Disappointment fills you. Gojou is a good friend to watch this with but you hoped Shouko would somehow miraculously finish in time. She would be devastated.

“I’ll have to make this up to her when we get back. Give her the figurine and keep her hap—ah! I forgot! Gojou, I was supposed to ask someone to take her ciga—” He cuts you off with a light pat on your hand.  

“Don’t worry, I did it already. All of them are safe out of her reach and I gave her packets of hot chocolate instead. When we get back, she’ll have drunk at least half of them and be in a good mood.” What a Gojou-like replacement. He smiles like a child wanting pats on the head for a job well done. You just barely catch yourself from moving. 

Gojou gets a rep for being aloof and neglectful, but he does take care of the people he holds dear to him. His friends, members of the school, his students. You hope you’re included in the list. 

Actually, the more you think about it, the more you realise he’s different from initial perceptions. You learn more and more about him as time goes on, in the most delightful sense. He’s somewhat like an onion, new characteristics being revealed every time a layer is peeled. A snicker escapes at the thought of Gojou dressed up like an onion, just waddling around. He shoots you a questioning head tilt which you wave off.

In the years that you’ve known him, he made himself into a trustworthy friend. One full of laughs and ridiculousness. Maybe it’s his childishness that puts you at ease, but he’s incredibly comfortable and easy to relax around. Thoughts trail and the words fly out of your mouth before you even think.

“You know, I think you would make a wonderful boyfriend.”

He freezes completely, like somebody’s zapped him in place. You stare at him, wondering what’s wrong, but the lights dim and by the time he gathers coherence, your concentration is on the opening sequence.

“Ah, that was so good! Ugh, I love Howl. Isn’t he so cool?” You skip out of the room, remembering to take the figurines provided at the exit, with Gojou trailing behind you. “You know how she asks him to wait for her in the past? The first thing he says to her in the movie is ‘I’ve been looking everywhere for you.’ He searched for her the entire time! This is modern poetry. This.” 

“Do you think Howl would be a good boyfriend?” The question stops you. It’s different than usual for some reason, the voice asking the question and the intensity of it. He’s still his aloof self, all smiles and grins, but there’s something you can’t quite place that’s wrong. It’s unnerving, but you diligently answer his question.

“Um, I mean, yeah? Look at how cute he is with Sophie. See?” The figurine is a frozen shot of Howl and Sophie dancing in the rain with an umbrella that’s not being useful at all. They’re both incredibly detailed, so much so that you can see their clothes and skin drenching wet. Wow, this is actually a phenomenal job. Shouko will be so happy. It makes your heart lighter knowing that at least something might light up her day. 

“Why is he cool?” Gojou seems to be invested in Howl. It confuses you since he just watched the movie with you and he saw how awesome Howl is. 

“Hm, well for one he can do magic.” He opens his mouth but you shush him with a finger to his lips. “Yeah, I know, what we have is kind of like magic too. But theirs is just… different. He just makes it seem kind of elegant. And he overcame his fear just for Sophie. Remember the scene with Sulliman and in the cluttered bedroom? He still found the strength to protect her even though he was so scared before. It’s admirable. I guess I like strong guys.”

“Hmm~” His tone is contemplative. “You know I’m stronger than him, right?”

A question mark forms over your head. He’s being really weird today. “Yeah? You’re the strongest in the universe, silly. What’s up with you?” Gojou just chuckles and ruffles your head.

“Nothing, nothing. Just making sure you know.” He slings his arm around your shoulder, the intensity gone and the light spring in his step back. “Who else do you think is strong?”

Next chapter →

[ducktracy]

187. daffy duck & egghead (1938)

release date: january 1st, 1938

series: merrie melodies

director: tex avery

starring: mel blanc (daffy, turtle, duck), danny webb (egghead)

starting off the new year with a bang—the first cartoon of 1938 is one of my favorites! two tex avery creations, daffy and egghead, make their second appearances paired together.

both characters have gotten a makeover, though egghead’s is more drastic: he now has hair and talks in a dopey drawl courtesy of danny webb. daffy, on the other hand, now has blue irises and a matching ring around his neck—this design would be exclusive to this short only. but, it IS the first cartoon to pen him as daffy duck! he’d appear in a number of looney tunes shorts with porky as the year would go on.

like so many other “hunter vs prey” shorts, egghead is determined to hunt daffy. daffy, however, is prepared to do everything in his power to make egghead miserable.

ben hardaway, who would have been directing his own cartoons at the time of this cartoon’s release, is the writer, and it shows throughout. ben is notable for his more hayseed sense of humor, relying on puns so corny you’ll be flossing your teeth for a week to remove the kernels. his punny touch is noticeable right at the start, with daffy and egghead bursting out of literal nutshells in an odd little introductory sequence. irv spence does some nice animation here: daffy shakes his fists in the glory, soon to be interrupted by the fire of egghead’s gun. egghead chases after a HOOHOOing daffy, the smoke from the gun spelling out to the audience “DUCK SEASON STARTS TODAY”.

the scene is odd, but more so out of uniqueness rather than perplexity. one wonders how tex really would have prefaced the cartoon if he were paired with another writer instead.

in a tradition that would carry out into tex’s MGM days, one of our first impressions of the short is a facetious disclaimer:

a sense of tranquility is established through a soft, sweeping rendition of “morning song” from the william tell overture. various gorgeously painted backgrounds fade into each other to convey the passage of time and rise of the sun, each background absolutely stunning in its own right. in a tex avery cartoon, such peace and harmony can only mean one thing: chaos is soon to follow.

our eponymous hunter creeps onto the screen, remarking aloud on the eerie stillness of his surroundings. “i wonder if there are any more hunters out here this morning.” right on cue, a swarm of hunters pop out of the reeds, reciting a popular catchphrase from the ken murray show reused in many a ‘30s WB cartoon: “whoooooooooa, yeaaaaah!”

the sound of quacks ring out from the recesses of the reeds, turning egghead on the alert. just as he prepares to hunt his prey, a signature avery gag of epic proportions interrupts the scene... literally. 

tedd pierce’s silhouette darkens the screen as he makes his way to his movie seat--a latecomer. egghead spots him and urges him to sit down and not scare away his prey. the latecomer does so, only to rise up again and change seats. our frustrated sportsman urges the silhouette to sit down again, which he does so. the silhouette never utters a word, and that’s the best part. the matter of fact delivery of the gag, the control of it all is what makes the gag so funny. such even temperament from the silhouette juxtaposes starkly with the wild nature of avery cartoons. the normal is now the ridiculous. 

when the silhouette snoops around for a better seat once more, egghead loses all patience and fires his gun straight at the silhouette. tedd pierce’s theatrics are hilarious--he twirls around, clutching his heart, hamming up his injury to the last drop. the anticipatory drum-roll as egghead looks on brings the entire act together. finally, pierce collapses, much to the contentment of egghead. he merely rubs the dust off his hands in a job well done and continues where he left off.

cartoon characters shooting audience members isn’t an alien move in warner bros. cartoons (bugs in rhapsody rabbit, daffy in the ducksters), yet the inclusion of the silhouette and its subsequent dramatics brings a new level of inclusion with the audience. imagine what an uproar this would get in a packed house! it’s a great way to break the barrier between cartoon characters and the audience. WB did a great job of making the audience feel included. hell, a majority of daffy’s character throughout the ‘40s hinges on this! but that’s an analysis for another time.

speaking of daffy, he’s the perpetrator of those quacking sounds in the reeds. egghead parts the plants to see if his prey is still there. he is—daffy gives him a viscious bite on egghead’s bulbous nose before going back into hiding.

“that duck’s craaaa-zy!” daffy pops his head out of the reeds again, shrieking a reply of “you tellin’ me? WOO WOO WOOHOO!”

daffy’s voice is significantly more shrill than his dopey guffaws in porky’s duck hunt. in fact, it’s so shrill that this could easily be considered one of his most annoying cartoons. though his 100% screwy, totally out of his mind personality isn’t my favorite personality for him, it’s still pretty damn great! so if you like obnoxious daffy (like me), this is a short for you. if you can’t stand him being a lunatic, stay away!

with that, daffy takes an exit, whooping and shrieking all the way in a direct throwback to his ecstatic exit in porky’s duck hunt. this is a game-changer for the merrie melodies series—the screwy, lunatic antics were typically reserved for the black and white looney tunes shorts. and here we have daffy, splitting the ears of his patrons and being a royal nuisance in the more expensive, esteemed merrie melodies, typically reserved for song and dance numbers! this ain’t your mother’s merry melody.

when daffy takes refuge within a cluster of reeds positioned in the middle of the lake, egghead uses this as an opportunity to lure out his prey with a decoy. specifically, ONE LOVE-LURE DUCK DECOY.

egghead sends the obnoxiously feminine duck decoy out into the water, quacking in time to the beat of stalling’s “the lady in red” underscore. the decoy disappears into the reeds, and there’s a pause.

a flurry of aggravated, warbled quacking cues us in that daffy is pissed off. the action is all hidden behind the plants, leaving details of their altercation is up to the audience’s interpretation. what we do see is daffy’s physical anger: he pops out of the water at the bank of the lake, throwing the decoy down at egghead’s feet. a makeshift sign cleverly held up by a cattail echoes a beloved catchphrase from the radio show fibber mcgee and molly:

bubbles rippling on the surface indicate daffy’s presence. he pokes his head out to heave a teasing quack at the befuddled hunter before dipping back down again, prompting egghead to stick his rifle in the lake. cue a tried and true gag that was likely much funnier then than now: the ol’ tie-the-gun-into-a-bow trick. 

the next gag is one that tex avery would refurbish in his MGM debut, the early bird dood it!: egghead physically lifts the lake up like a blanket, where daffy appears just in time to give his nose another honk for good measure. cue crazed laughter and intricate water aerobics. daffy halts, addressing the audience directly with a flimsy reassurance: “i’m not crazy, i just don’t give a darn!”

irv spence takes the next showdown between hunter and duck. look at how much more appealing egghead is in his hands! egghead leans down to retrieve his gun he tosses aside, when daffy zooms into frame and fights him for it. daffy’s consistent smile as he and egghead battle for dominance, both trying to reach higher and higher on the gun, is hysterical—he’s absolutely getting a kick out of egghead’s frustration. though it was clear he was reveling in porky’s own anger in porky’s duck hunt, here his enjoyment is much more blatant. he loves being a pest.

daffy slides the rifle beneath his legs and out of sight, bopping egghead on the fist and causing him to slug a haymaker against his own head. signature irv spence grawlixes add a nice level of two dimensional graphic design, like something straight from a comic.

out of nowhere, a random turtle disrupts the altercation. the turtle is a parody of parkykarkus from the chase & sanborn hour, speaking in a thick accent and slightly butchered grammar. he opts to settle daffy and egghead’s fight once and for all, posing as a referee. “just a minute, chums. just a minute!” he supplies the two with pistols, both fitted for their respective sizes. to daffy, “turn around.” to egghead: “now you turn around.”

i love how daffy’s curiosity with the turtle’s interruption is noticeable. so noticeable, in fact, that the turtle grows hostile, getting up in his face and shouting “KEEP YOUR NOSE OUT OF OTHER PEOPLES BUSINESS, AIN’T IT!” it’s rare to see daffy lacking control of the situation, even this early on. 

the two put their backs together per the turtle’s command, walking ten paces backwards in time to the turtle’s countdown. just as the turtle reaches ten, daffy jumps behind egghead, who fires. a potentially gruesome conclusion is avoided as the bullet hits the turtle’s chest instead, causing his head to rocket upward, hit a branch, and shrink back into his shell. in a hardawayian touch, daffy hands egghead a cigar, walking off screen, satisfied.

random as the scene is (hardaway’s influence seems to be particularly strong throughout this whole middle section), irv spence’s timing and appealing animation makes up for it. the switch to another animator entails an inevitable downgrade in draftsmanship.

after egghead realizes he’s been duped, he retrieves his rifle and prepares to shoot daffy. though initially startled, daffy thinks on his feet, and eagerly places an apple on his head for egghead to aim at instead. stalling’s fitting accompaniment of “william tell overture” raises in key each time egghead fires (and subsequently misses), a pattern that sounds almost identical to scott bradley’s scores under the direction of tex at MGM. 

egghead shoots a tree, the lake, a barn, and even straight past daffy, who grows increasingly irritated at the hunter’s incompetence, moving closer to him with each effort. hardaway’s influence is strong with the next gag, matched with tex’s fast pace to prevent it from overstaying its welcome: daffy thrusts pencils, sunglasses, and a sign that says BLIND on it before turning to the audience and tssking. “too bad. too bad!” harsh indeed. i imagine this gag would have been prolonged had hardaway directed this cartoon or wrote it under another director.

if anything, this cartoon certainly displays the importance of the relationship between director and writer. writers have a much bigger influence on the cartoon than one might believe! there’s a reason as to why chuck jones and mike maltese are touted around as a dynamic duo. i wouldn’t call hardaway a bad writer by any means, but his influence is certainly potent. tex is a strong director, and thankfully he could cushion the blows of hardaway’s corniness as much as he could, but it’s also evident that certain decisions were made that tex wouldn’t have made in other circumstances.

decisions such as daffy singing an entire ode to his lunacy as the cartoon’s song number. this is definitely a hardawayian insert--a prototype, hayseed, screwball bugs bunny sings his own nutty anthem in hardaway’s hare-um scare-um just a year later. full song numbers have been making their way out the door in avery’s cartoons, and by either this year or next they’d be absent in total from the merrie melodies series. it’s unlike avery to write a whole song about characters explaining their nuttiness.

that is why i have qualms with the scene. at his zenith, daffy never attempts to explain or justify his screwiness. even in the mid-’40s, when he’s able to think and speak coherently and isn’t a mere caricature of his name, he showed no self awareness for his condition. the “look at me, ain’t i a crazy one?” jokes with him were out the door by 1939. half the fun with him is how unaware he is of his daffiness--he lives in it constantly, always zipping from emotional extremes, but never stops to tell the audience just how crazy and fun he is. here, his self-awareness seems ingenuine and prideful. daffy is my favorite character for his humanity and relatability (even--if not more so--when he’s a total loon). here, he lacks that dynamism. he’s merely a stock reflection of his namesake.

with that said, daffy’s rendition of “the merry go round broke down” is my favorite merrie melody song number, period. i’m certainly biased due to my undying affinity with daffy, but irv spence’s animation is genuinely fun to watch, and mel blanc does a wonderful performance. i know all of the words by heart! essentially, daffy’s justification for his daffiness is because the dizzy pace of the merry go round went to his head and made him nuts. while this sense of bragging is relatively out of character for him, it makes for a contagiously fun song, and also, this is his second film ever. they still had much to explore. 

the scene concludes with daffy shaking hands with his reflection in the water and diving back in. fade out and in to egghead, still furiously attempting to pursue his prey. cue a fun little avery gag where our hunter nonchalantly opens the reeds he’s hiding behind like a pair of blinds. daffy’s carefree quacking and swimming in the lake almost seems to mock him. in a gag that would be reused in avery’s lucky ducky over at MGM to a greater extent, daffy puts on a mask to scare away the oncoming bullets. indeed, the bullets retreat into egghead’s gun, prompting befuddled stares at both the gun and the audience.

daffy engages in another round of spastic water aerobics, HOOHOOing all the way. he only pauses to cling to a cattail, echoing an averyian daffy catchphrase that he would also shriek in daffy duck in hollywood, “ain’t i some cutie? ahah! i think i’ll do it again! HAHAHA!”

a nice, jazzy score of “bob white (whatcha gonna swing tonight?)” accompanies yet another endeavor by egghead. he’s either stupidly bold or boldly stupid to keep up such a tiring charade--or both! egghead loads a pair of gloves tied to a string into the barrel of the rifle, cleverly using a cattail as a bore brush. and, despite the absurdity of his makeshift fishing pole, it works: one gloved hand grabs daffy by the neck, the other konking him on the head and knocking him unconscious. egghead reels in his prize, dumping daffy into a net and letting out a handful of gleeful “WHOOPEE!”s.

avery’s timing is succinct--immediately after egghead snags his duck, the sound of a siren drowns out his celebration. a duck nearly identical to daffy approaches the scene in an “asylum ambulance”. “gee, t’anks a lot for catchin’ dis goof!” duck confiscates his fellow duck comrade. the decision to turn the conversation confidential, complete with the lowering of the voice and shifty-eyed glances is great. “y’know, we been after dis guy for months!”

despite everything that egghead has endured, he seems genuinely shocked at the duck’s claim that daffy is “100% nuts”. “oh YEAH?” he echoes, daring to believe it. duck nods. “yeeeeah!” with that, he gives egghead a honk right on the nose.

daffy, completely unscathed, wastes little time in joining the festivities as both ducks beat the tar out of egghead from both ends, literally kicking him in the arse and honking him on the nose. both ducks head to the lake, HOOHOOing in shrill unison as they bound off into the horizon. egghead only has one more option... to join them. thus, we iris out on our brave hunter HOOHOOing into the horizon himself.

as i said at the beginning of this review, this cartoon is one of my favorites--for this era, anyway. despite its imperfections, it’s still a rather fun and rousing cartoon. it’s exciting to see daffy becoming more recognizable, in terms of voice,  demeanor, and appearance. the same can be said for egghead as well, though i doubt anyone has the same attachment to him as they do other characters. i certainly don’t.

admittedly, porky’s duck hunt is a more solid cartoon. this cartoon feels much more like a string of gags than anything, though i suppose that could be said for many a tex avery cartoon. he wasn’t known for his moving stories. hardaway’s corny, hayseed sense of humor serves as the biggest detriment to the cartoon, but luckily tex is a strong enough director to try and work around those weaknesses as best he could. and even though i disagree with the reasoning behind the song number, the song number will always be my favorite merry melody song. 

i didn’t mention the backgrounds very often, but they’re STELLAR. the colorful, whimsical palette brings a lot of energy and vitality to the table. if you were to describe the cartoon in one word, “energetic” would certainly be it.

so, with that said, go watch it! this is a really fun cartoon that serves as an interesting look into early daffy’s character, obnoxious as he may be.

link!

[agentnico]

Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) Review

Not once, NOT ONCE in this film do we get to see King Kong’s mighty fine penis!! Although there are some magnificent shots of his perfectly crafted butt cheeks! 

Plot: The epic next chapter in the cinematic Monsterverse pits two of the greatest icons in motion picture history against one another - the fearsome Godzilla and the mighty Kong - with humanity caught in the balance.

It’s been over a year since we’ve been hit by the pandemic and as such its been as long since we’ve enjoyed a proper big crazy popcorn blockbuster flick. To the rescue we have Godzilla vs. Kong, and with that title card all I expect and desire is to witness a couple of kaiju monsters beat the living crap out of each other whilst surrounded by Michael Bay-level explosions and causing various chaos and havoc to the environments around them. Let’s hope everyone’s been paying insurance, cause if these two have decided to have their MMA battle in your hometown, say goodbye to your home as it will be crushed through using majestic CGI visuals as we witness Hollywood throw mountains and mountains of dollar over this! Yes, this money could have gone towards more wholesome and inspiring causes such as world hunger and climate change but, like, also, not gonna lie....I wanna see some monsters fight for no reason. As Ken Watanabe says in the 2014 Godzilla film “Let them fight.” You’re god-zilla right Ken, bet you regret getting killed off in the last movie now, bet you wish you were here now to see these bad boys compare genital sizes!! Well go do one Ken! Go and enjoy training Tom Cruise to be last samurai whilst the rest of us will bathe in the glory of these two mighty mustangs fisting one another (innuendo may be intended)!!

Godzilla vs. Kong delivers exactly what it’s title suggests. This is the fourth instalment of Warner Bros’ Monsterverse cinematic universe cause, you know, cinematic universes are so IN right now, unless you’re Universal. Poor Universal, not even Tom Cruise (a second Cruise reference in the same review??) could help you save the Dark Universe with The Mummy. Gosh that movie was a stinker. Anyway, in terms of narrative, do you need to watch the previous three movies to understand what’s happening in Godzilla vs. Kong? Answer: NO! This ain’t no Aaron Sorkin. It’s Godzilla going against Kong, that’s your story! I mean, yes, there is a narrative involving puny little useless humans trying to act all macho, however honestly that stuff is all boring and pointless no matter how famous the actors starring may be. By the way, as with the other Monsterverse films, the main weakness of this movie are the human characters and their story arcs. I get why they are there, as without them the movie would have only been no more than 40 minutes, but also there’s no denying that when the movie focuses on the humans, those are the moments you as a viewer can get distracted or go and have a bathroom break. Maybe make yourself a tea during those moments. Have you ever tried chamomile? With some honey? And but a dash of milk? It’s lovely, you can thank me later. But yes, the human stuff is really uninteresting. There’s a conspiracy theorist who cracks a joke or two but honestly if you’re into that stuff there’s plenty of conspiracy shows out there based on real life events. There’s also a little mute girl that shares a really special connection with Kong. It’s supposed to be very sweet. Personally I found it to be very inappropriate as Kong is really old (let alone also of a different species) whilst the girl is under the age of 18, so like, Kong, what are you doing man? You can’t be doing that kind of stuff! I know that you think you’re so cool, which, I’ll give ya that, you are. You are very cool, but still! Anyway, the actual titan battle of fisticuffs is the reason to enjoy this movie. The last time we saw these two battle it out it looked like this:

Seriously, what are they doing - dancing tango? As purposes for remakes go, this one is justified. Earth’s mightiest creatures deserve better than this! 49 years was probably long enough for these two icons to chill in their respective corners before having their rematch, so now with the help of glorious glorious GLORIOUS visuals we can feast our eyes!! The battles are indeed epic! I mean, who doesn’t want to see Kong whack a punch in Godzilla’s face whilst on an aircraft carrier!? Honestly, how in the heck is that aircraft carrier not sinking under the pressure and weight of those two giants?? But hang on, that’s a stupid question. Why am I questioning physics in Godzilla vs. Kong? It’s Godzilla vs. Kong! That’s the answer!! It’s plain and simple as daylight!

All in all you get what you pay for. Don’t expect any clever narratives or deep character developments. This is literally a film that exists to see two kaiju monsters punch and whack and smack and kick and even tickle each other for as long as possible! Hey, tickling still counts as a fighting tactic, don’t diss! Of course at some point someone is going to edit out all the battle sequences in this film and put it together in a 30 minute video mashup on YouTube and then I’d recommend to go watch that video instead to save you time, but for now enjoy Godzilla vs. Kong as it is. 

A bit sentimental, but what boosted my enjoyment level of this film was that I was so happy to see a full on big blockbuster again, it’s been so long. I wish cinemas in the UK were open for me to have enjoyed this on a massive screen, but even still seeing it as I did was still such a welcome notion. Even though as I watched it my entire household all of a sudden decided that now was the time that they all wanted to have a conversation with me about various things causing me to constantly pause this movie throughout turning it from a 2 hour film into a 4 hour viewing experience. It’s the Snyder Cut all over again!

Overall score: 6/10

[keunayuya]

Hanggang sa Huli MV in Details

October 11, 2020 (Saturday) | 3:30 PM

It took me a lot of time to compose my thoughts about the production of Hanggang sa Huli MV because I really wanted to slice every detail I have seen after watching the MV for several times (for the stream counts!), and to put them together for a solid explanation why the MV was a bomb. You might get a little bored by reading this, but hmm.. I hope you give me time 🥰

So, should I start now?

SEQUENCING

The Hanggang sa Huli music video a kind of a short story cycle, focusing on 5 different love encounters. The clips are sequenced based on who sings the part of the song. It is intented to make the viewers arrange it into 5 independent stories with each of them having their own rising, falling, and conclusion sections.

This dynamic technique has beautifully made the whole MV interesting because it created another puzzle to the story: the timeline.

TIMELINE

If you had a hard time focusing on the sequence of the 5 stories, it's because there were three timelines: the years 2009, 2019, and 2034. The love encounters of the boys took place in different times but the MV portrayed them as if they were at the present and happening at the same time. HSH MV Timeline details were put in numerous parts of the stories.

Justin and Sejun were Junior High classmates in 2009. In 2019, Sejun and Josh rode the same bus. Josh encountered a kid at the playground, who was actually the daughter of his childhood friend. In 2034, that same daughter became Ken's love interest, whom he found out to be in a relationship when he saw her at a cafe where Stell worked.

The different timelines only shows that LOVE is timeless and eternal. It can happen anytime, anywhere.

ALAB REFERENCE

Let's go to the obvious one. The association of the song Alab in the MV can be seen in each plot:

Josh - Red ropes = Red string bracelet

Justin - Green background and frame = Blackboard

Sejun - Crumpled papers = Crumpled papers in the trash can

Ken - Metal cage = Metal fence

Stell - Signboard 'THIS WAY, START HERE' = Signboard with same words

In those specific clips, their love interests were also shown at the same frame:

Josh - He first saw the daughter of his childhood friend, Athena; the time when he gave the red string bracelet to the kid

Justin - Allyssa Kristine was about to tell him the news about the scholarship while he was about to confess her feelings to her

Sejun - Photo of Constantine in a photo frame on his bedside table showing love for her even after several years

Ken - His first close encounter with Athena's daughter when he defended her from a guy who was about to harrass her

Stell - The lady customer's frequent visit in the cafe which made him excited everytime the cafe door opened

Meanwhile, the color association can be seen through their attires (except for Stell who was wearing a brown shade instead of yellow. But cafe crews most of the time wear brown or black uniforms, so his case is an exemption)

GO UP REFERENCE

So what about the song Go Up? Is there any association in the MV? Yes, of course!

The viewers missed to notice that the background is also a very important part of every film. In HSH MV's case, the Sky was frequently used usually being highlighted in many video frame. We know that Go Up is associated with reaching for dreams and the phrase 'The sky is the limit'.

The use of ample amount of Sky as background also tells us that we usually look up to the sky to remember that a lost loved one looks down on us from the heavens.

Aside from the background, if you may have noticed, cameras are positioned at a lower level, shooting the subjects in an upward angle, which is another Go Up reference.

GITZ REFERENCE

I got this reference from a comment on YouTube which really made sense so I put it here.

The independent stories of the boys can be mirrored in the 5 songs in GITZ album and we couldn't agree no more:

Stell - Tilaluha (Coffee shop at the MV)

Justin - Go Up (Aly reaching for her dreams)

Ken - Alab (Athena's daughter catching his attention)

Josh - Hanggang sa Huli (His eternal love for Athena)

Sejun - Love Goes (Lost loved one)

NAME USAGE

Names are widely used in the MV which are close to our hearts.

Allyssa Kristine S. Bernardo - A'TIN x SB

Allyssa - Alay sa (dedicated to)

Constantine Hermosa - Constant Beauty

Athena - A'TIN

The words A'TIN and SB were also used as names for locations, organization, and transportation:

SB National High School

A'TIN International Scholarship Committee

So Brewed Coffee (Cafe)

SB Transit (Bus)

SBalita (Newspaper)

FLOWER SYMBOLS

Flowers are also used in the MV to depict subliminal meanings:

Peruvian Lily - Friendship, Devotion

Tulip - Happiness, Affection, Caring, Good wishes, Love

Daisy - Innocence, New beginning

SOCIAL TOPICS

The music video also flashed some of popular topics in our society. As an influential boygroup, it is refreshing to see that their stand in these social topics are being incorporated in MV.

Mental health issue - Sejun's character portrayed as a depressed and traumatized person due to a tragic accident and death of his lover

Sexuality topic - Athena's daughter as a lesbian and in a relationship with the same sex

Harrassment / Assault issue - Depiction that anyone can be assaulted despite your sexuality or clothing or status

Bullying topic - Poster at the school's bulletin board, saying 'DON'T BE A BULLY!'

CAMEO ROLES

It is fun to see some people close to SB19 who played some roles in the MV:

Keith (@bboykillmo) - the guy who assaulted Athena's daughter and who was punched on the face by Ken

Don (@donvarin) - Athena's husband

OTHER SYMBOLS Part 1

The music video not only mentions social topics but also it is a personal story of SB19 on how everything led them to where they are now.

SUCCESS - Josh's corporate attire

HUMILITY - Going back to hometown (roots!)

PASSION - Athena's daughter dancing and Sejun's music player

ART - Ken's spray paint

FRIENDSHIP - Group photo of friends

PERFECTION - Coffee being slowly brewed

OTHER SYMBOLS Part 2

Other than that, the MV includes the following symbols which are also serve as significant elements of what is SB19

Sunny day / Sky - God at the center of everything

Rigid heart symbol - Strong foundation of SB19 x A'TIN

Carvings on the tree - SB19 x A'TIN forever

Grafitti - A'TIN

Brand - Endorsement

ETERNAL LOVE

During a past interview, SB19 shared their views on love and sacrifice. They unanimously agreed that true love is not measured by how much you can receive but by how much you can give to the people you love. They believe that it doesn't matter that you don't end up with that person. The important thing is you fought and you learned. Not everything happens in your favor and happiness is the root of acceptance.

HANGGANG SA HULI (Story of Acceptance)

The story of Hanggang sa Huli portrays the reality of 'almosts', 'what ifs', 'timing', 'grief', and most importantly, ACCEPTANCE. Love has no shape but has different colors. It can be a chemical reaction, but Science can never explain the emotion.

Hanggang sa Huli teaches us to love freely, to love everyone, to accept if something is not meant to happen, and to move forward for the better future.

----

Personally, I wasn't expecting too much symbolism in the music video but we all know that the magic of SB19 x A'TIN will forever be special and meaningful, so symbols are significant.

To the whole team of this production, I was very glad and thankful for them for releasing such kind of satisfying story-telling in a 5-minute video.

To Director Justin de Dios, who mainly came up with the concept and directed the MV, you are one of the best writers I have encountered.

To SB19, thank you for giving everyone happiness and hope. You deserve all the best.

SB19 x A'TIN hanggang sa huli. 💙

--Fin--

[themeatlife]

the Meat Life Stay-At-Home Watchlist

Chronicling what I have watched or rewatched through the pandemic so far

The world has changed around us the last few months, particularly in the United States since March 11.  With the lack of events to hit up, like most Americans I’ve been catching up on some watching through the various streaming services and my own digital copies of movies and shows.

I didn’t really think of keeping up with what I have been watching until just recently, but here is what I can remember hitting up so far since I’ve spent the majority of the time at home.  Some are favorites that I would have watched anyway.  Some were unfinished until I got a chance to get back to them.  And others just became available.

Here’s what I remember of the watchlist:

The Office (Netfilx) This is a favorite of me and the wife.  We watch this on the regular though.  My wife uses The Office as her lullaby of sorts, putting it on in the evening as she gets ready for bed and is in bed to fall asleep.  I did a post on the 15th anniversary, so I won’t really deep-dive.

Gossip Girl (Netflix) Another one that my wife rotates with The Office as her lullaby.  The series is not bad, it’s basically The OC in Manhattan (both are created and developed by Josh Schwartz).  It also takes on a new perspective when you think about star Penn Badgley is the creep in You.  So Dan Humphrey gets this weird creeper Joe Goldberg vibe at times.

Parks and Recreation (Netflix) I never got into Parks and Rec on its original run.  I was encouraged to check it out by some coworkers since I liked The Office.  It is a great show, very funny, and poignant in a way.  It feels like a throwback to when people could disagree politically and still get along.  There is a lot less of that nowadays.  We might need more Parks and Rec in real life.  I started this right before the pandemic and finished around the beginning of things getting locked down.

Frozen II (Disney+) The sequel debuted on Disney+ early on in the quarantine period.  My family enjoyed it.  I thought it was entertaining, but I felt like it was weighted down a bit by the mythology explaining.  It seemed too busy explaining a lot of things.  Still an enjoyable movie, but the first is better.

Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness (Netflix) Intriguing.  The series debuted early in the quarantine period and became a staple of stay-at-home viewing and a runaway hit.  Lots of WTF moments.  It was like the train wreck analogy to the Nth degree.  But you can tell it was made in a way that leans in favor of Joe Exotic, making him look like a victim in the last couple episodes.  Also gave way to memorable memes ever since.

The Rocketeer (Disney+) I haven’t watched this movie since I was a kid.  Looking back, you can see a lot of The Rocketeer in Captain America - The First Avenger.  Easy to see though, since they share the same director Joe Johnston.  Prior to America’s involvement in World War II, a movie star Nazi goes after an experimental rocket pack developed by Howard Hughes.  The rocket pack is retrieved by accident from a down on luck stunt pilot.  Fun movie.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Disney+) I should have watched the entire Skywalker saga leading up to it, but I figured I have a ton of time to do that later.  This was a May the 4th watch.  I haven’t watched the Skywalker saga finale since it was in theaters.  It’s not a bad movie, I just feel it could have been a lot better with some modifications here and there.  Also, I believe this was going to be the Leia movie.  The Force Awakens was Han’s swan song, as was The Last Jedi for Luke.  I feel like this would have been great for Leia but obviously they were limited due to the untimely death of Carrie Fisher.  The scene where Ren/Ben speaks with Han after battling Rey would have hit harder with Leia instead of Han.

Trolls: World Tour (VOD) Cute kid movie.  Was nice to hear a lot of familiar music.  Sucks that rock was the villain in the first couple acts.  Seeing it once was enough, though.  Like the first Trolls, I am glad my kids enjoyed it but did not participate in excessive multiple viewings.

Onward (Disney+) Didn’t get a chance to catch this at the theater before they closed them down.  Great movie, but gosh.  Why does Pixar always pull at the heart strings like that?  I was quietly crying to myself at the end.  I’m glad we made our living room dark theater-style, otherwise my kids would have seen me all torn up.

Fast and Furious 5-7 (Fast Five - HBO, The Fast and the Furious 6/Furious 7 - Digital) I ended up not watching the entire series.  There is a great trilogy within the series, 5-7 was that trilogy.  Fast Five was the best of the FF franchise and where it perfected their movie formula.  It was like an action Ocean’s Eleven with cars.  6 and 7 expanded on that formula, upping the humor and ridiculousness factor.  6 had the exits of the Han and Gisele characters (they found a way to tie in Tokyo Drift to the rest of the series, Gal Gadot was on her way to becoming Wonder Woman for DC).  And 7 had that great ending with the tribute to Paul Walker to the sounds of Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth.

Toy Story 4 (Disney+) Another Pixar hit.  Didn’t hit me quite as hard as Onward or Toy Story 3 did emotionally, thank goodness.  I thought this story was over the way Toy Story 3 ended.  But Pixar did a good job adapting to prolong these characters stories.  It did feel like it was a bit of two and three combined looking back.  Still very good, Pixar knows what it’s doing.

The Marvel Infinity Saga (Disney+/Netflix/Digital) Leading up to the one-year anniversary of the release of Avengers: Endgame, I went through and rewatched all 23 MCU movies.  This time, I went in chronological story order by starting with Captain America - The First Avenger.  I chronicled the order I watched in my last post.  Even after viewing many of these movies multiple times, I’m still amazed at how much I enjoy them and the scope of what Marvel was able to achieve leading into the climax in Endgame.

Community (Netflix/Hulu) I loved Community on its initial run on NBC but never watched any of the episodes when it was on Yahoo for its sixth season.  It has been great to rewatch the meta-humor and sitcom trope parodies.  And since Ken Jeong and Joel McHale started their own podcast called The Darkest Timeline (half COVID-19, half Community pod), it has been a good companion viewing.

The Back to the Future Trilogy (Netflix) Recent add to Netflix for easy viewing, these movies have been a favorite of the Mitra boys since childhood.  Upon viewing as an adult, there is some humor that I didn’t recognize as a kid that is hilarious to me now.  It is also crazy how well this teen time-travel sci-fi comedy works.  Some of the effects in Part 2 are dated and 2015 didn’t quite end up the way it did in the movies.  But overall very enjoyable on the rewatch!

Extraction (Netflix) High budget action flick funded by Netflix?  Written by the Russo Brothers?  And staring Chris Hemsworth?  I’m in!  Directed by long-time stunt man and Russo Bros go-to stunt coordinator Sam Hargrave (you can tell the Russo influence).  It has an awesome 15ish minute one-shot action/chase sequence that is top notch.  Don’t think much about the plot or the controversy of cultural representation, just enjoy the action.

The Mighty Ducks Trilogy (HBO) Another childhood favorite of mine.  Nevermind that the hockey itself isn’t accurate.  This is about pure fun for an hour and a half at a time.  Come for the hi-jinx, stay for the heart.  Triple-deke, knuckle-puck, taking out the trash.  And leave it out on the ice!

The Harry Potter Series (Blu-Ray/Digital) This was not a go-to for me until Linda made me watch the entire series.  I guess when the first movie came out, it was too much of a kid movie for me (I was a high school senior at the time).  But from the second movie onward, it felt like the storytelling and movie making got better and better.  The Deathly Hallows was an epic ending, even if they did change the ending from the book.  I didn’t watch the newer Fantastic Beasts movies along with this though, my wife did.

Westworld - Season 3 (HBO) Recently got HBO back, so I caught up on Westworld Season 3.  I haven’t rewatched the previous seasons yet, but I may revisit it soon.  Season 1 was spectacular, Season 2 was confusing as hell but still entertaining.  Season 3 is somewhere in between, expanding on the ongoing storyline.  It was more straight-forward because its storyline is in the “real-world.”  For those of you that have watched, didn’t you think it was highly ironic that the Incite ball was basically the AT&T logo? (AT&T is the parent company for WarnerMedia and HBO)

The Last Dance (ESPN/ESPN+) The Michael Jordan docu-series has been a god-sent for sports fans devoid of live American sports for the past couple months.  Is it Jordan-biased?  Sure.  But it is full of drama and intrigue and full of nostalgia.  The NBA had commissioned a camera crew to follow the 1997-1998 Chicago Bulls on their run for their sixth NBA championship.  Jordan owned the controlling rights to the footage and unlocked it after the 2016 NBA Finals.  So this documentary was years in the making and with the pandemic the release date was moved up.  Although it featured a lot of unseen footage, it also chronicled the years leading up to the 1998 Bulls title.  The last 5 Sundays have been awesome.

The Princess Bride (Disney+) I haven’t watched this movie since I was a kid.  It wasn’t one of my recurring watches back then.  So this was actually my second viewing of this movie ever.  I found it quite enjoyable.  It was cheesy, but fun, and a good family watch.  One of the many older titles available on Disney+.

Scoob (VOD) My kids had some of the older Scooby Doo episodes on DVD and watched them when they were younger.  This was a fun revisit for them and for us as parents.  It was actually cool seeing a lot of the Hanna-Barbera characters in one movie.  We watched this shortly after finishing Community, and my kids recognized Ken Jeong’s voice as Dynomutt.  My daughter hilariously shouted “Senor Chang!” when she recognized him.

The Indiana Jones Series (Netflix) I introduced my son to Indiana Jones a few months ago watching Raiders of the Lost Ark.  He loved it.  He lost a little bit of interest during the Temple of Doom, I think the character Short Round lost it for him (character hasn’t aged well).  The Last Crusade reclaimed his interest.  Harrison Ford was at his natural apex playing Indiana Jones.  I did not watch the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.  I didn’t feel the need to revisit that installment, while it was enjoyable the alien ending ruined the lead up to it.

The Dark Knight Trilogy (Batman Begins/The Dark Knight - Hulu, The Dark Knight Rises - Digital) Every few years I try to revisit this series.  It is the best thing DC has ever put out cinematically.  While Begins and Rises is more comic book, TDK is a straight crime drama set in the world of Batman.  My favorite is Rises, but the absolute best comic book movie remains The Dark Knight, even with the advent of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Jurassic Park/Jurassic World Series (Jurassic Park/The Lost World: Jurassic Park - Blu-Ray, Jurassic World - Digital, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - Cinemax) The original Jurassic Park is such a great movie.  Rewatching, it’s crazy how well the effects for the dinosaurs hold up.  Steven Spielberg, Stan Winston, and ILM did a great job mixing animatronic and CGI dino effects that stand the test of time.  The Lost World was enjoyable but not as good as the original.  I skipped JP III, such a bad movie.  Jurassic World was a good way to reboot the series, basically a remake of the original but incorporating a lot of references to it.  I just finished Fallen Kingdom today.  Although Fallen Kingdom was entertaining, it fails to recapture some of the magic of JP and JW.

I’m not sure what I will hit up next.  I might hit some Keanu Reeves movies like Speed, the Matrix Trilogy, and/or the John Wick Trilogy.  Maybe Top Gun.  Maybe rewatch Friends or How I Met Your Mother.  Maybe something on HBO Max when it comes out like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.  Maybe Terminator.  Possibilities are endless, at least until some American sports return.

[dustedmagazine]

Derek Taylor 2019: Keep Going

Two words coupled by Harriet Tubman and coined into a credo essential for negotiating the human condition. It's also the title of and invocation to a sublime duo album by Joe McPhee and Hamid Drake released this year as rejoinder to their first recorded ten-years earlier. Taking stock of that decade is something we at Dusted did recently and as the New Year arrives it’s an exercise that feels all the more important, particularly in the extra-musical sense of recognizing the folly of where we’ve been as a world and where we really want to go moving forward. As always, music is both balm and adhesive in remembering that no matter how divisive and discouraging everything seems, we’re still all in it together.

Joe McPhee

Seventy-nine-years young and still a human dynamo of energy, empathy, and optimism, the Powerhouse from Poughkeepsie’s been a constant of these retrospective essays for as long as I’ve been writing them. I haven’t done a hard count, but his horns grace at least a dozen releases this year. Duos with Mats Gustaffson (Brace for Impact), Fred Lonberg-Holm (No Time Left for Sadness), and Paal Nilssen-Love (Song for the Big Chief) join the dyad denoted above in delivering dialogues as personal as they are potent. Tree Dancing assembles the super-group of Lol Coxhill, Evan Parker, Chris Corsano, and McPhee collectively and in component combinations with bassist John Edwards on board for a culminating cut, while Six Situations realizes a dream of bassist Damon Smith in teaming him with McPhee’s tenor and now dearly departed drummer Alvin Fielder. The Fire Each Time bundles six concerts of McPhee in the company of the DKV Trio from a 2017 tour that took James Baldwin and John Coltrane as lodestones. Saving perhaps the best for last, Invitation to a Dream comingles McPhee’s pocket trumpet and soprano with pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn and old confrere Ken Vandermark in a tripart colloquy delivered in crystal clear sound.

 Peter Brötzmann

A year younger and another fixture in my yearly firmament, Herr Brötz has always had ears attuned to the early pioneers of improvised music through the unabashed embrace of Sidney Bechet, Coleman Hawkins, and others. Those unerring affections erode some of the surprise from I Surrender Dear, an album of tenor-rendered jazz standards and originals, but also enhance the overall experience in how literally he makes good on the debt. It’s arguably his best solo album since 14 Love Poems and bolstered further by the focus on a single central member of his reed arsenal. Also of note, Fifty Years After commemorating the golden anniversary of Machine Gun with longtime confreres German pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach and Dutch drummer Han Bennink,

 Rob Franken Electrification — Functional Stereo Music (678 Records)

Four-hours of Fender Rhodes heaven recorded in elite Dutch studios between 1972 and 1981 that puzzlingly never found commercial circulation until last year as a six-LP series. The 2019 edition transfers the archive to three-CDs and only rarely flags as Franken’s fonky keys front guitar, bass, drums and a revolving cast of fellow aces fielding other instruments. Economy is the informal edict as morsel-sized originals alternate with covers of tunes by Herbie Hancock, Stevie Wonder, Atilla Zoller, and even Steely Dan. The utilitarian intimations of the title aren’t just lip service. Franken originally envisioned the music as an homage to the muzak strains common to “shopping malls, hotels, elevators, department stores, and airports.” Much of it sounds far better aligned with the kinetic cop and detective pot-boilers that populated television and cinema of the decade.

 Brian Groder Trio – Luminous Arcs (Latham)

Keeping a working improvising ensemble together is no minor accomplishment, yet Groder’s been able to maintain one in his name with bassist Michael Bisio and drummer Jay Rosen. This disc joins two previous albums in demonstrating both the depth of the musicians’ bonds and their shared zeal in exploring and capitalizing on them. Any novelty surrounding the particulars of a trumpet-led piano-less trio is fortunately long since lapsed. The precedence allows them to marshal their attention to shaping music that is simultaneously the sum and multiplication of the substantial parts.

 V/A — Pakistan: Folk and Pop Instrumentals 1966-1976 (Sublime Frequencies)

Seattle-based Sublime Frequencies weathered a stretch where the “weirdness” quotient of their audio excavations appeared to outweigh accompanying scholarship and attention to edifying annotations. This scintillating compilation suffers no such skew in the balance of carefully sourced sounds and accompanying copy to shore up the context. Sixties rock, specifically surf, is a through-line in the preponderance of reverb-riddled guitars and buzzing Farfisa organ on many of the tracks, but indigenous melodies and rhythms are also frequent fodder for enthusiastic appropriation. Best of all, there’s a pervasive sense of fun to the sequencing that makes it a handy soundtrack for soirees of all sorts.

 Jaimie Branch — Fly or Die II (International Anthem)

If her ascendant flight pattern is any indication, death, artistic or otherwise, isn’t even an option for Jaimie Branch. This follow-up to her meteoric (and long overdue) 2017 debut builds organically on previous cosmetic aspects (core quartet, cover art, etc.) while making progressive-pronged politics even more prominent. “Prayer for Amerikkka” doesn’t mince words in proffering a platform of resistance and the musical propellant to keep it confidently airborne. A robust touring schedule and well-earned media attention are only furthering Branch’s designs at getting the sounds into as many ears as possible.

 Sam Rivers

The Sam Rivers Archive Series is the brainchild of producers Danas Mikailionis and Ed Hazell. A projected eight-volume celebration of the music of the eponymous composer/improviser/educator/doyen curated from a vast trove left in the care of Rivers’ daughter after his passing in 2011, it’s also probably the jazz news that most set my heart aflutter with anticipation this year. The initial pair of entries, Emanation and Zenith, certainly live up to the promise in presenting clean fidelity concerts by a high profile trio with bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Norman Conners (pre-disco) and a workshop quintet involving tubaist Joe Daley, bassist Dave Holland and the eight-limbed drums juggernaut of Barry Altschul and Charlie Persip. Both discs are essential.

 Jimi Hendrix — Songs for Groovy Children (Experience Hendrix)

Not a long-lost Hendrix kids’ album despite what the jejune title might suggest. Instead, it’s four nearly complete concerts from the guitar deity’s iconic New Year’s Band of Gypsies engagement at the Fillmore East in 1969/70. Producer Eddie Kramer largely quashes his invasive impulses in mastering the tapes, leaving the only real minuses to manifest in the occasionally extra-loose interplay and Jimi’s decision to indulge Buddy Miles’ mic access to a regrettably arguable fault. Math done, there’s nothing stopping an instant trigger-pull for true believers, even folks who have it all already in bootleg form.

 Ezz-thetics

Fingers remain collectively-crossed that Werner X. Uehlingher will one day decide to write an autobiography of his countless adventures as a stalwart producer of improvised music. Ezz-thetics is just the latest chapter in the future tome’s story arc that started with the founding of the Hat Hut label back in 1974. The new imprint, named after a classic George Russell composition, balances reissue and archival releases with new ones, packing them with branding that memorializes the old while consecrating the new. Discs by Jimmy Giuffre (Graz Live 1961), John Coltrane (Impressions Graz 1962), and Albert Ayler (Quartets 1964 Spirits to Ghosts Revisted) are the marquee name highlights, but the entirety of the imprint’s releases to-date have had their merits.

 Stephen Riley

The tenorist is no longer my favorite under-forty plier on the instrument simply because he’s aged out of the bracket. Oleo builds on last year’s transparently veiled Sonny Rollins’ tribute Hold ‘Em Joe by adding the sturdy trumpet of Joe Magnarelli to the equation and turning the referential calendar forward to the saxophone colossus’ collaborations with Don Cherry. It’s a beaut from a brisk beginning sortie on “Ornithology” to lengthy slalom on the Ducal “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore.” Tangerine Rhapsody is technically under Dutch drummer Snorre Kirk’s leadership, but it wouldn’t be nearly the album it is absent Riley’s supple and sagacious involvement.

 Milt Buckner & Jo Jones — Buck & Jo (Fremeaux & Associates)

Curious about what makes an individual improviser tick? Duo contexts are arguably the best aperture to gain edification and insight. Even better than solo or ensemble configurations, the dyad distills things down to solo and dialogue. This four-disc, four-hour-plus collection is a remarkable case in point and surprise that it even exists at all given its vintage let alone its scope. Thank French impresarios the Panassie Brothers who invited ur swing organist and ur swing drummer to indulge themselves with only the gentlest of producer-dictated strictures. The results are fascinating, whimsical, bombastic, and above all, endlessly entertaining. An epitome of intimately undertaken jazz tête-à-tête before it was anything resembling a regular thing.

 Del Shannon — Two Silhouettes (Bear Family)

Preconceptions can prove obdurate edifices. Prior to my forty-eighth birthday this year I dismissed Del Shannon as one of the disposable princes of bubble gum pop on the rare occasions he entered my consciousness at all. “Runaway” remains an influential song, particularly in its use of musitron organ, but it’s hardly the makings of unassailable genius. Bear Family’s exhaustive single-disc survey levies a much more convincing appeal for the crooner’s embodiment of a nexus of odd congruencies as moonlighting jazzmen conspire with duck-tailed rockers and barbershop harmonists. Dennis Coffey and Hargus “Pig” Robbins show up as sidemen and there’s even an S&M-tinged canticle called “Torture” replete with whip cracks and a Greek chorus of moans, leaving one to wonder what Ward and June Cleaver made of it all?

 Sun Ra

Cosmic Myth and Modern Harmonic continue to advance the mantle apparently abandoned by the Art Yard label in keeping Ra-related albums in circulation. The erstwhile Mr. Mystery employed numerous vocalists throughout his career, even contributing his own less-than-stellar (pun intended) pipes to the cause on occasion. None among that eclectic number could match June Tyson, who brought joie de vivre to the lyrical manifestations of Ra’s cosmic-afro-centrism that was at once wholly believable and infectious. Saturnian Queen of the Sun Ra Arkestra does right by her memory by culling an hour’s worth of highlights from a vast and varied recorded archive. Monorails & Satellites (now in three volumes!) and newly minted editions of Pathways to Unknown Worlds and When Angels Speak of Love were also welcome arrivals.

 Derek Bailey/Han Bennink/Evan Parker — Topographie Parisienne: Dunois, April 3rd, 1981 (Fou)

The Topography of the Lungs trio in concert and at length with decent sound eleven-years after their initial seismic contributions to free improv. Bailey and Parker weren’t yet at irreconcilable loggerheads but there’s still a galvanizing and palpable tension that suffuses their interplay. Bennink can’t help being anything but Bennink, bashing away one moment and pattering at barely a whisper the next while keeping ears cocked with split-second focus to the contributions his compatriots. Duos combine with solos from Parker sweeten and season an already delicious aural pot.

 Fred Anderson Quartet — Live at the Velvet Lounge Volume V (FPE)

Leftfield guest Toshinori Kondo and drummer Hamid Drake were one half of Peter Brötzmann’s Die Like a Dog outfit when this 1994 concert was committed to tape. That take-no-prisoners context allowed his plangent, frenetic, effects-saturated brass free and ferocious rein. Anderson’s outlets didn’t usually involve electronics and its instructive hearing the adaptations to the roiling controlled-chaos within his customary cerulean-hued improvisations. Drake and bassist Tastu Aoki maintain a stout terrestrial tether enlivened by a revolving array of undulating grooves. Extra points earned for incorporating the original Velvet Lounge wallpaper scheme into the production design. Bottom line: I miss Fred.

 V/A — Hillbillies in Hell: Tribulations: Country Music’s Tormented Testament (1952-1974) (The Omni Recording Corporation)

Amusing alliterative appellation aside, this series has managed the no-meager-feat of avoiding diminishing returns while mining the same expanse of time over successive volumes. The fifth entry tilts the lens even more sharply toward the sort of fervent tent show revival circuit favored by fictional religious reprobates like Rev. Harry Powell and Elmer Gantry and comes up with a bonanza off-kilter cuts from names both famous (Hank Williams, Louvin Bros., Tex Ritter) and arcane (The Burton Family, Durwood Daily, The Sunshine Boys Quartet). Ernest Tubb’s “Saturday Satan, Sunday Saint” persuasively sums up the ecumenical ethos, but every song exudes its share of sinful charms.

  V/A — Sacred Sounds: Dave Hamilton’s Raw Detroit Gospel (Ace)

As a both prolific and preternaturally talented producer, Dave Hamilton’s usual purview was left-of-center soul and funk. Urban (but not urbane) gospel offered a less-publicized commercial side outlet and he brought comparable emphasis on authenticity and creativity to the various acts he championed. This compilation comprises all-killer-no-filler assemblage that lives up to the unvarnished signifier in the title. It’s nearly eighty-minutes of jangly guitars, tambourines, and impassioned sanctifying and proselytizing of all sorts, as suited for Sunday morning as Friday or Saturday night depending on the preferred mood of your personal household. I’ve enjoyed equal fun plying it in both.

 Art Pepper — Promise Kept

Laurie Pepper, like Sue Mingus and other jazz widows before her, remains a passionate arbiter and steward of her late husband’s recorded legacy. The title of this box set collecting a singular tributary of Art Pepper’s later career aspirations could just as easily serve as a signifier of that bond. In truth, it’s reflective of a pact the couple made with producer John Snyder and a string of studio sessions largely left unissued during the Pepper’s lifetime. Rivalries real and imagined are revealed across the recordings as the altoist wrestles with his insecurities and the realities of choices made and paid for as a consequence of his addictions and fictions. Straightforward and vital, the music avoids gestalt in remaining consistently strong and emotionally true.

 Paul Bley/Gary Peacock/Paul Motian — When Will the Blues Leave (ECM)

The prevailing mystery behind this twenty-year-old concert rests on the reason(s) why the fine folks at ECM left it in the can for so long. I don’t have an answer but rather a simple expression of gratitude that they finally decided to rectify the error and get the sounds out into the world. Bley, Peacock and Motian were already three-decades deep in the periodic associations that quietly helped open chamber jazz to free improvisation when they took to the Swiss stage. The ensuing masterful performance manages to feel simultaneously like three old friends shooting the shit and a trio of improvisatory experts operating at peak collective capacity.

 Prince — 1999 (Warner)

Residency in the Twin Cities for the better part of two decades has resulted in many boons, personal and vocational for this writer. As with any life lived, the red side of the ledger has entries, too. Folded among them is the frictional, frayed listening relationship I harbor with the region’s most famous musical export. Nearly three years after his premature passing Prince is still everywhere and everything here. That perpetual, and perpetually irksome, ubiquity is what makes this five-disc+DVD beyond-exhaustive box so refreshing to my patience-tested purview. It contains lots of impressive material from arguably his most creative and questing period. It also has plenty of songs that feel competent but quotidian by comparison. That blend of bliss and banality is as effective a corrective as I can think of to the cult of purple sainthood that persists around these parts.  

 And as is my habitual wont, 25 more in no hierarchical order… thank you for reading and Feliz Año Nuevo!  

Josh Abrams Natural Information Society (Eremite)

Michael Formanek’s Very Practical Trio – Even Better (Intakt)

Charles Gayle/John Edwards/Mark Sanders – Seasons Changing (Otokroku)

Dudu Pukwana/Han Bennink/Misha Mengelberg – Yi Yole (ICP/Corbett vs. Dempsey)

Nat King Cole – Hittin’ the Ramp: The Early Years (1936-1945) (Resonance)

Willem Breuker & Han Bennink – New Acoustic Swing Duo (ICP/Corbett vs. Dempsey)

Whit Dickey & Kirk Knuffke – Drone Dream (No Business)

Mark Turner & Gary Foster – Mark Turner Meets Gary Foster (Capri)

J.C. Heard & Bill Perkins Quintet – Live at the Lighthouse 1964 (Fresh Sound)

Stan Getz – Getz at the Gate: November 26, 1961 (Verve)

Rita Moss - Queen Moss 1951-1959 (Fresh Sound)

Bill Frisell & Thomas Morgan – Epistrophy (ECM)

Marion Brown & Dave Burrell – Live at the Black Musicians’ Conference, 1981 (No Business)

Jon Irabagon – Invisible Horizon (Irrabagast)

Tom Rainey Trio – Combobulated (Intakt)

Joe Lovano & Enrico Rava Quintet – Roma (ECM)

Tomeka Reid Quartet – Old New (Cuneiform)

Johnny Griffin & Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis – Ow: Live at the Penthouse (Reel to Reel)

Takahashi Miyasaka – Animals Garden (Kojima/BBE)

Tiger Trio (Joelle Leandre/Myra Melford/Nicole Mitchell) – Map of Liberation (Rogue Art)

V/A – Jambu: E Os Miticos Sons da Amazonia (Analog Africa)

V/A – Put the Whole Armour On: Female Black Gospel 1940s/1950s (Gospel Friend)

V/A –Alefa Madagascar: Salegy, Soukous, & Soul from the Red Island (Strut)

Horace Tapscott with the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra and the Great Voice of UGMAA - Why Don’t You Listen? Live at LACMA 1998 (Dark Tree)

Duster – Capsule Losing Contact (Numero)

[loversandantiheroes]

So, apologies, I got distracted with things yesterday (so many phonecalls), so while I did manage to get a few more episodes into the adventures of oh god I don’t speak french, I did not get a chance to post anything about it.

So in the words of Inigo Montoya: let me sum up.

First thing’s first:  not having sound that is in a language I understand has made following anything rather difficult.  Not that it was terribly easy before, please refer to the Nightmare of the Bouncy Castle for proof, but the plots so far in season 2 have seemed to be a little less weird on the whole, just a little harder to follow.

And honestly at this point I’m not even sure which episodes some of these stills I have are from, so prepare for a larger and even more nonsensical and context-free update than I’ve given previously.

So anyway, here we went, cut for insanity and length.

Context won’t help you here.  This episode, I think, was supposed to be about a druid and/or slave trader who captures a couple of Robin’s friends, but most of it comes off a bit like Robin and Marion trying to sneak into a really exclusive sex dungeon.

I mean either that or the costuming department was being run out of the back of a bdsm warehouse.

The only actual help I can give you here is that is a floating cow head that is shooting eyebeam lasers/restraints.  I understand this is not actually helpful.

The next episode started out with Prince John buying time at ye olde cathouse only to find Robin under the covers instead.

Most of us would call this a bonus, Princey-poo.

Things not pictured: 

Said prostitute was tied up in a cupboard, seems put out about it until Robin gives her an apology smooch.

Prince John goes to this week’s Morgan Le Fay knock off to get revenge for Robin stealing his gold *and* cockblocking him.

This somehow results in some necromancy to revive three of Alexander the Great’s warriors to go kill Robin.

No seriously.

Somehow this also results in Friar Tuck getting sent back in time to witness Alexander the Great talking to the Morgan Le Fay knock off, the process of which looked like this:

Mostly what I’m getting out of this season is they finally got a green screen and by god they were gonna use it.

Totally Real Horses: The Sequel.  Also there is nothing more awkward to watch than people pretending to be on horseback.  Just sit in front of this green screen and hump a bar stool for a few minutes, no biggie.

Holy shit they finally remembered Robin Hood was supposed to be a feckin archer.

Also some point the undead hitmen captured Marian, which is becoming a recurring theme, despite the fact Marian is supposed to be a competent fighter in her own right.  Gotta put the damsel in some distress, right guys?  *sigh*

Onto the next episode!

Okay.  I’m...I’m gonna try to set this up a little.  I’m gonna try.  So.  There’s a death cult.  And the leader of the death cult captures Marian bc again we have a theme, but supposedly this time it’s because she’s supposed to be the bride of the death cult’s god or something?  I’m...I’m super unclear.

More greenscreen, because clearly they wanted to make full use of this goddamn thing.  The only upshot I will give this episode is costuming evidently decided they were tired of sewing the sleeves back onto this particular shirt so now we’ve just got the full sleeves are bullshit look going.

More nuns!

I’m uh, I’m liking the pony tail.  And the everything else.

And then there’s this fucking Dario Argento bullshittery.  This turns into a dance sequence that lasts entirely too goddamned long.  I don’t...I don’t know.  I don’t know.

And then the video goes a little wibbly, as somehow we go from opening a door to a jumpcut to the woods, but now Robin has this!

No, I swear, it’s not the newest toy from Bad Dragon, it’s a unicorn horn.

Which apparently doubles as a light saber.  Also a quarter staff, a lasso, and a spear.  So honestly a vibration setting wouldn’t surprise me.

I also don’t know how exactly this episode ends because the last few minutes were missing.  

The last episode I got through was deeply generic and featured a woman disguising herself as a nun and at this point I’m just thinking somebody’s got themselves a Ken Russell style nun fetish.

Somebody’s definitely watched Two Mules For Sister Sara a few too many times.

Honestly there’s not much strangeness to remark upon in this one, and thus I will leave you with an obligatory look at the pretty.

[grimelords]

My April playlist is finished! Please allow me to take you on a journey from the heaven of THP Orchestra to the hell of Inter Arma over three action packed hours. Specially sequenced for maximum enjoyment, there’ll be at least one thing in here you’ll love - I guarantee it. Listen here.

Good To Me - THP Orchestra: I've said it before and I'll say it again, the number one way to find good songs is to go through the whosampled page for Duck Sauce's 2013 album Quack because every single thing they put into that album is a bonafide classic.

I'm Your Boogie Man - KC & The Sunshine Band: I saw Jungle last week and they were absolutely amazing, and the venue started playing this song as soon as the house lights went up after the show which is an extremely good way to get people to not leave your venue and boogie instead. My favourite part of this is near the end of the second verse where he gets even lazier than normal with the lyrics and just says "I want to love you.. ah.. from sundown.. sunup".

Work It Out - A-Trak: I love this new A-Trak song that sounds like a secret lost bonus track from Discovery right down to that specific wah sound on the guitar.

Starlight - The Supermen Lovers: There was all this news last year that Music Sounds Better With You by Stardust was getting remastered and rereleased for its 20th anniversary and was going to finally be on streaming services that seems to have just.. not happened. It never materialized so now I'm stuck listening to the 2nd rate but still extremely good Music Sounds Better With You knockoff, Starlight by the worst named band ever The Supermen Lovers. The songs aren't even that similar particularly but that's just my personal feelings.

Girlsrock - Siriusmo: A friend of mine is a sort of expert on the whole Ed Banger mid-late 2000s electro scene and it's extremely good because he'll just send me songs like this every now and then that are totally sick and make it feel like there was somehow thousands of hours of this kind of music produced at that time and only the tip of the iceberg made it to public consumption.

11:17 - Danger: Somehow I didn't even notice that Danger had a new album in January but I'm finally listening now and it's a proper return to form and really, really good. This song sounds like if the haunted VHS tape from the The Ring was taped over an 80s workout video.

Ultrasonic Sound - Hive: I went to a 20th anniversary screening of The Matrix at The Astor and great news: that movie still kicks ass and rocks completely and has possibly gotten better in the two decades since its release. Someone had curated a really good mix that they were playing in the foyer after the movie and this song was in it. A heady mix of drum and bass and nu-metal guitar crunch that feels like a 1999 calendar picked up by a strong wind and slapping you in the face.

Homo Deus VII - Deantoni Parks: STILL loving and finding new things to love about this Deantoni Parks album for the third month in a row. I'm repeating myself but this music is just so good and feels so completely original to me. It's a great mix of complete technical mastery and the self imposed limitations of a restricted sample palette. Forcing himself to do absolutely everything he can with the sound and fairly well exhausting it over the course of 9 minutes.

Catacomb Kids - Aesop Rock: There's a good line to trace between this and Acid King by Malibu Ken where Aesop Rock's been thinking about Ricky Kasso for like ten years now which is interesting. There's lots of just very nice sounding lines in this like "Crispy the godsender who thunk over a quarter plunk to local Mortal Kom vendor". Just good weird word combos painting a very impressionistic picture of growing up. "deplanting cadavers" "zoo-keeper facelift". Very nice.

Mask Off - Future: I've never listened to Future much which is weird because he's very good but this is a song that just comes into my head pretty often. Metro Boomin's brain is huge and the vibe he created on this is just amazing. Wringing this sort of atmosphere out of the sample without sacrificing any of the trap beat at the center of it is such an achievement.

Old Town Road (Remix) - Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus: Everything that could ever be said about Old Town Road has probably already been written by now but my favourite part is finding out that the sample is from Ghosts by Nine Inch Nails which means it's also Trent Reznor's first writing credit on a #1 song. Absolutely praying for Trent and Atticus to join Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus on stage at the Grammys to perform this.

Claudia Lewis - M83: Every so often I remember just how good Hurry Up We're Dreaming is and listen to it on repeat for a while. It's absolutely amazing. Start to finish (except for Raconte-Moi Une Historie which SUCKS) it's just fantastic. I looked up why this song is called Claudia Lewis and it turns out that has an extremely good answer "I was surfing the web & found this website with space poems – Claudia Lewis had 3-4 space poems on this site. They were pretty bad space poems but I found it super moving, there was something very innocent about it. She’s probably super young like 12 or 14 but I don’t know her or how she looks or anything about her. I just know that she writes cheesy space poems."

OK Pal - M83: Every single musical element of this song is just perfect. I love the huge broad chords, the synth bends, the massive drums, the inverted Dead Flag Blues monologue. It's just beautiful.Little Secrets - Passion Pit: Passion Pit is currently on a 10th anniversary tour for Manners and I feel age 100 which is no good. But this song is good and it contains in my opinion one of the all time greatest drum fills after the first chorus. Huge, super air-drummable, and very functional: perfect.

Blood - City Calm Down: I think "I'm the one who wants your blood" is just such a great an evocative refrain and I wish he said it one million times more in this song.

Television - City Calm Down: Absolutely love the idea of writing a song about how bloody TV is the bloody opiate of the masses that sounds like a Clash cover in 2019 and sounding so deliberately out of the zeitgeist and doing it so well and with such conviction that it’s absolutely great.

I Am The Resurrection - The Stone Roses: We went to Andrew McLelland's Finishing School and he played this as his last song in honour of Easter Sunday and described it as the greatest piece of acoustic dance music he's ever heard which is honestly not a bad description - it's an absolute jam.

Daisy - Pond: It's very cool that there's like an evil, mirror version of Tame Impala that exists in Pond. I think every band should have that.

Crying Lighting - Arctic Monkeys: Basically the reason this song is on this list is because I got stuck in a loop of saying "your pastimes, consisted of the strange and twisted and deranged and I hate that little game you had called "crying lightning" in a Werner Herzog voice to myself and I thought it was funny.

Keeping Time - Angie McMahon: Angie McMahon is so damn good at songs and I cannot believe it! She's only got like 5 and they're all incredible. She’s gonna be huge!

The House That Heaven Built - Japandroids: Sterogum had a really good writeup the other day about Post-Nothing turning 10 years old that turned into a wrap up of why Japandroids are such a good band and why Celebration Rock is a perfect album and it really crystallized a lot of my feelings about them. They're number one on my list of Bands That Make You Want To Start A Band for a good reason and this article really nails the whole young men figuring it all out feeling of Japandroids' music. I really think both Japandroids albums should be called Youth And Young Manhood but Kings Of Leon already took that name. I remember when my friend first turned me on to Post-Nothing he said he didn't want to tell anyone else except me because it was so good and it was Best Friends Music and I really believe that. It’s best friends music through and through. When I saw them a couple of years ago it was as part of a sort of impromptu road trip with my best friend and I think that was the best context I could have given it. It's absolutely one of the best shows I've been to in my life and also Osher Gunsberg was in the crowd behind me but that's not part of the story. https://www.stereogum.com/2041439/japandroids-post-nothing-turns-10/franchises/the-anniversary/

Motor Runnin - Pist Idiots: The pub rock revival just keeps getting better and better. At the minute it's basically just Bad//Dreems, West Thebarton and these guys but I'm sure there's a million other bands bubbling under that are just about to break as well. I love this song, it's just straight up old fashioned pissed off rock and roll that somehow doesn't feel old fashioned at all.

Chains - As Cities Burn: As Cities Burn have reunited and have a new album coming out and I'm extremely wary of it because they're potentially ruining their previously discussed perfect streak. This is the first single and it's.. good I guess. It's kind of just normal and sort of outdated, a little bit of a step backward into safety for a band that was always changing and moving forward. I think I have a worm living in my brain though because I keep listening to it just because I really love the drum sound. They're very nicely mixed. Some very nice sounding drums.

Whacko Jacko Steals The Elephant Man's Bones - The Fall Of Troy: I was talking with some friends about young musicians because of Billie Eilish, and so we were talking about how Alanis Morrisette won a grammy when she was 21 and Taylor Swift won a grammy when she was 20 and Lorde made Royals when she was 17 and all that but what people don't realise is Thomas Erak wrote Doppelganger when he was 20 and it was his second album. He's 34 now and his music sucks badly. That's insane. What will happen to me when I'm 34? Chilling to think about. 

A New Uniform / Patagonia - Tera Melos: I think Patagonian Rats is still my favourite Tera Melos album. Toss up between that and Untitled actually. But I love this one for how cohesive it feels. For a band whose whole ethos is chaos it's amazing how well it all comes together as a complete work tied up with a bow by the Skin Surf reprise near the end. I love this song because it's two sketches of songs tied together into one little chaotic lump and the big Primary! Secondary! finale is just so satisfying.

Talking Heads - Black Midi: Black Midi finally have actually proper recorded songs on spotify! The way Black Midi is getting talked about at the moment really feels like the days of blog buzz are back, it's crazy. If you haven't seen it yet here's the KEXP session that's rightfully getting them so much attention https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMn1UuEIVvA I've watched it so many times and it's really something. The best part is the comments are full of music dudes just naming every band ever. "this sounds like if slint, polvo and hella did crack and had a gangbang" yuck "imagine them opening for Swans and/or Daughters" yuck "they're like if Minute Men and Frank Zappa had a baby and that baby dated the child of Talking Heads and Can but then got dumped for their best friend who was adopted and raised by their single parent Voivod but they were cool and stayed friends and listened to Tortoise and Thelonious Monk and got stoned and started a band and conquered the world." yuck "Slint meets Sonic youth meets Pere Ubu meets drive like jehu meets Beefheart...these guys took all that is deranged and twisted in rock and made one big soup of it!" yuck. Anyway the point is they rock completely and here's my addition to the band names: the way he sings sounds like Sting lol.

Walking On The Moon - The Police: This song makes you dumb I think. It's like the dumbest song in the world and listening to it makes your brain mushier, which makes you dumb and stupid. It's very good.

Rubber Bullies - Tropical Fuck Storm: I saw Tropical Fuck Storm opening for Kurt Vile the other day and it was absolutely incredible. My first time seeing them properly, not counting the live soundtrack they did for No Country For Old Men which was was a whole different kind of amazing. It feels like Gaz has finally put together a band that can keep up with is ferocious energy and the result is scary - they basically tore the place apart which makes them a funny opener for Kurt Vile who was as chilled out, relaxed and fun as you'd expect. They played this song near the end of their set and somehow I hadn't really noticed it when I listened to the album but now I can't stop listening to it. It's so good. I love the increasing paranoia of the backing vocals, especially in the last verse as it builds and builds.

Taman Shud - The Drones: This might be the best Drones song. It's a list that's constantly being revised in my head but it's top 5 definitely. It's nice listening to Feeling Kinda Free now knowing what he was going to do with Tropical Fuck Storm because it's all here. Fighting against the constraints of his regular sound and regular songwriting and eventually finding the solution in forming a whole new band. I love this song for a million reasons but the escalation of the disregard is very good. “I don't care about Andrew Bolt or Ned Kelly or the southern cross or the union jack” and you're nodding and then he says ‘I don't really care if you're a pedophile’ and you're nodding but slower. I get what he means in terms of media hype and whatever but it's still a very funny line. Anyway "why'd I give a rats about your tribal tats? You came here on a boat you fucking cunt" is grade A.

Dawn Patrol - Megadeth: The best thing about Megadeth is the sort of half baked politics. Dave Mustaine is the best kind of moron, he engages with everything at a gut level but believes he's being very cerebral about it at the same time. This little intro song about a nuclear post-apocalypse is so good because it's a legitimate warning and a response to legitimate worries but it's also like.. wouldn't that be sick if we had to wear gas masks and carry assault rifles around because all the nukes exploded and everyone was dead. What if there was zombies.

Rust In Peace... Polaris - Megadeth: The story behind Holy Wars... The Punishment Due is so good. "Mustaine has said that at a show in Antrim, Northern Ireland, he discovered bootlegged Megadeth T-shirts were on sale. He was dissuaded from taking action to have them removed on the basis that they were part of fund raising activities for "The Cause", explained as something to bring equality to Catholics and Protestants in the region. Liking how "The Cause" sounded as was explained to him, Mustaine dedicated a performance of "Anarchy In The UK" to it, causing the audience to riot. The band were forced to travel in a bulletproof bus after the show" I just love him. I'd like to share a Dave Mustain quotes about this song also. "I was driving home from Lake Elsanon. I was tailgating somebody, racing down the freeway, and I saw this bumper sticker on their car and it said, you know, this tongue in cheek stuff like, ‘One nuclear bomb could ruin your whole day,’ and then I looked on the other side and it said, ‘May all your nuclear weapons rust in peace,’ and I’m going, ‘'Rust in Peace.’ Damn, that’s a good title.‘ And I’m thinking like, 'What do they mean, rust in peace?’ I could just see it now – all these warheads sitting there, stockpiled somewhere like seal beach, you know, all covered with rust and stuff with kids out there spray-painting the stuff, you know." Goes ahead and writes a kick ass song from the perspective of a nuclear warhead containing the line "rotten egg air of death wrestles your nostrils".

Planet B - King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard: King Gizz are Megadeth now and I love it! The cold war is global warming now and we desperately need new thrash metal about it to save us!

Primodial Wound - Inter Arma: If you can't tell by me including three of their songs on this playlist I'm still having an absolute time with Inter Arma. Something I really love about this band is their ability to sit in a vibe for so long and expand on it. They're not songs with narrative arcs and multiple contrasting sections, they're songs that just kind of dig deeper on themselves. This one starts deep and then by thinning out entirely at around 6 minutes in only gets darker.

Howling Lands - Inter Arma: This song made me dream of a Dark Souls game where Inter Arma does the soundtrack. It's a peabrained thought but it's one that really got me thinking. This is boss music of the highest order: a song seemingly about itself and the hellbound denizens cursed to perform it in the arena of hell.

Sulphur English - Inter Arma: It's extremely funny to listen to this song a bunch of times and be completely blown away by the total power and ethereal majesty of it and then look up the lyrics to find out that it's about Trump in that very good way of putting normal thoughts through a metal lyrics filter "The charlatan sets his eyes towards the throne / tongue adrip in revolting ecstasy" "Sever the corrupt tongue of the imperious fool / silence the gangrenous root of his abhorrent voice"

Peepin' Tom - Courtney Barnett: When I saw Kurt Vile he brought out Courtney Barnett to play Over Everything as an encore and it was so good to see just how much a hometown crowd loves her. Everyone lost their shit! We love our good friend Courtney! I think I've written about this before but Peeping Tom is one of my favourite Kurt Vile songs and I think Courtney's version is even better. Her voice is perfect for it and she really has to show off her range to do it which I love. The super deep 'peeping' to the high cascading 'tom' is a perfect musical moment to me.​

listen here

[zukadiary]

Ocean’s 11 ~ Cosmos Troupe 2019

Ocean’s was great! I loved it so much! I thought the previous two versions were fine, but never cared for either enough to go back and watch them again. Turns out if you adore every single person in the troupe putting it on, the ensemble cast makes it a home run. 

If I remember correctly, there are some noticeable differences between the Hoshigumi and Hanagumi versions. This was a slightly tweaked and polished Hanagumi version. The show does a great job of featuring a lot of people; nearly everyone gets something fun to do (it’s consequently not the best taidan for Akkii or Riku, but if it wasn’t their last I’d really say it’s good for everybody). The scenes change quickly (and flow a lot better than I remember), so even if a given person’s appearances are short they’re typically fairly frequent. I’m not terribly pleased that the prolific use of projections seems to be a continuing theme in Takarazuka, but Ocean’s actually used them WELL, and with all the hacking/security/surveillance going on, and the flashing lights and artificiality of Las Vegas, it actually makes sense. 

There are three (3!) major ad lib scenes that are different every day, something I didn’t realize ahead of time having only seen the previous versions on DVD:

Tess walking in on Benedict and his lackeys trying to physically threaten the Evergreen people into handing over the rights to their non-profit and Benedict having to lie about what they were doing

Saul giving everyone a pre-caper “acting lesson” in which Susshii says something ridiculous and the rest of the eleven have to remember it and mimic her in unison

Rusty pretending to be “Dr. Johnson” to cart Saul off after the fake heart attack that serves as a distraction during the actual heist (for those who can read Japanese, one brave twitter user is keeping track of all the Dr. Johnson ad libs)

...and these made me really look forward to seeing the show again and again. I probably could have gone every day and been thoroughly entertained. 

Danny Ocean is the most boring vanilla blank canvas of a character and requires the actress playing him to really bring everything herself. Fortunately, Makaze and her devastatingly attractive body could have stood in the corner in those open-necked suits without saying a word for 3 hours and I’d still have given it a 10/10. On top of that though, I thought she played him perfectly. Her sort of low-key coolness that for me has come off a bit stiff at times with some of her other top star stuff was spot on for Danny, who I fully believed was chill, aloof, and sexy enough to both pull off such an impossible robbery without a moment’s anxiety, AND stalk the woman trying to divorce him such that she was not only NOT immediately put off completely but also ultimately able to fall back in love with him. In the dream sequence that opens Act 2, when Makaze changes from serpent to prince and leaves the bouquet of flowers on Tess’s bed for her to accept whenever she’s ready, my heart clenched so bad I accidentally groaned audibly the first time I saw it. She also sang the best I’ve ever heard her sing. 

Madoka is a beautiful Tess, and above all else I was THRILLED that they finally let her have such a grown up role and that she slayed it. I had absolutely no doubt that she’d slay it; she’s a fantastic actress who as far as I can tell is only battling her round little face and height difference with Makaze when it comes to getting mature roles. But they styled her flawlessly and her dresses were to die for and she looked so fantastic I hope all concerned parties got the hint that this is fine. I want to see the two of them do something sizzling hot together (although I have to admit, dude chasing after his wife who wants so badly to divorce him IS a fun dynamic that we never really get to see in Takarazuka, unless they’re doing Ocean’s).  

I love Kiki more and more every time I see her, and while it’s hard not to be annoyed that she’s not a top star already, I will be so furious if they take her away from Soragumi; I absolutely love what they bring out of her. I think she and Makaze have a great dynamic together, and she was both cool and funny enough to make Rusty very enjoyable to watch. There wasn’t a single Dr. Johnson scene I saw that didn’t have me laughing out loud and wishing I had another ticket. One day I sat in B-seki with a group of students on a class trip, and one of them gasped すごい when she finished her finale-opening solo. Here’s a funny story from Makaze’s ochakai that I read on twitter: there is a duet between Danny and Rusty during which Rusty lights a cigarette, and apparently Koike wanted to modernize Ocean’s by giving him an IQOS instead. Makaze convinced him that was the worst idea ever and wants all Kiki fans to thank her personally.

MVP: Zun as Benedict. I suspect her interpretation might be polarizing once the world at large gets to see Ocean’s, but I loooooved it. Once upon a time there was a Japanese meme going around about what kind of date various prominent otokoyaku would bring you on, and Zun was pegged as a young, sweet, filthy rich kid who would reserve the entirety of Disneyland and then take you there. Her Benedict was like the evil version of that. I appreciated so much that she went a different direction than Beni and Daimon and played him as just a rich sleazy horrible asshole without the over-the-top comical bits—and she was STILL very funny, just as the straight man to everyone else’s ridiculous antics. She was so dark, so angry, and had such a scary glint in her eyes for such a cute little muffin; so impressively gross it was weird to see her smiling genuinely in the finale. And she’s a DAMN GOOD STAGE KISSER, astonishingly so for someone who’s yet to have a romantic lead outside of shinko and Bow Hall. I very much enjoyed her team as well—mostly Mitsuki Haruka as Taylor, Aishiro Moa as Beth, and Hoshizuki Rio as Charles, keeping things funny and chaotic. Kihou Kanata/Manase Mira were even hilarious as the bodyguards (Wakato Ritsu was a fine Bruiser, but IMO it’s pretty hard to beat Taso... and I felt a gaping hole where Fuuma Kakeru should have been).

Seiko could have carried this show by herself. For whatever reason—and I rewatched the Hanagumi version recently—I didn’t think Queen Diana, outside of being sassy, was as good of a role as it was (does the DVD fail to show a lot of her antics? Maybe. Was I doing a lousy job paying attention? Possibly). But no, Seiko was all over it, convincingly the biggest force in Vegas (and this cast). I am going to miss her so so so much. Akkii and Riku ended up with the more senior but less meaty roles of Frank and Basher respectively. While Frank is on the quieter side during most of the scenes with all the 11 except for his opening solo and arrest, I personally, for probably biased reasons, really enjoyed watching Akkii and Sora in the background, where Frank is very frequently trying to coerce Linus into getting over himself and just doing the thing already. I don’t know if this has been especially tough on Riku, but her eye bags have eye bags :( As much as I’m going to miss her, I hope she gets through this and takes a nice long rest. The Soragumi landscape is going to be so weird and different without these three. They come down for the parade together with Seiko in the middle and I got choked up every single time. 

I’m thrilled that Sora got Linus mostly from a rank standpoint; they announced Ocean’s before Aichan’s transfer to Senka and I was positive she was going to be Livingston. The role itself kind of unfortunately emphasized how tiny and behind she is in this troupe, but at the same time she was SO grumpy and SO cute. I feel bad taking pleasure in her angst but boy was she cute. She talked about how interesting it was to play someone who was struggling to overcome his own roadblocks, both as the only upperclassman to ever play this role, and also having just turned ken-10, where otokoyaku are supposed to “come of age” so to speak. And the frustration and uncertainty she put into the role was extremely palpable. As I’m used to her being a disembodied arm or a blurry image over someone’s shoulder on most DVDs, I couldn’t be happier that she finally has a whole solid handful of her very own scenes that I might actually be able to see not only in the theater. She’s closer to the middle when the otokoyaku dance too, AND she moved up a parade spot. I most definitely teared up when she came down the stairs featured between Rara and Mineri.

Moeko was SO CUTE as Livingston, and the scene where Rusty busts into Livingston’s place pretending to be an FBI agent was one of my favorites, along with the one where Danny comes to get the Malloy brothers and they mess with his face on the security camera. I’m so enamored with both Kotti and Yuuki Shion (Yuuki Shion dangerously so, YIKES; she’s like the awkward baby Sora I fell in love with reincarnated, plus she can do Komu-esque things with her legs and jump so astonishingly high). I will forever be obsessed with Susshii and how much joy and passion she pours into playing even the most crotchety old men. I don’t know what it IS about Rinkira that screams old man to the producers (other than that maybe they just need someone to do it), but I even liked her as Reuben, and Akine Hikaru as Yen a surprising amount. I always thought of Yen as a scary role that you don’t want your girl to get stuck with, and for someone prominent I guess it would be a bummer, but I don’t think I’ve ever noticed Akine Hikaru do much of anything before, so I was mostly just wide eyed at how acrobatic and good with a yo-yo she is. 

The finale is REAL good; Makaze is hot and a little sweaty and her hair is styled to make her look even sweatier. The top-star-in-a-harem-of-musumeyaku number is done in one of my favorite aesthetics, where the musumeyaku let their hair down (literally) no matter how intricately they were styled up to that point, and you can see the creases from their former pins and braids and it’s a little messy and loose and sexy which are all things I wish they’d let musumeyaku be more often, and Makaze is in the middle just like doing illegal things with her mouth and all that jazz. The otokoyaku dance is good too, and the duet dance is cute as shit (there’s a part where Makaze like boops Madoka’s nose and then Madoka pushes her like ~stop that~ and ugh). 

And speaking of ugh, the end of Act 1 where all 11 of them turn around and saunter toward the back of their stage after formulating their flawless plan put my stomach in knots, both for the sheer swagger and the overflowing love I feel for this lineup of this troupe. I know I’ve been saying this for like two years and it STILL hasn’t happened on the scale I’ve been expecting, but I can feel the transfers coming and I’m scared. 

[spaceorphan18]

Make Mine Music

So, Disney put all of it’s Animated Feature Films on Disney+ except this one.  Why? I’m not entirely sure? The Google isn’t being much help.  Maybe it’s because the first short is questionable in taste? It was edited out of the rare DVD releases.  I expected something explicitly racist but nothing stands out as such.  My biggest guess is that they couldn’t secure the rights to some of the songs, which is usually the case.  Who knows.  I expect at some point it’ll make its way back into the Disney canon. 

Meanwhile, though, all is not lost - I could find all the shorts on YouTube and other such video platforms.  Yay?  

So here we go, a run down of shorts you’ve probably not ever heard of.  

The Martins and the Coys - 

So, we kick it off with the most controversial little short.  It’s inspired by the whole Hatfields and McCoys thing -- which makes me wonder who thought that was a good idea to adapt into a children’s cartoon.  The story revolves around a bunch of dumbass rednecks who proceed to shoot each other dead until there are only two left.  And.  I had to stop and think about it as I was watching it.  It’s a cartoon, so it’s not graphic, and the ghosts all end up on clouds.  But --- this cartoon, seriously, had all of these idiots shoot each other dead in the first minute of this cartoon.  It’s incredibly morbid, and not really funny as Disney’s trying to make it off to be.  

The real ‘story’ is about a girl and boy left over from each family (lord help me, idk who is who), and they decide to fall in love instead -- except it’s stupid and dumb.  There’s nothing sweet about it.  Then there’s a five minute sequence of square dancing at the wedding, and afterwards, the girl and boy go back home, and still fight out the feud, because domestic violence is fun in kids’ cartoons.  

The whole cartoon is in bad taste, and I can see why they’d want to leave it behind.  Also, as a side note, the newlywed couple drive off in a car.  Which drives me crazy because this is the mid-19th century and no.  

Blue Bayou -

This was, like, a deleted scene from Fantasia, which was originally supposed to be set to Clair de Lune.  It’s literally just two birds flying around a literal blue bayou.  It would have worked, I think with the original music.  Instead, it’s the Ken Darby Singers singing a horrible song called Blue Bayou.  The audio quality doesn’t help it any - it truly horrid thing to listen to for five minutes.  But at least the animation is pretty.  

All the Cats Join In - 

So, the teens of Everytown USA dance to Benny Goodman.  That’s pretty much it.  I side-eye the fact that there’s an extended sequence where the teenage girl is drawn getting into and out of the shower merely because it seems the animators wanted to draw a nude girl.  You can also see the panties of the girls dancing, and there’s extended sequence where one of the girls gets upset that the animator made her butt look big.  Whatever.  Kind of opposite of the previous piece, I preferred the music over what was going on on screen. 

I’m also disappointed there weren’t more cats in something that self-identified as a cari’cat’ture.  

Without You - 

Unfortunately, it’s still decades before U2, and we’re subjected to this not great, depressing jazzy/Latino song about some dude waxing poetic, literally, abut missing the girl he loves.   The art is half way interesting as it tries to mimic the nonsensical lyrics of the song.  But the music was just irritating.  Again, recordings from the 40s, in general, don’t hold up well, but I’m also not a fan of this style of music nor this musical interpretation.  Sorry, Andy Russell. I’m sure you were a fine musician in your day. 

Casey at the Bat - 

I thought I had seen this one before somewhere, but the more I watched it, the more I realized that maybe I was just familiar with the poem.  It’s by far the most cartoonish and aimed at five-year-olds than anything that’s come before it, and I’m a bit meh on it.  By far the most interesting thing is the 40s comedic interpretation of the 1890s. 

Two Silhouettes - 

It’s two ballerina dancers (one male, one female) dancing to the title song.  You can tell that they’re live action people rotoscoped (apparently that’s what this is called) into the animation.  I mean.  You can tell that they were super excited about the idea of it -- especially, probably, after what they were doing with The Three Caballeros.  But silhouettes don’t really fit in (especially to the eyes of someone who is used to seamless CGI), and there’s a lot going on in the background, and most of it is not aesthetically pleasing.  Especially the color palette, which is kind of a barrage of colors that don’t look great together.  But mostly, this segment is just boring. 

Peter and the Wolf - 

This one I know I’ve seen before - most likely because it’s set to Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, and I’m sure I watched in college to see how someone animated a short based on the narration of the music.  It’s the most straightforward cartoon so far, and turned way down compared to Casey at the Bat, which is a good thing.  It’s fine, it works.  Can’t say it was the most compelling thing, but it’s better than most everything else so far. 

After You've Gone - 

Another Benny Goodman piece.  I like Benny Goodman, so the music is at least enjoyable, and I’ll take the energetic pieces over the dreadfully boring ballads we keep getting.  The animation is the jazz instruments doing abstract things.  It’s fine.  The instruments on screen are reflecting what the music is doing in that moment, and while that should sound like an interesting idea, it’s really not that interesting on screen.  

Johnny Fedora and Alice Blue Bonnet - 

A fedora and a bonnet fall in love, and when they’re separated, the fedora has pines for his lost love until they reunite as hats for horses.  Thrilling, right? 

It does include the line: make your heart gay again.  And now I’m sad this isn’t about the fedora finding another fedora he can be life mates with. 

The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met -

Well, I mean, ending on opera feels poetic if nothing else.  There’s a whale who sings, and a dude who thinks he’s swallowed opera singers instead of just being a whale who sings, because that is clearly more logical.  We get a montage of what looks like a meteoric rise to fame, only to find out that tragically the whale is harpooned instead of made famous.  I feel like there’s a metaphor in there somewhere.  While perhaps the most complex and compelling of all the shorts, I’m meh about opera, so I suppose I can just appreciate this for at least being innovated at the least. 

Final Thoughts: I don’t really understand who the intended audience for these shorts are.  Some are too silly for adults, while others are too drab and boring for kids (and lets face it - audiences who aren’t adults in the 40s).  

It felt more like the animators, who were scrapped for time because war, just threw things together that they were thought were interesting ideas, and nothing got really developed.  I’m also beginning to fully be fascinated by Disney’s obsession with the idea of parring music with visuals -- a theme in all of his films so far.  

I’m not sure any of this is outstanding work outside of mere curiosity from never having seen it before.   At least this calmer and, in a way, more enjoyable to sit through than the pummeling of whatever was on the screen during The Three Caballeros.  

[engekihaikyuu]

Hyper Projection Engeki Haikyuu - Summer of Evolution

Final show curtain call!!!

Full description under the Read More~

So first off, this is the messiest curtain call I’ve ever seen.  And if y’all thought Datekou was clumsy, wait until I go on about Fukurodani.  

In order we start with Shimada Mart, Saeko, and Akiteru.  All three of them had fairly standard thank you messages, no misses or fumbles, and then we move on to Fukurodani.  A few of them stumbled over their words a little (Macha seemed quite nervous during his message), but mostly they got through them without incident.  

When Kousei took his turn, he said that he thought hard about what would be a good thing to say for the last show.  In disbelief that there are no more shows, he asked the audience what he might think of first thing tomorrow morning.  Nobody could answer really, Ukai shouted, “What is this, a Q&A?!” and then Kousei answered: Bokuto-san.  And that earned him quite a few squeals from the audience and even Kouki seemed a bit embarrassed/surprised. 

Kouki’s message was fairly standard but he did reference the little fumble during their closing sequence with bows (Noah ran into Kouki and they went tumbling down to the floor and messed up his bow and Kouki’s).  Of all the shows to mess that up, it happened on the last one!  

He also tried to get the audience to do a thing with him but he was really clumsy about it.  First he said, “When I say, hey hey hey, you say hey,” and then everyone was like, “Wait, they only say it once?  Shouldn’t it be three times?”  So then he tried to switch it so we’d join in on the last ‘hey’ of the ‘hey hey hey’ but then they weren’t sure about cueing that so then it FINALLY became, “I’ll say, yeah, I’m definitely the best!  And you guys say hey hey hey!” So we got to shout HEY HEY HEYYY at Bokuto~

This is where Fukurodani turns into a bit of a mess.  Standard procedure is always that the captain of the team will go last to say, “Thank you for supporting X School!”  But Kouki forgot and just kind of went, “That’s all, thank you very much!” And then all of Fukurodani bowed.

Kenta then pointed out that they need to say their school name and do it again.  But instead of just Kouki saying it, they all started saying it, and so Kenta yelled at them again like, “Just the captain!!”  Like he couldn’t believe how many times he had to explain it and a good chunk of the rest of the cast are on the floor laughing.  

FINALLY they got it right and we moved on to Nekoma curtain calls.  

Noah went first and opened with English!  He started to say, “Thank you everyone for coming--” and then everyone cut him off because they were confused, surprised, laughing... the audience cheered pretty loudly though, and several members shouted at him, saying, “Wrong country!!!”  

Hayate did his Fukunaga bit and remained silent until Bishin whacked him and yelled at him, “Just talk already!  You can talk now, the show’s over!!”  

Naoki fumbled his name a little bit and attempted to do his message twice and everyone yelled and cut him off lol.  

Shouri did a fairly standard message until the very end where he did his dramatic, wide arm gestures and laid a hand over his heart to say, “I love you guys” in his most seductive voice and pose.  That got him a lot of screams.  

As the audience kept cheering for him, Takato quipped in making fun of Shouri for always doing the “got my eye on you” hand gesture at the weirdest times (like when the audience was clapping).  Takato did his message and then said that Nekoma wanted to do something extra, and so the audience got to do the Nekoma chant with the team.  I did my best to yell as loud as I could with my sore throat lol.  

Then we moved on to Yachi and Shizune who both gave fairly standard messages, with Shizune mentioning that she was very happy her first stage play could be Haikyuu (and many of the actors were surprised to hear it was her first).  

Takeda and Ukai both also gave their standard messages, with Tsuyoshi-san joking that he, like Ukai, would love to have a girlfriend.  He also gave his introduction as “Playing Ukai Keishin, and Ukai Ikkei, I’m Hayashi Tsuyoshi.”  

As we got to Justin, Hiroki immediately started shrinking away to the back of the stage because he knows Justin is going to scream his name, and of course Justin did.  He screamed, “SUGAAAAAA!!!” and then told him to do another comedian impersonation for later.  Hiroki screamed, “NOOOOOOOOO!!!” and ran off the stage with everyone going, “Get back here!!”  So, standard for those two really.  And Hiroki of course asked the audience to scream, “Daisukiiii” for when he says his name.  In Ken-chan’s message, he asked if he could have the audience cheer after he gathers everyone and yells, Karasuno Fight!!  So we cheered for Karasuno at the end of Ken-chan’s message, and Kazuma stepped forward to ask us to keep clapping and then did his usual, “One, two!!”  and we clapped in rhythm and he did that weird Egyptian pose as usual lol.  

He gave a very loud, energetic pass to Fucchi, who was extremely energetic for his curtain call message and (surprisingly) called out to Hashimoto Shouhei; He said, “To me, there are two Noyas.”  And he thanked everyone and passed it to Kouhei with the standard Tananoya SOI SOI SOI sequence that we love.  

Kouhei did his usual and asked us to scream TANAKA-SENPAI and he got really happy about that and closed with a joke before passing it on to Yamaguchi very enthusiastically.

AND THEN OH MY GODDDDDDDDDD.  Kairi and Ryoutarou very clearly rehearsed this long, elaborate sequence for their curtain call.  I mean, I think it went on for like a full minute, of the two of them interchanging lines, doing these synchronized semi-dance movements, and... it was just so coordinated and lengthy, and then they said their names together and bowed and then passed it to Kageyama.  It was so complicated and long and the audience wasn’t expecting it so the clapping never died down really and it was hard for me to hear everything; but it was very themed for the two of them as they described their characters and scenes in this fun little rhyme/chant thing... THEY PUT IN SO MUCH EFFORT AND IT WAS SO CUUUTE?!?!?

Kageyama’s initial curtain call was very SHORT.  He was very brief, and passed it on to Kenta so quickly it took him by surprise, and he asked more than once if Kageyama maybe wanted to say something else lol.

Kenta’s message was as always; longer, very professional.  He also announced that because of the typhoon, many live-viewing theaters experienced interruptions in their live-viewing broadcast feed and he apologized for that.   

As they left the stage, Suga jumped onto Tsukki’s back and got a piggyback off the stage in one exit, and in another, the three third-years put their arms around each other and shuffled awkwardly off-stage together.  In one of the bows, the closing music didn’t start like it was supposed to, and Shouri almost left before he was supposed to.  And so they had to repeat that ‘thank you’ and bow again and the second time the music cue was on.  It’s very possible this bit will be spliced quite a bit for the DVD since technical difficulties were evident with the typhoon.  

After the second encore, Kenta did pull Kage-chan to center stage for him to take his bow there, and Kage-chan seemed very touched and very happy to be given that honor.  He threw both hands in the air before taking his bow.  

We of course clapped until Kenta and Kage-chan came out a third time.  Their dynamic during their curtain call was very cute and felt like a two-man comedy bit in a lot of places.  They kept trying to one-up each other with the weather references, and they each got a good punchline in that we cheered for.  When Kage-chan got a good one in and tried to bow, Kenta shoved him away and stole his moment.  At the beginning though, Kenta pulled Kage-chan to the center of the stage and told him to run the show for a bit and then he sat down off to the side and said, “I’m just gonna rest,” so Kage-chan got to talk a little more.  He was very nervous when he was alone addressing the audience, and tended to loosen up and do better when he could talk with Kenta at us.  But he was very smiley and very cute and he has the DORKIEST laugh.  It’s like this awkward, semi-nasally HU HU HU  It’s VERY cute.

And then final bows and Kenta yelled at us to go home safely and ran off and that was the end.