#interestingly a few lines from the trailers were moved around or cut | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

shining-magically · 4 years ago

Note

so I’ve wondered this since the trailer came out years and years ago and Chloe defended the movie - was the red shoes teaser written by the same team that made the movie? were they forced to market it like that, was that based on an earlier draft, etc?? not sure if you know but you seem like the leading expert!

Sorry, this is gonna be an absolute novel because you know I’m an animation fan and the history and production of Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs is SO interesting and insane. Like, Tangled levels of insane. Thanks for calling me an expert, no one else was gonna do it so I just kind of took up the helm lol.

Here’s the low-down... The timeline of the movie’s production is an absolute mess and kind of an extremely wild ride. It was in production for ten years, went through a lot of different crew members, and went through at least two other major versions of the story before landing on the final version.

Since there’s not a ton of info on the movie’s production, a lot of this is pieced together from different interviews and context clues, and also a lot of what I’ve read and what I am quoting has been translated from Korean, sometimes pretty roughly. But yeah.

Here’s the story of why the Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs teasers and poster were so, so bad and fatshame-y and the actual movie was so, so good and body-positive. (With pictures and production artwork!)

(This is a beast of a post so I’m putting it under a cut.)

All right, so. After its conception originally as a short story by the South Korean studio Locus Creative in 2009-2010-ish, Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs was being worked on and was set to come out in Summer 2017, as evidenced by this poster at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, featuring a different logo and very different character designs for most of the dwarfs.

In early-mid 2016, the first teaser (in which we see Snow White undress and then two dwarfs recoil in horror at her fatness when she takes her magic shoes off) was released, after the film had kind of been slowly chugging along for 6 or so years. (I am having such trouble pinpointing when the second teaser was released (in which one of the dwarfs basically attacks Snow while she is sleeping to steal her shoes), but I believe it was around the same time.) The teasers didn’t get that much traction because this was a small film from a small indie studio in South Korea.

None of the final actors had been cast yet. At this point in the production, the story was different, one of the many versions that the movie went through. As in the final movie, the dwarfs were actually cursed knights/princes and Snow White switched back and forth between two body types due to her magic shoes, but in this version, the dwarfs needed to steal the shoes from her in order to break their curse (rather than needing “a kiss from the most beautiful woman in the world” like in the final movie).

The weird thing is, I believe they had JUST changed the movie’s story when the teaser came out. I’m almost positive it was released more as a proof of concept than as an actual trailer for the movie. They had just recently combined two separate characters (seen above), a typical pretty, skinny princess character (Snow White) and a cute chubby girl character (’Bonnie’), into one single character that switches back and forth between the two appearances when she wears the magic shoes (also they had just dropped literally half of the movie taking place in the real world, with a magic mirror portal, it was a whole thing).

They didn’t have the details of this aspect of the new story hammered out yet, and the first pass at presenting Snow’s magically changing body type, was, yeah, not good and super offensive. This was a really inexperienced indie studio making their first film on a low budget, so even the animation and voice acting wasn’t great. I think they just wanted to get SOMETHING out there because it had been 6 years and they wanted to have something to show for it.

But here’s the thing. Despite how the teasers make it seem, this was always supposed to be a movie about body positivity, letting go of appearance-based prejudices, and loving yourself and others for who you are and for who they are, which we see in the final film.

I like to think of our film as a kindhearted one. Our intentions are nice.

- Director Sung-ho Hong

It’s important to keep in mind that this movie was made in South Korea by a 99% Korean crew, and, as I understand it anyway, in Korean culture, ‘fatshaming’ is not really a thing that is seen as overtly offensive. Also, children’s media there seems to have more adult things in it than in the US, which probably accounts for the more risque parts of the teasers. That said, I really believe that at this point in the timeline, the movie was on-track to be bad (or at least not very good) when it was released, and it would have ended up bad IF a few key players hadn’t signed on (which I’ll get to in a moment).

Interestingly, the movie’s producer, Sujin Hwang, said in a 2017 interview:

“[Both teasers] were solely produced to induce curiosity. They’re completely irrelevant to the actual story.”

- Producer Sujin Hwang

I think what she was trying to convey was that neither one is a scene in the actual movie, because while the teasers didn’t reflect the revamped story as it existed in summer 2017 (the time of the interview), they DID reflect the earlier version of the story where the dwarfs wanted her shoes, which is what the story was at the time they were made.

Now that we’re in post-teaser 2016, HERE’S where things start to turn around. After the teasers were released, my guy Disney veteran and native Korean Jin Kim joined the project. He and Red Shoes director Sung-ho Hong had been buddies for about eight years and Sung-ho had been trying to get Jin to come to Seoul and work with him at Locus for a long time, and he finally succeeded.

Jin and his twenty years of Disney experience as an animator and senior designer on films like Tangled, Frozen, Big Hero 6, Zootopia, and Moana, had a HUGE HUGE HUGE influence on the movie. He redesigned almost all the characters, oversaw all the visual development from the moment he signed on, and heavily (HEAVILY) supervised the animation, literally going frame-by-frame through preliminary animations and drawing over them, teaching the inexperienced animators at Locus everything he knew. (Literally almost everyone except him either only had TV experience or had no professional experience because they just gotten out of school.)

From an outsider’s perspective, it really seems as though Jin joining the project (and his gargantuan effort) made the quality SKYROCKET. Not just in character design and animation, but also in things like effects animation, story, etc. After he joined, Locus really started pushing HARD to make a good, high-quality movie, and his influence and experience from being a prominent figure at Disney was absolutely key. The studio also began to really study Disney films and other well-made animated films from other studios to really try and pinpoint what the DNA of a good animated movie really is.

I don’t have any solid evidence, but I’m pretty sure that Tony Bancroft (an animator and the co-director of Mulan) then joined the project because he’s good friends with Jin Kim. He is only credited as the voice director (the movie was recorded in English and the characters were animated to the English dialogue), but I am SURE that he probably also had a pretty big influence on the movie, because like... How could he not? I really really think there was more to his role than his title would have you believe, even though there’s almost no info out there about it.

So now the movie goes through a gigantic metamorphosis. Character designs, visual development, and animation quality are all rapidly improving, the story is tightening, and the themes of the movie (which, again, were always the same and intended to be positive) are being presented in a more sincere way. The movie is becoming the sweet, self-love-encouraging and body-positive movie that was eventually released.

I’m putting a gif from the credits of the final movie here. As we move into 2017, when the giant eruption of backlash occurred, please keep in mind that the story was finalized at this point and that THIS was the movie people were so mad about:

Chloe Grace Moretz accepted the role of Snow White immediately after she read the script and she recorded her lines (I think) in early-ish 2017. Her co-star Sam Claflin also immediately accepted the role of the romantic interest, Merlin, after reading the script and recorded his lines in (I believe) July 2017.

In the summer of 2017, the story and script were more or less the same as in the final movie. Promotional images from that time show that most of dwarfs had been completely redesigned by this point and didn’t have their teaser designs anymore.

They also released a few screenshots that look exactly like the final film. The movie was advertised as coming out in ‘2018′ at this point. Here’s a promo image from 2017 that is MUCH more tactfully worded than the infamous Cannes poster:

So now we’re in summer 2017. The Cannes Film Festival. The movie’s script and story have been basically nailed down, animation is underway, and the Korean film company Finecut is beginning to market and sell the movie to worldwide audiences. They are planning on showing some footage to potential buyers at the festival, and they make a poster to advertise the film there.

Unfortunately, it’s THIS POSTER:

Now here’s where there are some unknowns. By this point, the movie is basically in its final form, which is an adorable, body-positive story about loving people for who they are, loving yourself for who YOU are, and that provides commentary on society’s standards of beauty and how they affect how people are treated/viewed. So why this poster??? All I can really tell is that someone (I think Finecut) really, REALLY messed up and either horribly mistranslated the tagline, or didn’t do enough research to know that this kind of thing is REALLY NOT OKAY in western culture.

The above picture is shared and the internet backlash begins, fueled by tweets from prominent body-positivity activists like Tess Holliday. Even Chloe Grace Moretz speaks out against it, because she of all people KNOWS that that’s not what the movie is about. The internet then finds the old teasers from before the movie was revamped and it makes things worse. Producer Sujin Hwang profusely apologizes and says that that is NOT the message of the movie. Locus pulls the advertising campaign, and takes down the two old teasers.

“Our film, a family comedy, carries a message designed to challenge social prejudices related to standards of physical beauty in society by emphasizing the importance of inner beauty.”

- Producer Sujin Hwang

Voice director Tony Bancroft also tried to explain the situation:

“The truth is the film has a body-positive message as its core theme–it’s the opposite of what reports are saying. The problem is one poorly translated movie poster that has been taken dramatically out of context.”

- Voice Director Tony Bancroft

And then... There was nothing for a while. The movie didn’t come out in 2018 and was delayed. From what I can tell, I DON’T believe this delay was related to the Cannes backlash. I think it was mostly due to Locus’s limited budget and resources, because as we know, animation is difficult, time-consuming, expensive, and easy to do badly but hard to do well. Also, probably with Jin Kim and Tony Bancroft’s influence, they REALLY wanted to make sure to do a good job with the animation because they now had a great story and they really wanted the movie to be a quality, worldwide hit that would kind of put South Korean feature animation on the map. Just take a look at how nice the final animation was:

The movie was released in South Korea on July 25th, 2019. Unfortunately, the damage was done in the English-speaking markets and it was not released to an English-speaking audience until June 22, 2020, when it was released digitally in the UK. At the time of this post, there is no set US release date, but the distribution rights were recently bought by Lionsgate and the MPAA gave the film an official PG rating.

So who’s to blame? There’s no good answer. You could blame Locus for making those old teasers. You could blame Finecut for the competely tonedeaf Cannes poster. You could even blame cancel culture for raging against the movie based on one poster and two old teaser trailers without researching what the movie was actually about.

All I know is, it’s a damn shame.

#mooncactus #red shoes and the seven dwarfs #red shoes and the 7 dwarfs #animation #animation production #animation history #red shoes movie #redshoes #jin kim #tony bancroft

4K notes · View notes

where-theres-smoak-2 · 4 years ago

Text

Riverdale 5X01 Review

Hey we are back! It’s been a while since we’ve had a Riverdale episode so it was great to see the show back. Obviously this episode was a continuation of the end of season 4 that got cut short so it didn’t really feel like a premiere which was a little odd but couldn’t be helped. To be honest while I did think this was a good episode for me I felt like it could have been better. I just wasn’t completely satisfied I kept wanting more and it was a little frustrating because it was always so close but just didn’t quite hit the mark for me. That being said there were still some really great moments in this episode and some good storylines. There is definitely plenty to unpack so lets dive in, as always there are spoilers, also these are just my own opinions and thoughts totally fine if you disagree.

As always I am going to break the review down into the different plotlines, and I’ll give you my thoughts and theories on them, I am going to start with the video tapes and the voyeur storyline.

The Voyeur and Blue Velvet.

So we open exactly where we left off with Betty and Jughead in the cabin only now the FBI are there and I get to see my boy Charles which made me happy. During the scene we learn a couple of things, first Mr Honey was not the one killed in the video, which begs the question of who was? The second is that Jughead raises the possibilty that he has been hacked which could lend some evidence to the theory going around that the Stonies still have access to Jughead’s old laptop and were somehow able to get access to his new laptop through it. The third is that the owner of Blue Velvet video store is selling tickets to view the tapes. Jughead believes that whilst he probably isn’t the voyeur he is involved and is profitting off of the tapes. Only the owner isn’t talking so Betty and Jughead have to look elsewhere for clues. I do want to just say real quick though that I did not understand the scene between Betty and Miss Bell. Like I didn’t understand why she went to Miss Bell for answers? Especially as Miss Bell didn’t even give her any useful information. Unless it was just there as a way to reintroduce Mr Weatherby back into the show which I must say it was good to see him again but his line about how he makes it through most nights without waking up screaming was actually kind of sad just because it shows how traumatised the people of the town really are. We have gotten quite a few lines like this now that really do show how much of an effect all the murders and everything have had on the townspeople of Riverdale. I mean you had Kevin’s line about being numb but screaming inside, also kevin and fangs talking about who they could be outside of riverdale and Ethel saying she just wanted to make it out of riverdale in one piece, the writers have done a good job of weaving those comments throughout well what would have been the whole season.

Next Betty and Jughead go to see Brett and with a little bit of sweet talk and a sprinkling of the threat of violence on top they are able to to get some info out of him. They learn that David (the Blue Velvet guy) does these redband viewings and the only way to get access to them is to either be on a list or to take a snuff film to David. What I found interesting about this scene is that it seemed to me like Brett was playing them a bit, I just get the feeling he’s got some ulterior motive. For example when he asks what the investigation is to me it looked like he was trying to stay casual and I think he already knew that’s what they were looking into. When they confirm it he gets this kind of smirk on his face like he’s happy that they are investigating it. I do think he knows alot more than he is letting on and I wouldn’t be surprised to find out he is manipulating them.

So Betty and Jughead decide to take Brett’s advice and make a snuff film with help from Cheryl and Reggie. Interestingly this snuff film actually doesn’t end up contributing to much in this episode because the moment they show it to David he can tell it’s a fake. Which makes me think why would the writers bother having it in there, why not just have Betty say to Jughead oh we can give him that tape of my dad? Well I do have a theory on that as I think the fake snuff film with Cheryl is going to come into play later. Remember in the season 5 trailer there’s a shot of cheryl’s dress covered in blood.

It’s the same dress Cheryl wears in the snuff film and to me it looks like the same location of the snuff film and it also looks like its the same chair. Also the way its hung up like that makes this feel like a threat of some kind. I think that the voyeur is going to try and frame Cheryl for a crime of some kind and that she’ll go to prison I mean that is also the same location where her uncle was killed so it might link back to that somehow. This could explain why Toni is pregnant and living with Kangs after the time jump.

After taking the tape of her dad to David, Betty is able to get access to the underground viewings. After letting Jughead in through the back door they start exploring the place. In each room there is a different video playing. Now anyone who has read any of my season 4 Riverdale posts knows that my theory on the Voyeur is that its actually a ring lead by Donna and is made up of the stonies, the farmies, terry and his tickle gang and Mr honey and the Blue Velvet guy. Well the videos that are being shown could be used to support my theory. The first video we get shown is one of the s*x tapes that the Stonies recorded and that Brett sold to the Blue velvet store. The second video we get shown is a tickle video. That links in both the Stonies and Terry. We then see a video of a group of people beating up someone tied to a tree and then the Black Hood video before they find the voyeur’s tapes. The first voyeur tape we get shown in the one where they are killing my honey. But what about the farmies. Whilst there isn’t any video linked to them I do think we have a clue that would point to them. Remember earlier when I said I didn’t understand the scene between Miss Bell and Betty because we didn’t get any information from it. Well I do think it was used to remind us about the farmies through Mr Weatherby. Which means throughout the voyeur plotline we’ve been reminded of the stonies, the farmies, the tickle ring and mr honey and I don’t think that’s a coincidence it does seem to me that they want us to connect these groups with the voyeur.

Ok moving on. Whilst exploring the screening they spot a guy in an owl mask who appears to be filiming the people at the screening. Obviously Betty and Jughead believe that this is the voyeur. However when they try to go after them they run into Jellybean and the person gets away. We learn from Jellybean that she heard about the party from her friend’s brother who is on an email list. However I don’t think it was an accident that Jellybean was at the party, we know from the season 5 trailer that at some point someone is going to sneak into the Jones/ Cooper household and threaten Jellybean with a knife. I think that the voyeur deliberately lured Jellybean there as a warning or threat to Jughead. I do think this will explain why FP will leave the show as well I think the knife video coupled with this instance will cause FP to make the decision to take Jellybean out of Riverdale to keep her safe.

Later whilst at prom the voyeur releases a video showing images of the gang dancing then stabbing a guy in the same owl mask as earlier in the episode and who is wearing a name tag that says David. This scene though is really really wierd and at first I was really confused by it because whilst the video is playing a group of students come onto the dance floor and start dancing like they are at a rave and I kept thinking why the hell are they dancing? Well later it then hit me, hypnosis. The video starts out showing images of people dancing at the screening/ rave before it shows the images of the gang murdering someone. I think all of the people who go to the dance floor and start dancing like that have been to one of those screenings and were hypnotised to respond that way, either when the lights go out or by the song that comes on or even a bit of both because the moment the song is stopped and betty turns the lights back on all the people who were dancing stop and look around confused like they are not sure how they got there. Also the fact that jughead is the one that goes to the computer to turn off the video makes me think that maybe that was his laptop and that it really is being hacked by someone, most likely the stonies.

Ok now we are going to get to the first thing that annoyed me about this episode and it is something I have spoken about before. After turning off the video Betty and Jughead run out of the prom to go investigate. But the thing is they don’t even stop to tell Archie and Veronica what’s going on. I’ve said time and time again that one of the problems with the show is that the characters are too segregated, you always have the same characters interacting with each other and only each other. None suffer more from this than the core four. I mean that video wasn’t just about Jughead and Betty, it involved the whole gang and yet neither of them bother to stop and explain what’s going on to everyone else, like it would have been so easy to write a quick conversation in where the rest of them follow Betty and Jughead out and ask questions, they could have been given a quick explaination and then told them that they would explain more later. But we got nothing. I think the thing that frustrates me more is that Archie had that speech earlier in the episode about how prom was the final dance they were going to have together and so they couldn’t miss it but then other than a like 2 second clip of them making a toast we don’t see them interact with each other at all. Even crazier than that I don’t think the core four communicated with each other outside of their couples at all this episode which considering prom is suppose to be this big milestone to celebrate with your friends its a bit ridiculous to me that the core four don’t have any conversations. The only other scene outside of prom where all four of them are together is at the speakeasy and they don’t actually talk to each other they are just there together so I wouldn’t really call it them interacting. I know I sound like I’m ranting and well I am but as I’ve said before I am soo tired of this dynamic they’ve got going. There is only so many times a person can watch Bughead investigate a mystery, or Varchie have s*x and fight with her parents over and over before they get bored. It makes me miss season 1 when everyone was involved in the investigation and everyone communicated with each other about the things they had found out. But I think the best evidence that the core four don’t interact enough outside of their couples comes from KJ Apa’s interview where he says.

“It’s really funny because I’ve been so used to shooting scenes with Cami and I’ve mainly been with Cami on set, so it’s funny when the roles start reversing,” Apa explained. “And it’s interesting because it’s like ‘Oh this is what it’s like to work with Lili every day! You know? It’s a completely different vibe, it’s amazing and it’s fun because it’s different.”

The fact that he isn’t used to working with Lili everyday speaks volumes. Like think about it for a second these two are suppose to be best friends on the show and yet the actors don’t usually work together and aren’t use to working together that’s crazy to me. Though I will admit that I am excited that that seems to be changing and we might be seeing some new dynamics. However I hope they don’t fall into the same pattern again but just with new couples. Like I am a Barchie shipper and I would love to see loads of scenes of them together but I don’t want to only see them interacting with each other I want to see Betty interact with Veronica, and Archie with Jughead and Jughead with Veronica and Veronica with Archie and Betty with Jughead, I want those friendship bonds as much as those shipper moments. I love seeing my ships interact but it needs to be balanced.

Ok so after that rant lets move onto the next plotline.

Varchie and The Song.

This was actually my favourite plotline of the episode just because of Camilla and KJ’s performances they did such a good job and honestly the storyline was so heartbreaking. The storyline is kicked off with Veronica finding the song Archie wrote for Betty. She obviously thinks its about her and asks him to play it for her. You see that he is trying to shrug it off as being nothing. But the part that hit me in the heart was when she said she liked the idea of him getting back into music. To me this is so heartbreaking because it was Betty that got him playing music again, it was Betty who inspired him again. Veronica is so happy for him yet she has no idea that its because of her boyfriend’s strong feelings for her best friend that he was able to write songs again. Also you can see that this is hurting Archie too. I feel like Archie gets alot of stick and judgement for the whole cheating thing, way more than Betty because people think he doesn’t care about Veronica but thats just not true and I think this episode really showed that. I mean he was wrong for cheating obviously but at the same time he can’t help his feelings, you don’t choose who you fall for or even when you fall for them. Betty and Archie’s mistake wasn’t that they developed feelings for each other that was beyond their control, it was that they weren’t honest about it and as a result let those feelings lead them to cheating, their second mistake was not telling their significant others right away and lying to them again. Archie in this episode is very much being confronted with the consequences of that and he is clearly hurting because he knows he is hurting/ going to hurt Veronica.You can see Archie also still has a lot of pain from Betty rejecting him on top of his feelings of guilt and is trying to forget and push it out of mind. He becomes obsessed with getting into the Naval academy because he is trying to run away from the situation and sees the Naval Academy as a way out. He tells Veronica that the song stinks and throws it in the trash hoping that it’ll take his feelings with it. To be honest this whole scene where they are talking about the song made me feel so uncomfortable, as it was suppose to, because you just know what’s coming and seeing Veronica so blissfully ignorant to it is just heart wrenching.

We find out that Archie has some competition for the position at the Naval Academy and that competition is KO Kelly from Katy Keene. Veronica proposes a boxing match to help decide who will get the position. I will admit I quite liked Archie and KO’s scenes together. They were quite short but I do think it helped show alot of how Archie was feeling and just how conflicted he is and how much he just wants to escape it all. I mean their conversation when KO asked Archie why he was interested in the Naval Academy was so telling. Archie basically tells us that he wants to start over completely he wants to leave Riverdale behind. His use of the word completely is again really showing his mentality at the moment because KO has to point out oh it won’t be completely because you’ll have Veronica and you guys are going to last. This happens twice in the episode where someone makes a comment suggesting that Archie and Veronica are endgame and both times you can see that Archie is uncomfortable with it and just sad, he just looked so sad this episode. I think deep down Archie knows that his and Veronica’s relationship is ending and he is struggling with that because he does care about her and he does love her, the last thing he wants to do is hurt her but at the same time I really do think he has fallen out of love with her and now he has these deep feelings for Betty but because he loves and cares for Betty as well he wants her to be happy and he believes that she has no feelings for him. Plus he doesn’t want to hurt Jughead either because he cares about him too. As a result I think he’s feeling very overwhelmed and stuck right now like he’s backed into a corner because no matter what he does someone is getting hurt. Knowing Archie he also is probably putting all the blame on himself and has just decided that everyone will be better off with him gone, but on the flip side of that he is also probably afraid of being left alone, he says to KO that all his friends are going to college and he missed the boat on that so he could feel like he is going to be left behind. Basically Archie’s having alot of feels right now and it’s kind of tearing him apart.

But another one of my favourite moments between Archie and KO is KO’s reaction to finding out that Veronica has a speakeasy. Which leads into the scene that made me so so uncomfortable. Look I had guessed that Veronica was likely to find the song, I even put it in one of my theory posts I even predicted that maybe Archie would end up having to sing the song and Veronica would figure out it wasn’t about her. But what I never would have predicted in a million years is that Veronica would be the one to sing the song, so well done Riverdale you got me there. Honestly Veronica being the one to sing the song made it a thousand times worse, I mean the secondhand embarassment was real. Just the whole time I wanted to look away but couldn’t. However I do want to talk about Archie and Betty’s reactions really quick.

The really interesting thing about this scene to me is that they actually don’t show us Betty and Archie’s reactions straight away. First they show us KO’s reaction who smiles clearly recognising that this is a love song, I mean he doesn’t know what’s going on, all he knows is from Katy who has told him Archie and Veronica love each other, he’s likely listening to this song and just thinking oh Katy was right they really love each other. The next reaction they show us is Jughead’s and to be honest he doesn’t really react much and I think this is suppose to show that just like Veronica he is very much in the dark and has no idea of the storm heading his way. It is only after being shown their reactions that we are shown Archie’s reaction and you can see that he is hurting, he remembers back to when he tried to play it for Betty. We also get to see Betty’s reaction and obviously she is shocked but she also looks really sad. I think she has been trying really hard to ignore her feelings for Archie and so this is a reminder that she wasn’t expecting and it probably pulls those feelings up again. What is interesting to me is that Betty is the first one to look over to Archie not only that but she maintains her gaze on him she doesn’t look away, Archie however when he does look over to her immediately looks away again when he sees that she is looking, she carries on looking at him for a few moments before also finally breaking her gaze away. It seems like Archie can’t maintain eye contact with her and I do think that is because of how much he is hurting. I do feel like in this moment he was more caught up in his pain at Betty’s rejection kind of like in 1x02 when Archie plays the song for the group and Betty just flashes back to Archie rejecting her and she can’t take it she just runs away. Well I think that is exactly what Archie is going through right now but he can’t run away because then people will know something is wrong and if they know something is wrong they ask questions and then someone will get hurt. The other thing I do think is interesting is in the flashbacks they chose to use clips of Betty smiling which to me was a curious choice in context of the scene. I mean it’s clearly not a happy scene, Archie is in pain, Veronica is singing a love song that was written for her best friend by her boyfriend plus jughead is there and yet they don’t show clips of betty looking sad, and there were shots of betty looking sad in that original scene so why have they chosen to show Betty as smiling? Personally I think it is to show that Betty might not be as over her feelings for Archie as she seems but only time will tell.

I think for Archie hearing Veronica sing the song is what makes him really start to question things. I mean that scene right after you can see he doesn’t feel comfortable kissing her and he is clearly trying to get away from her as quickly as possible. Also poor Veronica seems so surprised when he says good night without telling her he loves her. Though he does say it I do think she picks up that there is something wrong but I think she just brushes it off as him being nervous about the fight the next day. One thing I will say though and it is another complaint and does go back to that need for more characters to interact is I think there needed to be a scene with Betty and Archie at this moment. After Veronica walks away but before Archie leaves I think the story would have benfitted from Betty coming out and talking to him because it was really weird to me that she didn’t try to talk to him. I mean if it were me I would want to know how Veronica got the song, you know I would have questions so it was odd to me that Betty didn’t come and ask how it had happened, what did Veronica know? I needed more from this scene, I needed more depth. I appreciate that there were alot of plotlines going on so they might not have had time for it but tat just brings me to the nect thing I think Riverdale could work on. I do feel like this episode felt a bit rushed and that was because of how many plotlines were included, I do feel like Riverdale has this habit of overstuffing episodes with too many plots and so those plots feel rushed or not complete. I think if they have fewer plots going forward then they could flesh out the plots they do have make it a more complete story.

So that leads us to the events of prom. Ok so I probably shoudn’t have laughed at this, and in my defence it was more of a bitter laugh than anything else but that picture they showed of Archie, Veronica and Betty in the first few moments of prom really summed up the situation didn’t it. Archie being confused between Veronica and Betty again makes me think back to season 1 where you had a dance and a love triangle it really has come full circle in the most chaotic way possible.

For me one the saddest part of this episode was that moment when Veronica was telling Archie about her plan to defer Barnard for a year and she says ‘I’d rather lose a year than be out of sync with you, maybe forever.’ Not only do I think that this shows that Veronica has picked up that something isn’t quite right I think this is the moment that Archie knew he had to tell her the truth. Because he realises that they are already out of sync and they have been for a little while now. I also think it shows how much he does care about Veornica that he wasn’t willing to let her give up on going to college for him. I wasn’t at all surprised that Archie told Veronica the truth, I said before that I reckoned Archie would tell Veronica the truth but Betty would just lie to Jughead because that follows the pattern of the last time they kissed. I will say I have hella respect for Archie for telling her the truth, that clearly wasn’t easy for him and also he told her the whole truth not just that he had kissed Betty but that the song was for her. He could have taken an easier way out and just told her that he wanted to break up because of them graduating and distance or whatever but instead he told her the truth. But my heart did break for Veronica and that scene where choni, bughead and varchie were all dancing and seeing that contrast between the two other happy couples and then Varchie who you could just see them crumbling but trying to hold it together.

So I haven’t really been in the Riverdale tags since the episode aired because I didn’t want to get spoiled and I couldn’t watch it right away but I forgot to blacklist it too so I saw a couple of posts on my dash. From what I can tell this next scene was a bit controversial I spose you could say which is the one where Veronica and Archie talk and Veronica says they shouldn’t tell Jughead and that they will just go their separate ways after graduation. Some people said that she should have gotten angry and when I first saw those posts before watching the episode I 100% agreed I was actually a little mad and thought it was going to be just like in season 2 where Veronica and Jughead just shrugged the Barchie kiss off which made no sense. But having watched the scene I actually thought it was so much more heartbreaking the way they wrote it than it would have been if she had just gotten angry. I mean to me it seemed like she was just soo heartbroken that she didn’t have the energy in her to be angry she didn’t have room for anything else but the pain she was feeling and that just made that scene that much more heartwrenching and made me feel even more for her. Also I saw some say that her plan about not telling jughead and going their separate ways after graduation is too mature. But here’s the thing I don’t think its mature at all if anything I actaully think its very naive. I completely understand Veronica’s thought process and how she’s feeling here. They have two weeks until gradution, their last two weeks and these weeks are suppose to be ones of celebration and looking forward to the future with excitement and anticipation, they are suppose to be two weeks of cherising your friends and they’ve already got so much to deal with with the voyeur that she doesn’t want as she says to overshadow those two weeks with drama and break ups and not being able to talk to her friends and celebrate with them because they are all so hurt and angry. So instead she decides the best thing to do is pretend for two weeks like nothing is wrong. She probably thinks that its only two weeks and that’ll it’ll be easy to do. That’s why I think it is naive because I don’t think they will be able to just ignore the situation and pretend that its not there and that again just makes it so much more sadder. Really I feel so sorry for Veronica and for Archie, Jughead and Betty because they are going to have so much to deal with.

Choni and Family Feuds.

Ok so next on our list of topics is the plotline with Toni and Cheryl. This is another plotline that I enjoyed. I am glad we got a little more backstory for Toni and I really hope we continue to get more. This was another storyline that I thought was really sad. It’s all set off when Cheryl asks Toni if they can invite her family over for a dinner. I do think their situation was actually kind of similar to Varchie’s in the sense that Cheryl clearly was looking to the future of their relationship and making it more serious just like Veronica was looking to her and Archie’s relationship. But just like Archie Toni was keeping a secret that throws a wrench in hers and Cheryl’s relationship.

I will say that Madalaine did an amzing job this episode. But there were two scenes in particualr that blew me away and were really sad the first was after she asked about the dinner and she thinks that Toni’s grandparents might not be accepting of their grand daughter being in a lesbian relationship she starts to cry at the thought of having to pretend not to be her girlfriend. I really do think during this conversation she is remembering all the things her own mother did to her because she was a lesbian and the pain that brought her. Which probably makes it even worse when she goes to Toni’s grandmother and finds out that it’s not that she is lesbian but that because she is a blossom. I think Cheryl figured that if she went and had a friendly conversation with the grandma then she could help make her more accepting and more comfortable about Cheryl and Toni’s relationship. But instead she finds out that their problem is with her specifically as a person and who her family is. Cheryl has always been judged for who her family is and so I think this really hurts her and it brings me to the second scene that just made me ball my eyes which was at the end when Cheryl is crying to her Nana Rose and says that she knows that her and Toni won’t end up together and that the curse of the Blossom family and that she is destined to be alone. I mean when you think of everything she has lost, first her twin brother, then her parents however awful they were, all she’s got left is Nana Rose if Toni leaves her. But she knows that family is important and she doesn’t want to put Toni in a position where she has to choose between her and her family.

I also understand where Toni is coming from as well though, I mean she is in a very difficult position because she clearly loves Cheryl but their families have a lot of bad and painful history but on the other hand that’s not Cheryl’s fault. That scene as they are leaving prom was really bittersweet. Cheryl thanking Toni for giving her some happy prom memories to hold onto and Toni trying to reassure her that they will work things out while both their eyes are welling up just killed me. I really do hope that they can work it out.

The Kinks.

Yh I know I have already complained more than I usually do in these in reviews but there were some moments in this episode that made a feel a bit, well they just didn’t sit quite right with me so I figured I would put them all here as they aren’t major issues like the ones I talked about earlier.

1) Although I understand that Veronica felt like she was doing something romantic and supportive I didn’t agree with her taking that song and singing it without Archie’s permission. Even if it wasn’t that song just any song. To me songs are very personal things and so I just didn’t think it was right of her to take something so personal to Archie especially after he had already thrown it away.

2) This one might be a bit of an unpopular opinion and don’t get me wrong I love that Choni were prom queens but I hated that part where Cheryl stopped anyone else from signing up because to me it tarnished their win. Like they didn’t win prom queens they were given it because there wasn’t anyone else to vote for. I dunno to me it just would have been so much more satisfying if they had competition and they won it because people actually wanted them to win, whereas I feel like they way they wrote it made it seem like they won by default.

3) As much as I understood why she did I also don’t think Cheryl should have gone to speak to Toni’s grandmother without Toni knowing.

Theories

We are nearly done the last thing I want to do is just discuss some theories about what I think might happen next. These theories are based on the promo for the next episode and the promo pics that have been released for the graduation episode.

So it looks like Archie is going to go off the deep end next episode if that promo and Jughead’s comment about the straw that broke the camel’s back is anything to go by. I mean I think Archie’s comment in the promo to Betty of ‘are you kidding me? What isn’t wrong?’ really sums up Archie’s life right now, he didn’t get into the Naval academy, Veronica knows the truth and is hurt, betty who he has feelings for rejected him and then he gets a tape from the voyeur reminding him of a moment when he felt at his weakest, and on top of that it’s going to remind him of his dad and I really don’t think Archie has properly grieved and gotten passed his fathers death plus if I remember from the synopsis I think the guy who killed his dad needs his help which is who I’m assuming the guy in Archie’s room in the promo is. But I could see this leading to Jughead finding out the truth. I think Archie will start to act more and more unhinged as the episode goes on plus we know that he gets beat up by hiram which could lead to Jughead asking questions about why Hiram is upset with Archie and I think eventually Betty will confess out of concern for Archie’s behaviour maybe or something along those lines.

As for how veronica is going to react to her dad beating up Archie I don’t think she’ll be best pleased, she wants to pretend there is nothing wrong and to avoid any drama and her dad beating up Archie is not going to make that easy. I do think things are going to unravel pretty quickly from there.

I definitely think that we will find out who is behind the tapes in the next episode once that’s all wrapped up they can focus on graduation. I am still sticking to my Donna theory especially as the next episode is called ‘The Preppy Murders’ which is another name fro the stonies I kinda feel like they are just shoving it in our faces at this point that the stonies have a huge part of this. I know alot of people think its Charles but I hope its not. It’s not just because I like his character either but because the build up for that hasn’t really been there. I mean I can find so much evidence to suggest that its donna, the farmies terry and mr honey but there is only like two or three instances of Charles acting suspect and most of them can be explained away by him being an FBI agent. That doesn’t mean that they won’t have it be charles jsut that I would find it kind of anti-climatic if they did.

I can legit see the last few minutes of episode three being from the time jump and I reckon it’ll be that scene from the trailer where betty has a gun and I think it’ll be something along the lines of them finding out Polly is missing or something that sets up what the mystery for season 5 will be.

Ok that is all I’ve got right now. If you have read to the end then thank you, What did you guys think of the episode? Are you happy Riverdale is back and what are your theories for the rest of the season?

#riverdale

2 notes · View notes

brendanmoviedate · 5 years ago

Text

Yer fond of me lobster ain’t ye?

Another year, another broken promise that I’d write more often. I’m not going to fool myself going forward and expect I’ll be able to keep up with reviewing every movie I see. However, I’ll continue to write my year-end movie review and perhaps a couple here and there when I feel inspired.

Looking back to last year’s post, I wouldn’t make too many changes, though I would certainly move Into the Spider-verse slightly higher up. I would also consider adding Upgrade to the list for how brazen it is.

Most of the films I called out as ones to watch for 2019 ended up being either on my list or in the composite image, which goes to show that it’s worth getting excited for new films more often than not.

Vancouver being the way that it is, sometimes we don’t get timely releases of films when other cities do. As a result, I haven’t had a chance to see 1917 and Uncut Gems yet. The latter of which I’ve been dying to see for months and would probably feature on this list.

Here’s the 10 best films I’ve seen from 2019:

10. John Wick: Chapter 3: Parabellum

Whereas John Wick: Chapter 2 was the perfect escalation of its pared down predecessor, Chapter 3 is merely an excellent continuation of the newly minted franchise. However, while not bringing anything entirely new to the world of John Wick, it is still an intensely entertaining film. The first 20 minutes is some of the best fight choreography in the series to date and enough to secure a spot on this list.

9. Long Day’s Journey into Night

From director Bi Gan, Long Day’s Journey into Night is a noirish drama about a man (Huang Jue) returning to his hometown following the death of his father to track down his lost love (Tang Wei). The film is a slow burn that jumps between past and present before descending into a surreal 60 minute single take shot filmed in 3D. Regretfully, the only screening I could attend was entirely 2D, but nonetheless, the sequence was still enthralling. This is the type of film that proves that spectacle doesn’t necessarily need to be tied to tentpole movies.

8. Booksmart

Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut suggests she has an effortless understanding of comedy. Written by a quartet of female writers, Booksmart feels like Superbad for a new generation (I can’t believe that film came out 12 years ago). Interestingly, Jonah Hill’s sister, Beanie Feldstein stars, alongside Kaitlyn Dever (daughter of the guy that voiced Barney the Purple Dinosaur). While it would be easy to say it’s “the female Superbad,” Booksmart is in fact much more than that. Replacing the misfits trying to get laid story with one about a pair of overachievers realizing almost too late that there’s more to life than good grades lets the film be looser and allows the comedy to happen more naturally.

7. Midsommar

Ari Aster’s follow-up to 2018′s Hereditary began filming almost immediately after wrapping post-production on his previous film. As a result, Midsommar has that extra layer of a director exhausting himself by putting everything on the screen. Midsommar is a much more mature work than Hereditary and one that took a while to grow on me. My initial reaction was less enthusiastic than it is now, but it’s one of the films from 2019 that has stuck with me the most. I imagine a second watch or the extended director’s cut might raise my appreciation of it even more.

Florence Pugh gives a knockout performance that when combined with her roles in Little Women and last year’s Little Drummer Girl prove that she’ll be a star in no time.

6. Knives Out

Rian Johnson’s first post-Star Wars film sees him reinvigorated and working with a bigger name cast than he has in the past. Essentially a whodunnit along the lines of Agatha Christie, Knives Out follows Daniel Craig’s southern-fried detective Benoit Blanc as he investigates the murder of a wealthy publisher (Christopher Plummer). In addition to playing with a few plot twists, Johnson includes a couple of structure twists as well that turn the film on its head.

In addition to Craig’s hammy performance, other standouts include Ana de Armas and Chris Evans as the publisher’s caregiver and grandson, respectively.

Johnson has hinted at the possibility of more Benoit Blanc mysteries, and as long as Daniel Craig is onboard, I’ll gladly watch them.

5. The Lighthouse

In Robert Eggers’ followup to The Witch, Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson play a pair of lighthouse keepers in isolation. As would be expected, The Lighthouse is a paranoia-fuelled chamber piece, with Dafoe’s gruff experienced lighthouse keeper getting on the nerves of the younger Pattinson. And while this setup allows the two leads a chance to really dig into the 19th century dialects, the film takes the occasional departure into the eldritch for a very unsettling film.

As with Black Philip in The Witch, there’s a standout animal character in The Lighthouse - fittingly, a seagull.

4. Once Upon a Time ...in Hollywood

Quentin Tarantino’s presumably penultimate film is perhaps his most mature work, ruminating on the idea of legacy and the film industry as a whole. Once Upon a Time ...in Hollywood is almost a Tarantino hangout movie reminiscent of parts of Jackie Brown and Pulp Fiction. A lot of time is spent on scenes that don’t necessarily lead to the film’s climax, but allow the characters room to breathe and feel real. Other than the historical event hinted at throughout the movie, the film doesn’t seem to have a particular direction, which allows you to live in the lives of these characters more than if it was purely plot driven.

The main cast of Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, and Margo Robbie is great, but it’s Pitt who puts in a career best performance. There’s a quietness and a sadness to his character that brings some added depth to an otherwise bold cast.

3. Ad Astra

Brad Pitt’s other great performance this year is in James Gray’s Ad Astra. Having seen Gray’s The Lost City of Z and purposefully avoiding trailers and reviews, my expectation for this film was a reflective voyage centred around the ideas of obsession, loss, and family. All of these ideas were present in Ad Astra, but the real surprise was how seamlessly a space opera was added into the story. I never thought I’d see a lunar shuttle chase, but I’m glad I did.

The amount of casual sci-fi world building in the film is staggering, with entire premises treated as banal. We get to see Pitt’s Clifford McBride travel from Earth to the Moon mundanely on a commercial flight. Most films would take the opportunity to spoon feed to the audience why this is odd, but Ad Astra treats it as normal as the characters do, making it all the more fascinating.

2. The Farewell

Starring Awkwafina, who has quickly shot to stardom after featuring in Crazy Rich Asians, The Farewell gives the actress the chance to stretch her dramatic muscles playing Billi, who returns to China to visit with her grandmother who has cancer. Billi’s family insists on keeping the grandmother’s illness a secret from her so she can live out her life in happiness, while Billi struggles with the morals of lying to her grandmother. This premise allows for not only the comedy of misunderstanding, a staple in comedy, but also emotional tension and the devastation of preparing to send off a loved one.

The comedy-drama balance is handled expertly by director Lulu Wang, making The Farewell the movie I both cried at and laughed at the most this year.

1. Parasite

Had you told me a couple of months ago that my picking Parasite as the best movie of the year could be considered a safe choice, I would have scoffed. Yet here we are, and Parasite has widely been hailed as the best film of the year. I suppose in hindsight it’s not hard to see why. It’s both a crowd-pleasing film and a film that’s deeply disturbing and thrilling.

After having seen Bong Joon-ho’s last five movies, one would be forgiven for expecting a linearity in Parasite. Most of his films tend to have a point A to point B element with an expected (though often subverted) outcome. Heck, Snowpiercer is about a group of people moving from the back of the train to the front, one car at a time. Yet Parasite is different. The film sets up a premise you only find out about as it happens and is quickly overturned once you’re comfortable with it.

I saw this movie the same day I saw Joker and the difference in how the subject matter of class is treated is stark. Whereas Joker wanted to go all dark and Taxi Driver with the theme, Parasite had fun with it and let the elements of drama, comedy, and horror slide along the theme of class.

Like Bong’s Memories of Murder, Parasite will be one of those films I endlessly revisit.

Honourable Mentions

Films that almost cracked the Top 10 that I wanted to shout out here are Us and Doctor Sleep for being really solid, exciting, horror-thrillers. As well as The Irishman for being a classic Scorcese film that gives De Niro and Pacino ample time to with each other. Finally, I wanted to applaud Avengers: Endgame for not only managing to pull off such an ambitious finale, but to make it so goddamned fun.

2020

This year I’m looking forward to new blockbusters from two of my favourite directors, Christoper Nolan and Denis Villeneuve - Tenet and Dune, respectively.

Despite the stumble with Spectre, I’m extremely excited for Daniel Craig’s last outing as Bond with No Time to Die, by auteur Cary Fukunaga. I can’t wait to see how his style meshes with the Bond template.

Also of great interest are the new films from David Fincher and Edgar Wright - Mank and Last Night in Soho.

#movies #review #best of 2019

3 notes · View notes

multimetaverse · 6 years ago

Text

Andi Mack 3x09 Review

Secret Society was a boring filler ep, not bad like 3x03 or 3x01 were, but just boring. I did like the twist at the end though. Let’s dig in!

Positives:

Loved that Buffy straight up said no! I was muttering please don’t say um during that entire scene. Finally someone on this show is clear and direct with their feelings and for once the show isn’t going to put off the resolution for a few eps

That was Lauren’s son at the locker, it’s nice that they’re slipping in family cameos this final season

The dress was nice; I wonder if that’s the dress Bex gets married in, they were very careful to make sure we didn’t see any photos of Lilan when they were filming the wedding

The first Celia and Bex shopping scene was funny, I love that thrifty Celia fell in love with the dress again when Rick said it was 25% off. It was funny when Ricky played along during the second shopping scene with Andi

Sweet of Bowie to wear his dad’s tuxedo, Bex was thirsting for him all ep. Interestingly, Bowie doesn’t wear his dad’s suit at the wedding but he is in a tux (whether the same or not idk) at the party in the finale which makes me think he wears it because he wants to feel connected to his father when they celebrate Bowie and Bex having their second child

This ep actually put some effort into Wuffy. Walker’s suit was very sharp and the floral pattern was exactly what a hip artist type would wear. I don’t think the kids watching will pick up on it but there is some subtextual character growth for both Jonah and Andi. Jonah was the first one Walker went to for help and Jonah managed to wrangle the others. Andi was genuinely happy for Walker and Buffy and was clearly hoping that Buffy would say yes

Jonah putting his arm around Cyrus and walking off was a nice platonic moment and shows what a difference Cyrus no longer having a crush on Jonah can make it what the show is allowed to do with them. I do suspect though that the show pulls moments like these because it has to obscure the difference between platonic and romantic interactions involving Cyrus as much as possible until the end of the season

They clearly edited about 3-4 minutes of Ham scenes, that cut to the upper window after Bex went to get the dress is a huge tell as were the odd close ups on Celia. It was probably a sweet scene that touched on Ham and Celia’s wedding. It wouldn’t surprise me if Ham had a scene with Bowie talking about his dad as well

The reason this ep was so short at only 18 minutes is they likely didn’t have enough time or enough footage to recut the ep. Luckily for them they have time and footage for eps 16-18 to avoid the eps being too short. The wedding will be hell to edit but they can at least just air everything they shot for Jandi and Muffy to help pad the run time and the audience won’t complain. The Disney statement about cuts never explicitly said they’d cut every single Ham scene and I wonder if that will even be possible for the wedding. Ep 20 which had a lot of Ham and no other guest stars will almost certainly be another short ep; maybe even shorter than this one

Negatives:

There have been some vast peaks and valleys in terms of quality this season. 3x06 and 3x07 were some of the series best and 3x01 and 3x03 were some of the series worst. This ep was just boring. Ep 8 wasn’t good by any means but at least it had some style and energy to it. This was really a waste of time; the wedding dress could have been fit into another ep and the spark for Wuffy sinking could have been moved into another as well

This ep was clearly filmed in like 2 or 3 days on a much lower average ep budget (not many extras or locations). Terri knew from the start of S3 that she’d get 21 eps so I don’t know why she wasted this one. Perfect Day 2.0 was filler as well but it had some very nice moments and lines and really showcased the GHC and their deep friendship. This ep showcased nothing really

And I was very disappointed in Paul Hoen. He’s always delivered strong eps but this one was uninspired and I can’t believe he didn’t notice that their trailers are clearly visible through the library window. I can only hope that none of the remaining 11 eps are like this

A real mistake to have so little happen in this ep then pack way too much into the next ep

I feel bad for Walker but the show has never put any effort into building Wuffy up so is this supposed to hit home for the audience? Wild that he’ll have been in 5 of the first 10 eps but he’s contributed nothing to the show this season except to drive a wedge between Andi and Buffy

It was funny to see that Andi was so hyped by Walker’s promposal; I don’t think Wandi was ever meant to last but I do think that the writers probably wanted them to actually date for a bit before sinking it so Jandi could be endgame

Looking Ahead:

We finally get Marty back next week. Him returning in ep 10 and Machel sinking in ep 17 and him going with Buffy to the wedding in ep 18 should hopefully shut up the people who claim that Terri is all about slow burn ships. Muffy should be a very satisfying story line

Wuffy and Jibby sinking the same ep is interesting. And from Buffy’s wardrobe it looks like she has a scene with Marty shortly after her talk with Andi and Jonah and Cyrus about breaking up with Walker but before she actually breaks up with him. I can’t wait to see how it plays out

I suspect that what the show will ultimately go for is the idea that Marty understands Buffy in a way that Walker never did and even her friends sometimes don’t, ‘’and you’re the only one who gets that’’ but taken even deeper. I think we’re likely to see something similar but more coded between TJ and Cyrus in 3x11 as its likely that TJ is the one who knows how to comfort Cyrus best

The first and possibly last girls game, guess Andi has to save the day?

Hopefully the last dance class as well. Maybe replaced by whatever it is Cyrus gets up to with Gus later on

We’ll see if the wish is revealed next ep. It seems like this ep would have been the perfect time to reveal it if it was Bex’s or Celia’s

#andi mack #wuffy #muffy #bexie #buffy driscoll #walker brodsky #bex mack #bowie quinn #celia mack #andi mack reviews #andi mack meta #andi mack season 3

71 notes · View notes

planetaryoratorio · 8 years ago

Text

A Closer Analysis of the Hi-Evolution Trailer

Screenshots accompanied by analyses and speculations under the cut as I examine the trilogy trailer more closely. Enjoy!

1. Mecha P1: Pre-Spearhead Days?

These two mechs feature prominently in the trailer amongst the other KLFs. @lookalivebrett offered an interesting theory that Ray and Charles may be operating these mechs, based upon their scenes suggesting that they fight together, and of course their colors. I do like this idea, especially because it suggests that their the choice of their Spearheads’ colors were based off of their previous mecha. Something to consider!

2. Mecha P2: Design

While on the topic of mechs, one interesting change in design that sets them apart from other KLFs/LFOs we’ve seen are the ref boards attached to their backs while they are in full body form. Missiles are also attached to these boards. I’m not necessarily sure why these designs were implemented, as I’m assuming they still ride on the boards. But they seem to be making some subtle homage in design to the Nirvash Neo (with its board folded against its back) and the superpack from Pocket Full of Rainbows/Good Night Sleep Tight Young Lovers.

3. Mecha P3: Archetypes?

Interestingly, these KLFs are entirely mechanical, do not have an archetype and likely no cockpit (which is even more interesting to consider as these movies, or at least the first, are/is a prequel set around the First Summer of Love). Perhaps they are prototypes meant to emulate the design of LFO archetypes, but are operated from afar so as not to endanger the lives of pilots? Clearly this was not followed in the end, as in the timeline of E7 there are many KLFs that both have archetypes and are piloted. But then, are the red and blue KLFs piloted in the movie? Are any KLFs piloted in the movie? The plot thickens!

4. Mecha P4: The Devilfishes + Trapar Borealis

Upon first glance at the golden mech, I’m sure many of our thoughts related to the Nirvash Neo’s final design from the recently-finished AO epilogue. Interestingly, the design bears a larger resemblance to the Devilfish model. In fact, there are two present in the scene. Why one has gold armor and the other doesn’t, I’m not quite sure. Perhaps the gold was a prototype in testing? One that never made it to the market? Also, I think the background is worth taking note here. The LFOs look like they are above the Earth (as you can see its blue silhouette) and there is an almost aurora-borealis-type trapar phenomenon above Earth’s atmosphere. There’s also a glowing orb in the background which, at first, I thought to be the sun - but its within Earth’s silhouette. An attack perhaps? Gunfire and explosions seen from afar? A kute-class Coralian maybe?

There is a chance the blue silhouette is a trapar phenomenon as well and is not actually the silhouette of the Earth of course. It just seems rather intricately placed and colored is all!

5. Reminiscent of Episode 19

The explosion we see in the trailer erupts from the top of a great mountain with pilebunkers lined along the sides. The perspective of the scene is very reminiscent of Episode 19 when the Gekko-Go and typeZERO were stuck in the old hangar/cave, and Nirvash created a trapar source stream.

I view it as an homage to the original scene more than anything, really. But it may indicate that high-trapar concentrations causes the explosion in the movie.

6. Crystalline Scab?

This background featured in a few fight scenes between the Antibodies and the blue/red KLFs. Personally I became really interested in the background itself: when Antibodies and KLFs are fighting or moving, a lot of dust, salt and what looks like ice is kicked up. Additionally, a few hunks of Scab protruding from the Earth can be seen. They are also aglow with a rainbow light emanating behind them. I’m really not sure what to make of this scene, but the closest I could think of to compare what the rainbow light is, was the power Norb and Sakuya used to open the PoroLoca which allowed Renton and Eureka to cross the Great Wall.

As we can see, the movie’s light is very mild in comparison so it may just be trapar magic pfft. Or the area might just be so icy that the light refracts differently. Either way, those crystalline Scabs look beautiful.

7. Symbol of Adrock’s Collar

This might just be due to the fact that the studio really liked implementing this symbol in many scenes - nonetheless, the symbol that appears as a silver ‘2′ is reminiscent of the design on Holland’s belt

It’s been awhile, but I think the symbol is implemented in other things in the first series as well.

8. Eureka’s Designs

One of the first things I found a bit interesting was the fact that Eureka does not actually have her original series hairpins. Or at least not one of them.

The thicker one is missing from her scenes in the trailer. Additionally, while this was potentially just an error on BONES’ part, Eureka’s hair is parted with hairclips on the right side in that one bloodied shot of her holding the gun, instead of the left as it was originally. I assume it is an error as when she’s in her plugsuit in the trailer, her hairclips are on the correct side.

Not a big deal really - she can wear her hair however she wants. Just something I noticed.

Additionally her plugsuit in this shot appears reminiscent in design to both Anemone’s plugsuit, and most prominently Eureka’s headset.

#eureka seven #eureka 7 #e7 #e7hievo #hi evolution

79 notes · View notes

itsworn · 6 years ago

Text

Big-block 1969 A-Body Barracuda Bronx Tale

Rock “Rocky” Del Franco was a 16-year-old on a mission. The Bronx, New York, native already owned a cool van to do his daily driving, but wild-eyed Rocky now had his sights set on a much bigger prize: a big-block ’69 Barracuda sitting lifeless at his brother’s friend’s house. To the young burgeoning Mopar fanatic, things just didn’t get any better than an A-Body built with a big Wedge and a four-speed between the buckets.

The car had been a local street bruiser, sold new locally at McKenzie Motors to the dealership owner’s son. The original possessor had plans for the potent little A-Body Fish from the start. He quickly thrashed a set of fenderwell headers into the Barracuda, and then took the 383ci-powered ride straight to the street. The car was the ultimate sleeper, sporting a flat hood, dog-dish caps, and a skin of low-impact T5 Bronze Fire metallic paint. Creeping up on unsuspecting Brand X victims was this Mopar’s specialty, and it certainly succeeded at the job.

After a few years, the car was sold off, and interestingly enough Rocky’s brother Tom bought the choice Barracuda. The Mopar ride now had a spot in the family driveway, and it was the first time the young gun got the opportunity to lay his eyes on it. He was only 8 years old at the time, but he remembers vividly how the A-Body took to the local streets. Unfortunately, the feisty Mopar didn’t stick around long; after installing a set of Cragars on it, Tom drove the car for just two years before selling it off to a friend.

Under the new owner’s possession, the now worn Barracuda supposedly stopped running after just a few weeks. So the owner did what a lot of people did back then; he parked the car on the side of his house while deciding its future fate. The car soon got blocked in by the stacks of his winter’s supply of wood for the fireplace. It was now barely visible from the road, and it was there where the Barracuda inconspicuously sat idle for years. That’s where eagle-eyed Rocky spotted the car.

Rocky’s Road

Rocky just knew deep down inside that he needed to make this Mopar his own. Knowing the car had not moved in years, he figured it’d need some work to get it running. So he approached the owner about the car, and found out he was willing to sell the Barracuda for $800. The youngster made him a deal. “I told him if the car would crank over, I would give him the $800; if it didn’t, I’d give him $500,” says Rocky. After a few tries the car wouldn’t crank, and Rocky got his dream ride for a measly five Benjamins. The only obstacle in his way now was moving all the logs to free his new prize.

But the adventure wasn’t over there — not by a long shot. Now he needed to somehow get his new ride back to his house, a Bronx-sized half-mile away. Being a man on a budget, the youngster got crafty. “I decided to flat-tow the car home with my van, with a rope,” says Rocky. It was certainly not the safest way to move a car on the busy streets of the Bronx, but it was worth a shot. It didn’t take long for the crafty kid to get pulled over by the local cops. “I explained to the officer that I just bought the car, it didn’t run and I was towing it home a few blocks away. He was so impressed that a 16-year-old kid owned two cars and knew how to flat tow, that he let me go, and, of course, with the warning to go straight home with the unregistered, uninsured Barracuda on a rope,” explains Rocky.

Once home, Rocky dug into his new ride. He soon found out that the 383 was seized solid. He decided to call a few friends over for help, a cast and crew that were all into Mopar Muscle. From that day on, this group of guys would call themselves the “Bronx Mopars.” They were a pack of local kids who were brought together by the Pentastar and lovers of all things Chrysler.

The crew pulled the motor and set it aside. A healthy 383 engine was sourced from a Charger and installed in the needy A-Body. Now the car was a running machine. From the start, the Barracuda was Rocky’s second ride, as he already had a “daily driver” to do the dirty work with. He treated the car well and knew that this ride was a keeper, and for good reason. It was built the way any A-Body fanatic would’ve wanted it from the factory.

The car is an original H-code Formula S coupe, one of just 53 four-speeds built that year. Its 383ci Wedge motor pushes out a healthy 330 hp in stock dress, straight from the factory. The gears are rowed by the vaunted A833 transmission, and it feeds a 3.91 geared 8 ¾ rear out back. The original owner opted for the vinyl roof and kept the rest of the car on the down low — no scoops, no stripes, and plain painted steel wheels. Disc brakes sit up front for mucho stopping power, and a deluxe interior adorns the cockpit. It was a sleeper for sure, and newly minted titleholder Rocky loved the way it looked and performed.

Rebirth

Over the years, cars came and went, and the Barracuda was always treated with care. Then, a big decision was made; Rocky came to the conclusion that the car needed to be returned to all of its original glory. “In the late 80s, I took the car apart with the intent of restoring it properly … then life happened,” admits Rocky. The car sat in a rented garage for almost a decade. But Rocky didn’t sit idle. “I was collecting NOS parts, and amassed a good collection of things I would need to restore the Barracuda correctly,” he says. Rocky also had a ’71 Road Runner (and still does), so he had something to keep him occupied.

In 1998, he was ready to take on the full restoration. He prepared his parts and bought a Roto-jig to help out. “I had the car media-blasted and brought the car back to fellow Bronx Mopar member John Quinn’s garage. The two life-long friends now lived next door to each other, with their garages nearly butting right up to each others.

The restoration commenced on the A-Body. While the unibody structure received needed metalwork, Rocky sourced a set of NOS fenders in Ontario, Canada. Luckily, the seller offered to bring them over the border and meet them on the New York side, avoiding crating and customs. His good friend Pete drove the six hours to the border on the stipulation he was fed well and paid for gas. “It was an adventure I’ll never forget,” says Rocky.

Back in the Bronx, things were going well. Rocky had a crew of good friends helping out with every aspect of the build. John Quinn handled most of the bodywork, with Rocky himself helping out with the tedious sanding. “We sprayed the car right in the garage, with a makeshift booth made out of plastic sheets,” says Rocky. Local young guns and future Bronx Mopar members Dan Lyon and Nick Hooks lent a hand during the course of the restoration.

One interesting part of the rebuild was working with the glass. After taking all the windows, cranks, and tracks out to have the vent window frames chromed, the crew hit a wall. When it came time to put it all together, they couldn’t figure out how to reassemble them. “Then Rich Parisi, another local kid, locked himself in the garage one night, only to surprise us with all the cranks, tracks, and windows installed and working by morning. To this day, I still have no idea how he did it,” laughs Rocky.

To repair the fenderwells, which had been cut for those big headers, Rocky found NOS pieces to repair the mangled set. But they needed help with the major welding. The job was done to perfection by his good friend Paul Kaufman. Mr. G’s restored the dash cluster, and the shifter was sent out and rebuilt by Hurst. The vinyl roof, glass, and headliner were done by a local guy who did all the work in-house. Seatbelts were courtesy of his friend Joe’s Dart, and Rocky’s wife, Chrissy, scrubbed them until they looked brand new. And that wasn’t her only job here. “Many of the parts were NOS and not repop, so she polished all the chrome and stainless steel parts that needed it,” admits Rocky. The owner rebuilt the front grille himself using all NOS parts.

When it came down to the powertrain, Rocky didn’t skimp. “The original engine was rebuilt to stock factory specs by local builder Tommy Gramazio,” he says. Concours Creations rebuilt the original carburetor. Those hard-to-find stock manifolds were restored and then reinstalled, as the owner wanted the engine bay to have that OEM look. No more headers here! The crew rebuilt the 8 ¾ rear in the garage, and the transmission was gone through thoroughly. Next, a new gas tank and stainless fuel lines were added to the mix. King Queen Mufflers put on the new stock exhaust system, which installed without the slightest hitch. A more modern electronic ignition was snuck in to make the car more reliable.

A few months before completion, Rocky’s mom died. As he stepped away to spend time with family, his friends kept working on the car. There was a mad rush to make it to Chryslers at Carlisle, just weeks away. Once back on track, John Quinn made a shakedown run in the Barracuda. “It feels like I’m driving a brand-new car,” he says. The Formula S was finished the Friday of the event. The next morning they were on the road to Carlisle. “The only thing that was not installed was the radio. After scouring the swap meet, we found a radio. We rigged it with a strategically placed T-shirt not visible to the judges. We ended up winning First Place in our class,” says Rocky.

All the hard work has definitely paid off for Rocky and the Bronx Mopar crew. Even after 18 years of flogging, the car looked it was restored yesterday — a testament to the hard work and dedication put into this well-done restoration. And it’s certainly no trailer queen. “In all of its years, it’s only been trailered twice; that first show at Carlisle because it was so new and the Mopar Nationals the next month, where it took Second Place,” says Rocky. The reason why he got Second Place: “The First Place Barracuda had its seatbelts restored … mine were used and from a Dart! I didn’t know about proper seatbelt restoration,” admits the owner.

“I had a lot of help restoring this car, and thanks go out to all the friends who have had a hand in bringing this beautiful Barracuda back to life,” says Rocky. A special shout-out goes to his wife, Chrissy, who made sure all the crew was properly nourished during the endeavor and for her help in the garage as well. Turns out she loves the cars almost as much as he does. “After 20 years of marriage we both love driving fast and doing lots of burnouts,” admits Rocky.

As for the future, Rocky will keep on doing the same. He regularly takes the Barracuda out and will drive it two or three hours to a car show without hesitation. Even with the 3.91 gears and no air conditioning, it’s not a problem — even on the highway in the dead of summer. The car is now part of the family, as his boys Dominick (15) and Rock Jr. (17) have been enjoying the car since they could ride in a car seat. “I taught Rock Jr. how to drive stick in this car,” say Rocky. Dominick gets his permit this summer, so there’ll be a new young gun behind the steering wheel soon. “Their mission is to drive every car I own. They are now calling dibs on who gets it in the inheritance,” says Rocky. That’s a long way away in the future for sure.

Fast Facts

ENGINE TYPE: 383ci RB Wedge BORE x STROKE: 4.25 x 3.38 inches BLOCK: stock OEM ROTATING ASSEMBLY: stock CYLINDER HEADS: stock 906 heads COMPRESSION: 10.0:1 CAMSHAFT: stock VALVE TRAIN: stock INDUCTION: stock intake with OEM carter AVS OILING SYSTEM: stock EXHAUST: stock manifolds with stock exhaust IGNITION: Mopar electronic ignition COOLING: stock radiator FUEL: stock mechanical pump OUTPUT: 330 hp ENGINE BUILT BY: Tommy Gramazio

DRIVETRAIN TRANSMISSION: stock A833 SHIFTER: Hurst STEERING: stock manual FRONT BRAKES: stock disc REAR BRAKES: stock 11-in drum REAR: 8 ¾-inch with 3.91 gears

INTERIOR SEATS: stock vinyl buckets INSTRUMENTS: Rallye gauges WIRING: stock

WHEELS & TIRES WHEELS: 14-inch stock steel wheels TIRES: 205/70/15 (front) and 215/70/15 (rear) Coker Redline

The post Big-block 1969 A-Body Barracuda Bronx Tale appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

from Hot Rod Network https://www.hotrod.com/articles/big-block-1969-body-barracuda-bronx-tale/ via IFTTT

#IFTTT #Hot Rod Network

0 notes