#it feels like such a one man film but there were so many actors credited! so many people still present!

[toxicanonymity]

Hope you don't mind me spamming you a bit. I appreciate your reviews and commentary! Other movies that came to mind which I enjoyed were Ready Or Not, The Invitation, Don't Breathe, Black Christmas, Last Night inSoho (technically this is a horror movie). And because it's popular, what are your thoughts on A Quiet Place?

I don't mind one bit. These are fun questions, especially this one. Buckle up lmaoooo.

Ready or Not - I liked it, and it inspired the wedding dress in one of my darker stories.

The Invitation - Hell yes, love a dark dinner party movie. Won't spoil why.

Don't Breathe - Loved. So depraved. If you haven't seen it I won't spoil, but holy shit lol. Kink alert.

Black Christmas - Yes! Prefer the original by a mile, but enjoyed the Blumhouse take too.

Last Night in Soho - Need to see this, it's on my list.

A Quiet Place -Just my passionate opinion: I fear there is no movie I despise more. My disdain is well-known among irl friends. I'm about to go off.

Krasinski referring to his film as "elevated horror" put him on my bad side from the start. Really low to put down others to promote himself. Dismissing an entire diverse genre, disrespecting everyone who paved the way.

Krasinski gets (takes) far too much credit for things that have been done and done better, including the climax which mirrors The Descent Part 2, shot-for-shot. Don't Breathe is another example of the have-to-be-quiet premise.

Huge hit among non-horror fans who didn't know better and raved about its originality. Meanwhile gushing, "I'm not even into horror." Soo maybe they hadn't seen much? Especially lesser known movies. The horror tent is big enough for all, but he brought new fans into it while infusing them with his condescending attitude.

Far too many gratuitous close-ups of himself going 🤫. This man's ego, stg.

Some of us detected a strong whiff of right-wing energy. Pro-life in a risk everyone's lives for a fetus way. Pro-gun in a rural, white, get off my land way (btw I'm obsessed with John Wick. it's not the use of guns in this, it's the energy).

He bragged about how his wife was so unaffected by her most intense scene (childbirth) that after it she said, "Who's ready for lunch?" Why is that so good, John? Is your view as a director that actors should snap in and out of character and not be affected by their roles? If she needed to cry or rest, would he think less of her? Personally I admire people who feel. Also, harder to imagine paying a man the same compliment.

I have one nice thing to say, which is that it's nice to see deaf/hard-of-hearing representation, and it was the least they could do good to cast an actress from the community as his daughter.👍

If they committed to total silence instead of using a dramatic score, that would've been cool.

You can do your own take on an old concept and make it good. But to meanwhile put down everything else to distinguish/promote himself?? That ain't it.

Anyway, I still hate-watched the sequel (not nearly as bad) and may do the same with the prequel 🤪.

[mynameisnotthepoint]

Ossan no pantsu EP 5

Disclaimer: I had already watched this drama with subs that were mostly machine translated, so this is less of a first time reaction and more of an "i finally have the whole picture now". This will contain spoilers, so be warned!

As always: thank you to @isaksbestpillow for continuing to provide us with excellent subs to this drama!!

Quote

"That's how it is being a parent. You can't really think with confidence: 'I just handled this the best way.'" (Mihoko to Mika, translation by isaksbestpillow)

My very jumbled thoughts/extras

I am a bit behind with my posts about this series. Work and a cold caught up with me, but I will try to finish this.

Later episodes will deal with this more, but ultimately, older people are left behind by this rapidly changing system. My coworker's husband had to look for a new job at 62 after his bus driving company closed down. He spent months unemployed. Makoto here also knows that he doesn't have a lot to offer except grit and perseverance. You need them to survive a job, but these days you have to have many more qualifications to think about switching jobs. I also noticed that the coworkers call her Shimura-san!! Which also is something that will come back in a later episode.

I also love the fonts and color grading they used to show Makoto's entrance into the office - a contemporary suspense (?) font/music - and then the flashback scenes to when Makoto was starting out that feel very oldschool.

I think it is in this episode that Makoto realises he could be a burden to society. He is, in many ways: people bow down to his wiles (his wife) or ignore/avoid him (his subordinates, his children, even his dog). Throughout this series he comes to a bigger understanding of how respect should be mutual, and is also earned. --- INTERLUDE: Theme song and Daichi's actor Oppan's opening credits song アプデライフ (Updated life) is by the Jpop group FANTASTICS from EXILE TRIBE, of which Nakajima Sota, who plays Igarashi Daichi, is a member (he is a vocalist). This group has two members who have also played in BLs: Yagi Yusei (vocalist, from the My Beautiful Man-series) and Kimura Keito (dancer, from Ameiro Paradox). It is actually through FANTASTICS fans that I first learned about Oppan :) --- My heart aches for both Daichi and Madoka. You can see Daichi's face fall, a sadness creep into his eyes while Madoka tries to explain why he couldn't tell his parents he had a boyfriend. Meanwhile Madoka is just so scared to lose Daichi, so scared to be himself. And Daichi is the one who can muster up a smile, try to make everything seem OK. Madoka is so tall and yet, he always seems to make himself small, hunches over, ridden by guilt. The flashbacks of how they met and how they got to know each other are so well done (@twigtea and @bengiyo have written such good meta about it and the outing scene at the end!!).

Daichi's mom is such a wonderful person. She knows her son, knows when he is being chipper to hide that he is feeling sad. It shows the strength of their bond that he can show his anger with her, although it might be misplaced, as she was the one trying to help him. And Daichi knows, after raising his voice at her, he immediately deflates and apologizes. (my mom is so very similar to his mom. and i can also get angry at her or take her for granted, which i immediately feel sorry about).

BTW: Matsushita Yuki (who plays Igarashi Mihoko) plays Ida's mom in Kieta Hatsukoi AND Kurosawa's mother in the Cherry Magic movie!

I touched upon this briefly in a last post, but I love how they made Kakeru's hair truly look like it has grown out and he hasn't really cut it evenly. Although it does change quite a bit at the school scenes, which were probably filmed later. Through the series, Kakeru not only becomes comfortable wearing make-up outdoors, but also puts a lot of effort into his hairstyles.

I love Mika so much. Kakeru feels down and useless because he is unable to go to school again, and she encourages him to help her with the laundry. We later learn that she doesn't enjoy housework all that much, but in this moment she is happy to see him outside of his room and wants to spend time with him. He is also doing more housework just by helping out than Makoto ever seems to do...

The dynamics in this family are so developed!! Mika talks very differently to Moe, who seems to have the upper hand a lot in their conversations. But I really like how they genuinely seem to get along and want to spend time together. Them evaluating Makoto together if he can attend a barbecue with Madoka and Daichi and Daichi's mom was so funny. Also them preparing for the barbecue together and welcoming their guests together warmed my heart.

ME TOO. Also, this is one of my favourite Kakeru outfits. I truly love his style. Also, after meeting the girls who were nice to him, this meeting with Hasegawa shows Kakeru he can talk to people his age without feeling alienated. It takes repeated experiences liket this to get you to enjoy company again, but he smiles and is happy. (Now Makoto, we don't just assume our child is dating someone, he is literally just sitting next to him and talking - the face touching means nothing!! I do like that this makes the updating even more concrete for Makoto). The second time Hasegawa and Kakeru meet up starts a bit akward, but they talk to each other freely. Yet, Kakeru shuts down when Hasegawa starts talking about school and the baseball club. He'd still rather avoid the conversation and walk away than say what is on his mind. He is going outside, went outside to buy products for Hasegawa, but he isn't suddenly free of his worries and coping mechanisms.

Makoto buying books on queerness and acceptance is what makes Moe believe he has changed. And yet, reading up on things doesn't make you know how to react in real life. Makoto having his subordinates clap for him makes him overconfident, makes him think he knows everything. But, as @bengiyo pointed out, it is really important that he does his updating independently too, he shouldn't just wait for Daichi to explain everything to him.

The scene which hurts the most here is at the barbecue, when everyone has been having such a good time and even Kakeru is happy to watch them from his window. Makoto just says out loud what everyone has been avoiding all afternoon: he calls Madoka Daichi's boyfriend. It was just an unspoken rule that everyone at the party understood: Daichi and Madoka are there. What they are to each other is personal to them. Makoto wants to please, wants to show that he has updated, has such foot in mouth syndrome that he doesn't realise that rule. And Madoka very understandably freaks out. I must say, I have watched this episode three times now, and I have only been able to watch this scene without pausing or fast-forwarding once. It hurts.

What I did notice, in the aftermath, is that there are shots of the characters where Moe and Mika stand together in the foreground, then in another shot Daichi stands in the foreground while his mom is in the back, and Madoka and Makoto are both alone in their shot. I don't know if this was intentional, but it does illustrate how they feel about themselves in that moment in time. Moe and Mika are united in wanting to make this work, Daichi has his mom he can rely on, but both Madoka and Makoto feel alone and afraid in this moment.

An anecdote from when the show was airing: this episode was the one I saw people talk about the most before episodes 8 and 9 aired. It generally frustrated me to no end that people seemed to only focus on "the gays" and disregarded the rest of the story (Moe!! Kakeru!! Mika!! and even Makoto's development). Seeking out explicitly gay characters shouldn't make you disregard a story that is about queerness, about how women are treated, and so much more. It didn't help that a lot of fan translators were only focused on translating Sota's scenes, as they were fans of his group/him as an idol. It is so interesting to have an actual idol in a drama that has a whole story thread about being a fan of an idol group! (I am now just referencing later episodes...).

[denimbex1986]

'Andrew Scott lifted the lid on what directors sometimes ask of actors while they are in the middle of filming a sex scene at an event in London on Friday.

Speaking at a cinema screening of his Netflix series Ripley, the actor, 47, gave a glimpse into the off-camera directions given as raunchy scenes are shot.

Andrew spoke about being asked to 'pick up the pace' while in the middle of the act and shared his feelings on how 'embarrassing' he finds filming sex scenes.

'"Pick up the pace, pick up the pace," literally that is the kind of notes you get,' he told radio presenter Edith Bowman at an Everyman Soundtracking event.

The Fleabag star also spoke of how sometimes actors need to re-record the audio for scenes months after the fact if a noise has interrupted the original sound - and the added awkwardness when those scenes are racy.

He said: 'Then you go in and the first thing you see is a screen grab and you're like "Urgh" then they make you re-record something that it's, you know, if we were to re-record what we just said, the idiosyncratic way that people speak. How do I do that?

'The worst thing that you have you ever have to do is if you've done a sex scene, because it's, you know, embarrassing enough.'

Andrew then said it can be especially awkward to replicate the necessary sounds for a sex scene 'in your clothes in November, seven months later with 12 people in a booth and someone is like "Any snacks?"'.

The Sherlock actor's most recent sex scenes came in the award-winning All Of Us Strangers, where he played opposite Normal People star Paul Mescal.

In January, Andrew admitted that he barely rehearsed his raunchy sex scenes with Paul while working with an intimacy coordinator for the role.

The actor was widely praised for his portrayal of a lonely screenwriter who encounters the spirits of his dead parents in director Andrew Haigh's latest film, an adaptation of Japanese author Taichi Yamada's 1987 novel, Strangers.

But while an explicit sexual encounter with Harry, played by Irish heartthrob Paul, 28, dominated the commentary surrounding its release, Scott insisted at the time that they both adopted an organic approach towards its development.

Speaking to Attitude, Andrew also credited the film's intimacy coordinator for mediating any concerns regarding the graphic nature of their sex scene.

'Sex is just communication, isn't it?' he said. 'It's just physical communication rather than verbal communication… We didn't over rehearse it. We knew that those scenes, particularly the early ones, had to have a sort of frisson.

'And we had an intimacy coordinator, which can be very helpful for the simple reason that if you're able to talk to somebody about your fears or what you want to show, what you don't want to show, or what you think it should be and what the narrative of the storyline is, you have that base of safety.

'But chemistry is a really interesting thing. You’re basically just listening to see what the other person is doing physically in the same way you would in a dialogue scene.

'And you can talk about that as much as you like, but until you're actually there, it's not alive in that way, so it's just about listening, but just listening with your body, basically.'

Andrew added that he feels that being a gay man in the modern age is a 'wonderful gift' that has helped him establish firm friendships.

He said: 'I think it's such a wonderful thing to me. It's an extraordinary gift to my life and just to be able to see the real beauty in being gay is completely wonderful.

'The older I get, just the more I feel so lucky to have been born gay and that pervades my life in the sense of all my friendships. I have so many amazing queer friends in my life now that I just adore.'

He added: 'I feel such a huge sense of camaraderie with other queer people now, and without sounding too hippy about it, I feel like I just want to spread that love and positivity in our community because we've come such a long way and it's important that we are kind and look out for each other, and celebrate how uniquely different and how f***ing wonderful that can be.''

[jgroffdaily]

Excerpts

Stars Jonathan Groff and Karan Soni and director Roshan Selthi on the joy of making “A Nice Indian Boy,” joking: “An independent film needs a famous white person to get made.”

When Jonathan Groff met with director Roshan Sethi about a role in the romantic comedy A Nice Indian Boy, he asked Sethi to cast Karan Soni as his love interest. Groff assumed Soni was straight, but he’d seen the Deadpool actor in Sethi’s first movie, 7 Days, and liked his vibe. As it turns out, Groff’s request had already been granted: Not only is Soni gay, but he’s been dating Sethi since 2018. Sethi thought he’d have to work to court Groff—“An independent film needs a famous white person to get made,” he half-jokes—when in actuality Groff was already envisioning the exact film that now exists.

To hear the trio talk about A Nice Indian Boy is to hear tales of kismet and glee (Groff pun intended). “It felt like an emotional throuple,” Soni tells The Daily Beast’s Obsessed, also half-joking. The movie unleashed its charm at the SXSW Film and TV Festival on Tuesday, capping off an intensely personal experience for Sethi and his cast.

A Nice Indian Boy, initially a play by Madhuri Shekar, is built on a meet-cute at a local temple. During prayer, down-on-his-luck doctor Naveen (Soni) catches the eye of a dreamy photographer named Jay (Groff), and soon his wish for romance has been fulfilled. Jay was adopted by an Indian family and immersed himself in their culture, but he’s far more comfortable in his sexuality than Naveen, who avoids introducing Jay to his folks (Zarna Garg and Harish Patel) until they’re engaged. It’s Meet the Parents: Hindu Edition. But not only is he bringing a boy home—he’s bringing a white boy home. With that, A Nice Indian Boy goes from a romantic comedy to a comedy of manners to a spectacular wedding comedy.

Together, Sethi and Soni wrote 7 Days, a straight rom-com co-starring Geraldine Viswanathan. That was a warm-up act for A Nice Indian Boy, a movie that begins with one dazzling Indian wedding—that of Naveen’s sister (Sunita Mani)—and ends with another. When producers sent Sethi the film script adapted by Eric Randall (In the Dark), it was like clouds parting. Here was something he and Soni had contended with their entire lives: being gay in a culture that loves elaborate marriage rituals as long as they don’t involve two men or two women. If 7 Days was like their senior year of high school, Soni says, A Nice Indian Boy was their freshman year of college, full of new liberation.

“Halfway through making the movie, Roshan was like, ‘This might be the most personal thing we ever do, so we should really soak it all in,’” recalls Soni, whose other credits include Miracle Workers and Always Be My Baby. “This checks so many boxes of our experience, and to do it together is so rare. I remember him saying, ‘We should experience and feel everything,’ which is also Jonathan rubbing off on us, because that’s all this man does. He is in the moment. He’s never on his phone in between takes. He loves to talk about things. We want to be more like Jonathan.”

Groff says he picked up the no-phones-on-set thing from Keanu Reeves, who would strike up conversation between takes while they were shooting The Matrix Resurrections. Jay is the more sanguine character in the film, so Groff’s grounding presence was life imitating art. But even if the Broadway veteran helped to secure the project’s financing, he wasn’t the biggest celebrity around. That honor belonged to Garg, the comedian, podcaster, and TikTok superstar who recently opened for Tina Fey and Amy Poehler’s tour. During the Vancouver production, locals stopped their cars in traffic to catch her attention. “It was harder for her to go places than anyone,” Sethi laughs.

Not everything was uplifting, though. Sethi reached out to various Hindu religious leaders to find a consultant for the wedding scenes. Not a single Vancouver priest—including one billed as “the most liberal pundit in Canada,” who apparently sent Sethi a homophobic slur in response—agreed to participate. However crushing, such reactions underscored the importance of a film that’s very much about internal and external acceptance. Sethi and Soni eventually enlisted a priest based in Malibu who FaceTimed them from his stylish convertible.

For Groff, aspects of A Nice Indian Boy were like an analog to Looking, the swoony HBO series that also featured amorous walk-and-talks. “I could kind of be transparently myself while playing the character and not feel inhibited," he says. "Karan talked about that, too. When we get to do something gay, there’s this feeling of extra freedom. When it’s a gay story, it feels ultra-personal.”

Independent filmmakers like Sethi are reinvigorating a genre that has long attracted gay audiences without featuring them in principal roles.

“Even though there were financial and logistical obstacles that kept cropping up, it was an experience of pure joy,” Sethi says. “Halfway through, I was like, ’Maybe it will never be this good again.’ We did it with people we love about a subject we love.”

[destinyc1020]

sorry destiny, i am huge tom fan believe me, but i agree with what the anon said, i understand that u can like a movie that others dont thats not what i am saying but out of the MCU and throw in uncharted, tom's acting skills aside because we both hes fantastic, his projects have been misses, in terms of overall quality, reviews & numbers, TDATT, CW, Cherry, TCR. yes u may have liked some of them but numbers were bad, in a sense they flopped. most of these projects he chose when he was still pretty young and green and the only project he chose post covid was i think TCR and it was amazing but people weren't patient and it was slow at first. and i think since then he has grown a lot more and u can tell, its obvious the way he views things and the way hes picking his projects are diff now so hopefully things go well for him in the future in terms of success outside popcorn movies.

I mean, we can all have different viewpoints on films or actors, and that's fine! 🤷🏾‍♀️ I don't think anyone doubts that Tom is talented.

I understand some fans haven't enjoyed his projects in the past several years. I know for me personally, I've enjoyed 90% of Tom's films....whether they were successes at the box office or NOT. Most of his work I didn't even see in theaters. I saw at home.

The only films of Tom that I've actually seen in theaters are The MCU films (of course), The Current War, The Impossible (before I even knew who Tom Holland was lol), Uncharted (of course lol), and Spies in Disguise! Everything else of his, I've seen at home.

RE: TCR....

I actually enjoyed TCR, but if I had one critique, I would say that Akiva took a little TOO long to get to the point and kind of treated us as viewers like we were too dumb to get the "twist". Most of us knew or got the twist w/in the first episode lol. He really could have spent more time focusing on other things imo. Don't get me wrong, I actually think Akiva had a very ingenious, sympathetic, and creative way of showing what's actually going on when someone suffers from DID (and why they may end up having it), and it was done in a way I'd personally never seen done onscreen before. But I just feel like he should have given us as the audience a little more credit. We could have known from the very beginning that he suffered from DID, but maybe not know who exactly his alters actually were. There were many things that could have been done differently. And I think some of the critics purposely gave TCR LOW reviews to spite Akiva, because apparently he didn't even want DID or "multiple personalities" to be written in any of the early reviews coming out for the series, in order to preserve the "twist". But umm.... Everyone saw it coming a mile away bro lol 😅

So...I really think his tactic of trying to keep the audience in the dark felt a bit laborious after a while, and it's like, "WE GET IT man... we've already figured it out!" We didn't need several episodes prolonging things. But hey, I still enjoyed TCR Summer last year lol, and it was very enjoyable to watch Tom in a series (for a change) every single week! 😊

[the-last-rat-standing]

Tin Star (My thoughts on all 3 seasons)

There's a lot to unpack here now that I've watched it all, including how my feelings of it shifted as the seasons went on, particularly into season 3. So, pour yourself a drink. Spoilers, of course, to follow.

When I went to other sites to see discussions about this show, I came across so many posts that criticized the show for being unrealistic and over the top, and I think those viewers missed the point completely. Nearly everyone on this show is fucked up in some way; it's just a matter of where they fall on the Fucked Up scale. Jim/Jack, Angela and Anna are 3 very fucked up people and there can't possibly be a happy ending for them (can there?). I don't think this show is meant to be absorbed in a linear/tie up loose ends/believable way. You only have to see the amount of blood in the first few episodes to know you're going to be asked to suspend your disbelief for the entire ride. And if you can do that, it's one hell of a ride.

I'm not going to break down each season, because to be honest, there's a LOT going on and a lot more characters interacting than you might think. I will say, the oil company is a complete fake-out in terms of plot. Yes, Gagnon and North Stream Oil do play a part, but it is so removed from what you expect it to be. They start out as the Big Bad and that lasts for about 3 episodes until their PR spokesperson (Elizabeth) discovers -shock!- that the company is dirty. That really becomes the first domino that sets the rest of the action in motion for about half of the characters. (Angela, Elizabeth, Jacyln, then later in season 2, Johan and his family.) The other half get caught up in the people sent to Little Big Bear to kill Jim/Jack. Among those people is a  young man who has a past with Jack. That really is the gist of season 1 and 2, but jfc, it is crazy dark. And a LOT of black humour.

(GIF credits go to @timrothgifs, and let me just say, as I was perusing their blog for gifs, I saw so many that made me go, "Oh, I had blotted that scene out of my brain." Lol!)

I enjoyed seasons 1 and 2 once I got used to the Neo-Noir aspect of it and stopped looking for realism or consequence. S2 for me went a bit off the rails and not in a good way, primarily because it almost wasn't crazy enough? Like, you set me up after season 1, but season 2 was mostly Jack being a loose cannon with no real direction. Moments from season 1 didn't seem to matter in season 2 even though many of the plotlines remained. It felt convoluted and muddled and it wasn't until the big finale that things got sorted.

Season 3 leaves Canada behind and the Worth family (Jack/Angela/Anna) go to Liverpool to basically kill everyone who is a threat to them. No, really, they have a literal list. Season 3 is batshit bonkers in a way that I can only say, I bet the actors had a really good time filming it. So many moments felt like the writers had certain scenes in mind and they were going to put them in an episode even if they had to write around the scene to make it fit. And there was a sense that the actors were told to make it up as they went along, so they did and it was hilarious. Here again is the point where you have to accept none of this could ever, ever happen. The soap in the sock scene, where Jack gets bashed in the head, repeatedly, but is A-OK enough 10 minutes later to escape? Yeah no. And that's just one of many scenes that are so over the top that you can't possibly be expected to think this is remotely possible. So just sit back and enjoy it.  

Let me talk about the show in general rather than specific plot points and such. (Though I do wonder if Thomas is still running somewhere in his oversized bullet proof vest that Angela gave him.)

Something that often doesn't get pointed out by reviewers because they're not from Canada, I give the show all the credit in the world for being honest about our attitude towards the Native population in this country, and in particular, Native women. There are some painful truths spoken on this show, and when it's the Irish woman who points it out, it's even more reprehensible. Might be the only actual point of realism in the entire show, to be fair.

They had different directors for different episodes, but they were all very good at pacing and knowing when to pull the suspension like taffy and when to hit you right in the face. The opening scene in season 1 is so beautifully paced and the tension was so brilliantly drawn out that when the Moment happens, it's like someone popping a balloon. There are many scenes throughout the show that do this, all the while not undermining things by doing the fake scares/Big Scares that so many directors often do. The deaths of Whitey, Gagnon, Johan and Helen are longer scenes where you know exactly how they'll end, but the director is in no hurry to get there. Then there are scenes where you think will be drawn out that happen in the blink of an eye, and that's when you appreciate how they've quietly set you up for the shock. (Mary, Sarah, Jaclyn (!!), the priest, Jesse and his father, Lunt, just to name a handful.) Then you have the deaths we don't see but we know they happen- Frank, Rosa (!!) and Michael. Just some really good balancing to keep us involved.

As you can imagine by the amount of names listed, don't get attached to anyone. I mean it. You will have your heart fucking broken more than once if you do.

The acting is spot on, from the leads to the supporting cast. Everyone was perfect for the role they were given and even the smallest part had something important to do. The chemistry between Tim Roth and Genevieve O'Reilly was off the fucking charts, though, and their characters are so, so fucked up that they are perfect for each other. I never did warm to Anna, but that wasn't the fault of Abigail Lawrie; that was just my deep abiding annoyance of the character. 

I almost think you can watch season 3 on its own, because there is no carry over from seasons 1 or 2. Now, you'll miss the slow dawning of realization of how off the wall the characters and the plot is, and maybe you're the type of viewer who needs 5-7 episodes to get the feel of a show and what the showrunners are trying to accomplish. Season 3 only has 6 episodes, so you're not going to get that there. But if you can hop into something feet first with little lead-up and are ready for a large body count and black humour, then S3 will be right up your alley.

As for the ending -which I'm not going to spoil completely- I think we have to go back to the idea that we're not meant to view things through a 'real' lens. If we'd been given any indication that there was a semblance of realism up to the end of season 3, then sure, the end is fatalistic and that's that. But think about what they've been through up to that point. Would it be so far-fetched (for the show) for the ending to not be anything more than a, ahem, jumping off point for their new life?

I don't even know if I can recommend this show. Lol! It's so not at all what you're going to think it is going into it. I mean, here's the Google summary:

Deep in the heart of the Canadian Rockies, a recently emigrated police sheriff and his family try their best to survive in a charming mountain town rife with crime and corruption. Sheriff Jim Worth struggles with the ghosts of his past as he attends AA meetings, and his wife, Angela, tries to integrate in the town of Little Big Bear. At the same time, a massive oil company, North Stream Oil, opens a refinery just out of town, bringing with it a swath of migrant workers, rising crime levels, and pollution. When a friend of Jim's dies under mysterious circumstances written off as a suicide, he butts heads with representatives of the oil firm when he tries to uncover the truth of the matter.

Um… yeah but no? I mean, it would be like me summarizing 'Alien' as: "A group of space garbage collectors pick up something that could change their lives forever."

It is so barely scratching the surface of the show that I'm sure I wasn't the only one who got 4 episodes in and went, "What the fuck am I watching? I was led to believe—"  Well, don't believe it. But if you like Neo-Noir (almost) ultra-violent vengeance stories where you blindly wave away the protagonist's body count because sometimes he's actually likeable, sprinkled with a liberal dash of sex appeal and dark humour, then this is totally the show for you. Don't expect to learn much about Canada, though, (except how beautiful it is). Trust me, I'm Canadian.

Oh, and the person in charge of music has picked some perfect songs. I've made a short playlist of some of the songs, but if you want all of them, go here: https://www.tunefind.com/show/tin-star/season-1/52281

Here's a playlist of my favourites that I hope links properly:

If you give this show a shot, to let me know. I would LOVE to talk to you about it!

[daincrediblegg]

okay your turn if nobody else has asked: TOP FIVE JH CHARACTERS GO

... girl... how does one choose? how does one??? when there are so many beautiful boys??? ok. OK I'll give it a shot.

5. Captain Crow - The Sea Beast This film is just incredible on every front. One of my favorite concept artists worked on it (which I did not know until a few weeks ago but now that I know I feel like kicking myself because I REALLY SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THEIR STYLE WELL ENOUGH BY NOW). But I remember watching this, and screaming when the credits began to roll because WAIT?!?!?! THAT WAS JARED HARRIS??? OH!!! WHAT A DELIGHT!!! I LOVE THAT GUY!!!! (oh babygirl wait a few months it's gonna hit you so bad). He's great. I hope we see more of him in the sequel that would be great for me.

4. Hari Seldon Honestly. What a little shit. "But Egg," you might ask "If he's such a little shit why is he on here?" well. He's hot. Really I am not over how hot this dude is. I know I couldn't fix him not in a million years. But idk. Something about him always makes my brain go brrr. So he's on here. Also I just love how fucking atypically written this show is and I have a wee soft spot for asimov. They didn't have to cast Jared as Hari and make him unbelievably hot. But they did. And he's so enigmatic. I love that.

3. John Lennon Egg's love for Jared Harris Origins. I was a Beatles girlie, ok? I'm not ashamed to admit that. It was my introductory fandom experience at the ripe old age of baby, and I really ate it up. I remember going into this movie being like "oh it's some dumb TV movie about John and Paul how good can it be?" Very good, as it turns out. And having assigned myself a John Lennon girlie I literally could never get over this depiction. The mannerisms, the fucking tripped-out way he philosophizes in conversation, the softness, and ofc the old friends tension. Jared got it all. Of course I'd seen him in stuff here and there, but this was the one that cemented him as a beloved actor in my mind for me (I literally re-wound the kiss scene as well like 20 times don't judge me but that awakened some stuff in me). Been following him ever since.

2. Lane Pryce - Mad Men This dude broke me for real. I didn't get into Mad Men until college, and binged it all on my friend's hulu account. And lemme tell ya. Did NOT see his final episode coming. Did not. And it made me genuinely weep. He was a highlight in the show. He was one of the only guys I could actually say is a good dude in that show, and he deserved so much better than he got in the end. I look at him and I'm just like... leave ur wife. Leave your job. Lets just go out of this capitalistic hellscape. I want to make him Well. I will love him forever for how he just completely destroyed me.

1.Francis Crozier / Valery Legasov - HA! you thought I was not going to tie them? WRONG! I can't keep these bad bitches apart.

Francis really needs no explanation at this point. I am so actually genuinely in love with him I'm writing a whole ass gothic romance novel of a fic for him, as you all know (and which has summarily turned out a BANGER of a modern AU as well). I made a bloody self-insert oc for him. Gothic Cinema is literally my favorite genre and Francis is the most Gothic Hero of all time, honestly (well besides Valery obviously). The serotonin he continually gives me makes my meds redundant. He is my sweet husband who I love with my whole life and that's that.

And Valery? sorry you can't put a babygirl of a man like that in front of me and not expect that I would want to jump his bones like? Not only is the constant existential dread relatable, but as much as people tell him he's not brave, he IS without a doubt, and honestly, just by virtue of uttering the most iconic logline ever fucking created he deserves this spot on this list. Both of these dudes make my soul ascend in a certain way not just with how brilliantly they were written, but with how incredibly Jared executed them (for which I want to kill the academy for not giving him awards on either). Top Beloveds forever and ever and ever amen.

[ahitfan5]

Hoo boi... The Forge was so GREAT !!!

Ooh man ! Yesterday , I went to see the Kendrick Bro's movie called the Forge and it is a sequel to their film, the War Room ( which I haven't seen before so I need to go watch that one ) and me and my parents watched that movie at Eaglewings Cinematics ( which is a Christian movie theatre that is owned by a devout Singaporean Christian , and that guy owns the company called Eaglewings and it is based on the verse from Isaiah 40:31 and it says '  they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint' ) . But yeah for the movie, i gotta say this movie does have some emotional parts to it, and those emotional parts really touched my spirit deep inside and it has made me cry my eyes out and it really inspires me and also my parents too , and really this movie is SO FREAKING GOOD ! And I give it a 100/10 :)

The actors themselves really are SO VERY WELL DONE , and they pull off the expressions and their emotions SO FREAKING FLAWLESSLY !

There are some humor moments here and there and man when you need to feel emotional , it is RIGHT THERE AND HOOOOOOOOOOOO BOI IT IS SO GOOD !!!!

Soundtrack , ABSOLUTELY SO GOOD TO LISTEN !!!

Cinematography is VERY WELL DONE AS WELL !!!

Although , one thing that I have to make a small nitpick, NOT on the movie though, it's just that the cinema theatre room was quite loud to say the least and I wished they could have turned it down , and that me and my parents were sitting at the very top of the cinema hall where the speakers were, and most of the time while I was watching it , i was having Airpods on the whole time while the movie is going on though ... Wish they could have lower down the music a little bit, but eh ... that's what it is when you watch a movie in a cinema huh? That is a small nitpick on that alone, but really despite the loud music that is blasting at the very top level of the theatre hall, I was having a blast watching this movie , and my soul and spirit were being challenged by it too.

For those who want to see my summary review for the Forge ( warning for spoilers for those who haven't seen it yet, Seriously , if you YOURSELF LOVE JESUS and what He did for you , I IMPLORE YOU TO PLEASE GO AND GIVE IT A WATCH !!! ) Here it is :)

There was this young teen boy but he is like a non-Christian and he was being a jerk , and he is looking for a job , and there was a guy who works for this fitness thing but it’s for like an overseas ministry , and the guy who works for this fitness place , he gets the young boy to come to Christ , and there have been some struggles with him and the dad, but the guy who runs the fitness place , tells him that just give it all to God . And that as the boy reads the holy bible , his life and behavior began to change , and during almost like the end , the fitness place has a lay off , but the boy told the people , we are pushing it until we can get al the orders out , and they delivered , and at the coffee place , the boy finds the girl who’s working at the coffee place and her dad who was working there , he came in to apologise to the both of them , and also at the post credit , the boy bumped into the girl , and the both of them are doing high school . All in all , 100/10 !

and here is what Google has to say of the summary of the movie itself:

A year out of high school with no plans for his future, a boy is challenged by his single mom and a successful businessman to start charting a better course for his life. Through the prayers of his mother and biblical discipleship from his new mentor, he begins discovering God's purpose for his life is so much more than he could hope for or imagine.

Seriously , I IMPLORE YOU GUYS TO PLEASE GO AND GIVE THE FORGE A WATCH !!! This really touched me in so many ways and that this movie has challenged me in ways man... This movie is SO FREAKING GOOD !!!! I'm sorry for all this gushing about The Forge, but it is really SO GOOD ! PLEASE GO AND GIVE IT A WATCH MAN !!!!

The movie pushes and challenges us christians to be the light in this dark and hopeless world that we live in right now, and to make disciples and to spread it everywhere in the world , and that prayer is EXTREMELY SO FREAKING POWERFUL , and forgiveness , respect , responsibility .

This movie IS SO, SO, SSSSSSOOOOOOOOOO FREAKING GOOD !!!

Seriously, PLEASE GO AND GIVE IT A WATCH !!!!

Alright , i'll stop now with me gushing over this , this is my first time doing a review on my this hatty time blog on here , and I hope you all have a blessed rest of your day and that I need to sleep right away ! So good night and I hope you all have a blessed and awesome day :)

[forensicated]

The Bill - Series 1

This should have been a 12-episode series, however it was cut short to 11 by the industrial dispute between Thames and a technicians' union meaning only 11 were completed by the time it went to air. The final 12th episode was rewritten to become the final episode of series 2 instead (The Chief Supers Party)

The strike led to an alteration in the order of the series airing for everywhere in the UK that wasn't London. In the London 'Thames' offices, members of the management aired episodes 2 and 3 (A Friend In Need and Clutching At Straws) in their usual timeslot themselves after the technicians had walked out. However at the other ITV companies (Tyne Tees/Yorkshire etc), the technicians refused to play any Thames Television programmes so episodes 2 and 3 aired at the end of the series after The Sweet Smell Of Failure.

The 'station' was a former cigarette packing warehouse in Wapping on the corner of Pennington St (the cobbles in the credits) and Artichoke Hill. It was so small that the offices doubled as production offices. Using an actual building to film in; although rare in the 80s; rather than a set allowed a feel of realism because the cameras could follow actors out of the station and onto the street.

Karen England and Paul Page Hansen are the credits 'walking feet'. They appear as extras in the first series.

Jon Iles (Dashwood) and Tony Scannell (Roach) were only supposed to be in 2 episodes. The actors were so well-liked on set that they remained.

Larry Dann was only given the job as Peters the day before filming of series 1 began because the original actor kept forgetting his lines.

Robert Pugh refused to commit to a series so Galloway was recast and John Salthouse joined the cast.

Peter Ellis originally auditioned to be in CID but it was thought that he was too old. However, TPTB wanted to keep him on board so they cast him as Superintendent Brownlow.

Peter Dean's character, Sgt Wilding, was changed to Eric Richard's character, Sgt Cryer. In the time between the pilot and the series, Dean had joined EastEnders and couldn't commit to The Bill.

Taffy undergoes a complete name change from Dai Morgan to Francis Edwards. In Woodentop he gives his first name as 'Dai' which is Dafydd or David.

I know it's the 80's but it's jarring just how many are smoking and the amount of moustaches - and that's just the women!

They're still known as Uniform Oscar as they were in Woodentop.

Chris Ellison appears in 3 episodes (one this series and two the next) as 'Tommy Burnside' rather than his identical twin brother (!!) Frank as he becomes. Tommy is nothing like Frank, he's more a weedy pain in the arse.

Funny Old Business: Cops And Robbers

Sgt Bob Cryer arrives at work at 6.25am to find a prisoner being loaded into an ambulance after an epileptic fit. Right from the off Bob is shown as warm and well respected. He greets everyone the same, be it CID officers or the cleaner or a secretary (both of whom he says hello to by name). Sgt Alec Peters explains that the station doctor passed the man off as drunk only when he was brought in by Reg and 'PC Burton'. The doctor could be in quite some hot water...

Jim is clearly more at ease now, however, it's not stated in canon how long has passed since Woodentop. Best guesstimates are approximately 1 to 2 months given Woodentop mentioned school holidays would start soon in the briefing and Bob says that the kids are about to return to school. Both Dave and June bring up the youth that Jim clipped round the ear, Viv calls him 'The New Boy', Jim still refers to Hendon exercises as his experience of riots and rough arrests and he is classed as a new face at a cafe uniform frequent when on the beat. Having said all this, Jim makes his first arrest in this episode so it may be even less time!

Jim and June sort of flirt over how much sugar Jim has in his tea. He's a thoroughbred don't you know 😉. Taffy tells JimJim that he reckons June rather fancies him. Jim is not impressed and tells Taffy off for being crude. He insists he doesn't fancy June, that she's still getting over being messed around by Dave and he'd never get involved with anyone from the job. (*cough*)

The series starts to set Taffy up as a bit of a grump from episode 1, a far cry from the "Cheeky Leeky" he was in Woodentop. He has good reason here though as the National Front has been given the go-ahead to march through Sun Hill which means all leave has now been cancelled until further notice. It was due to be June's first weekend off in months so she's doubly unimpressed at JimJim's reasoning that it's the price of democracy. Things have not improved at all between Dave and June. There is however another female PC (not just the unnamed extra Alec 'coorrrrr'ed' at) as Viv has arrived!

Roy has learned from his mistakes from Woodentop and is attending a uniform briefing. He finds it absolutely riveting.

Roy tells uniform to keep an eye out for properties with new double glazing as CID believes they're being targeted in burglaries. He warns them not to touch anything but to remain on scene until CID arrives if they come across one. Bob and Roy have more of a jovial frenemy relationship than Jack and the old Roy did.

"Sometimes Roy, only sometimes, you can be almost human!" Bob is amused when he takes a burglary to Roy that matches the MO that he'd asked uniform to look out for. Roy actually thanks him - now there's a first! Reg takes a man through to see Roy. Later Reg complains to June that Bob is a nosy old git - oh the irony! 😂 "A good Sgt knows everything that goes on in his nick."

Three months of work are paying off for Roy - a team of the same lads from the same company carried out work replacing the windows and doors of a large number of recently burgled properties. The firms managing director tells Roy that the keys are taped to the new doors to avoid getting mixed up - they could easily be taken and made copies of and it would explain why there are no other signs of entry. They wait 4-6 months and then return to the property, letting themselves in by the front door.

Uncle Bob is not too happy to find Jim Jim and Taffy having a water fight in the men's loos after a messy arrest. "Bleedin' Woodentops." he sighs as he watches them go.

June claims Bob won't let her and Viv patrol when the National Front are marching through Sun Hill, claiming that he's such an old mother hen sometimes (again - the irony!). Viv asks her what she thinks of Jim. She reckons he's a bit tasty but they're interrupted by a man reporting that he'd had his pockets picked before June can reply.

Dave is guarding the door of the burgled house, waiting for Roy to arrive. There's a kid who keeps asking them what they're doing. At first they ignore him but Dave tells him in such a quiet and indirect way that he's 'looking for fingerprints' it does make you wonder whether he's just a local kid they allowed to watch 😂 Especially when Roy literally lifts the kid up and moves him aside and they all ignore him for the rest of the scene.

DS Tommy Burnside appears for the first of his three appearances before he becomes DI Frank Burnside in series 4. There's no love lost at all between Tommy and Bob. Tommy insists he'll wait for Roy to return. Unfortunately, Jim's first arrest is a snout of Tommy's and he wants Roy to let him off. Bob tells him it's too late - he's already been nicked and charged. "That's what I like to see, Bob. Co-operation." "Bloody Superstars!"

Roy tells Tommy it's too late as his snout is already in the system. Tommy bluffs that his governor - an old acquaintance of Roy's - won't be happy. Roy pulls him up on it immediately and throws him out of the office. Tommy begs him for a favour and even says please. He explains he's due a result from the snout and the arrest compromises it. He promises they can have him back within a few days. Roy allows him to be released as long as he remains Sun Hill's body. He talks Bob into bailing him for a couple of days because 'he owes him one as does Jim. (In Woodentop this was Jack Wilding rather than Bob who wasn't in the episode). He tells him to bail him whilst 'inquiries are made about the property found in his possession'. "You've got all the answers."

Uniform have been trying to catch a group of pickpocketers for quite some time and so far remain unlucky. Bob and Tom are shocked when a well-to-do man arrives having made a citizens arrest of another man who has badly bleeding fingers. The doctor is called for and it transpires that the prisoner from that morning has passed. The well-to-do man accuses the other of picking his pocket and shows the officers some fish hooks sewn into the lining of his jacket that the man had snagged his fingers on, making them bleed profusely.

Charles and the doctor are old friends and he tries to reassure him that it wasn't his fault. He tells the doctor that a few years ago a woman died because of his actions - or rather his inaction. He reminds him that they are human and that everyone makes mistakes and they just have to find a way to live with it. From what he understands 99% of doctors would have made the same diagnosis with the evidence at hand. The doctor blames himself, claiming it's unforgivable as he classifies it as outright neglect.

Outside in the car, Tommy shows more of a Frank reaction to his snout after he'd had to grovel and eat humble pie to get him bailed. The snout snivels that it won't happen again and is scared of him. What makes it worse for Tommy is that his snout was caught by "A bleedin' Woodentop who's still on probation!", telling him that it'd make him about as useful to him as a one-legged man in an arse-kicking contest." As they drive by Jim and Taffy, the snout sticks his fingers up at Jim, little knowing he'll be returned to Sun Hill by Tommy to be charged in a couple of days.

[a-gassy-antelope]

Miscellaneous Tag Game

Made by the one and only @ronald-speirs <3

Thank you for the tag @grumpy-liebgott ! Am I finally doing this after being tagged almost a month ago?....maybe

Favorite place in the world you’ve visited?

I haven't been many places truthfully. I loved hiking near Niagara Falls and also hiking in the Smokies near Gatlinburg. (I'm going to Alaska later this year so that will likely take the cake for me!)

Something you’re proud of yourself for?

Working 3 jobs while also caring for a terminally ill parent. Not to get too sad, but yeah, that was a time.

Favorite books?

Oof, gonna age myself with this. The Harry Potter will always hold a special place in my heart even though it has aged terribly. Because I am Furniture by Thalia Chatlas made a big impact on me as a teenager. One Flew Over The Cukoo's Nest by Ken Kasey is a favorite classic. Recently Dead Inside by Chandler Morrison kept me very entertained with pure shock value (although I just finished The Slob last night and it by far takes the cake for the most disgusting thing I've ever read)

Something that makes your heart happy when thinking about it?

When I think about the people I choose to surround myself with. I am a very open person with those I love. Once someone is in my inner circle I am a no boundary kinda person. Let's cut the small talk and bare all our trauma and then tease each other about it. Let's rot on the sofa together. It makes my heart happy to know that I have people I can be like this with.

Favorite thing about your culture?

...what culture... I could say there's a certain culture of the American Midwest that i love. Mainly the 'midwest goodbye' where you stand in the front door chatting for way too long, then in the driveway then in your car with the window rolled down. Also, ever had a midwestern dessert salad?????

When did you join the HBO War fandom? What was the first show you watched?

Well, my brother is older than me and he was very much ww2 obsessed. So watched Band of Brothers way younger than I probably should've. Probably when I was like 8? When I got into my career there was this song at work that would play and it felt so oddly nostalgic until one day I realized it sounded the intro credit music for Band of Brothers. Then it was put on Netflix and it was all down hill from there. Very different to watch again as an adult vs what I remembered from my childhood.

Have you read any of Easy Company’s books? If so, which ones were your favorite?

I just finished Dick Winters' memoir not that long ago! I think I'll read Shifty's next!

Favorite HBO War character and your favorite moment with them?

Everyone in b.o.b is my precious baby. See that generic white man? Yep, thats my child. Honestly though there are certain quotes from various characters that just scratches my brain. Buck with: "Your ass?!" Webster with: "You ignorant, servile scum! What the fuck are we doing here?" and the cadence in which he says "Don't salute the Germans!" Liebgott with "Hershey Bar!" Winters with: "What's that? A piece of paper? I dont wanna see another piece of paper" and Speirs with: "You talk to an officer you say 'sir' " (totally not because it made me feel some type of way)

Do you make content for any fandoms, if so; what sort of content?

I have made Band of Brothers stuff here on tumblr, classic text post as memes. Ao3 I've made Band of Brothers, Star Wars and My Hero Academia content!

Favorite actor/actress and your favorite film of theirs?

hm....that's hard to pick a favorite. Meryl Streep is always delightful, as is Gillian Anderson. Natalie Portman? Keira Knightly? ok, ok, maybe I should list a man...James McAvoy. Jack Nicholson. I dunno, I don't like picking favorites.

Favorite quote/s that you wish to share with others?

"I paint self portraits because I am so often alone...Because I am the person I know best." This Frido Kahlo quote really sticks with me because I feel like I can relate to being isolated and enjoying spending so much time on my own. I am my best companion and draw from my own experiences and emotions.

Random fact your mutuals/followers don’t know about you?

I am a licensed massage therapist and I work with patients with chronic pain and injuries. I love my job and my patients even though it is a very draining profession.

If you’re a writer, do you need a beta reader (say yes so I can be your beta reader 🤭)?

I am a writer! I want to say that I'm open to beta readers but I am also simultaneously afraid of others reading my work and embarrassed that people might not like it. That being said, I am working on a multi part Winnix fic rn.

Three things that make you smile?

My pets: a cat, 2 snakes, 2 leopard geckos and a pink tongue skink

Sweet gestures from my partner (or their dumbass jokes)

Writing!

Any nicknames you like?

Instead of Alex, a friend once called me Al Pal and I'm bewildered that it took me over 20 years to ever hear that.

List some people you love to see around on tumblr!

Uhm, everyone???? I love seeing people share whatever they're passionate about or find cute and funny. I love when people love things unapologetically! @grumpy-liebgott, @blueberry-ovaries @lewis-winters @easycompany123@andromeddog @hanniewinnix and honestly so many more!

What would you do during a zombie apocalypse?

I have two options. Get to my Marine Corps brother who is a borderline doomsday prepper but lives an hour and a half away or die immediately.

Favorite movie?

Again with the favorites? Some of my comfort movies include: Pride and Prejudice (2005), Mamma Mia, Hellboy 2 The Golden Army (specifically 2, not the first one) and Coraline

Do you like horror movies?

Yes! If my above mentioned books weren't an indicator. I love modern paranormal, 80s slashers and any Vincent Price movie

Tagging (no pressure!) : Also, Sorry if you've already been tagged! (does anyone else get nervous tagging people for no damn reason?)

@hanniewinnix, @pettypumpk1n @multifandomfanfic @hbowarandchill @fxxiva

[twistedtummies2]

The Price May Be Right - Number 11

Welcome to “The Price May Be Right!” I’m counting down My Top 31 Favorite Vincent Price Performances & Appearances! The countdown will cover movies, TV productions, and many more forms of media. Today we focus on Number 11: The Inventor, from Edward Scissorhands.

While Vincent’s role in this Tim Burton classic is rather small – he’s only onscreen for about five minutes, that’s less time than he had as Baka in The Ten Commandments – it is certainly a memorable appearance. This is not least of all because this was actually Vincent’s final theatrical movie, at least officially speaking. (More on what I mean by that later in the countdown.) Price actually passed away three years after the film was released; there’s actually a misconception this was the last piece of acting Price ever did, period. This is untrue: his ACTUAL last film was a TV movie called “Heart of Justice,” which I must confess I’ve never seen, and he also did some voicework for the cartoon show “Tiny Toon Adventures.” However, it’s perhaps not so bad that “Edward Scissorhands” gets so much credit, because it truly does feel like a swan song for the great actor. For those who don’t know, the plot of Edward Scissorhands is a sort of pastiche of both Pinocchio and Frankenstein. The kindly Inventor – who acts as a sort of combo of Dr. Frankenstein, Gepetto, AND the Blue Fairy all rolled into one – is only seen in flashback sequences that explain the main character’s origins. It’s revealed that, long ago, the Inventor was a humble tinkerer who made wacky food-processing machines up in his tower laboratory. Lonely and aging, he was inspired one day to take apart one of his machines and turn it into a real human being: he wanted a son. It’s not entirely clear how the man managed it, but he did, bit by bit, create Edward from the ground up, and raised him with kindness and sweetness galore. Unfortunately, there was one part the Inventor never was able to give Edward: his hands. In fact, in the ultimate heartbreaker, the Inventor died of a heart attack while in the middle of trying to give Edward the hands he had made for him. Helpless, Edward watched his father die as his lovely would-be hands were ruined at the same time, leaving the poor dear alone for many, many years, until a young lady found him in the tower…but that’s another story. Well…technically the same story, but that’s the extent of Vincent’s role in the proceedings. While the part is small, Vincent still manages to give – in the twilight of his life – a sensitive and surprising performance. The Inventor is memorable not simply because he’s played by Vincent Price, but because of the gentle-hearted and slightly humorous way Price plays the character. He’s an endearing figure in the film, as so much is learned about him and his relationship with Edward not through dialogue, but through their expressions, mannerisms, and the world in which they live. The movie is, in many ways, the kind of film Vincent was used to doing: a stylish, Gothic, but slightly off-kilter picture, with its roots in classic literature. And it is perhaps ironically fitting that – much like Christopher Lee would do with Saruman in “The Hobbit” Trilogy – Vincent’s final cinematic motion picture depicts him not as the villain, but as a good-hearted sage.   Tomorrow, the countdown continues as we move into the Top 10!

[xtruss]

The Comic-Book Aesthetic Comes of Age in “Across the Spider-Verse”

The Spider-Man sequel might be the first superhero film to take full advantage of what comic-book art can achieve onscreen.

— By Stephanie Burt | June 14, 2023

Each of the Spiders in “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” brings not just an art style but a personality and a backstory.Art work by Aymeric Kevin / Courtesy Sony Pictures

The latest comic-book movie associated with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” certainly knows what kind of film it is. Most of the movie follows Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy, two animated teen-aged Spider-People, but, for the sake of the fandom, live actors from live-action blockbusters make surprise cameos. Gwen quips at one point that Doctor Strange—last seen in the M.C.U.’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”—should not practice medicine. Miles’s high-school roommate references another audience favorite, “Spider-Man: Homecoming” (2017), when he tells Miles, “I’m not your guy in the chair.” Inevitably, there is a meme-inspired scene of Spider-Man pointing at Spider-Man. This is the kind of self-aware fan fodder that, in lesser films, might feel tired.

And yet “Across the Spider-Verse,” which came out on June 2nd, does something that no live-action superhero movie has done before—or can do. It leans hard into, and emulates onscreen, the storytelling devices and the visual flair that make comic books special. Even more than its predecessor, “Into the Spider-Verse” (2018), the film feels designed to show young people, many of whom were raised on superhero movies, why they might care about the comics that launched these characters. It does this so well that, at a time when some Marvel movies haven’t been doing so hot at the box office, “Across the Spider-Verse” has already raked in nearly four hundred million dollars. At 7 p.m. on a Wednesday night, with local schools still in session, my seventh grader and I found most of the seats in our suburban multiplex full.

The first scene in the movie reintroduces us to Miles’s long-distance best friend, Gwen Stacy of Earth-65, a.k.a. Spider-Gwen (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld). Her world looks painterly, as if rendered by brushes and pastels; she often appears in Expressionist shades of blue and pink. That’s how the rest of the film will roll: each Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, or Spider-Villain, and each new Earth on which they live, has its own eye-popping art style. Miles (voiced by Shameik Moore), a Black Puerto Rican physics star who draws in all his notebooks, inhabits a world that evokes hip-hop album covers and graffiti. Miguel O’Hara, or Spider-Man 2099, comes with clean lines, techno details, and RoboCop vibes. Spider-Byte appears as a glowing avatar like the nineteen-eighties film “Tron.” Pavitr Prabhakar, a.k.a. Spider-Man India, swings through his home city of Mumbattan, all tropical colors and curvy architecture. (When characters move between dimensions, they pass through a portal made of hexagons—a basic geometric unit of Hollywood animation.)

Almost all of these characters existed in comic books before they hit the screen, and, crucially, all of them have what the scholar Hillary Chute identifies as the core property of comics: they look like somebody chose to draw them. They bear the mark of their creators’ hands. The Spot, a villain who sets the movie’s main plot in motion, looks like a blank page splattered with ink; each of his splotches opens up a little wormhole, in the same way that the pen stroke of a comic can open up another world. The animators of the film owe a lot to Marvel’s comic artists: the credits thank a “Black Panther” illustrator, Brian Stelfreeze; a co-creator of Miguel O’Hara, Rick Leonardi; and the nineteen-eighties titan Bill Sienkiewicz. All three have contributed to the making of “Across the Spider-Verse.”

The film’s version of Miguel O’Hara (voiced by Oscar Isaac) behaves like a stern, bad Spider-Dad. He resolves to stop Miles from disrupting something called a Canon Event—a plot development so important that it has to happen in every parallel world, lest the entire universe be at risk. “You break enough canons,” Miguel warns, “and we could lose everything.” He sounds almost like a Marvel Comics editor, telling writers that they can’t go too far. (One writer, Grant Morrison, called their longest project at Marvel “more like a prison than a playground.”) In the tradition of print comics, the film offers explanatory notes in 2-D colored boxes; some of them, in an homage to the comics of the nineteen-seventies, are even signed “--Ed.,” for editor.

Like all the best teen superhero comics, “Across the Spider-Verse” hints, or more than hints, at real-life dual identities. The colors that tend to accompany Gwen, blue and pink, are the colors of the transgender flag. A poster in her bedroom says “protect trans kids,” and her father, a police officer who initially has no idea that she is Spider-Gwen, sports a trans-flag pin on his uniform. Gwen tells Miles that her parents “only know half of who I am.” She also wears her hair in an asymmetrical undercut—which, my seventh grader told me, is often a sign of trans or nonbinary identity among Gen Z. (It should not be confused with a half-and-half, my seventh grader added.)

Miles and Gwen both have well-intentioned cops for dads, who try hard but can’t seem to stop enforcing rules. In one scene, Miles tells his father, “Men of your generation ignore their mental health too long.” In part for this reason, Miles and Gwen feel the kind of solidarity that young people can share only with one another. When they finally get some tender alone time above a twilit Brooklyn, Gwen asks Miles, “How many people can you talk to about this stuff?” He tells her, “You don’t even know.” That’s what happens when trans people meet one another, too—something that the Internet pointed out right away. (This isn’t the sole Spider-Man film to be interpreted as an L.G.B.T.Q.+ allegory; some viewers saw Tom Holland’s Spidey as transmasculine, too.)

“Across the Spider-Verse” is a sequel, but it’s arguably the first superhero film to take such full advantage of what comic-book art can achieve. At the Guggenheim Museum, Gwen has to fight a version of an old Spidey villain, the Vulture, who looks, in her words, like a “big flying turkey from the Renaissance.” He’s drawn in the style of ink on parchment, with the scratchy, busy lines you’d expect from a goose-quill pen. He’s not just from another Earth but from a different artistic universe. Elsewhere, several Spider-People chase Miles across the body of a rocket and up what appears to be a space elevator. Theoretically, C.G.I. could help live actors imitate some of these stunts—but not in such colors, and not with such dynamism and glee. In another sequence, Miles races a moving subway train while he fights a pangolin-esque villain, who rolls up in an armored ball. In a live-action film, the scene would cost a ton and still look cheesy. With animation this artful, it’s all part of the fun.

Comics are at their core a visual medium. “Everyone’s first response to your work will be to the visual aspect,” Brian Michael Bendis, the co-creator of Miles Morales, wrote, in his 2014 book about creating comics, “Words for Pictures.” In a comic, the script has to serve the art, which in turn has to serve the characters. And this script does. Each of the Spiders brings not just an art style but a personality and a backstory: tragedy for Miguel, teen heartbreak for Gwen, dad jokes for Peter B. Parker, that lovable sad sack from “Into the Spider-Verse.” (There’s even a Spider-Baby.) Each character and each gadget—one is called a Go-Home Machine—says something about generational change. Today’s kids may feel that they can’t live up to adult expectations and still be themselves. Where, if anywhere, can they find heroes?

Maybe Gen Z could find them in superhero comics, but it’s not clear that they’re reading many. The best-selling U.S. single-issue comic book of all time remains “X-Men No. 1,” published in 1991, which moved more than eight million units; in the past ten years, the best-selling superhero comics have tallied half a million instead. “The captive audiences of the pandemic era are out doing other things,” the comics journalist Heidi MacDonald wrote this year. When Zoomers read comics, it’s often via online platforms such as Tapas and Webtoon, which span genres from high fantasy to romance, or else in all-ages, slice-of-life graphic novels. (“Guts,” by Raina Telgemeier, was America’s most-purchased book—not comic book, book—one week in September, 2019.) “Across the Spider-Verse” could help to boost printed comics. Marvel has leaned hard on movies to promote Spider- titles, including the made-for-mobile online comic “Spider-Verse Unlimited.” Viewers who want to read stories that look like the Spider-Verse might also check out recent issues of “New Mutants,” by Vita Ayala and Rod Reis, in which feelings are more important than fisticuffs, and the expressive art fits the strong emotions.

“Across the Spider-Verse” is full of astonishing action, but a quiet scene midway through, when Miles and Gwen finally get a moment together above Brooklyn, might be the most affecting in the film. It lets viewers—including my rapt seventh grader—contemplate what young people want from one another, what they can never get from adults. Perhaps it’s a budding romance. Perhaps it’s trans bonding. These moments set up the conflict that comes later, when Miguel O’Hara tells Miles what he must do for the multiverse, and Miles, facing a superhero-level trolley problem, just says no. And the whole thing takes place, beautifully, with Brooklyn inverted: Miles and Gwen, using their tenderness, and also their powers, conduct the whole conversation upside down. ♦

[adamwatchesmovies]

Cinderella and the Secret Prince (2018)

While I didn't enjoy this film, that doesn't mean you won't. No matter what I say, the people involved in this project did it: they actually made a movie. That's something to be applauded. With that established...

There's something particularly devastating about watching a bad movie that could’ve been good if circumstances beyond the filmmaker’s control hadn’t mucked things up. Right before the end credits of Cinderella and the Hidden Prince, we see concept art of what the characters should’ve looked like. They look great. As good as anything Disney has put on-screen. I'm certain the voice actors saw these images and got all excited. I can picture the art director/character designer telling their friends and family about this animated fairy tale they were working on and then dying of shame once they saw the final product.

Ella “Cinderella” (voiced by Cassandra Morris) is forced by her wicked stepmother and step-sisters to work as a scullery maid in her own home. When her mouse friends Alex (Chris Niosi), Manny (R. Martin Klein) and Walt (Tony Azzolino) discover an apprentice fairy godmother in the woods (Crystal, voiced by Kirsten Day), Ella gets the chance to go to the royal ball and meets the kingdom's prince. Unfortunately, Olaf (Stephen Mendel) isn’t a prince at all. He’s a puppet of the Wicked Witch (Stephanie Sanditz), who has transformed the real prince into a mouse!

If you’ve had the misfortune of seeing 2012’s Cinderella 3D, this one’s cut from the same cloth. Ugly characters are REALLY ugly but not in an intentional way. The "handsome" prince has his eyes set just a bit too far apart, making him look like he’s a fish man. Cinderella’s mouse friends (well, two are mice, one’s a hamster) are hideous creatures whose size changes from scene to scene. At best, this looks like a bargain-bin knockoff of Tangled. Most of the time, it doesn’t even reach the level of Happily N’Ever After. Some assets were obviously taken from an animation library because you can see their cycles end in the middle of a scene.

Despite the lackluster visuals, you can picture the movie this could've been if it weren’t trying to tell the Cinderella story. When you think of the classic fairy tale, certain elements come to mind: a poor girl forced to do labor, a fairy godmother and most iconic of all… a crystal slipper left behind at midnight. That last one? not in this movie! Instead, we have a quest for a magic ring to restore the not-so-secret prince to his human form. This mission takes over the entire film, which would be fine if it was what we’d signed up for.

As Hoodwinked has taught us, all could've been forgiven if the writing had done some heavy lifting. At several points, it feels like there are scenes missing. One moment, Cinderella and her friends spot a colossal ice mountain all the way across the forest. Seconds later, they’re inside, exploring a cave that looks like it belongs to a completely different film. The characters are thin, unlikeable, or both. At several points, the story contradicts itself. We learn, for example, that the prince was turned into a mouse when he was five years old. When he’s restored to his true form, he suddenly knows how to ride a horse and is an expert swordsman. Did he master these skills when he was a toddler? Then there’s a reveal about the evil witch that makes no sense and an epic conclusion that raises far too many questions. It’s clear some people on the team were trying but they were outnumbered by people who just didn’t care.

You can appreciate a film wanting to take a familiar story in a new, fresh direction but good intentions don't mean anything if the end product is kind of ugly, often annoying and poorly written. Don’t get me started on the one musical number. It’s so bland and generic you'll forget the lyrics as soon as the following line begins. Even for little kids who don’t discriminate, Cinderella and the Secret Prince would be a hard sell. (May 7, 2021)

[denimbex1986]

'Cillian Murphy has certain opinions on the new age of superhero films. The apparently never-ending stream of superhero films began in 2002 with Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, a great popcorn watch. But then, in 2005, filmmaker Christopher Nolan released Batman Begins, launching a high-quality, dramatic, and dark trilogy that wasn't simply a superhero movie but, well, a cinematic excellence. Since then, companies have been encouraged to explore the Marvel and DC archives for every single character and Avenger to be adapted for the big screen. But after recent Marvel and DC films, many feel a different way. So does, Cillian Murphy. In a 2016 interview with Vulture, the Oppenheimer actor revealed his thoughts on superhero movies.

Cillian Murphy revealed his thoughts on superhero movies

Cillian Murphy, like many of us, wonders if we're running out of caped crusader stories to adapt. In a 2016 interview with Vulture, Murphy said, "Have they exhausted every single comic book ever? I don't know where they're coming from anymore.” Murphy, who played Dr. Jonathan Crane, a.k.a. Scarecrow, in Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises, posed an intriguing question.

Those three films emerged at the same time when widely accessible special effects helped spawn a surge of movies deliberately designed to spread worldwide, resulting in the glut of half-baked, spandex-laden blockbusters that have followed.

The Oppenheimer star revealed while he was promoting his then-film Anthropoid, "It was a different time back then when we made Batman Begins. I believe Christopher Nolan deserves credit for creating that trilogy of films. I believe they are grounded in relatable reality. Nobody in those films ever had a superpower. Do you understand what I mean? It's a slightly elevated level of storytelling in which New York is transformed into Gotham and no one performs any magical feats. In his films, Batman basically performed a bunch of pushups and pretended to be British. That is what I liked about them.”

Murphy's Anthropoid co-star Jamie Dornan perked up and spoke up from the couch. "Do you remember when you were a kid and you used to wonder, 'Would Batman or Superman win in a fight? That is exactly what studios are doing right now. They're having playful rivalries like, 'Oh, who do you think would win in a race between these two?' 'Oh, why don't we make a bloody movie about it?' they think. It's like going to the park."

To which Murphy replied, "I think they're going to make a Rice Krispies movie starring Snap, Crackle, and Pop; I'm hoping to be able to play Crackle."

Cillian Murphy on the work front

Cillian Murphy is famously known for his part in the hit series Peaky Blinders, but the actor has recently been making headlines for his amazing performance in Christopher Nolan’s directorial Oppenheimer, where he starred as the lead character J. Robert Oppenheimer. Meanwhile, Murphy received a lot of love and appreciation from the world for his depiction of the role. Oppenheimer went on to become one of the global hits of this year.'

[pynkhues]

Roles or projects you want to see the succession cast take on next? And somewhat related but any career predictions for the main cast? I wonder if Succession will be the high point for a few of them or if some will go on to win Oscars...

I can't take credit for this one, but I saw someone comment somewhere that Jeremy should work with Ruben Östlund, and having finally watched Force Majeure last night, it's literally all I can think about. I'm not sure if it would be that much of stretch though really, as I think Östlund has a similar sense of humour to the Succession writers and explores similar themes of wealth, masculinity and toxic families, but the way he utilises nature to amplify tension feels like something new and I just think Jeremy would eat it up, haha.

I think his interests as an actor tend to skew towards drama, and I do suspect he has directors he wants to work with (his last three films being quite weighty / noteworthy directors in Guy Ritchie, Aaron Sorkin, and James Gray [albeit I thought they were all weaker offerings from all three directors unfortunately]). I'm not sure if I can see him flipping genre at all really, but he might for the right director in that sense. I would like to see him in something that maybe toes the line between drama and genre? I think he'd do well in a gothic period drama like The Little Stranger or The Others, or a magical realism thriller like Barton Fink. Ooo, actually, I think he'd be great in something by the Coen Brothers.

I'd also really love to see him in a Jane Campion movie. I think he'd really work in a moody, tense, romantic period drama like The Piano or Power of the Dog, and I think they'd work well together given Jane generally encourages immersion with the actors in a way that plays with method acting in the way Jeremy seems to.

On that note, I would love to see Sarah work with Jane Campion too, particularly in something like The Piano or my personal favourite, Bright Star. I think she's got such a good look for it and would eat up that sort of sweeping romance (I am forever bitter we didn't get her Persuasion with Joel Fry).

Really, I think Sarah can pretty much do anything and I do think she's more adventurous with genre than Jeremy is. She's already done high sci-fi (Predestination), quite a bit of horror (Jessebelle, Winchester), prestige drama, romcoms and even family films. I'm curious as to her new one about the rise of the beanie baby empire, but from the trailer it doesn't look like she's being given much to do, which is a bummer.

I'd love to see her in more lead roles, and I'd especially love to see her work with Jennifer Kent, who between The Babadook and The Nightingale has a real knack for sharp edged, damaged women on the edge. I think she'd be great in a David Fincher project too, something like Mindhunter or Gone Girl - - ooo, actually, I'd love to see her in an adaptation of Gillian Flynn's Dark Places (I don't count the Charlize Theoron adaptation).

I guess that means I want to see her in crime? Haha, I do think her comic timing is underrated though too, and I think it could be fun to see her in more of that. Maybe a Wes Anderson style thing?

After watching Sorry to Bother You a few weeks ago, I was actually thinking about how good Kieran would be in a Boots Riley film. I think Kieran's energy naturally lends itself really well to absurdist comedy - a big part of why he could sell some of Succession's more unhinged moments, haha - and there are so many interesting directors operating in that space at the moment that I just think Kieran would sing with. Particularly the Daniels (Everything Everywhere All at Once, Swiss Army Man), Yorgos Lanthimos, and Taika Waititi.

Oooo, actually, I think he'd be great in something by the Safdie Brothers too, something like Good Time or Uncut Gems. I didn't particularly like the latter, but I do think they're interesting directors, and I think they could do something with Kieran that really lets him show off his range again. I'm not sure if I can see Kieran really doing high drama any time soon (which is kinda funny given he has done it before), but it'd be great to see him in things that straddle genre-lines. Oh, actually, I think he could be great in something by Jordan Peele too.

Okay, this got suuuper long, so I might just leave it there, haha.

[crazyworldofemmamarie]

Day 12 of Rammstein's Countdown to Halloween and it's a Special One tonight!

WARNING SPOILERS (in case anyone is planning on seeing it)

Saw X (2023, dir. Kevin Greutert. )

Plot: Set between Saw (2004) and Saw II (2005), The film follows the infamous jigsaw killer, John Kramer after traveling to Mexico for a risky and experimental procedure in order to cure his illness. However, it turns out to be a scam and the now cheated man turns the tables on his con artists.

Okay, I don't know where to even start. This was a absolute rollercoaster ride, I gotta say. I mean, I am absolutely speechless.

I'm not even gonna lie to you, I have cringe or been so freaked out by movie violence in such a long time and this film managed to just make me go, 'ahh!' and 'oh my god' and 'no, no, no' so many times, it was crazy.

I'm in love with this plot and I think this is just as good as the first one. I mean, the storyline just runs so smooth. I really like how it was very character driven, we got to know each character very very well. We were given time to understand the victims and I found especially John himself and in all honesty this film really fixed some holes to John Kramer's character. I feel now that I understand him a bit more, because we were allowed to see his thought process. Beforehand, we would of called him a hypocrite, and I'm not gonna lie I tend to tease about his character all the time but I found with this film it really opened up to his thought process. He's just a human, who is really unwell, and knows it in some way but is almost in denial and is just trying to get by, and that's how you make sure a horror villain gets any sympathy, in my opinion anyways.

I really enjoyed Amanda's Kramer interactions and honestly Kramer's interactions with everyone was extremely natural and not odd like I find they usually are. (I did laugh when John was speaking metaphorically and Amada is like: "He does that a lot." That was great.

I also appreciated how it showed Amanda taking more charge and being a part of making and running the traps like we see Mark Hoffman do in earlier films and I find we don't see enough of the apprentices working on traps and I'm glad the filmmakers were thinking the same thing.

The traps were excellent as always and I think my favourite would have to be towards the end with the waterboarding trap; and my number one reason is that one, it was a trap Kramer himself took part which was shocking and with twist on twist it was the most complex and riddled with conflicts that honestly is such a strong representation of humanity. Kramer and a young boy fighting to sacrifice one life to save another was just so beautiful.

I enjoyed the nostalgia this film gave, there were moments where I be reminded of the films that came before it. It has a modern vibe, but I really enjoy that green/red/blue tint that gloomed over certain shots which leads me to the next thing I really liked the lighting and the cinematography for the film, there was just certain shots where the lighting and shadows casted on the actors faces just right and it really complimented them and I love it when film do that.

And of course, we got to see fan favourite Mark Hoffman and Amanda Young, now hopefully maybe the next move we can see all of the apprentices, Amanda, Hoffman, Dr. Gordon and Logan in the same film, either interacting with each other or doing their apprenticing duties. I would love that.

Even Mark Hoffman had a great line, "Epic Bad Luck" was great and it's defiantly worth sitting through the credits to see that.

This movie honestly made me, cry, laugh, gasp and even cringe. It honestly deserves the attention that it has gotten this year and I think it's best of the year so far. I highly recommended anyone who is a fan of the franchise, the genre or even just horror in general to go and see it. The ride is worth it for sure.