#its would go bly manor hill house midnight mass then house of usher

[meat-kat-ultra]

Finally watched The Haunting of Hill house and I'm left with two main takeaways.

1. Every Flanagan show will make me cry atleast once

2. This really makes me want to rewatch the Rose Red miniseries.

[holyguardian]

tag nine people you'd like to know better

I. favourite colours: This answer changes all the time for me. Currently my favourite colour is green, followed very closely by white and blue.

II. favourite flavours: Intense! If the recipe asks for 1 garlic clove no it didn't it wants the whole damn garlic — I love curry dishes especially, anything with strong flavour has my whole heart (I think that comes from a childhood of the saddest bland foods imaginable haha).

III. favourite genres: High fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery. I think that sums up my general interests.

IV. favourite music: If it reminds me of my blorbos I'll listen to it. I have playlists on my phone so I can listen to character-inspired bops on the go. Ashnikko, AURORA, Cloudy June, Elle King and Stela Cole get honourable mentions. I also love soundtrack music. Final Fantasy XIV soundtracks by Masayoshi Soken are top rated, and I know I was once pretty obsessed with Ramin Djawadi's work on Game of Thrones.

V. favourite movies: The Lion King and The Mummy for nostalgic reasons. James Cameron's Avatar franchise for showing me what cinema could be. My favourite of all time is a tough one to choose, probably Princess Mononoke.

VI. favourite series: Beef, Brooklyn 99, Community, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, Game of Thrones, Midnight Mass, Samurai Champloo, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, The Glory, The Haunting of Hill House / Bly Manor, The Last of Us, The Witcher.

VII. last song: ENDWALKER: FINAL FANTASY XIV Original Soundtrack — Flow.

VIII. last series: The Fall of the House of Usher. Carla Gugino is absolutely my celebrity crush.

IX. last movie: It has been so long since I last watched a movie, I think it was Barbie back in August of 2023. It was okay at best, wouldn't want to spend the money on a ticket if I knew what I was walking into. Disappointed because I thought it was going to be a silly little time from the trailers, it looked like something that would be fun and quirky with more humour in the plot (especially since it seemed marketed as something kids would love to come watch too) but its attempts at existentialism and feminist commentary fell flat for me.

X. currently reading: Nothing currently, unless RecipeTin Eats cookbook counts. Dinner by Nagi Maehashi has been an absolute winner for me.

XI. currently watching: At the moment I'm only really watching things on Youtube, specifically Charlotte Dobre and Gab Smolders.

XII. currently working on: The bigger and more meaningful things are weight loss and keeping up with a skincare routine. Next on my list is a new makeup routine but foundation is far too expensive for me to replace right now. I'm also finishing off abandoned videogames, I blasted through Breath of the Wild (and desperately want to chew on Tears of the Kingdom now) and I have Resident Evil 4 sitting there and taunting me.

tagged by: @stingslikeabee 💖 tagging: @cyberpawn @enokvirkow @flamesofrebirths @hautevaux @kunselxsoldier @mystiic @noblehcart @poeticphoenix @tsckcyomi

[fiercynn]

was in bed all day so i watched the entirety of the fall of the house of usher. i'm mixed about it overall, but i think it may have actually been the best plot-wise of the mike flanagan shows i've seen?

spoilers for all the mike flanagan tv shows except the midnight club (which i started and was intrigued by, but fizzled out on when i found out it had been cancelled) beneath the cut

my problem with both hill house and bly manor is that i think that plot-wise, they set up interesting stories and then can't stick the landing and go out with a whimper out at the end. they do an okay job with emotional arcs, but you can't entirely divorce the emotional journey from the bones of the story - at least, not in these kinds of stories - so the plot still matters, i think.

(imo midnight mass does not do that, it tells exactly the story it wants to tell and constructs it decently; i just found that story really boring lol.)

so while i think bly manor was still the most enjoyable of the shows to watch, the fall of the house of usher might be the best in my book at plot, and i enjoyed the way it used poe stories amd poetry with its own twists on them. and i think with a few changes could have been really good overall! here's what i would have changed:

less racism. i mean it was probably average amount of racist for both a flanagan show and, generally, a majority-white cast & crew american show, and i know the whole thing was about how horrible rich people are, but there was still so much casual racism, sigh

like 40% less monologuing. i know, i know, that's flanagan's whole deal, but it's still too much even when it's performed by actors as enjoyable as bruce greenwood and carla gugino, and isn't all about catholicism (sorry midnight mass fans)

pretty early on i thought that the reveal about what happened on new year's 1980 would be madeline and roderick killing rufus griswold. but then after roderick betrayed auguste at the deposition i was like "wait no that's too obvious, they must have killed annabel to keep her quiet about roderick's perjury" and honestly i think that would have been a better twist??? like even the bells they were hearing behind the wall made sense to me because her name was annabel! and it would have been a murder roderick felt guilty about on a personal level, and it might have made sense that he would take the deal from verna if her pitch was "you already sacrificed your wife who you loved. don't you want to make it worth it by having some certainty for you and your children for at least a number of decades?" so i was bored when my original predictable guess was right. i guess it fit better with the cask of amontillado to have it be rufus but still, less compelling

the scene with arthur showing pictures of verna throughout history was SO silly and hamfisted, i'm sorry. also the lemons speech, the worst kind of example of a flanagan monologue which thinks it's brilliant and is just...goofy

i thought maybe there was going to be a twist where lenore didn't die because her mom had actually cheated on freddie and i was upset that didn't happen :( i know it was meant to be a lesson, that roderick and madeline's deal had to apply even to the not-horrible members of the family, but i still hated it! sigh

i thought that both lulu wilson (child madeline) and willa fitzgerald (mid-20s madeline) did a much better job with the character than mary mcdonnell (senior madeline). idk something about her just didn't seem as ruthless and collected and cold?

also not a change exactly but why did no one comment on the fact that roderick and madeline usher, who are twins, one of whom was married at the time, decided to do a couples' costume as jay gatsby and daisy buchanan for new year's 1980. why

[slavicafire]

I can understand your frustration with Flanagan's decision to jettison basically every aspect of the novel for the Netflix Hill House, although I think that the 1963 film is authoritative enough that no further straight adaptations need be made (and the 1999 film shows how badly it would likely go).

I'll check out Midnight Mass. Is there anything of value in Bly Manor? I haven't read The Turning Of The Screw so my only frame of reference in The Innocents.

ah, true that.

for bly manor, pedretti's performance was for me the peak of the show, along t'nia miller's. it was actually surprising how little miller was allowed to shine through most of usher - with the exception of her character's final episode which was one of the rare highlights of the show - because she basically stuns in bly manor.

there's some nice suspense and the sets and photography are fun, but if you were disappointed with the direction hill house took in its later episodes then it might be similar there - I feel like the momentum of that series was all over the place.

I did like bly manor, personally - but it has to be said I watched it before reading the turn of the screw and it was the very first of flanagan's adventures in horror that I've seen, too, so I approached it with zero expectations - and I haven't rewatched it since, hence my reluctance to recommend it.

[celiastjamesoscar]

Damn, the practical sounds so interesting though! It's much cooler than learning dry information all the time. Applying the things you have studied to a "real" situation definitely makes the whole situation much cooler.

Lol you can project onto me, I don't mind. I am a very impulsive buyer when I really want something but generally I'm like Mr. Krabs, saving every penny. Right now though I really want a new perfume, game and the Sam shirt...

AND OMFG GRACE YOU ARE SO RIGHT!! I WOULD GIVE MY LIFE TO BE CAMILLES ASSISTANT!!! Episode 3 with "You're fucking Tina" made me laugh. Camille is my favorite character that Kate has ever played, I am in love. Though I am mad at Mike for you know what in ep 3. I really like this show! It's gruesome in its own way and I adore how Mike amanges to make every character so complex and interesting. Hill House will forever be my favorite Mike show, just because of the scary atmosphere, the characters and story overall but House of Usher takes spot number 2.

I hope you have a great day!!

I like taking the practical more just because it’s more of a ‘hands on’ type of exam. I got a 79.93 on the practical I took yesterday, and I’m so pissed because that’s almost a B, like dude couldn’t have rounded it up .7 points 😭 the exam I took on Monday I got an 83 which is a B, and I feel pretty good about that!!

Impulsive buying is the worst, and i need to stop it. I wish I was like you and saved every penny!! What new perfume are you wanting?

EPISODE 3 WAS SO FUCKING GOOD!!! watching that show is making me wish I was a nepo baby born into a multi billion dollar family just because of all the fancy houses 😭 the ending to episode 3 was evil and I haven’t had time to start episode 4, but my parents and brother will be out of the house tonight, so I’m going to stay up late and finish it!! I want to crawl around inside Mike’s mind so I can experience the greatness of it. The fact that he has the ability to determine my personality for the next 2-3 months is absolutely insane, but I 100% trust him with it!! once I finish The House of Usher, I will rewatch Hill House and maybe Bly Manor (if I’m up for the emotional distress). I definitely do like House of Usher better than Midnight Mass though!

Thank you love and I also hope you have a wonderful day as well! <3

[grigori77]

2021 in TV - My Top 10 Shows

10.  THE WHEEL OF TIME

I’ll admit it, I’ve never read Robert Jordan’s fantasy novel series, but I’ve heard it’s supposed to be one of the true greats of the genre, so while I’ve always put off wading into the books I figured this might be a good way for me to try it out.  I’ve heard conflicting opinions on it since its release and I’m now aware of some of the myriad differences it has to the books, but I’m happy to just go off my own impressions of the show … and I like it. From a pure storytelling point-of-view it’s far from perfect, but there’s plenty to enjoy here, and the world-building here is pretty exquisite, showrunner Rafe Judkins (Chuck, Agents of SHIELD) helping to craft a robust beast of a grown-up fantasy epic that’s a strong candidate to pick up where Game of Thrones unceremoniously left off a few years ago.  Certainly Amazon Prime have a winner on their hands that looks set to run for years once they’ve ironed out all the flaws that prevent this from being something truly great (although there were, reportedly, a lot of problems that had to be circumvented throughout production and post to get it out in the first place, chief among them being a certain pandemic), while the characters are, by and large, a compellingly well-drawn bunch I’d like to spent more time following in the future, especially Rosamunde Pike and Daniel Henney as Aes Sedai sorcerer Moiraine and her badass bodyguard Lan.  Ultimately this is a solid first season that lays some very solid groundwork for the series to come, and holds great promise for the future.

9.  DEBRIS

Boy, this one is FRUSTRATING. Back when this new NBC sci-fi thriller series from former Fringe showrunner J.H. Wyman showed up I fell hard and fast in love with it, discovering a new geeky TV obsession to indulge in … and then in May the network went and cancelled it after ONE BLOODY SEASON!  It really IS frustrating, cuz this was GREAT STUFF, a dark, edgy, intriguing and beautifully mysterious offbeat series which presents a baffling premise and then takes its time unravelling the truth, a big, multi-layered onion with potential to run for several seasons without getting old (damn it).  Best of all, though, was the palpable chemistry that very quickly developed between Jonathan Tucker and Riann Steele (who looked set to break out big time from this) as the CIA and MI6 operatives brought together to investigate strange phenomena unleashed by the remains of a space station that broke up in the atmosphere under very mysterious circumstances indeed – they were a worthy successor to Mulder and Scully, and would have made further seasons a real joy to watch.  For eff’s sake, NBC …

8.  MIDNIGHT MASS

Writer-director Mike Flanagan comes close to matching the magnificent heights of his spectacular Netflix miniseries The Haunting of Hill House (and its admittedly clunky but still perfectly enjoyable follow-up, The Haunting of Bly Manor) with this thought-provoking, subversive and deeply inventive deconstruction of organised religion and small town faith.  Hamish Linklater (Legion, Fargo) dominates the series as Father Paul Hill, the new priest of the isolated New England island community of Crockett Island, who effectively seduces his new flock through a series of eerie miracles, while a few of the more rational townsfolk (including Flanagan’s wife and regular screen muse, Kate Siegel, once again an absolute delight throughout) come to realise that something is deeply wrong.  Leaving the spooks and spirits behind this time, Flanagan channels his own Catholic upbringing and later lapse into atheism as he tackles the tough themes of blind faith and choice while also weaving a slowburn spell of Lovecraftian dread that builds to a terrifying and chilling climax.  Given that his next collaboration with Netflix is set to be an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher (undoubtedly with his own unique, imaginative twist), his impressive small-screen track record looks set to continue – but in the meantime I can’t recommend this enough.

7.  SWEET TOOTH

I love Jim Mickle.  As a writer-director he unleashed indie masterpieces like his debut, Mulberry Street, breakthrough Stake Land and criminally overlooked suspense thriller Cold In July on more discerning cinematic audiences, before trying his hand at small screen entertainment with the short-lived but deservedly cult, darkly comic crime caper series Hap & Leonard, so it was only a matter of time before he came out with something which TRULY struck the zeitgeist.  It’s finally here, an exceptional adaptation of Jeff Lemire’s twisted fairytale of a Vertigo comic book, following the misadventures of Gus (Pup Academy and Playing With Fire’s Christian Convey), a naïve and sheltered half-human/half-deer mutant child created by The Sick, a lethal virus that led to the collapse of society, traveling across a crumbling post-apocalyptic America in the company of Nonzo Anozie’s gruff but big-hearted reformed killer Tommy.  The tone is dark and troubling but with whimsy and fun on offer too, bolstered by Convey’s moving and endearing turn as an unrepentantly upbeat dreamer, while the world-building packs a healthy dose of wonder to lighten to mood too.  It might not be suitable for younger audiences, but it’s definitely a series tailor-made for those of us who are still a kid inside, so Netflix’ decision to renew it for a second season certainly is welcome news.

6.  WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS (season 3)

Given that Taika Waititi’s original feature film was already powered by a killer central concept, turning it into a TV series for FX was something of a no-brainer, and the first two seasons were strong evidence that it had legs too, but it’s in its third season that this show goes from being already really great to something TRULY SPECIAL.  Maintaining the long-established mockumentary format, we fall even deeper in love with the stuck-in-their-ways vampire quartet eking out their self-important existence in the supernatural underworld of New York���s Staten Island, and all four are, as ever, each every bit as entertaining and reprehensibly adorable as they were at the start (none more so, of course, than Matt Berry’s lascivious career rake Laszlo), but once again the story shines brightest when focused on the group’s token human, long-suffering wannabe-vampire retainer Guillermo (the consistently brilliant Harvey Guillèn), who’s still coming to terms with the fact that he’s a distant descendant of infamous vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing.  Thoroughly hilarious, effortlessly endearing and deliciously subversive throughout, this has become one of the very best sitcoms of the century to date, and it doesn’t look like it’ll run out of steam any time soon.

5.  LOKI

Marvel really put maximum effort into their plan to conquer the small screen as thoroughly as the big with their new MCU-based series for Disney+, and while What If was an inconsistent misfire with a few decent episodes, Wandavision, The Falcon & the Winter Soldier and, in particular, Hawkeye have certainly succeeded far more than they’ve failed.  Even so, none have come close to equalling the heights of this exceptional follow-up to the game-changing AU-birthing antics of Endgame, seeing a post-Avengers “variant” of Tom Hiddleston’s irrepressible Asgardian trickster god captured by the TVA (Time Variance Authority), who police the Multiverse making sure the various alternating universes’ timelines run according to plan.  Hiddleston is as lovably irascible as ever in what remains his very best role, while Owen Wilson matches him scene-for-scene as laconic TVA agent Mobius, who enlists Loki’s help in hunting down a particularly troublesome variant of himself who’s wreaking havoc on the timelines … even so, the whole series is comprehensively stolen in a single episode by Richard E Grant, who’s clearly having the time of his life bringing fan-favourite “Classic Loki” to life.  A spectacular treat of wildly-inventive imagination, a thoroughly irreverent sense of humour and solid gold universe-building, this is not only Marvel’s best TV offering of 2021, but arguably the best thing they’ve done all year PERIOD …

4.  SHADOW & BONE

Leigh Bardugo’s wildly popular Grishaverse series of edgily different high fantasy novels is brought to life in this new Netflix series, guided with consummate skill and flair by showrunner Eric Heisserer (the screenwriter of Arrival, Lights Out and Bird Box).  Set in a world where near-immortal spellcasters known as Grisha help to defend the land of Ravka from its warlike neighbours, it tells the tale of Alina Starkov (All About Eve’s Jessie Mei Li), the long-awaited “Sun Summoner” who’s been prophesied to finally dispel the deadly perpetual blight of The Shadow Fold.  Thing is, Alina wants none of it, although the Darkling (a particularly sexy, seductive turn from the perfectly cast Ben Barnes) might have something to say about that … in the end, though, the series is really dominated by Freddy Carter, Amita Suman and Kit Young as the Crows, a trio of criminally-adept ne’er-do-wells determined to exploit Alina’s newfound powers for their own nefarious ends – they’re a delightfully complex and endearingly offbeat bunch who make every scene they’re in SING.  Rich, rewarding and surprisingly original, the central premise is a corker and the series maintains a high quality of storytelling skill and world-building brilliance throughout, weaving a consistently seductive spell throughout and, ultimately, setting things up perfectly for the already promised second season.

3.  THE WITCHER (season 2)

Netflix’ strongest effort to date at creating a new Game of Thrones delivered a blinder of a first season, showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich creating a pitch-perfect adaptation of Polish fantasy writer Andrzej Sapkowski’s wildly popular literary series which got things off to a cracking start back in 2019, and this highly anticipated second season EASILY improves on that already deeply impressive foundation. Once again, Henry Cavill exceeds expectations as the gruff and grumpy titular mutant monster-hunter, Geralt of Rivia, now revealing hitherto barely hinted-at hidden reserves of feeling and fatherhood as he takes destitute young princess Cirilla of Cintra (Freya Allan, excellent as ever) under his wing, while the show’s once again roundly stolen by the incomparable Anya Chalotra as perma-scheming mage Yennefer of Vengerberg and another thoroughly game turn from Joey Batey as lovably pathetic bard Jaskier.  Now finally able to jettison the non-linear narrative that frustrated some viewers of the first season, things are allowed to progress in a more straightforward manner this time around, the story delving deeper into the political and social intricacies of “the Continent” (including a fascinating fresh element as we finally get a proper look at the elves of this particular world), while the action continues to maintain its impressive levels of intensity in another robust selection of suitably gruesome set-pieces, while the creatures are as icky and inventive as ever.  If the series continues to maintain these standards throughout the already greenlit third season and beyond, this could come to dominate small-screen fantasy as surely as Martin’s magnum opus once did …

2.  INVINCIBLE

Legendary comic creator Robert Kirkman’s had a few big small-screen successes to date through adaptations of his work (none more-so than The Walking Dead, of course), and his rewardingly faithful adaptation of my favourite of his own works is no exception.  It was a very bold move of Amazon Prime to create an adult animation series out of one of the edgiest superhero comics out there instead of going the live action route, but it pays off beautifully here, the series bringing the characters and panels to vivid life through some stunning top-quality 2D animation.  TWD’s Steven Yeun delivers a pitch-perfect vocal turn as Mark Grayson, the half-human/half-alien son of Superman-alike Omni-Man (the mighty JK Simmonds) who learns it’s nowhere near as easy as it looks becoming a superhero as he assumes the alter-ego of Invincible when his own powers finally come in.  This is definitely not for kids – the violence is pretty extreme, but it’s all straight out of the comics so I wasn’t at all surprised by the gore, and the show as a whole really does a spectacular job of deconstructing the whole superhero genre while poking not-so-gentle fun at its various sacred cows.  The result is a thoroughly entertaining grown-up romp that rewards strong-stomached viewers with a tour-de-force, deeply nuanced thrill-ride with a gleefully dark sense of humour, fascinating, well-written characters and some very big action indeed.  Roll on the incoming second (and THIRD) season …

1.  ARCANE

Netflix’ best offering of 2021 just might be the best thing they’ve ever done – it’s certainly on a par with other true masterpiece flagship properties like Stranger Things and Altered Carbon.  It’s also quickly become one of my all-time favourite EVER animated series, boasting a truly GORGEOUS visual style and quality that I’ve rarely seen the equal of (about the closest I’ve seen to this is the similarly amazing work done by the team who brought us Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), and it’s a show that owns a truly incredible 100% Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes and thoroughly deserves it.  Riot Games branch out into TV with this intriguing and essentially flawless prequel/adaptation of their popular League of Legends series, delivering an origin story for several of the video-games’ key characters as we follow the tale of affluent steampunk-fantasy city-state Piltover and its uneasy relationship with its own oppressed, unruly “undercity”, Zaun.  Hailee Steinfeld and Ella Purnell (Miss Peregrine’s School for Peculiar Children, Army of the Dead) dominate as orphan sisters-turned-bitter enemies Vi and Powder/Jinx, two of the most compelling and intricately-written female protagonists I’ve ever come across in ANY genre, but there are plenty of similarly memorable supporting characters to be found here, particularly Katie Leung’s righteous but rebelliously feisty Piltover enforcer Caitlyn Kiramman, Lucifer’s Kevin Alejandro as troubled but idealistic young inventor Jayce Talis, and Jason Spisak, who brings us a wonderfully complex villain in articulate and ambitious Zaun crime-boss Silco, although there’s so many other great faces and names in here I could be here all day.  This is one of the most well-designed, well-appointed and, quite simply, WELL-MADE TV series I’ve come across in quite some time, visually stunning in every single frame, a genuine triumph for every single person who clearly put a hell of a lot of effort into its creation, and every single penny that Netflix put into its creation is right there on the screen. It’s already been greenlit for a second season, and I can’t begin to express how excited I am to be getting to see more, no matter how long the wait might be for it so long as they do it as right as they did here.  Nothing else I’ve seen on the small screen in 2021 has come close, and it beats a lot of other stuff I’ve seen so far this century too …

Honourable mentions:

Brand New Cherry Flavor (Netflix), The Great (season 2, Hulu), Foundation (Apple TV), Only Murders in the Building (Hulu), Locke & Key (season 2, Netflix), Pacific Rim: the Black (Netflix)