#jesus that was like a movie….. a spectacle

[allyougottado]

HELLOO!! for ship bingo what about Cygnus/Captain Crimson which my mind crafted up recently......

where is the option “if they talked it would be totally funny”

i think they’re both SADDDDD like cygnus is begging for a possible past lover to come back while captain crimson’s precious plum (both ship and lady) ARE PROBABLY DEADDDD :(

could they fix each other? make each other worse? idk and that’s why its very interesting to me… thank u for enlightening me on this 🙏 thought it was just some funny thing

also they both look cool standing next to each other. steampunk and pirates are both cool statements. also matching red is COOL

[violentlydefending]

oh damn i completely forgot riz ahmed was in nightcrawler LMAO it's been a hot second !!

[lolahasmoxie]

Take a Trip - E.M.

I saw this AMAZING post from @shieldofiron and I had to do it.

P.S. I'm high right now. Rock on.

Pairing - Eddie Munson x Teacher reader

Warnings - drugs, casual intimacy, Eddie being a dumbass.

"Eddie, I'm home!" You didn't look inside your home as you removed your shoes at the door. Hanging up your coat, you turn your head when you hear socked feet quickly approaching.

"Hi, Baby, how was your day?"

"Not bad," you reply as Eddie dips to kiss your lips. "The kids were pretty good today, but I am so glad it's Friday, and I get you to myself for two whole days."

"Same," he replies with a dopey grin. He'd been pulling extra hours this week so that you could have an interrupted weekend.

"So, where are we going for date night tonight?" you ask as you walk past Eddie. "You never told me what we were doing for your pick?"

"Yeah," he replies shamefully, a hand rubbing his neck as he tries to catch up with you. "I don't think we'll be going anywhere tonight."

"What do you mean?" you ask, and stop dead when you spot Wayne sitting on the couch. He's staring at the TV, a bright cartoon playing as he smiles and laughs to himself. "Edward, what the fuck did you do?" you whispered, still loud enough that you caught the older man's attention.

"Y/N!" he says happily, and before you can say anything, Wayne rises from the couch and speed walks up to you. He wraps you up in a hug, and Eddie watches the whole spectacle with a bemused yet guilty look.

"Hi, Wayne," you begin. "Everything okay?"

"Haven't felt this good in years. Eddie made some homemade brownies; I didn't know he was so good in the kitchen, did you?" You sigh as your brain deduces what is happening. You glance over at your man, who now looks simply guilty.

"He is a whiz; in fact, I need to talk to the chef in the kitchen. Why don't you go back to your show?" Wayne nods, and when he's back on the sofa, you grab Eddie's hand and drag him into your kitchen.

"Now, before you say anything,"

"How much did he take, Eddie?" Eddie looked you in the eye as he mumbled an answer under his breath. "Loud enough for normal people to hear, dingus."

"Half a pan."

"HALF A PAN!" you say, shocked. Edward quickly shushes you as you rub a hand down your face. "Jesus H. Christ....you know we haven't been on a date in two weeks?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"And that I was really looking forward to spending some alone time with you because I fucking miss you?" Eddie nods as he hangs his head. You let out a sigh as you assess the situation. "You know you owe me big, right?"

"One step ahead of you," he says with a boyish grin as he deems it safe to approach you. "I have a table at Enzo's tomorrow night, and the Hawk is showing your favorite movie, so I figured we could check it out after."

"Good save," you reply, and Eddie grins as he leans in to kiss you. You wrap your arms around his neck and pull him in. "Make sure to label your shit next time, Dr. Feelgood?" Eddie chuckles before he presses his forehead to yours.

"Yes, ma'am. And I can start making it up to you tonight if you'd like?" You pull back and study his face, waiting for him to continue. "Why don't you have a piece of brownie while I go upstairs and draw you a bath. Then, after Wayne has passed out, I will give you 35 uninterrupted minutes of oral sex."

His eyes are eager, eyebrows raised as you contemplate his offer. Those pretty chocolate orbs are laser-focused as you pretend to have an internal debate. "Make it 45, and we have a deal."

"Wow, twist my arm, why don't you," he says with fake annoyance. "I will do this for you; it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make." He makes a vigilant face, and you can't help but laugh at him. You pull him in and press your lips to his to allay his pride when he starts to pout, and deep down, you hope that this feeling you have with him never goes away.

"Now, my Lady," he begins with his Dungeon Master voice. "You grab a brownie, and I'll set up your bath." There's a quick peck to your lips, and your sweet boy is heading to your bathroom. You cut a piece of brownie and pop it in your mouth, smiling when you realize Wayne's assessment was correct. This brownie is fucking delicious.

As you take another bite, you hear Waye guffawing at something that happened on the TV. You turn your head when you hear Eddie come back into the kitchen. He bows and makes a sweeping gesture to the hallway. "My Lady, your bath awaits."

You kiss him on the cheek when you're in front of him, but Wayne's laugh stops you both before you can say anything.

"At least he's having a good time." Eddie offers, and you put a hand on his shoulder and shake your head.

"You realize he is going to murder you tomorrow, right?"

"It's Wayne; he wouldn't harm a fly," Eddie says with surety. "And if I'm wearing my running shoes in the morning, it's for a totally unrelated matter."

"Sure it is," you chuckle. "Now, you go babysit your Uncle, I’m gonna take a relaxing bath. Naked. While touching myself. Have fun!"

"Evil, EVIL woman," he mutters under his breath before he heads to keep an eye on his Uncle.

BONUS:

The next morning:

"Hey, Wayne. How are you..."

"Boy, if there isn't a mug of coffee in front of me in 5 seconds, I'm putting your ass up for adoption."

"Wayne, I'm 25."

"4, 3...."

"Coffee, got it."

[starchildrenofdustand-ashes]

your incentive to read to the bottom of this post is ✨Ben Vereen in a thong✨

In honor of yesterday being Good Friday and Easter being on Sunday, let me tell you about my current hyperfixation: Tim O’Horgans, original Broadway production of Jesus Christ Superstar.

This version is notoriously hated by Andrew Lloyd Webber- opening night being described as “the worst night of his life” but that’s only because even as a young man he was clearly a curmudgeon who hated fun.

This production is campy, it’s busy, and its clear it relies a lot on the spectacle pillar of theatre, but I love it nonetheless. my favorite version of JSC is the OBC recording consisting of: Jeff Fenholt as Jesus, Ben Vereen as Judas, Yvonne Elimen as Mary, Barry Dennin as Pilot, Bob Bingham as Caiaphus and Paul Ainsley as Herod. Some of the names you’ll recognize reprises their role for the 1973 movie.

I’m gonna tell you a few my of favorite fun facts/ things I noticed based on images and what I’ve read in Nassirs Rock Opera. Without further ado:

Overture: There are many descriptions of the overture, and they're very wild and I have no idea how to verbalize it. But I can tell you that Jesus rode in on a golden chalice with this opulent cape on lol.

You can learn more abt the staging for the overture here. The next pic is of him in his chalice chariot thing lol

Heaven on Their Minds: These are images of Judas and his tormentors. Now, Judas is usually played by a very strong actor, so a visual representation of what he’s going through isn’t really necessary, but I love the concept. They’re these hooded, shadow figures who follow him around and push him about on the stage. They chronically torment him and he fights them throughout the show until it’s time for his death where they lifthim up so he can get the rope to hang himself.

This Jesus Must Die: this one gets me really excited. So the High Priests are on this brige that’s meant to look like dinosaur fossils; and have you seen their costumes?? Like I have so many questions, this is such an interesting take. They keep their elaborate head pieces in the 1973 film, and they also give them a scaffold as a lair, but their costumes/set is so campy here. Really giving off Disney villain. Their part in the show received a lot of criticism because they’re portrayed kinda smarmy, and slinking in the shadows; the portrayal was deemed anti-semantic.

In the 1973 movie, they added the song “Then We are Decided,” between Caiaphus and Anna’s to portray a more human side to the Sanhedrin. That song is never performed, so you can imagine how well that went.

Hosanna

This is probably my least favorite song in the whole album but visually? I have no idea what's going on in this picture, but I love it. So it's a processional and the priests are watching from their lair. Apparently the props are supposed to look like microbes, and I know there was an insane thought process behind this, it's giving protozoa, amoeba realness. Like someone is carrying a giant set of dentures, can you find them?

Pilate's Dream

Costume Design for Pilate, and also Pilates Dream

The Temple: This is another wild one:

No Words, simply watch the Tony performance:

I Don’t Know How to Love Him:

She's so cute, I love her. This song was apparently one of the biggest applause of number, justifiably. I think one of the biggest complaints with this production as a whole, was the use of the gaudy mics. They're interesting. You can watch her performance at the tony's too.

Gethsemane: Apparently, Gethsemane was one of the biggest flops of the night, such a flop that people were laughing lol. It was staged with Jeff Fenholt, alone, center stage. There was this thing that dropped down behind him, O'Horgan dubbed 'The Universe Box'. It was suppose to look like Jesus was singing this song at the precipice of the universe with a galaxy of stars around him. In Rock Opera, Nassir refers to it as 'O'Horgans oversized toy', and there were several things that compared it to decorative boxes and toys from the 80's. I tried really hard to visualize this, because the concept of it sounds super cool. Instead, it looked silly to viewers and apparently Jeff Fenholt (who sings my favorite rendition of Gethsemane) didn't have the acting chops to pull away from the failure of the concept. YOU! DO! NOT! UNDERSTAND! THE! ANGST! I WENT! THROUGH! TO! GET! AN! IMAGE! OF !! THIS!!! DAMMED!!!!! BOX!!!!

Okay, I have to agree, it does look... strange and I would not have guessed it was supposed to represent the universe.

I'm not quite sure what is looks like. 💀💀

(I found the image from a person on TikTok! The account has lots of JCS OBC tidbits )

Pilate and Christ:

There was this really cool set piece that acted as the door to Pilates palace, it was ceasers head, and when the doors opened, it would expand to reveal 6 more eyes and pilate would sashay out lol.

King Herod

This number also got a lot of applause, it was definitely comedic relief, as Herod is often used for. Apparently he was wheeled in inside a giant, green dragons head and it opened to reveal him sitting in like a shell type thing. I'm still trying to find pictures of this prop- after finding the universe box, I am determined! He was in full drag with nails, the dress, the headdress and those fabulous platforms. Those platforms slay, btw.

Apparently there were a lot of high kicks and they did the Charleston lol.

Could We Start Again Please

There was some criticism about this songs placement in the show.This number was said to be not memorable at all because people were still reeling from the show Herod put on I think it's placed perfectly, because it kinda brings you back to the gravity of the situation. Had this song been placed before Herods Song, right after this Judas would hang himself. That's just too much too soon if you ask me. This provided a nice buffer, to settle down and get ready for the angst to come

Judas Death: Here are images of Judas' tormentors helping him take his life.

Trial With Pilate: Apparently this number flopped too. People said it was too long and the positioning of Dennen's mic caused him issues as his voice would cut in and out when he moved. Also, I have no idea what to make of the Roman guards costumes

I love the images of Barry Dennen going feral, pls best Pilate!!

Superstar: aaah,, the titular song. This was another stand out and y'all, If you thought Carl Andersons white fringe was extra? Any Judas getting bedazzled, wearing sparkles or glam during this song??? Yeah, none of that holds a Candle to Ben Vereen fucking coming out and performing this song in a gold thong. I can't make this shit up.

Now, I think this part is pretty cool. Jesus rises out of the ground wearing what's been dubbed 'the chrysalis'. It starts out thin, but each ensemble member grabs a pillar and spread the cape out across the stage. Judas sing this song on a butterfly set piece behind him. Okay metaphor 😩

For the opulence that was displayed throughout the entire show, the crucification was rather simple; he's simply stripped out of the 'chrysalis ' and put on a triangle.

Pls. Anyway. I love this show and we need a revival of this exact production! I'll wait until ALW expires and then find a producer lmfao 😌 There are a few updates that need to be made, but it is absolutely possible with todays technology?? Image updated gethsemane?? Tom O'Horgan your mind, sir!!!! Anyway. I love this production.

If you made it this far, thank you, I hope you now love this production as much as I do. 🫶🏾

[sleepythug]

Thoughts on Coppola's Megalopolis?

have such unusual feelings about it, it's easily my most anticipated film of the year (if your a cinephile it should be) however as elated as I am i'm also a bit trepidatious? if you've brushed up a bit on the best never-made films it's one of the most fabled unrealized projects, and sits in film history in a graveyard alongside: kubrick's napoleon, kubrick's a.i., alfred hitchcock's kaleidoscope, jorowosky's dune, leone's lenningrad, jerry lewis' the day the clown cried, sergei eisenstein's que viva mexico, robert bresson's book of genesis film, carl th. dreyer's jesus, among others...

what makes me trepidatious as equally i'm extremely excited is it's a work of a director's "late style", and with that lies great interest....there's something particularly endearing no matter the quality of the film, is to be updated on the aesthetics, or directorial instincts of a particular artist, see where their head is at yfm. and yet i have seen a couple of the latter coppola films (tetro, twixt), and wasn't so fond of them when i saw 'em although it's been quite awhile, and my filmic knowledge has expanded so I ought to revisit to refresh my memory, reappraise. however, coppola in general is a director of so many different modes, scorsese has his trademarks and has sort of sifted his visual style particularly in the past few features, however coppola has been experimenting with his style, and various modes of filmmaking since post-apocalypse now.

also regardless whether it's good or not, the pickle with megalpolis rn is while it's in the can, it exists, industry people have seen it. it sounds so far from commercial that it won't achieve the kind of wide distribution that you would hope for a new 150m+ francis ford coppola movie, especially one that promises spectacle. so it'll be seen by only so many people potentially in a limited theatrical run, then seen by most via Apple (my guess). Neon would be cool but idk how many screens they could throw it up on, and probably never enough as one would like regardless. kind of a bummer that it'll be another long awaited film event for film geeks like orson welles' 'the other side of the wind', or scorsese's the irishman, that you're first time seeing will either be on a laptop, or flat screen tv

[unsertraumschiff]

ALSO now that I’ve seen it and you’ve seen an actual performance to compare it to, I would love to hear your thoughts on JCS (1973)

I’ll start by placing my letterboxd review here because that kind of does most of the initial speaking for me, I think I need to see it again at some point. However I think the obc members who made it into the movie (Judas, Mary, Pilate) are so good in that movie and honestly most of my problems are with like the frame story and the aesthetic. Also that extra Caiaphas song they added is so stupid. Also the “could we start again please” song I didn’t really like in the movie, however it was in the touring production I saw and actually I really liked how it worked onstage? So I appreciate that from the movie. Also generally I like the way the show’s style has sort of evolved from the og 70s version (especially King Herod. He’s like a drag king/queen in the production I saw). I think the movie just isn’t the spectacle that the show is meant to be (except for superstar and king herod’s song, I wish they had committed to that theatricality.) I am judging solely from the movie and from the stage production that I saw, but I believe the original production was also definitely more subdued but that material truly flourishes when it’s loud and intense and Big

Oh um also one specific ass thing to point out from the movie. Jesus and Judas holding hands during everything’s alright is soooo ❤️ I would like to draw/paint that shot sometime

[multapohja966]

some fav things this year

Read

Detransition, baby - Torrey Peters' book. just adding a one more assurance that it is just as good as everyone says.

Shopping Star as a semiotechnical code modulating Greek femininity in pharmacopornographic capitalism - fun opulence of hard words discussing interesting things. (article utilising Preciado's analysis tools to discuss (post)recession Greece)

Chimamire Sukeban Chainsaw - Rei Mikamoto's insane gory gross, hard to explain, manga about a girl with a chainsaw trying to kill the person responsible for turning her classmates into grotesque minions.

One Piece - caught up finally. yes, it is worth it.

67,292 Things Car Guys Can Teach Transsexuals by Adrian Glenn - part of the 2 Trans 2 Furious zine. as a car guy associate and transsexual i deeply loved this one.

The Shape of Premodern Nonbinarity: A Conversation with Leah DeVun - I'll never stop talking about this article.

Watched

Bronson - Tom Hardy movie, biography of "Britain's most violent prisoner " Charles Bronson. It doesn't completely highlight everything essential about his story (having a less than nuanced view on untreated mental illness and its relationship with incarceration) but it's such a good fucking movie!! And at least artistically very loyal to who it's depicting (insane and absurdist).

this video of jack harlow at a chiropractic appointment - we live such weird fucking times. like it isn't heartfelt but it isn't disgusting either it's just, w-what? eh?

Little chinese everywhere - vlogger Yan who travels though less tourist heavy provinces in China, really respectful look to everyday life in more rural communities. these have given me a lot of peace and joy. a lot of extremely intresting architecture as well.

Inflatables and the adults who love collecting them - by furry youtuber Ash Coyote. Truly a gem of respectful by fandom, of fandom documentaries. Touching and lovely!!

MerPeople - don't touch netflix anymore but this documentary of the mermaid community and industry is incredibly good.

this rose ramdin x html jones vid - the well read terminally online gen z musical artists who get their estrogen money from twitter shitposting are the modern greek philosphers. in the sense that i'd sit on a stone public square step and listen to a convo like this for the whole day.

A normal creepypasta retrospective - there's hope for youtube actually

Cat soup / Nekojiru-sou movie

Earth Maiden Arjuna - early 2000s environmentalist anime series lovers make some noicee. this one is sooo lovely and gorgeous. real hidden gem.

Gigs

Sabaton - as expected, bit of a weird vibe in the crowd demographic :--------D but show itself is an insane fucking spectacle I'm happy I saw. You can really sense these men are swedish, the "my country hasn't been in an active war for two centuries" theater kid energy is wild. Tank on stage.

Death Grips - I'm pretty sure this rebooted my whole brain. Went with close friend, pretty sure my biggest bruise came form her hands.

Antti Tuisku - Farewell gig of the best pop performer in finland. I do not understand how he doesn't pass out on stage with everything he's doing. The jesus allegory album is forever my favorite, it's so genious in how it discusses fame so well while staying funny and self-avare. Neck hurt for the next week due to headbanging.

Suistamon sähkö - small gig yet one of the absolute best this year. (i cried) You need to see these guys live, the vocal ability of the main singers is absurd, it doesn't come through fully in recordings. And they create a very special atmosphere and community within their gigs, literally joined hands and danced in a circle.

[leporellian]

thoughts on broadway and/or the tonys and/or musical theater in general

fuck i never did get around to this LOL here we go

broadway... compels me in some weird way. like for every single complaint musical theatre fans lob at opera- 'it's too much about spectacle!' 'it's too elitist!' 'it's funded by rich people!' (which that last point in and of itself is. Have you ever been to europe. but the way in which opera criticism is uniquely USAcentric is a convo for another time) are all... like... right there in musical theatre on broadway.

arguably those are even more of a problem over in musicals. musicals have Brand Identity. when you think of wicked, every wicked production is specifically built to look the same, with no real difference in direction or performance besides individual casting. (and also that infernal dragon, for some reason, that they never even really actually use except for like one moment where it wiggles around a bit. a lot of my memory of seeing wicked in 9th grade is just remembering how absolutely disappointed i was that they had a big dragon animatronic and they never used it in a satisfying way! like, what the fuck! anyway, again, tangent.) even if there isn't a cohesive brand there's the matter of rights settlements, and certain creative restrictions, and on top of that there's the fact that it is incredibly hard to go watch broadway musicals if you don't have transportation and monetary access to them. (and don't get me started on whatever the fuck "bootleg trading" is. like man they're even inventing capitalism in new places. hello.)

opera meanwhile is the wild fucking west. most of the standard rep works are in the public domain. there's only 1 standard rep opera i can think of off the top of my head that has any creative restrictions in the performance license contract, and given the one creative restriction with that one is "please have black people play the black characters and don't do blackface you freaks jesus christ" i'm totally down w/ it. if you want to go watch opera, there's thousands of recordings on youtube and on specialty sites like operaonvideo.com that just act as a huge performance archive. opera is genuinely one of the most accessible art forms there is with the advent of the internet.

(man remember when hamilton had basically a free raffle for 10 dollar tickets every week or whatever that was? meanwhile the opera company in my college city literally just sells 11 dollar tickets to students and every time you buy one from them it acts like it now has a blood debt to you. crazy.)

broadway is like genuinely so capitalistic it baffles me, godbless. and i do WANT to understand musical theatre better but a lot of the time it just sort of whizzes past my head and i have no idea what to make of it. (that, and theatre kids are.... Well. Yeah)

THE TONYS are equally baffling, but instead of broadway which feels like some strange dystopian world, the tonys have a distinctly alice in fuckin wonderland shit to me. there are opera award shows but none of them are nearly on the same level as the tonys. it's cool that the trophy spins around i think. i think its very obvious the tonys largely exist as a further marketing mechanic and not as like... actual awards, but to be fair thats the point of all awards shows at this point anyway. (well, that and making a lot of people very angry.)

looking at this year's nominations for example. here are some of my thoughts: i forgot about the some like it hot musical, i genuinely have no idea who the audience of that is meant to be. CORN MUSICAL??? who the fuck made a CORN MUSICAL and WHY? &juliet terrifies me with its existence. the plays should unionize together. i dont know why i was surprised ben platt is there i thought he just kind of faded into the walls after the dear even hansen movie or something. isnt new york new york a frank sinatra song. oh shit the sweeney todd revival already premiered? (i dont keep up with broadway news) why is there a corn musical. also when i looked up the tony awards i accidentally typed in 'the toby awards' which is apparently an award show for building design. Anyway thats my analysis as someone who is genuinely so clueless about current broadway news

[spaceoperetta]

Watched from the intermission til the end of Ben-Hur last night! The audacity of having an enter’act like I am at a musical!

The chariot race. Thrilling, riveting, the PRODUCTION. I was blown away for the entire nine minutes.No wonder this is what culture remembers about this movie. I went on wikipedia after the movie ended just to MARVEL at the production.

Sure it was boring after that because the leper stuff was generally a drag I’m like Jesus will cure them we know this and the end was abrupt. But! I really enjoyed it the movie. It’s fun to watch an old school epic.

(And from my wikipedia sojourn, they cut a bunch of Jesus stuff from the book which made the pacing snappier overall and Jesus only showed up like four times, all done tastefully enough. I was here for the spectacle of it all but the entire point is the Jesus stuff 😂)

[mermaidsirennikita]

What are your thoughts on Titanic? Especially as a romance? Do you think Rose and Jack would’ve had a HEA if he’d survived (I suppose romance convention dictates yes)?

I saw it again this weekend in the theater and was reminded how much I love it. It’s such an impressive spectacle and Leo and Kate really do have iconic chemistry and give great performances.

`

Oh, I adore Titanic. I think it's James Cameron's masterpiece (no I am not willing to hear arguments for anything. else.) and the type of movie I wish was made more these days. I've seen it in theaters during one of its previous re-releases. I somewhat purposefully indoctrinated my younger sibling into loving it by playing it all the time when I was watching them in their infancy (one of their first "sentences" was "I'm flying, Jack", a crowning achievement for 13 year old me). The special effects hold up; the script stands up pretty fucking well; the performances are great; it's the kind of un-self-conscious, wholehearted, bombastic movie that isn't made much today. I am, it must be said, a maximalist personality.

As a romance--Titanic, needles to say, isn't a genre romance due to the unhappy ending for Jack and Rose (sort of) but it is an excellent romantic drama. To me, it does an amazing job with getting you invested in a love story between two people who didn't know each other that long but just... clicked. Part of this is due to the script, but I think that basically any successful movie, but especially romantic movies, are successful because of a combination of a good script and good casting. With romance and erotic movies especially, I think that a movie can have a subpar script but make it work as a fun, enjoyable experience if the chemistry is there. Titanic has a good, if unabashedly sentimental script--it's taken over the top by very strong performances from Leo (who.... listen.... morally he is...... going off the deep end and that's all I'll say on that, but he remains one of the most talented actors of his generation) and Kate (who I also find morally kinda bankrupt, but obviously is a great actress--and this was pre "I will do anything for an Oscar" era Kate).

They also had... incredible chemistry. Do people even test for chemistry before casting leads today? Very few people today, I think, even understand what good chemistry is. I keep seeing those Set It Up people (who I like separately as actors, for the record) upheld as peak chemistry. Jesus. Even people who I would say have good chemistry today... often don't have the type of chemistry Leo and Kate have in Titanic and for that matter in Revolutionary Road. You feel the affection, you feel the fondness, you feel a carnality that nevertheless doesn't betray the innocence of the characters (I'm a "Jack was a virgin" truther, and Rose was not but I doubt she'd slept with more than one other person). I'm not ashamed to say that though I have seen this movie more times than I can count--put a few drinks in me and I'll cry at the end. Again. Because you just get so invested in the romance. And of course, also because the movie has like. Popsicle babies. I mean, Titanic was a true tragedy for all involved, and I actually think the movie portrays that pretty well.

But I mean... Yeah, I think those two would've had to get to know each other better, but they would've had an HEA had he lived. I think they clicked very well personalitywise. They loved each other. They had the determination to make it work. The trauma bond alone would've been intense, lol. I also am of the mind that she dies in the end and the final scene is the afterlife, and like.... I'm not saying she didn't love the father of her children... But did she love him AS MUCH? I don't know. Sorry to that man.

But yeah, I agree with you. Sometimes watching it makes me feel sad in a different way, because I feel like the time for movies like that... Truly epic movies where everything looks so tangible and there isn't a ridiculous IP attached and the story is intense and emotionally authentic and makes you feel bad (in a good way) sometimes... It's probably not over forever, but it definitely ain't happening at the moment and I don't see it coming back super soon.

Also, movies where the leads smashing faces actually sell me on their characters wanting to smash faces. Look at this deleted scene (which, yes it was deleted, but I firmly believe that was less because of the intensity and more because Jack was.... not supposed to be that good at kissing, hashtag Jack was a virgin, hashtag this is my door debate). Jesus. When was the last time we saw kissing like that in a movie that wasn't explicitly meant to be erotic~? People didn't give a shit about their teenagers watching Rose strip naked in the movie theater. (Fun fact: pretty sure Titanic is the first movie I saw with nudity? I was six, my parents were watching it at home, my dad was like "Maybe we shouldn't let her see this part" and my mom went "They're just breasts, she'll have the one day" and by God she was correct.)

[blue-is-a-sapphic-color]

For the dreblr ask game 5, 20, 23, 24?

Hellooo thank you for the ask <3

5. What do you think is the most character-defining c!Dream scene?

I'm going to be more general than a single scene, mostly because my analyst days are long behind me. I'd say c!Dream throughout the daedalus arc.

A little late in the timeline and there are probably way better and obvious choices (maybe the revival book montage) but I'll stick with this one.

I think these scenes are the closest we ever were to a c!Dream pov. My mental recollection of these scenes sometimes has Dream looking at Sam in Minecraft instead of the other way around. They are very private moments between c!Dream and c!Sam without the extreme power imbalance that other scenes with them had.

We got the reveal that c!Dream wanted to sleep in the prison cell even after he escaped. We got c!Dream free but freshly out of hell, hiding things from c!Sam, keeping The Plan and c!Punz safe but letting some things slip, revealing some things because it felt good to make c!Sam see how wrong he was about him.

We saw c!Dream kill c!Sam but ultimately, let him go. We saw c!Dream let c!Sam leave.

20. What are some of your favourite pieces of c!Dream analysis?

Oh my, so many. From the OG analyses from @ruby-whistler, to the amazing meta from @simplepotatofarmer. And of course, some of the awesome posts from the loreheads™.

But I'll link two posts that I think never really got the love/discussion about them/their content that they deserved:

c!punz's motivators by @merrinpippy

how c!dream lies by @rutadales

23. To what extent are you a c!Dream apologist?

If we are talking Seriously™, all the things he did to c!Tommy and others are unforgivable, and the stunt he pulled with the boomers is straight out of a horror movie. Any good intentions he has will always be stained black by his completely fucked up morality.

If we're not talking Seriously™, then he suffered a thousand times more than Jesus. He quite literally never did anything without a logical or justifiable reason, and all the crimes he's accused of are greatly exaggerated for the purpose of dehumanizing him and using him as a scapegoat for everything wrong with the server and all its other members.

I think he should be loved like he deserves by like half of the server At Least, starting with c!Sam in this essay I will-

No because I'm serious, c!Sam is just a mentally ill puppycat (he has ocd) who placed his loyalty on the server when he shouldn't have, and just has to learn he can let himself love c!Dream like he's fighting tooth and nail not to!!!

As you can see canon and arguing about morality doesn't serve me At All and I couldn't care less if my meow meow tortures people and is Extremely Weird About, first of all why do you think they're my meow meow in the first place, second of all it's literally all in Minecraft my meow meows aren't hurting anyone irl Calm Down Everyone Let Me Have My Fun!

24. When/how did you become a c!Dream apologist?

Early 2021. The first big dream smp stream I watched was Doomsday from Techno's pov so I was not that invested in clingy duo's fate during the disk finale, I just wanted to Take It All In and enjoy the spectacle aka Dream's performance. Then, the very first prison visit got me Interested, and the subsequent c!Ranboo lore streams got me Hooked. I was big into endersmile then, but I slowly transitioned to being more focused on the prison arc as a whole as well as the prison trio.

This animation was definitely a turning point to my interest in the character. Made my brain invested in c!Dream's mental state and well-being, which means I would never again be a c!Dream casual and would from that point on be a c!Dream apologist <3

[thecynicalcinephile]

So, About Avatar: The Way of Water,

Marvel take notes, this is what CGI can do when you actually give your artists time. However, that may be one of the only good things you can say about this film.

Honestly, I don't feel like there's very much to say about this film at all. It is, at the end of the day, exactly what it says on the tin: just another Avatar film, and everything that implies.

Of course, it's an absolute visual spectacle. The CGI is absolutely impeccable, the creatures are beautiful, and the vast vistas of Pandora remain as stunning as ever. You can almost feel the brutality of the human settlements and actions.

That itself, however, is a large part of the issue. There's absolutely no subtlety whatsoever. No nuances, no deeper meanings, just a black-and-white "uwu colonialism bad" story. Now don't get me wrong, I hate colonialism, but the problem is there's just no substance to this. It's the equivalent of looking at a pretty picture while a politician gives a double-talk riddled speech about how sad it was that we were mean to Native Americans.

Now remember when I said that this was "just another Avatar film, and everything that implies"? This is what I meant by that. The first Avatar film was also ultimately hollow, hence its near lack of impact on popular culture. This is very much what I like to call a "Sins of the Father" situation, in that all the problems of the first film carried over in full force. And Avatar 1 had more than a few problems. Just as both films are hollow, both films are also ultimately exploitative when it comes to their treatment of actual Native American culture.

This is, fundamentally, a film where we go in and look at how beautiful and amazing the essentially gentrified version of the Native American lifestyle would be, make ourselves feel bad about the aforementioned colonialism, and then, through our textbook White Savior Jake Sulley, we let ourselves vicariously feel like heroes for defending the poor pretty blue people. It's turning colonialism and Native American culture into cheap feel-good candy for Americans who want to pretend they're good people without actually doing anything.

Now I'm not saying audiences went in with those intentions consciously, I know I certainly didn't, but that's definitely the itch it scratches and is almost certainly on some level what James Cameron was going for.

Oh, and on a slightly lighter note, as long as we're on the topic of White Saviors and whatnot, Jake Sulley's adopted daughter is clearly being set up as a Jesus allegory. She was a virgin birth and her connection to Eywa is stronger for some mysterious & mystical reason. Now, the issue here is that her birth mother is Sigourney Weaver's Avatar, making her arguably yet another White Savior. I can excuse one White Savior every now and then, but two in the same franchise at the same time is where I draw the line.

Ultimately, if you want some cheap fun visual spectacle, go ahead and watch this movie, I can't stop you. Just don't expect any thrilling social commentary beyond the shallowest of surface levels, and try not to get so distracted by the pretty colors that you forget how hollow the whole thing actually is.

Actually, scratch that, don't watch this movie. Just go watch Avatar 1 somewhere on streaming. It'll probably be cheaper. The above warnings still apply, but at least you won't be rewarding James Cameron quite as much.

[societascriticus2]

In response to the criticism of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games : If it were today, Jesus would be fluid !

Societas Criticus, revue de critique sociale et politique, Vol. 26-03, Éditos : www.societascriticus.com

Michel Handfield, M.Sc. Sociology (2024-08-08). From the French version (2024-07-30) translated with Google Translate. (1)

If it were today, Jesus would be a fluid !

Who is the most important female character around Jesus? Mary Magdalene, an easy girl, as we would say today. Who was the apostle who was the closest to him? Some will say Simon Peter, but that is to forget the one Jesus loved ! This is what is said in the Gospel :

« Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” » (2)

This friendship must have been quite strong, because I don’t know many men who lie on the bosom of their friends as Jesus does with the one he loved :

« After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.”

His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.”

Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?”

Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” » (3)

And what is the main Christian message when you think about it? Love one another. It’s not to make war or kill one another. It’s to love one another. It couldn’t be clearer :

« My command is this : Love each other as I have loved you. » (4)

It couldn’t be simpler: Jesus loved one disciple, Mary Magdalene, and all of us, so much. So he would be a fluid today, living first for the love of his neighbour. If God is unique and his love is genderless, then it seems logical to me that his son would be like that.

In short, the biblical message like the opening spectacle of the 2024 Olympics in Paris tells us the same thing: when we are naked before God and Men, there are no weapons that hold, so stop fighting and love one another ! There is no more peaceful and Christian message, I believe. And to those who think that I am distorting the gospels, I quote John once again :

« Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. » (5)

What concerns me is what was not written and why. Then, through the gospels, don’t we see a little further when we read what is written, but also what is described, because there are the words and the gestures? And, in the gestures, that an apostle, the one Jesus loved, is « lying on the bosom of Jesus » does not seem trivial to me. It is akin to a cryptic message, understandable only to those who can interpret the gospel’s hidden meanings from a contemporary point of view. In short, it is a bit like old movies that had codes for homosexuals because we could not talk about them, clearly. But today we understand it better. If there is a scandal, it is not on the side of this spectacle that we must look, but at the moral prohibitions that have caused so much harm and sexual abuse because everything happened in a hidden way. Some lived it, others saw it, but could not talk about it. And, if they spoke, we did not believe them. Scandal is rarely on the side of openness, but it knows how to hide in obscurantism !

Notes 1. In French « En réponse aux critiques de la cérémonie d’ouverture des JO de Paris 2024 : Si c'était aujourd'hui, Jésus serait un fluide ! »

2. John 20:1 (New International Version or NIV) :

3. John 13:21 (NIV) : https://biblehub.com/niv/john/13.htm

4. John 15:12 (NIV) : https://biblehub.com/niv/john/15.htm

5. John 20:30 (NIV) : https://biblehub.com/niv/john/20.htm

[blogger360ncislarules]

In the powerful movie, The Passion of the Christ, chronicling the end of Christ’s life, Jim Caviezel delivers a nuanced, moody performance that doesn’t deny Jesus’ humanity. It helped that Caviezel is a true believer. A devout Catholic, he went to confession and received Holy Communion every day while shooting Passion in Italy.

The 2004 work, directed and co-written by Braveheart and Lethal Weapon star Mel Gibson, brings the Stations of the Cross — 14 scenes depicting His final 12 hours — to the big screen in excruciating detail. The movie harrowingly shows the Agony in the Garden of Olives, His betrayal by Judas Iscariot, His arrest and torture, the carrying of the cross, and His crucifixion and death.

(Credit: Newmarket Releasing/courtesy Everett Collection)

Key moments in Jesus’ life, from the Last Supper to the Sermon on the Mount, and biblical events like Peter’s denial of Christ are seen throughout. It ends with a brief glimpse of the Resurrection. (The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection, a sequel, is reportedly starting production in 2024.)

The film was a box office hit and became the fifth highest-grossing movie of 2004, despite the dialogue being spoken entirely in reconstructed Aramaic, Hebrew, and Latin (with English subtitles). Gibson’s camera never shies away from the savagery and suffering of Jesus’ final hours, lingering on the brutal torture in all its painful, graphic detail.

“Growing up as a kid, the Passion of Jesus had always been sanitized,” Gibson told Sight Magazine in 2004. “I’ve decided not to hold back.” The film sparked widespread controversy. It was criticized by some moviegoers for wallowing in the gory spectacle of Jesus’ death. Many wondered: Where was the inspiration, uplift, and grace at Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice? Others, like legendary critic Roger Ebert, praised Passion for showing the “inescapable price that Jesus paid” and giving viewers “a visceral idea of what the Passion consisted of.”

Incredibly, Caviezel was struck by lightning while shooting the Sermon on the Mount. He joked to Entertainment Weekly that he looked like he “went to Don King’s hairstylist,” but it was a terrifying moment. Caviezel had fire on the left side of his head and later needed two heart surgeries. Was it a sign from God? Caviezel quipped that he simply looked up and asked, “Didn’t like that take, huh?”

[usagirotten]

Review: Napoleon: the fanciful portrait of a legend

Historical figures have caused curiosity and controversy over the years, those who have spoken about them have their point of view of what could or should have happened, and even more so in the events that they try to represent. From the Bible and its interpretation of what the life of Jesus Christ was like to characters who partially changed the course of humanity, either through their scientific discoveries or through the conquest of territories in the name of an empire. The cinema has seen in these characters an opportunity to relive events in a more real way that has served not only to entertain what has happened but even to pretend and educate taking this as a reference in history classes at all school levels but not as something reliable and credible. Along with this, wars and great battles have been the protagonists of great film productions, director Ridley Scott has been a very versatile director when telling his stories, he has left space science fiction and robots for something more complicated, narrating the life of one of the most controversial, misunderstood and controversial men to this day, in 2023 the film Napoleon premieres in movie theaters, which promises that we will see something completely different from what we know.

What is the film about?

A personal look at the origins of the French military leader, his relentless journey to power, and his rapid and ruthless rise to the emperor, the story is told through the relationship between Napoleon Bonaparte (Joaquin Phoenix) and his wife and only true love, Josephine (Vanessa Kirby). Many film and television productions have tried to narrate the events around Napoleon Bonaparte, we cannot deny that as a historical figure, he has been very relevant to the modern history of humanity, his military tactics led him to become a war leader and to form his empire, it is not surprising that these projects have had their successes and failures, each one has tried to contribute something new and in a different way from how things were supposed to be. The idea of bringing this biographical project to the big screen doesn't sound bad at all, the different thing is the approach that they want to give it. Although we know that Napoleon Bonaparte rose to power and founded an entire empire, we also know that the great love of his life was Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher from La Pagerie/ Josephine Bonaparte/ Joséphine de Beauharnais, some events in the film can be questioned, this type and genre of film have very specific rules and one of them is to respect the chronology of events. As audiovisual material we can say that this work by Ridley Scott is almost impeccable, the setting, the costumes by Janty Yates and David Crossman, the cinematography by Dariusz Wolski, and the art direction are extremely well planned and cared for down to the smallest detail, yes We put the script aside and its story is a spectacle like the ones this director usually presents, creating atmospheres that look and feel real is not easy at all, much less nowadays when as an audience attending a movie theater we are more demanding. The film opens with these quotes: 1789... French Revolution... The people enter the revolution through misery... and end up in misery through the revolution... The French emerged from the deception due to a lack of food and general economic depression... The anti-royalists soon violently destroyed King Louis XVI and 11 thousands of his supporters... and then they focused on the last queen of France, Marie Antoinette... While an ambitious Corsican artillery officer named Napoleon Bonaparte seeks a promotion... The above already puts us in the context of what we are going to see, the opening sequence foreshadows the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, the future emperor of France, the execution and beheading of Marie Antoinette, and how a man has the ambition to be the best of all and bring victory to France, which would give way to great political tension in 19th century Europe, then the Napoleonic Wars begin where we see only a little of the Battle of Toulon, the Battle of the Pyramids, the Battle of Austerlitz and of course the Battle of Waterloo which is the star. All this action happens while a subplot develops that involves the courtship and romance with Josephine de Beauharnais and at times it becomes her story and not his to change the pace and tone of its narrative again, we move on from the romantic drama to the action and vice versa, this is confusing for the viewer, the original 4-hour version changed to be able to be shown in cinemas, the cuts that were made are noticeable and evident, we go from one thing to another without having a context previous, the dialogues feel heavy and this is boring at times.

It is more than evident that the script written by David Scarpa takes too many creative liberties and breaks the rules, he tries to give his characters an underdevelopment that is very short for the time they have on screen, the rise to power of Napoleon Bonaparte, and his tactics. warmongers that led to the death of millions of his people and that concluded with his death in 1821, there are impressive sequences that aim to show the horror of war from the bullets that pass through bodies to the burning silhouettes that flee from their attackers. The letters written by Napoleon to Josephine are the axis of everything and are expressed through the voice-over that tries to develop a romance that is not very credible, flat, and without an emotion that feels authentic. Josephine is and is not there, is and is not, and the dialogues between them are extensive and with very little substance, she represents herself as a very practical woman who lives in a chaotic and problematic time in which the French people expel a group of egomaniacal rulers to hand over the reins of power to someone who is crazier since he is just a misunderstood man. This seems to be a film about two people who come to see power as a goal in their lives, he about France and then continental Europe and she about this powerful man who becomes obsessed with her beauty, this sounds more like an exchange of personal interests than a couple who wants to establish that love is the most important thing and what gives meaning to their existence. Napoleon as a character does not define his personality, he is installed in being the one who has control of everything at all times and does not allow us to see that man who is supposed to have a sensitive and romantic side that falls in love not only with the person who is the love of his life. but to us as an audience, the key point of the film is this strange fixation that he feels for a woman who according to his script was not so much interested in him as a man but as a figure of power. The film as such goes from being something biographical and historical to a fictional drama with action, its protagonist from what we know of history was a brilliant strategist who won victories but who did not stop being a genocide, Scott portrays him in a fantasy way in a mix between an action man and a superhero, his rise in each battle won happens too quickly, as viewers we do not have time to see how it happens and the same thing happens with his romance, we go from point A to point D where There are already things that happened and that are important to continue its development. The common thread that is romance is something that little by little is diluted until reaching the point of separation because after a decade of marriage, she still has not been able to give him a child, on the other hand, the tactical brilliance, the ruthless cunning of this man on the battlefield, and his excessive ambition for power but in everything else, we are never given a clear and concrete idea of ​​why anyone should follow this emotional madman into a battle, if we talk about territorial power, the political issue must also be addressed and things put in context and there be a justification because we are talking about historical facts and that does not happen here, in fact it is completely absent. As an interpretive film based on real historical events, it is more than very entertaining and combines its action well with acting. Scott as a director is exuberantly confident in his already characteristic cinematographic style, he knows and handles epic narration very well and has demonstrated it in films. such as Gladiator (2000), Kingdom of Heaven (2005), and The Last Duel (2021), his style has led his productions to be more spectacular than accurate, this genre needs more of a very specific base story than just visuals.

The lack of care in its editing means that several of its sequences, such as the estrangement of Napoleon and Joséphine and their subsequent pseudo-reconciliation, occur in a period of only a few minutes, or when it is mentioned that 15 years have passed since it began, we are missing material to know what happened in all that time, it is very unlikely that a two and a half hour film can cover life as grandiloquent as that of Napoleon, the result feels rushed and incomplete, so free is the version that We never see him holding his hand inside his jacket like that classic image, nor is there any mention of that saying that greatness is measured from the head to the sky, this is not based on popular assumptions but on a personal assumption of what is believe it was In this case, we are going to think carefully, we are going to say that the cut that is currently in theaters is edited for this format and that it is missing 2 hours of footage in which we will surely see things in more detail, with a more fluid narrative and with the complete development of the characters, this is not a justification to say that this work is bad but nor to say that it is good, nor can we deny or affirm that it is one of Scott's worst works if there is 4-hour footage it is because It was conceived like this to take advantage of time, its result so far is something media that remains pending, this is perhaps why its failure at the box office is due. One of the possible big flaws it has is its protagonist, Joaquín Phoenix has shown more than once that he is a wonderful actor, but for this film, a Frenchman was needed who understood, felt, and reflected all the greatness of Napoleon and not an actor American but we understand that this is just something based on something and nothing more, on the other hand, we have the language, it was never thought or conceived to be spoken in French, so this is the biographical film of a French character in the English language, a commercial product that is neither intended to educate nor be historically accurate is just problematic and confusing entertainment like scathing satire and random criticism and not that relentless conqueror who was only truly alive when he was surrounded by so much death. In the end, we can say that after so much action, drama, and a supposed romance things are transformed into something reflective of its central character, an account of what he has done and how it affected his life and changed the course of a nation, the spectacular The Battle of Waterloo is exactly what we all wanted to see. It does not disappoint, on the contrary, it is the best part of all. The film closes with these quotes: Napoleon Bonaparte died on May 5, 1821, after 6 years of exile in Saint Helena... He led 61 battles... - Toulon 6000 - Marengo 12000 - Austerlitz 16500 - Borodino 71000 - Waterloo 47,000 in one day - Invasion of Russia 460000 From 1793 to 1815 there were 3,000,000 deaths...

His last words were France, Army, Josephine... In the end, the reflection and question that it leaves us with is, and all this for what? as historical data to make it a little more credible it is fine but it never takes the trouble to present its justifications well and falls into the trite cliché that it is just a point of view, a more generalized and modern idea, something spectacular but very flat and without substance, good actors in good shots with a good technical and very creative team, a segment that represents a very important part in the history of humanity that only looks good. The cast includes, among others, Joaquin Phoenix, Vanessa Kirby, Tahar Rahim, Ben Miles, Ludivine Sagnier, Youssef Kerkour, Ian McNeice, Matthew Needham, John Hollingworth, Sinéad Cusack, Phil Cornwell, Édouard Philipponnat, Catherine Walker, Mark Bonnar, Davide Tucci, Sam Crane and Rupert Everett who do a very good job that could have been much better if the direction and script had a defined and more concrete direction. The music composed by the British musician Martin Phipps is a great success, pieces that go from the moving to the spectacular without losing its personality, a work that without being excessively orchestral manages to live up to what is required. In conclusion, Napoleon is a half-finished film that leaves us half-finished even in this review, there is not much to say or give a spoiler about its content, it is a matter of time before the full 4-hour version is presented on Apple TV, and we can see and decide if this is a work that is worth becoming a classic or not, while this happens we are left with a product that does not fulfill what it promises, that strives to be something that it is not, for be complicated, boring and meaningless, that deceives itself by breaking its own rules, that is only high quality audiovisual entertainment but very forgettable. Napoleon is now available in cinemas in your country. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBmWztLPp9c Read the full article

[postmodernbisexual]

Spooktober Day 11: Calvaire (2004)

Marc Stevens, a travelling entertainer, finds himself stranded in a remote village when his van breaks down on the way to a gig.

An underrated addition to new French extremity, Calvaire is uncomfortable to watch and left me with a sense of unfulfillment and emptiness in the end. If that doesn't sound like a positive review, this is probably not the movie for you. (Also important to note, content warning for sexual assault and animal abuse)

This movie is slow to start - almost nothing happens for about 30 minutes - but the hints of things being off set the stage for a horrific back half. There's no soundtrack at all (aside from a few diegetic songs), which put me on edge right from the start in a way I didn't fully notice until much later in the film. There's no cushion between you and the events unfolding, just the raw, chilling sounds of what you're witnessing.

The objectification of Marc throughout the movie is a heightened version of what most women have to deal with in real life. From the very beginning he has women making uncomfortable passes at him, but he's still around other people and able to brush them off without much difficulty. Once he's miles from civilization and unable to leave though, his control is slowly destroyed as he realizes how hopeless his situation has become. By the end, he is completely stripped of his identity and control, to the point of comforting one of his abusers as they die.

The American title of the movie is "The Ordeal", which is appropriate but lacks the depth of meaning the original name has. "Calvaire" is used in French as a synonym for crucifixion, a name for monuments of Jesus' crucifixion, and to mean a great moral suffering. Not understanding the element of crucifixion means missing the key theme of the film. Being crucified is not just being nailed to a cross; It's a process of brutal humiliation that is made into a spectacle. The title Calvaire refers not only to the things happening to Marc in the movie, but the fact that we're watching it. This is the spectacle made of his suffering.

I could keep writing about this movie for so much longer but this is already a lot so I'll wrap it up. Calvaire is not a movie I would recommend lightly, but if you're familiar with extremist films, this one is pretty damn good.