#jolie chan music

[persa-tra-i-miei-pensieri]

Alex Polidori - Falcomics

Voglio tenere traccia del momento del meet&greet quando ho detto ad Alex mentre mi scriveva l'autografo che sono venuta fino a Falconara solo per poter dirgli oltre "Sei un incredibile doppiatore ma voglio dirti grazie per aver scritto e cantato la tua canzone Mare di Plastica", ho visto il suo sguardo (nonostante gli occhiali da sole) illuminarsi sempre di più mentre pronunciavo questa frase con quasi la mano sul cuore e quando ho detto il titolo della canzone la sua reazione è stata abbracciarmi e ringraziarmi perché non gli capita tipo mai di ricevere questi complimenti proprio su questa canzone ed eravamo entrambi felicissimi durante il selfie e nel salutarci alla fine 🤩 Poi durante il suo spettacolo ha cantato altre sue canzoni e mi è piaciuta molto Paranoico me la sono salvata su YouTube

[cokexdolly]

𝓌𝑒𝓁𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓂𝓎 𝑔𝒾𝓇𝓁𝒷𝓁𝑜𝑔 !!

𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓂𝑒 ⊹ ࣪ ˖

𝜗𝜚 my birthday is june 11th and I’m 18 !!

𝜗𝜚 channing tatum’s wife !!

𝜗𝜚 i love the color pink, older men, any and everything vintage, lana del rey, winter, reading and writing poetry, fawns, catholicism, the 1950s, emma roberts, cherry coke, scream queens, my bed, sylvia plath, calico critters, rain, the hero!n chic era, uggs, shopping, attention, subliminals, being alone, carnations, ruslana korshunova, and pretty jewelry

𝜗𝜚 music: lana del rey, jeff buckley, hole, nirvana, fiona apple, ricky nelson, deftones, the beatles, george harrison, the foo fighters, paul anka, frank sinatra, and elvis presley

𝜗𝜚 shows: scream queens, pretty little liars, insatiable, gossip girl, gilmore girls, american horror story, and skins

𝜗𝜚 movies: girl interrupted, the crush, lolita, black swan, the virgin suicides, lost in translation, almost famous, dazed and confused, buffalo 66’, and jennifers body

𝜗𝜚 celeb crushes: channing tatum, james franco, christian bale, al pacino, william zabka, ricky nelson, ralph macchio, angelina jolie, and young sofia coppola (especially when she was in the godfather 3)

[bdzonthareel]

Kung Fu Panda 4

The Kung Fu Panda series jump-kicked into the world in 2008, with 4 films in total and 2 spinoff shows the franchise is still going on strong.

And speaking of the 4th film, let’s talk about Kung Fu Panda 4.

Po (Jack Black) faces the evil (but uninspiringly named) Chameleon (Viola Davis), who seeks to gain the power of all Kung Fu, and he must team up with the streetwise fox Zhen (Awkafina) to stop her.

Fourth installments are something of a sore subject for me, I was let down by a few flicks such as Toy Story and John Wick, but I think this one may have gotten right.

This is a very well-animated film, I was in awe of the fight choreography and this is coming from someone with multiple disciplines. Every punch kick and weapon swing felt like the real deal.

But the budget must have really leaned into the animation because a few members of the cast were sorely missed. Jackie Chan, Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu, Seth Rogen, and David Cross don’t return as Monkey, Tigress, Viper, Mantis and Crane. And while Dustin Hoffman and Ian McShane return, the former was barely in the film.

Jack Black is the goof ball we know and love as he drops the on Viola Davis’ Chameleon. And Awkafina worked very well as Po’s partner in kung fu.

The music was fine, the shamisen cover of Crazy Train was nothing special, but the Tenacious D cover of “Baby One More Time” was everything.

These aren’t arthouse films, so I didn’t expect Oscar-worthy dialogue so at the very least I wasn’t disappointed. But many of the jokes landed, and the lack of fat jokes was wonderful.

The movie showed Po’s overall development throughout the series and it leans into the theme of the film.

This was an earnest love letter to generations of fans, and if this is the franchise’ send-off I am satisfied.

I give Kung Fu Panda 4 a 4 out of 5.

[gemtvusa]

The Best Upcoming Movies on 2024 Netflix

THE BUZZING LINE-UP OF 2024 MOVIES From epic action sequels to superhero phenomena, animated adventures for all ages, and beyond – here’s why 2024 is shaping up to be a cinematic thrill ride! The movie realm is ever-evolving. The shadow of a global pandemic, the burgeoning domain of streaming platforms, the rise in franchise-centric blockbusters, and the challenge for theaters have stirred numerous questions about cinema's trajectory. Yet, as we inch closer to 2024, the cinematic horizon gleams with promise. We're set to be graced with high-voltage superhero sagas, a musical interpretation we can't wait for, George Miller's fresh take on Mad Max, another dive into the world of Avatar, and a plethora of other delights. Dive in to discover the gems 2024 has in store, and keep an eye out for constant updates to our line-up!

The Best Upcoming Movies on 2024 Netflix JANUARY

El Muerto (2024)

- Director: Jonás Cuarón - Star Power: Bad Bunny - Release Date: January 12, 2024 Though initially Sony had slated Madame Web for an early 2024 release, they’ve now shifted gears to ‘El Muerto.’ The limelight focuses on the musical maestro, Bad Bunny, as he takes on a lesser-known Spidey comrade's role. While production details remain under wraps, we’re keeping our fingers crossed for the January launch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tTwPQKY6vc

The Best Upcoming Movies on 2024 Netflix FEBRUARY

Madame Web (-1)

- Director: S.J. Clarkson - Featuring: Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Celeste O’Connor, Isabela Merced, Tahar Rahim, Emma Roberts, Mike Epps, Adam Scott, Zosia Mamet - Release Date: February 14, 2024 Sony’s Spider-Man universe (minus Spider-Man, ironically) has seen peaks with ‘Venom’ and troughs with ‘Morbius.’ Now, Madame Web is on the horizon, with Dakota Johnson leading the way as the mysterious, clairvoyant Spider-ally. With a cast that boasts Sydney Sweeney, Adam Scott, and Zosia Mamet, it’s already piquing interest. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTU-h-unzBk

The Best Upcoming Movies on 2024 Netflix MARCH

Elio (2024)

- Director: Adrian Molina - Featuring: America Ferrera, Yonas Kibreab - Release Date: March 1, 2024 Revealed in 2022, Pixar's next masterpiece comes after 2023's 'Elemental.' This intergalactic tale revolves around Elio, an 11-year-old Earthling, who finds himself mistakenly thrust into space, deemed Earth’s representative on a foreign planet. Director Adrian Molina, known for his stellar work on Coco, Toy Story 4, and Luca, makes his directing debut here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w_K3CB8PuE The Fall Guy (2024)

- Director: David Leitch - Lead Stars: Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt - Release Date: March 1, 2024 When it comes to pulse-pounding action, David Leitch has made quite the mark with movies like John Wick, Atomic Blonde, and Deadpool 2. He's now reviving an 80s TV classic – a tale of a stuntman with a double life as a bounty hunter. With Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt leading the charge, this is set to be an adrenaline-packed ride. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id0PrIwhPn0 Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024)

- Director: Mike Mitchell - Lead Cast: Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, Dustin Hoffman, David Cross - Release Date: March 8, 2024 The acclaimed "Kung Fu Panda" franchise by DreamWorks Animation is a masterclass in storytelling, transcending a comical concept (a lovable panda voiced by Jack Black mastering kung fu) into an epic tale packed with humor, emotions, and breathtaking action sequences. The recent CinemaCon 2023 announcement revealed Mike Mitchell, renowned for "Trolls" and "The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part", as the director. The upcoming sequel promises an intriguing journey where our hero Po confronts a chameleon antagonist and embarks on a quest to find the next Dragon Warrior. https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=dR1LjDVXQtg A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)

- Director: Michael Sarnoski - Starring: Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn, Alex Wolff, Djimon Hounsou, Denis O’Hare - Release Date: March 8, 2024 The "A Quiet Place" series has predominantly centered around a post-apocalyptic world, dominated by lethal extraterrestrial creatures with hypersensitive hearing abilities. But as hinted by its name, this third installment offers audiences a rewind, diving deep into the terrifying initial days of the alien onslaught. The narrative unfolds at a time when humanity remains clueless about the impending doom or the capabilities of these alien beings. Directed by Michael Sarnoski, celebrated for directing Nicolas Cage in the acclaimed 2021 movie "Pig," this installment is set to be an exhilarating experience. While the ensemble features fresh faces, fans will be delighted to see Djimon Hounsou reprising his role from the second film. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9If0ZPaCHU Dune: The Next Chapter (2024)

- Director: Denis Villeneuve - Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård - Release Date: March 15, 2024 The resounding success of the initial Dune adaptation paves the way for this enthralling sequel. With esteemed director Denis Villeneuve at the helm, the next chapter promises to be a captivating continuation of Frank Herbert's monumental science fiction saga. A stellar ensemble including Florence Pugh, Léa Seydoux, Austin Butler, and the legendary Christopher Walken join the existing cast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Way9Dexny3w The Return of Snow White (2024)

- Director: Marc Webb - Starring: Rachel Zegler, Gal Gadot, Andrew Burnap - Release Date: March 22, 2024 Disney's iconic fairy tale returns, decades after its original animated debut in 1937. This time, the retelling features West Side Story's sensation Rachel Zegler as Snow White and the iconic Gal Gadot stepping into the shoes of the menacing Evil Queen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=IEYZNZF4-pA Ghostbusters: Legacy Continues (2024)

- Director: Gil Kenan - Starring: Carrie Coon, Paul Rudd, McKenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt - Release Date: March 29, 2024 Under the fresh direction of Gil Kenan, this sequel promises to stay rooted in the original's legacy while charting a new course. The ensemble is spearheaded by Carrie Coon, Paul Rudd, and others, with an exciting backdrop set in New York. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k52DmOaVXk8 Mickey 17: The Odyssey (2024)

- Director: Bong Joon-ho - Starring: Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Toni Collette, Mark Ruffalo, Steven Yeun - Release Date: March 29, 2024 From the visionary mind of Bong Joon-ho comes another gripping tale. Inspired by Edward Ashton's novel, this cinematic journey depicts the life of a recyclable worker, portrayed by Robert Pattinson, as he undertakes a mission in outer space. https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=-iY5l9JcOWY

The Best Upcoming Movies on 2024 Netflix APRIL

Godzilla x Kong: Rise of the Titans (2024)

- Director: Adam Wingard - Starring: Dan Stevens, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Kaylee Hottle, Fala Chen, Alex Ferns, Rachel House - Release Date: April 12, 2024 The titanic monsters, Godzilla and Kong, return for another monumental showdown. This sequel promises unforeseen twists and turns, hinting at a possible alliance against an emerging global threat. With Dan Stevens leading the human cast and Adam Wingard ensuring an epic direction, this is one not to miss. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJEpl4ty4Sw Challengers: Love & Tennis (2024)

- Director: Luca Guadagnino - Starring: Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, Mike Faist - Release Date: April 26, 2024 Zendaya takes center stage in Luca Guadagnino's intricate narrative that blends tennis, passion, and intricate relationships. The tale revolves around a prodigious tennis coach (Zendaya), her once-champion husband (Mike Faist), and his former close friend (Josh O’Connor), who shares a complex past with her. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDnVk5jIJr0 MAY FILM ROSTER Deadpool Returns (2024)

- Director: Shawn Levy - Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Leslie Uggams - Release Date: May 3, 2024 Deadpool, the iconic and irreverent anti-hero, makes a spectacular comeback. With the surprising reintroduction of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, fans are buzzing with excitement. Given Deadpool's trademark adult humor, how it will synergize with Disney's more family-friendly Marvel Universe is eagerly awaited. Jackman's return, especially after his unforgettable performance in Logan, only heightens the anticipation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqa3wjsBN_0 Furiosa's Origin (2024)

- Director: George Miller - Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke, Nathan Jones, Angus Sampson - Release Date: May 24, 2024 Delve deep into the world of Furiosa before the events of Mad Max: Fury Road. This gripping prequel unveils the journey of a young Furiosa, played by Anya Taylor-Joy. Directed by the maestro, George Miller, and co-starring Chris Hemsworth, this narrative explores Furiosa's tumultuous past and her ascension in Immortan Joe's dominion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm9xMNZSuDc The Legendary Garfield (2024)

- Director: Mark Dindal - Starring: Chris Pratt, Samuel L. Jackson, Nicholas Hoult, Cecily Strong, Hannah Waddingham, Ving Rhames - Release Date: May 24, 2024 Chris Pratt lends his voice to the iconic, lasagna-craving, Monday-averse feline, Garfield, in this delightful reimagining of the classic comic. With a surprising twist, Samuel L. Jackson brings Garfield's father, Vic, to life. An animated treat awaits! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXWvmPGjVXI The World of IF (2024)

- Director: John Krasinski - Starring: Ryan Reynolds, John Krasinski, Fiona Shaw, Cailey Fleming, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Steve Carell, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Maya Rudolph, Awkwafina - Release Date: May 24, 2024 In this enchanting fantasy comedy created by dynamic duo John Krasinski and Ryan Reynolds, the narrative revolves around a young girl's discovery of her unique power – perceiving forsaken Imaginary Friends. With Krasinski penning the script, the tale is brought to life by a constellation of stars voicing these fantastical companions. MAY'S CINEMATIC LINEUP Planet of the Apes: The New Era (2024)

- Director: Wes Ball - Starring: Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Peter Macon, Eka Darville, Kevin Durand - Release Date: May 24, 2024 After Caesar's iconic leadership came to an end in "War for the Planet of the Apes", the saga continues. Directed by Wes Ball of the Maze Runner fame, this installment advances the storyline to the future, post the events of the last war. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HimhSuITJdY

The Best Movies on 2024 JUNE

Ballet of Vengeance (2024)

- Director: Len Wiseman - Starring: Ana de Armas, Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane, Lance Reddick, Norman Reedus, Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne - Release Date: June 7, 2024 Ana de Armas headlines this gripping tale set in the John Wick universe. As a trained assassin under the watchful guidance of the mysterious "Director", she embarks on a whirlwind journey of revenge. The timeline offers insights into events that transpired between the third and fourth John Wick chapters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3njg62ni8lE Bad Boys: The Final Ride (2024)

- Director: Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah - Starring: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence - Release Date: June 14, 2024 Will Smith and Martin Lawrence reunite for an electrifying adventure, further fueling the legacy of the Bad Boys series. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnmig3tXeiQ Emotions Rekindled: Inside Out 2 (2024)

- Director: Kelsey Mann - Starring: Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Lewis Black - Release Date: June 14, 2024 Venture into the intricate labyrinth of a college-bound Riley's emotions. As she navigates this new chapter, the sequel promises a fresh array of feelings, introducing new emotional avatars to accompany the beloved originals. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuFVmdIgkiQ Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning's Echo (2024)

- Director: Christopher McQuarrie - Starring: Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Henry Czerny, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Hayley Atwell, Shea Whigham, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff - Release Date: June 28, 2024 Tom Cruise returns with death-defying stunts and thrilling espionage in the newest Mission: Impossible film, which picks up where 2023’s Dead Reckoning Part One left off. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDRHI24zrzw

The Best Movies on 2024 Netflix JULY

Despicable Tales: Minion Mayhem (2024)

- Director: Chris Renaud, Patrick Delage - Starring: Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Miranda Cosgrove, Steve Coogan - Release Date: July 3, 2024 The Minions are back with their lovable mischief alongside the iconic Gru. This chapter promises more chaos, humor, and heartwarming moments. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYaZlsoxTHo Mufasa: Rise of the King (2024)

- Director: Barry Jenkins - Starring: Aaron Pierre, Kevin Harrison Jr., Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, John Kani - Release Date: July 5, 2024 Delve into the origins of Mufasa, the regal lion before he became king, in this immersive prequel to the "Lion King". Experience his early adventures and the bonds that shaped him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY2yo7H2XUo Symbiotic Struggles: Venom 3 (2024)

- Director: Kelly Marcel - Starring: Tom Hardy, Juno Temple, Chiwetel Ejiofor - Release Date: July 12, 2024 Tom Hardy returns as Eddie Brock, wrestling with the alien entity, Venom. While the narrative remains shrouded in mystery, expect thrilling confrontations and unexpected alliances. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2GVcQbmryE Tornado Tales: Twisters (2024)

- Director: Lee Isaac Chung - Starring: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos, Brandon Perea, Maura Tierney - Release Date: July 19, 2024 More than a sequel to the iconic 1996 film "Twister", this "new chapter" promises high-octane action as tornadoes wreak havoc, with a fresh ensemble cast ready to face nature's fury. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7pXSgIxe2U Captain America: New Frontiers (2024)

- Director: Julius Onah - Starring: Anthony Mackie, Tim Blake Nelson, Harrison Ford, Carl Lumbly, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas - Release Date: August 26, 2024 Sam Wilson, once known as The Falcon, steps into the spotlight, wielding Captain America's shield against new threats and age-old enemies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dvb97m_gCUY

The Best Upcoming Movies on 2024 Netflix AUGUST

Borderlands: Galaxy's Edge (2024)

- Director: Eli Roth - Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Ariana Greenblatt, Jamie Lee Curtis, Edgar Ramirez, Haley Bennett, Florian Munteanu - Release Date: August 9, 2024 Journey to the outer reaches of space in this adaptation of the hit video game series. As chaos ensues on an alien planet, a group of unlikely heroes forms an alliance to seek untold treasures and battle formidable foes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAs6cyCfIAQ Read the full article

[madimads]

angelina

[lady-of-the-spirit]

I've seen Eternals! Here's my take:

I'll give it a solid 7/10. Good and fun and cool! but it was missing some stuff.

The humor felt natural, which I liked. Not like a usual marvel movie throwing out witty oneliners every 3 minutes. It did have it's funny moments but nothing that totally killed the mood when things were serious.

I liked that it was more serious than normal for marvel, it kinda worked for the story.

I also liked that it broke from the "team movie" formula with most of the movie spent getting the team together, instead of like in the avengers or endgame where everyone got together quickly.

The team dynamic felt good. I did actually feel like these were people who knew each other but lost touch for whatever reason.

The pacing was off, everything was either too fast or too slow

I think it would have been better to have the flashbacks shown chronologically at the start of the movie, rather than placed throughout the film. That way, we would have a fuller sense of the characters long before they came back again, instead of seeing "oh, that's their deal" like 5 minutes before they showed up again. Pacing again is the issue here.

the characters were shallow. I liked them and there is potential (or was in some cases) but they didn't feel that deep. Kinda a what you see/what is said is what you get deal. I expect there to be meta analyses by fans but in the movie itself didn't get much below the surface for them. Everything going on with them is laid out for us.

The ending was abrupt and is obviously waiting for a sequel (Kit Harrington's character especially), but weirdly everything else felt like it could have been a standalone movie? If they had removed the few lines about Thanos and the avengers, it could have been its own thing outside of a cinematic universe. The Celestials and shit is obviously Marvel stuff but also could have been some sci-fi alien worldbuilding outside of Marvel.

If you're not sure about seeing it in theaters, I'd say it's okay to wait for it to stream. The visuals were really cool but there wasn't anything about it I'd say needed a big screen to be better.

We should never let Marvel live down their first gay character being nameless 5 second cameo of whichever Russo it was mentioning dating a guy, but Phastos getting a husband and child and a Big Damn Kiss with his husband (and not in the background, right up front!) was great.

Also, Angelina Jolie might be the Big Name of this movie but the star and main character is Gemma Chan. Just fyi.

Music, as I've said, is 10/10. Ramin Djawadi never lets me down.

[its-tortle]

SPOILERY ETERNALS REVIEW/THOUGHTS UNDER THE CUT PLEASE?? 💖

your wish is my command. i'm so sorry this became 1k.

okay, so. i'll put together a likes/dislikes list and then conclude with my overall opinions. why am i writing this like the last sentence of my intro paragraph for a uni paper asdfgh

what i fucked with:

so much representation!!! a little gay family and an emotional homosexual onscreen kiss with one of the main characters!! hell fckin yeah! a deaf main character?? YES!! the beautiful bollywood scene!!! the main main character being an asian woman when it could have been any of the other white and/or male characters?? YESYESYES!! that made me very happy

the costume design was amazing, as was the set design. i did read that eternals was filmed more onsite than marvel films usually are, which is great. it was a gorgeous movie to watch

also cause everyone in it is so gorgeous?? richard madden? gemma chan? angelina jolie? be still my beating heart

i really loved how all the eternals had different powers, and how they complimented each other. it was really cool to watch the way they fought together

the relationship between thena and gil was everything.

sersi's ringtone is juice by lizzo

i also think the concept of sprite and her age issues was really well done. i found her annoying at the end but that was kind of the point, i can't imagine how frustrated she must have been

karun. just, karun.

the fuckin. oh my god. the ikea table joke. my friend and i DIED. that is a contender for funniest marvel joke of all time

i think the concept of the movie was actually kinda really dope and interesting. like, the idea that celestials are born of intelligent life and that's why the eternals were sent to protect human life and serve this greater purpose? cool. it felt original and interesting, and didn't content too much with existing marvel lore.

what was maybe kind of wack:

we saw the movie at 20:45, and the movie theatre didn't serve popcorn after 20:00 because of some inconsistent dutch covid rules and so we couldn't have popcorn. this has nothing to do with the movie but it made me sad so it's going in here anyway

this didn't bother me as much as it did my bestie -- i obviously facetimed her as soon as i got home -- but she was right in pointing out that there was a bit of a problem with the lack of chronology. sometimes the flashback scenes weren't indicated as such soon enough, but mostly the problem was how this influenced the building of characters and relationships

because all of the backstory (just of the characters and their developing relationships) isn't until later in the movie, it's harder to care about them until then. they want us to mourn a relationship and mourn a character before we even know them

which is part of the reason i didn't find ikarus and sersi that convincing. i did ship them in the beginning, but my bestie didn't at all. they tell us they're in love without first showing us how they fell in love, and when they do show us, it's in a few short basic scenes

(also, this isn't necessarily bad but ? a sex scene? in a marvel movie?? i don't know her)

but yeah, i think that not only their relationship, but the relationships between all of them would have been more convincing with more initial scenes of them just bonding and joking around and being a family. we only got references to that, and then the scenes where they're all yelling at each other

which ties to what i would have loved: a montage scene with fun music that shows what they were all up to through the ages. apart from that one short hiroshima scene, all we got was modern day and BC. i want to see phastos finally invent the steam engine! i want sersi in a flapper dress! i want ikaris to be madden back in the kit from cinderella fit!! it also would have been a great way to let the audience get to know the characters better in order to fall in love with them, and a way for the relationships to develop

even though i shipped them, i wasn't invested enough in ikaris' and sersi's realtionship, which might be the crux of it. i liked dane too much and there wasn't enough set up for them. there's that writing rule about romance, and how a good romance is written in such a way that they don't need to kiss in order for you to realize it's romantic. they barely had that.

who was the villain? while i think it can be nice to have ambiguity, the fact that it kept switching around in this movie was a bit confusing. i sometimes forgot who they were fighting.

the really cheesy music over the dramatic moments was too much sometimes. i couldn't help but laugh when it was taking itself way too seriously

which leads me to my last point. they thought they were being so dramatic. they thought they were being so clever. they had ikaris fucking YEET himself into the sun after he messed up once (1), and i was laughing. it was fucking hilarious, and i know that that's not what they were going for. it your defining dramatic moment comes across as ridiculous, you fucked up

what is harry styles doing in the mcu. baby no, run while you can. i think he'll do a great job and i love him but i'll need some time because right now i don't wike it.

conclusion: 6.5/10

i was very much entertained and i had a good time and i fell in love with some characters, but i would have been more in love with them with just a few additional scenes. it was a beautiful movie to watch and had some absolutely hilarious anecdotes that made me laugh out loud. i wish i would have had popcorn. ikarus yeeting himself into the sun is ridiculous. the half point is for the ikea joke.

[abelkia]

La playlist de l'émission de ce jeudi matin sur Radio Campus Bruxelles entre 6h30 et 9h: Don Cherry’s New Researches & Naná Vasconcelos "Resa / Relativity Suite, Part 1" (Organic Music Theatre: Festival de jazz de Chateauvallon 1972/Blank Forms/2021) Irreversible Entanglements "Water Meditations" (Open The Gates/International Anthem- Don Giovanni Records/2021) Maalem Mahmoud Gania "La Ilha Illa Allah" (Aicha/Hive Mind Records/2020) Eric Chenaux "Say Laura" (Say Laura/Constellation Records/February 2022) Ignatz "At Night She Saw Her Son" (I Hate This City/Conspiracy Records/2011) Michael Hurley & Josephine Foster "Jacob's Ladder" (The Time of the Foxgloves/No Quarter/2021) Mendelson "Héritage" (Le dernier album/Ici d'ailleurs/2021) Alain Bashung "Tel" (L'imprudence/Barclay/2002) Patrick Modiano & Hughes de Courson "La coco des enfants sages" (Fonds de tiroir 1967/Ballon Noir/1979) Roger Riffard "Timoléon le jardinier" (Roger Riffard/Philips/1983) Chick Lewis "North Wind" (The Emotional, Cosmic & Occult World of Joe Meek/Mississippi Records, Portland/1960-2014) The Creation "How Does It Feel to Feel" (How Does It Feel to Feel/Edsel Records/1967-1982) Alex Chilton "Waltz Across Texas" (Like Flies on Sherbert/Sundazed Music/1979-2021) The Beatles "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" (The Beatles (The White Album)/Apple Records/1968) Esplendor Geométrico "Moscú Está Helado" (The Minimal Wave Tapes Volume One/Stones Throw Records/1981-2010) Rex Dildo "Du bist so nett zu mir" (7"/Unser Angebot/1981) Mami Ch'anne "Du riz" ("Jolis choses" Hommage à Mami Chan/InPoly Sons/2021) Catalina Matorral "No Place" (Catalina Matorral/Via Parigi/2021) Jean Bart "Entre chiens et loups" (Affaire classée avec fracas et pertes, j'en ai trop vu, des mûres et des pas vertes/Musidisc/1997) Dominique A "Je t'ai toujours aimé" (Auguri/Labels/2001) Spiritualized "Let it Flow" (Pure Phase/Dedicated/1995-2021) Brian Harnetty "Ina" (Shawnee, Ohio/Karlrecords/2019) The Ronettes "Be My Baby" (7"/London Records/1963) https://www.instagram.com/p/CYq27HbtKeW/?utm_medium=tumblr

[ay-asterisms]

Pick a ship for each moot and something you Headcannon of the ship!

aaaahhhhhh this took me way too long but I tried to put a lot of thought into them! seeing as there's a lot of different selfships and stuff, I randomly generated characters, so they can be taken platonically or romantically

@catchmewiddershins + iwaizumi - you guys share your drawings! he's not very good at drawing, but you two encourage each other to keep practicing.

@mi-anagapesis + kita - learned a small amount of spanish when he found out you could speak it. it's not enough to hold a conversation (yet), but he manages to pick out words when he hears other people talking

@tsumussweetheart + akaashi - always making sure you drink enough water. he carries around a water bottle for you just in case.

@kozu-zumi + yamamoto - he likes to play video games with you but he yells the whole time. please whack him with a pillow for being distracting during critical moments.

@usamikii + ennoshita - often sends you snippets of what he's reading as a way of starting conversations

@kirishimas-manly-eyeliner + hatsume - you guys take time each week to talk over your thoughts. hatsume brings a notebook because your conversations often spark inspiration

@cerise-jolie-jennie + hawks - he brings you food without fail everyday, mostly lunch unless his schedule conflicts. the meals are always accompanied by sticky notes with terrible french pickup lines

@eumaro + kendou - one time you two dressed up in really fancy clothes and hung out as normal. it somehow made it way more fun?

@viridevi + uraraka - she supports you trying to learn different languages, and even though she might not understand what you're saying, she'll find resources for you to practice with

@satis-fulminare + iida - once he got really worried about your eating habits so he thought he'd come up with a dietary plan for you. after further thought, he realized that it was a little overkill so he settled on making you nutritious smoothies to make sure you get all your required vitamins!

@iwaesumi + midoriya - he sends you any aesthetic pictures he comes across. his algorithm for multiple apps is all over the place

@taqoyaqui-chan + keqing - she occasionally brings you really nice art supplies to test out. she claims it's thanks from the merchants of her sector for her work (nevermind that she oversees real estate and construction)

@gummimint + venti - he likes to help you edit your works. since he composes all his music, he has a way with words and tends to make small suggestions that really bring out your best writing skills

[mwplanet]

Winter Movie Watch List

Must-watch December and November movie releases.

By: Ysmael Mendoza

With Christmas break fast approaching, here are some must-watch movies that have been released in theaters or on Netflix from the month of December and movies that you may have missed from November:

WEST SIDE STORY (December 10)

Photo via Vanity Fair

This is a  remake of the movie musical of the same name from 1961. See what it is like to be in America in the late 50s in this retelling of Romeo and Juliet. This movie tells the tale of rival gangs in New York City and the star-crossed lovers left in the middle of the conflict, but with added music and choreography. 

Directed by Stephen Spielberg

Starring: Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBose, David Alvarez, Mike Faist, Rita Moreno, and more

Only in theatres.

Photo via Collider

Spider-Man: No Way Home (December 17)

This is the third film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe Spiderman trilogy. Spiderman has to deal with the aftermath of Spider-Man: Far From Home with the help of Doctor Strange. Suddenly, something goes wrong and the two now have to face off against villains from the multiverse. Only in theatres.

Directed by John Watts

Starring: Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Alfred Molina, and more

Sing 2 (December 22)

Photo via People

This sequel to the hit animated movie takes it one step further from the music competition of the first movie to a grand show reminiscent of ones from Las Vegas. The vocally gifted animals of the first movie are preparing to open their new show. While this is happening, Buster Moon, the leader of the show, is trying to convince a rock legend to join them. Only in theatres.

Directed by Garth Jennings and Christophe Lourdelet

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Taron Egerton, Tori Kelly, and more

The Matrix Resurrections (December 22)

Photo via Kalbar Terkini

The fourth and newest installment of the iconic movie franchise. Neo is plagued with strange memories and finds himself back inside the matrix. This movie can be found only in theatres.

Directed by Lana Wachowski

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Christina Ricci, Jessica Harwick, Carrie-Anne Moss, Priyanka Chopra-Jonas, and more

DON’T LOOK UP (December 24)

Photo via Variety

Two astronomers discover something ominous approaching the atmosphere. They now have to go around the United States of America on a media tour to warn everyone about the impending doom in the sky. This movie with an all-star cast can be found streaming on Netflix and in select theatres.

Directed by Adam McKay

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Timothee Chalamet, Ariana Grande, and more

NOVEMBER MOVIES THAT YOU MAY HAVE MISSED:

ETERNALS (November 5)

Photo via The Catalyst

An immortal race of superpowered beings were sent down to Earth by primordial space gods and tasked with protecting humans from ancient monsters. Unravel how these beings secretly helped shape the origins of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, while also finding out how they helped the advancement of human civilization. Available now in theatres.

Directed by Chloé Zhao

Starring: Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kumail Nanjiani, and more

tick, tick...BOOM! (November 10)

Photo via IGN

A movie musical based on the life of RENT creator, Jonathan Larson. It tells the story of the composer before fame as he questions his career choice. He is also navigating through love, friendship, and the pressures of being an artist; all while nearing his 30th birthday. Streaming on Netflix right now.

Directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda

Starring: Andrew Garfield, Alexandra Shipp, Vanessa Hudgens, Robin de Jesus, MJ Rodriguez, and more

Encanto (November 24)

Photo via Disney Movies

A family is gifted with magical abilities by their house found in Colombia. Everyone in the family has a gift except for Mirabel. When the house suddenly starts to lose its magic, Mirabel becomes the family’s last hope at saving their extraordinary house. This animated movie is out now in theatres.

Directed by Jared Bush, Byron Howard, and Charise Castro Smith

Starring: Stephanie Beatriz, Maria Cecilia Botero, John Leguizamo, Mauro Castillo, Jessica Darrow, and more

There are many more movies that were not included in this list but the ones included are some amazing highlights from the past two months.  These movies are highly recommended for the winter break. 

[stereogeekspodcast]

[Transcript] Season 3, Episode 1. Eternals Review

Welcome back to Stereo Geeks! We’re starting off Season 3 with a review of Marvel’s Eternals. This sprawling epic of a superhero film is diverse, beautiful, and just a bit overburdened by its writing.

We talked about why we loved the characters, finally getting South-Asian representation in a superhero film, the queer rep (and whether it worked), and so much more. Confused about the Eternals timeline? Here's Mon's explainer at Collider. Eternals promo images courtesy of Disney.

Listen to the episode on Anchor.

Ron: Hello and welcome to season three of Stereo Geeks. Today we’re talking about Eternals.

Ron: I’m Ron.

Mon: And I'm Mon. [Music]

Ron: We have had so much MCU content this year. And Eternals is just the latest in a long line of diverse content that we have been waiting for for a very, very long time.

So let's start off with what Eternals is about. The Eternals from the planet Olympia are sent by Arishem to protect Earth from Deviants, evil beings set on destruction. The Eternals have been on Earth for millennia, and they've been protecting the planet ever since. But why have they been hidden this whole time? That is what this movie essentially answers because the Eternals are extremely powerful. They're eternal. They don't die. We could have really used their help when Thanos was killing half the universe; but they had their reasons. Not good reasons, maybe. But the point is, they're here now and they're happy to save the earth. And we kind of are gonna need their help, because things are looking bad.

As always, we're going to divide this episode into our non-spoiler section and then spoilers. We'll talk about what worked, what didn't work in both sections.

I think what worked for us was not knowing anything. We once again managed to avoid as many trailers as possible. There was a lot of discourse because this film technically premiered two weeks before it reached regular audiences. Some people did get spoiled, but fortunately we did not. So, we went in there without any knowledge of what to expect. And honestly, that's the best way to see it because there were a lot of surprises.

This movie is 2 hours, 27 minutes long; it is the second longest film in the MCU after Endgame. I did not feel like it was that long at all.

Not everything worked. But then, that kind of goes for every MCU film. We had our own issues with certain aspects of Shang-chi and with Black Widow, but we still loved those movies. With Eternals, we came out feeling exactly the same thing. There were things that could have been better. But at the end of the day, we really enjoyed the film, and more than anything else we really liked these characters.

Mon: I think Eternals took us by surprise even before we watched this film, mostly because the majority of MCU viewers, even casual comic fans, had never even heard of these characters. So when they announced that this film was happening, these characters were going to be introduced into this world, we were really confused. But one of the things that appealed to a lot of people, certain segments not included, was the diversity that was on display.

Not only did he have a woman of color behind the scenes, Chloe Zhao, recent Oscar winner, but the cast itself was representative of many parts of the world.

Ron: So in the cast, we have Gemma Chan playing Sersi—this is the first time we've had a woman of color in the lead in an MCU film. We have Richard Madden playing Ikaris, Angelina Jolie as Thena, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Kit Harrington, who plays Dane Whitman—who is not an Eternal—Kumail Nanjiani who plays Kingo, Lia McHugh as Sprite, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Barry Keoghan as Druig, and Don Lee as Gilgamesh. So that's already quite a diverse cast.

Salma Hayek and Lauren Ridloff are the first two Latin-American heroes. Lauren Ridloff is of Mexican-American and African-American heritage as well. Plus, Lauren Ridloff is the first deaf hero in the MCU. Kumail Nanjiani plays Kingo, he’s the first South Asian superhero. Brian Tyree Henry’s Phastos is the first queer hero. They had a queer character in the MCU but we don't talk about him. And we also have the first gay Muslim character in the MCU. This is Ben who is played by Haaz Sleiman. And Ben is Phastos’ husband. That's a lot of firsts. And I feel like some people thought that that was too many in one film. I think it works.

From what I read, Chloe Zhao specifically pitched this as an angle for Eternals. Because if you look at the original comics version by Jack Kirby, the Eternals are all white, mostly male. I tried reading one of them. The older comics are a bit verbose, so it wasn't really an enjoyable experience. And it wasn't for us. So coming into this, and seeing this cast was supremely exciting, and I feel like this is the right group of characters to do it with. Honestly, you can make diversity happen if you want to make diversity happen. But this is a really good start.

Mon: I completely agree. One of the things that you realize when you're watching this film is that the Eternals are a huge part of Earth's history in the MCU at least. In which case they need to look like they belong. And you can't do that with a group of 10 white folk. You need a little bit more variety.

Ron: You'll end up contrasting the Eternals with the Avengers. And the Avengers, for everything that they do, they also leave a big gap for people who don't look like the Avengers. The Eternals make you feel like you are part of this universe. It's taken a really long time for that to happen. But this is a huge plus for this film.

Mon: I agree. I don't think I would have been as interested in this film had ir not been for such a diverse cast. We would have watched it, of course, we’ve watched all the other MCU films. The interconnectedness of the MCU also means that you don't really have much of a choice. But the enthusiasm comes from the fact that there is a lot of inclusivity, and I think for us to be arguing about this much diversity in a film that is in a franchise, which is older than a decade is ridiculous.

Ron: Yeah, I don't think we need to care about the people who have a problem with the diversity in this film because as we said, that is a really positive thing. I feel like it actually lends a lot of gravitas to the characters’ relationship with the audience.

Mon: I agree, and also to the story. Because it's not just the diversity of the characters. It's the way they enmesh themselves in the cultures, which we won't go into too much right now. But it is a very valuable part of their story. And I don't think we would have cared much for them or even understood some of their motivations if they were always looking in from the outside.

Ron: And one of the main things that really sold this film for me was the characters and not just the diversity but the characters themselves. 10 characters is a lot and the Avengers films would often struggle just with the six that they had. Thor really got left behind, you guys. And I'm not saying that that doesn't happen in Eternals. But each character has such a distinct personality and very distinctive relationships with each other. Whatever you think about the film, the story, whatever, when you come out of it, you're still thinking about the people that you've been watching. And that's probably why I have a much more positive view of this film than a lot of people because I came away having fallen in love with 10 new characters. That's a great feeling.

Mon: I agree. When we went into watch this film there were a lot of snippets and trailers. And there were some BTS bits where Kumail Nanjiani was basically saying, ‘oh, each of these characters is very distinctive’ and when we watched watched the film, we were like, yes, you know, he's not talking out of his hat. He means it because they really are. They are so unique. You can't mix them up. They not only look unique, they act unique. Their personalities, their motivations, their reactions, all distinct, all different. And I guess you could say it really is a Chloe Zhao sort of thing, because she does make you want to be invested in these characters. And she's able to be make them very grounded even though, well, they’re immortals, they're super powered, they come from a planet called Olympia. Really, we should not be connecting with these people, but we do, because there's this earthiness to who they are. I really enjoyed that.

And I think the flaws of this film, as grave as they may be, they would be highlighted even further if the characters weren’t this strong.

Ron: Yeah. And they're all connected to each other in different ways. Which is quite a feat honestly, because 10 people, 10 different combinations, but it still works.

Mon: The dynamics are very interesting actually. Because you do learn different things about the dynamics between different characters. And you understand why people are behaving in the particular ways that they are. And it unfolds slowly in some aspects. I would say that they rushed some bits and they didn't in other bits.

But she put in these little snippets and these shots from time to time and you're like, ‘Oh, look at the way this person is watching his colleague;. And that leads into something essential in that character's story arc. I really love those bits.

Ron: There's a lot of information that is dumped on you. From the very opening moment right to the end. It's words and worlds and powers and abilities. It's so much.

Mon: That opening scroll went on for five or six paragraphs?

Ron: Yeah, it did.

Mon: And they mentioned all these names and titles which are completely unfamiliar to us. Okay, you know, you really need to take this very seriously because she's giving you information which is important to the actual film. I got that Star Wars-y feel.

Ron: Yes.

Mon: And it made me kind of nostalgic because I think we’ve gotten out of the habit of getting this information, which is very key because nowadays, films are just structured differently. So it's kind of nice.

Ron: But at no point did I feel like there was so much information that I couldn't understand what was going on. I was actually surprised by how much information I actually retained, which was interesting because this is all new. But what I liked about the way Zhao did it, she leaves it to the audience to figure things out. She's not signposting how a character feels. She gives you a moment to see how they're looking at something or how they looking at each other or how they're reacting to something. When something is said. You decide what that means. I thought it was really intelligent. And it's not something you expect from superhero films or superhero television because they're constantly reiterating things. With this film. Despite the new characters, new kind of world building, all these new concepts, you're just kind of left to understand things, which is good. I liked that.

But there's also like this richness to the tapestry of the film. They go to so many different locations. They speak so many languages. I remember when we first saw Iron Man, and the bad guys who had taken Tony, they were speaking in Urdu, and we were like, ‘Okay, so this is their plan’. Obviously the characters didn't know that. So we all knew what to expect, but Tony didn't. It just was like, what is going on.

But this film does not do that. These guys are Eternals and they've been around for a long time. They're able to absorb the cultures and the languages that they live amongst. And what I really liked is yes, they're speaking these languages, but they're also reacting in a way where you know that they understand it. And that's not just the past, but also in the present. It felt like these people belonged on Earth—

Mon: —or they wanted to belong.

Ron: That's a good point.

Mon: And I think it's really important. We want to reiterate the fact that the use of so many languages is quite unusual in the MCU, especially among main characters. It's getting there a little bit, but you really feel it in this film because they weave those different languages into their speech from time to time, and some of them are good at it. Some of them not so good. But they're all trying.

Ron: So for us, another thing that really captured our imagination was the fact that we have a South Asian superhero, and there were actually South Asian elements, which was unexpected.

Mon: A lot of times what happens is people talk about diversity, but diversity is just skin deep. What you really need is representation and you need inclusivity. It isn't perfect. I'm not saying that Marvel has now ticked every inclusive and representative box, but they really went far beyond what we expected. We thought South Asia hero, okay. He just looks like us. But it goes beyond that. And I really really enjoyed that aspect of it. I mean, especially it was fun for you and me. We’ve always loved superheroes and we've never really seen that kind of representation in the kinds of movies that like to see, so we are a step closer.

Ron: I never imagined hearing Hindi spoken properly in an MCU film. Bruce Banner spoke some Hindi in the first Avengers movie, but we can't count that because it was terrible.

Mon: Also, it was in Kolkata. Why wouldn’t he speak in Bengali? My brain hurts.

Ron: We also had the first queer family and queer kiss, which has got Eternals banned in some countries. It's not a huge thing.

Mon: It isn't. It's one of those quintessential Disney/Marvel moments where you can easily chop it out

Ron: Yes. And I think that's why they make it like that, so that they can actually cut that scene and send it to countries where, apparently, people will have a problem with it. But what I liked is that it's not just one kiss and that's it. Phastos and Ben, their relationship is extremely key to Phastos’ every motivation. So that's why I think some of the countries actually banned it, because they realized they can't cut all those bits, because Phastos is really important. I’m kind of glad that they leaned into it. It's a step in the right direction.

When you look at the DC CW shows, for those shows, representation has gone way, way beyond—queerness is just part of the fabric now. The MCU has a very long way to go. But Phastos and Ben is a good start.

Aside from all the other things that we really loved about it, this is such a gorgeous movie. Yes, there are bits set in space, obviously, so those are beautiful. But Earth itself—I feel like this movie really loves Earth. And in a way it does, because it's showing us a very different kind of perspective. Most of the Avengers are from Earth, they obviously they care about it. But the Eternals, they're not from here, so they have a very different perspective. It's a very loving perspective. And I guess that's why the movie looks as beautiful as it does, because that actually ends up being a motivation for some of the events.

Mon: Well, Chloe Zhao does have a habit of bringing out the beauty in the ugly. Even in some of the more desolate or barren areas of the planet that we visit in this film, she shoots it with such great grace and beauty. It showcases the grandeur of the planet. I really liked that.

The Eternals, they're part of this fabric, and again you see this sprawling landscape behind them. You feel why they're so connected. And there's so many locations.

Ron: Yeah.

Mon: It's amazing. You really see a lot of Earth over here.

Ron: So those are the reasons why we loved this film.

There were certain things that didn't work, chief among them being the exposition. There is a lot of exposition in this movie. I think it's basically that one scene where a lot of exposition is shared with us in a very short amount of time.

Mon: It's also exposition about three to four different plot points, which I still feel could have been scattered throughout the story or even pushed to a second film.

Ron: I was feeling same thing.

Mon: Because I feel like there were some twists in that exposition, which would have really led to a good cliff-hanger and prolonged the story of these characters. And I could just be saying that because I'm biased and I love these characters and I want to see more of them.

Ron: Yeah.

Mon: They have some really interesting chemistry between them, even though not a lot of them spent that much screen time together. But you feel that connection.

Anyway, back to the exposition. See, we keep going back to the characters.

It was very obviously the Marvel formula pushing its way through and because so much of the film is taken out by character building, character development, and understanding who these people are, so all the exposition sort of got squeezed into this one scene.

Ron: Having said that, maybe it’s because I’m biased, but to me, when I was watching that, I was like, ‘oh gosh, this is a lot of exposition’. But on the other hand, I was thinking for the character, it's a bombardment of information that shocks her. So, she goes from ‘being okay, this is what I have to do’ to ‘oh my gosh, this is what I have to do’. I felt like that may have been the point of that very, very long scene that she is just bombarded with all this awful stuff. And she really is reeling. So, we are also supposed to feel like that. But, instead we kind of came away feeling like ‘oh, this is exposition’.

Mon: I agree. We are reeling and we understand that she's reeling as well. But I still feel that at least one of those plot points would have been better served had it been saved for later.

Ron: And there's a scene later on when you get one of those plot points explained anyway. So maybe that could have been left out.

Mon: Yeah. I just wonder if there were a couple of twists in that exposition, whether it would have  really made a much more powerful film had they actually learned it organically. But it would have been a very different story.

Ron: Yes.

Mon: That may not have been what Chloe Zhao wanted to write. That’s the reason they went the way they did. It's just that, honestly, everybody's talking about it now and just ignoring all the good parts.

Ron: But the thing is that the MCU fans have often struggled with exposition. Well look at Age of Ultron, there was just so much talking.

So, one of the other things that I really struggled with was Sersi is technically the lead, but I felt like there were times the film was favoring Ikaris. He was definitely a very interesting character. But I don’t want that.

Mon: I honestly didn't realize that Sersi was the lead till partway through.

Ron: Oh!

Mon: I really thought it was Ikaris. And then he disappears and you suddenly start getting Sersi’s point of view outside of Ikaris, which is when I realized ‘okay, so it’s Sersi’. It took me a while though. I really thought it was Ikaris. And Richard Madden has also been the most prominently featured and promoted actor for this film.

Ron: I'm glad that Sersi was the lead. It just felt like Ikaris was constantly stealing the limelight from her. There is a reason why—everything that happens has an explanation. It's just a little bit frustrating.

Mon: Yeah, I think there was a lot of focus on Sersi and Ikaris’ characters. When you have an ensemble cast and you have touted it as an ensemble—you have your posters very prominently featuring all 10 of them—you do expect there to be some equity in the screen time. And we didn't get that, and I think that was my biggest grouse of this film. I really wanted more of these other characters.

Ron: Salma Hayek is Salma Hayek, so whenever she's on screen, you can't miss Ajak. But I felt like she just wasn't there as much as we wanted her to be. I also wanted to get into her head a bit more. I think we managed to get an understanding of all the other characters but Ajak not so much.

Kingo, Phastos and Gilgamesh, they did not get enough screen time. I was upset.

Mon: Same. They are all the very interesting characters. Kingo, still, I have to say he got more screen time than I expected. But Phastos—especially when you have somebody who is such a known name like Brian Tyree Henry—you expect him to pretty much be in every scene. But I don't know; I can see that this is a pattern.

Ron: Yes.

Mon: Every time he's in a film, he's hardly in it. Whenever he's on screen, he steals the show.

Ron: Yeah.

Mon: What is everybody afraid of? Just let him steal the show, people.

Ron: I feel like Makkari was gone for like ages. But then once she returned to the screen, she managed to own it, which was a good thing because she was great. But it definitely felt like there were certain characters that were getting more of the screen time than others.

Mon: Not only screen time, but development to understand who they are and what they’re doing. We could intuit a lot about the other characters, but I feel like we really wanted to spend time with them.

I completely understand that juggling 10 characters is a lot. But when you do, have a think about where you want to take these characters; what do you want to do with them?

Ron: Less screen time for Ikaris.

Mon: He was an interesting character, though.

Ron: He was an interesting character but he was kinda like, you know, Broody Superman and I was just like, I'd really rather hang out with Phastos. Ron: I think our last point is probably the soundtrack by Ramin Djawadi. The MCU scores have been very up and down. Sometimes you get really good ones—like The Winter Soldier was really great, Black Panther was amazing. Shang-Chi has been great.

This one, the Eternals theme, I've quite enjoyed that. It's different. It feels very orchestral, very bold, yet also very space-y. But the rest of the music, not so much.

Mon: Yeah, the rest of the music I won't say it’s generic as much as it is just unmemorable. It's a bit same-y.

Ron: It also fades into the background way too easily. Like you don't even realize that there's music.

Mon: Yes, I don't like scores like that. Every piece of music should have some kind of movement to it.

Ron: And especially when you've got a bunch of characters like this.

Mon: Exactly. And a film that is full of action. And we don't mean necessarily action scenes, but action in the way that how the people have to react, and work and find out things. There's something happening in every scene. The score really doesn't reflect that.

Ron: You know what I would have loved? Themes for each of the characters.

Mon: Yes!

Ron: This film was ripe for it!

Mon: Double the runtime of the soundtrack with themes for every character.

Ron: Yes.

Mon: Wow.

Ron: They really missed the boat there.

Mon: They did.

Ron: Unfortunate.

Ron: So, I think we're ready to go into our spoilers section. If you haven't watched the film, stop the podcast now, go watch the film, and come back. So, spoilers. Those locations. Outstanding! But the one that really stole our hearts, Babylon.

Mon: Yeah, we see them fighting, kinda in close-up and you can see the blue gates behind them, but then it zooms out. And it really showcases the grandeur of these beautiful blue gates. Wow! It really made you want to go back into the past.

Ron: I know! That's what I really loved about the past scenes in this film. It has such a reverence for the history that we had. And you can understand why because the Eternals lived through all that and they wanted to preserve it. It was just so beautiful, and I honestly felt like I preferred the scenes in the past more than I liked the ones in the present. It also helped that in the past they were all together. So, that was a plus point.

There were so many twists and turns and I can understand why people who were spoiled before the movie came out would have been really upset. Because if I had known any of those points, I would have been really angry. Like Arishem lying throughout their entire time on Earth. Who expected that to happen? And the fact that Ajak knew the whole time, but obviously she kept it secret because then her people would not be finishing their mission. And Ikaris being the baddie. I totally called it!

Mon: I didn't…

Ron: You didn't believe me.

Mon: I did not believe you. I thought to myself, this is the main white guy on the team. There is no way he's the bad guy. He turned out to be the bad guy. I also have to say it's such great direction on Zhao’s part that Ikaris is so stoic when he returns to Earth in the present day. He’s stoic, he doesn't react much and throughout I kept thinking why is this guy not reacting like the others? You know, Ajak’s death, the Deviants having healing powers and sucking up Eternal’s powers. He just seemed to be unfazed, not even nonchalant, just unfazed. And it doesn't make sense till the big revelation that he's the villain. And honestly, that's great direction.

Ron: Yeah, because there’s no reason for you to think that somebody like Ikaris would be betraying his team. And then he actually gets help. Sprite, who’s a very interesting character, not like anything I would expect to see, definitely not in the MCU. But sprite who was like, you know, been with Sersi throughout, was so fond of Kingo, and the two of them used to hang out together for so long. And then she's just like, the moment Ikaris steps out, she wants to join him. And I was like, What? Why? But obviously, even those moments are foreshadowed but it is still a bit of a shock.

What did strike me as really surprising was Kingo sitting out that battle.

Mon: Uh-huh.

Ron: Because he actually was on Ikaris’ side, but he didn't want to fight. Obviously, he didn't want to fight the other Eternals. That was a really interesting thing to happen.

Mon: Yeah, I'm not a big fan of that.

Ron: I'm also not. I would’ve loved for Kingo to be there.

Mon: I think Kingo would have been a little too powerful. That is probably why he was written out of the final battle.

Ron: Yeah, but it was just such an unexpected thing to happen. Like, for one of the core members to just say, No, I'm not going to fight at all. Y'all deal with this.

Mon: Yeah, it's interesting because I felt like everybody else sort of worked and their motivations made sense. But Kingo specifically sitting out that battle and siding with Ikaris and the mission, that was the only time I felt that this is completely out of character. I just didn't see him as the kind of person who would not love Earth, not love what he's done or achieved, or that he’d let himself die. Which is what would happen in the case of an Emergence.

Ron: But I think with Kingo it wasn't that he didn't love Earth. He does. But he believed in their mission. And the fact that if they stopped the Emergence, they would actually prevent the births of other worlds and other people.

Mon: So, it was the big sacrifice play for him?

Ron: So, he was basically sacrificing his own ideals for his team. Whereas Ikaris was being very belligerent about it. He was ready to fight the people that were his family, because, well, it's a bit of an ego thing really. Kingo kept his ego out of it.

Mon: You know, you put a really good perspective on that.

Ron: Thank you. And everything about Kingo was just like, brilliant though. And him having the valet. so Karun, who is played by Harish Patel, who we have been watching in films since we were kids and it was just like so random to see him in Eternals. We were like, what?

What I really loved is he was there throughout. Every time that Kingo was around, Karun was not far behind. That man had an unending supply of cameras. They were really funny. And I really love that part. Because otherwise I think this movie could have got really, really heavy. Sprite had some funny moments. Dane had some funny moments. But Kingo and Karun were just like, they stole the show for me. The whole South Asian thing. We touched on it a little in the non-spoilers section, but it was just so surprising. And you know what this is what they talk about when they say representation. We’ve never seen people like us on a big-screen superhero film. Finally we’re getting that. I think that's also why I kind of felt a little bit bad that Kingo wasn’t there in the final battle. But also, you know what, he took the Black Panther way, so I'm not complaining. I like the fact that we got to see the Gupta period.

Mon: Yes, which is the Golden Age of India. And again, we see some really good writing because that's the one period in the past when the Eternals are in a celebratory mood, they are only enjoying themselves. There’s no war, there's no fighting. Whereas in most of the other periods, they are in the middle of some battle. If they're not battling the Deviants, they're witnessing horrifying invasions. But that was a celebratory period.

And again, clever writing, just knowing a little bit of history. It's actually the third line in Wikipedia. It's not that hard. But still, it was a smart move. So, it may you feel better. Because had they gone to the Gupta period, and then you see everybody fighting and warring. We’re not saying there weren’t any fights and wars, we’re just saying it was a very peaceful time.

And that wasn't it. Well, Kingo is a Bollywood star, so there's an item number. [laughs] And the fact that Karun speaks a lot of Hindi throughout.

Ron: And Kingo speaks Hindi, as well.

Mon: Yes, very briefly. And the Bollywood posters depicting just how different the eras are. That was very true to life, and a very good touch. And the most touching line in the entire film is something that Karun says in Hindi. It was just a genius move.

Ron: And you know what I really loved is that when he's saying that, and you know, we understand Hindi, so we understood exactly how much sentiment was going into that, but you get these reaction shots of the Eternals. And none of them would actually know Hindi, but the Eternals do, and they react just the way you would expect. I really loved that. Those are really, really nice moments.

Mon: Yeah, it's the reaction shots that really sold this movie for me. Like there's this time when Sprite is creating these illusions, telling the story of how Gilgamesh and the others fought this war and won and Kingo is mesmerized. And he later says, it's the way you used to tell stories that made me fall in love with storytelling, and that's how I went into Bollywood. And I just thought, it's those character moments that honestly, they’re the best part of this film.

Ron: I could watch a whole trilogy just on these 10 characters.

Mon: Same!

Ron: And that's kind of what hurts because a Ajak is gone. Gilgamesh is gone. Ikaris is gone.

Mon: Sprite lost her powers.

Ron: So, technically she's gone. I feel like sequels could possibly have flashbacks. They were on Earth for 7000 years. We can go back to the past, but it's not going to be the same.

Mon: Yeah, I agree. Part of me keeps thinking Arishem is still there, the worldforge is still there. He can just create new versions. I'm just looking for loopholes to bring these characters back. Because let’s be honest, Ajak in the comics is a male character, which, when you read the name, you think it's a male character. And it turns out to be Salma Hayek, who has these healing powers and is this benevolent leader who knows so much. And you can see the burden of knowing that you've been part of the destruction of planets for millions of years.

Again, that's foreshadowed with acting. And then you find out the truth later. So you meet this character who is so incredible and then she doesn't last long.

Ron: Yeah.

Mon: I hate that. And then there’s Gilgamesh who throughout has got these little sneaky glances and moments with Thena and you can just tell there's something going on between these two. They never put a label on it, which is fine, but you can obviously tell that there is something very special because when she is struggling with Mahd Wy'ry, which is a psychological disorder that some Eternals face, he immediately decides to put his entire life on hold so he can take care of her. And then later on, Thena says to Sersi’ that Gilgamesh always said that you'll do anything to protect the people you love. So, all this development, this relationship, this dynamic, it's sort of built through these little sentences here and there, little glances and things that they do, and then they killed him off.

Ron: I know!

Mon: And he was so funny! Ron: Gilgamesh was funny, and he was so sweet and he and Thena were just adorable. Obviously, the focus was on Ikaris and Sersi’s romance, but this unexpected little connection between Thena and Gilgamesh was just so sweet to watch. And it was kind of effortless. Like the characters obviously have a relationship but the actors just had this chemistry that was just there, like from the very first fight scene. And I was like, hang on, is there something happening? And yeah, it's there. They just haven't done anything with it. So, when Gilgamesh is gone, you feel that not just because we like Gilgamesh, but you feel that because Thena has lost Gilgamesh.

I was so surprised because you have a name like Angelina Jolie, and I was just like how is this movie going to not be Angelina Jolie's movie? I don't know how they did it, but she's just one of the Eternals. She has really cool powers, I really liked them. But she's also very kind, very lost. She gets vindicated for what she feels so that's a relief because I was like, why are they doing this? Why is she feeling the effects of Mahd Wy'ry so badly? But fortunately, there is a reason why. But she has these amazing action moments that are really fun to watch. And you kind of forget that you're watching Angelina Jolie.

Mon: I appreciated that. I was very concerned, just like you, because Marvel has a lot of big names. Not gonna say that they don't know.

Ron: Umm. Marvel has kind of made the big names, though.

Mon: Well, you also have people like Anthony Hopkins, so, I'm just saying.

Ron: That's true.

Mon: It would have been easy for them to just make it a Jolie-vehicle. Let everybody else just coast. She could have phoned it in. Thankfully, she didn't. She also didn’t chew the scenery or gobble up all the screen time and presence from everybody else. I really appreciated that.

Ron: Yeah. Apparently, Jolie was surprised by how large the role was.

Mon: Okay.

Ron: She was expecting something much smaller. So, she worked really hard on those action scenes because she wanted Thena to have her own movement. And that's definitely something that you see, that all the characters have a very different kind of physical presence. They all hold themselves very differently. And that's probably the workouts and everything that they had to do. Everybody knows Kumail Nanjiani transformed himself for this film. Richard Madden, as well, had to do the same thing. They apparently spent a lot of time in the gym together. But like Don Lee, he's an actual fighter.

Mon: Oh?

Ron: So, his way of holding himself, very different.

Mon: Yeah, and his movements come across as somebody who has that kind of skill.

Ron: Yes.

Mon: Oh, very interesting. I didn’t know that.

Ron: Yeah. So, I really liked the fact that they're distinctive in so many different kinds of ways. See how we come back to talking about the characters again?

Mon: So, let's talk about something that was signposted in all the pictures, all the trailers, which was the Sersi-Ikaris romance. So, let’s talk about that a little bit. We knew it was going to happen when we went in because the pictures were unavoidable. And they’re the first two Eternals to wake up, they look at each other, they’re making goo-goo eyes from the moment they see each other. And we’re all like, okay, we get it.

Ron: But their romance actually takes a long time to actually start.

Mon: Yes.

Ron: In film time, it's not that much but they both prioritize fighting the Deviants over actually being -together. But from the perspective of a 2 hour 37 minute-film, their romance was super-rushed. And you can understand why. Because the film kind of hinges on the fact that these two have already been together a very long time. They've already kind of tried to move on from each other because Ikaris decided to disappear. But they’ve come together under these extremely difficult circumstances. And then of course, you have Ikaris’ betrayal and everything. So, those are really important aspects of the film. So, the romance is sped up.

Mon: I found that really strange because they start making goo-goo eyes in 5000 BC, and it's only in 525 BC, when they're in Babylon. Yeah, when Ajak tells Ikaris, go get a life. Tell her how you feel. And then it's like boom-boom-boom. He is following Sersi see around like a little puppy dog. And then next thing you know, they're together and they're getting married. Did it have to be that fast? Couldn’t we have had some breaks in between?

Ron: This is why this movie should have been three movies.

Mon: True, true, I agree with you.

Ron: I'm very intrigued to see what they'll do with the sequels because so much happened in this film. I think one of the other things is that Sersi and Ikaris are very beautiful, but they have very little chemistry.

Mon: I thought so too.

Ron: And I can't understand why.

Mon: Yeah.

Ron: Sersi had more chemistry with Dane.

Mon: She did.

Ron: I feel so bad for saying that.

Mon: Even though, poor Dane had like two and a half scenes, but they did have a lot of chemistry. This is the problem with Marvel. They know that they need to have a romantic pairing, but they don't put in the work to make it a convincing pairing. You can like the characters, you can like the romance and you can still say, where’s the chemistry. It can be so dull.

Ron: Like Thena and Gilgamesh, they work. Makkari and Druig kind of have something going on.

Mon: I don't get those two.

Ron: I don't get it either. Their own family don't. But they also work.

Mon: Yeah, I felt like they had some kind of strange chemistry going on between them.

Ron: Yeah, they were constantly like flirting, from way back when.

Mon: Exactly.

Ron: But Sersi and Ikaris, I just could not get on board with it.

Mon: I agree.

Ron: So, shall we talk about the end of the film and those post-credit scenes?

Mon: Yes, absolutely.

Ron: So, the end of the film… Now, you think that it's going to be the climax where they stopped the Emergence. Ikaris dies. They have to see what to do next. So, Thena, Makkari and Druig take the Domo, their ship, and they leave Earth. Which is sad. But Sersi, Kingo, and Phastos, obviously, they stay back on Earth. They're just about to restart their lives and they get pinched by Arishem, who's like, let's see if Earth is really worthy of being saved like this. And I’m like, what, where did you come from?

Because, all this while, Arishem has only been contacted through the sphere that goes into the leader of the Eternals’ body. And it turns out he's just been hanging out here somewhere this whole time. So, that's a really unexpected cliffhanger ending.

But then you have the end-credits. So, there are two end-credits. In the first one, we’re on the Domo. The three Eternals are very concerned that they can't get in touch with the rest of the Eternals on Earth. Suddenly, there's this portal and Pip the Troll appears. And I'm just like, this is a terrible end-credits scene.

Mon: Exactly. I saw that and I was like, this is so underwhelming. Who is this guy?

Ron: It turns out that he’s the herald for Eros/ Starfox. The brother of Thanos. Interesting thing that we learned, Thanos was part-deviant. Who knew? It turns out that Starfox is played by Harry Styles. So, the three girls behind us were losing their mind. And you and I were looking at this guy on the screen like, who is this?

Mon: In our defense, the screen was a little bit dark. He looks very different.

Ron: He does. He looks extremely different as Starfox. He looks very nice, in case people get worried. He looks very nice, but he looks very different. And also we have not seen him in ages.

Mon: Yes, it was very confusing.

Ron: We were very confused. And we realized what was happening. The three girls behind us screaming definitely helped.

Mon: Exactly.

Ron: Apparently, they had mentioned that Starfox was going to play by Harry Styles. This information goes into my head and goes out; there's too much in there.

Mon: This is why you should have a busy life. Then spoilers come and go.

Ron: But it's interesting because Thanos was Thanos. Is Starfox going to be like that? I don't know what the point of him is. I don't know why he's on the Domo. Is he going to join the Eternals? Nobody knows. It's all going to be very interesting. But you know what, new characters. I love it!

Then we have the second end-credits scene. This one was very confusing for me. I didn't know anything that was going on. So, we have Dane. He kind of tells Sersi, just before Arishem abducts her, that he has an interesting family history that he hasn't told her about. In the second end-credits scene, he's got this blade, and he's very uncomfortable about actually opening the box and actually holding it. And then there's this voice that says, are you sure you want to do that? So, we had no idea what was happening.

Mon: Yeah. The box even had this very ominous saying: death is the only reward.

Ron: And I was like, is this from The Mummy.

Mon: Exactly! After reading that, I wouldn’t pick up that creepy looking sword either.

Ron: I know. It didn't look great. So, we kept wondering who the voice was. I was sure that it was Dr Strange. The girls behind me, who had stopped screaming finally, they thought it was Nick Fury.

Mon: Eventually, Chloé Zhao has revealed who the voice is. And it is Blade, played by Mahershala Ali.

Ron: I did not expect the vampire connection to come into Eternals but hey, I’ll take it. Again, new characters. I’m all for it.

Mon: I feel like this phase of the MCU is going to lead us to crossovers galore.

Ron: I would love that.

Mon: Exactly.

Ron: I've always loved crossovers. Marvel team-ups are the best. This is a great idea.

Mon: They should just do it.

Ron: I mean, we know that Dr Strange is going to have Wanda in it. We know that Dr Strange is going to be in the next Spidey movie. Team-ups. Let’s go with it!

Mon: Exactly. Vampires and Eternals. Hey, let's do it. Well, Dane in the comics is a character called Black Knight…

Ron: Oh… Mon: Who wields the Ebony Blade.

Ron: Wait, Black Knight is supposed to be a movie on the MCU roster, so I guess he's gonna be…

Mon: Oh! I didn't even know it was going to be a movie on the roster.

Ron: Somebody who is writing or producing this film is working on Black Knight. Mon: Okay, well, wow. He's gonna star in his own film.

Ron: I think that explains why there are so many writers on this film, because some of those writers are writing other films.

Mon: Okay. That makes sense.

Ron: So, they had to kind of come in here and just tie it in. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Mon: I'm not sure either. Do I really want an entire movie about Dane? Ron: Let's see what happens. It's the MCU. There are going to movies that work and others that don't quite work but you still enjoy them.

Mon: And some movies that will surprise us, like this one. I was really worried about it.

Ron: I was not sure what to think about it because I didn't know anything about these people. We had really enjoyed Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland. We were very excited by the fact that there was a woman of colour who was directing it and writing it.

You get aspects of that in this film, the diversity of the cast for one. You get so many different eras, so many different locations, so many different languages. You get cultures that are not just the same American culture all the time. I think that's huge win. We really needed this. It's not perfect. There is a lot of exposition. Some of the characters got shunted to the wayside. The romance in the middle was not so great. But it kind of dared to do a few bold things. And those bits really did work. And you got a South-Asian hero. I am really happy about that.

But, yeah, I really enjoyed it. If you've caught Eternals? What did you think about it? Let us know.

Ron: You can find us on Twitter @Stereo_Geeks. Or send us an email stereogeekspodcast@gmail.com. We hope you enjoyed this episode. And see you next week!

Mon: The Stereo Geeks logo was created using Canva. The music for our podcast comes courtesy Audionautix.

[Continuum by Audionautix plays]

Transcription by Otter.ai, Ron, and Mon.

[bjsmall]

22.11.20

We watched DreamWorks Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011) IMDb link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1302011/ Kung Fu Panda 2 is a 2011 computer animated comedy film produced by DreamWorks and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is the sequel to Kung Fu Panda (2008) and is the second of the three Kung Fu Panda films.  It is the first major American animated film to be directed by a female director. It is directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson. It stars Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Seith Rogen, Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan and David Cross. The villain Lord Shen is voiced by Gary Oldman. In the film, Po and the Furious Five battle an evil white peacock called Lord Shen. Po also goes in search of his mysterious past. See the action packed plot here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung_Fu_Panda_2 Compared to the first film, Kung Fu Panda 2 has a much darker tone and a more threatening villian, Lord Shen. The film tackles more mature and complex themes, such as adoption and its difficult emotions. My favourite parts of the film are: 1. The opening scene, The Story of Lord Shen. The story reveals Lord Shen's dark past through beautifully animated Chinese puppetry. 

2. The journey to Gongmen City where scenes switch between our traveling heroes and the evil Lord Shen preparing for battle. 3. The rickshaw chase scene featuring Po Vs. the Wolf Boss. A funny and fast paced scene where Po has to be at his best to defeat the fierce Wolf Boss! 3. The stairs scene where Po errs the legendary words... My old enemy, ''Stairs!'' 4. The collapse of Gongmen Tower. This looks especially good in 3D! Lord Shen attacks the tower to destroy Po and the Furious Five, but they are able to escape. 5. Po finds inner peace. This enables him to harness his hidden powers and destroy Shen's fleet. 6. The final battle scene between Po and Lord Shen. Lord Shen has proved he is evil to the very last second. In the end, he is crushed by his own weapon of mass destruction. Kung Fu Panda 2 shows an increased connection with Chinese culture. DreamWorks members visited the Panda City of Shengdu. They went to the giant panda research centre and explored the local landscape and architecture. They also held a month old panda cub named Bao, which inspired the idea for the baby Po flashback.

At the end of the film, we learn that Po’s biological father Li has sensed that his son is still alive. His father makes an appearance in Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016). Kung Fu Panda 2 was the highest grossing animated feature film of the year and was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards, losing to Rango. Like Kung Fu Panda, Kung Fu Panda 2 received very positive reviews having an approval rating of 81%. The stereoscopic 3D version was highly acclaimed due to the dynamic fight scenes. Kung Fu Panda 2 is shown in the 2.39:1 cinema-scope aspect ratio. The soundtrack was composed by Hans Zimmer and John Powell. Kung Fu Panda 2 was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on November 14th 2011.

I have a copy of the Triple Play version which features a Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital Copy. Interestingly, it was released on Blu-Ray and DVD in America a month later than Europe as the second film was more successful outside America. I went to see the film in 3D in the cinema back in 2011. Kung Fu Panda 2 remains one of my favourite animated films of all time alongside the original Kung Fu Panda. I particularly like the evil Lord Shen, who is without doubt the darkest villain of the 3 Kung Fu Panda films. I liked the different animation techniques and visual effects used throughout the film. I think it has an authentic Chinese flavour. I also think the musical score matches the darker on-screen action.

[lokiondisneyplus]

Disney has postponed the release of fall blockbusters such as Marvel’s “Black Widow,” Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” and Kenneth Branagh’s “Death on the Nile” by several months. The results are bad news for the exhibition industry, which is facing fierce headwinds after closing for months due to coronavirus.

The studio has kept the late November release date of Pixar’s “Soul,” surprising some in the industry who had expected the animated family film to either move to a later perch or get released on Disney Plus. The moves set off a cascade of distribution shifts that will upend the theatrical landscape for months. Other Marvel releases, such as “Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” and “Eternals” will all debut deeper into 2021. Disney’s release date shifts all but guarantee that box office revenues this year will reach a nadir — analysts have already projected that domestic grosses would decline between 70% to 80% due to the pandemic.

“Black Widow,” starring Scarlett Johansson, was set to debut on Nov. 6, a date that started to look increasingly unlikely as movie theaters on the coasts remained closed. Variety previously reported that the studio was eyeing a new time to unveil the film on the big screen after the disappointing performance of Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” in the U.S. and the delay of “Wonder Woman 1984.” “Black Widow” will now open on May 7, 2021.

“Death on the Nile” — a follow-up to 2017’s box office hit “Murder on the Orient Express” — will bow on Dec. 18, 2020, vacating its original Oct. 23 premiere. “Death on the Nile,” a murder mystery based on Agatha Christie’s novel, appeals to an older moviegoers, a demographic that might be hesitant to return to indoor spaces during the pandemic.

“West Side Story,” which marks Spielberg’s first foray into musicals, was expected to be a key Academy Awards contender. A awards sweep may still be in its future, but not at this year’s Oscars. “West Side Story” will launch a year later than expected, on Dec. 10, 2021 instead of Dec. 18, 2020.

Due to the interconnected nature of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Black Widow’s” move shifted back other installments in the superhero franchise. “Eternals,” a comic book adventure about a super-powered alien race, will debut on Nov. 5, 2021. It was previously dated for Feb. 12, 2021. Chloé Zhao directed the film, which stars Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Gemma Chan and Kumail Nanjiani.

And “Shang-Chi,” Marvel’s first film with an Asian lead, has moved from May 7, 2021 to July 9, 2021. Destin Daniel Cretton will direct a cast that includes Simu Liu as the titular martial arts hero.

Meanwhile, “Deep Water,” Adrian Lyne’s thriller with Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas, will no longer open on Nov. 13, 2020. It will instead debut on Aug. 13, 2021.

Two films will actually bow earlier in the schedule. “The Empty Man,” a horror film with James Badge Dale, will be released on Oct. 23, 2020 instead of on Dec.4, 2020. “The King’s Man,” previously dated on Feb. 26, 2021, will move ahead two weeks to Feb. 12. However, the latest entry in the spy franchise was initially intended to launch this month.

A number of movies have been postponed following the release of “Tenet,” including Universal’s horror thriller “Candyman” into 2021 and STX’s disaster film “Greenland” with Gerard Butler. Part of the reason that studios are reluctant to release major films is because there’s no sense of when New York and Los Angeles, the two biggest moviegoing markets in the U.S., will be able to open theaters. Cinemas in other parts of the country that have been able to resume operation haven’t seen huge business.

Nearly 70% of movie theaters in North America resumed operations in recent weeks, with many timing their reopenings to the release of “Tenet.” Now, exhibitors face the potential of months without new content to offer audiences.

[thearabkhaleesi]

D23 EXPO DAY 2 - WALT DISNEY STUDIOS

On the second day of Disney’s D23 Expo this year, Disney hosted a huge panel on all the upcoming movies the company has planned. Here’s everything you need to know from the Walt Disney Studios panel.

STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

A new poster for Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker was released at D23! It shows Rey and Kylo fighting against a backdrop of PALPATINE! (⚠️ He was confirmed to be in the movie when the first trailer was released months ago, I know some of you consider it a spoiler, I would too, but it seems like Disney will feature him heavily in the marketing so there’s no escape from it really).

We also got some other not spoilery news and some VERY spoilery news.

First, no spoilers:

JJ Abrams says that Leia is still at the heart of Episode IX❤️

Anthony Daniels says of IX, “what an ending!”💛

Keri Russell says her character is an old friend of Poe’s...

Now, VERY SPOILERY NEWS FROM D23 FOR STAR WARS IX⚠️⚠️⚠️ You have been warned. D23 attendees were shown a reel of footage where Rey was wearing a dark cowl & was wielding a red lightsaber. I have goosebumps typing this. The video is attached below. 

STAR WARS IX: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER is set to be released December 20💫

CRUELLA

Disney unveiled the first look at Emma Stone in CRUELLA!🐶 Disney’s Cruella ia A live action movie surrounding the iconic villain from 101 Dalmatians, Cruella De Vil, focusing on Cruella’s origins, similar to Maleficent & it’ll have a pop punk vibe. The film also stars Emma Thompson, Paul Walter Hauser, and Joel Fry. Cruella currently has a release date on May 28, 2021.🖤

PIXAR’S SOUL

“Soul” is an upcoming Pixar animated film from Pete Docter (Monsters Inc, Up, Inside Out). The synopsis states: “Ever wonder where your passion, your dreams and your interests come from? What is it that makes you … you? [The film] takes you on a journey from the streets of New York City to the cosmic realms to discover the answers to life's most important questions.” The main character is a middle school band teacher who plays jazz on his off time, but unfortun lately life has derailed him from getting his big break and playing at a jazz club her dreams of getting into. He is the first black lead in a Pixar film. D23 attendees were shown footage. The voice cast includes Jaime Foxx, Daveed Diggs, Tina Fey, and Phylica Rashad. Soul is set to be released June 2020!

PIXAR’S ONWARD

A new poster & a still was just released for Disney•Pixar’s next movie an original story titled “Onward”! The film is set in a suburban fantasy world where humans do not exist, instead populated with elves, trolls, and sprites, where unicorns are as common as rodents, and the story follows two teenage elf brothers embark on a quest to discover if there is still magic in the world.

Click here for the trailer.

The voice cast includes Chris Pratt, Tom Holland, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Octavia Spencer, & D23 attendees were shown an 8-minute clip. Tom Holland took the stage & told the audience “Listen, I know it’s been a crazy week but I want you to know from the bottom of my heart, I love you 3000”. I’m crying. We love you 3000, Tom. Onward arrives in theatres March 6, 2020!🦄

KIT HARINGTON & GEMMA CHAN JOIN MARVEL’S ETERNALS

The Eternals cast made an appearance at D23, with concept art of their costumes, and it was officially confirmed that Gemma Chan is joining the cast as Sersi and KIT HARINGTON is officially joining as BLACK KNIGHT / Dane Whitman🤩💫💫

The Eternals are an immortal alien race created by the Celestials who are sent to Earth to protect humanity from their evil counterparts, the Deviants.✨

In the comics, Dane Whitman inherited a mystical sword that carried a family curse - he took the Black Knight name to help restore honor to their family legacy & was a long time member of the Avengers in the comics (very on brand for you Kit). Sersi is a member of the Eternals, & had a romantic relationship with Dane Whitman / Black Knight in the comics.🖤

The movie also stars Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff as the first deaf superhero in the MCU, Brian Tyree Henry, Salma Hayek,  and more.  I’m so happy Kit is in Eternals, reunited with his Stark brother :’)🐺 💫 Filming has already begun and it’s set to be released November 2020!

FROZEN 2❄️

We finally have some more details on FROZEN 2!❄️ At the panel at D23, it’s said that Frozen 2 centres on an important question - why does Elsa have powers? Additionally, the producers said that Frozen 1 and Frozen 2 come together to form one complete story. And Frozen 2 starts in the past” - confirming that they will be bringing back Anna and Elsa’s parents for ONE SCENE in the new movie. Two new additions to the voice cast are: Sterling K Brown who will voice a character called Lieutenant Mattias, and Evan Rachel Wood who will voice Elsa and Anna’s mother. The attendees at D23 got to see some footage & heard some of the music (& apparently it’s very catchy) Frozen 2 hits theatres this November!❄️

RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON🐉

Disney just announced an original new animated film in the works, Raya and the Last Dragon!🐉 The movie is described as a combination of classic Disney and kung-fu movies, but also Disney meets Game of Thrones. The film is set in a mysterious land called Kumandra, & the region is split into five sections, and Raya is a warrior on the search for the last dragon in the world.🐉 Here’s the concept art & logo - Cassie Steele is voicing Raya and Awkwafina will voice the last dragon. The movie is set to be released Thanksgiving 2020!

Here are the final bits of news from yesterday’s Walt Disney Studios panel at D23!

BLACK PANTHER 2🐾 No official title yet but the release date is set for May 6, 2022, with Ryan Coogler set to return as writer & director.

BLACK WIDOW🕸D23 attendees were shown a teaser trailer for BLACK WIDOW twice so far during D23. A 4-second clip leaked but Disney is taking it down. We also know Black Widow takes place following the events of Captain America: Civil War, as she finds herself on her own & forced to deal with “some of the red in her ledger”. It stars David Harbour stars as Red Guardian (a Russian super-soldier), Florence Pugh plays Yelena (a sister-figure to Natasha), and Rachel Weisz plays a Red Room spy. The movie is currently filming & is scheduled to be released May 2020!

JUNGLE CRUISE🍃D23 attendees were shown footage/a trailer for Jungle Cruise, an upcoming Disney live action film based on the popular Disney Parks attraction of the same name. There are apparently lots of references to the ride that it’s based on. The film is set during the early 20th century, where a riverboat captain named Frank takes a scientist and her brother on a mission into a jungle to find the Tree of Life which is believed to possess healing powers. The film stars Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Jack Whitehall, Paul Giamatti, Edgar Ramirez, and Jesse Plemons. Jungle Cruise is set to hit theaters July 2020.

MULAN⚔️The live action adaptation of Mulan was discussed at the panel today, showing attendees clips that include the matchmaking scene & the recruitment of the Emperor’s army. Apparently lots of the animated film’s shots are recreated and the film feels like a Chinese epic. It only has instrumental music from the animated film, and Mushu and Li Shang will not be in it. Mulan is set to hit cinemas March 27, 2020.🏮

[angrykpoprants]

Bts paved the way for kpop idc what anyone says no one cared about kpop until BTS

I beg to differ, maybe for the late 2010′s and performing at award shows but not for kpop as a whole. However, this is always going to be a topic that always going to be two sided. And I full on respect your opinion, because I can see where its coming from. 

I’ve always felt like kpop was just a sub genre like a lot of other music, while its not mainstream and US artist will always have the upperhand in their home country kpop has a large enough following in the US, its just like that time were J-rock and J-pop was huge… btw does anyone remember Puffy AmiYumi?

I think the reason as to why it really looks like they were the ones who paved the way for kpop is because of the social media and fandom culture we have now, from 2005-2014 social media culture wasn’t like what it is today, I’m not even talking about fan interaction either, because I feel like there was way more fan interaction on twitter from the B.A.P members. 

Lets see the timeline of kpop/korean artist making headlines in America 

2005

Rain made headlines for being the first ever Korean artist to perform outside of Asia. He was also the first Korean artist to perform in the US, and let alone do a 2 hour concert. It’s one of the biggest Korean concert that was held in NYC. It even featured Pi Diddy, Omarion, and JoJo Levesque. This was the initial foot print that the hallyu wave had outside of Asia 

2006

Rain made headlines for because Time magazine listed him as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, to that Stephen Colbert invited him on his show and they did a parody of Way to Avoid the sun. 

The year that MTV made a special channel on American TV soley for kpop called MTVk

2007

Rain also again gained more american attention for being listed in People’s most beautiful people in the world

2008 

Bi Rain and Joon Park both were in Speed Racer, that was a big achievement for Korean Singers… just simply being able to graze the big screen. Rain more so than Joon got a good amount of attention, he even got some American interviews 

2009

Rain and Lee Joon were in Ninja Assassin. Rain made major headlines for again not only being in an American movie but this time actually staring in the movie and about how much training he did just for the movie. 

This was also the same year Korean actor Lee Byun hyun had his US debut 

GD at the time also got some attention after the alleged plagiarism between Heartbreaker and Right Round when Flo Rida performed with him

Wonder Girls made their American debut 

Wonder Girls were the opening act for the Jonas Brothers making the Jonas brothers one of the first American artist to work with a kpop group

BoA’s eat you up was released and played everywhere 

2010

Rain again made American attention by not only being nominated for an American award show but also winning MTV’s Movie Awards Biggest Badass Star beating Angelina Jolie, Chris Pine, Channing Tatum, and Sam Worthington 

Will.I.Am started to work with 2ne1 

2011

Bigbang gain global attention and celebrity clout after being the first kpop group nominated, attending and winning Best Global act at the MTV EMA’s beating Britney Spears in the process 

2012

Fantastic Baby went viral, reaction videos were popping up left and right. Fantastic Baby even played in some stores and I believe some radio stations 

Fantastic Baby was featured Glee 

SNSD had their American debut 

Wonder Girls made a American movie and JYP was featured in it (i know.. its cheesy)

This is the year of B.A.P’s debut where their debut album made it into the the World Album Chart at number 10 which was extremely rare at the time considering they didn’t even have a kpop section yet. 

Bigbang was on the Grammy’s front page twice 

Bigbang’s Alive world tour was the only full on sold out Kpop concert at the time, selling out not only in NA but SA and Europe, and were forced to add extra dates because the demand was extremely high, not to mention celebrities were showing up left and right to their tour stops 

This year was also Psy’s year which did bring attention to kpop and YG ent… regardless if Gangnam Style is a joke or not

The first Kcon was created 

GD also got international attention by showing up at PFW12

2013

B.A.P and Psy were featured on Grammy’s “Best of 2012″ making B.A.P the only kpop group on that page 

B.A.P’s first world tour for their US dates sold out in about an hour

Little Mix decided to join in on the Hallyu wave by doing a Korean version of Wings 

Will and Jaden smith met up with YG fam and Jay Park which brought attention to kpop beings that Jay wrote a song for their movie 

Will.I.Am and 2ne1′s collab was released

Anna Kendrick also wanted to get in on the Hallyu wave action by meeting up with f(x)

B.A.P performed in time square generating so much attention 

The year that Billboard gave themselves a kpop section because of the major Hallyu wave giving credit to B.A.P, 2ne1, and Bigbang for helping that chart exists 

Justin Bieber asked GD to feature at his concert in Seoul and proceed to tweet and IG about him 

Paris Hilton talked about GD being her favorite Korean artist

Paris Hilton tweeted about hanging out with GD 

Barbara Palvin talked about GD 

Choi Siwon went to the Met Gala 

Super Junior was invited to Oxford to talk about how they helped start the hallyu wave and the kpop attention in the US 

2014

Skrilex released his song featuring CL and GD 

B.A.P did a nickelodeon shout out 

I think this was the year that Exo got a lot of American attention too, but im not sure because im not an Exo-L

GD got attention just for showing up at Coachella 

CL signed with School Boy 

I am the Best was featured in a microsoft commercial 

2015

Emma Stone professed her love for kpop on American TV 

Fantastic Baby was featured in the Pitch Perfect trailer 

I am the Best was featured in a microsoft commercial again

Hyukoh’s Come and Goes gained international attention

2016

Far East Movement worked with Chanyeol and Loco

Jaden Smith tweeted about GD being is inspiration

Baauer released a song featuring GD  

Lil Yachty did his Bigbang tribute and has been know to be a fanboy of bigbang for a while

Epik High was the first Kpop group to perform at Coachella 

CL performed on James Corden 

I am the Best was featured in a microsoft commercial again

Hello Bitches was in a T-Moble commercial 

GD got international attention for being chosen as Channels ambassador 

2017

President Obama talked about the Hallyu wave and gave credit to shinee 

Tablo, Rain, and Kim Taehee were invited to the Grammys 

Jaden Smith tweeted about GD’s album 

Jay Park signed with Roc Nation 

DNCE talked about wanting to work with GD 

GD got international attention for is world tour 

2018

I am the Best was featured in a Kia commercial 

Hyukoh’s Citizen Cane was chosen to be in the Animoji comercial 

Hyukoh x Beats by Dre

Hyukoh was interviewed by Beats1

Taeyang got international attention for just getting married 

I would go more into detail by just tweeting about kpop but thats too much work to look for, kpop is a fad and it comes and goes. I kind of like what Hyukoh said about the whole Hallyu Wave/BTS thing they said “I think it’s really interesting and it’s fun to watch. Because of it, I think in some aspects were are benefitting from it, that’s really great. But nothing is forever, there will be some point when K-pop won’t be as popular. But because we’re not K-pop, I hope we stay popular even when K-pop is not.“

BTS did not start the hallyu wave, nor did they pave they way. They were just the first to walk on that new path which then inspired more to do the same and they were the first to win fandom based awards.

No matter what this will always be a topic is where some OG and new kpop fans clash, so yes, BTS is helping the Hallyu wave but they didn’t create the fad. I think the real Hallyu wave starter is Rain

[carraways-son]

Jeudi soir

Tout d’abord, excusez ces fautes et erreurs que je m’efforce de corriger au plus vite. Par exemple, je suis perdu depuis deux jours dans les jours de la semaine. Nous sommes jeudi et non vendredi, tant mieux, ça fait un jour de plus à passer ici! Bref, en fin d’après-midi nous sommes allés chercher le Kid et le Mini Kid à la crèche en passant devant l’immeuble d’une chaîne de TV locale, HTB, dont la mascotte, On-chan, visible en jaune dans le coin de l’immeuble, est très populaire auprès des enfants. Devant la crèche, le Kid nous l’a joué un peu misérable pour obtenir un épi de maïs chaud dans une baraque de l’Odori Park. Il l’a eu bien sûr, et l’a grignoté en attendant le métro. Dans les uniformes des écolières, j’ai oublié hier le plus joli, jupe plissée et marinière noires. J’ai aussi omis de préciser que le volumineux sac à dos se porte toujours très bas, sur les fesses, avec souvent les bretelles à mi-bras. Pendant ce temps, en surface, sous les lilas (fleur fétiche de Sapporo) actuellement en pleine floraison, un certain Yuki, très kawaii, donnait, grâce au play-back musical enregistré sur son smartphone, un récital de chansons romantiques pour une vingtaine de jeunes filles assises sur la pelouse du parc. Arrivés chez ma fille, nous attendait une grosse pivoine rose de toute beauté.