#like fucking??? the ballad of buster scruggs. what the fuck

[jacksonlamb-official]

well you know what the academy awards may be stupid but at least I know the truth congratulations Conclave for being the film of the fucking year in the hearts of the people in all the world 💖

[skinks]

hi!!! what are your favourite movies? like actually good ones but also any trashy comfort movies? is IT (2017) one of them?

Hello!! IT (2017) IS ABSOLUTELY ONE OF THEM oh man, thank you for this, I love talking about movies!!!! This is possibly the most difficult question you could have asked me. Apologies for how absolutely off the rails this got, I just... love movies so much lmao

I’ve said this before, but opening night of IT ch1 was the best cinema experience I’ve ever had, I’m so glad I got to see it with a fully packed audience who were all laughing and screaming together the whole way through. I’m a huge fan of... everything ch1 was doing, the 80s nostalgia, the summer-coming-of-age themes, the solid ghost train funhouse JOY of the Pennywise performance and scares, the washed-out cinematography, the tiny background details to make everything that much more eerie, the kids’ ACTING?!

Like, a lot of the time I find child actors can be really awkward and stilted to watch, but I remember leaving the cinema really impressed by JDG and Sophia Lillis in particular. I liked that they were all allowed to be little shitheads with potty mouths, it felt like a callback to 80s movies like The Lost Boys or Stand By Me. The whole thing worked to make me really care about what happened to the kids (even if I do still have issues with how they handled Mike. I understand even ch1 had limitations with juggling so many characters, but still). I saw it another 2 times in the cinema and have rewatched it at least, I dunno, 7-10 more times since then?

Add to all of that the retroactive CANON R+E baby pining subplot? I just love it, as if that wasn’t obvious by now given my Whole Blog. It’s a really special movie to me!

Anyway!! Ok, the main handful of movies I rewatch all the fucking time are:

Back to the Future, The Lost Boys, Pride and Prejudice (2005), Jaws, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Breakfast Club, Ocean’s 11, POTC 1, The Dark Knight, Inception, Die Hard, LOTR trilogy, Snatch, The Nice Guys, Logan Lucky, Mad Max Fury Road, Clueless, 10 Things I Hate About You, Billy Elliot, Dirty Dancing, Tomb Raider (2018)...

Those are the easily consumable ones that I’ve seen so many times I don’t really have to concentrate or think about them, but I really love them and unfortunately often KEEP rewatching them instead of new stuff. It would take too long to go into why I love all these movies so much because I could write the same amount as I already did for ITCH1, and everyone already knows why those movies are good, so, lol.

I think I’m gonna have to subdivide and categorise this whole post because there are too many separate criteria for... goOD MOVIES, AUUHH 😩

Okay so first off, HORROR MOVIES? I’m especially in love with Re-Animator (1985) and its sequel Bride of Re-Animator, they’re such good examples of camp and batshit 80s practical effects, and also EXTREMELY funny. I’m actually just gonna post my list of my fave horror movies that I do actually keep on my phone at all times lmao. These are in no particular order:

Wholeheartedly recommend every one of these. I’ve never been so scared in my life as I was watching Hereditary in the cinema, hoo boy. Mother! by Aronofsky is one of the strangest experiences I’ve ever had (and I actually saw it on the same day I saw IT ch1 for the first time!! That was a fun day)

Psycho (1960) and The Fly from 1986 should also be on there but I couldn’t fit them in the screenshot.

I’m a HUGE fan of a ton of martial arts movies too, like Kung Fu Hustle, Shaolin Soccer, Ip Man, The Raid movies, John Wick 3 is my fave of the trilogy, Drive from 1997 with Mark Dacascos is incredible, SPL 2, Ong-Bak, Operation Condor, Project A, Iron Monkey, and Zatoichi (2003) are some favourites.

My favourite Tarantino is Reservoir Dogs, fave Coen brothers are Raising Arizona, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs and O Brother Where Art Thou. Love some old-timey colour correction and weird offbeat dialogue. I also love Goodfellas!!! And Donnie Brasco! And The Firm, I’m so easy for any good crime/law/gangster/heist procedural like that, especially if they’re from the 80s or 90s in a super dated way.

Fave Disney movie is Tarzan, favourite Ghibli movies are Spirited Away and Lupin III. I remember watching Spirited Away during a thunderstorm one time and it being.... god! Transcendent! Favourite Pixar movie is The Incredibles (the first one. ALSO the documentary “The Pixar Story” is great and well worth a watch, it’s very comforting for some reason) and my favourite Dreamworks movies are HTTYD1 and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimmaron.

I tend to watch more anime movies than tv shows, so stuff like Akira, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars, Journey to Agartha, and my ultimate fave anime is Sword of the Stranger (2008). The climactic fight in that movie is fucking stunning and should be counted in “bests fights” lists right alongside anything live action

Also if we’re talking animated movies another hearty favourite is Rango, and a Belgian stop-motion (which at one time I considered my favourite movie ever) called Panique Au Village (2009) which is one of the funniest movies ever made imo.

As for TRASHY movies, I’m not sure if that’s the right word for how I feel about these ones but.. dumb/silly/slightly guilty pleasure movies? Ones that I feel need some kind of justification lmfao

Troy - something u must know about me is that I’m a giant slut for the Assassin’s Creed franchise, so if a movie smashes historical and mythological nonsense together with fun costumes and sword fights, I’m gonna enjoy myself. Even if they should have made Achilles and Patroclus gay. Other movies in this vein are King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, and Immortals (2011)

Gods of Egypt - I know all the reasons this movie is whitewashed bullshit. But it was already bullshit with giant Anubis mecha and giant snakes and bad acting and ridiculous CGI and frankly I had a blast at the cinema (my friend who I forced to come with me did not have a blast. Sorry H***)

Avatar - yes, the one with the big blue people. This movie gets a lot of flack nowadays but I really do enjoy it just for the spectacle. The full CGI world technology was so new at the time and I love to wallow in the visuals and daydream about riding a cool dragon around in the jungle

George of the Jungle - I’ll defend this movie to the death ok this movie shaped me as a person, it is fucking hilarious and Brendan Fraser is the himbo to end all himbos. It’s perfect. The song Dela is perfect. I still want to write a reddie AU about it. It’s one of the best movies ever made and I’m not being ironic

Set It Up - I KNOW this is a dumb Netflix original romcom but consider this; it was funny and the leads had great chemistry. I got butterflies. I once watched it and then literally immediately set it back to the start so I could watch it again

The Brady Bunch Movie - when people talk about great satires or parodies you will see them bring up the same movies over and over again, Blazing Saddles, This Is Spinal Tap etc, but they never talk about The Brady Bunch Movie from 1995 for some reason, which they should. It is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen and every time i watch it somehow it gets funnier

Some more general favourites that I do still love but don’t rewatch as often, and don’t wanna go into more detail about are:

Moon (2009), Crna Mačka Beli Mačor, The Sixth Sense, Parasite, The Handmaiden, Tremors, Wet Hot American Summer, Tucker and Dale vs Evil, What We Do In The Shadows, Hunt For the Wilderpeople, The Secret of My Success (I love kitschy 80s movies, is that obvious by now), The Green Mile, When Harry Met Sally, Rear Window, The Odd Couple, Breaking Away, Pan’s Labyrinth, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Eagle, Gladiator, The Artist, The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec, Call Me By Your Name, Master and Commander, Pacific Rim, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Legend (1985), Emma. (2020), Flash Gordon, Trolljegeren, Hross í Oss, Beverly Hills Cop, Coming to America, WarGames, District 9, Ajeossi (2010), Tracks (2013), Sightseers, Mud (2012), Pitch Black, Four Lions, Shaun of the Dead, Starship Troopers, The Truman Show, Withnail & I....... Jesus Christ ok I need to stop

NOTABLE EXTREME FAVOURITES that I didn’t include in the regular rewatch list because they’re too heavy/not as well known/require more attention.:

Thin Red Line (1998), Badlands (1973) both dir. Terrence Malick

Malick’s brand of dreamy impressionistic filmmaking is something I find really appealing, both of these movies are gorgeous and unusual and poignant and, in the case of Thin Red Line at least, have a lot of things to say about a lot of rough subjects. I don’t totally understand all those things sometimes, but a theme with a lot of my favourite movies is that I’ll be more likely to love something long-term if it raises unanswered questions, or is surreal/esoteric etc. Plus the cinematography is incredible, and I wish there was a way to get Jim Caviezel’s narration from The Thin Red Line as an audiobook because it’s very poetic and soothing.

Let the Bullets Fly (2010) dir. Jiang Wen

This movie is WILD, it’s so much fun. It’s sprawling and intricate and epic and smart and really fucking funny, it! Has! Everything! A gang of very tolerant outlaws!! Jiang Wen’s beautiful broad chest!!! Chow Yun Fat absolutely DECIMATING the scenery, and the two of them outsmarting each other in order to gain control of a small Chinese town!!! Plus it’s long, but it packs so much nonsense and intrigue that it goes by really fast. Wow what a flick

A Field in England (2013) dir. Ben Wheatley

I know I included this in my horror list but aaaaahhh ahhhh Wheatley is one of my favourite directors (he also made Sightseers, and is directing the Tomb Raider sequel which makes me absolutely rabid.) This is a surreal black-and-white psychological horror black comedy set in the English Civil War about some deserters who may or may not meet the Devil in a field. People eat mushrooms. It’s bonkers. I love being blasted in the face with imagery that I don’t understand

Mandy (2018) dir. Panos Cosmatos

Speaking of being blasted in the face!!!!! This movie... I saw it in the cinema and I can’t even begin to explain the experience, but I’ll try. My favourite review site described it like this:

“...somewhere between a prog album cover come to life and a metal album cover come to life, and subscribes to both genre's artistic tendency towards maximalism: what it ends up being is basically naught else but two glorious hours of being pounded by bold colors...”

So, prog and metal are my two favourite genres of music. This movie opens with the quote “When I die, bury me deep, lay two speakers at my feet, put some headphones on my head and rock and roll me when I'm dead.” and then a King Crimson song, it is SURREAL to the nth degree, it’s violent and bizarre and Nic Cage forges a giant silver axe to destroy demonic bikers and there is a CHAINSAW DUEL. A galaxy swirls above a quarry. Multiple animated horror nightmare sequences. At one point a man says “you exude a cosmic darkness” and releases a live tiger. At another point Cage says, in a digitally deepened voice, “The psychotic drowns where the mystic swims. You’re drowning. I’m swimming.” and I haven’t stopped thinking about it for two years

Paper Moon (1973) dir. Peter Bogdanovich

Really fantastic movie set in the Great Depression (and also in black & white) about a conman and a little kid who may or may not be his daughter, running cons across the Midwest. It’s beautifully shot, so sharp and sweet and the progression of their dynamic is really well done because they’re played by an IRL father and daughter. Tatum O’Neal was NINE YEARS OLD and she’s so amazing in this movie she’s actually the youngest person to win a competitive category Oscar. I keep trying to get people to watch this fbdjfjdbf it’s wonderful

Alpha (2018) dir. Albert Hughes

THIS MOVIE IS A VICTIM OF BAD MARKETING ok, the trailers made it look like some twee crappy sentimental Boy And His Dog Adventure, plus it had voiceovers in American-accented english? That’s a total disservice to one of the coolest things about this film; the fact that they got a linguist to construct an entirely original Neolithic language that all the characters speak for the entire runtime. And yes, it is eventually a Boy And His Wolf adventure, but it’s COOL and fairly brutal, and it has some really incredible cinematography. The landscapes are so strange and barren and alien, you really get the sense that this is an ancient world we no longer have any connection to. And it’s also about like, the birth of dog & human companionship sooo it’s perfect.

Free Solo (2018) dir. Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin

The Free Climbing Documentary. I loved climbing as a kid, I love outdoor sports, and I love movies that elicit a physical reaction in me, whether that’s horny, scared, real laughter, overwhelming shivers, or in the case of Free Solo - HORRIBLE SWEATING TENSION. Like, I knew about Alex Honnold beforehand because of this adventure film festival I go to every year and I followed him on IG so obviously I knew he lived, but the actual climb itself was torture. My hands sweat every time I see it!! It’s incredible, such a cool look into generally what the human body can do, and more specifically, why Honnold’s psychology and life means he’s so well suited to free soloing. It’s such an exercise in getting to know an individual and get invested in them, before they attempt something very potentially fatal.

Brokeback Mountain (2005) dir. Ang Lee

I can’t even talk about this. When I was around 13 I snuck downstairs to watch this on TV at 11pm in secret, and my life was forever changed. I wouldn’t be who I am if I hadn’t seen Brokeback at the age I did. I seriously can’t talk about this or I’ll write an even longer essay than this already is

God’s Own Country (2017) dir. Francis Lee

The antidote to Brokeback Mountain, I’m so glad I managed to see this one in the cinema too. It makes me cry every time, as someone who’s spent years working on a cold British farm with sheep it was very realistic, which is expected since Lee grew up on a farm in Yorkshire. I love that this movie isn’t really about being closeted, but about being so emotionally repressed and self-loathing that the main character finds it so hard to accept love. Or that he deserves to be loved. The cinnamontographies.... lordt... but also the intimacy and sex scenes are fucking searing wow who hasn’t seen this movie by now. 10 stars. 20 stars!!!

Tomboy (2011) dir. Céline Sciamma

I saw this years ago but I’ve never forgotten it, it cut so deep. It’s from the director of Portrait of a Lady on Fire and it’s about a gnc kid struggling with gender and misogyny and homophobia in a really raw, scrappy way, it reminded me very much of my own... childhood... ahh the central performance is amazing for such a young age. I haven’t seen Portrait yet but I feel like if you went nuts for that, you should definitely check this out, it’s lovely.

Donnie Darko (2001) dir. Richard Kelly

EVERY TIME I WATCH THIS MOVIE I UNDERSTAND LESS AND LESS and that’s what I love so much about it. I love surreal movies, I love time-fuckery and stuff about altered perception etc etc and Donnie Darko scratches all my itches. I wish I could find a way to figure out an IT AU for it, because I know it would work! Somehow! Plus it’s got the subdued 80s nostalgia and I found it at an age when I was really starting to explore movies and music and the soundtrack FUCKS.

Offside (2006) dir. Jafar Panahi

I wish more people knew about this!!! It’s an Iranian film about a disparate group of women and girls who are football fans and want to watch Iran’s qualifying match for the World Cup, but women aren’t allowed into the stadium, so they all get thrown into the Stadium Jail together? They don’t know each other beforehand, but it’s about their changing relationships with each other and the guards and just, their defiance alongside hearing the match from the outside and WOW it’s so lively. Great dialogue and very funny, and such a different kind of story from anything you usually see from Hollywood.

The Fall (2006) dir. Tarsem Singh

This movie... I guess it’s the ideal. This is the platonic ideal of a film for me, it has fantasy, magical realism, glorious visuals, amazing score and costumes and production design and a really interesting, heartbreaking relationship at the core of it. I don’t know why so many of my favourite films feature incredibly raw performances by child actors but this is another one, Catinca Untaru barely knew any English and improvised so much because of that, and it’s fascinating to watch! Also the dynamic with Lee Pace is one of my favourites, where a kid forms a friendship with a guardian figure who isn’t their parent, but the guardian grows to really care for them by the end. It’s like Paper Moon in that sense. What is there to even say about this movie, it’s pure magic joy tempered and countered by genuine gutwrenching emotional conflict in the real world, it’s also ABOUT old moviemaking, in a way, and it’s stunning to look at!

Mad Max Fury Road (2015) dir. George Miller

I know I included this in my “most rewatched” section but it deserves its own thing. We all know why this movie is fucking incredible. I remember clutching my armrests in the cinema and feeling like my skeleton was being blasted back into the seat behind me and tbh that is the high I’m constantly chasing when I go to see any movie. What a fucking gift this film is

Théo et Hugo dans le Même Bateau (2016) dir. Olivier Ducastel, Jacques Martineau

I only found this movie last year and it became an instant favourite. Initially I was just curious because I’d never seen a movie with unsimulated sex before, but it’s so much more than the 18 minute gay sex club orgy it opens with. No, not more than, AS WELL AS. The orgy is important because this movie is so candid and frank about sex and HIV treatment in the modern day, it was eye-opening. Another thing that really got me is that I’d never seen a real-time film before. It’s literally an hour and a half in the lives of these two men, their intense connection and conversation and conflict in the middle of the night in Paris, with some really nice night photography and just!!! Wow!!! AMAZING CHEMISTRY between the actors. This is such a gem if you’re comfortable with explicit sexual content.

Ok. This is already over 3k but film is obviously one of my ridiculous passions and I can and do talk about it for hours. I’ve been reading magazines about it for years, listening to podcasts and reading review blogs and recently, watching video essays on YouTube because the whole process is so interesting to me and I want to learn more!!

Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of valuing form over narrative. The idea that story can often come second to the deeper physical experience and emotional reaction that’s created by using ALL the elements of filmmaking and not just The Story, y’know? Whether that’s editing, shot composition, colour, the sound mix, the actors, how it should all be used to heighten the emotional state the script wants you to feel. And so, I think for a few years now this approach has been influencing the types of films I really, really love.

I think I love surreality and mind-bending magical realism in films specifically because the filmmakers have to use all those different tools to convey things that can be way too metaphysical for just... a script? I’m always chasing that physical response; if a movie can make me stop thinking “I wonder what it was like to set up that shot” and instead overwhelm that suspension of disbelief, if I can be terrified or woozy or crying for whatever reason, that’s what I’m looking for. That’s why I watch so many fuckin movies, and why I’ll always remember nights like seeing IT (2017) for giving me another favourite.

Thank you again for this question, I didn’t mean to go so overboard. Also there’s no way to do a readmore on tumblr mobile so apologies to anyone’s dashboard 😬

[lakemojave]

Comfort Movies

Tagged by @conspiracydawg

The Dark Knight -- I’ve watched this with my brother more times than I can really count. It’s hardly a comforting movie but besides being one of the few superhero movies I still unabashedly enjoy, I have lots of nostalgia attached to it. It’s also pretty unbelievable to this day how well they do Two Face. No matter how many times this movie turns into meme material or how many times people make fun of the Joker, I’ll still come back to this one fondly.

Mad Max: Fury Road -- A masterpiece. An achievement. The best parts of an action movie with the best parts of an artistic story told in film. A story of survival, metamorphosis, growth from trauma, revolutionary justice, and love in the most dire circumstances. There’s also a guy with a fucking flamethrower guitar

Night of the Hunter -- Also not particularly comforting: mostly scary. I saw this when I had my first dive into old movies with my mom in the mid 2010s and I fell in love instantly. Robert Mitchum’s chilling performance, haunting music and lighting, and the most badass old lady with a shotgun I’ve ever seen. I wanna curl up with a blanket and some hot tea and watch this right now.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs -- I cannot emphasize how much I love cowboys. This is a recent addition to this list and honestly, it’s a decent movie, but not spectacular. Yet, something about the first and last stories of the film, combined with Brendan Gleeson’s version of “The Unfortunate Rake,” beautiful orchestra during the 4th story, seeing James Franco die, and nostalgia for rural California makes my heart swell. My recharge time for watching this is like, 4 hours.

Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark -- I recently learned that my brother falls asleep to this movie every night. If that isn’t a testament to to how many times my family has seen this I don’t know what is. Honestly, the ways this film has influenced me are too numerous to count right now, so let’s call it even and just say it’s one of my favorite movies of all time.

The Day After Tomorrow -- Objectively a really bad movie. Not only does it display some abysmal writing and mediocre uses of cinematic language, but its content is so grimdark and hamfisted that like...it circles back around to being funny. Another family favorite.

Any Star Wars movie (barring 8 and 9) -- I don’t need to explain this.

Tagging: @ahiddencardigan @batyoshi13 @koifish @sugar-twink @nicks--fury @minimissliss @self-insert-ninja-turtle @icecreamoverlord and anyone else who wants to!

[sly-fcking-cooper]

rules: tag ten followers you want to know better !

name: El

star sign: aquarius, which does kind of reflect me, also water is cool

height: 5'8″

middle name? was never given one. forever bitter. would choose something like ‘Ramen’. So that when someone asks if I want to get ramen, I can just make the obvious naff joke...or just something generic, like ‘Danger’

put your itunes whatever on shuffle. what are the first 6 songs that popped up?

‘Slip Away’ by Perfume Genius

‘Genesis’ by Grimes

‘What’s a Girl To Do’ by Fatima Yamaha

'Only God Knows’ by Young Fathers ft. Leith Congregational Choir

‘Limit To Your Love’ by James Blake

‘The Bottle’ by Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson

grab one book nearest to you and turn to page 23. what’s line 17? “[One of the] big problems about climbing trees is what to do when you’re at the top”

ever had a poem or a song written about you? Both. One ex wrote multiple poems, which were okay but painted me as some kind of extremely anxious manic pixie dream girl, which is kind of true, but meh. My other ex wrote a song about deciding he was gonna stop fucking around and commit to me, and how strong his feelings were, which is now the first track on his bands’ debut EP. it’s SO not a banger, highly disappointing (he also cheated on me, so the whole thing was and still is bullshit)

when was the last time you played air guitar? earlier whilst running, I think, to the solo of Tribulations by LCD Soundsystem.

who is your celebrity crush? oooof. It varies. Annie Clarke. Also Chris Hemsworth. Steve Harington in Stranger Things. Harry Styles, as basic as that is, but he is gorgeous. I also have a really weird thing for Michael Cera.

what’s a sound you hate; sound you love? I DESPISE forks on a plate. I really like the sound of a squeaky whiteboard pen on a board, but my favourite sound is definitely rain outside hammering on your window

do you believe in ghosts? I was convinced I saw one once, in a haunted pub, but I’m ultimately a ghost agnostic

how about aliens? I mean definitely, in some form, but we couldn’t even begin to imagine what they’d look like

do you drive? yes sir, skrrt skrrt

if so, have you ever crashed? yeah but it wasn’t my fault. stupid blind old lady who shouldn’t have been driving *cough* prince philip *cough*

what was the last book you read? ‘This is Going To Hurt’ by Adam Kay, about being a junior doctor on the frontlines

do you like the smell of gasoline? Can’t stand it, gives me a headache

what was the last movie you saw? The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. FAR more dark than I was anticipating following the first quirky ‘ballad’

what’s the worst injury you’ve ever had? I once got my pinkie finger trapped in the hinges of our hugeass front door. It needed reconstructing. It still looks kinda funny

do you have any obsessions right now? Making whipped TikTok coffee every single day of my god damn life.

do you tend to hold grudges against people who have done you wrong? Yeah. I hold onto shit for a long time, but I always try to practice forgiveness and remember people make mistakes just like I do. But if you’ve been an absolute asswipe then I probably will hold a grudge forever, soz

in a relationship? Yes, and very happy, albeit missing him in current circumstances

Tagged by: @bladesandblazes - thanks Phoenix!

Tagging: whoever wants to do it! @canuck-sweeety33 , @extraneousdominomask & @kingncp, if they fancy it!

[lethal-liability]

Tagged by @thislovelyoptimist and @till-hammer to do a q&a, thank you so much!

1. Do you ever make your bed?

I have a loft bed so I don't see the point

2. What's your favorite number?

27

3. What's your job?

I'm a dance teacher and I babysit from time to time (though over the summer I'm basically nannying)

4. If you could go back to school, would you?

High school or middle school? Absolutely not. Especially since now the district is combining my old high school and middle school into one and that would have stressed me out in middle school and pissed me off in high school.

5. Can you parallel park?

If someone is giving me in depth instructions as I do so, yes.

6. A job you had that would surprise people?

Honestly what I'm doing rn because I actually find childcare extremely tiresome (though that's probably because I've worked with them for so long)

7. Do you believe in aliens?

Of course

8. Can you drive a manual car?

No, and I don't see the point in learning to be honest

9. What's your guilty pleasure?

Dating sims. In the past I've played Seduce Me, Episode, The Arcana, Dream Daddy, Multiple Shall We Date installments, and now I'm considering playing Obey Me 🤷‍♀️

10. Tattoos?

I have 2! One on my right shoulder and one above my inner left elbow

11. Favorite color?

Black and blue but I've been falling in love with pink recently

12. Things people do that piss you off?

Walk slow, come to class high and talk the entire time, sneeze directly into their fucking hands 🙄

13. Any phobias?

Lizards.

14. Favorite childhood sport?

I never played sports, only danced

15. Do you ever talk to yourself?

All the time. Sometimes because I need to focus myself, sometimes because I'm just bored.

16. What movies do you adore?

Howl's Moving Castle, Jojo Rabbit, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Oscar, Lola Rennt, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, and O Brother, Where Art Thou?

17. Do you like doing puzzles?

Yes! I love puzzles, most of my favorite games are puzzle based

18. What's your favorite kind of music?

Hard rock and metal

19. Tea or coffee?

Coffee. Though if we're being honest, energy drinks

20. First thing you remember wanting to be when you grew up?

A paleontologist, I don't think I knew the word but I wanted to dig up dinosaur bones òwó

Thanks again!

[scumfuckpartyboy]

Odds

Holy shit ok

1. Who was the last person you held hands with? My friend Zoë, while I cried on New Years 3. Who are you looking forward to seeing? My friend Saffron 5. If you were drunk would the person you like take care of you?  Zoë, my absolute mom 7. Do you think you’ll be in a relationship two months from now? Who knows! I’m open to it! 9. Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable? Not really? I guess it depends who I’m talking to about it. Maybe if it was my mom or something 11. What does the most recent text that you sent say? “Horny murder used to really be humanity’s only vibe” 13. Do you like it when people play with your hair? If it’s the right person, a very enthusiastic yes 15. What good thing happened this summer? Absolutely nothing, I worked a full time job so I’d have money for moving into my own place 17. Do you think there is life on other planets? I think it’s selfish and foolish to believe humans are all we’ve got. What makes Earth so special? in short, yes 19. Do you like bubble baths? I don’t take them very often, but yes 21. What are your bad habits? Smoking cigarettes was the biggest one, but I’ve quit as of 5 or so days ago 23. Do you have trust issues? I used to have a big problem with trust, but i think once I’ve given someone my trust they have it until they don’t. I’d like to say I don’t have an issues trusting people, but humans have flaws so sometimes it’s tough. I trust my kin 25. What part of your body are you most uncomfortable with? Probably my fluctuating gut/lack thereof or my Shoulders weirdly enough (ACNE SUCKS) 27. Do you wish your skin was lighter or darker? I’m sorta pasty but it doesnt bother me. My only problem with my skin is my acne or the lack of full body tattoos 29. Have any of your ex’s told you they regret breaking up? Nope lol 31. If your hair long enough for a pony tail? Yes 33. Spell your name with your chin. jhdcxhygdsdsebn damn that’s tough on a keyboard 35. Would you rather live without TV or music? TV 1000% 37. What do you say during awkward silences? Nothing 39. What are your favorite stores to shop in? Anything with old, secondhanded or odd items 41. Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance? I think people can change, but sometimes it’s unlikely. Case by Case basis on this one 43. Do you smile at strangers? Yeah 45. What makes you get out of bed in the morning? Dusty trails and the woman I long for 47. Have you ever been high? Yes 49. Have you done anything recently that you hope nobody finds out about? I don’t think so 51. Ever wished you were someone else? Yes, but not really anyone in specific. I just don’t wanna be me sometimes 53. Favourite makeup brand? I don’t wear makeup, but if i did it’d probably be drugstore. that’s my vibe 55. Favourite blog? Nemfrog (or Dirtmunch) 57. Favourite food? I’m a big fan of diner food and goldfish crackers. I like foreign food a lot but dont really know anything about it 59. First thing you ate this morning? A muffin 61. Been suspended/expelled? For what? I havent, I almost did in elementary school for getting in a fistfight, but I assure that makes me sound cooler than I am 63. Ever been in love? Yes 65. Are you hungry right now? Not really 67. Facebook or Twitter? Twitter, but i’ve fallen off of it recently 69. Are you watching tv right now? No  71. Craving something? What? Excitement 73. Do you sleep with stuffed animals? Nah, they usually get thrown off when i get in 75. Favourite animal? I’m very infatuated with large cats. like tigers n leopards n lions n shit. fish are cool 77. Chocolate or Vanilla? Vanilla 79. What colour shirt are you wearing? Blue 81. Favourite tv show? I’m more of a movie guy 83. Mean Girls or Mean Girls 2? Haven’t seen either  85. Favourite character from Mean Girls? see 83 87. First person you talked to today? Saffron 89. Name a person you hate? I don’t think i truly hate anyone in my life? Cops and Politicians are high on the list 91. Is there anyone you want to punch in the face right now? Yes 93. How many sweatpants do you have? 0 95. Last movie you watched? The Ballad of Buster Scruggs 97. Favourite actor? Mads Mikkelsen (adam’s apples, flammen og citronnen, any of those gems) ( i also have a soft spot for Lee Van Cleef, makes a hell of a good villan) 99. Have any pets? No 101. Do you type fast? Semi-fast 103. Can you spell well? Pfft, mediocre at best. Autocorrect is your friend 105. Ever been to a bonfire party? Yeah, in high school my dad built a bonfire pit in our back yard so i hosted a few. 107. Have you ever been on a horse? Nope. (I’m a phony cowboy city slicker) 109. Is something irritating you right now? There always seems to be some thorn in my side 111. Do you have trust issues? Already answered, but basically, Not really unless you give me a reason not to trust you 113. What was your childhood nickname? Jaybro or Jade 115. Do you play the Wii? Yes! gotone in my living room. Warioware smooth moves and Wii sports are big hits 117. Do you like chicken noodle soup? Yes, but i like chicken and rice more 119. Favourite book? The Hobbit or Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas 121. Are you mean? Sometimes. I try to not be 123. Can you keep white shoes clean? Fuck no 125. Do you believe in true love? I’d say yes. You can love anyone any time, some people really are perfect for eachother. that doesn’t make it work though 127. What makes you happy? Ar, friends and Music 129. What your zodiac sign? Gemini 131. Your bestfriend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do? Depends. I’m kinda hoping for this right noe. so im not a great person to ask. If I’m not interested I’ll tell them that, and give them any space they might need 133. Favourite lyrics right now? “Are you sick of me? Would you like to be?” 135. Dumbest lie you ever told? i can’t place a point on one lie, maybe telling myself i wasn’t Bi for like 10 years 137. How tall are you? 6′2″ 139. Brunette or Blonde? Brunette, blonde’s have too much fun 141. Night or Day? Night, it takes a pretty beautiful day to capture the magic of snow falling in a streetlamp 143. Are you a vegetarian? nope 145. Tea or Coffee? Coffee 147. Mars or Snickers? Snickers 149. Do you believe in ghosts? I don’t know, which might be a cop out, but that’s the best I’ve got in that one. (Probably not, but who knows! I’m not all-knowing)

[tansypoisoning]

TAG 10 PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO GET TO KNOW BETTER

Thirteen Songs I Can’t Stop Listening To (Was it supposed to be ten? Because I’m fine with more xD):

Meet Me in the Pale Moonlight – Lana Del Rey

Do You Doubt Me Traitor – Lingua Ignota (listen at your own peril lol it gets all screamy... It provides a certain mood, and it isn’t a pleasant one)

Sidi Habibi – The Gerard Edery Ensmeble

La Ballata Della Dama Bianca – Modena City Ramblers

Love Stranger Than This – Salter Cane

Cecco Il Mugnaio - Mercanti Di Liquore

Today We Kill… Tomorrow We Die – The Hellbenders

Apeshit – The Carters

Edward – American Murder Song

Lonesome hunter – Timber Timbre

Geordie – Mercanti Di Liquore

Big Black Crow - Isobel & November

Óðinn - Krauka

Favorite Ships:

lmao I’ll steal from you and say me/reader x any character I might be interested in xD

Sasuke x Sakura [Naruto]: I’m a sucker for redemption and change being brought by through love, problematic aspects of the trope be dammed. The development of their relationship pre-Shippuden was legitimately well-paced, subtle and touching.

Mr.Darcy x Elizabeth [Pride & Prejudice]: The quintessential Jane Austen experience ™. I like the overall dynamic: How Darcy, who begrudgingly falls for Elizabeth, then learns she feels nothing more than contempt for him (cause he’s an asshole) and he has to embrace everything about her and try to improve himself rather than resent her, and Elizabeth has to swallow her pride and to look at things from others’ perspective rather than just accept her interpretation of events, and they both grow as a result. Not to mention the way the pining is written is super torturous and you just desperately wants to see them get together and be happy.

Billy Knapp x Alice Longabaugh [The Ballad of Buster Scruggs]: I’ll never understand how they managed to build a believable, organic relationship between those two characters while their story only got one sixth of a movie. ALSO THE COEN’S BROKE MY FUCKING HEART SO THANKS FOR THAT

Ruby x Sapphire [Steven Universe]: THEY’RE JUST SO GOSH DARN CUTE TOGETHER!

AND I CAN’T REMEMBER ANY OTHERS; LOVE SUCKS Dx

Last Movie, TV Show, and Book:

Last Movie: I re-watched the Winter Soldier - both to get a better grasp of some characters and because I’m trying to understand why I liked a lot of things in the movie but I didn’t like the movie itself (like the whole is lesser than the sum of its parts or something?)

Last TV Show: I... I don’t remember .-. I don’t watch series regularly, so I don’t keep track of them.

Last Book: I basically only have time to read textbooks nowadays, but I recently started reading “Open Veins of Latin America” by Eduardo Galleano. It’s about the history of exploitation of Latin American by colonial powers, from the discovery of the continent up until the seventies. I’ve read only a little so far, but it doesn’t pull punches from what I’ve seen.

I’m tagging: @sophiria, @imanuglywombat, @the-soulofdevil Feel free to do it and tag me if you’d like for us to be friends - and also feel free not to do it even if I tagged you lol

[stonathans-stranger]

6, 21, 11, and 14 (for the movie ask meme)

6.Top 5 performances of your favorite actor and actress

My favorite actress would probably be Emma Stone, just because I think she flows into roles so well. She doesn’t shape the mold, the mold shapes her. My top five performances from her filmography would easily be:

1. The Favourite - Abigail

2. La La Land - Mia

3. Easy A - Olive

4. The Amazing Spider-Man - Gwen Stacy

5. Zombieland - Wichita 

Ask me questions about my movie opinions!!

21. An overrated actor.

Gary Oldman. Pointblank. He shouldn’t have gotten nominated for his role at Churchill in The Darkest Hour. Fuck Gary Oldman. 

11. Favorite quote(s).

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it. I do have a test today, that wasn’t bull-s–t. It’s on European socialism. I mean really, what’s the point. I’m not European. I don’t plan on being European, so who gives a crap if they’re socialists. They could be fascist anarchists and it still wouldn’t change the fact that I don’t own a car. (Singing in shower) It’s not that I condone fascism or any ‘ism’ for that matter. Ism’s, in my opinion, are not good. A person should not believe in an 'ism,’ he should believe in himself. I quote John Lesson: 'I don’t believe in Beatles. I just believe in me.’ A good point there. After all, he was the walrus. I could be the walrus. I’d still have to bum rides off of people.” -Ferris Bueller, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

“Steve Wozniak: I came here 'cause you’re gonna get killed. Your computer’s gonna fail. You got a college and university advisory board telling you they need a powerful work station for two to three thousand. You priced NeXT at sixty-five hundred, and that doesn’t include the optional three thousand dollar hardrive which people will discover isn’t optional, because the optical disk is too weak to do anything, and the twenty-five hundred dollar laser printer brings the total to twelve thousand dollars, and in the entire world you are the only person that cares that it’s housed in a perfect cube. You’re gonna get killed. And I came here to stand next to you while that happens 'cause that’s what friends do… that’s what men do. I don’t need your pass. We go back, so don’t talk to me like I’m other people. I’m the only one that knows that this guy here is someone you invented. I’m standing by you because that perfect cube - that does nothing - is about to be the single biggest failure in the history of personal computing.

Steve Jobs: Tell me something else I don’t know.” - Excerpt from “What Do You Do?” Scene, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs, Steve Jobs

14. Favorite year for movies.

This past year. But then again, I think that for every year. But, I mean look. We had BlackKklansman, stunning movie. We had The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Solo, Black Panther, The Favourite, The Quiet Place, Roma. This past year was so good. But, looking ahead I feel as if this year very well could trump 2018. Already we have seen box office hits such as Us, Captain Marvel, and Shazam! Not to mention future stunner such as Endgame, The Rise of Skywalker, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Rocketman, The Goldfinch, John Wick 3. I feel this year will be an amazing year as well. 

[high-fructose-lesbianism]

91st Academy Award Predictions

@stupidoaf 

Best Picture

Prediction: Roma

What I Hope Will Win: The Favourite

Best Director

Prediction: Alfonso Cuarón – Roma

What I Hope Will Win: Yorgos Lanthimos – The Favourite

Best Actor

Prediction: Christian Bale - Vice

What I Hope Will Win: Fuck it, Willem Dafoe – At Eternity's Gate

Best Actress

Prediction: Glenn Close - The Wife

What I Hope Will Win: Olivia Colman – The Favourite

Best Supporting Actor

Prediction: Mahershala Ali – Green Book 

What I Hope Will Win: I want the Academy to rectify their mistake from last year and award Michael Shannon bet supporting actor for his role in The Shape of Water.

Best Supporting Actress

Prediction: Regina King – If Beale Street Could Talk 

What I Hope Will Win: Rachel Weisz – The Favourite

Best Original Screenplay

Prediction: The Favourite

What I Hope Will Win: The Favourite

Best Adapted Screenplay

Prediction: If Beale Street Could Talk

What I Hope Will Win: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs 

Best Animated Feature Film

Prediction: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Best Foreign Language Film

Prediction: Roma

What I Hope Will Win: Really, any of the other ones. Just because Roma will probably win best picture so let’s spread the wealth around a little.

Best Documentary - Feature

Prediction: Free Solo

Best Documentary - Short Subject

Prediction: End Game

What I Hope Will Win: Period. End of Sentence. 

Best Live Action Short Film

Prediction: Skin

Best Animated Short Film

Prediction: Bao

What I Hope Will Win: Bao or Animal Behaviour (they’re Canadian!)

Best Original Score

Prediction: Black Panther

What I Hope Will Win: If Beale Street Could Talk

Best Original Song

Prediction: “Shallow” - A Star is Born

What I Hope Will Win: More than perhaps any other nominee in any category, I very, very much want “When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings" from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs to win.

Best Sound Editing

Prediction: Black Panther

Best Sound Mixing

Prediction: First Man

Best Production Design

Prediction: The Favourite

Best Cinematography

Prediction: Roma

What I Hope Will Win: The Favourite

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Prediction: Vice

What I Hope Will Win: I don’t know why Avengers: Infinity War wasn’t nominated. They had to turn people into various aliens, robots etc.

Best Costume Design

Prediction: Black Panther

What I Hope Will Win: Black Panther

Best Film Editing

Prediction: The Favourite

Best Visual Effects

Prediction: Avengers: Infinity War

I can’t wait to watch the ceremony and have Frances McDormand rock up to present the best actor award looking like she’d rather be anywhere else.

[kadaransmuggler]

20 Questions Tag

Rules: Answer these 20 questions, then tag 20 people that you would like to get to know better!  

I was tagged by @fiona-glenanne-westen  (thanks so much for tagging me!!) I’m tagging literally everyone who sees this. Use this as an excuse if you wanna do it. I’ve also got a wicked headache and didn’t wanna look for people to tag.

Nickname: Nik, some of the people over on elliquy call me variations of my username (kadaransmuggler, same as you are here. i think in my intro post they called my smuggler). also on facebook my best friend has my chat nickname as “jimothy with a knife”. it was a joke once but neither of us fucking remembers it

Zodiac: Gemini

Height: 5′5″ 

Last movie i saw: I started watching the ballad of buster scruggs but i haven’t actually finished it yet, the last movie i finished was dumplin’ 

Last thing I googled: the centaur of euboea. i couldn’t find the fucking cave entrance 

Favourite musician: right now i’m gonna say dolly parton

Other blogs: i have @witchofwolf as my witchblr and @riseinperfectlightseries to accompany my ongoing fic series, i have other saved urls in case i ever decide to organize my shit 

Do you get asks? very rarely. if ur reading this and u wanna send asks knock urself out 

Following: 1,718

Amount of sleep: twelve hours 

Lucky number: 5

What i’m wearing: pajama pants and a tank top. coincidentally i’m also very cold 

Dream job: i have so many dream jobs. archaeologist, paranormal investigator, author, astronaut. 

Favourite food: we had spaghetti for supper so i’m gonna say spaghetti

Instrument?: i don’t play any. i played the recorder in like. third grade. 

Languages: english. i know a handful of random words in spanish 

Random Fact: tangentially related to this fact is the fact that i’m a trans guy (sometimes, we’re fuckin winging it bud) so: the first time i was a dude in my dream, i was also my favorite oc, eli. thanks brain. 

Describe yourself as aesthetic things: old pickup trucks with windows you have to turn the crank to roll down, a nest of blankets on the floor, cassette tapes, unmade beds, a collection of rocks and crystals, a collection of VHS tapes, random odd but interesting items (a bottle of gold flakes, shark teeth, a skeleton in a bottle), shiny marbles. 

[massmurdera]

2018 best (and some worst)

2018 was the shittiest year of my life personally and I was a trainwreck almost instantly. I was real hopeful going in, but I got my heart broken as badly as I could get (and it somehow just kept getting worse). Ugh. It’s boring to articulate, but it was a never-ending Russian nesting doll of heartbreak, disappointment, and frustration. But I made more positive changes in the last 12 months than I did in the last 12 years. So that’s something.

TV Funniest go-to show: Desus and Mero (wish they didn’t go on hiatus when they left for Showtime) Favorite shows: 1) Big Mouth 2) Atlanta 3) Killing Eve 4) Bodyguard 5) Haunting of Hill House

Other shows I enjoyed: American Vandal; Homecoming; Americans; GLOW; Better Call Saul; Succession; Cobra Kai; Kominsky Method; Corporate Meh: Barry; Sharp Objects; Who Is America?; Daredevil Favorite Comedy specials: 1) Rory Scovel 2) Bert Kreischer 3) John Mulaney

MOVIES 4 ½ stars: Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse; Sorry to Bother You 4 stars: Quiet Place; Hereditary; Mission Impossible: Fallout; Blackkklansman; Deadpool 2 3 ½ stars: To All the Boys…; Incredibles 2; Game Night; Revenge 3 stars (solid rental): Game Night; Upgrade; Revenge; Ant-Man; Hold the Dark 2 ½ stars (OK rental): Black Panther; Avengers Meh: Love Simon; Support the Girls Probably Good but bored the shit out of me: Roma; First Reformed; Eighth Grade Hated: Mandy; Ballad of Buster Scruggs 

STILL NEED TO SEE: Bad Times at El Royale; Bodied; Creed 2; Death of Stalin; Favourite; First Man; Free Solo; Green Book; Halloween; If Beale Street Could Talk; Minding the Gap; Solo; Star is Born; Vice; Widows

MUSIC Favorite Records: 1) Brian Fallon-‘Sleepwalkers’ 2) Story So Far-‘Proper Dose’

1975 has great songs but they have too much filler in their records. Damn good songs: Foxing-‘Nearer My God’; Wonder Years-‘Pyramids of Salt’; Thrice-‘Beyond the Pines’ PODCASTS Favorite Podcasts personally: -Filmdrunk Frotcast (Movies/comedy) -Dollop (history PLUS comedy) -Bill Burr’s Monday Morning Podcast (one-man rant from the best comic alive) -Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend (comedy + conversations) -Rewatchables (Movies/comedy) -Bill Simmons (conversations) -Pardon My Take (sports + comedy) -Chapo Trap House (leftist politics + comedy) -Press Box (media) 

Intercepted’s takedown of George HW Bush is great. That show and Citations Needed has its moments. I think if you’re a historian/leftist, the best podcasts are Hardcore History or Common Sense (Dan Carlin), Citations Needed, Intercepted, Chapo Trap House, and the Dollop. Dan Carlin is the one you can enjoy if you’re on ANY political spectrum—and the Dollop is not too far behind; that’s truly the most special when it hits.

Other: My Favorite Murder; Revisionist History; Matty + Nick; Hound Tall; We’ll See You in Hell; Binge Mode: Harry Potter; Bertcast/Open Tabs; Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez

Re-listening to Walking the Room for the 3rd time; that’s my favorite podcast of all time. Late pass: ‘Embedded’ series on Trump is amazing. Doesn’t come out often but when it does? Fascinating and goes in on Trump stories that don’t get talked about. Podcasts I’d recommend: In the Dark; RFK Tapes; Slow Burn (S2 on Monica Lewinsky scandal is great)

‘In the Dark’ is by far the best. S1 in 2016 I prefer over S2; check out both.  Podcasts I’m going to check out: Crimetown: Detroit; Serial S3

Vince Mancini (Filmdrunk/Uproxx) has an annual best list on the best investigative/true crime podcasts each year that are the best lists I’ve seen. Best Dollop Episodes of the Year (must-listens on serious subjects): Donald Trump; the Resnicks: Water Monsters; George HW Bush; John McCain; Wells Fargo; Erik Prince & Blackwater 

The above subjects deal with subjects to be genuinely outraged about versus faux things to be outraged about everyday (Russia; Louis CK or what a comic said) and the way the media talks or ignores subjects completely. The way it’s done is so great (Dave reading a topic coldly while his friend interjects with commentary—and then in the end coming together with a South Park-esque take on what the fuck is happening)

Other: Feinstein and the Flag; Levittown: the White Suburb Funniest episode of the Dollop:  1908 New York to Paris Car Race (live w/ James Adomian). Hands down the funniest. Dave purposely saved a great one for the fucking great and underrated James Adomian.

I can tune in and out of some Dollop episodes, but when it goes in on a subject or has a particular guest, you know it’s going to hit.

BOOKS Favorite book: City of Thieves by David Benioff Late pass great: ‘Slaughterhouse Five’ Pretty good: ‘Devil in White City’; ‘Lexicon’ Meh: ‘Sirens of Titan’ Hated: ‘the Bell Jar’

Best twitter follows/online writers: Justin Halpern; Drew Magary; Brian Grubb

BEST EVENTS: 1) Gaslight Anthem 59 Sound 10th Anniversary 2) Boston Calling: the National, Menzingers, Queens of the Stone Age, the Killers 3) Bert Kreischer @ Wilbur: near front row 4) Bill Burr @ TD Garden 5) Pats-Titans playoff game

Biggest regret and disappointment: Moving my ‘ex’ into my friend’s house in January (with the hope that I’d be living there half the time too)—only for her to end up wanting NOTHING at all to do with me that same day after I helped her unpack out of nowhere, threaten suicide in a non-joking manner in front of her new roommates and my friend after a political argument at the end of the first night she moved in, get with someone we work with behind my back almost instantly (a bland and lame cokehead who got busted for cocaine 18 months prior and faced 7 years in jail), try to fuck my friend when I was mid-conversation with them both first time seeing her 3 months after it all ended—and for her to eventually date my friend’s roommate who my friend warned me would try and fuck her but I didn’t take seriously because I thought he wasn’t good looking, tiny, just vaped all day long, and kind of a douche. Cool. Awesome.

I mean, that’s a simplistic breakdown of it all and how I feel about it when I’m angry. It’s more complex and fucked up than that and I could write a book on it to elaborate my thoughts, good and bad. It’s genuinely heartbreaking to articulate it and I withheld that from her:  part of the reason why I moved her into my friend’s place (she didn’t know him or anybody) was because I wanted her in my life and didn’t want to lose her. Instead, it felt like I locked myself out of a party, I’m banging on the door and it’s cold outside, but nobody hears me. It’s just that feeling constantly. At the same time, it’s also very simple: she just wasn’t that into me, valued me, gave a damn, respected me, or cared. It’s NOT as angry or mean as it sounds. It just is what it is. Do NOT move the person you’re seeing into a friend’s place. If it doesn’t work out, make sure you can get a clean break. Oh, and probably do NOT date at work if you can until you know one of you is leaving (or, in my case, she leaves 10+ months after it’. I fucked both up and it’s been impossible to move on. Thankfully, she just left work 2 weeks ago and there’s less anxiety, mental work (thinking about her all the time which I still do but it’s not on maximum overdrive) and tiny heartbreaks each day. I mean, I was devastated when she told me she was leaving and there was finality. I miss her and have missed her all this time, but it’s a good thing: there was nothing I was getting out of it. But still: why did she say yes to moving into MY friend’ s place if she was just going to do a 360 heel turn, be an asshole and resentful towards me out of nowhere, never bother seeing the place I moved into/what I did with it?. Just a disaster of my own creation. I like to think in time I’ll get over it all and move on. I highly doubt I’ll ever see or talk to her again. I refuse to ever go back to my friend’s house for a variety of reasons and I had those thoughts even before the Cinco de Mayo party, but definitely after. I just don’t belong there and it hurts. And I know she’s uncomfortable too if I’m there even if she says otherwise.

Best thing personally: my brother got married, his wedding, friends, and my family. It’s cool to see my brother have his life together, be married into an awesome family, and meet a nice girl. I’ve seen my brother have his heartbreaks, but it’s nice to see him finally have peace and consistency. He’s got a really great house near where the Pats play (closer than where we’d park to games), works 4 days a week and makes bank too. 

BIGGEST CHANGES I MADE moved out to a place of my own in late January-it’s my uncle’s 3-decker, which he intends to pass on to me. So I’m saving $ by being here and it’s decent. The drawback is that it’s 3rd floor and inhospitable during the summer when it’s an oven with no windows where they should be to put an AC unit in (I just stayed at my parents: I would have toughed it out but I desperately need sleep for school). But yeah, I’m over 30 and needed a place of my own. I’d love to live in Boston, but it’s completely fucking unaffordable unless you work 2-3 jobs.

One annoying thing: my driveway gets egged EVERY day since May. We have fake cameras, but pretty sure it’s the next-door neighbor and not some punk kids on their way to school. It is enraging. Who eggs a house everyday? And it’s literally only my car or the lady next to me, not even close to the street. I keep on looking at the trajectory of the eggs and it’s fucking ridiculous. Luckily, because of school (and because I was away during the summer), the egging doesn’t happen until after 8-10 AM.

I’m 10 minutes from my parent’s place (halfway to my workplace and gym as a cut-off place), 5 minutes from the school I attend, and centrally located to things I want to be (Boston, my brother, Cape Cod, possible job changes or to where I intend to move if I can)… went to school to be an electrician-In school 715 to 1245 Monday-Friday. Pain in the ass schedule and tiring, but a big change. I suck at being handy. Most people are sons of people in the trade or went to trade school. Then there’s me: never picked up a drill or a hammer. But I’m working on it. 

I mean, the job IS risky (it’s not an office job) and any job outside of going back to school for a master’s or doctorate to get ahead (I fucking tried!) requires backbreaking manual work that breaks you down in most cases (construction, plumbing and smelling bad to even fixing cars where I hear that breaks your body down). Being an electrician seemed like the least of them all unless you want to be a linesman stuck outside no matter the weather for National Grid or down in manholes—because they pay REALLY well (most people in class actually want those jobs without reservations). I’m fine with being paid pretty well while enjoying myself. I’ll stay away from something monotonous like solar panels or being on a roof all day though.

Jiu-Jitsu-did this for 3 months and loved it. Had to take a break because I can only do weekends and it’s expensive. And I’m too exhausted for 9 AM class come Saturday. After a 6 AM to 12AM schedule M-F, I just completely fucking crash come Saturday. I fully intend on going back and doing yoga too when I finish school in July. 

Most people start doing jiu-jitsu because of Joe Rogan. My answer got a laugh. ‘Yeah, I wanted to try something new. Also, I watched John Wick about a 100 times.’

Therapy-post ‘break-up’ I realized I needed help. I spent a month in February not being able to fall asleep (maybe 24 hours sleep in 3 weeks) before I finally got meds. About a million waking nightmares (holy shit that’s a thing). Constantly crying, particularly on the weekends without her, separation anxiety and just anxiety that did not go away at all: a constant weight. We had a Jim-and-Pam relationship at work, even when it was over—but once she started dating my friend’s roommate, she distanced herself more than ever and it was just fake as fuck. I was frustrated with not finding a job to not passing a test that I studied my ass for 3+ months for that would allow me to leave my job AND the girl. They threw in shit that was not on the study guide at all in the test. Blah. I punched a hole through my bedroom wall (like they do in the movies) and fucked up my hand a bit. 

But yeah, I’m working on my confidence, following through with my goals, challenging myself, making adjustments, facing fears, getting over my anxiety, relationships. I’m proud of how, even without therapy, I handled the girl who was cold and distant: I was ALWAYS warm and welcoming, had a good attitude about it with her. It wasn’t a point of pride to be that way; I just was. If I was around her, the hurt just kind of all faded, however briefly. In the back of my head I wanted to light her the fuck up for how she was acting or NOT acting, but I just didn’t. But it’s hard. I am depressed all the time, but not nearly as overwhelming as I was. I’m really lonesome—and I want to reach out, but I don’t know to who a lot of the time. I feel left out and it’s hard to maintain relationships, but I am trying. It’s hard at 32 but people fade away. You think you’re wiser and more mature that it won’t happen, but it does. It’s just harder to make friends, I guess. I ruminate all the time and think too much. I’m trying to be mindful and in the moment. But I keep on thinking about all the things I’m NOT doing or the things I’m waiting for to happen. But there’s always going to be that. I am doing a LOT and the changes aren’t coming all at once. I like my therapist (I had one when I was in 5th grade and again when I was 19: I didn’t like them: finding a therapist that fits you is the biggest thing)

I realized a lot of the problems I had were patterns even going back to the heartbreak I felt at 18-20 when I was the worst mess I ever was. It wasn’t the girl who broke my heart, but it was me. I should have been better and stronger far before I met her. I wasn’t really living I don’t think. In some ways, I gave up and was sleepwalking through things. But everything I thought I was past just bubbled to the surface. And I had to get it right, something needed to change, and I needed help.

I withheld my problems from everybody because I didn’t want to be a burden. I especially did NOT want to be depressing but I think I became a burden for the girl who broke my heart. She had nothing to give and she was upset at me for talking to her at work and being cheerful, telling stories, or anything. Secretly, I was a mess and it was painful. In a way, I was denying myself and that made it worse.

Here’s the thing: I don’t think I’m that big of a mess. I might be lonely, but I got a good head, attitude, and people generally like me. I make people laugh easily and without trying. I got a lot going for me and I got support.

Tattoos -got the lighthouse tattoo I always wanted since I was 18. I didn’t believe a tattoo artist could carry out my idea. Liked the tattoo artist so much that I stretched it out into a full sleeve. I want to do more and have some ideas. We’ll see.

Other-new car; collecting board games; got tour posters and Pats memorabilia framed WORST POLITICAL: the chaos that comes with Trump-Well, that hasn’t changed. I’ll hate the GOP/Republicans and that goes without saying. I have some small hope with people like Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, but I don’t have any faith in the Democratic party at fucking all: they will rather work with Republicans than work with people who actually want to make an actual change. You kind of just realize how shitty a party they and Obama were and how they are bought/paid for and resistant to any meaningful change. We are fucked.

LOOK AHEAD TO 2019: -finishing school in July and starting new career as electrician -cousin’s wedding and going to Las Vegas for a bachelor party (I’m more psyched for the awesome house we are staying in than Vegas itself) -Pats playoff run and possible end of Brady-Gronk: I’m not hopeful, but I’m going to enjoy my favorite Boston athletes of my lifetime. Couldn’t ask for anything more from them. I just wish Bill Belichick did a better job as a GM and not fucking up nearly every draft since 2006 besides 2010 and 2012. They’ve won 5, but feels like Belichick cost the Pats 3-5 more minimum. Every year you have Tom Brady, you’re in the AFC Championship or Super Bowl. Belichick and Patricia mailed in the Eagles Super Bowl on defense. WTF was that? -doing jiu-jitsu, yoga, taking up swimming, continue following through on my gym program: my goal is to delay having a bad back as long as possible. I’m in the best shape of my life by far, so that’s good. I want to cut some of my gut weight out though: when I bend down to put on my work boots, I feel it. -more tattoos? -dating again (I am struggling so BADLY with online dating and need to work on having better pics: I can’t get a single match/date) -looking at buying a condo or home. I’ve got about $100K saved up and just slowly collecting things in my apartment for the big transition. Still would like to see where I end up working. Ideally, I’d love to have a lake house somewhere decent and centralized.

BOOKS: -Don Winslow wrapping up cartel/border trilogy -new Gillian Flynn?!? -Marlon James’ African Game of Thrones trilogy begins -Stephen King

TV 1a) Desus and Mero returns 1b) Game of Thrones final season 2) Veep final season 3) Lovecraft Country 4) Watchmen 5) Stranger Things 6) Good Omens 7) Devs 8) Fosse/Verdon

NEW: City on a Hill; Deadwood movie; Star Wars; Veronica Mars

MUSIC -Boston Callling -new: 1975, Bruce Springsteen

MOVIES: 1) Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 2) John Wick III 3) Us Toy Story IV 4) Fast and Furious: Hobbs and Shaw OTHER: Avengers; Captain Marvel; Glass; It 2; Joker; Lego Movie 2; Spiderman; Star Wars; Under the Silver Lake; Where’d You Go Bernadette; Zombieland 2

[opalesencelied]

tagged by @raerara (bobbo, your plan is impractical)

rules: tag 15 people you want to get to know better 

relationship status: at any given moment im either hopelessly pining over someone who barely knows i exist or i have completely forgotten the entire spectrum of human emotion

fave colours: pink!!! and uh grey???

lipstick or chapstick: considering the fact that i have used chapstick once in the past month and dont remember the last time i put on lipstick, ill say chapstick

three fave foods: whenever im asked this, i instantly forget everything i like but uhh i guess pad thai, homemade cookies, and ice cream

song stuck in my head: glitter & gold by barnes country

last song i listened to: primadonna by marina and the diamonds

last movie i watched: if you mean through to completion, rewatching thor: ragnarok, if not the ballad of buster scruggs??? i wasnt paying attention

top 3 tv shows: UH brooklyn nine nine, the good place, and bob’s burgers???

books i’m currently reading: idk man all the books i wanna read are holding my bed up so fanfiction from now until it’s fixed

last thing i googled: what buster scruggs is

time: 11:38 pm

how many blankets do you sleep with: too fucking many or too few i dont know

dream trip: to pass out in the bed of everyone who i told i would and also meeting my online friends

anything you want: uhh physical and mental health i guess and also to graduate high school

i tag: @peanutbutterandbitter @badly-drawn-megs @littlepennycandy @bara2684 @rayzofwonder @sporadichearttcollector @kittymeow321 @renecdote @second-hand-heaven

[hollyplays]

The Roundup: November 2018

It feels like it’s been two years since I did one of these. The good news is things are finally starting to settle down over here, so you might see more of me in the next few months!

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs: I think the Coen brothers are kind of hit-or-miss for me, so what better to prove that than a Coen brothers anthology? The stories here range from excellent to mediocre to shit. Tom Waits is in it though, so 5 fuckin stars.

Cam: This movie kicked ass. I went into it with very little expectations, but I really enjoyed it. A very honest and non-judgemental depiction of online sex work, plus some genuine spooks. I’m a sucker for movies that allow for supernatural shit without explaining it in fine detail, and Cam hits that nail squarely on the head.

Shirkers: I watched Shirkers twice this week. Wait, shit, I already talked about Shirkers. Anyway go watch it. It’s heartbreaking.

Suspiria(1977): All the build up for the “scary shit” was a thousand times scarier than the actual “scary shit”- except for the end, which was genuinely fucking terrifying and riveting in a way that the until-then cheesy special effects did not prepare me for. The lead actress here killed it, and the cinematography and lighting are expert all the way through.

Thor Ragnarok: I go back and forth on my favorite MCU movie, but this is the top contender currently. Everything about it just fucking works. We’ve seen so little of Odin (and what we have seen hasn’t been all that favorable) that it’s perfectly believable that he was a violent conqueror before now. We know so little about the nature of Asgard and whatever the “nine realms” are that Taika Waititi’s restructuring of Asgard from “heaven, kinda” into “another planet” makes perfect sense. I have a lot of respect for the way this movie rewrites MCU history for the better, on top of just being an incredible fucking movie.

The Killing of A Sacred Deer: If you watch this, know that it’s a greek tragedy first. Know that it’s more like a play than a movie. If you go into this expecting an on-rails two hour thriller you will be disappointed. I expected The Lobster 2, so I was pleasantly surprised. (I fucking hated The Lobster.) Colin Farrell sold me on this movie, but Nicole Kidman has the best performance by far.

The Birdcage: Nathan Lane and Robin Williams will get me to watch anything, including a movie where a man in drag pretends to be a housewife, which would seem to be the pinnacle of everything about drag that makes me uncomfortable. Despite that, The Birdcage manages to make me cry several times, and also break my heart.

Blow-Out: I don’t know what I expected from this but it definitely wasn’t that. So many artsy movies from the 80s feel like tabletop rpg sessions gone wrong, and I love that. It works really well here. That ending is unexpected and completely wild.

The 400 Blows: I always here this movie talked about in the context of ‘greatest movies ever made’ and it’s easy to see why. I also feel like every time I watch a French movie there’s someone shitty to children. Or, more likely, several someones. 400 Blows, Fat Girl, Fantastic Planet even.

Dazed and Confused: I expected this to be a high-school nostalgia movie but it really isn’t. High school is garbage for a lot of people for a lot of reasons, and Dazed and Confused doesn’t mince words about that. It’s also very hard to take Matthew McConaughey seriously here after True Detective. He looks like a baby. I have seen “old, creepy Matthew McConaughey” and this is not it.

Citizen Kane: Alright. I see what all the fuss is about now. also Orson Welles sexy.

Jesus Christ, I watched so many movies this month.

Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot: Maybe my favorite title for a movie. The central plot is okay, but Jonah Hill’s character really made this movie work. He should get a nom for Best Supporting Actor or somethin.

Mandy: This is two movies. A quiet, contemplative love story and a balls-to-the-wall revenge movie. Nicolas Cage is as good here as he’s ever been. The plot is....irrelevant. Come for the visuals and the score, stay for the chainsaw fights.

Thunder Road: This is the best movie of 2018, easily. Yes, I know Sorry To Bother You came out this year. PLEASE, go watch Thunder Road. It is so good and sweet and heartbreaking.

The Lure: The Lure is such a weird and unique movie it doesn’t have to be “good”, it’s memorable for what it is. Which- to be clear- is not good.

My Dinner With Andre: It’s a good thing I like plays, because this is a very long and sleepy one. I enjoy it a lot though. It’s contemplative and rewarding to watch Wallace Shawn tear this dude down after he talks for an hour straight.

His Girl Friday: This movie sucks. Fuck you. This is like if somebody made It Happened One Night and forgot to right any jokes in it and then gave every cast member speed. The result is a two hour black and white panic attack. Criticism for this section of the Roundup costs you ten dollars.

Repo Man: Repo Man feels like a deeply weird game of Urban Shadows and I love it. I love Harry Dean Stanton and I love this weird alien punk movie.

Down By Law: I don’t know how Jarmusch managed to make a movie with Tom Waits and have him be completely outshined, but damn. Roberto Benigni completely runs away with this movie. Almost nothing else about it is memorable.

The Palm Beach Story: This movie came out after Design For Living did, so they have no excuse to not just all date each other. Also that twins thing at the end fuckin sucks. How did anybody put up with that shit?

The Haunting of Hill House: A strong contender for the best horror media I’ve ever seen. Haunting of Hill House is absolutely wonderful. On a technical level alone, it stands against the genre, but the script and performances carry it much higher. Ten out of ten.

[toddlazarski]

“The Old Man”

The A.V. Club

There is an old storytelling rule, that when it comes to books or movies, nobody poops. A bathroom trip is a violation of Chekhov's Gun principle, wherein all details must contribute to the overall narrative. Also, nobody wants to see that. The Old Man opens with Jeff Bridges’ character going to relieve himself not once, but three times throughout a single night. He's an old man, after all, as the show keeps reminding us. At one point an assailant says “fuck you, old man” in the middle of a knife fight, just moments after another derides “getting shook by a senior citizen.” The indignity almost seems cruel, given Bridges recent personal history: an extended battle with COVID-19 while on chemotherapy for lymphoma left him “pretty close to dying” in 2021. (Production was halted at the start of the pandemic and then again after Bridges’ diagnosis). 

Or, it might seem cruel, if not for the 72-year-old’s never-erring aura of Dude-like amused detachment, an ability to keep the huffs and shuffle of years easy, with the aged gravitas of a character in a Tom Waits song about to tell you wistfully about all the cars he's had in his life. In fact it looks like Bridges borrowed Waits’ beard from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. It is well fit for the weathered weight of the character, one who gravelly grumbles through dad jokes with the doctor, dad jokes with a waitress over reading spectacles, dad jokes of an “ailment contest” on a first date. He has the kind of old-timer grace that lets him find the perfect Robert Plant banger on the radio when his date can't get the bluetooth to work.

But Dan Chase is not your father's father. A former CIA operative, his slowly degenerating serenity in Connecticut is blown apart by a midnight hitman, one who Chase is alerted to not by SimpliSafe or ADT, of course, but by a DIY alarm of empty dog food cans on a string. Like that his cover is crumpled and he’s on the run, from his former bosses, from his past, relying on old skills despite being told “you have no idea how different the game is than the last time you played.” Also: “you aren’t the guy you remember.” It is a plot so entrenched in the present day Liam Neeson oeuvre there may be royalties due. There's even a threatened daughter, brought into peril precisely because of Chase's unique set of skills. He is a man comfortable with unsettling fits of incredible and explosive violence, natural-looking in intimate hand-to-hand combat shots so brutal and relentless it might make pacifists wonder: what is that, exactly, that CIA guys learn? Are they schooled on Steven Seagal flicks?

The premise all feels like the stuff of a slick Soderbergh-esque 90-minute indie, a kind of subdued spy thriller of stoicism and pacing, or something in the vein of the George Clooney vehicle “The American.” A stylish feel is furthered from the jump by smart opening credits, a thoughtfully ruminating score, continuously deep attention to framing, an A-list cast. Yet the backstory begins to feel padded by episode two, talk turns to “Langley,” as if that place were an entity itself, and the show begins to run against the tropes of Tom Clancy. Expensive suits pass each other official-looking manilla folders, furrowing brows, doing the serious business of bureaucracy under the guise of protecting American freedom, or something.  

But it’s still a story most concerned with the past, with its relentless chase, that unending undertow. Flashbacks and exposition-filling phone conversations and voicemails increasingly come into play, often too-neatly filling in narrative gaps, sometimes leading to Shakespeareaean soliloquies from Chase’s daughter that sound nothing at all like any 30-something talking to her father. It’s also a ghost story in a less metaphoric way, as Chase’s deceased wife, Abbey, drops by as a specter chilling enough to feel almost like a character in an entirely different show. John Lithgow plays Harold Harper, an FBI honcho, former CIA honcho, with the pinched and condescending face of a high school chemistry teacher, bereft over the death of his son, haunted by sordid entanglements with Chase in the mountains of Afghanistan and the dustbin of American international policy. Alia Shawkat, maybe miscast—it’s hard to see Cousin Maeby aligning herself with The Man—plays his tenacious and tenaciously loyal understudy. Amy Brenneman plays Zoe, the show’s quiet but sturdy conscience, a reluctant landlord of Chase along his run who becomes romantically, and otherwise, entangled with his trajectory. This course leads to tangents west and points unknown, toward increasingly jarring whiplash snaps in the tension.    

But The Old Man, like an old man, is best when it ambles, tracking a brooding, contemplative pace. Compared to backstory filler, where a young Chase, played admirably enough by Bill Heck, ratchets up the blood in the Jack Ryan territory, it can’t help but feel good to get back to spending time with Bridges. Especially in the quiet moments of chopping onions or making bulletproof coffee or slowly backing off to give space to someone he has intimidated, or talking, as he often does, to his brilliant and brutal rottweilers, Dave and Carol. There is something redemptive in watching him drum his fingers with wry satisfaction as he pushes a plate of food across a counter. It is almost like a feeling of hope to bear witness to another one, another friend, that made it through something awful, ghastly, not to someplace better, necessarily, but into this present unholy era of violence and unease. It is no tiny miracle to see that someone doing the human business of arriving, everyday, full of reflection. Sometimes there’s a man, acting on the work of life despite it all. 

The year after he broke out in 1971’s “The Last Picture Show,” Bridges co-starred with Stacy Keach in John Huston’s vastly underrated “Fat City.” The last scene finds the two boxers, at opposite ends of their careers, both still beaten up, beaten down, bruised and beleaguered, huddled and hunkered and almost desperate together over cups of cafeteria coffee. Keach’s character sympathetically considers an elderly waiter: “You think he was ever young once?” Bridges takes a perfect beat before replying: “No.”

[tansypoisoning]

Twenty-One Questions

I was tagged by @honeyhan-123. You can see her answer here

Nickname: Here people either call me Marcie or Tansy.

Zodiac: Taurus

Height: 165cm or 5′5 IF YOU’RE UNCIVILIZED (I kid, I kid)

Last thing I searched: Local news. Pretty boring, I no.

Hobbies: Being in a constant state of panic and therefore taking twice as long as I should to finish something, writing, reading, hiking, cooking, eating what I cook, looking at things in the internet that make me feel bad about myself, pr0n (I don’t get laid enough for that to be a hobby lol), going into research blackholes, trying to get animals to let me touch them, videogames, listening to music, sleeping.

Favourite Musicians: Oh, fam. It’s a whole fucking journey.

Those Poor Bastards, The Pine Box Boys, Leonard Cohen, Lana Del Rey, Tom Waits, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (and anything with Nick Cave, tbh), The Gerard Edery Ensemble, Salter Cane, The Dresden Dolls, Vivaldi, Hank Williams III, Nirvana, Johnny Cash, Mindless Self-Indulgence, Digresk, Pat “The Bunny” Schneeweis, Eartha Kitt, System of a Down, Buddy Guy, Vaghjime, Modena City Ramblers, Mercanti di Liquore, Digresk, Mikel Urdangarin, Violeta Parra, Silvio Rodriguez, Inti-Illimani, Talking Heads, The Builders and The Butches, Faun, Faun Fables, Terrance Zdunich, Ethnix, Björk, Zeca Baleiro, Voltaire, Jack White, Lonesome Wyatt and the Holy Spooks, TV on the Radio, Mediaeval Baebes, Emilie Autumn, Idan Raichel, The Goddamn Gallows, Rasputina, Stormy Six, Sopor Aeternus, Muddy Waters, Kevin MacLeod who is a fucking saint for providing royalty free music, Zé Ramalho, Quilapayún, Queen, Loreena McKennitt, Krauka, Emilie Simon, Fabrizio de André, Einstürzende Neubauten, Dr Steel, Dazkarieh, Buckethead, Blackmore’s Night.

Also, not a musician, but I adore Hadestown.

Song stuck in my head: This parody of Billie Eilish’s “bad guy”

If you had a time machine would you go back in time or to the future? I’d go nowhere; I’d stay right here, trembling in fear at all the possibilites.

If you had one wish, what would you wish for? I would wish for infinite wishes. My second wish would be t have the wisdom to use all that power.

Do I get asks? I do. Not regularly, but I do.

Following: 107

Would you rather be rich or famous: Depends. Famous for what? I’m an egomaniac, so I’d like to be famous if people generally liked me - I would hate to be famous if I was disliked.

Also, how rich are we talking about? I would love to be well off, but if I was extremely rich I’d try getting rid of that shit as fast I could. Keeping vast amounts of wealth is terrible for the economy.

Amount of Sleep: I try sleeping 7 and a half hours a day. Key word being try.

Lucky number: I don’t know, three? I like three.

What are you wearing: Jeans, a t-shirt, a giant sweater that used to be my uncle’s and flip-flops

Dream Job: Impossible to pick one. Super Sexy Succesful Pastry Chef™ ; stay at home mom; mad scientist; script supervisor; farmer; novelist; artifact hunter. I want to do all the things!

Dream Trip: I would love to visit Madeira. My grandparents on my mother’s side are from there, and my grandmother went back on a trip recently, and she was really touched. I’d love to see it for myself one day.

If you were an animal what would you be: But I AM and aminal!!

If I could choose? A tardigrade, maybe? Fuckers are resilient.

If we’re talking personality, maybe a deer?

I like being human, don’t ask me these questions Dx

Favourite Food: Chicken Lasagna.

Favourite Books: Harry Potter; A Series of Unfortunate Events; Coraline; American Gods; Good Omens; (what I’ve read of) Discworld; Pride & Prejudice; Nothanger Abbey; Wuthering Heights; and others I must be forgetting.

Favourite Movies: The original Disney Beauty and the Beast; Lilo and Stitch; No Country For Old Men; The Ballad of Buster Scruggs; District 9; Snowpiercer; Rashomon; Casablanca; Coraline; Labyrinth; For a Few Dollars More; The Good, The Bad and The Ugly; all the Kung Fu Panda Series; Shrek 1 and 2; Kiki’s Delivery Service; Spirtied Away; There Will Be Blood; The Hunchback of Notredame (1939); The Shawshank Redemption; The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and other movies I must be forgetting.

Tagging: @searchforanotherway, @nastybuckybarnes, @jtargaryen18... Other people I would tag I know have already been tagged xD

[husid]

Uncle Huey’s 2019 Oscars Post!

A confession: I love the Oscars. 

A confession, extrapolated: I am an unabashed Oscars fanboy, who legitimately looks forward to the Academy Awards all year long. I love the opening montage where the host skewers self-righteous Hollywood stars, I love the cringeworthy banter of presenters pretending to have a non-scripted conversation (as if they were actual actors!), I love the montages reminding us why we should keep liking movies, I love seeing which recently deceased actors (it’s always the actors) cause people to break the “no-clapping-until-the-end” rule during the In Memoriam clip (Hollywood’s version of “you can only bring Valentine’s Day Cards to class if you give one to everybody”), I love the wildly reactionary vitriol thrown towards the Academy every time they make a decision about anything, I love the Academy reacting one-year too late to everything, I love the politics, I love the self-seriousness, I love the acceptance speeches in which you can tell the actor deeply resents his or her family, I love seeing the loser shots and trying to decide whether they’re legitimately happy for the winner (spoiler: they’re not), and I love seeing the same tired, rehashed Twitter jokes about how long the Oscars telecast is. 

Reading back through that paragraph, I realize how disingenuous my love for the Oscars sounds, but I do love the Oscars, if for no other reason than I really fucking love movies. And while I’m no critic, I do fancy myself a semi-educated film buff, and with that, as well as an uncredited extras role in The Flintstones In Viva Rock Vegas! that I ask that you indulge me in the first annual Hu’s the Boss Oscar Preview!

In the interest of full disclosure, this is where I tell you that I’ve only seen 11 of the movies nominated (Avengers: Infinity War, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Black Panther, BlacKkKlansman, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Favourite, Isle of Dogs, Roma, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse, A Star Is Born), but whether it’s the utter predictability of some films (Green Book), or familiarity with a director’s work (Vice), I feel reasonably confident in my admittedly underinformed predictions.

You might have heard that the Oscars will not have a host this year, for the first time since 1989, and we all remember how that went! (I was 2 years old, I definitely don’t remember how that went, but the internet does, and yikes, it wasn’t good. Side note: I’d sooner tell my own grandmother that her matzo ball soup was overseasoned than do anything horrible enough to warrant Julie Andrews calling me an embarrassment in an open letter).  How did we find ourselves in this predicament? Blame the Academy. Well, also the internet. Maybe Kevin Hart too. President Obama as well. Let me explain. 

While in office, Obama had the opportunity to sign an executive order mandating that Amy Poehler and Tina Fey host every major awards show, but failed to do so. Given President Trump’s current feelings towards S&L, it feels like that window has closed. The Oscars are generally hosted by a mainstream comedian, and this year was shaping up to be no different, with Kevin Hart signed on to host. But then the unthinkable happened. The internet internetted, and found that Hart had performed some homophobic material back in 2009 and 2010. The backlash got real loud, real quick, and the court of public opinion sentenced the Academy to 10 years without Kevin Hart as host, with the possibility of parole once we realize that every comic who started writing before 2010 has included something homophobic in one of their sets. So you can blame Kevin Hart, whose jokes were clearly offensive; you can blame the Academy for either not vetting their host, underestimating the research capabilities of internet denizens, underestimating the outrage of the general public (hard to imagine, given the public reception of most of the Academy’s decisions of late), or, depending on your viewpoint, bowing too easily to internet outrage; or you can blame the outraged, for not understanding the evolution of standup comedy, or for making a stand when one may not be warranted.

I’ll leave it to you to draw your own conclusions on who’s to blame for Hart not hosting, but I can tell you who’s to blame for there the absence of a host, period: Critics. Not since Billy Crystal hosted the Oscars for a 73rd consecutive time has any host be universally lauded. The host isn’t funny, the host is too mean, the host is too sophomoric, the host disappears for extended periods of time, etc. It’s been a thankless job for years now, and that was before a dissection of your extended comedy catalog became a prerequisite. Personally, I’d love to see the hosting job go to an up-and-coming comic and let them roast Hollywood for a bit. It would be a way to take the self-reverential mask off of Hollywood for a couple hours, and provide a massive opportunity for an up-and-comer. But ratings dictate that stars and stars alone must host, so I’m not holding my breath.

Ok. That sound you just heard is me jumping off my soap box. Back to movies.

“The field is wide open this year” is a great way to build up buzz for an awards show, but when it comes to Best Picture, it’s also a euphemism sugarcoating the fact that there were truly no great movies this year. Personally, I think nearly every contender has at least one seriously fatal flaw, and that, coupled with the rare lack of a huge late PR push for one movie above the others (a la The King’s Speech, The Artist, Argo, Birdman, etc.) mean that “wide-open field” isn’t just lip service, it’s true. Just not for the best reasons. Still, it makes for an exciting awards show, if you’re into that sort of thing, and probably means that the Academy won’t be on the hook for buying into one film’s hype and looking terrible for it down the line (Shakespeare In Love over Saving Private Ryan, The King’s Speech over The Social Network, Birdman over Boyhood, etc.). But these things aren’t always predictable, and maybe in ten years we’ll be talking about what an underappreciated movie Vice was in 2018.

Now on to the awards, where I’ll give my two cents on each nominee for Best Picture, then a brief thought on each subsequent category declaring my best guess for the actual winner and my personal favorite. In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve watched the Golden Globes and the SAG Awards, and usually pay a lot of attention to movie/Oscars buzz, but I’ve generally tried to avoid Oscar prediction articles for the sake of this post. Again, I don’t claim to be a film critic, but I do have lots of opinions on movies, so take everything with a grain of salt. To further highlight any conscious or subconscious biases I have,  I’ve put the films I have seen in bold in each set of nominees.

THE OSCAR GOES TO

Best Picture

Nominees:

Black Panther – A wildly entertaining and legitimately good movie, but it’s not even the best Marvel movie ever. This feels more like an acknowledgment from the Academy that it respects superhero movies, than a legitimate contender for best picture.

BlacKkKlansman – Given the wild true story the movie is based on, it probably didn’t even need Spike Lee’s direction to shine, and yet I left somewhat underwhelmed. Everything was solid, but very little really stood out, aside from costume design and a few warranted but ham-handed references to our current political climate.  Spike is one of the most provocative filmmakers of the last quarter-century, but with a story that I expected he’d be able to knock out of the park, I didn’t fell like I gained an interesting perspective or was shocked by anything; a rarity for one of his films. Maybe that’s more reflective of the times we live in, or maybe I just set unfair expectations for Spike, given the subject matter. Either way, despite enormous potential, this had all the trappings of a good-but-not-great movie.

Bohemian Rhapsody – Rami Malek’s performance and the final Live Aid scene alone catapult Bohemian Rhapsody into this year’s contenders. Unfortunately, that was all that was Oscar-worthy about this movie. The rest was a by-the-numbers music biopic that tried to pack way too much into 133 minutes. It’s no wonder this movie took so long to get made and so many writers/producers/directors/actors were involved and uninvolved at one point or another (Sacha Baron Cohen was originally slated to play Freddie Mercury), because there’s a lot to untangle between  the rise and “fall” of the band, Mercury’s sexual awakening, and his HIV diagnosis, all while the real-life remaining members of the band did their best to ensure that we got a PG-13 version of Queen history devoid of any real dirty laundry. The final result was a watered down, factually dubious mishmash that doesn’t go deep enough in any direction to have a true lasting impact. Those music scenes though, still make it one of the best music biopics ever filmed.

The Favourite – Of all the Best Picture nominees, the Favourite and Roma were easily the least digestable for mass market audiences. Period pieces aren’t for everyone, especially ones that have little in the way of plot, and take place exclusively on the grounds of an 18th century British palace. But the Favourite managed to be thoroughly entertaining thanks to top-notch set design, Oscar-worthy performances by Olivia Coleman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone, sexual intrigue and two hours of steady, if a bit slow, mischievousness. 

Green Book – I have not seen it. Obviously the reviews are positive, but no one has yet convinced me that this movie isn’t entirely formulaic. I haven’t seen this movie, but I’ve seen this movie, and I’m pretty sure it’s fine.

Roma – A beautiful movie about an underrepresented social class in an underrepresented era in an underrepresented country. It’s shot well and acted well, and the camerawork makes up for a meandering plotline. It probably is the class of this category, but I can’t help but think that it might be 15% worse if it wasn’t shot in black and white. That was clearly a conscious choice by writer and director Alfonso Cuaron, who, between Gravity and Children of Men, among others, has more than proven he knows how to make a film beautiful, regardless of subject matter. But the Artist won Best Picture for its two-part gimmick of being black and white and silent, and I’m not entirely sure that Roma’s colorless palette shouldn’t be considered gimmicky as well.

A Star Is Born – The most classic Best Picture fodder on this list, by leaps and bounds, and not just because previous versions of this movie have been nominated for Best Picture, among a host of other awards. But Hollywood loves a movie about the entertainment business, not to mention a story about underdogs and redemption. This was a really well done movie across the board, and while I thought the Grammys scene was a little over the top, I now realize that was an integral scene to the previous three versions of the movie, so its inclusion is a lot easier to justify here. Aside from the acting, which was exceptional across the board (Andrew Dice Clay!), I think the most impressive part about this movie was that it was a big-budget film about superstardom, yet managed to feel very intimate, and resisted using tired crutches of story narration/plot forwarding by way of TV/radio news reports or newspaper headlines – something Bohemian Rhapsody was unable to pull off.

Vice – I have not seen it, which is odd, because of every movie nominated, it’s probably the most up my proverbial alley. The initial mixed reviews were a part of my missing it, though I imagine my love for Adam Mckay’s masterful balance between humor and the depression of irresponsibly-wielded power in the Big Short and Succession (to say nothing of his comedy genius displayed in Anchorman, Talladega Nights, Step Brothers et al.) would make me a more likely candidate than most to appreciate Vice. Alas, that’s all I’m able to really opine on.

Will Be: If there wasn’t a strong anti-Netflix bias in the Academy, as has been reported, I would go with Roma, but I fear that the safest choice here is Green Book, and in the absence of anything truly groundbreaking, that’s going to be the pick.

Should Be: I’m on the fence between Roma and A Star is Born. To me, Roma’s lack of plot and failure to explore its main character in depth separate it from A Star is Born, which really has no obvious flaws.

Actor in a Leading Role

Christian Bale – Vice

Bradley Cooper – A Star Is Born

Willem Dafoe – At Eternity’s Gate

Rami Malek – Bohemian Rhapsody

Viggo Mortensen – Green Book

Will Be: Having only seen two of these movies, it’s hard for me to make a real educated guess, but it’s also hard to imagine that Rami Malek won’t be rewarded for flawlessly playing one of the most eccentric entertainers in music history. All I know for sure is that Willem Dafoe will not be winning.

Should Be: Malek. Malek’s apparent real-life persona is shy and understated –essentially the exact opposite of Freddie Mercury’s – making his transformative performance that much more jaw-dropping.

Actress in a Leading Role

Yalitza Aparicio – Roma

Glenn Close – The Wife

Olivia Colman – The Favourite

Lady Gaga – A Star Is Born

Melissa McCarthy – Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Will Be: Glenn Close. When an actress from a movie you’ve never heard of keeps racking up awards, it’s a pretty safe bet the Academy will follow suit.

Should Be: I’m going to stick with Close, given how much consensus this pick seems to have. Of the movies I saw, I think Colman and Gaga are both very worthy. I can’t quite figure out Aparicio’s nomination. Given that she had never acted before, she was incredible, but the lack of dialogue and depth that the script afforded her puts her performance in stark comparison to the other women on this list. Close is the biggest lock in any of the acting categories.

Actress in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams – Vice

Marina de Tavira – Roma

Regina King – If Beale Street Could Talk

Emma Stone – The Favourite

Rachel Weisz – The Favourite

Will Be: Amy Adams. This is a really tight race that could legitimately go to anyone. With five very deserving nominees, the biggest differentiator is the fact that Adams has been nominated for an Oscar five times before, with no hardware to show for it. In situations like this, the Academy has shown it’s not above the unofficial lifetime achievement award.

Should Be: I’m a huge fan of every actress in this category, though my two favorites – Adams and King – are nominated for movies I haven’t seen. Given that, my pick would be Emma Stone, who portrayed innocence, quirkiness, resourcefulness, wittiness, ruthlessness and helplessness in one winkingly dry performance. Weisz was just as game from an acting perspective, but the script gave Stone a lot more to work with, making her performance more memorable.

Actor in a Supporting Role

Mahershala Ali – Green Book

Adam Driver – BlacKkKlansman

Sam Elliott – A Star Is Born

Richard E. Grant – Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Sam Rockwell – Vice

Will Be: Mahershala Ali. The Academy loves him, and with good reason. In a tight race, the fact that Rockwell deservedly won this award last year for Three Billboards probably disqualifies him. Elliott was exceptional in A Star Is Born, but had a considerably smaller role than the other actors on this list. I thought Driver was good, but not Oscars-good, and obviously I haven’t seen Grant’s performance, but the buzz is very positive, despite being in a movie that not a ton of people saw. There’s definitely a cynical side of me that thinks Ali is the most justifiable selection among all the minority Oscar acting nominees, and its hard to imagine there aren’t at least some voters who are still trying to erase the scars of #oscarssowhite (to say nothing of minority representation over the course of film history) by essentially casting a vote for inclusion. But ultimately he may just be the best choice in a tight category.

Should Be: Ali. I’ll be rooting hard for Elliott, both because he tends to be my favorite part of any movie or show he’s in, and because it’s nice to see the older guys finally win one. Since Ali and Rockwell already have a statue, there may be some sentimentality votes going his way, and his career in mainstream American cinema spans much longer than fellow elder statesman Grant. Again, I haven’t seen Green Book, but I know Ali is as game as any of the actors in this category, and had the biggest role of anyone in the category. That’s good enough for me.

Directing

Spike Lee – BlacKkKlansman 

Pawel Pawlikowski – The Cold War

Yorgos Lanthimos – The Favourite

Alfonso Cuaron  - Roma

Adam McKay – Vice

Will Be: Alfonso Cuaron. There’s talk of this going to Spike as a “my bad” award from the Academy for never having even nominated him for best director (not giving him even a nomination for Do the Right Thing borders on criminal). But he did receive an honorary Oscar from the Academy in 2015, and that, coupled with BlacKkKlansman being just a good movie make me feel like this isn’t Spike’s year. Vice is a very hype-typical movie that isn’t getting much hype, and Cold War is the only movie on this list not nominated for Best Picture. That leaves Roma and the Favourite, and the Academy has proven it loves Cuaron’s work, not to mention Roma is the most unique, visually stunning film on this list, which are usually two of the major criteria for this award.

Should Be: Cuaron, for all of the reasons listed above, but I wouldn’t be upset with Lanthimos taking it.

Adapted Screenplay

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

BlacKkKlansman

Can You Ever Forgive Me?

If Beale Street Could Talk

A Star Is Born

Will Be: I really have no clue on this one, but I’m confident that The Ballad of Buster Scruggs and If Beale Street Could Talk are the first two out. The remaining three are all unlikely to win in the other major categories so voters might simply choose their favorite of those three to ensure they win something. If that’s the case, my guess is the most popular among them is A Star Is Born.

Should Be: I won’t rehash my thoughts on BlacKkKlansman again, and I haven’t seen Beale Street or CYEFM, but when considering adapted screenplays, I like to vote based on degree of difficulty jumping from the source material to the screen. That’s why A Star Is Born falls short for me, given that it was adapted from three previous versions of ultimately the same movie. To me, that makes the writer’s job easier, not harder. I definitely have a Coen Brothers bias, so my vote goes to The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, which managed to take a collection of short stories written over the course of 25 years and transform them into a series of visually stunning, dialogue-rich (aside from Tom Waits’ story) vignettes that somehow formed a (great) movie.

Original Screenplay

The Favourite

First Reformed

Green Book

Roma

Vice

Will Be: First Reformed is getting buzz for this award, and it might be a way for voters to give some gold to a movie than many felt was snubbed in other categories. My take is that if voters loved the screenplay so much, it would have been nominated for those other categories. So the most likely pick here is Roma, a movie about an upper-middle-class family in Mexico City with a relative dearth of dialogue or plot lines that somehow ends up being as captivating as any other movie this year.

Should Be: I thought The Big Short’s screenplay was incredible, so if Vice is comparable in both style and quality, I’m sure I’d love it. But critics are saying otherwise, so I’m going to go with The Favourite, whose screenplay managed to make a thoroughly beguiling and darkly humorous film out of what could easily have been just another dry period piece.

Foreign Language Film

Capernaum – Lebanon

Cold War – Poland

Never Look Away – Germany

Roma – Mexico

Shoplifters – Japan

Will Be: We can pretend Cold War has a chance, but the award has all but been handed to Roma already. If it’s the only movie on this list that managed to be worthy of a Best Picture nominee, logic would dictate that it’s the only movie worthy of winning Best Foreign Language Film

Should Be: Having only seen Roma, I don’t have any great insights to add here, but I’m still confident in saying it deserves this one.

Best Animated Feature

Incredibles 2

Isle of Dogs

Mirai

Ralph Breaks the Internet

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Will Be: Despite winning two of the last three years, Pixar doesn’t have the stranglehold over this category that it once did. In most years, Incredibles 2, Isle of Dogs or Ralph Breaks the Internet would have a great shot to win, but this is simply Spider-Man’s year.

Should Be: I liked Isle of Dogs, but Spider-Man was probably my favorite movie of the year, and quite possibly the best. Sorry Pixar.

Cinematography

Cold War

The Favourite

Never Look Away

Roma

A Star Is Born

Will Be: Roma. Sweeping cityscapes, countryscapes and beachscapes (are those things?) + historical time period + black and white = Oscar.

Should Be: Roma. Sweeping cityscapes, countryscapes and beachscapes (are those things?) + historical time period + black and white = Oscar.

QUICK HITTERS

Production Design

Black Panther

The Favourite

First Man

Mary Poppins Returns

Roma

Will Be: Roma

Should Be: The Favourite

Costume Design

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Black Panther

The Favourite

Mary Poppins Returns

Mary Queen of Scots

Will Be: The Favourite

Should Be: The Favourite

Death, taxes, and a Victorian(ish)-era drama winning Best Costume Design are the only certainties in life.

Visual Effects

Avengers: Infinity War

Christopher Robin

First Man

Ready Player One

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Will Be: Avengers: Infinity War

Should Be: Ready Player One

This pick is based entirely on the trailer and my 1980s and 90s nostalgia.

Original Song

All the Stars – Black Panther

I’ll Fight – RBG

The Place Where Lost Things Go – Mary Poppins Returns

Shallow – A Star Is Born

When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings – The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Will Be: Shallow

Should Be: Shallow

Along with Roma winning for best Foreign Film, this is easily the biggest lock of the night. It’s also a really good song.

I don’t really have anything of substance to add for the rest of the categories, and if you’re somehow still reading, you’re probably not anxiously awaiting my take on all the documentary shorts I haven’t watched.

Happy Oscars Night, everyone! Looking forward to seeing you again next year, when we’ll get to predict the winners of the Academy’s new categories:

Worst Performance By A Best Actor/Actress Loser At Time of Award Announcement

Most Terrifying-Looking Live-Action Genie

Best Performance By People Trying to Bring Matt Damon Home

The Wes Anderson Lifetime Achievement Award for Contributions to Whimsy

Worst Acting Performance by a Musician Who Now Thinks He/She Can Act Because of Lady Gaga

Worst Singing Performance by an Actor Who Now Thinks He/She Can Sing Because of Bradley Cooper

Best Use of “That Guy” (Andrew Dice Clay!)