#movie was really well done cinematography was super interesting

[vulpinesaint]

hey man. you know what. school finally did it. made me watch a movie that i liked. enjoyed even. would 100% watch again. all it took was a two and a half hour surrealist adaptation of titus andronicus

[quinnfebrey]

WICKED PT. 1 REVIEW

(spoiler free*)

*spoiler free is used generously, there are no major or intentional spoilers but i make no promises for smaller things.

casting:

going into it thought the casting would be the weakest point, but i was pleasantly surprised. that said, i think jon chu’s reasoning for not casting unknowns was total bs and he just wanted a star-studded cast. i also wish they were younger. it was kind of giving movie ben platt terrorizing the teenagers of dear evan hansen. it works for the stage, but my belief was not suspended on the big screen. so while i don’t necessarily agree with how we got here, objectively they were great.

production:

honestly it looked amazing, i wish some parts were graded with a little more contrast, but the colors weren’t muted at all and i thought the cinematography was the perfect level of dramatic and interesting. the highlight was the emerald city. nothing else really stuck out to me in particular but the first 30 seconds or so of one short day looked AMAZING.

the singing:

sounded phenomenal, and this is coming from someone who heard the trailers and panicked. i don’t know what they did in post to make them sound so awful and processed in the trailers, but the movie itself sounded great.

the acting:

i wanted… more. jonathan has such an overly expressive face that worked so well, but cynthia was just the smirk emoji for 2.5 hours and ariana looked like this 🙂 the entire time. they had their moments, of course, but with all the added dialogue (and no song to carry the emotion) i wanted more of a performance.

why the fuck was it 2.5 hours?

i don’t know man. i understood (and enjoyed) some of the additions, but there were an equal number that didn’t add anything, and there were so many scenes where i was like whyyyy is this taking so long. it felt like they were trying to (unsuccessfully) justify the runtime instead of it being a natural result.

2-part split:

this is by far my biggest criticism of the movie. the ending was done BEAUTIFULLY, but the year gap will kill the momentum. i 100% believe that splitting it into two parts will take away from the viewing experience. i actually didn’t have a problem with the splitting when it was first announced, but now that i’ve seen part 1 it feels like a forced cash grab.

rewatchability:

even though i actually really liked it, i don’t think i’d ever electively put it on instead of a stage recording.

SONG BREAKDOWNS:

no one mourns the wicked

a fantastic opening. i went into the movie very skeptical, but it managed to win me over on all accounts. it had the richness and fullness you’d expect + beautiful visuals and ariana proves her doubters (me) wrong immediately.

dear old shiz

the song is nearly identical to the musical, but the changed staging was odd (but also insignificant in a way that made it even more odd).

the wizard and i

i blame the directing for why this song fell flat for me. they toned down the physical animation of elphaba but didn’t add anything else so it was sort of just her walking around and singing at us. also didn’t super love cynthia’s take on it until the last verse, which was phenomenal, probably because the directing didn’t let her do anything with it.

what is this feeling?

SOOOO GOOD!! it sounded amazing, looked amazing, the ensemble was amazing. THIS is what a movie musical is supposed to do: take what was great on stage and expand in a way that is only possible on film. it was fun and inviting and probably one of the strongest numbers in the entire movie.

something bad

i liked what they did with this in terms of the pacing, and i also like that it helped bolster the animal side plot instead of it getting swept into the songs on either side. the singing was unmemorable but the scene was very effective.

dancing through life

i have SUCH mixed feelings on this. i absolutely loved it up until the break when glinda gives elphaba the hat. jonathan sounded amazing, the dancing and cinematography was perfect, but the pacing and flow was totally ruined after what should’ve been a brief interlude for plot. the moment between elphaba and glinda is very strong and still made me cry, but the middle section was just so off-putting.

popular

sooooo good. ariana sounded amazing, and the directing was perfectly energetic. it felt like a music video in the best way. the colors, cinematography, and storytelling was great. they did manage to strip all of the homoeroticism out of it, and ariana’s yuh made a few valiant attempts to escape, but neither detracted from the final product.

i’m not that girl

same issue as wizard and i, i didn’t want just another three minutes of elphaba standing around singing to the camera. the last verse was the best because there was actually something happening visually, which i think also made cynthia sound better. the monologue style number works on stage for a variety of reasons, but felt like a waste of screen time in the movie.

one short day

first 30-60 seconds are AMAZING. took the energy of the stage and shot it to the moon. it actually made me tear up and i have no complaints. the added interlude was a little long, but i’m a sucker for nostalgia bait so i’ll allow it.

a sentimental man

ummm i hated it lol. it felt SO out of place due to some poor (in my opinion) script additions, and the singing wasn’t anything special. the jeff goldblum cameo made them give the wizard way too much emphasis at that point and it completely disrupted the flow of the movie

defying gravity

except for (another) unnecessarily long interlude, this was everything i was waiting for and more. ariana and cynthia sounded amazing together and cynthia sounded PHENOMENAL. ariana delivered the “well, where are your wings?” line perfectly, which is usually for me a weak point with a lot of glindas; and the “i hope you’re happy now that you’re choosing this” verse was perfection both visually and vocally. overall, it did what it was supposed to do: it wrapped up the first act beautifully and showcased cynthia’s voice.

[technicolorfamiliar]

Contraband (Blackout) Dir. Michael Powell 1940

This one has been on my rewatch list since I first saw it last year. It was one of the few films in the epic Connie watch-a-thon that felt like it had some kind of curative powers, in the surprising way some movies do. I never expected it to lift my spirits and lighten my heart the way it did.

10/10 no notes. I absolutely love everything about this movie. Except the randomly shoehorned "White Negro" scene. It's so out of place in an otherwise pretty progressive film. That cabaret act literally could have been anything, why choose that?? (I couldn't find a lot of info about the choreographer, but it sounds like he was into romanticizing and exoticizing African and Caribbean people in his work… which is not great, but pretty typical of that time I guess. Ugh.)

But otherwise delightful, a romp from start to finish. Apparently someone on IMDB slammed Contraband for being "camp expressionism", but honestly? Hell yeah. I'm 100% here for it. In fact, "camp expressionism" my new favorite genre if it means cute, quirky, risqué, well-directed, well-shot, romantic spy comedy with a tight script and excellent performances.

I've also seen people comparing it to American screwball comedies of the era, but that doesn't seem quite right or even fair. Contraband, thanks to Powell, Pressburger, the editor, and the cast, has a very light touch compared to the comedies coming out of Hollywood in the '30s and '40s. It's not as heavy-handed, it doesn't beat its message to death with over-done gags or affected performances. Michael Powell even said the movie was "all pure corn, but corn served up by professionals." And that's the Powell and Pressburger difference, baby.

The comedy in the script is executed with relative subtlety. The movie isn't telling you HERE’S THE FUNNY BIT, LAUGH NOW the way screwball, slapstick Hollywood would. You almost have to be looking for the humor here to catch it, and it pays off. It's a cheekier type of comedy, not really driven by jokes and punchlines. And as someone who never really liked American comedies of that era, I really appreciate this kind of film. It's silly, even outright stupid in some scenes, but it's not playing down to it's audience. I mean, the whole brawl in the night club is almost like the big fight at the end of Blazing Saddles where more and more people keep joining in, but the action stops for half a second while someone delivers a line. It's stupid. And I love it.

The espionage stuff in is a little convoluted and kind of treated as a throw-away. But really, if you're not paying super close attention to that part of the story, you're not missing much. The spy plot between the British and the Nazis is really just there to give the lead characters something fun to do, and you know what… that's ok with me.

The cinematography also helps elevate Contraband above just being a regular old comedy. Featuring the London blackout is actually really clever. It forces a number of scenes into almost total darkness, which was a risky move and could have been a huge mistake, but it adds yet another interesting layer to the film, visually and in terms of story. There's an unusual POV (possibly handheld?) tracking shot, when Andersen and Mrs. Sorensen are walking up to her house in town, that's just lit by their flashlight. We don't see either of them, except for her hand briefly putting the key in the lock, until after they enter and the camera pans around the hall. And there's a moment a while later when they're in the basement after being tied up where Connie's face is entirely in shadow -- we know he's looking at her, but his expression is completely hidden in darkness. On paper, it sounds like a bad shot, a mistake, but this "expressionistic" lighting and camera work adds a little extra special sauce that I for one greatly appreciate.

The supporting cast is all generally pretty good. Hay Petrie is fun in a double roll. There's the scene in the rowboat where he looks like he's going to get sea sick… despite being the first mate who practically lives on a ship. Little character touches like that throughout the movie make it delightful: The girl in short shorts doing exercises in her room when Connie bursts in on her, the line delivery of the woman who works in the kitchen with Uncle Erik, the guy outside lighting his pipe during the blackout letting those two cops HAVE it. I love a character actor driven movie, all these people in bit parts adding so much color to the story. Brilliant.

Valerie Hobson is so good in this. First of all, she's a boss bitch with an incredible wardrobe. Every look she's serving is iconic. The tweed jacket and headscarf that matches her blouse? The dress with the crazy angular shoulder pads? The big, wide-brimmed hat? Slay. She's authoritative without being shrill, she's got a confident swagger you don't see a lot of actresses getting to showcase at that time. Still, she's not really a femme fatale either. Mrs. Sorensen is independent, intelligent, stunning, and into dangerous spy shit because she enjoys it. She's someone I'd want to hang out with, but would be too scared to talk to because she's so cool. I mean, she almost missed the train at the end because she went back to get Andersen's watch! I have two words for you: Wife Goals.

Sadly, it sounds like Val didn't really get to do a lot of other fun roles outside of the two films she made with Connie. Which is a real shame. Someone on Letterboxd said they're better together than Tracy and Hepburn, and I fully agree. Val and Connie have a natural chemistry that neither feels feel too personal or too studied. Their on screen work together feels easy, without all the baggage and volatility of IRL romance.

The first time I saw Contraband, I think I was simply charmed by Connie as Andersen. Getting to see him as a fun, heroic, romantic lead is incredibly satisfying. But this time around I realized how funny he actually is. He's is so cranky, he starts the movie already at like an 8.5, he's so fucking over it. It's one thing after another -- Mrs. Sorensen won't wear her life jacket, British contraband control wants to hold up them up, someone stole the landing papers, and of course it was Mrs. Sorensen AND Mr. Pigeon. He's so grumpy from the get. (My theory is that he's hangry. He's temperamental and irritable up until he gets a decent meal at The Three Vikings. So relatable.)

It was fun to rewatch this one to catch all the comedic beats Connie is doing with his gestures and facial expressions. They're choreographed, but not affected or over done. His timing and delivery is subtle and finely tuned, which is always funnier than an actor who deliberately plays up the laughs. For example, the long pause after Mrs. Sorensen corrects his pronunciation of the name of the restaurant, he furrows his brow and looks around and finally mutters, "…VI-kings." His comedy is so understated, which keeps the rapid-fire pacing of the bits from being obnoxious.

Andersen is an interesting guy, too. I feel like his macho vibe is just a mask he wears as captain of his ship. He's so used to being That Guy, but, based on Connie's performance, I get the impression that deep down Andersen doesn’t really subscribe to all that traditional masculinity. Later in the film it's easy-ish for him to eventually drop the façade, adjust his expectations, becoming more flexible, malleable in his ideas about sex and gender. This of course is because Conrad Veidt was in reality a proto-feminist wife guy. Andersen isn't played like your standard manly man movie heroes of the time, because that's not who Connie was, that's not an image he wanted to project or support (and I feel one reason why Hollywood couldn't figure out what to do with him in the '40s, but that rant is for another post).

Andersen and Mrs. Sorensen are pretty evenly matched. In fact she has the upper hand and more progressive, dominant role especially once they arrive in London. On his ship, he's the boss, but on shore he's met with one disadvantage after another. Mrs. Sorensen has to be the one to pay for his bus and cab fare, confidently navigating her way through the blackout like a pro. Meanwhile, Andersen is pretty much a bumbling fool, a sidekick to Sorensen's spy adventure. But he's not totally incompetent either (I MEAN IT LOOKS LIKE HE KNOWS WHAT HE'S DOING WITH THOSE ROPES, HE IS A SAILOR AFTER ALL *eyes emoji* *sweating emoji*), he's the one who comes up with the plan to rescue Sorensen from her Nazi captors (although I get the impression she probably would have found her own way out without his help). But what's great is that he doesn't do it alone, he goes back to The Three Vikings to round up a small army of Danish essential workers to back him up. And I love how Connie plays the whole last act of the film like he's actually on an adventure; you can see Connie the actor having the most fun ever getting to be the big movie star hero, tussling with cops and Nazis, solving puzzles with glee, getting the girl -- who is just as much of a badass as he is -- in the end. It's so good. And it's so much fun to watch.

There are so, so many wonderful little touches in this movie, many of which I only caught during this second watch. I have a page of scribbled notes I wrote while I was watching that ends with, "The cutest shit I have ever seen!" From the performances to the writing to the technical details, it's hard not to fall in love with this one. Contraband is easily one of those films I could rewatch over and over again and never get sick of it.

OH I can't believe forgot about The Boys:

The goodest boys.

[argentnoelle]

Joker 2 was really well done (kind of reminded me of bicycle thieves) and I liked it without liking it? if that makes sense? It was really glum the whole way through & I thought the songs—except for the last song—could be better. (the last song, where he sang to Harley through the phone, but she didn't pick up, absolutely awesome). I did hope there would be more dancing than there was and am not a huge courtroom drama fan. But it was a really tightly-written movie that knew exactly what it was doing the whole time & did it well, + continued his character arc in a way that made sense, + he finally got to "speak for himself" at the end after spending the entire first part of the movie caught between people who are insisting either that he wasn't responsible for his own actions/completely making up issues he doesn't have or trying to paint him as "Joker (the concept)" which is actually not something a real person can be, because it was a collective fantasy made up by the public after they saw what he did on the Murray show.

Ironically enough not only a good take on Arthur Fleck, but a good, nuanced take on Joker (the comic book character) that gets into his relationship with his stage persona + sense of guilt (reminds me of the comic where, after killing Robin, Joker spends an unspecified amount of time holed up in a dingy apartment having nightmares and only decides to "play" Joker again when he sees another guy being a copycat and "stealing his act"). (other notable Joker comics it brings to mind: Going Sane; also, It's Joker Time! [premise of It's Joker Time is Joker horrifically treated in Arkham, ends up getting kidnapped to a reality TV show, gives clues so Batman can save him, and Batman finds the clues/saves him while *still not realizing* that Joker isn't there of his free will/isn't plotting/isn't in control.) that's the entire thing with Joker! Even for comic book Joker, he has a stage persona! He constantly tries to convince everyone else that he's far more one-note/cohesive/pure ideology than he actually is! He'd rather be a story full of fear, a monster, than face up to his own humanity. So yeah, once Arthur faces up to himself, he *can't be* Joker anymore. By definition. Even for (comic book) Joker, The Joker is a coping mechanism & an act he's selling. So yeah, while Joker 1 didn't have much "Joker" in it, I felt like Joker 2 actually had *so much* Joker in it.

Also really respect the portrayal of Harley! It called back to her original BTAS origin and took a distinct look at how she relates to him/why she fell love with him (there's literally a comic where Joker is "cured" and Harley hates the un-Joker him so much she comes up with supervillain plans to trick him into becoming Joker again.)

The saddest part is that [spoiler] since Arthur is now dead I can't see what kind of Batman & Joker movie the director would've made. I mean, it wouldn't have worked anyway with the realist direction of this universe, no "Batman"/Batman comics-verse so you don't get the cyclical nature that underpins Batman & Joker. But. If somehow there *could've* been a Batman & Joker movie in this 'verse, I am super interested to know what it would've been like. Because I came away from the movie thinking that it actually spent a lot of time looking at the comics, at the nature of the characters and their relationships to each other, and boiling that down... it knew what it was doing! it didn't just "use the names" (which was the impression I had a bit after watching Joker 1) but actually dug into the medium, the conceit, and the idea of the characters and how we as readers/watchers relate to them. + the animated sequences! the BTAS skyline!

So I don't think I'd watch it again but I'm glad I watched it. Beautiful acting as usual, beautiful cinematography and it's always a pleasure to watch a well-made film even if it made me feel bad, you know?

[ginjasnappp]

Alien Romulus: my opinions/review!!

I'm so sorry to everyone who sees this and therefore is subjected to it but my thoughts must exist somewhere

Spoiler free review is overall I'd recommend it! I think it did a lot of things right by the franchise and is a solid addition - but nothing beats the original imo.

Also I've only seen the first 2 movies before this so call me a fake fan if u want but the og is all I need

Spoilers for the whole movie below the cut!

Also warning it's absurdly long

THINGS I LIKED:

▫️ I really enjoyed all the characters! I thought they were faithfully written as a bunch of rebellious, rambunctious young adults trying their best in a shitty world. I thought their dialogue was fun and realistic and their age made me hold more space for the fact that they made reckless choices lol. I also thought their acting was spectacular. I wish we got a little more time with them before they got killed off to make way for Raine.

▫️The scoring and cinematography were great. it veered in and out of familiar territory, but there were several moments where the music and camerawork really evoked the first film, and even when it didn't to me, it was still effective.

▫️PRACTICAL EFFECCCCTTSSS how I have missed them. There was a mix of practical effects and CGI but even most of the cgi was done really well except for one part (lookin at you, Ash deepfake). All the practical creatures and general ooze and viscera were great.

▫️ The human hybrid?? Creepy as FUCK. It easily couldve been goofy lookin but it was genuinely super unsettling and expertly done imo!

NEUTRAL OBSERVATIONS:

▫️ This movie rang closer to Aliens than Alien to me, which was a little bit disappointing but entirely down to personal preference. Part of my love for Alien comes from the claustrophobia and creeping sense of dread - 'where is it', 'there's nothing I can do but hide', etc, and while there was some of that, this and Aliens are more action-packed with loud conflict and guns. Still a lot of fun though!

▫️I found it interesting and a little unfaithful that the only characters to get facehugged/otherwise impregnated (at least onscreen) were female characters. A big part of why a male character was the facehugger victim in Alien is because Ridley Scott noticed that in horror, the female characters are usually the ones to be physically violated in such a way and wanted to flip that around and make male audiences uncomfortable by depicting a male 'birth scene' (from what I read years ago, anyway). Seeing as Scott worked on this movie as well, I'm interested in why this choice was made, if it was even a conscious choice.

▫️The 'artificial person' Andy is a whole can of worms for me. When he was first introduced, before he's revealed to be an AP, my (and my parent who I saw it with's) very first thought was 'oh god, he's the autistic character that's gonna get killed off'. He is an example of how stereotypical autistic traits and scifi android traits (not understanding social cues, taking things literally, being outwardly unemotional and practical) can overlap, and there's a very fine line between drawing interesting but not direct parallels and coding the character outright, often negatively or to characters' detriment. He's definitely a character I'd be interested in hearing other people's thoughts on!

THINGS I DISLIKED/DIDNT MAKE SENSE/THOUGHT WERE MEH

▫️We all know you can't breathe in the vaccuum of space - so why, after being warned of the danger of letting the xeno blood go through the floor, did it actually happen and then everything was fine? Sure, things were sucked out into space, but Raine was fine and could breathe, which is impossible - her head would have imploded seconds after she was exposed to the vacuum. Also she would have frozen to death.

▫️The deepfake face. Just why?? I think it could have been way cooler if his face was entirely practical and maybe worn beyond recognition, and then a namedrop or similar reveal could be really effective.

▫️Dare I say it - too many aliens. Like the difference between Alien and Aliens, I find one unfaceable threat in an enclosed space is more effective than a whole shootable swarm in a large space. I enjoyed the shots of facehuggers skittering everywhere tho.

▫️This is PURELY my own unreasonable hopes being dashed but I was hoping and praying for a Sigourney Weaver/Ripley cameo. I understand wanting to leave her to her era and not drag her into a new one (and also that apparently she died like 4 movies ago) but I MISS MY QUEEEEEN

▫️I wish we got a liiittle more worldbuilding - though I understand the sentiment of 'we know what you're here for so we'll get right to it' lol.

That's it! Wow ty for reading if you got this far

Hand over your opinions >:3

[heretherebedork]

I totally get your point on realistic queer media vs BL and I'm also super interested to see which way the eight sense leans. I agree it'll probably go more on the side of realistic queer media (whereas I think unintentional love story will fall more on the BL side). I will say that having watched just about every gay korean film and short film I could find over the span of a two week period when I had covid, they do seem to like angst but with happy endings. I can only think of a few that ended sadly. But unfortunately the ones that ended sadly ended VERY sadly. I guess we'll see! I also want to say I'm impressed with the acting and how full the scenes feel so far, like with background characters and stuff. This doesn't seem like there's a huge production budget but it seems bigger than a lot of KBLs and its used very well so far, it really feels like a kdrama and the cinematography is fantastic.

The framing of scenes and such is also clearly done really thoughtfully and has emphasized the actors' chemistry (which is so good). While some things might be a little obvious, it's also well done so far; like I love the shot of their legs walking on the beach where Ji Hyun stutters his steps to get back in perfect sync with Jae Won and the close up of their hands touching when he gives Jae Won the lighter. I like shows that have more small touches and details like that! Reminds me of Mr. Darcy's hand flex after helping Elizabeth into the carriage in pride and prejudice if you've ever seen the 2005 movie of that lol.

I do hope they end it well. I haven't seen a lot of sad endings out of Korea but as they branch out and experiment with BL and queer stories... you never know what they're gonna do. We saw a lot more of that in some early Thai BL and it's coming back in their more experimental stuff and we know Taiwan and Japan are both just kind of... generally dangerous in those terms.

Honestly, for all that I can see the danger in The Eighth Sense, I think we'll get a happy ending. I think it's going to be painful and I wouldn't be surprised at a time jump... but I think the ending itself will give us something but I am also very open that I could be proven wrong.

I love the dynamics and the characters and the careful closeups and the reactions that feel natural and very queer. Oh, the queer waves coming off these boys and the way JaeWon and JiHyun just... pause around each other. There's a palpable change in their energy once they're together and when JaeWon insists his friends go back to the place he knew JiHyun worked? Yeah, that energy was gorgeous.

I am looking forward to this show with only the small hesitation of how much pain is coming out way for these boys, the popular boy in the closet and the loner who seems to basically be a closet, lonely and soft and unsure... oh, this is gonna ache.

[corvuserpens]

So yeah, yesterday I decided to FINALLY watched The Meg bc everyone kept saying it was a silly fun shark movie... AND THEY WERE RIGHT. It was AWESOME.

I went in expecting practically nothing, and it blew me away. The story premise is ridiculous and it totally feels like the director, actors and crew 100% knew that and embraced it! The movie never takes itself too seriously, it practically tells you to just kick back and enjoy it for what it is, which is exactly what makes it so much fun. It's an exciting comedy horror about a giant prehistoric shark in present day Earth, the CGI is dubious but the cinematography makes up for it with some great, well composed shots. For example, when Suyin is in the trench and is being attacked by a giant squid? That in itself is pretty cool imagery, but then you see the Megalodon swimming over her sub with the squid in its mouth in the gloom, illuminated from below?? WOW????

Then the characters are like, surprisingly deep? They have interesting backstories that inform us on who they are and while Jonas is the only one who gets some screen time for his Big Trauma, we later learn that Lori might have blown up a whaler ship for an environment organization and that's how she learned to pilot? And that Suyin had a tough relationship with her dad but they love each other so much that with his dying breath he tells her how proud he is, that she already surpassed him as a scientist and he hopes Meying will grow up to be just like her? And we get all of that with some very organic, short dialog or like 3-4 minute scenes, which is rare these days. Legit good writing where it is most needed, all the more sober scenes are well-acted and so immersive, the characters are so likable I ended up rooting for all of them to survive (except that billionaire whose name I didn't bother to learn, everyone else I remember except him, FUCK that guy). Even the side characters, though flat, were interesting because the actors gave them so much personality!

And, WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE'S A WHOLESOME CISHET SHIP WITH JASON STATHAM WITH VERY LITTLE SEXUAL TENSION BUT A LOT OF ROMANTIC TENSION?? WHAT IS THIS WITCHCRAFT??? Seriously, I was shipping Jonas and Suyin so hard, their interactions were adorable. How he goes from being the typical Tough Manly Man Who Is Super Competent And Punches All The Bad Guys While Wearing The Same Tough Guy Face All Movie to genuinely caring for the whole Mana One crew and respecting Suyin as an accomplished female scientist in her own right who knows what she's doing and is also brave and headstrong herself... Much 'aww'ing' was done.

Not to make this too long a rant, I love talking about movies I enjoyed, sorry, but a few other small things I liked about it: that Lori and Jonas remained good friends who care and support each other, and want the other's happiness even being divorced, we need more of that! And Dr. Heller apologizing to Jonas and meaning it for saying he was crazy and basically ruining his life (plus Jonas forgiving him in the end), definitely wanna see more of that! Jonas' friendship with Meying, THAT WAS SO CUTE, I COULDN'T GET ENOUGH OF THEM!! The gags were all genuinely funny, I was laughing through most of the movie, and the jump scares got me more than a couple of times (though that might be a fault on my part, I'm a big wussy and I am not afraid to admit it). The action is so. DUMB. But it's the kind that it's so dumb it's good, y'know?

Final note, I gotta say, let Jason actually act more because he's really good and directors keep hiring him to play a stoic emotionless hero when he can do so much more? He has impeccable comedic timing, his line delivery no matter how bonkers, always lands, he's REALLY CHARMING and y'all are wasting his potential imo. Given, I haven't really watched many of his movies after the Transporter franchise, but for example, I loved him in The Italian Job and a couple of weeks ago I started watching Homefront and I was enjoying it because he gets to play a widower with a young daughter in a new town, and now I definitely need to finish it bc I'm a sucker for father/daughter dynamics.

Anyway, yeah, if you like sharks, B-movies or just something fun to watch that will make you laugh, go watch The Meg. It's good enough to convince me to go watch the sequel next August. Can't wait!

[buckevantommy]

totally completely fine

ok. i'm not a fan of australian tv or movies bc they're always overdramatised or too darkly themed or comedic in a way i don't gel with bc i'd rather watch american comedies (not sitcoms, they need to die a firey death). plus i've never really liked the aussie accent, i've found it weirdly unsettling hearing characters speak with aussie voices and maybe that's bc being an aussie myself and wanting to use tv and movies as an escape so having that stark reminder of my own reality means it's harder to suspend and enjoy a different one for a spell. or maybe it's the fact that i, like a great deal of non-americans, have grown up watching american tv so now any non-american accent just sits weird in my brain. 

but that's why i need to express my love for this show. 

everything from the casting (diverse faces and bodies) and the actors chemistry to the setting and set design, cinematography and soundtrack, and of course the plot and characters themselves. It's so well done. It's a heartfelt dramedy that makes you care keeps you interested in wanting to know how things progress and ultimately turn out. the various relationship dynamics are full of ups and downs and it feels real in that messy way life is. 

the premise: vivian is a young mess of an adult who lost her parents in a car crash that she was also in when she was a kid. she's the youngest of 3 siblings who were raised by their grandfather who dies and leaves viv his cliffside beach house. the twist: the house backs onto a picturesque ocean cliff where people go to commit suicide. the grandfather used to try and stop them, and now it's up to viv to try and do the same. 

intense stuff so far. but this show is hopeful, it's not super dark even though it does deal with strained relationships and mental health and suicide attempts/ideation. the characters are distinct and the way their lives entwine don't distract from their individual journeys; viv is the main character but enough screentime is given to every supporting character that they all feel like main characters in their own right which is how it should be because that's how life is. 

more good news is it's short: only 6 episodes at just under an hour each (it doesn't mince screentime) so i binged it all yesterday when i wasn't feeling great and just. wow. i haven't found anything mentioning a second season but if they did more i'd watch it - but the thing is it ends with both closure and the potential for more exploration of the characters, so it feels like a realistic open ending and works as a single season story. 

i don't know if it's available overseas because it was created by and aired here by Stan (which is like our homemade Netflix) but i hope if you guys are interested you'll find a way to watch. 

bonus thing for me: seeing this story play out in my home (settings and details) was actually grounding in a way i didn't expect. like i mentioned above, most of us grow up on american tv and maybe some uk stuff and while that's good for an escape it can actually be jarring to get back into our real world. but (with good quality programming like this show) i realise aussie productions can make it a lot easier to connect with the physical world around me (not the digital world), to not feel so alone, and to know that it's worth finding productions from your homeland and they don't hinder the escape of fiction in fact they can aid in grounding it in a believable way. 

anyway. just one aussie who doesn't really like aussie-made stuff telling folks to give this show a go because i was pleasantly surprised. 

(note: if anyone has any questions or concerns about triggering content please message me or reply to this post and i'll fill you in on stuff it does or doesn't feature)

[quiteriana]

Hiii~ 💖

This is probably super weird but if you’ve seen Wedding in White, do you know how explicit/triggering the rape stuff is? I’ve been interested in watching it but the plot makes me think it might be too much haha sorry for randomly asking you 🙈💖💖

Hi Lolly!! No need to apologize and it’s not weird at all! Honestly, i just reblogged that gifset because i thought the girls were pretty :’) it did make me interested in the movie though, and i found it on dailymotion. I watched just a little bit of it last night, the rape scene happens about 30-45 minutes into the movie.

I honestly wouldn’t consider it to be very triggering. It isn’t very explicit and it doesn’t last very long it all; it’s only about a couple of minutes. The actors are very obviously fully clothed as well, and the scene really only shows their faces. There’s a bit of verbal violence; the man calls the girl a bitch when she tries to protest and i think he holds her arms down. In my opinion, it’s decently tame and it really isn’t very explicit. But of course, every person has different things that trigger them so still of course be wary.

And actually, i thought that the cinematography of the rape scene was really well done. It’s very ominous. At the beginning, the man’s shadow looms over her as he stands in the doorway, and as he moves closer, his shadow completely covers her. And while the rape is happening, the scene is pretty much shrouded in darkness, and when he leaves, the girl curls herself up beneath the blanket. It’s a really well done scene, and i was able to appreciate it at least for that

[skitskatdacat63]

hi catie u can write as many paragraphs on any film that u watch!!! i think that would be neat :)

also DISCLAIMER i havent watched killers of the flower moon, nor have i fully researched the real life event, but i feel like one of the reasons that people think it’s peak cinema is that it’s really really long and (i am assuming) that it has some interesting cinematography?

idk it reminds me of oppenheimer (film i actually watched). like its good-ish, super lengthy, and portray historical events. the visuals were fantastic but i don’t think it was absolutely perfect and the best film of the century, etc etc…

i honestly dont know where i was going with this so sorry for the super lengthy ask 😭

OKAY THEO THANK YOU FOR FREEING ME FROM THE SHACKLES OF MY INSECURITY

Okay as a preface. Watched this with my mom who read the book it's based off of, so that's an additional perspective I'm gonna touch on, and also was very glad to have. And also YES I HAVE SEEN OPPENHEIMER!!!! Seriously my ultimate film of 2023, probably one of my favorite movies I've ever watched. And I guess I thought that, because I enjoyed that, I would enjoy Killers of the Flower Moon(KotFM from now on), for the exact reasons you stated! Also I'm trying to watch all the oscar nominated best pictures before the event lol!

I will rant now, thank you :)

I'm sorry but like I genuinely don't understand how it's so highly acclaimed???? Like how are all the popular/majority of reviews positive?? Did we watch the same film????? Have I somehow lost my taste for cinema???? It's just like, any argument I've seen about why it's actually amazing is so easy to dispute??

"It's about how evil can be done by normal people and that's why it's from the perspective of the perpetrators blah blah" Well, I just watched The Zone of Interest, and I think it portrayed that concept wayyyyy better. Everything was so off-putting and disturbing, and it was from the perspective of the perpetrators, just like KotFM! And you literally never see those getting murdered, because it's all off screen and yet you still feel disgusted and feel terrible about what's happening, even though you didn't techinally see anything that happened. Meanwhile in KOTFM, the Osage are there on screen, actively being exploited and murdered, and I just don't feel attached to any of it, because it wasn't fleshed out well. And to add on, my mom said so much of the stuff involving Leo's character, yknow the character they picked as the main character instead of the actual Native Americans, was just completely made-up! Wasn't in the book at all!!! Martin Scorcese said that he read the book, and immediately thought that it was a book that needed to be adapted to film. And then just fucking makes up shit???? Yes certainly you have to add narrative stuff into a movie when adapting from a book, but to just make so much shit up just so you can portray it from a different angle is so bullshit to me.

"Every minute in the almost 3½ hour runtime is justified" I am convinced people are straight up lying, I'm sorry. It's not like I don't enjoy long movies! Loved Lawrence of Arabia, that's literally almost 4 hours long. Loved Oppenheimer, that's 3 hours long. I like long movies but oh my god, this was just a complete slog. And I kept seeing people say that the last hour was the best, well I'm sorry but after having to sit through 2½ torturous hours, I just have no mental energy left for what's apparently called the best part. I hate that people always start calling movies with long runtime cinema. Yes there are movies I definitely think are worth the long runtime; this one was not one of them.

"The main heart of the movie is the romance" Oh my god, this bugs me so much. I was so happy about Lily Gladstone winning and being in teh running for awards....until I watched the actual movie. Her romance with Leo's character literally makes no sense, and I felt just so ???? about it. The movie wants you to think they're so compelling and that it's so unfortunate that Leo's character is doing these terrible things to this woman he loves and her family, but they literally spent zero time fleshing the relationship out???? It was literally like, oh hey they're in a relationship now, don't really get why, but okay. There's actual reasons about why she would marry him(she literally needs a white man's permission to get access to her own money), but no nooooo they're so in love. There is zero build up. She knows he wants her money, he has literally zero charm, and yet she marries him and says "yeah I know he wants my money, but he's handsome!!" In what world!?!?!?? And a lot of the last section is like, awww they're hugging...even tho he murdered her whole family. And its just you get zero sense of any love between them, because they failed to build it in the first place, and certainly you could make this plot compelling but it's just not!!! It's not!!!!!

Another thing is that for basically all of the movie, I really couldn't get a grasp of anything that was going on. It didn't feel like a connected narrative for me, it felt like vignettes. Like, oh hey we're in this scene now I guess, I don't really know how this connects, or whats going on, or where we are in the story! It just felt very discombobulating for me, maybe I'm stupid, but I couldn't get a grasp on it. And I basically knew the plot, and so did my mom of course, but neither of us could really follow it so, maybe that's not a me problem, but a problem with the film! And I think vignettes can be used well, I thought The Zone of Interest did it really well, where you're just voyeuristiclly watching the family, and there's really no narrative, bur it was really effective. KofFM was more like, oh they're trying to tell a story here, but just not ...well. it's even worse when it's so long, because you're just feeling constantly unconnected from the story and its a slog and it's terrible, etc etc. You're just watching the characters fucking meander around, and you're like, man, would love it if it felt like the plot was actually progressing. And so much of it felt like the big events happened off screen, and you're kinda just told that they happened.

Also okay so the book itself is framed somewhat as a murder mystery. It's very well researched, and it slowly gives you the truth, as if you're learning it alongside the actual people involved. In the film, it's literally so obvious within the first 15 mins who the bad guys are. So you're just spending the whole film, watching all these characters(who you really have no reason to care about imo) die, and they all come off as so naive, and you're just furiously gesturing like "does no one notice these cartoonishly bad guys!?!?!?!?!" Yes, you can do a film where you know the truth from the beginning and watch the cast find out, that's a great concept! But this just made the native American characters come off as stupid and naive, and you're supposed to feel bad for them, and I do, but because I know the actial history, not because anything the film is showing me. Again, they don't flesh out the characters well at all imo, so you watch then die, and you're like, okay this person died, this is a depressing situation, but god, can they figure it out already. Again, the narrative with Lily Gladstone's character is that she loves her husband, so she can't really see what's going on. But. That love is not believable. And before they're in love, she's very suspicious of him, and yet now somehow when he's killing off her whole family, it's fine?????

Ugh okay yeah I don't know what else to say, except thst I just feel like I wasted so much of my time, and it really sucked out my energy. I'd like to be more concise, and I probably have more complaints but again, it really just killed my brain. And also that's its very frustrating and isolating when you hated a film, and then all the reviews are extremely positive and you can't see where any of them are coming from. The funniest part is that my mom and I are like wow this movie feels like it's been going on a while, let's check how much is left! Literally only halfway through. I really could not fully focus after that because I was like, I cannot do almost 2 more hours of this shit. I wanted to finish it because i was really hoping it would pick up, and I would realize why everyone likes it so much, but that never happened, I just felt increasingly bored and done with it. I think with Oppenheimer, a film I love, I was originally kinda unsure but as it kept going, I fell in love with it and didn't want it to end; so I guess I was hoping that would happen with this and it never did. It just got increasingly more boring for me, and I just got more aggravated about it. Also cannot believe I saw reviews saying of Scorcese's films, this one was better than The Departed. Absolutely no way.

Anyways this was extremely salty, oops. Wish I could get those 3 hours back, and watch some other movie instead. I wanted to watch Dallas Buyers Club or Tár, but I just feel like I've wasted enough mental energy tonight. Also lol, kept meaning to post this but it's deranged, but I'm talking about movies already and my brain is all over the place so might as well! I really want to rewatch Interstellar, but I feel like it'll completely emotionally destroy me again so I can't. Y'know when you just like a movie so much and ir means so much to you that it's just way too emotionally investing to rewatch!?!??! But I keep thinking about it, bcs im super into matthew mcconaughey rn, but god I really can't or I'll just be sobbing and hurting.

* oh also. My original complaint abt this was that they used a historically inaccurate word. They used the word "genocide" which certainly describes the situation they're in, BUT THAT WORD WAS NOT INVENTED YET!!!!! It's so easy to check that??? Like we know when and who coined it???? Little things like that really bug me, sorry LOL. Its like man, you can't check that one little thing??

[fatherforgivethem]

what are your thoughts one the hotd s2 trailer? Really intrigued to know and love your blog

Hi and thank you so much that’s so sweet!!!💓💓💓 ok sooooo…. I actually haven’t watched it *crickets* *crickets*

Not because I’m not interested! But because I’m the kind of person where I want to know absolutely nothing about what’s coming next. Unless I’m forced to watch a trailer in the movie theater, then I’ll wait until it comes out to see anything about it lol. Like I LOVEEEEE Hunger Games TBOTSBAS but i didn’t watch any of the trailers cause I just didn’t want to see anything about it before I saw it if that makes sense.

HOWEVER! I am extremely excited to watch season 2 when it comes out because from the very small snippets I saw on ticktock that I scrolled past, it looks extremely well done and beautiful. They’ve always had great cinematography in the show, but from what I’ve seen, this looks amazing! I’m both scared and excited to see what happens with the greens, Helaena and Aegon, Nyra and Alicent, and Criston, and Aemond, and even Jace

I’m also excited for the north making their move into the show. The Starks, and then north in general, have always been my favorite thing about GOT and HOTD and I really hope they do them justice in this upcoming season! The costumes look fab and I’m so excited to see all of them!!

Sorry for the super long response lol! But I hope this answers your question lol!

[whosafraidofvirginiawoolf]

Hi! Ok, so I've watched Tea and Simpathy last night and now I AM OBSESSED. Which Deborah Kerr movie should I watch next? Thanks🌻

ahhhh!!!! I'm so happy you liked tea and sympathy!!!!!!!! here's some more deborah kerr movies I love!!!!!

the innocents (1961) dir. jack clayton : adaptation of henry james' turn of the screw, kerr plays the governess and her acting + the cinematography is insane, one of my favorite movies in general (not just deborah kerr ones lol)

the life and death of colonel blimp (1943) dir. pressburger & powell : kerr plays not one, not two, but THREE characters and looks so good in technicolor you could die !!!!! (the rest of the movie is also really really good and moving)

the night of the iguana (1964) dir. john huston : tennessee williams adaptation so be warns the dramatic parts are DRAMATIC, this is one of my fav plays of his!!! in typical kerr fashion her character is incredibly moving, slightly (or more than slightly) crazy, and just makes you THINK!

the grass is greener (1960) dir. stanely donen : romantic comedy, and kerr is hilarious and so so good, robert mitchum and cary grant are so funny in this too, all around a very fun hilarious movie I've already seen twice i liked it so much

an affair to remember (1957) dir. mccarey : just a classic, cary grant and kerr are so good together and the story is kind of silly in typical old hollywood romatic drama style, but its not too silly that it doesn't WORK with kerr and crant carrying the film through!!!

vacation from marriage (1945) dir. alexander korda : first of all deborah kerr has a girlfriend in this movie who is none other than glynis johns! also its super funny, its about a husband and a wife reuniting after they both had gone off to war and how different they've become and how they've both been able to be more themselves once they had a chance to not be so strictly a Couple and how that plays out

the chalk garden (1964) dir. ronald neame : okay hear me out, the plot is kind of dramatic and could be dismissed as slightly silly and while it could have been done better, I think its good lol kerr is a governess here again! we love to see it <3 (also hayley and john mills are in this)

the naked edge (1961) dir. michael anderson : there's nothing like out of the box special about this movie, the plot isn't going to shock you, but i think it's done very well and the cinematography snaps and kerr is really good!!!! also i love a dark sinister gloomy atmosphere and its done very well here!

bonjour tristesse (1958) dir. otto preminger + 10. from here to eternity (1953) dir. fred zinnemann : these are both great movies, well made, interesting compelling plots, kerr is obvs amazing in both, don't really have anything else to say (put them together bc this list is getting long he he)

beloved infidel (1959)dir. henry king : insanely bad, melodramatic done so poorly that you laugh out loud when someone dies.........including it on the list bc you'd probs have a lot of fun watching this if you're in the mood to make fun of a dumb movie lol

[secretmellowblog]

As someone who has seen 500000000 Les mis adaptations: It depends on what your friend is into, and what kind of media they generally like!

It also depends on your focus: are you looking to introduce your friend primarily to Les Amis, to Jean Valjean and Javert, or to Les Mis as a whole? (Also: consider how you got into Les Mis, and what your first adaptation was!)

my recs:

1. The 2012 film is the easiest and most accessible adaptation for a general audience, in my opinion, even for someone who isn’t a huge musical fan. (In fact, the movie kinda suffers as an adaptation for trying so hard to appeal to people don’t like musicals haha XD.)

Having tried to introduce people with other adaptations, I’ve found 2012 is the one that always grabs the people who aren’t already fans, even if they’re not super into musicals XD. The stage musical recordings are confusing to people who don’t already know the plot, even though the music is handled better. Other nonmusical adaptations are either Terrible, like the 2018 miniseries …..or they’re sadly often kind of boring to people who aren’t already huge fans of the story. Saying “72 is interesting for focusing on Marius” or “82 is interesting for featuring more of Les Amis” doesn’t interest the kind of person who doesn’t know who Marius or Les Amis are. I’ve noticed that while I can say things like “the 8 hour long 1925 silent film is the superior adaptation that captures the novel better” it’s only because I’m already emotionally invested in the story.

2012 isn’t the best adaptation but it is one of the most accessible to new viewers imho. It’s short short and conveys the emotional beats the most clearly for someone who has no pre existing familiarity with the plot of the novel. The settings are clear, the characters are clear, the general emotional thrust of the plot is clear— and there are enough fun weird choices (some good some hilariously bad) to keep people entertained even if they’re not familiar with Les Mis at all. The problem is that uhhhhh it has a lot of serious goofy flaws, mainly the director’s inability to understand how music works and the baffling cinematography choices. However the flaws are funny and it fun to talk about them during a watch party.

You say your friend doesn’t like musicals, which is fair— but If she’s willing to try 2012, try going with the “this is a very awkward goofy flawed imperfect adaptation, but it kickstarted a lot of fandom stuff and can give you a general idea of what the emotional thrust of the story is like.”

I also think 2012 is unique becayse most Les mis adaptations start out with a decent first half then fall apart after the convent time-skip, but 2012 starts out pretty meh and then gets really energized after the time-skip when the story moves to Paris.

The stage musical and recordings are what I recommend for “musical theater snobs” (affectionate) who care a lot about music being done well in a way that it isn’t in the 2012 film, and are willing to use Wikipedia or something to help themselves follow the plot. It doesn’t sound like your friend is super into musicals tho XD.

The Takahiro Arai Manga is an excellent excellent manga adaptation that everybody should read, a great loving thoughtful take on the story that deeply understands its messages and characters, and is a passion project of its writer. While it can be very over-the-top sometimes, and makes some of its own dubious changes, its probably the next best thing to reading the brick! Its really good!!! It’s split into four volumes though and will take longer to read.

(Just make sure you’re getting the Takahiro Arai manga specifically, not the other American “classics for Kidz” manga that are much poorer in quality. XD)

I think you should also show your friend 82 and watch it while explaining why you’re passionate about it— even if it’s not the first adaptation you guys check out together.

Anyway, these are my hot takes! Also if your friend is interested in trying to tackle the novel in bite-sized pieces, the @lesmisletters readalong of Les Mis is happening again next year! ^_^

What is the best adaptation to introduce my friend to Les mis?

So like the title said I want to introduce one of my friends to Les mis bc I know she will really like it and loves the themes of the story, she agreed to let me show her an adaptation to get her into it, but idk with which adaptation I should choose to get her into it

I've heard the shoujo cousette is good and complete (I've only watched the first episode for now) but I worry it might be too long for someone completely new to Les mis? Ik the musical is probably also a solid entry point but my friend also isn't really into Musicals so I'm not sure it's the best to get her into it but I could convince her to watch it she's not that much against them, but if there's a better entry point I'll take it

My favorite adaptation is the 1982 one but it's also very strange and I'm not sure how book accurate it is compared to other adaptations so idk if it'd be a good adaptation

So I'm not sure what adaptation to show her first and would appreciate any input to with what adaptation to introduce her to Les mis!

[namtanlovesfilm]

Women in general don’t get enough love and respect. Can you please list your favorite female-driven shows or name some of your favorite actresses so I can look them up and watch some of their shows or movies? Thank you <3

yes yes YES I absolutely can!!!

FEMALE-DRIVEN SHOWS:

p.s. I hate you: so this show hasn’t ended yet but I absolutely love it. not only is the writing, acting & cinematography on point, but it’s an amazing female-led show. in fact it might be my favorite female-led show ever?? it allows its female characters to all be messy & deeply flawed, yet the audience still roots for them bc they’re all humanized as well. their interpersonal relationships are also super well developed & this show is just a pleasure to watch, especially since it’s very much pro-women and deals with topics like sa & mental health extremely well compared to other shows. couldn’t recommend it more!

wake up chanee: more focused on comedy, wake up chanee is a great show to portray female friendship. it’s one of the funniest thai comedies & has very interesting and fully fleshed out characters. it’s not the best show ever but it will always stay to me one of the most iconic earlier thai dramas & I love it very much :) (do not watch the sequel though!)

sleepless society insomnia: despite having multiple characters it focuses on, this is definitely a female-led show since its main character is a woman & the other female main characters are imo much more explored & complex than the male characters. this is also one of my favorite underrated thai dramas & I couldn’t recommend it more in general!

the debut: so the debut is one of the most underrated thai dramas out there despite being one of my absolute favorites. with a mostly female cast, it’s an investigation into a t-pop girl group with lots of plot twists & gritty stuff. it’s a really, really well done show, and what’s interesting is that you don’t even really root for the main character by the end of the show. it’s just one of the most innovative thai dramas out there imo & everyone should watch it!

who are you: even though this is a kdrama remake so technically it’s not really a thai story, this show is a really good female-led story. there are male characters in the show but they definitely take a backseat for the female characters to shine, particularly those played by namtan & jan. also most people who have seen the original kdrama prefer the thai version so like... I’d definitely recommend!

girl next room: a romantic series centering female characters. it’s super cute, really light & the romances work really well, while also dealing with different deeper topics like depression, anxiety, inferiority complex & oversexualization.

daughters: this show sadly disappointed me with its few last episodes, but it’s still definitely one of the best female-led shows. it deals with many incredibly interesting topics around young women like oversexualization, and has very well written characters. it could’ve been one of my all time favorite shows if it didn’t fumble the bag with the ending, but it’s still a good show and extremely well excuted otherwise.

the comments: mini-series that mostly focuses around female characters who are multi-dimensional and very well acted. it’s not the most revolutionary series out there but it’s still really good imo!

46 days: while 46 days is a romance, for me the show mostly focuses on the two main characters, yingying & noina, and their friendship as well as their quest for love. it’s a really good example of female bond & friendship in a romcom and this show is in general very good :)

the underclass: this show is 99% women so it really fits the definition of female-led haha. it’s the female equivalent of blacklist, but definitely better. I especially loved the friendships in it, and while it is a pretty childish show at times & far from one of my favorites, it’s still very enjoyable.

secret seven: a woman with 7 suitors, so in terms of ratio there is definitely more male characters than female in this show, yet the female characters are definitely more developed and focused on, and there’s also a focus on friendship as well. it’s a really cute show despite me not liking who she ends up with lol!

the judgement: this isn’t really a show I would recommend bc it’s pretty fucked up & not necessarily greatly executed, but this is definitely a show that focuses on its 2 out of 3 main female characters a lot, and it also deals with a topic that women especially have learned to fear since basically birth. so if you can stomach it, give it a try. but I wouldn’t really recommend it, though I still wanted to include it in this list.

girl from nowhere: while nanno is more of a supernatural entity than a human girl, this show is still deeply feminine in both the issues it tackles and its focus on female characters. it’s also a must watch if you’re a thai drama fan in general!

shows with non female characters that still center women: 3 will be free, angel beside me, bad genius (both the movie & series), I hate you I love you, friend zone, mama gogo, remember 15

MY FAVORITE THAI ACTRESSES:

mild lapassalan: not only is she definitely one of the best actresses out there & insanely pretty, but I love how she chooses a variety of different roles, from a sex worker on the run in 3 will be free, an sa victim in the judgement, a literal fucking ghost in happy birthday to crazy fun romantic girls in girl next room & 46 days. she has the best range imo <3

pat chayanit: so I'm a simp for pat bc not only is she absolutely gorgeous on top of being a great actress, but she's been in my favorite show of all time, project s: sos, that has literally changed my entire life. I also think her acting style is quite different from pretty much everyone else & feels very natural, and I LOVE her ig page where she creates memes out of her every day life.

namtan tipnaree: once again, she’s beautiful & an incredible actress, but also I love her personality! she just seems so down to earth & sassy and I just feel like she’d be the best friend ever :)

jan ployshompoo: I’ve loved jan for a long, long while. like all of the other girlies in this list, she is gorgeous & has great acting skills, but she’s also literally the thai actress I’ve seen in the most shows. hell, she was in sotus, my first thai show ever, playing a lesbian icon! so yeah, not only does she often take on queer roles which I love, this woman is just good vibes, she’s so down to earth, so fun & so lovely, and seeing her literally always puts a smile on my face :)

jennie panhan: though jennie hasn’t had many opportunities to show off her acting, her role in 3 will be free was absolutely great & I still hope we can get more roles in this vein from her! she’s also ALWAYS slaying like... the outfits, makeup & hair are always on point <3 and she’s just so lovely & funny, idk how you couldn’t love jennie!!!

aye sarunchana: I LOVE aye so much!!! not only is she a great actress & an amazing singer, she seems like just SUCH a sweet person <3 I love her lives on ig too, and I hope she gets more famous soon bc she truly deserves it!

ciize apichaya: ciize is SUCH a cutie!!! not only do I love her style & outfits and find her super beautiful, but I honestly think she’s great actress who hasn’t gotten enough opportunities to show off her acting yet. I want to see more from her bc I just KNOW the material is there!!!

gigie sarocha: ugh, gigie is just my crush, I’m sorry. this woman is so beautiful & random af but I love how she speaks thai as a non thai-woman, I find her cadence when speaking thai so cute!!! I also think she’s a good actress but I wanna see her in more serious roles & would love to see her in a very intense, emotional scene soon!

film rachanun: film has captured my attention since her role in the debut. she clearly is a great actress & has been since she entered the industry, but I also love that she chooses very challenging & different roles every time. she has clearly wanted to push her acting further since the very beginning and I love that for her. from all the newbies I’ve seen, she’s honestly the actress I have the most expectations for :)

other actresses I love: ployphat phatchatorn, lookjun bhasidi, preen ravisrarat, mook worranit, jane ramida, kapook phatchara, neen suwanamas, puimek napasorn

xxx

[schmergo]

The new West Side Story movie is now on Disney+ and I finally got to watch it tonight. I really enjoyed it and all the dancing and singing (so thrilling to actually hear a soprano role sung by a soprano), I definitely cried in a few spots, and I did like the updated screenplay by Tony Kushner.

 But I just gotta say something. This is not just because of my personal dislike for Ansel Elgort, though it certainly didn't help: I feel like the script could have done something, anything, ANYTHING at all to make Tony come across as even remotely appealing in his interactions with Maria. They fell so, so flat for me, which is a shame because I did feel like there was so much to like in the new script.

Now, this could be totally intentional. Almost every single thing Tony says or does is a massive red flag, and maybe that's this screenplay's way of warning us from the start, "You should be worried about Maria! She is ignoring red flags left and right! This will not end well!" But the movie also seemed to want us to see this version of Maria as smart and fun and assertive and capable, not a completely naive ingenue who could be easily deceived by a scuzzy guy. And if that's how they want to portray Tony and Maria's relationship, it makes us as an audience not care as much about the story at all. I feel like a script (and an actor and a director) has to do a LOT of heavy lifting to make a character at all sympathetic who just killed his love interest's brother. Heck, when Tony climbed up to Maria's window after killing Bernardo, my instinctive thought was, "Push him out of it!"

  I like the idea of what they did with Tony. His backstory of having hurt a guy in a fight, going to prison for a year, having some time to think about things, and resolving to start a new leaf was intriguing. His relationship with Riff was VERY compelling. But gosh, the 'love interest' side of things left me cold. Anita and Bernardo had fantastic chemistry even though their relationship clearly had major problems, but I just did not like how the love scenes between Tony and Maria were written. Let me break it down:

* Okay, that first interaction with Maria was fine, a little awkward but relatively cute. It was sweet how Maria kissed first. Off to a pretty good start.

* Then all of a sudden he shows up at her building by happenstance, which also starts off kinda cute, but quickly goes off the rails.

* He keeps yelling and moving closer and climbing up toward her while she keeps telling him to go home. She's not laughing and smiling, she's worried about Bernardo or whatever. Tony keeps ignoring her and moving closer.

* Dialogue from the scene:

Maria: ¡Tú no puedes estar aquí!

Tony: What's that mean?

Maria: It means go away!

Tony: Can I come up?

Maria: No!

Tony: But I found you!

Maria: Please. My brother's so angry now, he might--

Tony: I'll make him like me. Everybody does.

Maria: There's nobody who everybody likes.

Tony: Yeah, but so long as you like me, I'm okay with that.

Maria: ¡Shh! ¡No hables! Tienes que... Please, you have to go.

(Tony climbs up toward her instead)

Maria: ¡Ay Dios mío! ¡No, no, no, no...!

* So, here's the deal. I'm not exaggerating when I say that during that exchange, the hairs started standing up on the back of my neck and I could feel my heat pounding a little. I know Tony's the romantic lead, but watching him keep climbing up the fire escape toward her while she keeps telling him to leave started freaking me out on a visceral, physical level. It was the same bad vibe I got when Anita walked into Doc's and all of these Jet dudes were staring at her. This is yet another place where the allegations against Ansel Elgort didn't help things. 

  * Also, it's not Ansel Elgort's fault that he's super tall, but some of the cinematography didn't really help, either. I felt like the camera kept emphasizing their height difference and kinda showing him looming over her and casting shadows in the dim light in a way that almost felt... claustrophobia-inducing? Tall guy and short girl can make an ADORABLE screen pair, but not really in this case. Again, maybe it was deliberately trying to show us that he's physically formidable and would be dangerous in a fight, using Maria as a stand-in for her brother. But I don't think I need to tell you why that didn't rub me the right way on screen.

* Then he asks her to run away with him. She kinda coyly says 'maybe I'll run away with you tomorrow,' like, not making any definite promise. Then he starts pushing her to promise. Then when she says she will meet him tomorrow, he says, "You gotta see me tomorrow. Nobody else. Only me." Which is already yet another red flag.

  * THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN MARIA STARTS SINGING "TONIGHT," one of the most thrillingly romantic songs ever written and it took me by such surprise because it seemed like a very big jump from an interaction in which Tony said and did literally NOTHING charming or appealing. I really thought he'd have to say or do more to woo her! I felt like that interaction got off to a terrible start! The rest of the scene is cute, though.

  * Also, this isn't a scene with Maria, but in the scene where he's trying to learn Spanish from Valentina (which is probably the dreamiest thing he does in the whole movie, try to learn some of Maria's language), he does jump straight to "I want to be with you forever," which is very thematically appropriate for both his character, this story, and the Romeo & Juliet root story, but I just want to say that this is yet another red flag if he were a guy in real life. You've gotta have these built-in red flags for an infatuation that develops THAT fast, so I feel like if he's going to say and do stuff like that, you have to offset that by making him REALLY likeable in his other scenes with his love interest for him to still seem appealing, which.... we'll see in a minute doesn't really seem to happen for me.

* He has a plan to take Maria for a cute surprise date at the Cloisters, which, again, good start, but he blows it. She's anxious about her brother and the fight, and Tony keeps dismissing her concerns. He then keeps interrupting her and talking about how actually Riff is the real victim and implying that she and Bernardo are more privileged than Riff, so great, their second (or third, depending on how you count it) date starts off with an argument. Maria basically says something like, "Us liking each other can cause trouble" and, once again, Tony pushes the boundary by saying, "I don't just LIKE you" and concludes the conversation by saying he won't be able to stop the fight.

  * Then they get to their cute date and as soon as they get there, Tony immediately makes himself not-cute by being like, "THIS PLACE REMINDS ME OF WHEN I SAW IT FROM THE WINDOW OF A BUS ON THE WAY TO PRISON! I WAS IN PRISON FOR A YEAR!" And he explains what happened and does a big monologue, but jeez, he's really not making himself seem very attractive at ALL on this date.

* And of course we all know everything that happens after that.

My dream job would probably be one where dudes writing plays or screenplays sent me their scripts and said, "Tell me if this guy comes across as too douchey. Just, like, give me one easy tip to make him a little dreamier!"

Here's a few possible things I'd suggest:

* Make Tony ask more questions about Maria and show more interest in learning about her. Have him compliment her in some way, have him say SOMETHING that he likes about her.

* Have him and Maria express some kind of dreams or hopes for the future. Have them realize those dreams or hopes are compatible. Make us almost believe they could have whatever that life is before snatching it away. Maria mentioned earlier that she'd be interested in going to college. What if Tony encouraged her to do that? What would she study there? What does Tony want? Where could they build a comfortable life?

* Instead of have him step over her boundaries or dismiss her worries, show how decent he can be by having him actually start to go away if she tells him to go away, meaning SHE has to capitulate and be like, "Wait... wait, come back!" Have him maybe consider she could be right about her concerns with the rumble, that Bernardo's jealousy could make this more dangerous. Maybe have him express sorrow that love could make someone so angry instead of just talking about DANG RIFF!

* I think Tony can be more sympathetic if it's clear that he's really naive and young. A younger actor who gives off more of a 'himbo' energy, like he's just a big stupid puppy who got caught up in the wrong crowd, maybe? I felt like he had kind of a... mansplainy vibe here?

* Here's a real dreamy one: what if he, like, did the dishes or something after he sneaks into her apartment? Just spitballing.

* Give him, like, one actually funny joke

* Have him pull up his dang pants!!!!! What was up with him dressing like it's 2011 and everyone else looking like it's 1957?

[digestionsack]

Narrative Choices I Would Have Made With Byler/Milkdud if I Intended Byler to Be Unrequited and Milkdud to be Endgame

Along with all the other reasons why I wouldn’t want a rejection in S5, the pacing would just…not be it. I am in no way a screenwriter or an expert in cinematography, but this is just how I would write unrequited Byler and endgame Mileven (if that were the case):

Endgame Milkdud:

First of all, I would not have had Mike and El have any sort of romantic relationship in the first seasons—I would have made them strictly platonic and built up their friendship. I would have given them common interests and made their chemistry undeniable—that’s including platonic chemistry. I would have included Mike showing El new movies, videogames, and comic books even if she could not go outside of her house because the government was looking for her. I would have included her in as many Party hangouts as possible to show that Mike and El together would not create any sort of rifts in the group’s dynamic (the Party hanging out at Hop’s cabin with El even when she couldn’t go outside would have been super cute).

At the end of S3, that’s when I would have dropped the hint that there are romantic feelings—right before the Byers and El move to Cali. I would have Mike and El have a really cute goodbye moment—maybe a hug that lasts a bit too long—and then as El leaves, Mike looks after her with this sort of lingering, tender smile, and then a realization “oh shit” face.

From there I would have dialled up the romance. I would not include an “I love you,” since none of the canon couples that end up working out have ever said “I love you” to each other. We see their love. At the end of S4, I would have dropped in a hint that El also has romantic feelings for Mike, but make it kind of ambiguous—keeping the audience on their toes. And then, at the very end of S5, I would have a confession and a kiss.

Platonic Byler:

Let me just be clear on this one fact: I do not like the “gay guy has a crush on his straight best friend and has to get over his feelings.” Hate that trope. Should not exist. Kill it with fire. However…if the writers had to go with that trope, I definitely would have done the pacing a bit differently…

I would have made the audience aware of Will’s sexuality during S2, in which we would also get pretty clear hints that he has feelings for Mike (maybe like S4 levels of pining). This would make sense to the general audience, since Mike is his childhood best friend who has been taking really good care of Will ever since he got back from the UD. Well, the (non-homophobic) ga would figure, if we already know that Will is gay and his childhood best friend is being so affectionate with him, romantic feelings are inevitable. Of course, S2 Mike would be completely oblivious to Will’s feelings.

Come S3 (themes of puberty, “summer of love”), Mike would finally understand Will’s feelings for him. Maybe Will confesses, maybe Mike figures it out, but either way, Mike is now aware of Will’s feelings. If they had to do a rejection, I would do it here—an amicable rejection with a bit of awkwardness that is not resolved at the end of the season. Of course, the ga would reason, there would be some awkwardness, as is usually the case when someone has unrequited feelings for someone else.

I’m S4, I would give Will a new love interest from Cali. The move would be the perfect time to introduce this new character (fresh move, fresh start)—after all, ‘80s Cali was much more open-minded than small town Indiana. They wouldn’t even have to make it romantic from the get-go—maybe this person was kind to El and Will while everyone else was being cruel, kind of like Argyle. Again like Argyle, this new guy would end up getting mixed up with the government shenanigans and UD stuff and end up coming along on the road trip with Will, Jon, Mike, and Argyle. As Will and this new guy spend some time together on the road trip, feelings emerge. Mike, in true (platonic) best friend fashion, would affectionately tease Will about his obvious crush and encourage him (like Steve encouraging Robin). Through this affection, the awkwardness from the unrequited feelings would dissipate, Will has moved on romantically from Mike, and the two are closer than ever. Then, of course, we get Will’s crush on this new guy being requited, which we find out at the end of S5, and the two are endgame. At the end of the show, Will has completed his coming-of-age, self-acceptance arc. He has a strong friendship with Mike, and has learned that he deserves to receive the same love that he gives.

The end!

Ugh, I did not like writing unrequited Byler—even if I don’t actually believe it. But what I’m saying is…

I would have totally eaten up Milkdud if it were a slowburn romance. I love that shit. I would have been enthusiastic, rooting for them, and totally convinced that they would be endgame. I would have loved Milkdud if the writers had done that. BUT THEY DIDN’T.

Although I wouldn’t want there to be any sort of rejection for Will, I would have been less angry about it if Will eventually did get a requited love interest that makes him feel like he’s not a mistake and that makes him realize that he deserves happiness. If the writers had done the pacing like that, I would have been totally invested in Will’s new romance and loving the reparation of his relationship with Mike. BUT THIS DIDN’T HAPPEN.

What I’m saying is that a S5 rejection would just fall flat. It wouldn’t give us any time to explore a new love interest for Will or the dynamic between Mike and Will post-rejection and how they would build back up their relationship. And this would make the “gay guy gets rejected by his straight best friend” trope so much worse than if they had just addressed it in previous seasons when there was time to explore the fallout.