#my review of the movie is that there is a part in the movie when boq (ethan slater) tells glinda (ariana) that he would do anything for her

[animeomegas]

Indie Otome/Amare Game Recommendation List (A+B)

[this is my list of recommendations for indie amare games starting with letter A+B. Each section provides an overview, a link, my review, and who I'd recommend the game for. Let me know if you play any of them!]

A Faerie's Tale

Overview: Essentially, this game is about a faerie who is forced to interact with humans for the first time. They are pretty clueless about human society, and come across humans good and bad. There are some funny moments, some (purposefully) frustrating ones, and plenty of heart-warming ones. It's ultimately a story about accepting change.

I'd recommend it for someone who wants to feel cosy and vaguely introspective.

Pros: Great MC, I liked the magic aspect a lot, the character art is sweet and evocative. The romances were sweet!

Cons: Couldn't for the life of me get the good ending until I looked up a guide. This could just be a skill issue on my part though.

Price: Free.

Customisation: As far as I remember, you can choose pronouns, skin colour, and two (?) body types.

Length: 58,000 words

My favourite love interest: Silas. I love gentle and serious characters that are crying out for someone to see them and invigorate their lives.

Link

................................................

A Heart of Butterblue

Overview: After her father is murdered, Phebe moves to an isolated farming village in search of her grandfather. She finds him missing and must take care of his farm, while remaining cautious to always be asleep before dark, lest the howling creatures rip her to threads. An extremely surreal and dark mystery + farming sim that is ultimately an evocative tale about what it means to be you.

I'd recommend it for people who want a bit of mystery and some deep story themes. Mind the warnings.

Pros: The art is sets the tone very well. The mystery is intriguing as nothing makes sense at first, but when it clicks, it clicks. One of the romances is actually surprisingly sweet, I liked it a lot. I did tear up at the end.

Cons: Sometimes the farming is a little tedious and I was waiting for something to happen.

Price: Free.

Customisation: None. You play as a fully formed character, Phebe.

Length: I played it in one day, but it was pretty long, several hours at least.

My favourite love interest: Love interests are tied to endings (Good, bad, crack.) I won't spoil it but the good ending romance was very well done.

Link

................................................

A New Don

Overview: Growing up on a rural hog farm, Fia ends up chasing a promise of inheritance from her 'grandfather' to the city. Only to end up inheriting a crime family! This game is frankly hilarious. Essentially, Fia uses her rural practicality to her advantage and wrestles control (and hogs) of a deadly mafia family.

I'd recommend this game for someone who wants to laugh.

Pros: Very charming! From someone with a rural background, I loved that aspect of her character. Avoiding death (and dying) multiple times was fun. I love my giant hog daughter.

Cons: My only complaint is that it isn't a 3 hour long movie, because the dynamic is gold.

Price: Free.

Customisation: You play as a fully formed character called Fia, but you do get to name her giant hog.

Length: 24,000 words.

My favourite love interest: Andino. I love forcing stoic characters to experience emotion. He's funny, in the way that he doesn't know he's funny.

Link

................................................

A Tavern at Night

Overview: Taking shelter in an inn, you strike up conversation with a terrifying mercenary orc. This game is a conversation with the orc, and depending on your choices, there are a few ways it can go, including romance. There is also a sequel, I believe.

I'd recommend this game for someone that doesn't have much time, but does like orcs and flirting with them.

Pros: The conversation feels natural and the blushing sprite is very cute. The vibes and setting made it in my opinion.

Cons: It is VERY short.

Price: Free.

Customisation: Customisable pronouns.

Length: Very short.

My favourite love interest: N/A

Link

................................................

Adventures in Clairune

Overview: A medieval fantasy romance, where you must keep your name a secret. Essentially, you get to know one of the three love interests and uncover their backstories. The romances are very cute, and I all the love interests have something they makes them worth playing.

I'd recommend this for someone who loves character driven romances, and likes their characters with a bit of tragic backstory.

Pros: Lovely art! Some great role reversal style vibes, omega energy. I am a sucker for good backstories.

Cons: Sometimes it felt a bit short for the level of character development happening, but it's not difficult to suspend disbelief.

Price: Free.

Customisation: Customisable pronouns and name. You'll also need a nickname for this game!

Length: 28,000 words.

My favourite love interest: Clover. He's another gentle, workaholic, who needs to be shown a good time. I love those. Jin is a close second though! His story was heart-breaking, but I loved the resolution. But honestly, I enjoyed all of the characters and their backstories!! This is a game where I felt like they were all very omega coded 👀

Link

................................................

Ballads at Midnight

Overview: A bard is exiled to a vampire's mansion as a long winded form of execution, but the vampire is bored, so she has the chance to barter for her freedom with songs. This game has a surprisingly strong mystery element, some great character dynamics and the romance does feel heartfelt. I genuinely felt for the vampire.

I'd recommend this game for someone who likes vampires, and unique twists on enemies to lovers stories. Also anyone who likes putting hot men in peril and anguish.

Pros: The mystery is kind of insane. Everything, and I mean everything, connects at the end of the game and it's very satisfying. There's partial voice acting too!

Cons: The main character is a bard, and I really don't mean to be cruel, but the singing... is not great. Another con is that I got tonsilitis half way through playing it, which is probably not the game's fault, but I can't prove that.

Price: Free.

Customisation: You play as a fully formed character, but you can change her name.

Length: 42,000 words.

My favourite love interest: N/A

Link

................................................

Blooming Panic

Overview: I feel like most people have played this, but it's about an unhappy MC escaping into a fan discord for an obscure webcomic. There are four romance options, and you get to know each of their problems and have very fun voice calls with them. Mostly character driven, with great romance.

I'd recommend this for someone who is really feeling the long distance romance vibe, and likes chaos.

Pros: Great character driven romance, fun dialogue, full (and great) voice acting.

Cons: Sometimes the massive group chats can drag a little.

Price: Free.

Customisation: As far as I remember, pronouns and username are customisable.

Length: 75,000 words.

My favourite love interest: Nightowl, I'm a nightowl girly. Yes, I understand that this is a character flaw, but I stand by my problematic babygirl. Honestly though, I like them all except Quest, who seems nice but is not my type.

Link

................................................

[And that's my list! I recommend then all! Let me know your thoughts if you play any from the list, and look forward to my C + D recommendation list which will come out eventually haha]

[justmanu]

Ushijima Wakatoshi Brainrot

I hope you guys like it, I've had this on my mind after I saw a few tiktoks and I couldn't stop myself from thinking this was so Ushiwaka coded.

Ushijima was infatuated with you. Seeing you walk into the church in that beautiful white dress, made tears pool in his eyes. Memories from all of your years together coming to his mind as he heard the Nuptial March, the melody serving as a background music for the little movie playing in his mind. Tendou, his best friend and best man, handed him a handkerchief, and patted his friend's back smiling. He knew how much Ushijima dreamed of getting married and starting a family. And seeing you, the love of his life, committing yourself to him until death do you part made him the happiest man on Earth.

And then it was time for the party, everyone was gathering around to receive the bride and the groom, that were now husband and wife. Ushijima made way towards his groomsmen, thanking each and every one of them for being there. You, on the other hand, were reviewing the Polaroid pictures your bridesmaids had brought. They were boudoir pictures of you, some in white lingerie and some in nothing at all.

The party was pumping and you were there, dancing with your guests when you saw one of your bridesmaids walk over to Wakatoshi, giving him one picture. The moment he looked at the little picture of you with your ass up in the air, your back arched and looking back at the camera with a smile on your face made his pants a tad tighter. His piercing eyes looked straight into yours, and you smirked a little, blowing him a kiss in return. He chuckled and nodded, accepting his fate that he would receive many more of those pictures of you during the night.

And that's when the saga began. In the most unexpected moments of the party, one of the bridesmaids would sneak a picture into his hold, the white lingerie hugging your body in all the right places and making your curves seem carved to perfection. In the pictures you had a look, like a feline ready to attack, to take his very soul and devour him whole.

As the night went on, Wakatoshi kept all of those polaroids, committing each and every one to memory. Let's say he enjoyed them very much, especially after all the guests were gone and he had you all to himself during the wedding night.

[justanotherwriter140]

Kung Fu Panda 4 - The Movie

The last really, really long discussion post (for now).

Major spoilers ahead!

This review is full of spoilers, so please refrain from reading through it until you've watched KFP4. I would highly suggest doing so, as I want everyone to form their own opinions without my influence. The movie has its flaws (some of which admittedly being a bit distracting), but it's a fun film that has things to offer.

Kung Fu Panda 4 is a fun movie (take that as you will) that takes its audience on an action-packed, surprisingly funny, yet relatively contained adventure on which Po doesn't really do much. It's an inconsequential, safe sequel that doesn't really hurt the franchise but adds close to nothing.

I had a good time watching the movie. It was obviously produced with its theater experience in mind and the action scenes especially reflected that priority. The humor was actually funny sometimes and I enjoyed Po and Zhen's dynamic. During the film, I was able to put most (most!) of my grievances aside and take the movie for what it is. I've discovered that the best way to watch KFP4 is with low expectations and an open mind.

I have a lot of things to say about KFP4, both complaints and compliments (though the former might be taking the forefront in this review), and I hope this review can help those of you who have seen the movie organize your thoughts. I've been having a lot of trouble with that specific aspect of things myself. Those who get it get it.

With that said, let's get into my full review of KFP4! I've been waiting for nearly 2 years to write this and I'm so excited to share every single thought.

I'm going to follow the format of my first discussion post and curate a bulleted list of my thoughts, followed by an analysis of each of these points. Keep in mind that everything I say is IMO and this is more of a rant post than anything else.

Here are my main points:

The Furious Five's role is comically minuscule in the context of the film. Their actions are inconsequential and add nothing to the plot (a confirmed last-minute add), and they have 30~ seconds of screen time. Shifu is also largely irrelevant.

Mr. Ping and Li's presence has little to no effect on the movie (though I won't complain too much because they were pretty fun to watch and this movie has bigger problems). In almost any scenario, I am adamantly against having characters present that don't add anything to the narrative; however, Mr. Ping is an exception. I love Mr. Ping. James Hong is a gem.

Zhen's screen time is not utilized well and her character is underdeveloped. She definitely wasn't annoying, but I didn't find her either compelling or funny enough to warrant the screen time she was given, especially considering it wasn't used to establish a backstory/strong motives. This makes me feel bad for the character because the movie kind of screwed her out of any substantial development.

The Chameleon, while complimented greatly by Viola Davis, is an underwhelming villain. Viola Davis is amazing in this film and I would suggest watching it for her performance if for nothing else, but the Chameleon is underwhelming considering the super cool concept behind the character.

The film feels very rushed. Apologies to those who disagree, but I think the pacing is atrocious and the final fight is anticlimactic. The movie felt like a word-vomit with no discernible intermissions that stops abruptly when the film ends.

I felt as though Po didn't change/grow as a person and the audience never had a chance to either bond with or relate to his character. His internal struggle is kept to a minimum and we don't spend a moment alone with him as an audience, which is disorienting and distracting. Watching the film felt like running into an old friend at the store who's too in a rush to have a real conversation.

The action scenes were strong with few exceptions. Creative art direction was utilized and I thought the martial arts choreography was entertaining and dynamic. I love the color palette of the film and many scenes were very impressive visually.

With my main points established, I do believe it's ranting time. Strap in, folks.

Let's start strong with the Furious Five: I'm gutted. Chagrined, despondent, crestfallen, etc.

The lack of the Furious Five negatively affects KFP4 so much, because not only does their absence hurt the atmospheric integrity of KFP as a franchise, it also forces KFP4 to bring in a slew of different characters—all while still noncommittally including the FF at the very end because I believe the marketing team required it—that clog up the cast a bit. It all goes to show how important strong, established side characters are.

The Furious Five are side characters, but the role of "side character" does not equate to being irrelevant, expendable, or exchangeable. I recognize that the Furious Five aren't super developed as characters beyond a handful of lines that allude to traits sprinkled sparingly among the members; however, I believe that the tiny bits of development we have been given have proved impactful in the past. Tigress's development in KFP2 is a prime example of how much narratively conscious changes (however small they may be) can positively affect these movies.

Because of limited runtimes, the Furious Five often operate as more of a singular unit than five individuals. Even so, I don't think discarding them is valid. They're so important to the KFP universe (to Po's universe!) and not having them with him feels so wrong. The Furious Five are fully integral to the heart of Kung Fu Panda, which is why I believe a lot of those who have seen the new movie have expressed something feeling "off" or something being missing.

I agree with this sentiment. To me, KFP4 didn't feel like a KFP movie. I don't need a Furious Five spin-off movie and I can be fully content with a KFP5 centered around Po's journey as an individual as was intended from the beginning, but he can't carry an entire movie on his back. As strong as he is in every sense of the word, he is only one character. He's the centerpiece of the franchise, but a centerpiece can only go so far without the rest of the design, so to speak.

For me, the Furious Five's absence is one of this film's biggest faults. It's huge and glaring. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way, either, because the friends with whom I saw the film refused to talk about any other aspect of the movie after seeing it. Seeing them at the end was better than nothing, of course, but it was a disappointing culmination after eight years of waiting.

That all is to say I feel robbed. Despite all of this, though, I understand that there were reasons why the Furious Five weren't included in the movie. I don't believe the production team would exclude the Furious Five unless they weren't given a choice.

Shifu and Po's dynamic continues to be thoroughly delightful but their interactions are short and simplified. I would have loved to see more of them in this film, especially considering the extreme relevance of teacher-student relationships in KFP4. I (somewhat) digress, though, because the idea of Shifu having to live at the Jade Palace with only Po for an extended period of time is hilarious enough on its own. Maybe that's what the short film is about!

The comedy is odd but has some jokes that stand out. Po maintains a healthy relationship with his inner sass, which I think makes him more fun to watch and kind of eradicates the man-child verdict. Some jokes don't land, of course, but I genuinely thought KFP4 had some funny moments. Mr. Ping was consistently awesome and Po had some good lines sprinkled throughout the film.

As for Mr. Ping, he and Li Shan are the subjects of the film's B-plot as they follow Po to Juniper City out of shared concern for their son's safety. In my mind, they don't add anything to the story that couldn't have been brought about by other characters, but they had their moments of being entertaining. I enjoyed their silliness and thought they had a cute dynamic if nothing else.

Speaking of other characters, I want to discuss KFP4's deuteragonist and why I genuinely feel bad about the way her character was treated.

I want to let it be known that I'm still not on board with Po passing the Dragon Warrior torch to another character. While I agree that his arc is now calling for him to have a student, I disagree with the notion of him retiring from his DW role.

As I stated in my first discussion post:

Didn’t the initial significance and nuance of the title come from the fact that there is only one person who can be the Dragon Warrior, because the concept of the “Dragon Warrior” isn’t so much a title as it is Po himself? The universe (Oogway) must choose the Dragon Warrior because they are a singular being of legend. It is one person, and that person is Po. Wasn’t the point of the first film that the title ultimately doesn’t really matter because there is no “secret ingredient,” so to speak? The title doesn’t actually give Po anything. “It’s just you,” Po says, and that was the resolution.

When it comes to Zhen as a character, contrary to what I predicted I would think of her, I thought she was okay. While I was still a bit distracted by how out-of-place her design looks, I wasn't truly annoyed by her at any point and she and Po had some cute moments. Even so, I think their relationship could have been a bit more refined and developed.

While it's evident that Po and Zhen are meant to have a teacher-student/mentor-apprentice dynamic, I think their relationship feels half-baked. There were parallels that contradicted one another and ended up being confusing come the film's conclusion, and the nature of their relationship seems to vacillate depending on the scene. Additionally, the strength of their bond goes from zero to one hundred within thirty-ish minutes and left me with a bit of whiplash.

We're shown that Po and Zhen care about one another, but we're never shown why. They have a brief conversation during which they bond over being orphans, and Zhen says at one point, "You're actually a good guy," but that's it. This obvious lack of development is a bit disorienting because we're later led to believe that Zhen and Po care very deeply for one another when there's almost nothing to back it up.

A scene that sticks out to me when discussing this is when Zhen attack-hugs Po in a way that explicitly mirrors Tigress's hug from KFP2. This happens around the beginning of the third act, and while it had the potential to be an endearing moment, I think it fell flat.

The impact of Tigress's hug was brought on by her character's hardcore nature and reputation of being heartless, further strengthened with the knowledge that she was hugging Po (which was obviously way outside her comfort zone) as a show of companionship and fundamental understanding. Tigress hugged Po because he needed someone to recognize his strive for closure.

Zhen's hug had little to no impact because she had no reason to do it and it didn't indicate growth. She hugs Po because she's sorry for betraying him and doesn't want him to be killed by the Chameleon, but neither of these things are newly-established via this hug; we have already gathered by now that Zhen regrets betraying Po and doesn't want him to get hurt.

The hug is far from the movie's weakest point, but I think it's unnecessary given the context. I'm big on hugs in movies (an underutilized form of platonic affection, in my opinion), but it didn't fit here. I don't hate it, and I see it as an honest effort to bring emotionality to Po and Zhen's relationship, but it seems arbitrary.

Zhen and Po's relationship has a lot of potential and I'd be open to seeing more of them in the future, but I think some more thoughtful development needs to occur before I can humor it further. Even so, I can see myself featuring Zhen in some future post-KFP4 one-shots—sparingly, of course, because we have a lot of Furious Five content to compensate for.

Overall, they had a cute dynamic and some sweet moments but I'm not attached. I'm on board with Po having a student but I think their relationship needs a lot more development, something that this film unfortunately didn't give them time to either accomplish or earn.

Now, onto the Chameleon!

The concept of the Chameleon's character is admittedly super interesting. She's the deuteragonist's fastidious mother figure who feels that Zhen owes her a debt and as a result holds her to an impossible standard. That dynamic had the potential to be so interesting but I didn't think it was explored at all. There is no indication of Zhen having any internal conflict about fighting the Chameleon, no emotional complexity between them at all; it's disappointing because I think it would've added a bit of earnestness to the film.

Additionally, the idea of a shape-shifting villain is versatile. A shape-shifting villain gives those telling the story a lot of room to experiment with the protagonist and different ways in which the main character can be challenged and tested. It's yet another good idea utilized poorly. Just one idea: the Chameleon could have disguised herself as one (or several) of Po's family, friends, etc. and brought to fruition a new arc with his character (seeing as he arguably doesn't have one in this film), but she only disguises herself as Zhen very briefly in the movie.

Furthermore, the Chameleon completely relies on the powers of previous villains to pose any sort of threat to the main characters. She summons Po's former nemeses from the Spirit Realm (despite there being little logic in doing so considering Kai's literal evisceration) and takes their kung fu abilities for herself.

An excerpt from my first KFP4 discussion post that I think is relevant to the point I'm trying to make:

I don’t think it would be in the best interest of anyone if the past villains were to come back in any way that’s not a flashback (even then, I’m not sure I’d see the point). In all honesty, I thought that the whole point of the villains was that they died and stayed dead. They were defeated by Po once and for all as a testament to the idea of establishing Po's character growth and journey as a person through the bad things he’s able to overcome. It’d be highly contradictory to the messages of the other films if these villains were to suddenly come back.

While there was an honest effort made to portray the Chameleon as intimidating, I never felt as though any of the characters were endangered by either her or her army of lizard henchman. She's a visually appealing character (aside from her eyes, which I thought more resembled those of a gecko than a chameleon) and I greatly enjoyed Davis's performance, but overall I don't see the Chameleon as a notable villain.

The return of Tai Lung (had he been on his own) had the makings to be an excellent story, especially considering the importance of teacher-student dynamics in KFP4. To see him interacting with Shifu would have been incredible and could have led to further closure on Tai Lung's end (because I think that's kind of what the team was going for anyway), but it didn't happen.

It was nice to see Ian McShane reprise his role, but I wish Tai Lung's characterization had been more reminiscent of the way he was in the first film and more complimentary of his overall character arc. Tai Lung isn't a one-dimensional villain with a singular goal and motivation, and I couldn't help but feel as though the complexity of his character was simplified for the sake of KFP4's narrative.

Tai Lung's presence in KFP4 may be odd, but Shen and Kai's appearances are even more so. Kai, if I remember correctly, was fully obliterated by Po, reduced to literal particles on screen (which is kind of wild now that I think about it). Shen being in the Spirit Realm makes sense all things considered; however, Po and Li had no visible reaction to his presence, which seemed a bit unlikely considering Shen's deeds. This plot hole can likely be attributed to the fact that Shen and Kai's cameos (to my knowledge) were last-minute additions to the movie.

I have to talk about the pacing. I have to. I'm sorry, bear with me.

To me, the film's pacing is erratic and disconcerting. While I can appreciate a quick-moving narrative that doesn't dawdle on storylines that aren't interesting/important, KFP4 kind of flings itself too far in the opposite direction and ends up being frighteningly fast-paced. Once the credits began, I felt like I had been holding my breath for the entire movie.

KFP4 is confusing because while the runtime is standard for a KFP movie, it feels incredibly short. At the same time, the film's story moves at a breakneck speed and leaves little time for heart and development. These things culminate into a barreling boulder of a movie that simply doesn't have time to let its characters, story, or audience take a breath.

A fast pace is not inherently negative, but I don't think it worked in the favor of KFP4. The KFP franchise has always been very emotionally grounded (and just very grounded in general), so to see a film in which emotion/heart takes an aggressive backseat in comparison to action and comedy is jarring. While I think it's unreasonable for fans to expect the same emotional integrity as the original films to be present in the current and upcoming ones, I still think there's room for Po to grow and I felt as though the notion of him developing further was brushed aside in this film.

As for Po's growth, I felt it was nearly nonexistent. The previous trilogy wrapped up his character's journey beautifully and I know that KFP4 was bound to struggle with this particular aspect of making another KFP film; however, just because the strongest pillars of Po's character are established doesn't serve as a valid excuse to reverse his development and repeat what he learned in KFP3.

In KFP3, Po learned firsthand that he is capable of spreading wisdom and teaching kung fu. He also learns that he is constantly growing and that change is inevitable; there is always something more to learn.

"If you only do what you can do, you will never be more than you are now."

"I don't want to be anything more, I like who I am!"

In KFP4, Po pushes against this narrative despite fully accepting it in KFP3, actively reversing crucial parts of his character development achieved in the latter. KFP3 was non-ambiguously about learning to cope with change and responsibility, and I can't help but feel like KFP4 is simply copying this message while not adding anything to it.

Additionally, I felt that KFP4's Po generally felt less personal than he has in the past. In every KFP movie up to the franchise's most recent addition, I felt very connected to Po as an audience member. I felt like I was truly seeing the world of KFP through his eyes. I consider this to be one of the franchise's most impressive feats; it's incredibly difficult to build a universe around a character without making the audience feel limited to one perspective and one part of the world.

With KFP4, I felt both limited and disconnected. The world didn't feel as vast and all-encompassing as it has in the past and Po didn't seem fully like himself. This could be me nitpicking (as I'm prone to do), but I can't recall a single moment in the movie in which Po was alone on screen. Scenes like these are crucial for me because I see them as a meet-cute between the character and the audience, a moment for us to cross the bridge into their world in a way that's silent and intuitive. These little bonding moments are absolutely integral to feeling connected to a character.

Po's dream sequence in the first KFP movie is one of the best examples of this. It presents his aspirations, alludes to his way of life up to the point of the movie, and showcases his personality. During Po's dream sequence, the audience is quite literally inside Po's mind; we're there with him, seeing what he sees, subsequently feeling what he feels. Po is a dreamer at heart and makes the audience feel like dreamers, too.

In KFP4, I felt like I little to no point of reference when it comes to how Po was feeling. I didn't feel immersed in him and his world.

I know I've been very "doom and gloom" throughout this post, which is an exhausting mindset for everyone involved. I want to end my critique with something positive because I think some praise is deserved. Let's just say the movie could have been a lot worse, the details of which I'm sure you're all well aware.

Congratulations, you've reached the end! Thank you so much to all of you who took the time to read this unnecessarily long and detailed review. As long as I help someone translate their conflicted feelings into coherent thoughts, I'll call it a win.

KFP4 has its flaws and there are a lot of aspects that I dislike, but the I greatly admire and respect the hard work put into the film by those of the crew who put their efforts forward and tried their best to make it work. This does not at all excuse my issues with the movie, but it's worth saying.

As for the future of the series, I only hope that the next installment is more considerate of the franchise's origins and why Po's story is being told in the first place. I fully believe that another sequel could be good (even great!), but only given a strong, passionate crew with a great understanding of the characters and world (and I wouldn't be averse to some previous directors returning, just to put it out there).

Thanks again to those who took the time to read this crazy excuse for a movie review. Feel free to either disagree with me or add things in the replies/reblogs, I'm always looking for more thoughts to think.

Until next time!

[shiningstarr15]

Been listening to the Wicked movie soundtrack for the past week now like I literally can’t get over how good the movie was! 💚🩷😫

[randomalistic]

LOOK AT THIS MAN. I just had my queer awakening for the 2nd time

[magicbb8ball]

can someone please explain to me why one of the only lyric changes wicked made in the entire musical was changing the line "its atrocious, its obscene" to "its uncanny, its obscene" its such a nothing change that i cant understand the motivation behind it

[ingoodjesst]

[light spoilers] "when evil lurks" (2023) was a thoroughly engaging horror movie with great direction, pacing, and lighting that complement its themes well. that said, it was also an intense and disturbing watch with a finale that frankly had my stomach churning. it's a film interested in the fear of losing control and what it reveals about its characters. though the catalyst for misfortune is a demonic presence that possesses and manipulates people, it's generally the characters' rash attempts to recapture a sense of control over their situations that cause things to spiral. their fear-striken actions are understandable in the face of a force they cannot predict the scope of or attack directly. but over and over again, we see our protagonists choose to run away or react with violence, even when they have both folk wisdom and mounting first-hand experience to advise them against such futile actions.

there's also an interesting lens of gender to view the film through, as we often see men choosing to exert violence in a desperate bid to feel powerful again against victims that - possession aside - are generally weaker than them: disabled folks, animals, women, children, etc. all this despite women pleading with them to remember how this violence will just guarantee the evil's spread. it's worth examining how the male characters feel the need to project themselves as protectors while overriding the feelings of the people around them, how their predominant emotions of fear and anger tend to preclude their ability to clearly communicate the stakes of their predicament, etc.

in a way, violence becomes synonymous with running away throughout the film. despite what their behavior would have you believe, our MCs always have options available to them (both in their personal pasts and in the present) that are less likely to lead to ruin… yet their fear always leads them to dig deeper holes. by seeking only the physical destruction of something that refuses to be destroyed, the rotten possession is never truly dealt with. it is simply put off and worsened. instead of engaging the root problem with care and deliberation, using the rules and expertise that are gradually presented to us, our MCs constantly fall victim to their insecurities, constantly fall back on maladaptive instincts that fool them into thinking that somehow their attempts at violence and domination will work this time. maybe the brief catharsis will be worth the consequences this time.

which isn't to say that the movie necessarily suggests that things could've ever been brought back under "control". but in the end, our protagonists fail every chance they have to confront their problems properly. in seeking shortcuts to regain an illusion of control, they sacrifice whatever possibility existed of reclaiming true agency.

it's also worth mentioning that it's not hard to find parallels to the ongoing covid pandemic, i.e. fighting an invisible enemy that cannot be directly eliminated, where violation of specific guidelines intended to keep you safe leads to further spread of the "possession" and therefore further tragedy. hell, even the way that government institutions (like the police in the film) absolve themselves of dealing with the problem properly, forcing citizens to fend for themselves…

the thing is, although the demon haunting our MCs manipulates their terror to its own ends, there's still a palpable sense that many of their losses could've been avoided, if only they didn't succumb to rage and dismay at their loss of control… in this way, i see parallels with the movie "the thing" too; once you let the terror into your heart, the path to destruction is paved with the resulting paranoia and panic. thus the film leaves you with a powerful sense of powerlessness, as you watch characters get progressively consumed by their fear (and uh, other more literal things), until their fates simply fulfill themselves.

[the-halfling-prince]

My brain: You do not need to write a fanfiction for niche 1999 (probably straight to VHS or made for TV) movie The Pact. It was a mid movie. You said it was mid.

Me: If those sad orphans don't kiss right now I don't know what I'll do

[louismygf]

just recently watched this is us with my college friends

[nachobsns]

honestly really need to curb my phone addiction and i’ve been looking into dumbphones lately as an alternative for when i’m out and about and like. say what you will about brand consumerism but i am a simple man and the barbie phone is calling to me

[rainswhenyourehere]

wicked was so gay

[starbuck]

was completely mystified for days by my cousins being like “let’s watch a movie!” and then BOTH OF THEM proceeding to stare at their phones throughout the entire film, glancing at the screen only whenever the dialogue or a musical cue implied that something Important was happening, only to realize that the issue is that modern films don’t rely on nearly as many purely visual elements as older films did, so my poor cousins missed over 50% of the jokes because i didn’t think to warn them that, when watching films directed by people who got their start before films had dialogue, you actually need to WATCH them to understand what is happening.

[haylee-bb]

Beautiful Wedding is Batshit Insane!

Okay why is nobody talking about the coked out fever dream that is Beautiful Wedding!?

I've seen commentaries on Beautiful Disaster, which is how I discovered these gloriously terrible movies in the first place, but for some unknown reason, I've found nothing on the (imo far superior) sequel. This is a horrible missed opportunity for the commentary genre and the general public at large who may never get to experience this... experience without the proper publicity. I am in no way the best person for this job, but unfortunately, no one else seems willing, so here we go.

Beautiful Disaster was an objectively bad movie, but I thought it was fun in a very wattpad-esque way. With Dylan Sprouse as a bad boy underground boxer whose most frequent line is "pigeon", you know you're in for a cringey good time.

However, that movie does not hold a candle to the ridiculously awful Beautiful Wedding.

While I wouldn't say Beautiful Disaster was serious in any way, it really felt like everyone involved just gave up all pretense of making, like, an actual movie with the sequel. From what little I know about the book, this movie is completely new material, and oddly enough, I think that worked in its favor. Almost immediately, you just feel a different vibe that lets you know no one making this has any misconceptions about what they're creating. They all know they're making garbage, and they're having fun doing it, which makes it all the more hilarious. The plot is all over the place, the characters make no sense, everything is over the top and beyond nonsensical, and it's great because they lean into it.

There's this one scene near the end where, I shit you not, Dylan Sprouse is on a roof, he sees Abby absolutely caked in mud, he jumps off the roof in slow motion, and lands in a superhero pose. Then they make out while the camera circles them.

Truly it is a shining example of cinema.

Genuinely, I loved watching this movie and will definitely be watching it again. Would recommend to anyone looking for a fun time.

[springurz]

My non spoiler fnaf movie review

HOKY SHIT IT WAS SO GOOD

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

EVERYTHING WAS PERFECT

11/10 >:D

[andyridgeley]

finished with the ~good~ movies now on to the endless bad action movies john cusack has starred in that i’ve never bothered to watch before and looking through them until i find one about tryin to find db coopers money

[lovehandelreunion]

i can't help but laugh when i watch the new p/jo show and it uses all of its effort not to deliver a good story, but to go out of its way to never use more of its vfx budget than absolutely necessary

finished episode 3 and not only do they turn medusa invisible to mime cutting her head off so they don't have to show it but they also have the turning a fury to stone be blurry through a window???

am i crazy? am i a hater?? am i living in an alternate reality where the show is just bad???