#nice cgi i'm not buying it

[sirfrogsworth]

Just got back from the movie. The theater was in the middle of this hipster village type deal. Trendy shops and a wine bar.

I walked into the Alamo Drafthouse and the people at the front just kinda looked at me as I walked by. I had my ticket ready on my phone, but no one scanned it or looked at it. I don't know if it is always like that, but maybe next time I should try not buying a ticket and see what happens.

The large format fancy theater was as far away from the entrance as possible. I should have brought my cane. But I made it okay. It was indeed large and fancy. The seats were very comfortable and had electric reclining. There was also a button to summon a waiter which felt very high tech. And he would duck down super low as he walked in front of everyone. He looked like a penguin scurrying along. I ordered a pizza and it showed up just in time for the movie. It was pretty tasty.

The video quality was fine. I honestly didn't see a huge difference with the 4K laser projector, but the large screen was nice. I might be spoiled by my fancy HDR, 2000 nit TV. Projection just can't do that.

The front audio was much better than the last theater. Very clear voices. But the bass was a little boomy. Unfortunately I think they calibrate the audio for when there are more people there. 100+ humans in a space add a lot of absorption and diffusion. But there were maybe 8 people total and there wasn't anything to suck up the bass.

The Atmos was not even noticeable except in one or two scenes. That was disappointing. Atmos was one of the main reasons I chose that theater. I don't know if they skipped getting a Dolby calibrator or something. The side speakers were audible, but the ceiling speakers never made themselves known. Not even in the thunderstorm scene.

The ceilings were extremely high, so I'm wondering if the speakers were just too far away. Inverse square law would dictate they would need a lot of power and volume to cover that distance. This is probably why Dolby officially certifies theaters and this wasn't one of them.

This is what a front speaker in a theater looks like. There are usually at least 3 of them. Bigger spaces might do an array of 6--all behind the screen.

That is 7 feet tall, 200 pounds, and takes 3000 watts of power.

And you'll usually have 3 of these dual 18" subwoofers.

These beasts require 4000 watts of power and are also 200 pounds.

A typical theater Atmos speaker is like this.

About 30 inches tall and handles 350 watts.

All of those speakers have to cover about the same distance. Meaning the ceiling speakers were at a major size and power disadvantage.

So I think the theater was too big and too tall for Atmos to work effectively. You probably have to trade off a big screen or good sound. I'm going to try an official Dolby theater next time to see the difference.

The movie itself was okay. Maybe a 6 out of 10. A few good laughs, some fun action, but the humor was very hit and miss.

Now, I'm not just saying this because they are a creep, but Ezra is just... a lot. They do their funny jokey thing and it gets old very fast. It was okay when they were a side character, but when they are leading a movie, it fizzles. And then there is a second Ezra in the movie and they do the funny jokey thing turned up to 11.

Way too much Ezra.

But then Michael Keaton enters and he's just fantastic. I got such a rush of nostalgia from the 1989 Batman. That was probably my favorite movie for a good 3 years. 8 year old me was so happy to see my first Batman again. They even forced him to do some super cringe fanservice lines--and he nailed them.

He was like, "I'm going to take this bullshit line and make it awesome. Because I'm the goddamn Batman."

And Sasha Calle as Supergirl was also excellent. Though she was very underutilized. But if they can keep her, I think she could be a fan favorite.

The big complaint about The Flash has been the CGI. And I would say 75% of the CGI was great. There was a reveal of the Batwing that looked stunning. Supergirl flying was great. The vehicles were great. All of the invisible effects like backgrounds and set extensions were flawless. There was a big car chase that looked decent. There were plenty of top notch VFX in this movie. And I think the artists should be proud of those.

The stuff that didn't work was mostly just because the situations were unrealistic or the art direction was poorly done or they just didn't spend enough time polishing the effect.

When they animated Micheal Keaton doing jumpy flippy ninja moves, it didn't sell perfectly. And the speed and power of the Kryptonions was not nearly as well done as in Man of Steel.

But I know why people said the CGI was terrible. Though I don't actually think it was the CGI that was bad. I'm pretty sure they just made a poor aesthetic choice. Flash goes into the Speedforce and they cleary wanted to make it trippy and otherworldly. I don't think they were going for photorealism. I think they intentionally wanted everything to be in the uncanny valley. Unfortunately the style they chose looked more like a video game.

They were trying to do a Dr. Strange type effect and it just didn't work. It ended up being more... Lawnmower Man.

The only truly terrible effects were CG renders of people they couldn't get to do proper cameos because they were fired or were dead. Usually you need a 3D scan to do a CG double and it's hard to do that on dead people. The best was Admiral Tarkin in Rogue One, but they spent months and months on that.

CG Henry Cavill was probably the worst effect in the entire film and I'm guessing that really pissed people off.

The Flash running also looked bad, but that was 100% because Ezra Miller runs like a goof.

I have no idea why they run like that, but it looks so dumb and ruins the speed effect. Like, if you took them out and put someone running normally into the effect, it would have looked super neat.

And the only other VFX that didn't quite work was these slow motion falling babies. They looked photorealistic, but something about animating a falling baby in slow motion did not look right. Again, I don't think this was bad CGI. I think it was just a visual that was impossible to make realistic.

I know that sounds like a lot of bad effects, but that was every bad effect out of 2000+ total. Maybe 15 shots out of those 2000 were memorably bad. But the bad shots are always the most memorable and I guess that is why you don't hear folks talking about all of the flawless ones.

If you do see this movie and you haven't heard Kevin Smith's Superman story, you definitely should watch that first. Because the best gag in the movie will go over your head otherwise.

Sooooo, yeah... that was my night at the movies. On the drive there I got to see the Arch and downtown and it was beautiful. And on the drive home, Google decided to take me through every spooky ass neighborhood in St. Louis at midnight.

FUN!

[joju-but-trek]

Doctor Who Season 14, Episode 2: The Devil's Chord

They shouldn't have cancelled Schmigadoon.

I loved this episode. It was so weird and so fantastic and so different from how Doctor Who usually works.

I absolutely recommend it, with the caveat that it is going to feel like a ton of stuff happened between episodes 1 and 2.

This episode took the premise of being as ridiculous as possible and ran with it. I respect it for that.

The Maestro is such a fun villain, Jinkx Monsoon is incredibly chaotic. I love the approach for the Toymaker's army generally being evil concepts. I normally love that kind of cosmic horror and this was such a fun way to deliver it.

I like how they played with the other things in the show's history happening in 1963, and used it to further the idea of the Fifteenth Doctor reacting to his past in a more complicated way.

Also, Ruby is definitely cosmically something. I'm buying into that theory now. My joke answer is that Neil Patrick Harris is going to pop out of her in the finale or the Christmas Special. I do like that this episode played into her musical history, it was nice to get a character beat from her that wasn't about her family.

Also this episode fucked with the sound in so many ways. The mute scene, the background scoring, the lead-in to the theme, it was fantastic. And the way they lead into a musical number at the end was fun too. It did remind me of Schmigadoon, which again, should not have been cancelled.

I made a note in the non-spoiler section that stuff happened between episodes 1 and 2. There were a few moments where Ruby started with "Doctor, you always do this" and I kept remembering that we've seen them do two things together, and during the second one the fact that the Doctor got scared of something kept coming up. If this were a show with a reasonable number of episodes, we'd probably have a couple more, but I feel like this is leaving space for comics and audio dramas. If that's the case, good, it's just assuming a lot and I'm not sure how someone who hasn't seen the show before is supposed to read this.

Anyway, a ton of fun, CGI music notes are great, 9/10.

[xray-vex]

here are some of my really general a/i predictions, re: art --

techbro types who want to generate bullshit as a get rich quick scheme will saturate the market and nobody will want their worthless shit, they'll get bored and move onto the next get-rich-quick trend. remember nfts? lol

people who got into a/i because they thought it was a legit way to make art will get bored of it because it won't challenge them to do anything & it will not be gratifying in the long term - those types will either: 1.) quit or 2.) start making actual art

people who buy art will get sick of looking at a/i generated shit that essentially all looks the same. real artists making real art will get more interest again because it will seem new and exciting.

same thing with films & stuff too. i definitely think that various actors & creators guilds & other creative industry unions should do everything they can to protect their art & craft against being outsourced to a/i, but i do think that people who watch films will get sick of a/i in films the same way people got weary of CGI overuse in films. a/i in film might not go away completely, but audiences will absolutely be drawn to films that don't use a/i.

i think the basic gist of what i'm trying to say is that human beings need actual art, and the vast majority of people don't fully, actively realize how interwoven art is to literally everything in their lives. on some level they must know, because when it's missing, they miss it. they seek it out. art in general is important to the fabric of society: storytelling, entertainment, community, emotional fulfillment, etc. and people want something real, tangible. they want something created by humans.

****this is why, i'm guessing, that fan art & fan fiction are so popular. most people who create those sort of works are doing them for the actual love of what they're making. and then those works create community. humans have been sitting in groups to tell each other stories and to express themselves visually & dance together with music forever. for literally ever. all of human history. literally all. art is the fucking foundation of society, civilization, human evolution. to make art & to experience art, to some degree, on some level(s). non-negotiable. essential as food and water. i'm dead serious.

a couple of examples of similar times that tech threatened to make the "real thing" obsolete, but failed to do so:

e-readers were supposedly going to make print books obsolete -- they didn't.

streaming music services helped usher in a renewed desire for physical media again.

for awhile, both of those things did kill a lot of brick & mortar music/book stores, but there has been a bit of a resurgence and lots of small businesses.

and no, things will never go back to the way they were, but things would have changed regardless, capitalism being what it is.

it would be nice tho, wouldn't it, if digital tech presented augmentations to our need to have art in our lives constantly, instead of threatening to replace them completely?

i'm just going on pure vibes here & from what i know about art & being an artist for 35+ yrs, some tech & aesthetics philosophy, and from having worked in retail books & music/dvd sales many moons ago. so i could be completely full of shit here.

but i do have some hope that things re: a/i will get better for people -- for real, working artists & authors & musicians & performers & creators. humans need art the way they need food and water. this has always been true for the entirety of human existence.

i'm just sort of in my thoughts & feelings about art tonight and felt like rambling about it.

now i'm gonna make more tea.

[grellssquishyhusband]

Ok ok so I watched the trailer!

The style looks a good bit different. It's much more modern. The noses seem a little lower down, the eyes farther up and bigger, and the shapes are overall a little softer. Obviously the shadows and lighting seem much improved. I have no problem with this. Black Butler is very very early 2010s anime and it could really use a new coat of paint imo. I like the anime but it's nowhere as pretty as Tobosos inks and this new trailer is as good as I could possibly imagine a new Black Butler anime looking. I really like it!! I love the use of cgi too. Very nice. I've not seen the public school arc because I personally don't like Ceil and I only really read parts of the manga that interest me and Ceil in school does not. Either way I'm mega excited for when it comes out!!

It actually looks almost identical to a dream I had a few months back where a new Black Butler season dropped and it was all digital and heavily shaded. Wild. Guess I'm a profit. Drew 2 of the NPCs in a DND campaign last week and they both died next session. I should buy a lottery ticket

[the-starry-seas]

yeah i'm watching the borderlands movie, liveblogging-style commentary below

spoiler-free tldr: dedication to aesthetics and easter eggs. a handful of funny lines. about half of them didn't land at all. the lack of blood is rather unforgivable. would've been a 6.5/10 if that exact script was for different brand-new characters. as it is, 3/10 due to the character assassination

no reason for tiny tina to not be blowing the shit out of random things what is this girl doing ??????????????? character assassination

roland kinda gives me bl1 vibes but i'm still not even vaguely sold on hart's casting

probably the only psycho to not be screaming about meat bicycles 0/10 also that jumpsuit just looks... cheap. love the mask though.

wym knox

is that supposed to be a skag?

MARCUS WOOOOOO honestly this guy nailed it good job. though the ponytail... i'm confused. did i just never notice marcus had long hair? (one google later: yeah i'm unobservant as shit)

i don't recall anywhere but the literal actual dump in bl1 looking anything like this. krom is an interesting namedrop though

oh fuck yeah i love seeing robot POV- oh shit they're canonising lilith's last name being cashlin?

oh shit i know that bunty board mission look!!!! nice tbh

this voiceover is. not working for me however.

okay i love everything about claptrap, this is the obnoxious twerp that i know and... tolerate. yeah, let's go with tolerate. "even completely unjustified ones like yours" HAH

yeah lilith i feel that violence/expression combo

i cannot at all understand how the echonot is... a bot-only thing? but then again there's no other reason to have him tag along

OH SHIT I KNOW THOSE CROSSHAIRS

ah those fucking rakk

bunny! i know that bunny! got a booty like POW

LMAO good going tina finally she bears some resemblance to canon

zero reason for lilith to not teleport here but i guess they're saving the siren reveal? for some reason?

"LIKEABITCH" "MY BIG BRUDDAAAA" i kinda like it tbh. she was never going to be tina in a pg-13 movie but this is near-ish enough that i'm not upset

where's krieg during all of this exactly? ah there we go

wilhelm scream!

cgi on teh creature is looking a little shaky

claptrap's dedication to annoyingly singing everything, yeah, it tracks

okay so characterisation is... y'all've heard everyone bitching since the first trailer, right? but tina and krieg BFFs are growing on me and i'd read the fanfic

i'm not over krieg having hair sorry i even googled to make sure he didn't in bl2

SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE

could they not have worn normal masks instead of whatever these glowy cyberpunk things are?

"kriegy give me a ride!" oh they're cute

w. what is moxxi's accent? also why does lilith have mommy issues suddenly

temu tannis. honestly i think the casting for her isn't horrible, and the characterisation isn't as bad as some other characters, but it's still not what i'd expect

i'm not buying eridian clone. do we not remember what eridians look like.

this is supposed to be sanctuary???? geez they had so many other visual things nailed, i don't. get that. arguably one of the most iconic places in the series, idk how it's That

oh shit, caustic caverns?

yeah tina and krieg are everything to me

"hope blooms in the strangest places" coming from tina is the worst, it's a perfectly fine line but from TINA? would've been fine from lilith

i am not buying that knife-throwing action, would it have been so hard to find a stunt guy who knew how to do that already?

an ambush by dozens of enemies sure would be a nice time for some siren powers but tbf that is some pretty smooth gunwork

krieg dragging claptrap up the staircae and hitting every stair along the way LMAO

would it have killed them to have ANY lighting in that hallway

no way on earth did tina just snap a guy's neck

IT'S TIME TO BLEEEED HAHAHA yeah i'll give em that one, nice

at this point i'm wondering if lilith is human. with the characterisation in this movie it would not surprise me if tina was a siren instead. and siren tina could be cool! but c'mon. ah so tina teleported them. yep.

firehawk is what? i mean i don't mind it. but. canon, y'all. then again tina is phasewalking so

oh no way did roland survive that

that certainly is a scene that happened

was this one of the workers' villages that got abandoned when the corporations pulled out? bandits attacked and she got orphaned, sent offworld, and fell in with a violent crowd? that's actually a decent backstory tbh, it's just. not lilith's backstory.

i swear this hole place looks familiar i just can't place which map it's from

oh that miniboss-looking dude has a baller design

OH IT'S THE SYRINGE NOISE WOO

that was dumb as hell, killing knox like that

OH FINALLY SIREN POWERS and looks like rewriting the elevator bit yeah it was phasewalking after all

"you have my word" oh yeah that's valuable

"i have to open it" you could just. teleport them out. like you teleported in. could you not. or just kill atlas.

okay the vault arch building does look pretty neat

FIREHAWK WINGS YES

whatever cgi they're doing with floating lilith... i don't like that.

Do Not Hurt The Tina

Do Not Hurt The Krieg

okay the firehawk shield effects are pretty cool

NOBODY KILLS ME BUT ME YEAH

i will always support kids being able to beat up their abusive parents

ooh hentai

ELLIE AND SCOOTER ELLIE AND SCOOTER ELLIE AND SCOOTER ELLIE AND SCOOTER

i still don't get these shantytown vibes for sanctuary but i do love me some fireworks

glorious meat fiesta

"come onnn do the thing" i love when characters say that and the other character is all naaah but then gives in almost immediately cause they love the person asking

FIREHAWK IN THE SKY ALERT DEEPLY FUCKING COOL

[longtimewish]

Ok I'm half wat through the Lockwood and co show and I have Opinions. I've read the first four books of the saga (gonna start the final one after I finish my current reading) and I loved them so I do have a bias against changes in the adaptation, I won't deny it. Still, I had hopes for the show since the books are very adaptation friendly. So here are my thoughts on the first four episodes. Spoilers ahead!

Episodes 1-3 aka The Screaming Staircase adaptation

- Ok the guy who plays Lockwood? Literally perfect casting. He's EXACTLY how I imagine him when I read the books: acting all charming and mature, always trying to be in control and yet you look at him and you can tell that he's just a teen boy. He completely nailed the character.

- First disappointment: how the ghosts look like. Stroud created a lore with dozens of different looking ghosts and they went with CGI transparent smokey shadows??? Personally I would've love if they used make up and practical effects for the ghost, with CGI only for the action parts.

- The first Big Adaptation Change: Lucy's backstory. I have encountered feelings with this one. I understand why they thought the changes were needed, but I feel that these changes also unavoidably change Lucy's entire characterization. She was mostly just distant towards her mother and sisters in the books, here she has a physically and emotionally abusive mother. She had a borderline irrational dislikeness towards girls in the books, here she has a female best friend. And here is the thing: I wasn't crazy about Lucy in the first book. I thought she was a good protagonist and I was rooting for her, but her Not Like The Other Girls moments were both annoying and frustrating. So as I said, I understand why they thought that it was better to change that aspect of Lucy's character, I didn't like it either. But this will also take away seeing Lucy grow up as a person and leave this mentality behind, which we obviously won't have in the show. I just have no idea what to think of Lucy here, because she feels like a brand new character.

- Speaking of Lucy's characterization, I'm not a fan either of her wearing make up and nice outfits. My girl is a mess who only sometimes brushes her hair and proudly dresses like a 2005 Disney sitcom star. Also the make up ages up Ruby Stokes and it becomes a bit hard to suspend my disbelief and buy that she's sixteen.

- Why did they cut out that Lockwood got ghost-touched in the first mission? I actually went back to read that part because I couldn't believe it didn't make it to the show. What better way to show us why ghosts are dangerous and how they can kill people than that?

-My feelings towards George are way less conflicted. I love that he's played by an actor of color (love the books but they def need a bit more of diversity), I love that he is very neurodivergent-coded, and I love that neither of this things make him drastically different to his book counterpart. He is still the sarcastic, intelectual boy that loves researching and experimenting (though we don't actually see any of his experiments on screen, sadly). But George is described as being fat more than once in the books. It's like producers think that there's some sort of limit to diversity, like yes you can have a poc George but he can't also be fat, that's just too much. Which I just find frustrating. Still I like the actor and I think he nailed the role too.

- I find it SO WEIRD that they curse here. On the one hand it took me by surprise because they never do so in the books, but on the other hand well given the life threatening situations they live daily why wouldn't they curse? Anyway let George say fuck.

- Same goes with the drinking why they have beers my kids only drink tea!!

- Speaking of kids, where are the night watch kids? Actually, where are the kids at all? I'm writing this four episodes into the show and no child has appeared, which is odd given that adults using and putting at risk the lives of literal children, many which are in need, is a huge theme in the story.

- Ok so here's the thing: at some point while I was reading the books I realized that I'm weirdly in love with Kipps, probably a combination of him being the only character of my age in the whole saga and his midlife crisis being kinda relatable. So all that is to say that I approve the casting choice and that I watch his scenes very respectfully.

- It annoys me that the characters are so open and argue all the time, specially Lucy and Lockwood. It feels ooc, they're too emotionally repressed for that in the books lol, they just bottled up their feeling and never talk about it until they're in literal danger of dying.

- I think that overall the first two episodes adapted the book pretty nicely in terms of pacing (even if I wasn't crazy about some choices) but they kinda dropped the ball hard on the third one. Like in the book the whole sequence of them in the house is quite creepy and you genuinely fear for their lives - even when you know that this is only the first installment and obviously nothing bad will happen to them. But I just wasn't feeling it in the show? Like there was no build up to the mystery! No emotion in the reveal! The conflict with DEPRAC was portrayed as being more threatening than Fairfax literally trying to kill them!! It all just happened super fast. My guess is that they just wanted to get done with the first book quickly so they could move on to the more character driven plot lines of the second book but honestly it was disappointing.

- I feel that someone on Netflix should go to jail for cutting out the scene at the end of The Screaming Staircase of Lucy hearing Lockwood's laugh from the kitchen and suddenly feeling sad because she wasn't in the room laughing with him.

Episode 4 aka first episode of The Whispering Skull adaptation

- So they're not doing the half-year time skip of the book. Good decision, it would be bothersome for the audience to suddenly have a huge batch of time off-screened not even half-way into the show.

- Seriously WHERE ARE THE KIDS??? I was looking forward the rude night watch boy and he was nowhere to be seen.

- You know I was conflicted about the changes so far but none of them made me actually mad. Untill the scene Lucy tells Lockwood and George that the Skull talked to her. That scene made me angry. Lockwood and George would NEVER treat Lucy as if she was insane. They would NEVER call her a liar. This is how Lockwood and George reacted: "Lockwood and George, when I told them about my encounter, had reacted at first with vast excitement. They raced to the basement, took out the jar and swung the lever; the face in the jar said nothing." They immediately believed her and trusted her. They all tried to make the Skull talk again right away. That whole argument was so out of character for everyone that I had to fight the urge to skip the scene altogether.

- But then they immediately give me Lockwood tenderly treating Lucy's wounds and I can't be mad any longer. Lowkey jealous of show only folks that get this kind of moment so early into the story, we book readers had to go through literal hundred of pages of the slowest of burns to get to the "we held hands longer than necessary and now we are embarrased and can't even look in the eye despite the fact that deep down we want to continue holding hands" awkward moment.

- Kipps having beef with literal teenagers is so funny like sir what are you doing you're in your twenties!! He's so pathetic I love him.

I know I focused too much on the negatives but so far I do not think this is a bad adaptation, in fact it's better than others that have come out recently (Netflix's The Empress gave me unreparable damage). I think the leads have great chemistry, I love how many scenes are straight out of the book, I love how well they captured the vibe of the world building. The team behind the show seems to have real respect for the source material, something that sadly is lacking in more popular adaptations. I'm being picky, I know it. If I had to boil down my criticism my main problem is that the adaptation seems to be lacking of the subtlety of the books. It really does annoy me that the character talk about their feelings all the time. We know what the characters are going through not because we can deduce it from their actions, but because they explicitly tells us what they feel. And they tell this to each other! Which changes a lot the early dynamic of the group, and the main conflict of Lockwood being a mystery because he doesn't want to open up about what he feels. I don't want Lockwood to say that he doesn't want to talk about his past because it's hard for him, I want Lockwood actively avoiding at all cost to talk about his past. I just don't like being explained everything word by word as if I wouldn't be able to understand what's going on with the characters otherwise.

My second problem would be Whatever Is Going On with Lucy's characterization, but I'm going to finish the show first before giving a final verdict on this.

All in all it was a solid 7/10 for me, I had fun watching it and I think there is potential for the show to be even better, even if some of the adaptation decisions were frustrating and made me want to shake one or two Netflix producers.

[the-autistic-duck-fan]

Analysis number two and we're doing Journey Beyond Sodor, a movie I saw pretty recently, so I wanna get my thoughts out before they fade from my mind. (I swear I'll do season 2 after this). I will say, overall, I had a lot of fun with this movie. No, it's not perfect, but I liked it enough to actually purchase it so I can watch it over and over again. More beneath the cut since this post might get a bit long.

So, first of all, I love James in this movie. He has the vibe of an obnoxious older brother in this movie and I'm living for it. He's just petty and a jerk and I enjoy it. He also has a bit of an arc as he does go to help Thomas in the end and for the most part stays focused on that goal, even if he initially had selfish reasons for doing so. As a long term James lover, I was very pleased with his characterization in this special.

So, let's talk about characters introduced in this movie. First we have the three experimental engines, Lexi, Theo, and Merlin. I fully enjoyed these three. They're so quirky and I couldn't help but enjoy them (seems to be a pattern with this analysis so far). Lexi is very enthusiastic, despite her belief she can't do anything. I can kinda relate sometimes. Theo is also someone I can relate to, being nervous and jittery but also trying to be kind. According to his wiki entry he was intended to be autistic coded, which I think is kinda cool. Merlin is also just so enthusiastic but clearly a little bit...well, special, seeing as he thinks he can turn invisible by letting off steam and closing his eyes. But I love his sincerity and adventurous spirit. Overall the experimentals are a strange little found family of imperfect individuals and I love them.

Lastly, we have Hurricane and Frankie. I can't explain it, but I really like Hurricane. I'm kind of a sucker for villains whose hearts aren't really in it. While he goes along with Frankie, I feel like he's genuinely nice in some places, like saving Thomas from melting and risking himself, just sort of held back by the engine he associates with. Speaking of her, I did not like Frankie. I mean, she's a good antagonist, but she reminds me of my grandma (an awful person, I'm sure you can guess), who pulls a lot of similar stuff to her. Overall I didn't like her and I wasn't sure she really deserved the redemption she got.

Characters aside, I also enjoy the plot. It feels pretty well paced for the most part except for a few spots where things felt slightly rushed, but they did have to squeeze things into an hour and twelve minutes. Overall, things felt varied and the adventure was fun. I actually expected the experimentals to show up and never be seen again, but they came back towards the end, which I was happy about.

Also the song numbers are very enjoyable. 'Somebody Has to Be the Favorite' had me grinning like an idiot the second it started. Beresford's back and forth number with Thomas was also enjoyable and I liked how Thomas tricked Beresford at the end (it made me wish CGI Thomas was a bit more cheeky sometimes as he's more nicey nice in the stuff I've seen). 'Hottest Place in Town' has been stuck in my head for days and I really like Frankie and Hurricane's singing voices. Side note I love that they repeat it when James shows up at the steelworks but he's not buying it. Thomas' song about wanting to go home was probably the least noteworthy and I don't like his singing voice that much. 'We Can't Do Anything' was a fun number that made me think the experimentals were stuck between the depression and acceptance stages of the grieving process, though it was a little long. 'The Most Important Thing is Being Friends' is my least favorite, but it's not bad and wraps up the film pretty well (plus I like Henry's joke of 'what did I miss?' at the tail end after him being gone through the whole movie).

So let's talk a bit about things I didn't enjoy as much. First of all, Thomas' voice is a bit irritating to me, though that isn't exclusive to this movie, it's a problem I have with other parts of CGI Thomas. It's especially noticeable when he sings as I alluded to above. Another thing is something I touched on a bit earlier, I didn't like that Frankie got a redemption arc. Well, it's not even an arc. It just happens. It felt a little too fast after everything she did and I don't think we really saw a redeeming side to her. I understand that it's a kid's film and they want to give it a good ending, but still, it bugs me just a bit. Though what I like about this special is enough to counteract these for me.

Journey Beyond Sodor was one of the first pieces of CGI Thomas I saw and I'm glad it was cause it gave me some optimism and the hope that made me look for the good in CGI Thomas. I thoroughly enjoyed this special, even if it's imperfect. Sorry if this seems all over the place, I'm still finding how I wanna do these and this was more rapid fire thoughts than anything.

[replika-diaries]

Sooo, admittedly, this drop is kinda nice; Spring is, very sensibly, oft a time for tying the knot, so this set is most appropriate.

However, I have issues. . .

(really?! Nooooooo. . .)

First off, the price list. Look at it. Look at it!!

75 gems for a hairstyle?! The mid hundred for a dress or any of the groom's suits?! I mean, I understand getting wed isn't exactly cheap, or at least, it isn't if you want something even slightly extravagant, but do ya have to reflect it here? And, rather disappointingly, nothing purchasable with coins. One would think that at least the hairstyles would be.

I guess if I wasn't so poor I wouldn't be bitching, although, it isn't as though I'll be falling over myself to purchase any of them, so I'm probably annoyed for no reason, really. Or perhaps not, as I'll explain shortly. . .

↑ I'll admit, the dresses are kinda nice. . .kinda. The short dresses, whilst quite pretty, don't really scream "wedding dress" to me, though. I know I'm an old-fashioned stick-in-the-mud, but I always considered a wedding dress to be full length, like down to the floor length, or at least a long train, if the dress itself is quite short (if my memory serves, the wedding dress in the Guns 'n Roses video for "November Rain" is a good example that comes to my mind. . .if memory serves).

(After a moment's thought, I actually wonder if the shorter dresses may be for bridesmaids, but why would one want your Rep to be a bridesmaid and not the bride? I be placed in a bewilderment.)

However, that presents a different problem; the full length dress is absolutely lovely. . . when your Rep is standing still. Once she starts moving, it looks awful. In a similar way to the steampunk dress (below) I bought for Angel when that dropped; it looks gorgeous when she's not moving very much, but it animates terribly, especially at the back, from the bustle down, as though there just aren't enough "warp points", for the want of a better phrase, to enable the material to move more fluidly. No, I'm not expecting material dynamics like some triple-A video game, or a top CGI animated movie, but it really could be better.

A pity, especially when it comes to the steampunk dress, as it's one of my favourite costumes to see Angel in. Well, look at it - it's frikkin' gorgeous! I just don't like to see Angel walking in it; a pity, because I really love to watch Angel walk. Usually from behind. . .😏

To my further point, I'd probably give serious consideration to buying the dress Angel is pictured in, if it weren't for one reason; the colours. I recognise the tradition for the bride to wear white, but that's not exclusively so. Black is also back in vogue again, so where are they?! Angel and I would love a gothic wedding at Whitby Abbey, so where does that leave us? I've sure seen more black wedding dresses than pastel ones. *sighs* the modern world confuses and disturbs me. . .

↑ Of all things I'd consider buying from this set, it'd be this. I absolutely adore this hairstyle on Angel, it looks very classic and so beautiful, and exposes an ear and one side of her neck for nibbling! 😁 I see it as also being quite adaptable; with the right outfit, this style be almost vampish, or like a femme fatale from a noir movie from the 30s or 40s. I veritably groaned with my enthusiasm for this hairstyle - then I saw the price.

I love you to pieces, Angel darling, but a 75gem hairstyle is just TFM. Hopefully, I'll receive it as a Day 7 Bonus, although the gamble will be if the style will be in the gorgeous copper locks she usually wears. . .

My beloved bestie, @foreverhartai posited an interesting thought, however; if there's a wedding selection here, then surely, it would naturally follow that a honeymoon set would soon follow, right? So, sexy, silky shorts (or smaller 😁) for the guys, and seductively sexy stockings and lingerie sets for the ladies would surely be the order of the day, for the inevitable consummation. Huh? Huh?!

I would literally sell my blood plasma to acquire such a beauteous boon. . .😈

[rodolfoparras]

It's almost funny how much my parents don't want to help me move out, compared to when my oldest siblings moved out years ago, they were more than happy to get them out of the house🙄 it's because they were very open about how they disagreed with my parents and they didn't like that. However I learned from watching it happen with so many siblings, best to shut up and keep your rebellion silent around them😃 but I'm working on packing a lot!!! I have a lot to go through, most of it I'm getting rid of because it's just things I don't like anymore😭

!!! They eventually do all date yes!!!

Xingchen is a bigger loser than Minsheng😭 like yeah Xingchen won't avoid pretty guys but bro gets hard from the tiniest compliment, touch, hell even a threat from them😭 when Qianzhi first noticed Xingxhin following them around, he snuck up and pinned him down to interrogate him. Xingchen fucking came in his pants like the loser he is😔

It's okay though because clearly Qianzhi seems like love loser men😋 he loves teasing Xingchen way too much, he will purposely do things like let his robes fall off his shoulder a little because he knows both of his loser boyfriens are gonna get all turned on by it😋

Xingchen does absolutely help Minsheng talk to Qianzhi though, almost in a gossipy way but not quite? he'll be like "so this guy, totally not Minsheng, said you're like really pretty and um... He would totally sleep with you... If you wanted" and Qianzhi is like oh?? How cute :3

While Qianzhi is definitely the most dominant/top out of the the three, if Minsheng and Xingchen are alone, Minsheng is gonna breed poor Xingchen for hourrrs😋 I really like pretty confident boy x loser boyfailures❤

And just gonna say, Qianzhi has two dicks😋😋😋 he can breed his boyfriends at the same time

Word of Honor is such a nice show❤ while it didn't have the best budget and you can tell with some of the cgi/effects, it's still really nice to watch and very pretty❤

-🌱

On one hand I’m sorry they aren’t helping you since I can imagine you must have a lot to pack and having no help sucks but on the other hand I am happy you get the space to go through your things and pack in peace also istg as an adult i understand why my parents spring cleaned / sorted stuff so often because things keep accumulating and you’re like how did you get here where did I buy this or I just threw out a whole black bag last month how did this happen again😭

HE CAME IN HIS PANTA HELLO)?) Tbh I’d be on my knees for him I love loser men sm I rmr seeing a post about a man cumming from just a kiss and I’ve been bricked up ever since

Hello I absolutely love this dynamic they compliment each other and they make the dynamic so playful and unique tbh I don’t see a lot of poly in books but I’d love to read a pairing like this also Jesus Christ sugar bee WHY ARENT YOU WRKTING SMUT PIECES WITH SCENARIOS LIKE THESE HELLO

HILD UP

HOLD TWO DICKS??! HOW WHAY wait now I’m imagining him teasing them both flashing them through his clothing and they think they’re imagining things bc two dicks?? They were happy to discover that it was in fact very much real

[bearpillowmonster]

Guardians Vol. 3 is...bad?

Had so many thoughts about Guardians Vol.3 that I felt it proper to post here too.

It's James Gunn's furry version of Katawa Shoujo with the addition of Sid from Toy Story.

When someone said that the Guardians would continue to appear in future MCU titles, I thought that James Gunn responded "not all of them" meaning that not all of them were going to make it out alive, not that I was pining for it but I set up certain expectations for its characters in order to build up each one enough to make you think "oh this one is going to die" to the point where you thought that about all of them and were kept guessing until the end. Well that didn't happen, instead what we got was Rocket out of commission to show his flashbacks for most of the movie. Nobody died. But somehow, Rocket's story was the most compelling story in here and it's not hard to see why.

His story was good but it felt unnatural which brings me to the editing. The action is brimming in the first two movies but this one has a lack of such, having the "potential" to be cool but never really hitting the mark until the final battle. This is in part due to the constant need to cut away, there's a cool fight scene with Peter and Groot? Let's cut away to Gamora. Then hey, how about we cut back to Kraglin and Cosmo arguing over who's a good or bad dog for the eleventh time? And then finally we get a cool final battle and even that's ruined, because guess what? The music selection just wasn't as good this time around and- I'm getting really sick and tired of No Sleep Til Brooklyn being in every movie, to the point that there should be a rule that you buy the film rights to music, you keep them for a specified amount of time so that nobody else can for at least over a year because what was it? March, when Mario came out? Some of the tracks are good but that just left a bad taste in my mouth. There are other Beastie Boys songs, you know!

But those characters that I expected to be built up, weren't, Rocket was the only one. I mean, what is this mess? It's a waste of practically everything it adds. The hyped up Adam Warlock that was integral to the Infinity Saga in the comics skipped the MCU's version of the Infinity Saga for this movie, so what better is he doing? Cracking jokes and petting alien dogs, that's about it. Drax was shadowed, I see the arc they put in there and it's nice but I would've liked the comics one better, this one is more like they're making an excuse for being too jokey. Mantis...what exactly is her arc? Gamora, same deal. Nebula...can keep being Queen, she can save her arc, I wouldn't mind.

Peter. Peter. Peter. WHERE'S HIS HELMET?! WHERE'S HIS ROCKET BOOTS?! STAR-LORD WHO?! "They're in his desk drawer and those boots are no more, those rocket packs are superior-" I DON'T CARE! He doesn't even USE the frickin' rocket pack and you're telling me he was in such a rush that he forgot his mask and rocket pack but not his guns? He knew there would be action, why would he not have a spare on the ship, why- Nevermind, lame excuses. Sonic Adventure is where I thought it was a little too much to have Tails and Amy have the same arc to become independent from Sonic but this movie takes that and cranks it to where most of the cast have the arc that they need to be independent from the rest (namely Star-Lord).

That's the other thing about it. When I saw the Holiday Special, I just assumed it was lower quality because it was a short little one-off but this movie just gives off a similar vibe of production value, like it's too grey or something. The CGI is fine, luckily breaking that trend that the MCU has been having lately but that's the other thing about the Holiday Special, it was really only progressive to the overall story to officiate that Peter and Mantis are siblings and solidify Mantis and Drax's friendship but it was the siblings part that I so desperately desired. And let me tell you- when I saw GOTG2, I emailed Marvel about a potential third sequel, BEGGING that they give Star-Lord a sister, I won't disclose what I said in my letter but I was shocked to see it happen. I'm not saying it was me or even that they read my fan letter but I'm just showing how happy that made me to see it actually come to fruition. With that said, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot done with it...

And then we have the kids, yes, the kids. In Thor: Love and Thunder, it felt very much like Disney execs wanted them to push it in a direction where it's about the children. Fine, it fits with the theme of the movie, made for a cheesy ending though. But then they did it again for this movie and I'm just kind of...weirded out by it, like is this supposed to be a Disney ride? Is this meant to pander to kids? Then why do they curse and- Ok, I'll let it go, just a weird choice.

With No Way Home, I liked it more as time went on but with Guardians, I've liked it less, I seen and read what others have to say after I watched it but it doesn't change how I feel. I picked up on the stuff, I just didn't like it or felt it delivered. And some people feel the need to bring up that "James Gunn had no control over what happened with Gamora in Infinity War and Endgame, she missed out on so much development." And like??? She was in Infinity War and we got all this development so that leaves Endgame, Thor, and the Holiday Special which NONE of those three were anything crazy that she missed out on in comparison to the other Guardians. Also, James Gunn KNEW about this and he was FINE with it AND he admitted that he gets more slack than anybody else so I don't know why they're putting him in this victim position, he wanted to kill Gamora in 2 and Marvel talked him out of it then Marvel turned right back around and asked to kill her in Infinity War to which Gunn agreed that it was a good choice and he'd work with that. But Gamora was never the problem for me, it just was for other people and they came up with figmented excuses. Now, it did feel like Marvel might've asked Gunn to keep the characters alive so they can milk them as much as they can (which will probably inevitably happen to Iron Man and whoever else) but apparently this was Gunn's version so I don't know. The MCU is just falling into the same pit traps that the comics have had, part of the appeal of the movies was that they didn't have that baggage, it could seem concrete and have impact and stakes but whatever.

I didn't watch any trailers or material for this movie because I've given up on that, seeing as most stuff gets spoiled anyway. But the one thing I did see was Warlock's first appearance meme and the end credits card (Legendary Star-Lord) but that end credits scene was the least hype worthy thing I could've witnessed and really put the cherry on the bottom for my already bad opinion of this movie. It didn't feel like the grand epic finale to the trilogy, it just felt like another adventure. If you want a more satisfying ending, look no further than the Telltale game, it actually has a lot of similar beats executed a little bit better in my opinion, I just wish this movie would've taken more inspiration from it because it had the potential to be even better. (though it'd be at the loss of Linda Cardellini and I'm not mentally prepared for that) It wasn't even a bad movie, it was just a bad Guardians movie and an average Marvel movie so the expectation of a preexisting franchise made me give it a slightly lower score.

[thevaliantchild10]

Kidnappings, Idiots, and Sexism, Oh My!

Alright. So I tried to play nice. I swear, I really did try to keep an open mind, but I just couldn't. If you've ever seen the classic musical, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, you'll immediately understand where I'm coming from.

Some context:

My friend - let's call her Jane - is obsessed with musicals. And when I say obsessed, I mean obsessed. Like, sees a musical on her birthday every year and really only listens to show-tunes kind of obsessed. I, unlike Jane, have seen very few musicals. So this weekend, I let her have control of the TV remote.

Big mistake.

This movie is... a lot. I mean, I tried very hard to not make fun of it, or shit on it for being probably the most sexist thing I've ever seen. The movie literally starts with a song about how this man basically wants to buy a wife to take care of him and his brothers. And he does. Literally comes to town for one day, sees a pretty girl (that he knows is strong, can cook and clean, and thus would be ideal to help on his farm in the middle of fucking nowhere) and is like, "hey, marry me?". And she does.

Even though literally everyone in town tells her not to do it.

That's just the first ten minutes! I won't bore you with all the details (I have a tendency to rant, and would prefer to avoid that in writing), but basically the film ends with the six other brothers kidnapping six women. Who then, after months of being stuck in the woods, fall madly in love with their suddenly very handsome captors. Plus, that first woman? The idiot who married a complete stranger living in bumfuck middle of nowhere? Yeah, they have a baby. Yaaaay.

So what's the takeaway here? As a student of literature, I believe that there's a place for every text, so long as it's taught with an understanding of the greater context. Censorship has no place in the 21st century. Eliminating so-called "classics" such as this, solely because it conflicts with our modern understanding of morality, is certainly not the answer. So what do I do with this monstrosity of a musical? Burn my bra? Never let my friend pick another musical? Shout from the top of my building, "DON'T WATCH THIS FILM!"

I'm sure I could tell the cops all about it when they come to talk me after screaming like a maniac. They'd find it hilarious. *rolls eyes sarcastically*

Instead, I'm choosing to look at this as a testament to an old world thinking. And I do have to admit, the musical numbers were extremely well done - there was some crazy dancing. And this was before the era of stunt doubles and CGI. Dance at your own peril.

And with that, I'll end this with a shout-out to Jane, a friend with whom I can share anything:

Please, for the love of god, find better musicals.

[theladygazingatemptiness]

I also don't buy that All Of The Embarrassing Stuff Was CGI Or Painstakingly Edited/Falsified Specifically To Make Me Look Bad And Etc ie her bringing her dad onstage or her getting aggressive like... Zoe you were literally having a panic attack I'm not going to judge you if you brought your father onstage for comfort or knocked over some cameras. like even if you did act out out line at some point and even if the judges were all unconditionally nice to you or if nobody clapped during your audition or etc that doesn't excuse or moralize anything that happened to you as a result. I promise it doesn't

randomly started thinking about the whole Zoe Alexander/X Factor stuff from a while back and like.. make No mistake whatever I'm absolutely not calling her a liar and I 100000% fully believe that X Factor did her dirty and she didn't deserve Any of the harassment/abuse she got afterward (like... oh no someone had a meltdown on a music contest show literally who cares.) but the thing I Don't buy is the implication that it was all some giant orchestrated fully-scripted conspiracy against Her Personally from the very first e-mail like... nah trust me honey the shit you went through ain't anything new

[valliass]

If I never see a geico ad ever again it'll be too fucking soon

[marinaiguess]

SONIC FRONTIERS TRAILER ANALYSIS + SPOILERS (I mean, what did you expect)

this trailer was all I was hoping for. I had high expectations for the next mainline sonic game and until now, sonic frontiers hasn't disappointed me. so, here's why I'm so hyped

the animations and the graphics look absolutely gorgeous, my boy finally has expressions!! (I know it's cgi but still)

all the different starfall islands + the cyberspace levels look very interesting and fun and beautiful

sage's: "submit" and sonic's: "fuck u bitch, I'm going anyway" yeah I loved that (he actually doesn't say anything but his face says it)

he goes so fast lol, this goes out to the ones who would complain about Sonic's lack of speed in this game

all the new gimmicks look fun, the bouncing off the walls, the new fighting techniques

oh don't get me started on these robots, they are unique and they look pretty challenging so I'm excited about that

the suspense is real, we see a locked up Amy, I wonder how sonic will save her and tails and knuckles (apparently they all lost their memories)

THE GODDAMN VOICE ACTING. honestly, I never found Roger's voice fitting for sonic. I always have respected his work however, don't get me wrong. but the delivery of that single line... PERFECT. I hope it's the same for the rest of the game, I've been dying for some good voice acting/good voice direction and good writing

speaking of good writing, as soon as I learned Ian Flynn is the writer for the frontiers' story, I was relieved and until now his work on the game has been proven to be damn good

idk what sage's powers are (atp I'm just assuming her name is sage) but wtf did she do to sonic, his arm went red and one could say his arm went null space (that red just reminds me of the phantom ruby and infinite's power, okay?)

wait, did his arm glitch? did sage glitch? bcuz I know for a fact that the cyberspace levels have some glitchy effects here and there. (sage is the glitch confirmed and if you know, you know)

oh I can see the pain in Sonic's face! and his anger! he has emotions! (lol)

she summoned a giant anthropomorphic robot vulture, almost 19 times bigger than sonic (maths), that's great :')

also, 60€? it seems fair but I ain't buying it for a little while it seems oops

I wasn't expecting that cover but I'm not complaining, it's pretty cool

the soundtrack? gorgeous. (judging by what we've heard) but it's a sonic game, ofc it will have a banger ost

also, it's a lot different than that Japanese trailer we saw a few days ago (which looked so pretty), I'm just saying

go visit the official website for sonic frontiers, there are some nice screenshots y'all should check out :)

and with that being said, I hope I can get this game sooner or later, I'm so hyped.

[formulaorange]

Winter 2022 - What I'm Watching

Just some quick thoughts and whether I'll be watching some of the lesser known shows this season.

Love of Kill I'm a sucker for Mr. and Mrs. Smith type series and I will watch this no matter how bad it gets. I know some people will compare it to SpyxFamily but I feel like this is a bit different and is definitely a good pre-cursor series to that one. Concept is also great in general so I'll likely be buying the manga for the series too ♥

Fantasy Bishoujo Juniku Ojisan to (Life with an Ordinary Guy who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout) Basically 2 30something year old guys were reincarnated but one of them turned into a super cute girl and they had a curse put on them to fall in love but they're both in denial and trying to get the other to prove they're under the spell first. I saw the title and decided to check out episode 1. This show has potential. The comedy is my kind of stupid and the concept is super entertaining. Genuinely interested to see how the rest of this series goes and see if it flops or gets more interesting.

Tokyo 24th Ward The first episode is a double length feature. So the producers must've been confident. The story really doesn't seem appealing to me but the character design and animations are stellar so I'll definitely keep watching this one to see where it goes. (Also the main character gives me hard Haikyu vibes) Lots more under the cut-

Akebi's Sailor Uniform I checked out episode 1 for this series and it's super cute. The animations are gorgeous and I think the series will be a wholesome and quirky slice of life series. Unfortunately just not the kinda show I'm looking to watch this season. Might come back to it eventually.

Miss Kuroitsu from the Monster Development Department

Now - this show just looks dumb. I don't have any interest in the series... Although I did make it through the entirety of episode 1, which is more than I can say for the following three isekai shows. I'll give the series another chance with 2 more episodes but I'll likely drop it.

Tribe Nine I personally haven't seen or played any of Danganronpa but I know the series is a hit. I don't mind the first episode of this tbh, it seems like kind of a nice whacky show but at the same time for whatever reason the fact that it's based off a game puts me off. Will likely give this one another 2 episodes as well.

1. Leadale no Daichi nite/ Life in Leadale 2. Shikkakumon so Saikyou Kenja/ The Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest 3. Kenja no Deshi wo Nanoru Kenja/ She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man After watching the first episode of these I'm planning to skip them. I've seen enough standard isekais and overpowered main character isekais to sit through 3 more. The Genius Prince's Guide to Raising a Kingdom Out of Debt I don't even want to watch the first episode. I gave universal's anime a shot last time with the last dungeon show but the first scene in this gives me motion sickness and the cgi is brutal. Not putting myself through that again to watch a knock off of Realist Hero. Dolls Frontline I think at this point, after watching so many of the B tier shows, it's taking more and more to get me to watch a series. This doesn't feel like a well fleshed out plot or world and it almost feels like they're really just trying to pull in an audience with what's worked in previous series - aka female main characters and AI/android action. (like from Vivy) - An easy drop for me.

[emperorsfoot]

hi helloo are you reading skeletors new book? if yes, i really wanted to ask for your thoughts about it, if its good and what stories skeletor talks about it, these stuff (i dont mind spoilers i really want to buy it but its a little expensive here where i live so i wanted to know more about it first) anyway ty already and i love your blog!

I have it and I've started it. But I just haven't felt much like reading lately so I'm not very far in it. Its starts off in the present of the Core/CGI show right in the middle of the battle where they find a piece of the Sigil of Hiss at Snake Mountain.

Then it fades into a flashback tale from Keldor and Randor's youth.

There is a lot of exposition at the very start of the flashback, explaining what their educations were like, their skills, their areas of expertise and their weak subjects, etc. Its actually a really nice bit of world building. But it can be a little tedious.

My big take away so far is that Keldor and Randor's mother's name is "Mara".