#no i haven't seen the movie but i read enough spoilers and seen some concept art that has me feral

[firstdove15]

Listening to the demo version of At All Cost was a mistake (affectionate).

[esta-elavaris]

Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro

Spoiler-y rant ahead because I loved this book and I never want to read it again.

So, for those who don't know, the premise of this book is that there are people who are clones (presumably of whose "originals" were in a difficult financial position, who sell their genetics/permission for this to happen), who are created and raised from infancy for the sole purpose of becoming organ donors when they reach adulthood. They survive three or four donations, one after the other, with just enough time to recover between them, and then they die - or "complete", as the book puts it. It's also hinted that as they're dying following the fourth, the doctors basically harvest whatever else they can - y'know, the really vital ones that wouldn't allow for recovery between if they did it earlier.

The book begins by describing the childhood of these clones, but you don't know they're clones. At first (if you haven't seen the movie, like I had), you think they're just kids in an orphanage or boarding school. Then it's all drip-fed to you, very matter of factly, as you follow them growing up and coming to grips with what's going to happen, and when it eventually does happen

And I have this habit, right, of when I love a book (and this was a five star read for me) where I go onto goodreads and read the one star reviews - just from a writing standpoint, to remind myself of how subjective it all is. But god, these reviews got to me. There was so much complaining about how the organ donation thing wasn't some big plot twist moment, or how there wasn't enough emphasis on the horror of it - there wasn't a Stephen King moment where a character pokes at their wounds and contemplates that their kidney was just taken or anything like that.

And to me, that just makes it so much more real?

In the book, the narrator - Kathy - mentions a theory that another "clone" at her school had, that they were given little bits and pieces of information about who they were and what their purpose was when they were just too young to understand it, so when they DID grow old enough to make sense of each new piece of information a year or so later, there's no rebellion. There's no outcry. Because by that point, the concept has become normal to them before they're even properly old enough to understand what it means. How can you not see the meaning in that? It can apply to so much. Admittedly, Kathy doesn't agree with that theory, but I did when I read the book.

It's presented as so normal and matter-of-fact because that's what it is to those characters, and that's what makes it feel so real! How many of us deal with horrible things in our day to day lives, or see them play out on the news, and just...get on with it? And if we were told in an abstract sense "tomorrow you'll see a child get blown up in a video" we'd be horrified, but then so many people turn on the news and see that very thing reported and the context and the way it's presented means it's just another Tuesday. Further still, how many completely normal things in our daily lives would seem horrific if we stopped and framed them another way?

There are moments where the horror seeps in, they're not robots, they don't feel nothing over the fate that they know is looming, and where they try to tentatively find ways to get out of it. So much of the book revolves around different theories they have, different rumours that if they do X, Y, and Z, they'll get postponements for their donations, but it's not done in an insanely melodramatic way - where the clock's ticking down and they're sweating trying to diffuse a bomb. They're numb and they're even weirdly reluctant to try because they're reluctant to hope, and it just feels so true to life.

There's so much more that goes on in the book - the donations themselves and people being raised solely to be organ donors, and the way the world treats them, there are so many different readings of that alone, nevermind what happens as the book develops, I could write a dissertation on it, but it's just wild to me that anybody could read it and give it one star for the very thing that makes it good.

God, I need to read more by this author.

[webbedphantom]

Aaron in the Spider-Verse

This is something I've thought about on occasion, though I've never done much with it because it's always so... awkward starting interactions with other superhero accounts (aside from MHA OCs for some reason-). I don't even know why, it's probably just from my experiences with them over on Twitter. The Persona verse was much more accepting of Aaron as a concept than most other Marvel accounts, so it's always been hard to reach out.

ANYWAYS, back on topic-

I don't think Aaron would really have much of a place in the Spider-Verse, at least the comic book one. To put it in layman terms, there are these things called totems, people embodying or empowered by different animals, and Spider Totems are special for some big multiversal thingy that holds all the worlds together for reasons I can't remember and don't feel like looking up. And there are even special-er totems that take on a specific role in some cycle or whatever-

Anyways, I bring all this up because Aaron isn't any of that. He has spider powers, but he's not a totem (because yes that can happen). Aaron's kind of an outlier, in both the Spider-Verse and among other Persona users, even other Jokers. The things that allow him to be both a Spider-Man and a Persona user are also the things that keep him from truly fitting in with either group.

I've even thrown around the idea of Aaron not being his world's Spider-Person, that it's actually his kid (whoever that turns out to be) who becomes their link to the Web of Life and Destiny. But maybe that's a bit too far.

I don't know, I just like Aaron being an outcast among outcasts for some reason.

For the movie Spider-Verse though, he'd fit in alright. They don't really have totems as far as I know, and Aaron's definitely had a few canon events, at least in the main AU.

Though he also never has an Uncle Ben moment, since he didn't need one (Canonically, Joker helps that woman without a second thought, so he didn't need to learn anything to become a hero. Just needed to reaffirm the beliefs he already had). The closest he has is Shiho, but no matter the verse there is nothing he could've done to prevent what happened... yet he blames himself anyway, because of course he does.

So yeah, he'd fit in fine and relate to a bunch of the different Spiders. Though, I imagine as excited as he'd be by the idea of alternate realities (he's a massive nerd after all), he'd be a bit more conflicted on the idea of him being a part of some massive legacy. Like he wouldn't be sure if he deserved to be a part of it, and would be constantly terrified of tarnishing it in some way.

Something else I think would be interesting is meeting up with a few particular Spiders. Generally any Spider around his age would be someone he would grow attached to. It's hard to find people who just... get exactly what you're going through. He'd similarly bond pretty well with any Spider that started in their teens, and would take their advice to heart should they offer any.

But the biggest one has to be Miguel O'Hara (My favorite fictional character of all time!!) Because Spidey 2099 is literally the character he grew up reading, who inspired him in so many ways, who he partially based his outfit on, albeit subconsciously. And while Miguel isn't identical to the Prophet of Thor Aaron is such a big fan of, he's close enough that he'd recognize him immediately and fan boy his heart out.

This last part is gonna get into spoilers for Across the Spider-Verse, so if you somehow haven't seen it yet, first of all go watch it right now. This is a threat. Secondly, come back to this after you've seen it to see that-

So, let's talk about the Spider Society and canon. Aaron would probably be really excited about the place at first, super happy to be around other people like him, not to mention working alongside a guy who is all but living incarnation of his childhood hero. But over time, he'd get a bit... less so. Namely when it comes to the canon.

Aaron has two simple beliefs that are the core of who he is. "Inaction makes you complicit" and "There is always a better way."

In other words, if someone gets hurt and you had a chance to stop it, it's on you. And if you come across a situation that forces you to break or bend your moral code, you weren't looking hard enough.

Simple, a bit naive in some ways, but that's just who he is.

So finding out that the Spiders are actively letting people die for the sake of the multiverse... Yeah, he'd hate that.

I mean on one hand, he'd kinda understand because with that many lives at stake, of course you wouldn't want to risk it, but on the other "There's always another way." And it's the fact that they don't seem to be looking for it, that they seem content to just let people die to keep the status quo, that would really piss him off.

I do feel like he'd try to give them the benefit of the doubt at first, like wait a bit before doing anything to drastic and try to see things from their perspective, since he would want to get along with them, especially Miguel. But eventually, especially if someone's life is on the line, he's going to turn on them.

Originally when I thought up this idea, the life that was on the line was someone close to him, someone who's death would be a canon event. But while I do think that would still work, I realized it really doesn't have to be anyone from his universe, anyone he knows at all. Sure, it's impactful to see how far he'd go for someone he cares about, but I think it's even moreso if he goes that same distance for a complete stranger, not to mention totally in line with his character.

It would really tear him up inside to go against them, especially Miguel since he's again, basically his childhood hero on par with Batman and Sonic... But he's gotta stay true to his beliefs.

Now herein lies the issue with writing anything related to canon and the Spider-Verse movies-

We don't know who's right.

Yes, there are hints throughout the film that Miguel is wrong and that canon isn't what holds the multiverse together or that there is another way, but we don't know the how or why of it, nor what that other way is yet. Which is a pretty important thing to know when writing a story where two characters fight over something like this. And until Beyond the Spider-Verse comes out, the only way to really tell the kind of story that I want to tell, of Aaron going against the Society and desperately searching for either proof that they're wrong, or another way to keep the canon intact without letting people die, is to just make something up... which could end up being disproven whenever the movie eventually releases.

Which as someone who is obsessed with continuity, is not really something I want to happen-

So as much as I would like to write that stuff, I think I'd rather just wait for Beyond...

Still down to interact with other Spiders though. Just gotta work up the courage to... y'know, do that-

[balladedutempsjadis]

I saw Jawan today and ...

The last film I saw on a big screen was Ponniyin Selvan, Part 2, and before I went to see Jawan I had a talk with myself. "Self," I said, "although I don't know much about this movie, I know that it is not directed by one of India's greatest directors, nor is based on a classic series of novels, nor is the sequel to the previous film which had well-developed, memorable characters even in smaller roles, played by extremely good actors. So do not expect, Self, that this will give you the same kind of experience that the PS films did."

And with that said, no, this definitely didn't give me the same kind of experience but it was really fun to see one time in a theater with friends.

Big, big, VERY BIG ENORMOUS SPOILERS. Don't read if you haven't seen the film and you want to be unspoiled.

Much like my PS2 theatrical experience, I MISSED THE FIRST TEN MINUTES AGAIN, ARGH! I was counting on previews and they didn't have previews, I guess? However, I don't think I missed out on as much as I did by missing the first ten minutes of PS2.

There were lots of things I liked about Jawan, so I'm going to start with those:

The good:

It was fun seeing a bunch of South Indian actors like Priyamani and of course Nayanthara and Vijay Sethupathi. (More about them later.) Oh, and I did like the mini-Family Man reunion with Priyamani and the actress who plays her character's daughter Dhriti on that show :D (If only Manoj Bajpayee had been in this and/or Raj & DK had written the script, this would have been a different film altogether.)

SRK is very charming, but much more so in the second half when he was playing the much more age-appropriate Vikram Rathore. I'll get to why I liked Vikram Rathore more in the parts that I DISLIKED but I also loved that Vikram was very funny. (I always love when SRK is slightly taking the mickey out of himself which he did in the second half of the film. And I cracked up when he asked Suji if she was also his kid.) I would watch a whole entire movie of Vikram Rathore doing cool stuff.

I liked the girl gang concept a lot (I would have even liked it more if the boss had been Kaveri Amma and not SRK, but I don't think the movie would have ever been made if that were the case) and I liked all the individual actresses.

Nayanthara - she was fabulous as the task-force cop and looked so good doing action scenes. I love her.

Deepika Padukone - she's so gorgeous and I had some Om Shanti Om vibes with this, which is a movie that I really love. And the emotional parts were pretty good too.

While the political messaging was extremely heavy-handed, I did like that it came up in the movie, especially the part about voting. (When they stole the voting machines, I couldn't help but wonder if the scriptwriters had been listening to any of the insane election 2020 denialism in the US :P Was Hugo Chavez behind any of this? :P) However, maybe the script would have been tighter if they had targeted ONE social ill, instead of all of them?

Vijay Sethupathi - I will always just really like him whatever he's doing, because I'm like a duckling about movies and I imprint on actors based on what I first saw them in*, and I saw VJS in Farsi first, and loved him in that. SO ...

There was enough humor that I didn't feel like it was entirely taking itself seriously which is important in this kind of a film (though you didn't have to show people rolling around laughing to cue us to laugh, director Atlee!!) Let your script do its thing, dude! (Oh, wait, I forgot that the script was ... the script that it was. Which brings me to the bad):

The bad:

I'm sorry but the de-aging VFX for SRK was honestly a bit creepy - people drag Nayanthara for having work done, but I'll take her still-human face over the plastic-y face Azad. When he pulled the bald sock thing off his head, I really thought he was going to peel off his entire face and show "normally aged SRK" but nope!

I just threw up my hands and laughed when they discovered Deepika was pregnant just by taking her pulse. Why do they even make pregnancy tests, am I right? And I don't know about India, but surely they would have you know, taken her blood group etc. when she was first incarcerated?

Which brings me to my VAST apology to all Tamil movies in which I have shaken my head in disbelief that a man who repeatedly has his head whacked with a metal bar or banged into a concrete pillar doesn't even have a concussion, let alone a skull fracture. No, compared to Jawan, you are all PINNACLES of realism! Because SRK was shot five times, thrown out of an airplane that was above the cloudline, fell into a body of water and didn't break any bones, AND banged his head on a rock and apparently just suffered some slight amnesia. Um, ok then! (I think the part where the dude finds him and says he's keeping his promise to Azad might have been in the first ten minutes that I missed, so maybe there's some explanation for why he didn't die - but for now, I just have to assume he was the incarnation of Grigorii Rasputin. And I will almost certainly never watch this movie a second time, so it will just have to remain a mystery unless someone can explain to me in the comments or something.

The music was completely forgettable. There wasn't a single song that I can even remember the tune of, nothing catchy, no memorable lyrics etc. That WAS disappointing.

Random new subplots that made NO SENSE. Like what was the whole thing about stealing the elections with mafia money? Why was that even in there? And if it had to be in there, why didn't the SRKs just leave him to the mercy of those people who would have murdered him inventively for losing their money? And if they just wanted SRKs to kill him the way he got Aishwarya killed, then why include that subplot? None of that subplot made any sense at all. (Actually very little of that plot made any sense.)

Another thing was the women's jail/rest home. If that is prison, I am surprised more people weren't clamoring to be incarcerated. It looked much nicer than living on a farm. It was super clean and they seemed to have a ton of freedom even before Azad became the warden.

The way Nayanthara was completely sidelined in the second half. I also have no idea why she decided to marry SRK after five minutes. (And they totally stole her costumes in Chaliye from the Kannala Kannala song in "Thani Oruvan" - a far, far better song than any of the songs in Jawan. (See below)

So all in all, I did enjoy the film and I'm glad I saw it, despite its flaws. But this is not a rewatch for the nuances type of film!

*Kay Kay Menon, Tabu, and Shahid Kapoor fan for life because I first saw them in Haider. Which is definitely the best movie Shahid Kapoor has ever made, but Farzi was really excellent too and Shahid and Kay Kay were in it alongside VJS. Watch eeeeeeet!

[phantombandit-films]

Jurassic World: Dominion Thoughts.

First off I’d just like to say that I did like this movie, it was enjoyable and fun and yes, I did cry. But I just wanted to talk about a few points and how I felt about it all. No way am I saying that I hated this movie because I didn’t but this is just how I feel after my first sitting, who knows maybe my mind will be changed after I see it again. Obviously this post will contain spoilers, so if you still haven't seen the movie, please don't read!

Fist off I would like to talk about every bodies favourite Raptor Blue - I feel like they could have used her way more than they did. They could have found some way to have take her with them to rescue Beta and Maisie, then she could have had a fight with the Atrociraptor’s and maybe even the Pyroraptor. I did like the whole ‘Owen making her a promise to get beta back’ thing but I would have just liked to see more of blue, especially seen as this is the concluding film. Also with Beta! I was expecting her to be the main thing about this film but she wasn't, I also thought Maisie wouldn't want to leave her side when she set her free but she just left her then we didn't see Beta again until the end?! What was the point.

Can we also talk about them completely changing why Maisie was made.

This then leads into the other dinos - which I just feel like they put in so many new/ old dinosaurs but didn’t utilise them enough, like there was this big thing around promoting the Atrosoraptors but they were in it, what? All of five minutes? Same goes with the Pyroraptor and Therizinosaurs I feel like they were a massive part of the promos but then wasn't use to their full potential. The Allosaurus and Carnotaurus looked so good and I'm so sad we didn't get to see much of them and their rampage in Malta. I would of also liked to have seen Allen interact with the Dilophosaurus that would have been so cool.

ALSO WHERE WAS SPINO :’(

I feel like we should have had at least one major death (Not going to lie though I nearly started crying when I thought Giga was going to get Ian), might just be me on this one as I kind of siked myself up for either Ian, Rexy or Blue to die and sort of wanted that strong emotion. Another point that might just be me but I missed Zia and that one scene with her at the start just wasn't enough for me.

I also did really like the locust story line but I feel like that could have been it's own movie entirely, I kind of wished this one had just stick to wrapping up the other two movies and focused more on seeing dinos and humans living together, like 'Battle at Big Rock' Also like what we saw from the concept art that was released.

I feel one thing that would have been good as well, would be if the prologue was added to the beginning of the movie. If people are going to see it who aren't massive Jurassic fans and haven't kept up with all the little promos like 'Battle at Big Rock.' or the Prologue, they wont be confused at the Giga and Rexy rivalry but i feel like seeing that prologue before is more beneficial, because then you see their fight as a rematch of ancestors thousands of years later, and also that the mosquito that took that T-Rex's blood all those years ago after the Giga killed it, is now Rexy.

Talking about the end fight, what even was that? I was hoping for something as twice as epic as the battle at the end of Jurassic world, but this one was so weak and lasted a second. Yeah I was disappointed. The little bit where Rexy comes in though and stands behind the circle like the Jurassic logo made me scream though, I did love that. I also did sob when I though Rexy was dead, my queen.

There was just something a little off about it, something that didn’t feel like Jurassic that I cant put my finger on.

If you want to see more concept art please go follow the amazing artists on Instagram! @andreewallin @riabovitchev