#none of the big storylines were funny or interesting imo

[russian-spider]

I'm finally caught up with wwdits and I hope the finale is good bc this season was so... boring

[musclesandhammering]

Loki (2021) Positivity from an Anti

Ok so all of my mutuals know I’m extremely anti-Loki (2021), anti-sylki, and anti-sylvie. But at a certain point, even we antis get tired of all the negativity. So! Here’s some Loki series commentary in the opposite direction! This is a list of all the things about the show that I loved :)

Also adding a disclaimer that all of this is just my opinion and some of my fellow antis (or even people who liked the show) might disagree, and that’s fine! I’ve been planning this post for awhile. I always say in my other posts that I don’t entirely hate the show and I wanted to be a little more specific about what I think are its good aspects. Feel free to leave your thoughts!

• Mobius is a gem (Owen Wilson owns my whole heart) and his relationship with Loki is so so great. He’s not one-dimensional at all, he has conflicted loyalty and is morally complex, and he has the tragic backstory- which makes him a perfect choice for eventually becoming Loki’s first genuine friend.

• The casting was really really great. Lots of women and people of color. Most of the female actresses (as well as the males) are over 30, which isn’t very common and is fantastic!

• Superb acting all around. I can’t think of a single scene where the actors under or oversold it.

• Beautiful set design, incredible cgi, and gorgeous cinematography overall. It looked more like a movie than a tv show, which is really good.

• Kang being the big bad was a huge plus for me. Johnathan Majors was perfect in the role, his vibes were immaculate, and I was honestly pretty worried that the man behind the curtain would end up being another Loki variant, which imo would’ve been boring and predictable and counter-productive, so it was a big relief when that didn’t happen.

• I like that it sets up a bunch of future marvel movies, rather than being contained to its own little world. It gives it more importance and (hopefully) will encourage writers to not just toss Loki’s character aside in future projects.

• All the Loki variants were delightful. All of them except Sylvie. Kid Loki has my heart. Boastful Loki is a fashion icon. Alligator Loki is a savage. President Loki is the superior variant. Classic Loki became my fav character in less than half an episode.

• It showed some more variety in Loki’s magic. A lot of his powers we’ve seen before, but it feels like they were portrayed a bit more blatantly in the show. The energy blasts, the telekinesis, the teleportation… Outstanding.

• It also implied that Loki has the potential to be waaaay more powerful than he knows he is right now, which? Yes.

• Some of the quotes- and the themes behind them- are just profound as hell. Such as:

“I think we’re stronger than we realise.”

“It’s never too late to change.”

“You can be whoever you wanna be, even someone good.”

“We’re Lokis. We survive. It’s what we do.”

“Loki, God of Outcasts.”

“The universe wants to break free, that’s why it manifests chaos.”

• Technically Loki was Marvel’s first canon lgbt (bi) character, which is a win. His genderfluidity is also technically canon, even if it wasn’t really acknowledged on-screen.

• There were a lot of throwback references to Thor 1, Avengers, and Thor The Dark World. Which I loved.

• Sylvie’s so pretty. Her hair and makeup and costume were all perfect.

• Big fan of Loki finally getting Laevateinn.

• Sufficiently slutty imagery, courtesy of a female director (Loki in a collar, kneeling to Sif, President Loki looking down into the bunker, the hair flips)

• The music was Excellent Wonderful and Superb.

• I love that Loki being a good singer is now canon.

• I love that Asgardians having their own language is now canon (even if it’s basically just Icelandic).

• I also love that they disproved all of those “Loki was a shy nerdy wallflower pre-canon” theories in Episode 3. The drinking/eating/singing scene was fun, if a bit wacky.

• There’s a million different reasons why Loki does what he does, especially in regards to the New York attack (I’m literally writing a huge meta on them), but somehow I never considered that Loki being desperate for control was one of them. It makes a lot of sense, and I always love getting new insights into his motivations.

• I love that Loki finally outright acknowledged that he doesn’t enjoy hurting people. We Been Knew™️ but it’s still nice to hear it out loud from his own mouth.

• The TVA outfit wasn’t as hideous as some people make it out to be. It could’ve been A Look, even. You know, if he’d just accessorised a little better. And kept the jacket on. And not gotten sweaty. And not gotten dirty. And maybe had at least one other costume change… But it had potential, though!!

• Even though I despise the Obvious One, I did actually like some of the other romance crumbs they tossed us (sifki, Loki x the flight attendant).

• The whole DB Cooper thing was iconic idc idc.

• Loki’s hyper sort of overly excited puppy attitude in episode 2 was actually pretty refreshing and funny (for awhile). And now I can headcanon him as adhd, yeehaw.

• “We’re all villains here.” That quote was iconic, my favourite one in the show. And the entire theme that it summarised was really great as well. When you think about it, every single main character in this series has been the villain at one point or another. I mean, I know all marvel characters do bad things etc, but none of the Heroes are ever narratively categorised as Bad. This show did just that with all of them, though. . Loki was framed as the psychopath that attacked New York. Sylvie was framed as the murderous fugitive. The TVA/Ravonna/Mobius were framed as the murderous fascists. Kang was framed as the crazy totalitarian. It’s made clear that all the Loki variants were the villains of their stories.

However, every single main character in the series is also framed as the Hero at a certain point. Loki is framed as the main protagonist who throws a wrench in the TVA’s dastardly plans. Sylvie is framed as the persevering freedom fighter who wants to take down the fascists. The TVA/Mobius/Ravonna are framed as the ones who maintain order for the greater good. Kang is framed as the weird but ultimately benevolent wise man who’s just trying to prevent something worse from happening. The Loki variants are framed as generous allies who befriend the main character and help him on his journey.

Everyone in this equation is openly acknowledged by the narrative to be morally corrupt, but not entirely morally bankrupt. There are no Straightforward Hero Figures (like the Avengers) in this entire scenario at all, and that makes for a super interesting dynamic that marvel has never done before. So yes: “We’re all villains here.” But also: “No one bad is ever truly bad, and no one good is ever truly good.” I loved that.

• Even if it wasn’t really enough imo, I still treasure the crumbs we got of Loki being competent and capable (him putting the collar on B-15, him figuring out Sylvie’s hiding place, him teaching himself to enchant on the fly while fighting a giant cloud beast of eldritch proportions).

• I love that B-15 was the one who stepped in and saved the day in Episode 4, when we all thought it was gonna be Mobius. What a queen.

• Marvel usually has a bit of a problem with creating compelling and memorable side characters. But aside from Sylvie, I genuinely got attached to every single character in this show. Like Casey, C-20? I was seriously emotionally invested in them and they were only in like 2 episodes. Wtf.

• Introducing the TVA storyline in the Loki series specifically was a really good move. I’m not saying they executed it well, just that it had a ton of potential. A lot of people have wondered why marvel even thought to put those two (the TVA and Loki) together, when they had literally nothing to do with each other, nothing in common, and essentially no connection at all. But when you think about it, it’s a really interesting twist on both of those stories. Forcing the embodiment of destructive chaos and the pillar of rigid order to interact could make for some seriously entertaining and compelling television. And as far as meshing these two completely unrelated entities together goes, I thought they did it pretty well- at least just the bare bones of the story (loki being arrested by the TVA and being one of their most common variants).

So that’s it! If you guys (fellow antis) wanna add stuff you liked, feel free. If anyone wants to discuss (or debate) my list, feel free to do that too!

[blumeisms]

rules: pick  five  shows,  then  answer  the  following  questions.  don’t cheat.  tag  some  people. tagged by: @viceprone 🤪 tagging: @outoftheashcs, @notsogeniusgirls, @shadowyavuz and anyone else who feels like doing it!

1.  Charmed 2.  New Girl 3.  Big Little Lies 4.  Crazy Ex-Girlfriend 5.  Stranger Things

WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE CHARACTER IN 2? nick miller always. i see to much of myself in him because he’s anti-social, a bit miserable, cynical and a complete old fogey. i am all of these things lmfao. that being said, i absolutely love winston too. it’s really hard for me to pick favourites lmao.

WHO IS YOUR LEAST FAVOURITE CHARACTER IN 1? billie. worst fuckin character ever. i can’t. no further explanation is needed.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE EPISODE OF 4? “getting over jeff” mainly because paula sings about the first penis she saw and that song never fails to make me cackle.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE SEASON OF 5? hmmm probably season 2 I think. badass babysitter steve protecting the kids will forever be my fave. also poor bob. 

WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE COUPLE IN 3? ehhh none really. i thought jane could’ve had something cute with the guy who owns the coffee shop in season one but he just completely fucking disappeared in season two lmao. madeline and ed have a funny dynamic, but i wouldn’t say they’re my fave couple bcos she cheated on him (with santiago cabrera and who fucking wouldn’t?????). i don’t feel like there are any healthy couples in big little lies tbh lmao.

WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE COUPLE IN 2?   listen i love nick and jess and they have the whole grumpy ass meets literal ray of sunshine and i love it. but i also love winston and aly. i can’t pick because i’m too indecisive.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE EPISODE OF 5? the one with badass babysitter steve and the demodogs in seadon two. the season three finale was pretty good too.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE SEASON OF 2?   idk, i’m rewatching it atm so i’ll say season one. it’s the one i actually remember most of.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU WATCHED 1?   a looong time. i watched it a little when i was a kid - i remember every saturday when i went to my granny’s she would have it on. i don’t think i really understood it much then tbh but i loved the fact they were witches. there are reruns on tv all the time now and i’m in the process of rewatching it all from the start but i’m slow af.

HOW DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN 3?   i think my auntie told me to watch it? i’m shit at taking tv shows recs from people and it took me ages to watch but one day i was off work sick and i binge watched all of season one in one day. 

WHICH DO YOU PREFER, 1, 2, OR 5?   charmed trash forever lmao.

WHICH SHOW HAVE YOU SEEN MORE EPISODES OF - 1 OR 3?   charmed because there are more episodes of it than big little lies.

IF YOU COULD BE ANYONE FROM 4, WHO WOULD YOU BE?   oooh, that’s hard. probably heather because she’s by far the coolest.

PAIR TWO CHARACTERS IN 1 WHO WOULD MAKE AN UNLIKELY BUT STRANGELY OKAY COUPLE? okay, i saw something where someone had paired up prue and cole and i could sort of see it??? idk they were both v opinionated and feisty and they had that one ep where they went back in time to save phoebe and actually worked together. also, even though they were an actual couple on the show for a while, i loved piper and dan. soz.

OVERALL, WHICH SHOW HAS A BETTER STORYLINE, 3 OR 5?   i love both but big little lies is better plot-wise imo. so many good twists.

WHICH HAS BETTER THEME MUSIC, 2 OR 4? omg that’s so hard - both are great. i think crazy ex gf just about snags it though because they’re so creative with the music on that show.

[zdbztumble]

I loved Avatar: The Last Airbender; I’d argue it’s the best cartoon produced for television in a very long time, certainly in the West. And I was on-board for The Legend of Korra, and stuck with it through the first two seasons. After the Season 2 finale, I gave up on the show, and wrote up my reasons why at the time. I’ve never gone back to the show since outside of catching the very end of the final episode. Anyone out there who stuck with Korra ‘til the end; could you tell me if I should give the show another chance?

What I wrote at the time (plucked from a longer thread in the Avatar Spirit forums):

I think that if there's a standard line of quality for family-friendly TV, and Avatar took a big step over that line (it's my favorite show), then Korra did the splits over it, one foot going further ahead than even Avatar and another going back below the line. In its choice of subject matter and its thematic material, Korra is more ambitious than its predecessor. Overall, the Equalist arc was well-written and fairly powerful. On the other hand, Season 1 engaged in a fair amount of toilet humor, and the cast wasn't as strong as the first show (Korra and Tenzin I really liked; it's the three other kids who fell a little flat. I'd agree with charges against Mako that he was bland, Bo Lin that he was funny but no more than that, and Asami that she had the most potential of these three but was given the least opportunity.) And while I appreciate the leap forward in time and the efforts to present new things, that paradoxically resulted in Korra fitting in a bit more with standard fare than Avatar did. The planes and cars of Korra work like, well, planes and cars, and the car chases and aerial battles, while fun, weren't all that different from what I see on any other show with such action. Proportionally, the first season of Avatar seemed to have a steadier pace, more development, and a stronger impact, at least on this viewer. While I thought the first season of Korra was well-done (and again, extremely ambitious in scope), it rarely equaled its predecessor, and only once did I feel it surpassed it (when Beifong tore apart the airships with her metalbending). And, for how ambitious it was, the Equalist arc was a lot to try and cram into thirteen episodes. It fit, but I felt strain at the seams, mostly in how easily the navy was wiped out and how quickly Korra regained her powers. With Season 2, there was apparently a decision made that every storyline - and every villain - would be wrapped up within one season. "Spirits" was given 14 episodes. In response, Bryke and company decide to not only tackle a spiritual story that deals with the origins of the Avatar and the potential apocalypse on a scale beyond what even Ozai could imagine, but several heavy subplots dealing with family feuds, dynastic struggles, corporate intrigue, and technological innovation. And in the end, it was just more than one season could handle IMO. The Season 2 premiere was promising. The exploration of the spirit world, the consequences of forgetting the solemn roots of festivals, and Korra's unique family relationships all made for a high reach. On the other hand, we had: - Two waterbending brothers who are heirs to a burdensome legacy, one of them ending up leaving home. - One of said brothers being convinced of a great moral weakness in a society and commanding his armies to take over because he knows best. - Korra being frustrated with Tenzin's teachings and Tenzin being too serious and old-fashioned for Korra. Any of that sound familiar? Derivative of Season 1 that might be, but I was still intrigued. But once the first portal was opened, the focus shifted from the spirits to...well, pretty much anything else. Korra's family breaking up, the civil war of the Water Tribes, Verrick's manipulations, spoofs on early movies, Tenzin's family vacation, more teenage love affairs - most of them interesting and entertaining, but they had nothing to do with the relationship between the spirit and physical worlds, or what the villain's plan was. Leaving Unalaq's true plans in the dark for so long might have provided some menace and suspense, but he himself was MIA for so long that it was easy to forget about him and what he might be up to. More damaging, Korra herself wasn't the focus for much of the time, and when she was, she was often at her worst IMO. We were more than halfway through the season when she finally got her act together, and when the true villain and the true threat were finally revealed. And this is, I think, the real problem of "Spirits." "Beginnings" established that the Avatar cycle began at the last Harmonic Convergence, and that it was Wan who divided the two worlds. Many people in this thread have said that Korra, so burdened by the expectations of being the Avatar and by the legacy of her predecessors, needed to be free of them so she could be herself, that she is the beginning of a new Avatar cycle brought on by this latest Harmonic Convergence, and that she realised at last Wan was wrong to separate the worlds. A marvelous concept with a lot of potential - but there was no proper build-up. By waiting so long to introduce this central conflict, the show burdened itself with trying to make the arc I just described tangible in a very brief amount of time. "Beginnings" really only gives Wan's history and reveals Unalaq's real plan - it doesn't connect the past to the present in the way needed. And once Korra gets this information, we spend an episode trying to learn how to get into the spirit world, an episode with baby Korra learning not to be so afraid (I love Iroh, but was all that really necessary?), and an episode wrapping up a lot of the subplots that had so distracted the storytelling. The thread of "Harmonic Convergence spells great change" got dropped in all that time. When Unalaq reveals his plan to merge with Vaatu, it isn't meaningfully connected to the existing Avatar cycle either - it just sounded like the megalomaniac boasting of his plans. And as I said earlier, Korra has made very little use of her connection to the past Avatars. She never had a relationship with Aang like Aang had with Roku. At no point in this season - and only rarely in the last - was it ever shown that she felt burdened by Aang's or anyone else's legacy, that she was trying to be anyone but herself. Her identifying herself by her connection to Raava was thrown in at the last possible second, without any kind of set-up. Very little time was spent on the legacy of the Avatar at all in this season, outside of just learning how it all began. Tenzin and his siblings dealt with that kind of weight more than Korra did. Had the story of Harmonic Convergence been saved for, say, Season 4, then time could have been spent exploring the legacy of Aang and the past Avatars, and the effect it has on Korra. Korra could have actually used her Avatar powers more often, perhaps actually come to use them as a crutch. The relationship of the modern physical world to the spiritual one, and the need for more interconnectedness between the two, could have been established. But none of that got a proper exploration, because this storyline was used now, and in conjunction and competition with so much else. And, as I've also said, the ending was another thing derivative of the first season. Powers gone, powers back. What else can I say? The animation is leaps and bounds above what Avatar achieved, save perhaps in the last season. Bryke and company clearly love this world as much as ever, and a lot of love went into this season. They get an A for effort, but I'd say a D- in execution. And even had all the subplots been pared away and the spirits been given primary focus in their own season, I don't know how successful this story could have been. The artificial handicap limiting the story to just the one season, at 13 episodes, when this plot was bigger than the one that took three seasons of the original show, I think would always have wounded the potential this story offered. Especially when there seem to be some real holes in the plot: if Raava never really died, why is the connection broken? How did Unalaq know all about Vaatu and Wan when not even Tenzin's family was clear on the whole story, and Korra had to go all the way back to Wan himself to find out about it? If the worlds have been separated, why did we see spirits running around in the physical world since Avatar, and isn't the oasis in the North Pole an always-open portal between the two worlds? In short - after Season 1, I came away from Korra thinking that it was a pretty good sequel show, but now, it seems much lesser than its predecessor. I'll be around for Season 3, but I really hope it has a tighter focus and a more manageable agenda.

And obviously, I was not around for Season 3 if I’m soliciting opinions on it :D

[dorkshadows]

The Demons Strike Back

Objectively, the professional reviews give this film 2-3 stars out of 5 and I think that’s fair. 2 or 3 depending on how much enjoyment you got. It’s an alright movie in total and there are fun things for JTTW fans (provided you’re not a purist who can’t stand any deviation from the book).

Subjectively, I’m giving this a 10/5 for shipping bias lmao but that won’t have anything to do with the pseudo-review below the cut. Just look at that picture.

It’s important to note that this is first and foremost a Tsui Hark film: his style, his direction, his tone. There are elements of Stephen Chow, but as far as Chow comedies go, this really isn’t and shouldn’t count as an example. 

Things that this movie deserves kudos for:

The soundtrack; it’s better than the prequel and more emotional overall

Sanzang outright puts his disciples on display and charges admission LOL

Fight scenes are great and special effects are pretty good for a non-Hollywood production

Then things get more subjective from here on out. Reviews ragged on the storyline for “lacking coherency/ having no story”- I disagree. It was streamlined enough, it just didn’t have that 3-act all-connection structure you’d expect from a popcorn movie. And I do fault the filmmakers for that because I doubt they set out to make an arthouse film- this was a blockbuster and it does need that high-and-low plotline most audiences want.

Characterization-wise, I think we got a pretty good sense of Wukong’s persona. His actor was the best one in Sanzang’s group. Different than the prequel’s Wukong but not exactly like any other adaptations either- Hark/Chow at least succeeded in creating a new Wukong. The trailers made him look hilariously angsty, but he’s not as emo as I thought he’d be- just has anger issues and a #resting bitch face. His desire to murder/hurt Sanzang, but also be liked/forgiven by Sanzang, combined with the inability to articulate that desire, was a checkmark. And that would’ve been a highlight if it wasn’t for what happens later (more on that below). I was also surprised by how downright... sexy his performance was, I’d tap him. 

I don’t see the point in giving Wukong 3 monkey forms, with none of them looking like the monkey from Conquering the Demons. I know the whole cast changed, but still, that tiny yet freaky CGI monkey didn’t have to change (I missed it!). 

Kris Wu was, er, not great, better than his other acting roles, but not as good as the prequel’s lead. But I could tell he was trying his best haha. That aside, the character- a lot of what he does really depends on what you think of him- a genuinely smart person, manipulative, kind? All of the above? I liked that aspect of the writing. Ultimately, he’s supposed to be a good person (carrying on from the prequel) and there’s one plot twist that I both love and hate because it does wonders for his character but also undermines something (more below- it’s the same thing with Wukong fyi).

The film didn’t forget Duan and she’s integral to the plot/Sanzang’s character so that was a plus. Her memory really connected Sanzang, Wukong, and the new love interest TM. And it’s a good choice to have the film “honor” her by not giving the new love interest TM half the love it gave Duan in the prequel. 

Bajie and Wujing didn’t get as much screentime as I expected. That was disappointing because Wujing looks awesome in the movie. They had great designs and aside from some funny lines, didn’t get to do much. 

I liked the final villain- it was a logical twist and the actress wasn’t bad . She was funny and unrepentant to the end (not gonna spoil who she is). The spider demons were really cool too- they just didn’t have much to do with the plot. Red Boy’s design was unexpected, but I thought it was creative and the best fight scene was his and Wukong’s. I don’t have much thoughts on the final, final fight because it was WILD lol, but the transition to Sanzang’s trump card could have been clearer.

As for the love interest TM (Eng. subs called her “Felicity” for some reason lol), I honestly did not care. She came into the plot when there were like, 30 minutes left (!?), knew Sanzang for 1 day, and suddenly is in love with him. Her death was alright and SPOILER she’s actually the white bone demon. I appreciated Sanzang not loving her back though- he saw a bit of Duan in her but that was it. He was actually “using” her. 

But she was the worst written character and it just felt repetitive for the love interest TM to die, especially when she’s this inconsequential.  I would have preferred her 1) getting introduced earlier, 2) getting a redemption arc and leaving alive, 3) providing a better explanation for why she was helping the big bad. She was so unimportant that her death wasn’t even there for #ManPain. Her role needed a lot of work. 

Humor-wise, some moments made me laugh (Chow’s writing there), but this is more of a dramedy than a comedy. The tone’s more “serious” than Chow’s movies, but the humor and drama do balance out- some jokes (or I think they’re supposed to be jokes) just fall flat. Chow fans will be disappointed though. I know I was. 

Now for that twist I love/hate:

Basically, Sanzang and Wukong have a dramatic fall-out, where Sanzang admits he hates Wukong for killing Duan, and it snowballs from there. But it was all an act Sanzang organized to trick the big bad into showing herself. This shows that he’s smart, makes the love interest TM things 10x less cliched, and shows he does have chemistry with his disciples, but it also leaves you going “huh?” in retrospect.

Because this twist makes you backtrack through the whole movie until you realize every conflict Sanzang had with his squad in the film was an act. Then where’s the actual character development? How did he and Wukong move past the Duan thing? At what point did Sanzang really win over his team? It’s a very good twist, but awkward in retrospect, like they cheated us out of character development.

Misc (subjective) thoughts:

The script wouldn’t have been so awkward if some events were switched around (ie. swap the order of the Biqu Kingdom scenes with the spider demon scenes)

Bajie is into BDSM- this isn’t even a joke. He really does have a kink for it. Also, it’s implied he has a thing for Wukong in addition to women lol

Thanks to that plot twist above, it’s implied that Sanzang walked up to Wukong and said, “Beat me up and eat me”- I’m not sure how to feel about this, this is the kinkiest group of pilgrims I’ve ever seen

Wukong/Sanzang is borderline canon by the end, and I don’t mean in the queerbaiting way (maybe I’m biased but I hope to have better sense than that! Plus, Tsui Hark doesn’t have to resort to that), but in a “this is as much as we can get through the censors in a high profile Chinese jttw adaptation- we did it because we wanted to lmao” way. Not spoiling this one fantastic bit at the very end, but let’s just say Steve/Bucky shippers only wish they had this much canon support. 

(Lastly, Kenny Lin said Wukong suffers from “unrequited love” in this movie. Make of that what you will, but this Great Sage was not straight imo.)

Overall:

It’s not a deep film, but I don’t think it’s completely meaningless. The story’s all over the place and you probably won’t care for any of the characters unless you’re like me already attached to the JTTW team regardless of their incarnation. It’s not a good comedy, but certainly not a total drama, and it does make you want to see what happens next. 

I’d rec it if you A) like mindless but well-choreographed action B) are crazy about JTTW like me C) are a fan of the leads, and/or D) ship Wukong/Sanzang

Chow has a sequel in mind and regardless of what bored people on the internet reviews say, this movie made money. So here’s to hoping he gets to make a trilogy! 

[briangroth27]

Halloween (2018) Review

This was great! They accomplished an awesome, iconic fall/Halloween feel to Haddonfield in the look and tone of the movie and I couldn’t ask for more on that front. This was scary, just the right amount of funny, very well-acted, and overall an absolute blast. This was the first Halloween that I saw in theatres and it did not disappoint! I can’t wait to watch this again when it comes out on blu-ray this week!

Full Spoilers…

A while back I read a comment online stating that Halloween had accidentally become the Choose Your Own Adventure of horror franchises, and that’s very true and pretty cool. Don’t like where one storyline has taken you? Go back and pick a new thread (there are five so far: Halloween 1978, 2, & 4-6, Halloween 78, 2, H20 & Resurrection, Halloween 3, Rob Zombie’s Halloween 1-2, and now Halloween 78 & Halloween 2018. Before seeing this, my preferred continuity was Halloween 78, Halloween 2, & H20—those three make for a really solid Laurie arc—but I think Halloween 78 & 18 has become my favorite. We lost nothing by making Michael (James Jude Courtney, Nick Castle) and Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) unrelated with the exclusion of Halloween 2 from the new canon IMO. It’s more mythical if he's only fixated on her because she happened to come by his house one day, as if dropping off the keys to the Myers house was her being sent into a dragon’s lair. Laurie happening to invade his territory, thereby incurring his wrath, is more in line with the neighborhood kids’ tales about the house being haunted and Michael being the boogeyman too.  Also, "he needs to kill the women in his family" is a motive begging for explanation, and I’d rather not know why he does what he does. Michael just being evil without any rhyme or reason is much better and scarier.

This installment takes the best parts of H2 (Michael stalking the streets on Halloween in classic fashion) and combines them with Laurie becoming a fighter like in H20, which were exactly the elements I wanted out of this. Jamie Lee Curtis was fantastic! I do wish we'd gotten more about Laurie herself rather than just how her choices affected her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak)—H20 may’ve been slightly better about getting her to open up on that front—but I was satisfied with what we saw. I was sad Laurie’s life was so consumed by her fear of Michael (the moment where she has a nightmare of the Shape returning was a perfect encapsulation of that), but after watching H20 again it’s apparent she was never going to have a rosy life after what she went through in the original. Still, I'm glad this one showed her at least trying to have happiness and you could tell she did find some with Allyson whenever she could get into her life. I also feel like if you were to watch H20 you’d get a glimpse at how Laurie raised Karen before losing custody. It was also so cool to see Laurie truly ready for Michael’s return! I loved how Laurie's plans and preparation come together and watching the Strode women fend off Michael as a family was perfect.

I liked Karen, even though she was so against Laurie (and therefore automatically wrong, given the genre and franchise). It was nice to see Judy Greer get more to do than just be the mom, and her big moment at the end of the movie did not disappoint at all. What a cool way to prove that she was still her mother’s daughter! Her husband Ray (Toby Huss) was also very entertaining and very ‘dad.’ Both of them played off of Curtis and Matichak really well.

Allyson was very likable as well and a great lead for the younger cast. I liked that she was capable and level-headed, though I think it might have been better if the podcast investigation into Michael had been her project: an attempt to bring Michael out of the shadows to explain him, thus freeing Laurie from her fear of unknowable evil while simultaneously getting to know her grandmother’s most guarded side better. That would've continued the theme of the Strode women protecting each other nicely, and would’ve made sense with the much warmer relationship Allyson and Laurie had vs. Karen and Laurie’s more standoffish one.

I liked most of Allyson’s friends and they all felt like real teens. Vicky (Virginia Gardner) working as a babysitter was a nice tie back to the first movie and she was truly likable despite only being in a few scenes; I was sorry to see her go. Dave (Miles Robbins) brought an entirely different vibe to his character than anyone else and it worked really well. Oscar (Drew Scheid), was the classic "nice guy" (with all associated negatives attached) and got some funny lines. I’m glad they had Allyson ditch him when it became clear he wasn’t just being her friend. Cameron (Dylan Arnold) turning out to be a jerk like the rest of his family really surprised me and I wondered why they needed that at first. I think it's supposed to create the idea that you are your family, paralleling Allyson being a fighter in the end, just like Karen and Jamie. On that level, the seemingly dropped plotline of Allyson’s love life works really well. No review of the young cast would be complete without mentioning Julian (Jibrail Nantambu), who was absolutely hilarious and played off of Vicky perfectly. My whole theater was cracking up at him!

The podcast journalists (Jefferson Hall, Rhian Rees) were likeable in their short roles (mainly serving to get us up to speed on Michael), but the movie might’ve been tighter without them. It’s not hurt for their presence at all, but like I said above maybe their podcast would’ve been a stronger element as Allyson’s project. I did like that their goal of understanding Michael was scoffed at by almost everyone. I’m with Laurie: there isn’t anything deeper to understand about him (that’s what’s so scary!). Will Patton was good as Haddonfield’s Sheriff and I liked how they wove him into the events of the first movie. His attempt to just kill Michael and not arrest him here made all the sense in the world. Dr. Ranbir Sartain (Haluk Bilginer), the "new Loomis," didn't seem necessary at first, but he didn't hurt the movie for me. I liked him as an example of how warped you could get by staring into the eyes of evil for too long and trying to understand it rather than eliminate it. I didn’t expect him to be so crazy at all, but the twist that he wanted to help Michael worked for me. There’s a classic horror vibe to Sartain: the Lovecraftian idea that if you stare true unknowable evil in the face you’ll lose your mind (or you’ll die, like the podcasters), and I liked that he added to Michael’s Boogeyman mythos in that way.

Michael himself was an extremely intimidating force, even stripped of (most) of his supernatural trappings (he still appears stronger than a normal human). I liked that the movie brought up how unimpressive Michael's kill count was now that none of the sequels are in continuity. Letting us see that most people didn’t think much of him as a boogeyman anymore was a great way not only to make it so people would underestimate him, but so that Laurie’s fears would seem even more unfounded. Still, they definitely made up for the loss of all his victims here and having only killed a few people in the first one didn't make him any less scary! I always like Michael's moments of creatively arranging the bodies (someone online referred to it as Michael’s ‘crafting’ and I love that). I do wish there’d been more of that, but what we got was good: the jack o’ lantern was really clever and the ghost was a nice call back to the original. When this was first announced, I wanted them to really dive into the Samhain connection, but now I much prefer not knowing anything about Michael or why he does what he does.

The movie does have a lot of elements of the first, fourth, and seventh movies, but it never felt like a retread and always felt fresh. Shout-outs to the rest of the franchise felt like bonuses, not moments that derailed everything to stop and look back. The tone is perfectly tense and scary, and the genuinely funny moments are great tension breakers rather than tension-shattering missteps. The updated score was great: it was different enough to feel modern and new, but similar enough to feel like coming home.

I think the biggest drawback here is the lack of a definite ending. Don’t get me wrong, I was absolutely satisfied with this movie, but I wish we’d gotten confirmation that Michael had indeed been killed instead of another missing body and hearing his breathing over the credits. I don’t really have any interest in Michael continuing from this point and I wanted to see Laurie win for real. I hope they don't make a sequel with Myers; more Laurie aside, the one thing I really wanted was to see their battle and get true closure to his character. I wish they’d the courage to really end him in this film instead of leaving the door open for a sequel, box office be damned. If the next movie just features Myers returning again (and likely killing Laurie again), that’s about the least exciting thing I can think of for these films. However, if they want to pull the trigger on making someone related to Laurie evil like Michael—which they almost did in 4/5 but backed out—I'd be interested. After all, Allyson still gripping the knife at the end was certainly foreboding (and would’ve been even moreso if she’d been the one trying to understand Michael through the podcast, just like Sartain lost his mind doing the same). If there’s a virulent element to Michael’s purest evil, I’d be down for it. As much as I loved the Strode women taking on Michael, it would be awesome if the next Halloween was about Laurie fighting for Allyson’s soul as she started to go down an evil path.

Watching this, I couldn’t help but imagine what Blumhouse could do to revitalize another classic slasher franchise. I’d love to see them reunite Robert Englund and Heather Langenkamp for a new Nightmare on Elm Street, following the original series of films. Nancy did die, but what if she became a Dream being too and returned to look out for the next generation? She is a fighter who’s “into survival” after all, and she was able to drag so many things in and out of dreams in the first movie that it’s a fairly short path to letting her achieve the same semi-immortal status Freddy has. I feel like an arc of her leaving Heaven (or however they want to characterize the afterlife) to fight her way into the dream realm to defend Elm Street’s current kids and finally face off against Freddy on equal footing would be a fantastic hook and just as satisfying as Laurie and Michael’s face-off. It would be sad to lose Dream Warriors, but what if the gotcha! ending of the first film was Nancy and Co. being trapped in the Dream Realm, but she fought her way out? That’d be an easy way to rewrite anything you wanted in the sequels.

Anyway, Halloween is an exceptional slasher and easily the second-best entry into the franchise; I’d say it might even rival the first film given how active and awesome it lets Laurie be. Even though I didn’t get everything I wanted out of the Michael/Laurie face-off and I think the podcast subplot could’ve been more tightly bonded to the Strodes, I loved this movie and I’m excited to see it again. If you’re a Halloween fan you’ll love this and even if you aren’t familiar with this particular franchise, you should definitely check this out!

Check out more of my reviews, opinions, and original short stories here!  

[rhysthehighlord]

Review: Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4) by Marissa Meyer

4 Stars for Cinder, Kai, Thorne and Cress

You can also read this review on my goodreads.

You shouldn't read this review, if you haven't read Cress yet.

 "I'm going to make it a law that the correct way to address your sovereign is by giving a high five."

After the amazingness of 'Cress' this book was kinda a letdown. It was way too long and even tho so much happens in this book, it felt as if nothing at all happened. It almost felt like a chore reading this book. I was expecting some major conflict/showdown happening in this book, but instead I only got many but short conflicts, that didn't make me excited at all. Especially because they got repetitive after a while. There was always some person who used their power to turn people against their friends or themselves. The conflicts almost all ended in our protagonists having to start more or less at the beginning again. The 'big' showdown near the end of the book was sadly anticlimatic and I really didn't enjoy it.

I understand that the plans of the Rampion crew couldn't just be done in a few days and that obstacles are bound to happen, but the book stretched on too long and had too many repetitions. And sadly there weren't many surprises, the book was pretty predictable.

Overall the book was still a decent ending to this series. Tho if it wasn't for my love for the characters I would have been bored out of my mind.

It's kinda obvious that this book is a 'Snow White' retelling. I liked it how Marissa inserted the different amd typical elements of the original story into this one. Levana is for example 100% Winter's evil and jealous stepmother, who doesn't like her because of her beauty.

I loved it to see Cinder's character development troughout this series. She started off as a girl hating parts of herself and now she's a brave and confident young woman accepting all parts of herself and being determined to take back her throne. It would have been better tho if she didn't do some pretty stupid things. Without her ernormous luck Cinder would have been dead a long time ago.

Kai was a delight to read about. I loved it that he always wants to help and that the people in need come before anything else. He definitively got braver and more daring, telling the people around him what he really thought in that sarcastic way of him. Also he so damn selfless.

Kai and Cinder are still the perfect couple for me in this book. They fit so well together and everything they do is lovely and wonderful.

Cress sadly didn't had that much character development. She is still the same sweet girl, who is in love with Thorne and has amazing hacker skills. I love her for who she is, but it would have been nice to see her actually doing something else. She does get a bit braver tho and I'm glad about it.

Thorne is also the same old sarcastic and over-confident idiot, who I loved despite all his flaws. But I can forgive Marissa for not giving him anything to do that made me excited. He did get to be a hero, but it sadly failed to make me feel anything.

Cress and Thorne were still super cute together.

Scarlet and Wolf were unfortunately my least favorite characters of the Rampion crew in this book again. I still like them of course, but it didn't really interest me what happened to them and tbh none of their storylines were exciting to me.

It was interesting to see Winter's storyline. I was torn between admiring her for her strength and screaming at her to just use her powers again. I thought she was strong because she saw that manipulating people with her powers wasn't right and decided to never use them again. And when the consequences in form of hallucinations came she faced them all and never once faltered. It would have been so easy for her to just use one little glamour just to make the hallucinations go away or at least lessen, but she never did it. I wouldn't have been as strong as her. And while I totally admire her for it and I understand that she had a very legit reason, since she knows firsthand how bad manipulations can be, I didn't understand why she couldn't just use some harmless manipulations, like making a person just feel a tiny bit better, if they had a bad day or changing her hair color just for fun.

It was cool that Marissa created a dark skinned character who was suffering from hallucinations because she has a mental illness, even tho it wasn't an illness that exists in real life. I can't say if it was a good or accurate representation of similar mental illnesses, since I don't suffer from one, but it was refreshing to see it being represented in a YA book. Not sure if it was good tho, that everyone including herself, called her 'crazy'. She showed tho that under all the'craziness' she was a very lovely and intelligent girl. But sometimes her 'crazy' ramblings confused me.

Jacin is still 'Mr. Iceblock' for me. The only times he was nice/showed any emotion was when it was about Winter. He is too emotionally detached and rational for me to truly like him, but his nicknames were gold.

Jacin and Winter were cute. Normally I'm totally into rather rude characters falling for literal sunshines and only showing their feelings for them, but sadly I didn't enjoy it in this case. It was nice however to see someone supporting Winter in everything she does.

Iko was amazing. She was funny and brave and she always knew how to look good. The most human and adorable android ever.

Levana was definitively a scary and powerful antagonist. I just wanted her to die already. While reading Fairest

I did pity her a bit, since she had a very horrible life, but by the end of that story and especially in this book all my pity was gone.

I honestly thought that Sybil was already cruel and sardonic, but Aimery was even worse. At least he got what he deserved.

Tbh I wasn't expecting to see Adri and Pearl ever again. I guess it was good that Marissa didn't want any loose ends, but their parts were way too long imo.

The ending of the book was what really saved it. It was perfect. Otherwise I might have given this book just 3.5 Stars.

You guys should totally check out Stars Above which is the short story collection to this series. The last story was my favorite.

Overall I liked the ending to this series and I'm very glas that I picked up this series.