#not surprising that jude law was incredible

[agoldengalaxy]

skeleton crew finale spoilers under the cut!

what I find so interesting about jod is that we already knew he wouldn’t kill the kids. he had been presented with that option more than once and chose not to. it’s a line he won’t cross. we also know now that he was saved by a jedi as a child, and that the people who executed her forced him to watch

despite his threats from the previous episode, he really doesn’t want to kill fara or wendle. he knows what it’s like to lose an adult that you admire, a caretaker. as jealous as he was of these kids and their ‘perfect’ childhoods, jod was never going to become the people who took his mentor from him

[destinyc1020]

I saw saltburn, Oh my god what a mess of a movie, first a positive its looks absolutely beautiful the cinematograhy is gorgeous. Now The script on the other hand is awful and while the films starts off great ( the first 20-30 minutes or so) it quickly decends into something stupid and pointless and very obvious. The movie tries hard to be edgy but in the end its just an overlong deranged perdume ad that throws away its class politics/ themes and says nothing outside of one person being overly obsessed over another person. Its a pointless mess, that gets weird ( weird not in a good way- like barry drinking JE bathwater isnt the craziest thing in the film)

Despite the very bad script , one dimensional characters and bad choices from the director, the acting was great I wish they had more to work with b/c rosamund pike is so good, alison oliver scene stealer, JE was also really good he did what he needed to do but barry was amazing, it sucks emerald fennell wasted him b/c he was doing everything to save a really bad film. Barry does some incredible things literally he proved to me he is a leading man he needs more leading roles. JE I think hes a good actor but in supporting roles, I cant see him as a leading man at all, but when hes across great actors I see his potential but without them he isnt very good, he hasnt shown me he can lead a film but he can definitely be a good supporting actor.

Thanks for your review of "Saltburn" Anon lol 🤭

I have heard that this is a movie that you either LOVE, or HATE... like, there's no in between lol. 😅

Sounds like it's a pretty wild ride... JUST like the reviews from the film festivals stated.

Its a pointless mess, that gets weird ( weird not in a good way- like barry drinking JE bathwater isnt the craziest thing in the film)

Ewww.... 🤮🤮

I'm a germaphobe, so this literally made my stomach flip flop. 😩

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Sooo.... it looks overall Anon, the film plot and writing SUCKS, but the actors all did a very great acting job in the film? Am I summarizing this right? That's what it sounds like.

You know, I wouldn't be surprised if this film still gets some film award nominations just simply because of the great acting and because of how weird and out there it is. The Academy seems to love films like this also. So, I wouldn't even be surprised. 😄

Not surprised to hear JE did well playing a privileged, private school frat boy, since that's somewhat close to his own real upbringing lol 😄😅

I'm really glad to hear about Barry! He's def going places. I felt he did well in "The Banshees of Inisherin" when I did my whole round of Oscar-nominated-films movie watching before this year's Oscar awards ceremony. 😌

I can't wait to see Barry with Austin and Callum Turner in the upcoming "Masters of the Air" series!😁 I love them. Those 3 are definitely going places. 😊 I'm looking fwd to seeing Callum in "The Boys in the Boat" as well.

I just have two questions for you Anon:

Would you say that this film was like "The Talented Mr. Ripley" (Matt Damon, Jude Law) in any way? 🤔 Or, totally different?

Soooo.... about THAT scene with Barry.... 👀 Care to elaborate on it? And what was the context of the FF? 👀 🙈 Did it seem necessary? Or was it just gratuitous?

[denimbex1986]

'Watching Ripley, Netflix's sumptuous adaptation of crime novelist Patricia Highsmith’s classic psychological thriller "The Talented Mr Ripley", didn't just send me back to the author's original 1955 novel. It also sent me back to Anthony Minghella's equally lavish 1999 feature film, which is handily available on Netflix.

The two adaptations broadly follow the same outline: amoral grifter Tom Ripley travels from New York to Italy's Amalfi Coast to retrieve the errant playboy son of a New York shipping magnate, gets a taste for the dolce vita so nonchalantly enjoyed by the object of his quest, and then goes to murderous lengths to avoid giving up the high life he has come to enjoy.

Yes, the two versions are telling the same story, but to me, their approaches couldn’t be more different — and that's not just because Minghella's film is in color and lasts 139 minutes, while the Netflix series — created, written and directed by Steven Zaillian — is filmed in striking black and white, and takes eight episodes and around 440 minutes to wrap things up. No, the casting and storytelling choices taken by Minghella and Zaillian diverge enormously.

Minghella's leading duo are a good fit for their characters. Matt Damon plays opportunistic Ripley as a shape-shifting social chameleon, gauche at first but quick to mold himself into new roles; Jude Law, never more handsome on screen, is incredibly charismatic as blithely dissolute wastrel Dickie Greenleaf. Just as importantly, Damon and Law were both in their twenties when they made the film, as was Gwyneth Paltrow, who plays Dickie's aspiring writer girlfriend Marge.

Turning to the Netflix series, we find Ripley played by 47-year-old Andrew Scott and Dickie by the 40-ish Johnny Flynn. Both are very fine actors, but their casting makes nonsense of the plot.

In Highsmith's book Tom Ripley and Dickie Greenleaf are both 25 years old. Their ages are crucial. Dickie’s wealthy father — well-played by James Rebhorn in the film and less convincingly by Kenneth Lonergan in the series — sends Ripley to Italy as his emissary because he mistakenly believes him to be a former Princeton classmate of his dilettante son and reckons he will able to persuade Dickie to return home to attend his ailing mother and take up his responsibilities in the family firm. This all makes sense when the characters involved are twenty-something but doesn't work at all when they are made much older.

My next difficulty with the Netflix series is that Scott's Ripley is utterly lacking in charm in his early encounters with Dickie and Marge. Add his age to the equation and it is impossible to see why Dickie would invite him to stay at his Italian villa (eminently covetable, by the way, as are so many aspects of Dickie's life). Damon's youthful Ripley may be awkward and needy, but he can also be fun — as Minghella shows in a dazzling scene in which Dickie and Ripley have a blast at a jazz club in Naples. Yet quick though Dickie may be to embrace a new friend, he can tire of them equally rapidly. This Ripley painfully discovers, and the hurt he feels on being dropped propels the next phase of the plot.

The jazz club episode is just one of the scenes that Minghella invented for his film. Indeed, it is surprising just how many liberties he took with Highsmith's book. He didn't just come up with fresh scenes, he also dreamed up fresh characters — such as Meredith Logue, the fluttery debutante Ripley meets while crossing the Atlantic, winningly played by Cate Blanchett. Time and again, however, Minghella’s innovations proved inspiring.

Take the very early scene that sets the plot rolling. Damon's far from posh Ripley borrows a Princeton blazer to play the piano at a swanky Manhattan party, and it is this "disguise" that leads Mr Greenleaf to mistake him for a member of the class to which he aspires. A classical music devotee, Ripley subsequently passes himself off as a jazz aficionado to ingratiate himself with the be-bop-loving Dickie. None of this is in Highsmith, but it works beautifully on screen.

If you discount the casting, the Netflix series is actually far more faithful to the book. Yet when Zaillian departs from the original he often manages to bungle things, such as in the sequence that sets up Ripley’s first meeting with Mr Greenleaf. Zaillian has Ripley pursued and collared by a private detective hired by Dickie's father and the scene jars. In the book, it is Mr Greenleaf himself who tracks Ripley down. I could go on…

Given how much I have run down the Netflix Ripley, you will be surprised to learn that I ended up enjoying it enormously. True, I very nearly gave up on the series after the first two episodes, but I persevered and after Flynn's Dickie made his exit I found I could begin to appreciate the strong points of Zaillian's adaptation. Filming in ravishing black and white, Zaillian and acclaimed cinematographer Robert Elswit make the various Italian locations look stunningly beautiful, mysterious and sinister by turn, and although I initially feared that the series' length would lead to endless padding (as in that scene with the detective), the much longer running time meant that the scenes of suspense could be exquisitely drawn out. Zaillian and Scott’s characterization of Ripley makes him far more difficult to empathize with than Damon's conflicted antihero, but the more his scenes of jeopardy are extended the easier — and more thrilling — it becomes to put ourselves in his shoes.'

[themovieblogonline]

Harry Potter to Return With New Audiobook Release

Despite over a decade since the Harry Potter franchise wrapped up, The Wizarding World is far from gone. In the latest magical news, a new Harry Potter audiobook series is coming, and it’s set to be something huge. The production will see Audible and Pottermore Publishing team up to create exclusive audiobooks of all seven J.K. Rowling novels. Let’s talk about what we know so far. A New Harry Potter Audiobook Series Is Coming The goal of the new Harry Potter audiobook series is to bring the “iconic stories to life as never heard before.” It will do this by providing immersive audio entertainment with a score, new character voices and other real-world sound capture. They will tell the original Harry Potter stories and will not be involved with the new Wizarding World series from Warner Bros. The audiobooks will feature over 100 voice actors, which is quite an impressive feat. It would be incredible to see some original actors return to voice their iconic roles, but no casting news has been made yet. This isn’t the first Harry Potter tale to come to Audible. Their current collection is already worth a listen and includes the following: The Tales of Beedle the Bard, performed by Jude Law Harry Potter: A History of Magic, performed by Natalie Dormer Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, performed by Eddie Redmayne Quidditch Through the Ages, Performed by Andrew Lincoln Why We’ll Be Listening The series was initially released as audiobooks performed by Stephen Fry and Jim Dale, beginning in 1999. They were a staple in homes worldwide and have earned even more listens since launching on Audible in 2015. These audiobooks had quite the charm, and I still associate the books with Fry’s narration occasionally. However, an innovative release with dozens of voice actors is something that I won’t want to miss. The emphasis on the score also indicates that this will have tip-top production value, which isn’t a surprise given how much attention is still given to the franchise. I try to reread the Harry Potter books at least once every few years, and given the exciting news, I can say with certainty that my next read-through might be a listen-through instead. There is no official release date for the new Harry Potter audiobook series, but it is set to premiere sometime in late 2025. So, watch for more news from Audible and Pottermore Publishing.    Read the full article

[jhapalitimes]

“Czech” Out the Big Stars of Karlovy Vary Fest Trailers

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic is renowned for its glittering array of stars and captivating trailers, and this year is no exception. Brace yourself for an exciting line-up featuring Hollywood legends such as Mel Gibson, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, and many more! In a surprise announcement, the festival's executive director, Kryštof Mucha, revealed that the latest addition to the star-studded cast is none other than the enigmatic Johnny Depp. Known for his magnetic presence on the silver screen, Depp has become a devoted supporter of the festival after experiencing a warm welcome from the enthusiastic audience and fans during his previous visit. Despite his demanding schedule, Depp graciously agreed to film the festival's trailer, which is set to be unveiled during the grand opening ceremony of the 57th edition. Mucha expressed his confidence in the captivating trailer, hinting that Depp might even grace the festival with his presence in the future. For the past 15 years, the Karlovy Vary team has astounded audiences with their imaginative trailers, showcasing how esteemed artists utilize their Crystal Globe lifetime honors from the festival. These black-and-white gems exude charisma and creativity, leaving viewers spellbound. In one of the trailers, the dashing Jude Law, an honoree from 2010, ingeniously incorporates his award into a thrilling car-centric adventure. John Malkovich, known for his unforgettable performances, takes viewers on an "oh"-inducing journey inside a taxi, while Casey Affleck's trip to a pawn shop takes an unexpected twist. Meanwhile, the iconic Helen Mirren finds herself mystified as her statue mysteriously appears alongside an Oscar statuette, contemplating how best to preserve its allure. The late, great director Miloš Forman brings a touch of humor by finding a practical use for his trophy, while Danny DeVito's slumber is rudely interrupted by a disruptive phone call in his trailer. And let's not forget Mel Gibson, who masterfully interrupts a break-in, capturing attention with his undeniable star power. To catch these magnificent trailers and immerse yourself in the glamour of the Karlovy Vary Festival, head over to their online platform, KVIFF.TV. The specially curated page promises an enchanting experience for film enthusiasts of all ages. Prepare to be dazzled by the charisma and talent of these incredible actors as the Karlovy Vary Festival delivers yet another unforgettable showcase. Stay tuned for the 57th edition and keep your eyes peeled for more surprises, as this year's event promises to be an absolute cinematic extravaganza! Read the full article

[philhoffman]

This week’s Freddie Miles Monday Monday Philm is one of PSH’s most iconic performances, The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), dir. (the late, great) Anthony Minghella.

Since I’ve been working through PSH’s films in chronological order this time and was already in the mid-90s by June, I totally expected to reach Ripley over the summer (it’s such a perfect summer movie after all), but Phil did so damn much in 1998 and 1999 I’m only barely squeezing it in before the seasons turn. However, it works out great because all of this weekend’s Venice Film Festival coverage totally put me in the mood for Italy!

I always forget how much I love this movie until I’m watching it again. It has such a feeling, a 1950s period piece of course but also such a 1990s product of its times. Jude Law is impossibly beautiful, even Matt Damon charms me here, and the shifts from warmth and opulence to fear and agitation are so wonderfully balanced.

Freddie Miles is such a libertine, and an absolutely delightful one. The cleverest American in Italy but unfortunately the most arrogant, too. I think it’s funny how Phil always spoke of this movie as such a vacation — working one or two days a week then spending the rest of his time eating his way through Italy with Cate Blanchett and her husband — yet it’s one of his most iconic and fascinating characters. He was filming Flawless at the same time in late 1998 — Joel Schumacher accommodated Phil’s Ripley schedule so he flew back and forth between New York and Italy when necessary — and I wonder if that influenced Freddie’s flamboyance at all? On the one hand he’s so so campy (the wrists, the way he moves), but his voice is also low and rumbling and bored, Phil is leaning into his vocal fry here (the way he did in Patch Adams and will again in Almost Famous).

The apartment/piano scene is just the best. In one of the special features on the DVD, Jude Law says that’s his favorite scene of the film. The tension is incredible, I’ve probably watched it over a dozen times and it still keeps me on edge.

Also — Philip Baker Hall is always such a nice, solid surprise at the end of this film. His screen presence has the same quality as PSH’s — he gives the impression that we’re dropping in on the life and times of a real person rather than a character, someone who will go on with their existence even after these two hours we get to see them have ended. Really great cast all around.

[magicalhideoutengineer]

"If there’s one constant in the Wizarding World that we’ve seen onscreen — in addition to the fascinating beasts, spectacular magic, and breathtaking challenges to our heroes, of course — it’s the calling Albus Dumbledore has to protect both the magical and non-magical communities in his sphere of influence," author Jody Revenson tells SYFY WIRE. "But Dumbledore’s quite an enigma, isn’t he? We still haven’t figured him out. He’s sad and funny; strong and insecure; suspicious and sentimental. And, as actor Jude Law says about his character in this film, he’s making life-changing decisions that will lead him to become the headmaster we’ll know in the future, while at the same time confronting his past. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore gives fans (like me) an incredible opportunity to gain new and surprising insights into a character we thought we already knew."

Jude Law explains that the man we grew to love through the Harry Potter films is not fully formed yet. "So what we're seeing is an Albus going through big emotional situations and making life-changing decisions. These lead him to become the headmaster we see in later years. But to become that learned and wise costs. We're seeing him confronting old friends, old foes, and also confronting himself."

"Dumbledore assembles a team in an effort to defeat Grindelwald’s bid for power, consisting of Newt and Theseus Scamander; Newt’s assistant, Bunty; Jacob Kowalski; and Lally Hicks, the Charms professor from Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the United States," Revenson explains. "The group gathers together on the Great Wizarding Express, a magical train that appears shabby on the outside, but inside, it’s decorated in the height of Art Deco opulence. Graphic designers Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima created the logo of the Great Wizarding Express, then translated it into the ephemera associated with train travel, including tickets and an onboard magazine — once again so subtly expanding the wizarding culture. And it just couldn’t be a wizarding train without a trolley. This one offers coffees, teas, and perhaps something a little stronger for the adult wizards."

How come we've never heard about this locomotive, which just so happens to be connected to the Floo Network, until now? Did it eventually go out of business once the Knight Bus came along? We need answers!

What's pretty cool about The Great Wizarding Express, though is that it's connected to the Floo Network (an interconnected series of fireplaces that allow wizards and witches to instantly move between locations). As The Rowling Library pointed out on Twitter, this seems to imply that the Floo Network is not only international, but can also be connected to a place that is constantly on the move.

Although Potterheads have learned a great deal about Ilvermorny (the American school of witchcraft and wizardry) through online resources like Pottermore, they haven't really seen the place represented onscreen. Luckily, the third movie will change all that by bumping up Professor Eulalie "Lally" Hicks (Jessica Williams) to a major player in the story. Not only does she teach at Ilvermorny, but, like the monster-loving Hagrid, she is also the Keeper of the Keys.

"[She] was seen very briefly in the previous Fantastic Beasts film, but becomes an important part of Dumbledore’s plan to stop Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore," Revenson teases. "She’s funny and dedicated and smart and intuitive — just like the actress who plays her, Jessica Williams. But I think the main reason I like Lally is because she writes books! And she’s got a very cool wardrobe."

New Yorker Eulalie Hicks discovered that she was magical at a young age and attended Ilvermorny, as did Tina and Queenie Goldstein. "I think she straddles the line between living in the magical world, but she does come from the [No-Maj] world," says Jessica. "She has a great sense of humor and I think with her, she's always walking on the forward foot, so she has a bit independece about her, which I really love."

As Lally is an educator, Colleen Atwood wanted to present her in a businesslike way. "She's a witch with a lot of authority, "says Colleen. "I choose a warm carmine color on her ,which suited her, and it telegraphed a certain level of authority. I used a tiny little paint that was remotely African-inspired for her shirt, and we added a key chain, because she's the Keeper of the Key for the school.

"Newt's relationship with Lally was really fun to play because she has also written a book that people really love, and they bond over that and their respect for knowledge. She sees the value of what it is Newt does and she sees his heart. I think Eulalie's really good at seeing the heart of people."

"Theseus and Lally are opposites. Theseus is very by the book. He's an Auror, he's stern. Eulalie is very sly, witty, a jokester. She's a teacher who uses humour to teach the kids. They're completely different but they find themselves paired together, so they're learning the balance of how to work with each other." 

Over on the dark side, Grindelwald has amassed quite the devoted acolytes, cultivating an inner circle of confidants who will follow his orders without a moment's hesitation. One of his fresh-faced recruits is Queenie Goldstein (Alison Sudol), who decided to throw in her lot with the villains due to the MACUSA's law against magic folk becoming romantically involved with members of the No-Maj community. Queenie — who was and continues to be in love with Jacob — is in for quite the rude awakening when she learns that Grindelwald wants to rule all muggles, Mr. Kowalski included. 

"She’s realizing that Grindelwald may have not been the answer she needed to make that happen, and it’s about time she did," Revenson concludes. "So, when Queenie sees Jacob again, what will she do? Actress Alison Sudol states it brilliantly when she says that Queenie recognizes that they both still love each other and she doesn’t want to be in a world without this love. Alison says this gives the character her mojo back. And that’s the Queenie we want to see."

"Oueenie went through quite a shocking transition in the second film," says Alison Sudol. who plays Oueenie "I think it took a lot of people by surprise, including myself. She ends up making a fairly rash decision to follow a very manipulative human being, but one she believes offers a change she needs. Now we find her in a dangerous environment with nobody who can protect her."

Since Queenie is living in Nurmengard Castle, Colleen Atwood chose a Germanic silhouette for her wardrobe, but with color in her costumes "to show she is not totally in that world, but a little bit outside it," Colleen explains. "We used a deep carmine red on her, which contrasted nicely with the choice of her super-platinum hair." The tones of the other outfits Oueenie wears are different variations of this red color. "She goes into a Bing cherry red later on, as the story becomes more occluded." 

Oueenie and Jacob have separated, "but there's still a spark there," says Alison. When they see each other at the German Ministry of Magic for the first time after she joined Grindelwald, it reignites something in her. "She realizes that he loves her and she still loves him, and a world without love is not a world that she wants to live in. This helps her got her mojo back," Alison says with a laugh. 

[eddieredmayneargentinablog]

Red Nose Day is back this Friday!! 🔴

"Red Nose Day is back for 2022 on Friday 18th March and whether you're a fundraising fanatic or a Lenny Henry lover, who doesn't love to laugh? Funny is power this Red Nose Day, and we're celebrating all the superheroes out there, so whether you're trying your hand at baking or doing a spot of dad dancing, we think you're pretty incredible for making a difference. Sign up here https://bit.ly/33XYERf

"As well as helping change lives, you can inspire the future heroes with cross-curricular learning resources so you can be truly ready to get red. We've created resources on everything from how laughter is great for wellbeing to the English skills behind writing a great joke. Take a nosy here, you know you want to https://www.twinkl.co.uk/1/1 axeof

"Lenny Henry, David Tennant, Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law Set to Join BBC’s Red Nose Day" Extravaganza"

"...Featuring comedy sketches and specials, live performances and a host of celebrity names, the live show will be broadcast from the broadcaster’s Manchester headquarters on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the U.K.

"Among the sketches and performances audiences can expect to see on the night are “Comic Opera,” which will see six celebrities given 24 hours to learn opera – and perform it in front of a live audience at The London Coliseum; “Schools Thank You” in which “Fantastic Beasts” stars Jude Law and Eddie Redmayne surprise some children at Leavesden Studios, where the Harry Potter franchise was filmed..." Source: Variety

[smokeybrandreviews]

Obliviate

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is surprisingly excellent. I was legitimately surprised by how well put together this movie turned out. It’s a goddamn shame no one went to go see it in theaters because, in all honesty, i kind of want the sequels now. As a trilogy, Beasts is mediocre. The first entry was a good introduction to the world but the second is a whole ass dumpster fire. The third fixes a lot of the issues in the first two but no one knows because no one went to go see the f*cking thing due to circumstances outside of the film's control. Between WB shooting itself in the f*cking foot with it’s support of Amber Turd, Ezra Miller going on a crime spree in Hawaii while having a very public meltdown, and JK Rowling's aggressive transphobia, this movie had no chance. It’s a crying shame because this is easily the best of the Fantastic Beast trilogy and one of the better Harry Potter films, overall.

Queenie is redeemed early on, which was my biggest gripe from the second. She is my favorite character and the way her character was assassinated in favor of plot contrivance was absolute sh*t but that is the beauty of Beasts III; The plot is solid. The writing in this one is the best of the trilogy, doing a fantastic job of weaving several interconnecting plots into one coherent narrative. It does an admirable job of tying loose ends, especially with that Dumbledore stinger at the end of the second, and even goes full-on with the Dumbledore/Grindelwald relationship. Like, they overtly say that they love each other, several times. That last clash between the two was kind of heartbreaking. That aid, the Jacob/Queenie reconciliation was everything. I just wanted my darling Legilimens to get her happy ending because she was so goddamn delightful in the first movie. Jacob, too. Dude is the MVP of the entire trilogy.

Speaking of Jacob, Dan Fogler continues to be the best thing about these films. Alison Sudol will always have my heart as Queenie, but i watch these movies for Jacob and his Muggle shenanigans. Even so, we got some incredibly strong performances from Eddie Redmayne and Jude Law. They rarely disappoint but it’s hard to imagine someone else playing these characters at this point. I really enjoyed Mads Mikkelsen’s take on Grindlewald. It’s straight up Hannibal Lecter with a wand which, and no disrespect to Johnny Depp or Colin Farrell, is easily the best version of this character to date. It boggles my mind how Mads wasn’t the first person tapped to fill this role. Even more surprising was how well Ezra Miller performance as Credence. I don’t know how he kept his sh*t together to film his scenes but dude is really great in the role. He exudes this frailty and rage that you rarely see in this franchise. Beasts III is so well performed, i forgot that this entire production was a whole ass failure during it’s theatrical run.

This movie is so good. It’s up there with the latter Potter films after they figured out how to tell these stories and that’s the real crime here; This third entry gave them the formula. They finally got it right with this one and, because of forces outside of this production, we probably won’t get anymore of them. I would love the other four sequels, only if they are as well put together as this one, but if this is it, i am okay with letting the Beasts die here. There are still a great many stories that can be told and, while i think they did a good job cleaning up the mess left by the first two films, there are still a lot of plot holes that can be explored in later entries. As it stands, Fantastic Beasts III is a solid entry into the Wizarding World, the best of the Fantastic Beasts trilogy, and one of the better Potter films. I don’t think it’s fair that it failed so badly in theaters but i understand why it did. As a film, it didn’t deserve that. As a product of some incredibly problematic entities, it definitely did. If you can reconcile watching this thing with your conscious, i literally flew the Jolly roger to watch it because f*ck WB, Rowling, Miller, and Heard, I'd give it a solid recommendation. If not, i get that, too.

[tabloidtoc]

Star, May 3

You can buy a brand new copy of this issue without the mailing label for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Shiloh Jolie-Pitt

Page 1: Christina Aguilera at 40 -- she talks about child stardom, learning to love her body, and what she wants her daughter Summer to know

Page 2: Contents, Renee Zellweger, Phoebe Dynevor and James McAvoy at the BAFTAs in London

Page 3: Mariska Hargitay and Law & Order: SVU co-star Ice-T take a selfie during a break from shooting the cop drama in NYC, Heather Graham at the beach in Mexico, stepping into the America's Got Talent studio Sofia Vergara elevated her casual cropped jeans with strappy platform sandals in L.A., Jason Momoa cutting a rug with an unidentified partner ahead of filming a scene for his upcoming fantasy film Slumberland in Toronto

Page 4: Colton Underwood comes out -- saying he's the happiest and healthiest he's ever been, the former Bachelor clarifies his orientation

Page 5: Lena Dunham is no stranger to controversy, so it comes as no surprise that her foray into fashion design has also come under fire as she partnered with a plus-size label to create the capsule collection 11 Honore x Lena Dunham, but the kicky line quickly came under fire as critics are calling it tone-deaf, mediocre and not inclusive at all since its largest size is a 26 and some are even going so far to call Lena a grifter who gained weight in order to make money off the plus-size community but Lena, who underwent a hysterectomy at 31, has pointed to early menopause as the cause of her straight-up gut -- while Lena refuses to be intimidated by bullies, she is listening to the complaints about sizes and is planning to address it

* Once a cautionary tale of the perils of child stardom, at age 40 Macaulay Culkin is a father himself as he and girlfriend Brenda Song welcomed a son, Dakota -- he's finally overcome his demons and Brenda has been a huge influence on his life and helped him get back on the straight and narrow and he's even pursuing acting again, shooting season 10 of American Horror Story; his life has taken such a positive turn

* A year after announcing her split from Jay Cutler, Kristin Cavallari is seeing the upside of divorce, saying it's made her a better mom in some ways because she has her kids half the time now so when she has them for her week, she is so incredibly present with her kids Camden, Jaxon and Saylor and she is not distracted by her phone or anything else; she is with them -- Jay and Kristin each have the kids 182.5 days a year and court papers also revealed that her ex is allowed two phone calls and two FaceTime or Skype calls a week and vice versa so now every moment is precious and if someone is having a temper tantrum or something, she remains calm because she knows that she is losing them in a few days

Page 6: Gwen Stefani is widely thought to have had some help in the nips and tucks department, and as her wedding to Blake Shelton approaches, he is starting to object to her constant tweaking of her face -- she's always messing with it by getting more fillers and Botox and Blake is afraid of what he'll see at the altar and he's freaking out at Gwen's increasingly extreme beauty routine which is becoming increasingly over-the-top; Gwen can barely move her face to smile at him anymore and it looks weird -- while he frets, he's trying to reassure his wife-to-be because Blake thinks she's beautiful just the way she is

* As an executive producer on the long-running Law & Order: SVU, Mariska Hargitay has tasked the writers to come up with more storylines featuring one of her favorite characters: defense attorney Trevor Langan, played by none other than her husband Peter Hermann -- Mariska and Peter originally met and fell in love when Peter guest-starred on the show and she loves to keep that magic alive by bringing him back to play Trevor but the trouble is he is busy with his own gigs as a series regular on Younger and his recurring role on Blue Bloods and Peter loves working with his wife, but he has his own acting career apart from Mariska -- still, he may soon have his day in court because Peter understands how Mariska feels and is trying to work his schedule to allow him some guest spots in the near future

Page 8: Star Shots -- Lenny Kravitz with a guitar flaunted his well-sculpted midsection during a stroll on the beach, Suki Waterhouse with her on-the-go grub on the set in Liverpool

Page 9: Louisa Jacobson and Taissa Farmiga and Denee Benton on the set of The Gilded Age in NYC, Conan O'Brien sipped on a soda at lunch in L.A., Katy Perry in the American Idol bathroom

Page 10: Kate Hudson with mom Goldie Hawn and kids Ryder and Rani, Kate Hudson twirled solo modeling in a pal's swimwear collection, Jude Law's daughter Iris Law who will make her acting debut in Danny Boyle's upcoming Sex Pistols biopic makes a call in London

Page 12: Kelly Osbourne handed out items at a food distribution event as the Islamic Center for Southern California, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in the gym, despite a no-social warning a cheeky Nicole Kidman shared a pic from the set of Aaron Sorkin's Being the Ricardos in which she portrays Lucille Ball

Page 13: Anabella Sciorra and Donnie Wahlberg gloved up for a Blue Bloods scene in NYC, Heidi Klum and husband Tom Kaulitz started their morning during a walk on the beach in L.A.

Page 14: Travis Barker showed off his body art stepping off a Hollywood tour bus shirtless after filming a music video, a cheerful Britney Spears gave a fun look into her wardrobe in a pink floral frock, Scott Disick and Amelia Hamlin color-coordinated for a walk near the beach in Miami

Page 16: Lamar Odom and Aaron Carter put up their dukes to promote their Celebrity Boxing Match in Philadelphia, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and husband Nick Jonas at the BAFTAs in London, Ellen DeGeneres on the phone during a stroll in her main hood of Montecito

Page 18: Normal or Not? A denim-on-denim clad Jay Leno scratched an itch while filming a project in Los Angeles -- not normal, dressed in a Siggi sweatshirt Katie Holmes picked up some seasonal blooms on Manhattan's Upper East Side -- normal, Kate Beckinsale multitasked during a car ride by applying undereye patches -- not normal

Page 19: Gavin Rossdale appeared to be pleased with his Kitson purchase by doing a little dance after leaving the popular L.A. store -- not normal

Page 20: Fashion -- stars wow in statement-making capes -- Gisele Bundchen, Charlize Theron, Zoey Deutch

Page 21: Greta Gerwig, Elle Fanning

Page 24: Justin Bieber: How Love Saved Me -- the formerly troubled pop singer gives praise for wife Hailey Bieber

Page 25: Olivia Wilde and Harry Styles' romance has already cooled and the pair are giving each other space -- turns out Olivia and Harry don't actually have much in common -- the two jetted to London after wrapping Don't Worry Darling, but they were soon waylaid by their respective responsibilities as Olivia has been spending time with her kids Otis and Daisy while her ex Jason Sudeikis shoots Ted Lasso while Harry, who was spooked by how quickly intense things got, is gearing up for his role in My Policeman -- for now, the two have decided to reassess things when they're back in L.A., which leaves the window open for Jason, whose strategy was to let her and Harry fizzle out, then see where she is at, and it's going according to plan

* Jennifer Lopez calls off her relationship with Alex Rodriguez

* Carrie Underwood and Mike Fisher are better than ever after overcoming a rough patch, one that had their inner circle convinced they were headed for divorce -- Mike had a serious roving eye that made Carrie anxious and she would treat him like he was Mr. Underwood and tensions between the two were at an all-time high when the pandemic hit, forcing the two into extra one-on-one time, but as it turns out, their new routine is just what they needed because they set boundaries, divided up tasks and put time aside for fun things and they prioritized romance, which has made all the difference -- Carrie and Mike are re-committed to their marriage and they've been through so much so much and neither wants to throw it away

Page 26: Cover Story -- Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's model kid -- Shiloh Jolie-Pitt the gorgeous teen is ready for her close up, but Brad and Angie are at odds about Shiloh's new passion -- Shiloh's been experimenting with girlier styles lately, including growing out her hair and she's at the age where she's starting to change things up -- Brad isn't thrilled about Shiloh's modeling dreams and idea of her walking into the lion's den gives him cause for concern -- Angelina began modeling at 16, just one year older than Shiloh and Shiloh knows that's what set her mom on her path to fame and Shiloh is constantly asking Angie about the pros and cons of the modeling world

Page 29: Model Kids -- these celeb offspring also know how to strike a pose -- Hailey Bieber, Sofia Richie, Amelia Hamlin, Lily-Rose Depp, Brooklyn Beckham, Paris Jackson, Kendall Jenner, Corinne Foxx, Ireland Baldwin, Margaret Qualley, Kaia Gerber, Leni Klum, Patrick Schwarzenegger

Page 30: Prince William and Prince Harry: Behind Closed Doors -- the estranged princes are forced to reckon with their rift as the royal family gathers for Prince Philip's funeral

Page 32: High Anxiety -- it's not so simple for celebs who struggle with panic attacks -- Emma Stone, Stephen Colbert, Amanda Seyfried

Page 33: Hugh Grant, Ryan Reynolds, Ariana Grande

Page 36: Beauty -- nail it -- self-care essentials to score the perfect at-home manicure and pedicure -- Kaley Cuoco

Page 38: Style -- cute cases -- step up your tech, and fashion, game this season with a trendy cellphone cover -- Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

Page 40: Entertainment

Page 48: Parting Shot -- Corey Feldman embraced wife Courtney Anne Mitchell as the two ventured out for a romantic outing in L.A.

[aion-rsa]

Are All Marvel Villains Androids, Aliens, or Wizards?

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It is now T-minus one week until the long-awaited premiere of Marvel’s next Disney+ series, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, on March 19. To mark the show’s impending arrival, Marvel is ramping up its publicity game and unleashing new trailers and clips of Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes in action.

In one such clip, released today, Sam shares an interesting theory with his rival/counterpart Bucky. Give it a look below to see what we mean. 

“The Big Three – androids, aliens, wizards. Every time we fight, we fight one of the three,” Sam says.

Bucky tries to challenge Sam’s assertion by pointing out there are no wizards. Sam immediately counters with Doctor Strange. “A sorcerer is a wizard without a hat.” 

Fair play, Falcon! The conversation ends there but Sam might be onto something with his theory of The Big Three. But just like any good theory, it needs some strenuous scientific testing. Let’s do that testing right now by looking back at the big bad of every MCU film released thus far (plus the studio’s first official television effort, WandaVision) to see which villains can be categorized as: androids, aliens, wizards, or other. 

Obadiah Stane (Iron Monger)

Movie: Iron Man Villain Type: ANDROID

Obadiah Stane isn’t a literal android. He is a flesh and blood human being underneath all that Iron Monger armor. But viewing him as an android seems in keeping with the spirit of Sam Wilson’s Big Three argument. Let’s just give The Falcon a win out of the gate.

Emil Blonsky (Abomination)

Movie: The Incredible Hulk Villain Type: OTHER

Like The Hulk, himself, Abomination is an enhanced human rage monster. He has no mechanical parts, so he is not an Android. He also comes from Earth, so he is not an alien. If we wanted to be suuuuuuper generous, we could say the gamma rays that created both The Hulk and Abomination are so scientifically advanced that they may as well be magic, making him a wizard. But that’s too much of a stretch. Emil is in the “Other” category.

Ivan Vanko (Whiplash)

Movie: Iron Man 2 Villain Type: OTHER

If Ivan Vanko decided to completely cover his body with Iron Monger-style armor, we may have an argument for Android. But really, he’s just a mad scientist who loves his bird. One could also make the argument that Justin Hammer is the real villain of Iron Man 2. That’s a fair point but it leads to the same result: “Other.”

Loki

Movie: Thor Villain Type: WIZARD

Wait, why isn’t Loki an alien? He comes from a different world in outer space, whether that be Asgard or Jotunheim. It’s important to remember, however, that Loki isn’t an alien to the other Asgardian characters in Thor. Instead, let’s call him a Wizard due to his advanced magical capabilities. 

Johann Schmidt (Red Skull)

Movie: Captain America: The First Avenger Villain Type: OTHER

Red Skull does like to meddle in the magic of the Tesseract. He also has a very wizardly appearance when he is cast off to Vormir. A wizardly appearance does not a wizard make though. Johann Schmidt is an augmented human being just like Steve Rogers or Bruce Banner. 

Loki

Movie: The Avengers Villain Type: ALIEN

Surprise! Loki is a Wizard in Thor but an Alien in The Avengers. That’s because the perspective of The Avengers is mostly Earthbound. And to we mortals on Earth, Loki really is an alien leading a War of the Worlds-style invasion in New York.

Aldrich Killian

Movie: Iron Man 3 Villain Type: ANDROID

Aldrich Killian certainly doesn’t have the look of an Android. But due to the amount of Extremis genetic manipulation his body has endured, he is basically more machine than man. And if you’re tempted to say “Aldrich Killian can’t be an android! He has human sentience and intelligence” then you’re gonna have to keep that same energy when we get to Ultron.

Malekith

Movie: Thor: The Dark World Villain Type: ALIEN

Malekith is a hard one to nail down. We’ve already established that Loki can’t be an alien in Thor because he’s a peer to his fellow Asgardians (even if he is a Frost Giant). Given that Malekith comes from another one of the Nine Realms, Svartalfheim, it’s fair to call him an Alien.

Bucky Barnes (The Winter Soldier)

Movie: Captain America: The Winter Soldier Villain Type: ANDROID

Look, the rules are pretty loose here. You have your memory wiped and you get a vibranium arm? Android. Technically, Alexander Pierce and the compromised SHIELD are the real villains of this movie. But bear in mind that Sam Wilson says that everyone they fought falls into one of those three categories. It’s Bucky who does the lion’s share of fighting in this film.

Ronan the Accuser

Movie: Guardians of the Galaxy Villain Type: ALIEN

This is another tough one. Would Ronan the Accuser be considered an alien among his galactic peers? Given that the Kree Empire is a rival to the Nova Empire, let’s go ahead and alienize Ronan. 

Ultron

Movie: Avengers: Age of Ultron Villain Type: ANDROID

Duh.

Darren Cross (Yellowjacket)

Movie: Ant-Man Villain Type: OTHER

If the Iron Monger armor makes Obadiah Stane an Android, then why doesn’t the Yellowjacket suit make Darren Cross an Android? Great question! The answer is…I don’t know. Hank Pym’s shrinking technology just seems like more of a tool for human beings than an at-times autonomous piece of armor. 

Helmut Zemo

Movie: Captain America: Civil War Villain Type: OTHER

Helmut Zemo is a disaffected Sokovian radical. He does not fit any of the other three categorizations. 

Kaecilius

Movie: Doctor Strange Villain Type: WIZARD

Duh.

Ego

Movie: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Villain Type: ALIEN

Sure, a sentient Celestial planet is an alien.

Adrian Toomes (The Vulture)

Movie: Spider-Man: Homecoming Villain Type: OTHER

Adrian Toomes is not only just a human being, he might be one of the MCU’s most human villains. To the “Other” category with you, Vulture. 

Hela

Movie: Thor: Ragnarok Villain Type: WIZARD

As the all-powerful goddess of death, Hela defies easy categorization. But you know what? If Thor-era Loki falls under the category of Wizard, then so too does Hela. 

Erik Stevens (Killmonger)

Movie: Black Panther Villain Type: OTHER

Human. Very human. 

Thanos

Movie: Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame Villain Type: ALIEN

Thanos is the big bad of the MCU’s Infinity Saga. He’s also a consummate alien invader. He comes from the stars to wipe out half of all life on Earth. Well, he wipes out half of all life in the universe, but it’s the former that matters to our Earthly perspective.

Ava Starr (Ghost)

Movie: Ant-Man and the Wasp Villain Type: OTHER

Whenever Pym particles and advanced levels of technology are involved, you always want to at least give consideration to “Android.” But “Other” is still very much the answer here. Ava Starr isn’t even really the main villain of Ant-Man and the Wasp so much as she is a victim. Perhaps she should be omitted entirely from the villain discussion.

Yon-Rogg

Movie: Captain Marvel Villain Type: ALIEN

Since Carol Danvers is our protagonist and Captain Marvel is told from her perspective, it’s safe to call Jude Law’s Yon-Rogg an alien. 

Quentin Beck (Mysterio)

Movie: Spider-Man: Far From Home  Villain Type: OTHER

Quentin Beck is a normal human being and therefore an “Other.” I’m just realizing something now though – why did Quentin Beck go by his real name to Talos (posing as Nick Fury) and Peter Parker? Surely, he has Stark Industries listed on his LinkedIn page. Could the entire plot of this movie have been avoided if anyone thought to run a Google search on this guy who claims he’s from another dimension?

Agatha Harkness

Show: WandaVision Villain Type: WIZARD

Who’s the wizard lady pulling every evil string? It was Agatha All Along!

Results

This all leads to the Marvel villain final tally of…

ALIEN – 6 ANDROID – 4 WIZARD – 4 OTHER – 9

It looks like Sam Wilson almost has the right of it. More than half of Marvel villains can be described as androids, aliens, or wizards. But the “Other” option is bigger than any single one of those three categories. 

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[floralguccistyles]

seven: the petra gallego cinematic universe

I wasn’t a vain person.

If there was one thing I really liked about myself, it was probably this fact. I had never been careless with how I looked, but I didn’t let my appearance rule my life, either. I was perfectly comfortable going out of the house without makeup, just like some girls didn’t like to even run down to the Tesco without it on. This didn’t make me better than other girls, but my appearance was just something that had been secondary to my mental health.

Which is why I was chastising myself for staring at my nose in the mirror, frowning.

It had been a week since my disastrous conversation with Harry. In that week, I had been obsessively checking Twitter to see what his fans were saying about me. Overall, I was actually surprised to see that most of them were nice. They liked my Vans and thought the height difference between Harry and I was cute, whatever that meant. About twenty percent of them had been disparaging to my appearance in some way, though. They tweeted that I was too ugly to be seen with Harry. I would be the first to admit that I hadn’t looked my best when the pictures of us had surfaced, but I didn’t think I had looked as terrible as everyone was saying.

Over the past week, however, I found myself looking in the mirror a lot more than I usually did. At first, it had been the color of my hair. Brown was a hard color to criticize (in my opinion), but it was like the comments about my hair had made me realize how dull the color actually was. I had a small breakout near my hairline which I could easily cover with my hair, but it still made me upset to see since my skin was usually clear.

Today, the problem I seemed to have with my appearance was my nose. I was never aware that it was a little too protruding. The tip of it seemed to come to an unflattering point that I had never really noticed until I was standing in my bathroom, my hair slicked back from my shower. My reflection stared back at me in the mirror, a frown on her face as her fingers contorted her nose this way and that.

Did my nose make me look ugly?

I scoffed at myself, hating the way I was scrutinizing my appearance and stepping away from the mirror. I braided my wet hair back so it wouldn’t stick to my face in stringy clumps and then walked out of my bathroom, giving Melody a wave. She had stayed the night at my place last night because Vera’s boyfriend had stayed at her place the night before and he always made weird comments about Melody’s body right in front of Vera.

“You were in there a long time for someone who only has like three bath products,” Melody commented, scrolling through the channels on the telly. The two of us were headed out to the midnight premiere of Captain Marvel, which was in a couple of hours. Melody had bought us tickets a couple months back and needless to say, it was the only thing I’d been looking forward to for a while.

I didn’t want to admit to my brazen and blunt best friend that the reason was because I was nitpicking my appearance. “I’m always in the shower for a long time.”

Besides my newfound insecurities with my physical appearance, this week had also been filled with Marvel movies. We had watched all the films in the universe to prepare us for both Captain Marvel and Endgame, which was set to come out in April. We had also already purchased our tickets to that midnight screening. In fact, I was fairly certain this was the only time I had gotten ready in the past week. Usually our Marvel marathons were spent entirely in our pajamas.

“Touché.”

My phone buzzed quietly in my pocket. Knowing who it probably was, I ignored it.

He had been messaging me on Instagram ever since the night of our argument. He had apologized almost an hour afterwards, mentioning that he didn’t have the right to feel offended by my offhanded joke. I hadn’t replied. The next day, he had asked about the succulent he brought me, which he said he affectionately named Benjamin. I didn’t reply to that one either. He didn’t message me for two days after that, but then tried his luck again with messaging me, asking if I was free that day.

I hoped the radio silence on my end was hint enough.

I don’t know what I had been thinking, trying to be friends with Harry. Not even friends, but rather acquaintances. It was just too difficult to be friends with him when I knew about our past. Despite my mother and father begging me to give Harry a chance to prove that the boy from secondary school no longer existed, Doctor Thorne had been right. I wasn’t going to force myself into having a relationship with him.

“Is that the raging twat again?”

While I hadn’t told her about my Twitter deep searches, I did tell her about the conversation with Harry last week. She had clucked her tongue, as if to say I told you so without really saying it.

I pulled out my phone. I didn’t even read the message, just checked to see if it was attached to his username. “Yep.”

“You still ignoring him?”

“Yes.”

“Good. He doesn’t deserve you.”

I halfway agreed. Not because he was some secretly kind and beautiful person, but because I didn’t think it was especially hard to deserve me. If Harry had shown even the smallest of kindnesses to me when we were younger, he might have deserved me. Since he hadn’t, he didn’t. But I didn’t think I was this incredibly special person who deserved the world.

“Read me the message. I wanna hear what he has to say for himself,” Melody said, leaning back on my couch and propping her feet up on my coffee table.

Obliging, I retrieved my phone from my pocket and opened up Instagram.

“Christ, he’s sent me a fucking novel.”

Melody just snickered.

harrystyles: Hi Petra. Just checking in. I’m sorry for last week. I know that’s why you’re probably ignoring me. I’ve gone and fucked things up again, haven’t I? I know this isn’t going to make up for anything, but I know you and Melody are probably going to the premiere of Captain Marvel tonight. Tell me how you like it. I’ve got tickets to the premiere in Los Angeles in two weeks. If you want, I could get you tickets to come. Let me know. I’ll get Melody a ticket too.

My mouth hung open at his message.

“Holy shit, he really wants you to forgive him. Los Angeles? That’s major.”

I didn’t know why, because Melody was looking impressed and reluctantly excited, but I was angry. I wanted to throw my phone across the room.

Of course it wasn’t enough that he just wanted to apologize for being a shitty person. He just had to make sure something was attached, like that was a reason for giving our hesitant acquaintanceship another shot. I knew Harry was rich and had money to buy the people he cared about nice things, but to me, that was a cheap shot. I’d much rather have something heartfelt, like him inviting me to meet John Williams because he knew how excited I’d be.

It was like I wasn’t even worth the effort. Like he could just throw something expensive in my direction and I’d forgive him.

“You can have the tickets if you want,” I told Melody, tossing my phone onto the couch in annoyance, “but I don’t want them.”

Melody raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything. She just continued to search through channels for something to watch. While we sat in the silence, I let my eyes drift over to Benjamin (which I had reluctantly started calling him. Not because Harry had thought of it, but because it was a rather cute name).

If Harry had shown up with another thoughtful little plant like that, I might have forgiven him.

“I’m not going to Los Angeles without you. The raging twat can go fuck himself.” I chuckled at her blasé tone. “I’m just… I don’t know. Worried about you. I know you guys were getting closer or whatever.”

“No,” I almost immediately responded. “I think Harry and I are unable to be friends.”

And that was the truth of the matter. I had deluded myself into some sort of comfortability with him, but it was long gone. It was like his little offhand comment had reminded me of all the shit he had done. He was Harry who introduced me to John Williams and brought me iced coffee, yes, but he was also the Harry who made me sob and was one of the reasons I was going to therapy in the first place.

“Trennan and I are unable to be friends. Trennan’s not a twat like Harry is, but he’s so fucking stupid.”

And just like that, my sour mood was back to normal. Melody had that effect on people. We wasted time by chatting about Trennan’s latest fuck up at work and watched an episode of Friends that was playing on the telly. We painted our nails (something Melody was surprisingly good at) red, blue, and gold to show support for Carol Danvers before the movie. When it came time for us to leave, my flat, we eagerly got into our Uber who took one look at our Marvel gear and asked if we were going to the midnight premiere.

The theater was packed when we arrived, but since we’d already gotten our tickets, there really wasn’t anything to worry about. It was one of those fancy theaters that sold alcohol, so we each got a drink and cheered to the new movie before they allowed us into the actual theater. We were sitting in the middle, which was absolutely the best seat in the house, and I wiggled into the chair and flipped up the foot rest. There was a little swinging table that came across my stomach, so I set my drink there.

For those glorious two hours and five minutes, all of my worries seemed to evaporate. Watching Carol Danvers kicking alien ass was like a switch that shut off all the drama that was going on with Harry and all of the terrible tweets. It was just Melody and I watching as the first woman superhero in Marvel got her solo film. Seeing Samuel L. Jackson without an eyepatch and CGI’d to look younger was a trip, but the movie was so brilliant that I couldn’t bring myself to care.

“Fuck, that was brilliant,” Melody exclaimed when we exited the theater, still on the high of seeing such an amazing film. “Did you see her absolutely obliterate Jude Law?”

I had seen her absolutely obliterate Jude Law, but I nodded my head enthusiastically. “And then that line!”

“I’ve got nothing to prove to you,” Melody quoted, her voice dipping lower to try and mimic Brie Larson’s cadence. “Holy shit I’m so glad we saw that.”

“You coming back to mine?” I asked, getting out my phone to order an Uber for the two of us.

“Unfortunately no. I’ve got to head to the office early in the morning and I don’t want to wake you up. Plus, I’ve got some documents there that I need.”

Once we grabbed an Uber back to her flat, I gave her a quick hug. The nights where Melody didn’t stay the night were weird now. I had gotten used to her using my couch as her safe haven.

“What’s the second address?” the Uber driver asked.

I told him my flat address as my phone beeped in my pocket. When I pulled it out, I was surprised to see Bailey’s number flashing across my screen. “Bails?” I asked when I answered it. There was thumping bass in the background of wherever she was and I had to plug my other ear with my finger to hear her clearly.

“Petra! Thank Christ. I didn’t know who else to call. Harry is here and he’s absolutely pissed. Like, I don’t think he can even navigate through the Uber app right now. Jeff left about an hour ago, but I don’t think he knew how drunk Harry was. I’ve been sitting with him for a couple of minutes trying to get him to drink water.”

My first instinct was to tell Harry Styles to fuck off. He was smarter than going out and getting piss drunk without a sure way home. But the pleading tone of Bailey’s voice had me sympathetic enough to ask where they were. Once she gave me the name of the night club, I told the driver to change course and that I’d pay him double for the inconvenience. “Alright, Bails, I’m on my way. Sorry you have to deal with him.”

“S’alright. He was fine the first couple of drinks. Was dancing and singing. Then he just got quiet and sad. I’m just worried he’s going to do something stupid.”

I wasn’t heartless enough to not feel sympathy for him. But my sympathy wouldn’t fix things between us, so I just hummed at Bailey’s statement. “Try and keep him drinking some water. I’ll make sure he gets home safe. Is anyone else there with you?”

“Veronica’s in the loo.”

There was a bright side to this little excursion then. At least I would get to say hello to Bailey and Veronica. “Alright. Be there soon.”

I wasn’t exactly dressed to go to a nightclub. I noticed this the second the driver pulled up and I promised I would be out in fifteen minutes. I was in mum jeans and my Marvel shirt, not in the glittery and sequined mini dresses some of the girls were wearing. Uncomfortable, I crossed my arms over my chest and tried to find Bailey in the crowd of people. There were intoxicated people everywhere, bumping into me and sending me glares as if it were my fault. Eventually I managed to find the leggy blonde that was Veronica Berkley, and made a beeline over towards her.

The three of them were sitting at a table, Harry’s head down on the wood and his arm hanging limply at his side. He had a glass of water in front of him and Bailey was trying to coax him to take another sip. When she saw me, her face relaxed. “Thank Christ. Thanks, Petra.”

“Petra?” Harry asked, his head immediately lifting from the table. He stared at me, but it didn’t look like he was all the way there. He then noticed my outfit and sent me a timid smile. “How was the movie?”

“C’mon,” I said stoically, reaching for him, “let’s get you home.”

Helping Harry keep upright happened to be a very difficult task. Compared to me, he was unreasonably tall. He leaned awkward against me, but slotted his arm around my shoulders to keep himself from tipping over. “I had too many shots of tequila,” he mumbled groggily, blinking slowly as I tried to maneuver his weight in a way that helped us both not fall.

“I know,” I replied. I looked towards Bailey and Veronica. “I’ve got him, guys. I’ll text you when I get home, yeah?”

“Please do. Be careful,” Veronica said, eyeing Harry. She didn’t know the details of our past, but she knew I wasn’t exactly his number one fan. Veronica was incredibly well-tempered, but also was passionate about protecting the ones she cared about. For some wild reason, I had made it into this category.

I nodded and reached around Harry, pulling his body closer to my waist so I could keep him up. Walking was a bit of a chore, especially because drunk Harry seemed to get distracted very easily, but we made it out of the nightclub with minor injuries and arguments. The Uber driver from earlier raised an eyebrow when Harry Styles got into his car, but thankfully didn’t say much else.

“Same address?” the Uber driver asked.

“No,” I said, turning to Harry. “Harry, you’ve got to tell me your address so we can get you home.”

“I don’t remember it.”

I tried not to get annoyed since it wouldn’t be much help, but that proved difficult while in the presence of one Harry Styles. “Don’t you want to go home and sleep in your bed? From my own memory, I remember it being a magnificent one.”

He grinned. “You’ve imagined being in my bed?” At my deadpan look, his smile dropped and he shook his head. “I...I don’t want to be alone.”

That should have been it. I should have demanded to get the address from him and sent him on his way home. I’d walk him up to his door and put him in his bed (fuck changing him out of his clothes, he could sleep in his wide-legged yellow pants for all I cared) and then be on my way. But it was the look in his eyes as he hesitantly turned to face me that had me stopping in my tracks. They weren’t the carelessly apologetic eyes I had been expecting to see after our little disagreement. They were tired, an exhaustion that only came with carrying the weight of something heavy and ugly on your shoulders. He blinked slowly at me, and I was a little surprised to see tears well in them.

Which was the only reason I told the driver to just stick to my address.

Harry was nearly comatose on the drive back, staring out the window so I couldn’t see that lonely look in his eyes anymore. I didn’t know if I was grateful for it or wishing I could see it again. Seeing it would prove to me that there was a semblance of a human who had problems like I did, but not seeing it meant that I could still justify being angry with him about last week. Eventually, I just settled into my seat and looked out my own window as the city passed us by.

When the driver pulled up to my place, I had to shake Harry gently awake. Sometime during the drive, he had dozed off. He blinked a little sleepily at me as I thanked the guy driving us and hurriedly exited the car to help Harry out of his side. Like in the club, he easily slid his arm around my shoulders and accepted my help as we hobbled to my flat. Getting my keys out of my pocket with a drunk gargantuan attached to me was difficult, but not impossible. Soon we stumbled into my flat and Harry made a beeline to my couch, groaning as he sat on the cushions.

“Why’re we at your place?” he asked, his breath smelling entirely like the bottom of a bottle.

“You said you didn’t want to be alone,” I replied, gathering the blankets and pillows that Melody usually slept with to make him a little pallet on the couch.

He frowned. “I didn’t think you cared.”

That stung more than it should have. “M’not heartless, Harry.”

“No,” he immediately said, shaking his head, “no. You’re the opposite of heartless. You have too much heart, I think. There’s so much of it and it’s easy to break and I’ve broken it a lot.”

I was uncomfortable with the direction our conversation was taking. I hoped he would fall asleep soon so I could retreat to my room and escape the emotions swirling around inside me. “Go to sleep, Harry. You’ll feel better in the morning.”

“I’ll feel like shit. I always do when you’re involved.” He seemed to have enough clarity to know that this wasn’t a good thing to say, so he cursed. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just mean that I’m not good enough to be your friend.”

Laughing humorlessly, I shook my head. “You don’t know what you’re saying, Harry. You’re drunk.”

“Drunk words are sober thoughts,” he reminded me.

“I never believed in that saying.”

“It’s because you would never say someone bad about someone. That’s what being drunk is, mostly. You just say shitty things because suddenly you have courage. But you wouldn’t. Because you’re a nice person.” He curled onto his side, clutching the pillow like it was his salvation. “I know I fucked up. I didn’t have a right to be mad when you said that.”

“You didn’t,” I agreed.

“I just hate being reminded of what person I was to you.” When I didn’t say anything, his eyes scanned my flat, landing on the succulent he had brought me. “You kept Benjamin.”

“I told you I was a good plant mum. Just because I was mad at you doesn’t mean Benjamin needed to suffer.”

He laughed, the sound of it making me feel lighter now that I knew he was off the self-deprecating thoughts. We could discuss it in the morning. I still wasn’t really ready to forgive, and that was on me. I had to search deep into myself and deal with problems that didn’t have anything to do with Harry. Hearing him—even if I knew he was drunk—apologize for his actions helped.

“She’s really beautiful,” he said suddenly, and I saw his eyes on the photo of my grandmother.

“She is.” I tried to forget that he had told me last week that I had looked like her.

“You are too. Inside and out. I want to be beautiful like that.”

His hand reached out and curled around mine, carding our fingers together to examine the difference in sizes. My hand was small and bony, his fingers were long and callused from playing guitar. I held my breath as he stared at our fingers, his thumb running across the back of my hand and tickling the skin there. “Why didn’t you want to be alone tonight, Harry?” I whispered.

“Always alone. Didn’t want to be.”

His head lolled to its side, burrowing itself into the pillow. I knew he would be out in a matter of minutes and I could release my fingers from his then, but for now I let him clutch onto my skin. I heard the moment his breathing evened out, small snores falling from his parted lips. Sighing, I stood from the couch and tossed the blanket over him, making sure he was properly tucked in since I knew the fan blowing overhead sometimes made Melody cold.

And then I retreated to my own room, trying to ignore the fact that Harry Styles was sleeping just beyond my bedroom wall.

~

The smell of something burning woke me up.

It took me a couple of moments to remember what had happened the night before. When I did, I groaned. This morning was going to be interesting with a hungover Harry. I was suddenly glad Melody had decided to stay at her place because Christ knew she would be glaring at Harry’s every move. Blearily putting on my glasses so I could properly see, I stretched my body out of bed, listening to the pops and cracks of my bones. I was dressed in my normal sleep attire of leggings and a long-sleeved shirt, so I just shoved my feet into slippers and made my way into the kitchen.

The burning toast had woken me from sleep, but the fact that Harry was standing in my kitchen in nothing but his underwear was like someone had poured cold water down my back.

He turned, jumping when he saw me staring at him. “Christ, you move quietly!” he exclaimed. My eyes were locked onto his torso, unable to meet his eyes. Harry wasn’t the most muscular guy that I’d ever seen, but that didn’t mean he was lacking in that department. His entire body looked like someone’s doodled-in notebook, but the tattoos suited him.

All except the giant fucking butterfly.

“Morning,” he said cautiously, not noticing that my gaze was on the giant insect across his stomach.

“Why the fuck did you get a butterfly?” I asked, ignoring morning pleasantries in favor of taking a page from Melody’s book and being blunt and honest.

He smiled a little. “Lux liked butterflies.” I had no idea who Lux was, but I just raised an eyebrow. “I’m making us breakfast.”

“I’m surprised you’re up and about. I was sure you’d be groaning and complaining about your massive headache.” Still, I sat at one of my barstools and watched him put two slices of toast on a plate. I smelled the avocado before I saw it, and I was happy to see he put a generous helping on the toast I assumed was meant for me. Sprinkling pepper and salt on it, he handed it to me with a flourish.

“I found your ibuprofen. Sorry for rummaging.”

I took a bite of the toast, noticing that he was leaning forward on the counter to see my reaction. When I swallowed, I gave him a nod and a tiny smile to let him know that, yes, his breakfast was edible. He let out a sigh of relief and then started on breakfast for himself.

Having Harry Styles in my kitchen making me breakfast was like an out of body experience. It felt like the dream of every girl back in secondary school had happened to me, the girl that Harry hated most. It was wild to wrap my head around. I was still trying to when he turned to me.

“The paps got pictures of us last night.”

The last time the paps had gotten pictures of us, I had been sent into a spiraling hole of self-esteem that I still hadn’t entirely clawed my way out from. “Oh,” was all I was able to say.

“Jeff called me this morning to tell me. I just wanted to let you know so you weren’t blindsided.” I opened my mouth to say something, but closed it when I realized how stupid I would sound. Unfortunately, he caught it. “Say what’s in your head,” he suggested, taking a bite of his toast.

“I don’t want to. It’s stupid.” I brushed the tiny crumbs of toast of my shirt, avoiding Harry’s gaze.

“It’s not stupid if it puts that look on your face.”

I wanted to remind him that there was once a time he put that look on my face daily. But I didn’t. It wouldn’t be fair to either of us to bring something like that back up, not when things seemed to be going decently. “I just...I’m sure I didn’t look my best. Between that and the John Williams day…” I let my voice trail off, taking another bite of the toast to distract myself.

“Petra, no one cares how you look.” The sentence almost made me chuckle because of its phrasing, but I knew how he meant it.

“Some people do.”

It took him a few moments to realize what I had said, but when he did, he set his plate down on the counter. He didn’t look happy. His mouth was set in a grim line and his arms came up to cross in front of his chest. “You went on Twitter.”

I shrugged. “It wasn’t anything I wasn’t expecting. I walked out of the house with wet hair and my makeup not done.” I hated that I had become this girl, the one that cared what people thought about her appearance. But seeing people saying such harsh things had ruined the carefully constructed version of myself that I held in my head.

“Look at me,” he said in a quiet voice. When I lifted my gaze, his eyes were burning with something I couldn’t identify. “Petra Gallego, you are absolutely gorgeous. Don’t let assholes tell you otherwise.”

My mouth went dry and embarrassed tears pricked in my eyes.

“I owe you an apology,” he said while I tried to tighten my throat so the tears wouldn’t fall. “I acted like a dick the last time I was here. You had every right to ignore me. I honestly don’t know why you keep giving me chances.”

“I wasn’t going to let you be that drunk by yourself without someone to take care of you,” I argued. “Anyone else would have done it, too.”

“No, they wouldn’t have. I meant what I said last night, Petra. You’re beautiful inside and out.”

“You can’t just say things like that to me,” I blurted.

“Why?”

“You just can’t,” I argued, giving him a glare and pushing my plate of toast away from me. Instead of taking this as a sign that I was done discussing the topic, he took the plate and put it in my sink, casually washing off the crumbs like this was something he did everyday. “And you can’t just try and get me to forgive you by throwing money at me either.”

He stopped cleaning my dishes, giving me a confused look. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“The premiere in Los Angeles? You just offered the tickets to get me to forgive you, and it made me feel like shit. Like I wasn’t even a person worth apologizing to.”

His eyes were wide. “I didn’t mean for it to come off that way. I’m sorry that it did. I just offered it because I knew it would be something you were interested in. I’ll back off with stuff like that if it's what you want.”

“It’s what I want.”

“Okay.” And that was that. He went back to cleaning up my kitchen and I remained sitting in my barstool, a little dumbfounded at what was happening. “How was the movie?”

I blinked. “What?”

“Captain Marvel. How was it? I wasn’t lying when I said I had tickets to the premiere and I want to know if it’s worth going out to LA to see it. I’ve missed a couple of the Marvel movies, so I might be a bit lost, but do you think I could follow the plot without having to Wikipedia the rest of the movies?”

Harry Styles was asking me about Marvel. I felt like I had stepped into some kind of Twilight Zone. Back in secondary school, he would have laughed if I gushed about the movie. I’d like to believe the Harry in front of me wouldn’t do the same, but I was still hesitant and unsure around him. “It was good,” I settled on finally, retreating back into my bubble of self-preservation.

“Good. I’m glad you liked it. I know you were looking forward to it. Who’s on AC this week?”

“You don’t have to pretend to be interested, Harry.”

His fingers stilled, and he stared at my sink for a few seconds. I knew once again I had said the wrong thing, but I was standing my ground for this one. I wasn’t going to let him get mad that I was hesitant and unsure to share stuff with him. “I’m not pretending. I’ve been listening,” he said after a few moments of awkward silence. “I was wondering if it was going to be anyone I knew.”

“Probably not. It’s my editor for the publishing company I’ve been working with.”

“Publishing company? You’re writing a book? That’s brilliant, Petra!”

I wasn't used to praise from Harry, which might have been why I looked at him a little dumbfounded. “Um, yeah. It should be published in a few months.”

“Will you sign a copy for me?”

“No,” I blurted without thinking about it. I regret it the second it left my mouth, but Harry seemed to take my answer in stride, if his nod was anything to go by.

“Alright, that’s fine. I’m going to buy my own copy, though.”

“I don’t know why I said that. Of course I’ll sign it. Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry for your emotions, Petra. You’ve got a right to every single one of them.” A slow grin came across his face. “Unless your emotions cause you to physically harm Benjamin. Then, I’m afraid I’ll have to intervene.”

“Do you just go around telling people what a shit plant mum I am?”

He laughed, tossing his head back. It was then that I was struck how gorgeous Harry truly was. Sure, I had known it back in secondary school, but his personality had made him ugly in my eyes. Now, however, I couldn’t deny it, especially when he was smiling at me and doing my dishes in the middle of my kitchen. The shorter hair suited him, though I was fairly certain the longer hair would as well. He was unfairly beautiful.

He had said last night that he wished he could be beautiful inside and out, but he was already halfway there.

“I wasn’t sure that if in your anger you would have harmed him. I’m glad to see I was wrong.”

“Shut up, you oversized Etch-a-Sketch,” I growled. “Who the fuck gets a butterfly tattooed on their stomach?”

He couldn’t hear me over the sound of his own chuckling. When he was done with the dishes, he made his way over to where his clothes were resting, putting the ridiculously bright trousers back on over his pants. The shirt was a little more tame than some of the ones I’d seen in pictures, and I was happy that his torso was covered. I felt like having him half-naked in my kitchen was going too fast too quickly. There was still a hesitant wariness that I felt when I saw him.

“Would you ever get a tattoo?” he asked curiously as he pulled on his shoes.

I hadn’t really ever thought about it. The idea wasn’t one I disliked, but I just hadn’t gotten around to sitting down and debating what I might like to have on my skin. “I don’t know. Why?”

He shrugged. “Just trying to get to know you better. I feel like I know nothing about you.”

The idea of Harry wanting to get to know me made me squirm a little in my seat. “Oh.”

“You could get something from Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. Some of the artists I’ve gone to would make a tattoo like that look incredible. Come to think of it, I actually think one of my guys has the death eater symbol tattooed on his arm.”

While that was incredibly awesome (I told Harry so), I didn’t think I would want something from a fandom tattooed on my body. It wasn’t that I thought my love for it would diminish, as I was...well, me. But when I thought of tattoos, I thought of something much more personal and intimate. Tattoos didn’t always have to have some deep or hidden meaning, as exhibited by some of Harry’s doodle-like ink, but to me, I would want it to mean something.

“Vive libremente,” I said. I had been so deep in my thoughts that I hadn’t realized he was still talking and I had just interrupted him. He stared at me questioningly. “That’s, um, what I would get tattooed. If I ever did.”

“What does it mean?”

“Live freely.” Because wasn’t that what I was trying to get to? To the point in my life where I could live my life the way I wanted to, without interference from anyone else or my own insecurities. It was a concept Doctor Thorne had introduced to me, like carpe diem but so much more. Living freely wasn’t about seizing the day. It was about taking the mundane days and living them in a way that was unabashedly me.

“I didn’t know you spoke Spanish,” he commented.

“I don’t. I wish I did. I’ve never really learned it. I just know a couple of phrases.”

“Your parents...they were born in Cuba, right?”

Immediately, I was on the defensive. Harry had never directly insulted my heritage in school, but Nathan Penrose had. He had made comments about sending me back to where I belonged and how he didn’t truly believe I was Cuban because I hadn’t acted like it. The thought had always been confusing to me. I was too Cuban to fit in with his friends, but I was too English to belong in Cuba either. “Yes,” I said, and he could tell my voice was stiff.

I didn’t realize he had moved closer to me until I suddenly felt his hand on my arm. “I’m not trying to make you uncomfortable. Just asking questions.”

I swallowed. “Cuba is a hard subject for me.”

“Okay. We’ll talk about something else.”

And then he launched into a discussion about what order he needed to watch the Marvel movies in. We talked about them for what must have been an hour and a half before he stated that he had to leave, thanking me again for not letting him fall asleep at some random night club. I watched him leave my flat with a sinking feeling in my stomach.

I wanted to be friends with Harry Styles. But the thought of being friends with him, of letting him in completely, was terrifying to me. I wasn’t sure if I was strong enough to handle it.

A little chirp came from my phone the second I closed the door behind him.

harrystyles: I’m not nearly done in my journey of getting to know Petra Gallego. Therefore, I’m sending my number. I feel like texting will be easier. You don’t have to if you don’t want to. You have a choice. But I just wanted to send it. Have a good day, Petra.

Attached was his phone number. I stared at it for a couple of seconds before reluctantly making a contact for him and putting his number in.

Not quite the long journey you were expecting. I’m not that interesting.

His text bubbles popped up almost immediately. You’re the most interesting person I think I’ve ever met. There’s a journey there, trust me. Also, I’m requesting to follow you on Instagram. I’m tired of Gemma getting to see all your posts and not me.

I just smiled when the request came through.

[denimbex1986]

'Patricia Highsmith’s series of novels about the character of Tom Ripley are among the highest selling in literary history, and have had a significant influence on the sub-genre of con artist stories. Given their immense popularity, it's not surprising that the books have been adapted to the screen several times; while René Clément’s 1960 noir Purple Noon was the first adaptation, Anthony Minghella’s star-studded 1999 adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley, with Matt Damon, Jude Law, and Gwyneth Paltrow, earned several Academy Award nominations. The pressure was on for showrunner Steven Zaillian to ensure that his version of Ripley did something different. While it doesn’t change much of the narrative, Netflix’s Ripley stands out compared to other adaptations due to its incredibly slow pacing.

Netflix's ‘Ripley’ Fleshes Out Its Characters With Great Detail

Ripley serves as a straightforward adaptation of the first installment in Highsmith’s series. While the characters’ ages are advanced by nearly two decades, the series does not make any notable changes to the story compared to previous adaptations. Andrew Scott’s Tom Ripley is hired by Herbert Greenleaf (Kenneth Lonergan) to travel to Italy to convince his pretentious son Dickie (Johnny Flynn) to return home. Although it’s evident from the beginning that the enigmatic con man has malicious intentions, Ripley spends more time fleshing out the titular character's life prior to his mission. This allows the viewer to understand the strange way that Ripley perceives the world. Additionally, the excellent sound design helps make this an even more immersive experience.

Yes, both Purple Noon and The Talented Mr. Ripley were quick to show the devolution of the main characters’ relationship, but Ripley crafts a more complex depiction of Ripley’s dynamic with Dickie. Initially, Dickie is put off by Ripley’s aggressive behavior, yet slowly becomes charmed by his inventive spirit. Jude Law’s depiction of Dickie was one of an ecstatic young man bursting with exuberance, but Flynn’s interpretation is that of a cynical, belligerent expatriate. Flynn has certainly shown his charming side in films like Emma, but Ripley gives him the chance to play an unlikable, privileged brat who has delusions about his own artistry. This makes the central tragedy more complicated, as Dickie is a character whose prospects for the future are entirely superficial.

Additionally, Ripley spends more time examining the unique dilemma that Dakota Fanning’s Marge Sherwood is in, as she has to bear witness to Ripley’s infiltration of Dickie’s life. Even though the series suggests that their relationship is not an entirely pleasant one, Marge nonetheless feels protective of Dickie, and fears that Ripley may have a corrupting influence on their lives. Marge’s ignorance of Ripley’s malicious intentions makes her a rather uninteresting character in The Talented Mr. Ripley, despite a strong performance by Gwyneth Paltrow. However, the extra runtime in Ripley allows Fanning to give a more confident and capable interpretation of Highsmith’s original character.

‘Ripley’ Uses Its Slow Pacing To Create Tension

While the eight episode length means that the action is spread more thinly, Ripley certainly does not pad its run time with superfluous content. Ripley creates a moody atmosphere and level of paranoia that makes the moments of violence hit with more impact. After watching Ripley slowly twist himself into a web of lies throughout the first two episodes, his murder of Dickie in the standout third episode, “III Sommerso," is riveting to watch. Zaillian takes the time to show the specifics of how Ripley plots the murder; he must ensure that there are no observers, hide the evidence of the boat, and survive nearly falling overboard. By getting into the minutia of his problem solving, Ripley allows Scott to delve into the character’s abilities.

Dickie’s murder is certainly the most memorable incident in the series, but Ripley does a great job at examining the character’s anxiety and paranoia in the aftermath of his crimes. Between feeding fake stories to Marge about Dickie’s location, avoiding the attention of Freddie Miles (Elliot Sumner), and escaping from the investigations by Inspector Pietro Ravini (Maurizio Lombardi), Ripley is constantly forced to change and reinvent the carefully constructed lie that he created. The extended running time shows that he has to live with this sad reality for the rest of his life; it provides the perfect groundwork for continuation should Zaillian ever decide to adapt Highsmith’s other books for a Ripley Season 2.

‘Ripley’ Commits to Its Noir Influences

One of the most notable differences between Ripley and prior adaptations of the material is that Zaillian’s series is shot entirely in black and white by legendary cinematographer Robert Elswit. While it’s an aesthetic choice that succeeds in capturing the look and feel of the 1960s, Ripley bears much in common with classical films in the noir genre. Most noir films focus primarily on the gradual dissemination of information, using their protagonists' wit and attention to detail as a means of advancing the story. This is something that Ripley uses to its advantage; the series takes the time to show Scott’s version of the character gradually learning how to adopt his new persona.

The added material may have been a burden had the performances been lacking, but thankfully, Scott’s interpretation of Ripley marks another instance of him reinventing an iconic character. Ripley’s methodical pacing gives the series the chance to focus on Scott’s internalized performance, as Ripley is not a character that is defined only by his most egregious actions. By slowly revealing how Ripley’s daily routine and mannerisms change based on his environment, Ripley somehow makes the character more enigmatic.

While many great miniseries simply feel like long movies, Ripley takes advantage of the episodic format. Each episode presents the character with a unique goal that he must accomplish, and exploring his larger arc through micro situations such as heaving rocks into a boat in order to sink it and cleaning up a bloody kill, serves as an inventive way to approach the material. Ripley may be slow, but it's so entertaining that it leaves viewers begging for more by the time that it concludes.'

[kunebula]

I'll be listing my 7 favourite movies because @moonlattae kindly tagged me in this (I legit wrote down all of the films I hadn't seen from your list bc your taste means BUSINESS 👀)

1. Gattaca (1977) : this just has everything I love in a movie. The architecture, photography, incredible soundtrack, Jude Law, Uma Thurman, you name it. A great conversation on bio-ethics and just pure sci-fi greatness

2. Interstellar (2014): another sci-fi film done right! It was also robbed at the Oscars, I was on the edge of my seat for the whole thing and i have never been the same since.

3. Howl's Moving Castle (2004): I've literally grown up with this movie, the dvd is beat up and I can recite the greek dub like a shakespearean sonnet. I'm currently working on other languages (I am surprised by how greek calcifer outdoes even the japanese one, it's so rare for dubs)

4.Paprika (2006): I watched it this year and OH MY GOD, Nolan really thought people wouldn't find out with Inception did he 👀 anyways please watch this, the concept is genius and Kon is using the power of animation to its full potential

5. Blade Runner (1982) : the aesthetic foundation of citypop. Iconic soundtrack by Vangelis, neon sign poetry, action scenes! And this haunting final speech (yes, Rupert Howard improvised it!)

6. Chungking Express (1994): Wong Kar-Wai to the max. Dirty, chaotic Hong Kong becoming a faceless global capitalistic capital. And those tender love stories that are never exactly complete.

7. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014): once you Wes Anderson, you can't go back. His photography is a sight for sure eyes, the cast is unbelievable and I find the storytelling so nice! Also, almost-4:5 ratio has never felt more like home.

Tagging: @thegirlthatsdancingintherain 🌷

[themovieblogonline]

Harry Potter to Return With New Audiobook Release

Despite over a decade since the Harry Potter franchise wrapped up, The Wizarding World is far from gone. In the latest magical news, a new Harry Potter audiobook series is coming, and it’s set to be something huge. The production will see Audible and Pottermore Publishing team up to create exclusive audiobooks of all seven J.K. Rowling novels. Let’s talk about what we know so far. A New Harry Potter Audiobook Series Is Coming The goal of the new Harry Potter audiobook series is to bring the “iconic stories to life as never heard before.” It will do this by providing immersive audio entertainment with a score, new character voices and other real-world sound capture. They will tell the original Harry Potter stories and will not be involved with the new Wizarding World series from Warner Bros. The audiobooks will feature over 100 voice actors, which is quite an impressive feat. It would be incredible to see some original actors return to voice their iconic roles, but no casting news has been made yet. This isn’t the first Harry Potter tale to come to Audible. Their current collection is already worth a listen and includes the following: The Tales of Beedle the Bard, performed by Jude Law Harry Potter: A History of Magic, performed by Natalie Dormer Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, performed by Eddie Redmayne Quidditch Through the Ages, Performed by Andrew Lincoln Why We’ll Be Listening The series was initially released as audiobooks performed by Stephen Fry and Jim Dale, beginning in 1999. They were a staple in homes worldwide and have earned even more listens since launching on Audible in 2015. These audiobooks had quite the charm, and I still associate the books with Fry’s narration occasionally. However, an innovative release with dozens of voice actors is something that I won’t want to miss. The emphasis on the score also indicates that this will have tip-top production value, which isn’t a surprise given how much attention is still given to the franchise. I try to reread the Harry Potter books at least once every few years, and given the exciting news, I can say with certainty that my next read-through might be a listen-through instead. There is no official release date for the new Harry Potter audiobook series, but it is set to premiere sometime in late 2025. So, watch for more news from Audible and Pottermore Publishing.    Read the full article

[lunchador]

ok but!!! what happened!!! im screaming!!! you finished the game but there are no details!!! friend i need details!!! who sided with who!!!! im just!!! so excited about ur playthru and i need any and all details about how u feel about anders rn especially!!! i think there was less different paths because funding but i still would like to Know

 SO!! MUCH!! HAPPENED!!

It was funny, cuz, y’know, in comparison to DA:O where the END OF THE WORLD is hanging above your head at all times, I felt the pacing was considerably more relaxed in 2. And in retrospect, it definitely was building up in ways you weren’t quite piecing together (Or am I dumb? That’s usually the case) as you aren’t even sure why you have the derogatory title from cassandras mouth of Champion. Champion, of fuckin what? I do chores for people.

So like most of the game feels like you’re chilling. Talk to some people, do some small quests, learn some lore.

Then like, the qunari attack happened. Which, I assume happens regardless, correct? Man that statue of me looks douchey as hell. Flaming sword?

ANDERS CAN SUCK SHIT. That fucker lied to me? and made everything OH SO MUCH FUKIN WORSE. Oh boohoo I want to rid justice, distract her so I can MURDER PEOPLE ACTUALLY INSTEAD?? Like, MAN, I really like him on paper, healer of the needy, activist, cat lover. But he is so warped in his thinking and self hate. Also I know I joked about this somewhere but our second conversation ever (first one being when I met him) he gives me a big speech about how he could see us together but how he’s so bad he’s a monster boohoo so i need to stay away from him romantically and I’m standing there like.......yeah ok man. 

I SHOULD HAVE KILLED HIM - I was legit SO mad he did that. Everything was bad as is, and he made it worse. If I hadn’t have helped in that quest would it still have happened? AUGH. Almost everyone wanted him dead but I still felt bad. Of the companions, I think i bonded with him and sebastian the least. I tried really hard to side with the mages, cuz, i’m a mage, i dont think magic is bad but bad people can have magic, and Meredith IS a dick and instigated it, BUT THERE IS SO FUCKING MUCH BLOOD MAGIC IN KIRKWALL, WHY.

AND FUCKIN SEBASTIAN - SO MAD - was like if you let him live i’m coming back with an army to attack. like...bro what happened to being a peaceful monk or whatever the shit? I thought I told you taking the crown wasn’t worth it if you don’t want it? fuckin jude law looking motherfucker. But i barely played with him and i figured anders healing would be useful for the end. so, i took anders with me. So now I guess I’m gonna hear in inquisition about this dude coming in to attack kirkwall later idk SIGH

So yeah, I tried to side with Orison. Then that bitch ass gave in to blood magic too and turned into that disgusting abomination. I HATE when you try to defend someone and they too turn into a jackass. Fuck you, man. And Meredith of course is off her rockers with red lyrium. I hate all of these people. I tried to save the decent mages where I could and that bit me in the ass with one of them at the end FUCK YOU, UNGRATEFUL.

A N Y W A Y S,

since I’m sooooooo good at these games (how am I so so so bad??) Hawke basically...lost everyone. I didn’t officially romance anyone. Though in the epilogue, it says everyone eventually splits from Hawke except Isabela. I figured she had a soft spot for me. I think I couldn’t fully romance her because I didn’t get her the boat? Idk. I didn’t like the romance system in this game. Like, yes it makes sense for story plot reasons but it’s terribly confusing for someone not in the know and I hated looking at guides because they had spoilers.

My mom got murdered by a serial killer blood mage, r.i.p. My sister is dead. I am SO surprised Carver sided with me in the end. I thought he was genuinely about to pick being a templar over me and fight. I TRIED TO BE SO NICE TO THAT FUCKER.

i’m surprised cullen sided with me too. the few interactions you have with him in origins and here he’s kind of a dick. and i know all that shit going on with his VA so i am not stoked for him in inquisition

I tried/failed to romance Fenris. Man, I got SO attached to him?? He tries so hard to be grumpy but you get under his skin. Every time he called me his friend or smiled I was like YES, YOU FUCKER, YOU LIKE ME. But being a mage is such a cockblock. FUCK. I’m definitely kissing him next time.  But I can at least brag that I guess I did his companion quest correctly enough and he was maxed out cuz he didn’t leave me. He seemed begruding that he was gonna defend mages but he was gonna do it for ME. BFFs til the end.

how the fuck did fenris turn around and settle for compromise while anders was still pissy as hell? I guess anders just feels so much for others. also the whole tranquil shit was sooo fucked. Also I love they’ve known each other for 6 years and they’re still disgustingly snippy with each other - FIGHT!!!!

MERRIL TRIED TO CONFESS FEELINGS FOR ME. HOW? I kept pissing her off by not supporting the blood mage shit. I HAD TO PULL THE LIKE A SISTER LINE. MERRIL IM SO SORRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYY. She’s so sweet, yet her quest was incredibly fucked up oh my god?? We had to kill the dalish group and I FELT AWFUL. WHY SO MUCH BLOOD MAGIC????????

I thought this game was going to end with assigning a new viscount. ANd I was like man that sucks, Sid isn’t the type for permanent responsibility like that but like, if it’ll get everyone to shut the fuck up ok. But...that wasn’t the ending. I hope that gets addressed in inquisition? I felt like that kinda got cliffhanger’d. Also I’m assuming Aveline had to run too being she was associated with me so the guard is probably in shambles too.

oh my god what about dominic? D:

anyway, I would die for varric, and while I understand the story reasons for not letting him be romancable, it still sucks cuz he pairs SO well with a snarky Hawke, sigh

but yeah there may have been less big decisions but there certainly were a lot of smaller ones I felt I fucked up. I’m just.......so good at that. I got so many people KILLED.

def some replay value in there!! I tried to do a lot more sidequests in this one than origins. so we will see how inquisition goes. It’s been super hyped to me and I’m told it’s pretty long

Its just crazy all the shit hawke got caught up in without even particularly trying. Like the warden is there because, yeah, they’re a grey warden, one of the few, but in 2 its just kinda like..............oops lmfao.