#now i just have to watch shazam 2 which will hopefully be much better than this and then i never have to see the dceu films ever again

[t4tails]

omg superman :3

[furederiko]

September 1st!!! And it's the first (of hopefully more) Random-News-Digest of the month...

Quick update before I start! Nope, my situation hasn't really improved since last time. Things are still going haywire and uncertain on my part. Which means I'm still not too sure if I will be able to post more frequently this month as well. But this is a NEW month, and I always want to start anything with a fresh and optimistic mind. So at the very least, I'm going to TRY to post more. Here's hoping... Also, expect this R-N-D to be more... 'Digest' than usual. After all, I actually decided to do this on a whimsy when I woke up this morning. You can expect things to be more shorter and compact this time around. So without further ado, let's start!!!

DC Films

The news in this category has been quite a shocker lately. Martin Scorsese wants to make a stand-alone "Joker" origin story without Jared Leto? And then there's that Leto and Margot Robbie's "Joker and Harley Quinn" movie, that is being fast-tracked to come following "Suicide Squad 2"? It's a new title that was first rumored to replace David Ayer's "Gotham City Sirens", though recent report suggests that all-female movie is STILL in development as well. To complicate matters, "Suicide Squad 2" already lost a potential director, and with Will Smith's busy schedule, it won't start production until late next year. Ouch!

Oh yeah, eventhough the movie won't arrive until April 5th, 2019, director David F. Sandberg teased that the most lighthearted DC Film movie "Shazam" will start production very soon. Yet we don't even know who's going to play Billy Batson, nor his grown-up version. While Matt Reeves is going back and forth his version of "The Batman", saying it's not part of the DCEU, and then it IS. Please make up your mind! Jon Spaihts was rumored to be re-writing "Justice League Dark", though said rumor has been cleared out by The Wrap. The irony in that, is because he was among the writer of "Doctor Strange" for Marvel Studios!!! First Joss Whedon took over Zack Snyder for "Justice League", and has officially been given a writer credit (his involvement is 33% of the movie!!!). And don't forget how Patty Jenkins used to be attached to the first Thor sequel. So Spaihts's name being thrown into the rumor zone didn't feel as 'strange'. What I'm trying to say is, I won't be surprised if more people related to Marvel Studios will end up doing DC movies for Warner Bros in the future.

Clearly, this proves that WB STILL doesn't have a plan nor idea of what they are going to do with their DC Films. A concerning truth, but is definitely far from being a surprise nowadays. I guess since the current DCEU doesn't really have a clear future (despite the success of "Wonder Woman"), WB is already thinking about creating another Universe to complement it. Perhaps, if this one works better, then they can simply erase the one that Snyder started. That's the point of "Flashpoint", right? We'll see. Yes, we'll see...

X-Men Universe

Can't believe it took this long for some people to realize that... as long as Simon Kinberg is still in charge (in ANY capacity), fans probably won't be getting the 'true' X-Men movie they have always wanted. People seems to forget that he was the writer of the disappointing "X-Men: The Last Stand", and supervised the dreaded "Fant4stic Four". Now his upcoming directorial debut, "X-Men: Dark Phoenix", which he also wrote... is already put into a giant question mark, thanks to Kinberg's recent comment.

I admit, I've grown to DESPISE the term 'grounded' in recent years, because it is (ab)used as an excuse to make shitty underwhelming products. But seriously, what good will a "Dark Phoenix" storyline get by making it... grounded? That arc is meant to be a galactic interstellar adventure, involving alien entities and otherworldly stuffs. "X3" was already its grounded version, and it did NOT work. So why bother going the same route? Is this movie 'doomed to fail' then? It's unclear. But I certainly won't be surprised if that turns out to be the case. Just remember how that grounded take on "X-Men: Apocalypse" performed...

Marvel Studios

Marvel is celebrating the late Jack Kirby's 100th birthday this week. Studio's president Kevin Feige revealed on Twitter that the upcoming "Thor: Ragnarok" is produced as a love-letter to Kirby's work. Not unlike last year's "Doctor Strange", that served as a clear tribute to Steve Ditko. Actress Evangeline Lilly also celebrated the occassion, by sharing the first official image of her character Hope van Dyne, wearing the updated Wasp suit from "Ant-Man and the Wasp".

About that last one... I totally DIG her hair-style, because Lilly always looks much better with a long hairdo instead of the one she had in the first "Ant-Man". The suit on the other hand? I'm a bit mixed. I don't know why. Perhaps because I was expecting more... yellow/gold in the color scheme? Then again, Peyton Reed and Marvel Studios might be going with Wasp's red-black scheme once again, because it's the one designed by Kirby. Especially with Janet van Dyne being in the movie (played by Michelle Pfeiffer), and the report that Michael Douglas' Hank Pym will be suiting up himself in the classic white-red costume.

The writers of "Spider-Man: Homecoming" are set to be back for the sequel! Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers are also involved in "Ant-Man and the Wasp", so there's a possibility they might end up becoming the next Markus-McFeely of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Assuming all the stars are aligned, they will reunite with director Jon Watts (who was already in talks to return) to work on the first Marvel Studios after "Avengers 4" ends the current Phase 3. Here's hoping this team will keep deliver something better, without losing that irresistible youthful and innocent charm that the first movie exuded.

Marvel TV

When this post goes up, Marvel's "The Inhumans" should be arriving in IMAX theatres everywhere. Not sure if it will be available in my country, but it's surely a definite for the US region, because ABC will begin broadcasting the series on Friday, September 29th, 2017.

According to recent report, the response to its premiere was... much positive. In fact, it's a far cry to the supposed 'disaster' that occured at the Television Critics Association Panel. Is this surprising? Well... not quite. I mean, one man's trash can end up becoming another's treasure, right? So I predict that the overall review, when it officially hits, will be mixed at best. Remember, this is still Jeph Loeb's and Scott Buck's work. Each or both have ruined a show (or two, if we count that much-anticipated crossover that came out last month... or more if we put into account their past forays) before, so there's no assurance that they won't strike again. But I'm honestly glad to hear some people actually enjoying it. Hey, there's one for everyone, right?

As for me, as I said before, I personally won't be seeing this on the theatres. Based on the lackluster trailers and underwhelming clips released so far, I'll have to give it a hard pass. Beside, considering my current financial issue, wasting money for uncertain things can be considered 'suicide' anyway. I'll probably going to hold back on watching the series as well, until the reviews for all episodes are out. Thanks to my doozy experience with the recent Netflix 'crossover mini-series', I'm going to be extra cautious with Marvel TV now. Because really, spending 8 hours for a boring and/or disappointing show felt like a tremendous waste of time. Doing so isn't going to do me any good.

QUICK UPDATE: Embargo for the full reviews hasn't been lifted when I wrote and upped this essay into queue. Those reviews have been made available NOW on various sites, and well... turns out it's as BAD as many initially said. Since I'm too lazy to modify the entire category (although it's only 3 short paragraphs LOL), this note will do just fine as a follow up. My original writing sounded more 'positive' anyways. LOL.

Meanwhile, things are looking A LOT better for Marvel's "Runaways". It seems response for the first episodes was more than great. It is currently being praised as very faithful to the source material, despite its various 'tweaks' (for example, one character was a mutant in the comic, but the copyrights prevent that to exist in live action adaptation). Not that it should be a surprise anyway. When the writer of the comic is directly in charge as consultant, we know that at least things are going to be close to the comics. Might this be the Marvel show to wait for this year? Probably, but I digress. I'm still going to be approaching this one with extra caution. If recent Marvel TV shows are any indications, then we can't really expect it to be... evenly balanced. Some of them had okay to good run in the first half, only to falter into a massive dud in the later half. Yes, even "LEGION", and the 4th season of Marvel's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.". They started out strong, but ended rather... disappointingly. Considering the same people behind them are also supervising this, said similar treatment can also apply to "Runaways"...

Netflix

It's already September, and I haven't finished Marvel's "The Defenders" yet. How come? The mini-series surprisingly BORED the hell out of me! A full review for it was meant to go up as my first post of September (yes, this R-N-D is its last minute replacement). That's the initial plan anyway, because I still haven't seen the last two episodes. Seriously though, when you've already lost any single urge to do it, there's nothing else you can do right?

Thanks to that, the internet had already spoiled me about what's going to happen to Simone Missick's Misty Knight. I don't even need to READ the whole article to figure out what will become of her... right hand. Yes, the headline already gave it away, and my minor knowledge of the character in the comics was more than enough to lead me to said conclusion. And then the image spreading on social media solidified it. Mind you, I still don't know how or what caused her to lose that body part. My quick and easy guess? Likely by Bakuto, considering up to episode 6, Misty had only spoken with one particular supporting character from the other series: Jessica Henwick's Colleen Wing. And it's also about her... KATANA, as if it's not obvious enough. Expect Misty to be armed with a prosthetic arm in the 3rd Season Marvel's "Luke Cage".

Yep, if you're like me, hoping for a "Heroes for Hire" show that includes the Daughters of Dragon... then we might as well swallow that wishful thinking. Why? It probably won't happen until the 2nd Season of Marvel's "Iron Fist" is out. Going by math alone, that means we have to wait another 26 episodes, and at least another two years. New season for "Luke Cage" will likely arrive in 2018, while the one for "Iron Fist" might probably land in 2019. Yeah, two years indeed. This is why you can't really expect much when it comes to Marvel TV... *sigh*

"Stranger Things" released a set of character posters for its 2nd Season. They cover the returning cast, as well as the new additions. What's interesting about these posters, is the strong nod to Steven Spielberg! And being a series set in the 80s, that folded-magazine style is also pretty neat. I hope this 2nd season will be as great as the 1st, and unlike most other Netflix shows.

One more thing! It's a rather old news, but worth bringing up. Netflix is currently collaborating with TOEI Animation, to remake the popular shounen-series "Saint Seiya". Titled "Knights of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya", the new series will be created in full CG style. If you're curious on how that might look, think of it like several parts of TOEI's "Precure Dream Star!" movie that was done completely in CG, or their recent "Sekaisuru KADO" series. The latter in particular, already has a character design that's looking VERY Saint Seiya-ish (could it be intended as the warm-up to this one, then? probably). First season will be 12 episodes of 30 minutes, and will cover the "Galaxy War" to the "Silver Saint" Arcs. Yoshiharu Ashino is directing the new series, Eugene Son is the story editor and head writer, Terumi Nishii will be handling the character design, while Takashi Okazaki is doing the armors.

This news is intriguing, because it can end up heading towards into two different territory: actually good, or downright Bad. The latest "Sailor Moon" reboot that immediately divide old and new fans, is a great example of said situation. "Saint Seiya" is among the beloved titles to those growing up in the late 80s, so you can imagine their negative reactions if this remake doesn't suit their taste. The series doesn't have a fixed release date for now, but I believe we can expect it to arrive on Spring 2018. My only hope is that it retains Shingo Araki's anime style compared to Masami Kurumada's manga ones, because it has been pretty much the 'signature' of the series for the fans.

Disney XD Series

I saw the one-hour premiere of the "DuckTales" reboot not long after it aired, and great goodness... I'm LOVING it. I used to have a minor issue with the voices of the nephews before, but that concern quickly faded away when the story started rolling. It's just so engaging and fun to watch! My only complaint, is that it takes too long for the next episodes to start airing. But we're now in September, so September 23rd is just around 20 days away. Shall we start counting down for more Scrooge McDuck's adventure, then? I wonder if Disney XD will debut the first episode of "Big Hero 6 the Series" in advance too? Hmmm....

Pocket Monsters

"Pokemon GO" has been greeted by Legendary Birds Articuno, Moltres, Zapdos, and Lugia last month. Starting yesterday, August 31st, 2017, Niantic has continued the streak with the Legendary Dogs Entei, Raikou, and Suicine. Unlike the Birds, these ones are going to show up as region-based for a particular duration. Entei will be in the Europe and Africa region, Raikou in the America, and Suicine in Asia-Pacific. They will then switch places on September 30th, 2017.

This is great news, right? NOT exactly. While I DID feel overjoyed when the Legendaries were first announced, what came next was nothing more than disappointments. The fact that Niantic is focusing too much on Raid Battles to debut these special Pokemon, had caused inconveniences to some (if not MANY) of its players. Sad to say, yours truly is included in this cluster.

Here's the deal. In order to capture ONE Legendary, it first needs to be defeated in a Raid Battle. Unlike normal Raids, it's a group effort that requires around 15-20 players to be on the spot at the same time, working together to take one down. So what happens when you're a player... living in an area, that does NOT have the privilege of having at least the minimum number of players? You can only bite your nails while grunting and sighing with disappointments, because there's really NOTHING you can do. I've lost count how many 'futile attempts' I've done, singlehandedly (seriously, because there's NOBODY around) trying to defeat one. I've now arrived to the point where I simply couldn't care less about any of them anymore. Which is sad, because I was sort of hoping "Pokemon GO" would be there to help me go through my current situation. I mean, when that role has been surprisingly taken over by a repetitive, kid-oriented game called "Magikarp, Jump!"... That's saying much, right?

Of course, this shouldn't be an issue if "Pokemon GO" is still enjoyable as a single-player experience. Players who can't capture a Legendary, could still focus on doing anything else. Problem is, there's NOTHING much to do beside that. Niantic is too focused on the multiplayer 'Team Gameplay' aspect of this game, that it neglects those who play individually (whether by choice, or who are simply forced by circumstances... like yours truly). The new 'Gym System' was nice, but lately I've noticed a concerning trend: the turnaround has gradually becoming very slow. Many Gyms in my area, have Pokemon with ZERO motivations. Worse, they are stranded there for days (I can personally attest to this, because mine are among them!). That means many players no longer visit the Gyms. To put it simply, this game is just not... FUN anymore for everyone. Only for the 'privileged'.

Niantic can actually fix this, by start releasing Generation III as soon as possible. Adding a horde of new Pokemon, even if not all of them (honestly, releasing 10 new species per month would be a fun options), will give these 'unfortunate players' a renewed 'purpose' to go out and play the game. Otherwise, it's really a dry boring-ish land. IMHO, Niantic could and should've tried another method with the Legendary Dogs by... I don't know... letting them in the wild, like what happened in the core "Pokemon Gold, Silver & Crystal" games. Then again, it's probably too much to ask for. I mean, Niantic doesn't even allow something as simple as having these Legendaries added as silhouettes to the Pokedex after encountering them. And that's the only thing I've been hoping for... *sigh*. For now, unless Niantic shakes things up big time, my days with the App is numbered. And I'm going to be just another entry to the long list of players who have already walked out due to disappointments...

One more thing for "Pokemon". A quick detour to the TV side! Kanto Gym Leaders and Satoshi's former travel companions Kasumi and Takeshi (or Misty and Brock in the US version)... are coming to Alola this month!!! Many fans are obviously pleased to hear this! After they have been unceremoniously snubbed in the 20th Anniversary movie "Eiga Pocket Monster, Kimi ni Kimeta!", they are set to show up in the series instead. Takeshi in particular, is the character I've been waiting for. After all, his VA Yuuji Ueda is still a crucial part in the series as the voice of Sonansu/Wobbuffet, so he could actually show up a lot more! This pair will be making their Alolan guest appearances on the September 14th and 21st episodes. Which got me thinking: How awesome will it be if Satoshi's other travel friends show up at the same time too, right?

Street Fighter

"Street Fighter V" has welcomed its 5th DLC character for Season 2. As speculated and rumored before, it's indeed Menat, the Eyes of the Future. She is also confirmed to be the apprentice of Rose, by the way. This makes her the first completely NEW character to the franchise, because Kolin, Ed, and Abigail have all showed up before in other games. Judging from her quick and... arguably pointless appearance in Ed's Story Mode, Menat has a fantastic Egyptian-themed design. The mummy queen alternate costume however? Yeeesh. You can check out her reveal trailer online, or you can just get her right away because she's already available since early this week.

Menat's arrival after Abigail, pretty much confirms the identity of the 6th and final DLC character: Guy's teacher, Zeku. His name was already leaked before by Event Hubs' Flowtron, and his report has been proven to be on point until now. So I guess all we need to wait is CAPCOM's official announcement, right? Seeing the release pattern (Ed on May 30th, Abigail on July 25th, Menat on August 29th), we can probably expect this last Season 2 character to arrive later this month, if not late October. So tell me, are you excited about Zeku?

[breakingarrows]

January - June 2019 in Film

The Favourite

Really enjoyable dark comedy about a trio of lesbian aristocrats, one of which happens to be the queen of England, struggling for political power and control.

Velvet Buzzsaw

Doesn’t do enough to be a fun horror movie but at least Jake Gyllenhaal is fun as a pretentious art critic.

Dragon Ball Super: Broly

Watched this on my phone late one sleepless night. The action in the backhalf is what people came for, but it was the stuff surrounding Broly that I cared more about. When he gets confronted in a lunch room I was actually somewhat affected, thinking, “Leave him alone!”

Psycho

Excellent thriller

Police Story

God I love everything about this film. The comedy is superb and the action is the best of Jackie’s films. Poor, poor May.

Twin Peaks Fire Walk with Me

The soundtrack is the best thing I’ve heard in a long while. The film is what some may expect of Lynch, ethereal and sometimes meandering. Laura Palmer’s death is certain, but the film overcomes her predestined fate and makes you empathize with her.

First Man

Decent bio-pic lite, mostly watched for Ryan Gosling. Surprised at the time dedicated to dealing with grief of both his daughter and the others who died while testing things. Audio during flights make them actually thrilling even though you know he’s not going to die.

Hal

Reminds me I need to watch his actual films. His hatred of the studios is very endearing.

L.A. Confidential

Films like this I could watch forever.

They Shall Not Grow Old

I watched this after a long day so fell asleep midway through in the theater. Hopefully I didn’t snore as it was packed.

Sunset Boulevard

Strange film about relationship between writer and former star. Others liked it more, and have dug into it more, but it didn’t hook me that much.

The Return of the Living Dead

Pretty fun comedy but kinda expected more gags.

Incredibles 2

Disappointing.

Under the Skin

The kind of film that grows on you the more you think about it. Need to rewatch at some point. Love how there is barely any dialogue.

Evolution

Worse than I remember.

Mr. Nice Guy

Awful, didn’t even bother to finish after stream glitched out.

Suburban Commando

Standard action/comedy with wasted potential.

Dune

Perfect source material for Lynch. So ethereal and evocative.

Ghost in the Shell 2.0

Why ruin a perfectly good film with dated CGI?

Miami Connection

Better as a Best of the Worst viewing.

Police Story 2

Not quite as good as the first but still beyond most action movies nowadays.

Us

Prime reddit text post material whose explanation works against it.

The Fabulous Baron Munchausen

Lovely kids fantasy storybook material put to film. The color, the music, the adventure, I love this film.

Chinatown

God I could watch Noirs like this everyday for the rest of my life. What an ending too.

The Seventh Seal

Made me think about my relationship with Christianity that I abandoned years ago.

2001: A Space Odyssey

Still impressed by the way they handled the visual effects of space travel. Also impressed by how well it holds up as a idealistic projection of mankind we still haven’t, and probably will never, reach.

Ed Wood

Johnny Depp is an awful person but man is Ed endearing in this film.

My Name is Julia Ross

Very good thriller. Classic gaslighting.

So Dark the Night

Thriller with a twist that is “meh.”

Won’t You Be My Neighbor

That damn commencement speech fucking gets me.

Guava Island

Enjoyable little short.

F for Fake

I hate masterpiece as a descriptor because its so overused and thrown around by pretty much all forms of critical media in the mainstream/amatuer space but fuck me if this isn’t the closest thing I can think of. Masterful editing, unbelievable that this came out in the midst of the entire subject its covering.

The ‘Burbs

Not Dante’s best, the ending really ruins it. Why have a treatsie about the culture of a neighborhood only to go on and fulfill it?

Fauve

Haunting film that would make me keep the children indoors for a week if I had them.

The Wages of Fear

Excellent thriller about trying to escape from dead ends. There was no need to treat the woman lover so badly though.

The Big Heat

Don’t even remember this one lol.

The Virgin Suicides

Really captures that sort of constant flux of extreme emotions of my middle school years. Fuck that mom also.

Lick the Star

Nice little short.

Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces

Decent addition, though the only one of these that would have improved the film would be the transition from David Bowie to the meeting of the man from another place above the convenience store.

The Hidden Fortress

Hard to watch this without thinking about the things Lucas took for Star Wars, but separate from that an excellent adventure film that I’m glad had a happy ending.

Avengers: Endgame

Total shit the more I think about it. Officially done with the MCU and Disney at large in terms of film output now that I paid my dues by watching this out of obligation than actual interest. What a waste of what little potential there was after the similarly disastrous Infinity War. Why bother making a whole first movie about Thanos if you’re just going to dump that in the follow up? Disney’s biggest outputs of the past decade (MCU and Star Wars) have been such shit and I’m glad I no longer feel the need to waste my time and money on them with this setting me free.

Drive a Crooked Road

Decent noir.

Under the Silver Lake

Enjoyable though something that is hard to qualify as good or not. Would have to rewatch with a notepad to determine whether or not the things it kinda motions towards have any real depth or meaning to them beyond the surface level.

Freaked

Fucking fantastic comedy film. The gags are so good and come so often. Wish they made more like this.

Unicorn Store

This will keep you guessing as to whether the Unicorn shows up or not and I’m not going to spoil it. Brie’s boss staring off into space after being asked if this is what he wanted or not was fucking great though.

Matinee

The true love letter to B movies.

Blue Velvet

One of Lynch’s weaker films though Kyle and Laura Dern are fantastic and the roots of Twin Peaks are obvious.

John Wick: Chapter 2

Made me google the plot summary to John Wick 3 instead of going to see it.

The Legend of Drunken Master

Decent Jackie film. The ending setpiece is really what you watch this for.

In a Lonely Place

Very good noir, loved the ease of which the film transitions the viewers empathy from the male lead to the female.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile

I like Zac Efron but the point of the film is kinda muddled and its hard to believe this was supposed to be from his girlfriend’s point of view when she’s barely in it.

The Elephant Man

I cried.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Disappointing to see them repeating the fault of Infinity War by placing the blame of the deterioration of the world in the hands of “overpopulation.” What kinda fucking rich bourgeois propaganda is this shit?

Godzilla

Copy+Paste everything from the commentary track here. Good shit.

Tampopo

What a wonderful film about the love of food and relationships we have with it. Truly a ramen western.

Shazam

You know this wasn’t that bad, but boy was that ending shot of Superman a pathetic representation of how bad the DCEU has been.

Dreams

These vignettes were very evocative of the emotions summoned by my own dreams. Dreams about grief and longing, nightmares you can barely run from, imaginative scenarios with rules that are entirely fictional but so real in the moment. The ending was a nice monologue against effects of the industrial revolution and modernization and a celebration of life.

Paths of Glory

Fuck war, fuck the rich, fuck those that perpetuate violence for their own gain, fuck it all, I hope they burn for eternity.

[sunflower-live]

92 Truths

I was “tagged” ;) by @liamsgoldenjacket 

Rules: Once you have been tagged you are supposed to write 92 truths about yourself. at the end, choose 25 people to tag!

THE LAST… 1. Drink: iced latte from a super super cool french bakery (la panier) in pike place - anyone that lives in seattle or visits seattle needs to go here!!!! 2. Phone call: my friend asking me for directions somewhere  3. Text message: group chat with my sister and mom (mom asking if we drove into the city or took the bus)  4. Song you listened to: shazamed a song that was playing in forever 21 which was a zayn song i didn’t know about (cruel - snakehips feat. zayn)  5. Time you cried: my horse trainer and her horse fell 20 ft into a ravine and she was stuck for over 4 hours and had to be airlifted to the hospital and she broke her neck and pelvis and i watched the news story and it was horrifying 

HAVE YOU EVER…

6. Dated someone twice: no 7. Been cheated on: no 8. Kissed someone and regretted it: i off and on have regretted kisses 9. Lost someone special: no 10. Been depressed: hecka from 7-10 grade  11. Gotten drunk and thrown up: lol nothing makes me throw up

LIST 3 FAVORITE COLORS:

- emerald green - maroon - navy blue 

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU… 15. Made new friends: probably 16. Fallen out of love: no 17. Laughed until you cried: all the time 18. Found out someone was talking about you: no 19. Met someone who changed you: i don’t think so?  20. Found out who your true friends are: lol what friends 21. Kissed someone on your Facebook list: no

22. How many of your Facebook friends do you know in real life: almost all of them 23. Do you have any pets: boy do i - 3 horses, 2 dogs, 2 cats, and some chickens but who cares about those (only the horses and dogs are actually mine - the rest are the families)  24. Do you want to change your name: no. i don’t even know if i’ll want to change my last name if i get married

25. What did you do for your last birthday: i went into the city with my parents and sister and went to some expensive ass restaurant and the waiter was fucking hilarious and v flamboyant and he brought me a tiny plastic tiara and ring pop with the bill. i didn’t even like the food but i would legit go back just to see him 26. What time did you wake up: 8:00am 27. What were you doing at midnight last night: reading fanfic (rip me)

28. Name something you cannot wait for: the harry concerts i’m going to that are A YEAR AWAY. 

29. When was the last time you saw your mother: like 15min ago  30. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life: sometimes  wish i never got into riding horses because then i would probably play lacrosse or something and i would’ve gotten good grades (because i wouldn’t have just skipped school to ride and show) and i’d have gone to college and i’d literally have a normal life - so i wish i could have a normal college student life 31. What are you listening to right now: nothing 32. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: i’m sure i have

33. Something that is getting on your nerves: my mother and my sister  34. Most visited website: tumblr 35. Elementary: ? i went to elementary school up the road from my house. not a great experience but tbh i remember very little of my childhood 36. High School: ? i went to regular high school but took classes at the alternative school as well. i graduated in 2015 37. College/university: tbd. i’ve taken the community college entrance exams but that’s about it. i would like to go but it’s just not on my radar atm with all of the horse stuff i’m doing. 38. Hair color: very blonde 39. Long or short hair: i guess it would be considered long - mid back 40. Do you have a crush on someone: yes and i can’t fucking help it and it’s been over 5 years 41. What do you like about yourself: i’m really good at riding and training horses? 42. Piercings: first holes on both ears and then i did my own second on one ear and two cartilages on one ear + my nose 43. Blood type: i don’t have a clue 44. Nickname: izzy, iz, bella 45. Relationship status: single for the rest of eternity  46. Zodiac sign: taurus 47. Pronouns: she/her 48. Favorite tv show: i have so many. top five would have to be: it’s always sunny, how i met your mother, doctor who, ink master, and the challenge 49. Tattoos: black and white sunflowers on my ribs (the artist did not do them how she sketched them but they’re not bad - just not my style), russian doll on my upper arm, and a swedish flower design on my upper arm (that my mom also got so she picked it out) - i LOVE the doll and flowers. i’ve been seriously considering getting a horse shoe in the same style but i’m broke af right now and my artist is moving back to sweden :( 50. Right or left hand: right

FIRST…

51. Surgery: tonsils and ear tubes when i was really little  52. Piercing: my ears when i was in first or second grade 54. Sport: horses when i was 5 (plus multi sport summer camps and tball but those don’t count) 55. Vacation: i used to go to the hamptons a lot when i was little because my aunt was dating a super nice rich guy that lived there.  56. Pair of trainers: fuck i don’t know

57. Eating: is this still firsts because i don’t have a clue (if not firsts, nothing) 58. Drinking: lol milk? (if not firsts, nothing)  59. I’m about to: eat dessert 

60. Listening to: nothing

61. Waiting for: nothing 62. Want: more money because i’m broke as shit 63. Get married: i really hope so 64. Career: hopefully a horse trainer but my dad might be getting me a job as his office assistant that could then lead to me working in one of their hotels 

YOUR TYPE…

65. Hugs or kisses: not a fan of either but i’ve only kissed two guys so maybe i’m just missing out 66. Lips or eyes: eyes 67. Shorter or taller: taller 68. Older or younger: doesn’t really matter but in a relationship i’d rather go for older. 70. Nice arms or nice stomach: arms? i don’t really care though 71. Sensitive or loud: both but not too much of either 72. Hook up or relationship: anything is better than the nothing i’m getting (but i’d say relationship) 73. Troublemaker or hesitant: troublemaker as long as it’s nothing against the law 

HAVE YOU EVER… 74. Kissed a stranger?: yes ( tbt to my first kiss as an innocent 12 year old ) 75. Drank hard liquor?: yes  76. Lost glasses contact/lenses: all the time

77. Turned someone down: i was hanging out with a guy once and he said we should go get dinner sometime and i told him that i don’t eat. but also anytime i like a guy and they start showing interest i’m out because i have fucked up commitment issues thanks to my parents 78. Sex on first date: never had the chance but i’m sure i would if the guy was hot enough 79. Broken someone’s heart: doubt it 80. Had your heart broken: nay 81. Been arrested: nah but i got in trouble for shoplifting once 82. Cried when someone died: literally anytime someone dies  83. Fallen for a friend: yes

DO YOU BELIEVE IN… 84. Yourself: usually 85. Miracles: sure 86. Love at first sight: don’t think so 87. Santa Claus: no 88. Kiss on the first date: sure? 89. Angels: eh, maybe

OTHER… 90. Current best friend’s name: my sister tessa is my #1 my #2 is my friend samantha, but she’s away at school most of the year :( 91. Eye color: green 92. Favorite movie: pans labyrinth or according to greta (just the ones that come to my mind) 

Oh lord 25 is so many people to tag but - 

@hazzardstyles @theroyalharry @2-ghosts @harryalmitey @matilda-breeze @onabedofhomemademash @niallsfish @larry-feels-like-home @harrysass @harryslittlepumpkin @runawayhaz @louiskingg @hazzaverse @larry-nomatterwhat @smallstyles @niamhyfr @fromtomlinson @1989rosesxx @donckasters @favoriteirishmember @obey-the-tommo-sass @littlemonstrosities @tomlintercourse @harryqstyles @infinitelyinlovewithfiveboys

And also anyone else that wants to do this, you can say I tagged you!

[monkey-network]

Mini Stuff of Good: 2019 2nd Quarter

We’re doing a lightning round of anything up to this point, no holds barred! 3. 2.. 1...

One Punch Man 2

The story certainly made up the utter downgrade of its animation. If anything, I’d seriously stick with the manga if we’re talking good spectacle. (Grade: C+)

Care Bears: Unlock the Magic

I can say this is Turner’s answer to Hasbro’s My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic. The look of it is a plus and the episodes are on the same level of quality as MLP, but I had my doubts that this would get the same level of traction, especially since it’s Boomerang. It’s not bad, just not much to write home about. (Grade: C)

Uglydolls

An upbeat movie that I say didn’t deserve the disdain it received. Like yeah, it’s pretty by the numbers, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t entertaining in the slightest, and surprisingly heavy in its racial undertones if you’d believe me. (Grade: B-)

Avengers Endgame

Was certainly conclusive and fun, but inferior compared to Infinity War, especially when it unfortunately has to undo everything that happened in that movie. Not as many good memes from this as the interchangeable Thanos snap meme. (Grade: B)

Tuca & Bertie

Honestly a fun series that makes its cancellation just depressing to hear. The duo themselves made every episode enjoyable and while I wish certain plot points could’ve been better, the overall story arc with our MC’s friendship was very investing. In the least, the season ended on a good, optimistic note. (Grade: A-)

Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart

Essentially the Adventures of Puss in Boots, anime edition. Not to say that’s a bad thing, because there are plenty of differences, but come on, the similarities between the two leads and the premise are eeriely similar. As such, it gets the same grade (Grade: B+)

Shazam

A DC comic book movie that actually tries to be a comic book movie. Bonus points for the director being one that mostly made horror movies. (Grade: A-)

Scooby Doo and Guess Who?

Scooby Doo and self humor doesn’t sit well with me since the fun came in taking its campy nature straightfaced while having some good sitcom laughs, i.e. Monsters Unleashed, Mystery Incorporated, or Be Cool, Scooby Doo. The celebrity guests are almost always a highlight, but they also admittedly take away from the characters we’re meant to see. (Grade: B-)

Archer 1999

Finally, a season of Archer that has everyone together doing space adventures, and it’s not the final season! (Grade: B+)

Dick Pikachu

Lovely to look at, not so much in remembering it. It has the same grade I gave the game it’s based on. (Grade: C+)

Gokushufudou: The Way of the House Husband

The most perfect yakuza based slice of life comic around. (Grade: S)

Burning Effect

I honestly haven’t seen a webcomic that went this hard before. It’s like Bakugo from My Hero Academia went into every character design and impacting visual, with a story and premise that gradually makes sense the more you carry on and a female lead that is a upcoming warrior in every sense. (Grade: A)

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

There’s a Youtube channel that reviews this show episode by episode and I found them more insightful and entertaining than this series. A shame since I like the original She-Ra and I was hoping for a good series about princesses fighting. But this series was slog to get through and it doesn’t help that my attachment to most of the characters has fizzled out. Season 3 certainly picked things up, but it shouldn’t have took this long to pick things up. (Grade: C+)

The Secret Life of Pets 2

Just as good as the first one, if not better, which I bet many who reviewed this will probably say otherwise. The scene near the end is honestly cemented in my mind, it just worked. (Grade: B-)

SMG4, The Anime Arc

This definitely fun. A middling 1st half, but things definitely pick up in the 2nd half. There are some contrivances and conveniences, but man was that the most engaged I’ve ever been with this Youtube series overall. (Grade: B+)

Aladdin (2019)

Oh wow, another remake that pales in comparison to the original. A takeaway from all this is Disney needs to hire directors that aren’t boring. (Grade: D+)

MIB: International

Oh wow, it’s Jurassic World: Men In Black edition with two great actors that are heavily underutilized in it. Where’s Taika when you need him? (Grade: C-)

Lion King (2019)

Oh wow, a remake that doesn’t understand why the original worked. This here was honestly the final straw for me as I am distancing myself from these remakes because unless one actually looks and feels appealing, my sensible bias towards them will never change. I feel annoyed that I DON’T know what people see in these. (Grade: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!)

DC Super Hero Girls

Honestly what I wanted Nu She-Ra to be, better animated, better characterized, and reminds me of the new Ninja Turtles series with how it is setting things up. As a DC fan, I am more than impressed. (Grade: A)

X-Men, Dark Phoenix

They honestly weren’t trying and this movie resulted in me getting Ligma. (Grade: D+)

Our Cartoon President

We had our laughs a couple years ago, but let’s be real. Trump is a dried up meme and there was no reason for a 2nd season of this. (Grade: F+)

Final Space

Season 2 has its hits and misses but I am very much enjoying this series still. The latest episode deep down made me wish it didn’t try to make things drama heavy for the previous episodes, like it’s trying to recapture the sharp turn that was season one’s episode six. Needless to say, they’re certainly keeping the momentum going for this series and I’m all for it. (Grade: B+)

Aero (Comic series)

Imagine if Nejire from My Hero Academia was a Marvel superhero. The dialogue and writing is generic and simple, but you not only get a nice grasp of our heroine but this is one of the first anime looking Marvel comics that looks incredible. This really stood out at my comic shop and I am very intrigued to see more of this character and this artwork. (Grade: B)

Infinity Train

Very compelling, nicely visualized, and the 10 episode work to a good strength of pacing. Though I will be honest, One-One wasn’t a character that stood out to me, I dunno, I felt distant towards him compared to the other characters. But I enjoyed this no doubt and I’m glad there is more to come. (Grade: ???)

Twelve Forever

This is one of those rare shows where I’ll gladly say it’s good but not entertaining. As much as I enjoy randomness every now and then, I felt bored watching it. The Butt Witch was the saving grace, immediately being my favorite character, but she wasn’t enough to make me keep going. I’ll give it a good grade tho with the effort they put into everything. (Grade: B)

Rocko’s Modern Life, Static Cling

I already reviewed this before, but I honestly considered this a great comeback to a very nostalgic and influential show. (Grade: A)

Meta Runner

A new series with surprisingly good pacing and a empathetically great main character. The dialogue can be give and take, with a villain that’s honestly too evil for his own good, but I can’t help but say that this is an engaging series. And it’s youtube sooo bonus. (Grade: B+)

Amphibia

A series that definitely got better as it went along. I like the episodes that had good ties to the season’s climax, the main four are especially the highlight with their personalities, and the character growth felt natural if on the nose sometimes. I’m stoked for part 2,,, hopefully they schedule it better. (Grade: A-)

Angry Birds 2

It was fun. Probably forgettable to many, but I won’t deny that it’s one of the better popcorn flics of the Summer (Grade: B+)

Toy Story 4

I grown tired of people questioning whether or not this movie was pointless, so I’ll come out the gate to say that this is the best movie of the Summer so far. It was a more solemn movie that was organically thoughtful with itself, there were plenty of laughs, I loved Bo Peep, and the way they handled the antagonist is something that rocked the franchise’s themes to the core sensibly. This film makes for one of the few times a fourth sequel can actually come out great. (Grade: A)

T I M E’S U P ! ! ! ! ! !

Welp, looks like the spring and summer have indeed strengthened itself for the better. Can the latter half of 2019 keep the momentum as we reach the new decade? Stay tuned.

[wbwest]

New Post has been published on WilliamBruceWest.com

New Post has been published on http://www.williambrucewest.com/2017/01/27/west-week-ever-pop-culture-review-12717/

West Week Ever: Pop Culture In Review - 1/27/17

In a move that should surprise absolutely no one, Star Trek Discovery is delayed, and will not make the previously-announced May premiere date. Keep in mind that this is actually the second postponement of the show, as it was originally slated to premiere this month. The fact that they were dragging their feet on casting convinced me that it wouldn’t make the May date, mainly because I didn’t think they could get the effects done in that amount of time. After all, they first announced they’d cast their lead exactly a month ago. Plus, it still seems like they’re trying to figure out how lead Sonequa Martin-Green is going to juggle roles on both Discovery and The Walking Dead. All I know is that the CBS All Access streaming service is basically dead on arrival, as it’s going to need more programming than just The Good Wife‘s spinoff, The Good Fight. The only way to really gain some sort of foothold would be if they took back the Trek shows from Netflix and made All Access the exclusive North American home of Star Trek (Discovery will already be exclusive to Netflix outside the US), but I don’t know if that’s something all parties would go for. Meanwhile, James Frain has been cast as Spock’s father, Sarek, for the series. I don’t know – the longer the show is delayed, the less I find I care about it.

Speaking of Netflix, they have ordered a reboot of early ’00s makeover show Queer Eye For The Straight Guy. Now, I used to love this show, but I also didn’t know any better. If you never saw the show, 5 gay guys would take some straight schlub and give him a lifestyle makeover to make him a better guy all around. Carson was the fashion guy, and he’d teach you to “zhuzh” your sleeves. Kyan was the hair guy, and he’d teach you how to manage your ‘do. Thom was the decorator, who’d make over your living space. Ted, currently the host of Chopped, was the food and wine guy. And Jai…cute, clueless Jai was the “culture” guy. He’d teach you clever ways to open a CD. No, I’m serious. They never really did find a way to use Jai to his fullest potential. Anyway, the whole show is predicated on the assumption that gays are better than straights in every way. They’re better dressers, eaters, groomers, decorators, and…CD openers. And that’s just a raging ball of stereotypes there. It was an interesting time, as the show kind of helped get gays into households that probably wouldn’t have otherwise accepted them, but there was something minstrelsy about the whole thing. I’d like to think we’ve come a long way since 2003, so the idea of this show being rebooted just sounds like a bad idea to me. Plus, they didn’t contact any of the original guys to come back, so it won’t even have a nostalgia factor to it. So far, everything I’ve read about the reboot seems to agree with me that it’s not a good idea, but what do I know? What do y’all think?

Fox has ordered an X-Men TV pilot, with Burn Notice‘s Matt Nix attached as showrunner. Apparently, it will focus on a family on the run and, based on Nix’s past experience, they’ll probably be assisted by a hot chick who could use a sandwich or three.  My biggest problem with the news, however, is that Bryan Singer will reportedly direct the pilot. Yes, he has experience with the X-Men film franchise, but it’s time for new voices. Plus, he shat the bed so badly with X-Men: Apocalypse that I feel like his mutant card should be revoked for a while. He’s been attached to the X-Men franchise for 17 years, but all of his contributions haven’t been great. I’d be fine with him as a consultant or even a producer, but I don’t think he needs to direct this thing. Then again, it’s just a pilot, so maybe it won’t even make it to series. Right now, critics are raving over FX’s Legion, which is loosely tied to the X-Men franchise, so maybe it’ll take center stage and the Nix show will be passed on.

Speaking of Singer’s X-Men franchise, with its wonky continuity, Hugh Jackman has been saying that Logan won’t be set in the common X-Men film timeline that we’re used to. Now, it’s not quite clear how we should take that, seeing as how the films don’t really adhere to a clear timeline, especially after the events of Days of Future Past. At this point, I hardly care. I just want a good movie. I mean, it’s set in the future, and for it to be “in continuity” would effectively be painting themselves into a corner. That’s why futures in comics are always “possible futures” because A) the future (hopefully) isn’t set in stone and B) it’d be bad for storytelling if they set out to say it was THE future. Anyway, we got the final trailer last week, which gave us a much better look at Laura/X-23. I’m really getting excited for March!

And while we’re talking about March movies, we FINALLY got the full trailer for Power Rangers, and it looked pretty good. To a lot of my friends, I’m “The Power Rangers Guy”, so they’re kinda curious to know what I thought about it. Let’s just say I’m cautiously optimistic. There’s a lot to hate in what we’ve seen, and I hated how most of the reveals we got came from the lackluster toyline than from actual footage. Now that we’ve seen footage, however, I think this could be something good. I still don’t think it’s going to beat Beauty and the Beast or anything, but it could turn out to be a pretty good popcorn movie. I like the design of Cranston as Zordon, I liked Bill Hader as Alpha, and the action looked pretty good. Still not sure about Goldar, and I’m actually kinda worried about Elizabeth Banks as Rita. Every time we’ve seen her, she seems to be chewing the shit out of the scenery, in an almost Divatox kind of way. But I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how it all shakes out.

It’s like they’re trying to completely throw away the West Year Ever honor I gave them, as DC Entertainment made some questionable moves. First up, it’s reported that they’re going back to square one on their Flash adaptation, so look for a delay to be announced any day now. Since losing director Rick Famuyiwa, Warner Bros has decided to take the film in a new direction while star Ezra Miller gets ready to film the sequel to Fantastic Beasts. Meanwhile, they announced that The Rock will star in a Black Adam movie, separate from the planned SHAZAM film, in which he’ll portray the villain. From day one, I’ve said that Johnson was a terrible choice for Black Adam because he’s the villain of the story, and there’s no one in Hollywood at the moment who’s charismatic enough to go toe to toe with him and have the audience root for him. Everyone LOVES The Rock, so who’s going to want to see him lose? If anything, he should’ve been cast as Captain Marvel himself, and then some lesser star could bulk up to play Black Adam. Right now, I feel like this movie is going to sit on a shelf until the fates align and Hollywood’s next It Guy reveals himself. Zac Efron? Could he be Captain Marvel? Could he successfully share the screen with Johnson? We’ll soon find out in Baywatch, but I worry that the film is never going to come together due to imbalanced casting.

Things You Might Have Missed This Week

Scarlett Johansson split from husband of two years, Romain Dauriac. I still haven’t forgiven her for hurting Ryan Reynolds. Then again, I haven’t forgiven him for hurting Alanis Morissette. They all mean so much to me.

Speaking of Alanis, her former manager admitted to stealing close to $5 million from the singer

Former star of Disney Channel’s Jessie, Debby Ryan, is rumored to have been cast as Dagger in Freeform’s Cloak & Dagger series based on the Marvel characters of the same name. Meanwhile, relative unknown Noah Gray-Cabey is rumored to have been cast as Cloak

Miles Morales, and not Peter Parker, will be the focus of the upcoming animated Spider-Man film. Know what would’ve made this news more awesome? If it was live action instead of animated. Oh well…

In a move that I’m sure was surprising even to its cast, ABC renewed The Middle for a 9th season. This is a bold move for a show that really seemed like it was packing up about 3 years ago.

Speculation abounds, as it was revealed that the next installment in the Star Wars film series is subtitled The Last Jedi

Now that SuperMansion is on Adult Swim, nobody is ever watching Crackle again since Jerry Seinfeld just inked a $100 million deal to move his Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee series to Netflix

Breakout new series of the season, This Is Us, scored a 2-season renewal from NBC

Speaking of NBC, after much back and forth, it was finally confirmed that Will & Grace will be returning with a 10-episode order.

This is going to be something of a “drive-by” West Week Ever. You see, I don’t really want to get political on here, as there’s enough of that online. That said, I think it’s going to be pretty hard not to be political in the near future. All I’m going to say is that I think the biggest pop culture “news” story of the week was the Women’s March on Washington. America Ferrera, ScarJo, and others spoke, while Madonna made a few controversial statements of her own. A lot of folks feel like performers should just perform and not have political views, but I think those people are going to be sorely disappointed for the foreseeable future. Personally, the march was good to me as it brought a lot of cool folks to town – many of whom I haven’t seen in quite some time. I’m not going to get into the particulars of it, as there are other places you can go for the full story. What I do know is that it set a record for Metro ridership, and the crowd dwarfed that of the inauguration that took place just a day prior. So, with that in mind, the Women’s March on Washington, as well as the various “sister marches”, had the West Week Ever.