#really did love the set piece of the falling building in the third movie v cool sequence

[dopemonkshit]

truly wanna know how shia lebeouf NOT ONLY got megan fox’s lil decepticon turned autobot buddy in the divorce but ALSO her fucking dog?!

[dmydfilmreviews]

MARVEL MOMENTS

 So what they really did, as well as making a good load of films, was actually make a vast tapestry of genius interwoven moments like flicking through a big comic book! Ten years! Twenty something movies! A load of rubbish images at the end of the list because the last three films weren’t officially out on Blu Ray! Avengers assssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Tony Builds the First Suit

 Really it was a stroke of brilliance to start the whole shebang with Iron Man the self-made superhero. The backbone of the whole universe is that of Tony making himself and that all kicks off here, in a sequence that’s hugely thematically satisfying given what comes later. There’s also the fact that back in the day all this construction stuff was just fucking cool, a Nolan-lite bedrock for a blend of realism and fantasy that comic-book cinema had never quite nailed before. Seeing Tony improve his tech step-by-step is a quiet pleasure of these movies, the suits getting more and more outlandish but staying absolutely believable, just like the films, and that all kicks off here with one guy and a non-magical hammer.

Pepper Pulls Out Tony’s Heart

 I noted these all down before Endgame, honestly. Sob. It was always his story really. The best example of the foundational relationship of the MCU: They finish each other’s sentences!

‘Truth is… I am Iron Man.’

 They knew what they’d got from the very first. This ballsy coda sets the tone for the whole MCU, one of backed-up swagger, a willingness to fuck with the source material in the name of story and the general feeling that Robert Downey Jr. was God. All in like two hours. That they flipped the egotistically iconic line into an era-defining declaration of responsibility, growth and heroism a decade later is nothing short of remarkable.

Hulk and Betty in the Rain

 It’s uh… it’s a nice comic-book visual of a classic comic book romance, I guess? Look, Hulk came a long way later, but his forgotten love for Betty was the closest they ever came to the source material outside of the Hulk generally smashing and being awesome. It was sweet!

The Bit Where Hulk Suplexes a Giant Zombie Wolf on the Rainbow Bridge of Asgard

 wait was this in the Incredible Hulk

I’ve Successfully Privatised World Peace!’ ‘Fuck you, Mr Stark.’

 They got Garry Shandling in these movies!

The Suitcase Suit

 Now that is a cool-ass adaptation.

Black Widow Kicks Asses

 Yeah, after a whole movie of being reductive eye-candy she was still reductive eye-candy here. But the scene as a whole’s basically a perfect realisation of her moves in the comics, and showed Marvel were capable of doing someone who wasn’t Iron Man. Then they did EVERYYYYOONNNNNNEEE bonus points for Happy taking out that one guy and yelling ‘I got him!’

Tony and Rhodey in the Japanese Gardens

 Look, they just look cool, OK? No one said this was going to be deep.

Tony and Pepper as the Stark Expo Explodes

 They haven’t managed a lot of great romance, but this one hella works: Tony’s overblown mess of a movie expo exploding behind the true love of his life is a visual so great that Shane Black nicked it wholesale for the climax of Iron Man Three: Christmas in Croydon.

The Frost Giant Throwdown

 Wait, what’s happening? I thought these were the movies where Jeff Bridges rode a Segway? Are we in SPAAAAACCCCCEEEE?

Thor Can’t Pull It Off

 Out of the big three Thor’s arc of mythology to humanity might be the deepest and most satisfying of all. That starts here with his tearful inability to be worthy of his father, his world and, crucially, himself, leading directly into the first great Thor/Loki exchange, then a whole host of movies that eventually put him through the emotional wringer to self-acceptance. Hopefully?

Thor and Loki Battle on the Rainbow Bridge

 Yeah, it looks kind of goofy, but this is pure sixties Kirby, shorn of the irony the series would develop later. Beautiful.

Erskine Points To Cap’s Heart

 That’s it. That’s the character.

The Star Spangled Man!

 Who’ll hang a noose on the goose-stepping goons from Berliiiin?

That Whole War Montage That Ends With Bucky Falling From The Train

 Just smash after smash after smash of wartime Cap goodness that we’d never see again, ending with the ‘death’ that’d define the rest of his story. Steve lost as much as Thanos in his quest for peace but, y’know, he wasn’t a total fucking intergalactic dick about it.

‘I gotta put her in the water!’

 Man alive he waited for that date... whether you think the ending of Endgame ruins the moment somewhat (it doesn’t. sort of), this was still the biggest heart-tugger in the MCU at that point, and defined the characters of Cap and Peggy for years to come. Watch Agent Carter! Just bloody watch it!

'Lemme Put You On Hold’

 The stand out moment of The Avengers is basically all of it, but let’s start with the moment Black Widow finally becomes a character, a sequence of broad-strokes skill from Scarlett Johansson and Joss Whedon that begged for a movie she finally got way too long later. Bonus points for possibly the greatest Coulson reaction shot in a history of great reaction shots.

The Helicarrier Ascends

 OK, shit – this is series is big now.

The Whole of Stuttgart

 Whedon’s love of classical posh entertainment is seen in Angel’s superior ballet episode and his fondness for Sondheim, and he even gets a bit of the ol’ jewellery rattling in here in a perfectly pitched Loki-loving sequence that culminates in some fantastic bits for Cap before Iron Man AC/DC’s all over the place. This is where the comic book stuff really kicks off.

‘YOU COME HOME!’

 This Hemsworth’s fella’s really got something...

Forest Bro Down

 Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. The first real Avengers mash-up is just wonderful. This is where the wish-fulfilment really begins, in a quiet clearing, where three superheroes nearly beat the shit out of each other in classic comic-book style. The Avengers assembled.

The Whole Fuckin’ Helicarrier Sequence

 An absolute masterpiece of blockbuster juggling that had never been done before, this could be the third act of any other film. Over what plays out weirdly like a piece of theatre we get terrifying Hulks, mewling quims and awesome heroics, all expertly laced with wonderful character mash-ups and action we’d never seen before. Then Coulson dies. This is what Joss Whedon does.

‘There was an idea…’

 Fuck shit yeah there was, and it made for a hell of an Infinity War trailer six years later.

ALL OF NEW YORK

 Yep, all of it, but if we’re being picky it’s Hulk v Loki for the comedy side, the tracking shot for the action. As a sequence it’s never been bettered in the MCU, even in the open-mouthed joy-gush of Infinity War and Endgame. FIGHT ME

Go Fish

 Iron Man Three is a wonderful movie that works best as the sum of its parts, but there’s one bit that’s up there with the pantheon: the sky-diving rescue above the bay is such a joyous subversion of the usual third-act super-fisticuffs that it’s like something out of a 70’s Superman movie, only with a hilarious capper at the end where Iron Man explodes under a truck. Beep beep!

Running the Lemurian Star

 The Russo Brother’s action calling-card for their incredible MCU run, this sets up their vision of Cap’s super-subtle-super-serum-super-moves. From the off it’s a game changer in the way action’s shot across the MCU, clean-cut raid-alikes becoming the order of the day. AND THEN HE FIGHTS BATROC ZE LEAPER

Elevator Throwdown

 Yeah, yeah, we all know the actual bit in the elevator that’s spoofed to tremendous effect come Endgame, but remember this sequence ends with Cap TAKING DOWN A FUCKING QUINJET SINGLE-HANDED. The look on his face at the end says it all.

The Winter Soldier Street Fight

HE FLICKS A KNIFE MID PUNCH

Come and Get Your Love

 We’d seen a lot of cool shit from the MCU by this point, but this was something else again. It’s funny! It’s funny as fuck! What the fuck is this movie? And again, they know their own best bits: the return to this in Endgame is top drawer. What a moron.

The Kyln Sequence

 This whole breakout is the Guardians at their very best; squabbling in space, reluctant teamwork, loads of cool shit and leg theft. The bit where it all goes anti-grav is a treat.

WE ARE GROOT

 That’s it. That’s the movie.

…Stark…

 It’s a shame they didn’t delve deeper into Scarlet Witch’s hatred for the man who murdered her parents, but her barely contained rage is the keystone for Age of Ultron: deeper, nastier, more questioning of it’s heroes and their heroism. This one they brought on all by themselves.

Sun’s Gettin’ Real Low

 Yeah, maybe it’s for the best the slightly bumbled Hulktasha relationship was forgotten about, but this moment was pivotal in the character development of both. Beautifully shot, and leads to a primo Ragnarok gag.

Lift That Hammer

 You genuinely could have made a whole movie of these characters hanging out at an open bar. The Stan cameo’s great, the War Machine story bit gets an Endgame alien planet boost much later, but it’s the drunken worthiness competition that’s the real highlight, a seemingly fun throwaway that actually almost single-handedly sets up the whole character of Vision and the most fist-pumping moment of Endgame, a movie nearly entirely composed of fist-pumping moments.

Hulk vs Hulkbuster

 Pure comic-book wish fulfilment again, and how. From Hulk spitting out a tooth to Tony desperately pleading ‘go to sleep go to sleep go to sleep’, this mad clash of science pals knocks every Transformers movie straight through a freshly-bought-building. Veronica!

Well Done.

 Alright, Vision’s no one’s favourite Avenger, but he’s one who’s the satisfying product of several movie plots, one beloved supporting AI and the combined brains, magic and cool red capes of his team. Whedon performs his own mad-skillz level script trick to make us accept this fucking weirdo, first by giving him Jarvis’ voice, then having him stare out at a world and see his reflection in it, then having him lift an unliftable character-establishment hammer. None of this could be done by any other film series.

The Geometry of Belief

 Ultron’s climactic church-a-maggedon is short but perfect, a swirling mass of splash-page insanity that culminates in a glorious trinity of Vision, Iron Man and Thor blasting the shit out of their mad son like a magic triangle. The Avengers at their peak.

Vision and Ultron Have a Chat

 Whedon pops out these gems of detached humanism from time to time, and his sundown final exchange between The Avenger’s success and failure is a doozy. The most poetic little scene in the whole MCU, voiced by two creatures who look like nightmarish dildos. ‘A thing isn’t beautiful because it lasts’ is an all-timer.

Big Bathtub

 Ant Man’s bedrock might be its family values, but it’s the shrinking that makes it stand out. The first time Scott drops into tiny-town is a Pixar-esque fun-burst akin to Stephen Strange’s nutso jump into infinity later, with deadly bath taps, thunderclap vacuum cleaners and mid-day apartment raves (?) all bringing a new level of threat and adventure to a series already teeming with variety. They should carry these ones on foreverrrrr

Cassie’s Room

 There’s something about this scene that sums up Scott’s whole character and hopefully sets up his daughter for future ant shenanigans: he is (was) unique as a hero with a family, and no matter how many Pym Particles he stuffs into his suit he’s always looked like a giant to his daughter. Plus, y’know, Thomas the Tank Engine.

Some Guy Crashes a Car at Night

 The catalyst for the great middle schism. Civil War is a masterclass of twisting, gut-churning reveals, and this is the quiet moment that starts it all.

QUEENS

 The perfect Marvel character, introduced into the perfect realisation of the Marvel Universe, perfectly.

Running Into Each Other At The Airport

LITTLE MAN IS BIG NOW I’M CLINT WE HAVEN’T MET YET I DON’T CARE WHERE YOU FROM KID QUEENS BROOKLYN I’M YOUR CONSCIENCE WE HAVEN’T SPOKEN IN A WHILE YOU GUYS KNOW THAT OLD MOVIE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK HOW OLD IS THIS KID ETC ETC OH MY GOD MY BRAIN HAS EXPLODED

Cap vs Iron Man

 ‘I don’t care. He killed my mom.’  

The Big Brain Burst

 They keep doing bits to expand themselves, and this is one of the best, with the most potential for the future. Fleeting, but dazzling.

New York Mirror Fest

 If the next Strange movies delve into this deranged nonsense then they could end up the greatest of all of them. This is the tip of the iceberg, and it’s still unlike anything else being done in mainstream cinema.

Mr Blue Sky

 In a movie that frequently reaches big and misses, at least it hits the spot at the beginning. This glorious celebration of family, space-craziness and genre subversion is everything Guardians does best. The Gamora / Groot bit is adorable.

Peter’s Civil War Adventure

 The perfect tone-setter for the story’s most-average joe, this ground-level view of the universe’s biggest clash acts as a whippet quick intro to Peter Parker’s world in the big bad MCU. It’s always a thrill to see him where he belongs.

The Homage to Getting Buried Under a Tonne of Crap

 Homecoming’s riffs on classic Spidey-lore are generally pretty subtle, but when it comes time to show what Peter’s really made of Watts rips directly from the best, first with the iconic Parker/Spidey face split and then with him holding up a whole fucking building like he’s nerd Hulk or something. The added ‘come on Spider-Mans’ are the adorable icing on the homage-o-cake.

Anytime That Immigrant Song Plays

Another!

Thor vs Hulk

 Yeah, it’s not perfect and it’s a little CGIey. But it’s Thor fighting the Hulk in a fucking galactic gladiator arena place run by Jeff Goldblum and it smashes and it’s full of fun callbacks to previous movies. Yes! That’s what it feels like!

Thor and Loki Do Get Help

 The perfect encapsulation of Waititi’s irreverent-but-with-tonnes-of-heart freshgasm on the story of Thor, this bit of hilarious dumb shit acts as amusing action beat and neat character resolution all in one. They’re friends again! They’re brothers! Thor throws him around like a rolled up carpet!

What Are You The God of Again?

 Oh right, so he’s the best Avenger now.

Killmonger in the Afterlife

 The bloody heart of the most emotional Marvel movie, when Erik Killmonger enters the Wakandan afterlife he finds himself in his own tiny Compton apartment, exiled with his father forever with the plains of eternity just out of reach beyond the window. Heartbreaking, and brilliant.

Thanos Arrives

 The opening of Infinity War is another example of their absolute mastery of tone; after the megaton funblast of Ragnarok we’re thrown into the end of that movie being ripped apart, before Thanos appears, dragging a battered Thor into frame, beats seven shades of green shit out the Hulk and murders two beloved supporting characters, all without breaking a sweat. If you weren’t excited before you were now.

New York Tussle

 The opening New York section of Infinity War is all very clever, acting as the only grounding Earthy moment in what’s a pretty out-there narrative in terms of existential stakes. You get Tony and Wong helping people off the sidewalk and Strange winking after halting the space-death-machine, but from there on out it’s full-bore comic-book smackdown fun, clashing characters who’ve never met and providing top-drawer banter about wizards and children’s parties. This is the page, up there on screen.

BRING ME THANOS!

 BRING ME THANOS!

The Thanos Fight

 Jesus fucking Christ. Up there with the end of Avengers and the Civil War airport battle, this is a perfect realisation of superhero action, with a bigger dose of high-level insanity courtesy of the Infinity Stones and Doctor Strange. Sublimely realised, incredibly satisfying, with real weight and thought put into the spectacle, it’s also fantastic in the narrative of the film, the culmination of its themes of desperation and inevitability. The first time you saw them try to rip off the gauntlet was unbearable.

The Snap

 Well, yeah. You’ll never get back the first time you saw this. And imagine seeing it as a fucking kid.#

Just a Girl

 Sure the big level-up CGI fest at the end is good, but it’s the comedy smackdown on the Kree ship that’s the most satisfying part of Captain Marvel, the shit-eating joy on Carol’s face as she discovers she’s way more powerful than the assholes who’ve been holding her back. It’s corny sure, but it’s hella fun.

Thor Goes For The Head

 Endgame is a shocking, disorientating blur to begin with, all the characters you loved acting in strange, desperate ways in a super-hero version of post-traumatic stress disorder. Tony’s meltdown is bad enough, but it’s when Thor just straight up fucking murders Thanos that you know this is going to get dark and serious. It doesn’t, it remembers it’s a Marvel movie, but the shot of him walking out into the blurred alien sun, cape aflutter, is a fitting goodbye to a more innocent time of heroics.

Ant Man and Cassie

 A moment that could be worthy of a whole movie itself, a desperate Scott Lang meeting his five-years-older daughter gives a joke character a serious moment in the same way Infinity War did for Guardians. It’s very odd, very sweet and very Marvel.

Love You 3000

 Morgan H. Stark is almost a little too on the nose as a wrap-up for Tony, but hell, she’s still sweet as all hell and a perfect capper to his story of fatherhood and responsibility. It’s a mark of the work they’ve put in that we’ll almost immediately accept the tired trope of kid-taking-over-mantle when she inevitably puts on the armour in a few years.

Steve and Peggy / Tony and Howard

 This is the bit in Endgame where I finally started tearing up: a lot of it is too-neat fan-service, but fuck it, they’ve put in so much effort that it works. This is the scene where you realise both of these long arcs are coming to an end, the resolution of Steve quietly making his decision to go back to Peggy and Tony getting the closer of discussing parenthood with his unknowing father. It’s corny sure, but so are comic books, and setting the whole bit at the height of seventies Marvel Comics mania is a loving nod to the imaginations that made all these crazy possibilities possible.

Widow and Hawkeye

 There’s a theme here. All of these moments are kind of cheesy and rely heavily on callbacks to previous bits… but at the moment it doesn’t matter because ENDGAME WOW. Maybe we’ll look back at it as a corny misstep, but for the moment, Clint and Tasha having one last, ludicrously overblown tussle for who gets to live is a sweet capper that never goes as deep as the others because they’re supporting characters. It still stings, and it’s a neat mirror to Gamora and Thanos in Infinity War. The red’s gone from her ledger! It’s on the rocks! Urrrgh

Nebula Kills Herself

 Again, they’re so good that they can spend a big chunk of time in what’s ostensibly the last big movie for their most beloved characters on making a lesser character beloved. Endgame spotlights Nebula even more than Infinity War did Gamora, using her self-hatred and fear of her father for compelling, wibbly-wobbly plot and character beats. The resolution of her story and her newfound place with her team should make for a whole different Guardians before we even get to Fortnite-Thor joining up.

Cap Wields The Hammer

 ‘I KNEW IT!’

Thanos’ Army

 One last escalation of scale. When Thanos’ army finally arrives it’s like something out of those apocalyptic Turner paintings, where the hordes of a ship-wrecked hell confront eternity under skies ripped from heaven. Only this time they’re facing one guy called Steve, and they’re fucked. Incredible.

Avengers… Assemble

 It almost lives up to what you always had in your head. The Marvel Universe, somehow done right.

Tony Hugs Peter Back

Awwww!

New Avengers Run the Gauntlet

 A surprising amount of Endgame’s grand finale is given over to the future hopes; while Strange gets stuck in with holding back a Biblical flood it’s up to Black Panther to grab the Infinity Gauntlet from Clint in a delightful callback to Civil War, before embarking on an intense relay race across the entire battlefield that begins with Scarlet Witch crushing the shit out of Thanos’ testicles and ends with Captain Marvel engaging the Mad Titan in a bone-crushing show of super-strength. And along the way if finds time to have Peter Parker dragged through the air by Thor’s hammer which was thrown by Captain America before landing on a Pegasus flown by Valkryie across an exploding sky of alien whales. Maybe the most satisfying run of action since the first Avengers.

I am Iron Man

 It was always going to be him really. Bonus points for Downey Jr. originally telling Thanos to ‘Fuck off’. Did anyone else keep thinking he was going to wake up and quip and everything would be OK? That’s how you make movies.

The Funeral

 It looks a little weird actually, like they weren’t all on set. But they were! The Marvel Universe again, holy smokes.

The Kiss

 Now that’s how you end ten years and twenty one movies. They’re movies! It was romantic! It was exciting! It was fun!

For TEN FUCKING YEARS.

Swing a Ding Ding Sir

 After five movies of fresh shit they've finally starting dumping some classic Spider-Man on us; the Euro stuff's fun and all, but it's Far From Home delirious climax that sees Spidey and MJ thwipping through the canyons of New York before bumping into ugly ol' J. Jonah JJ Jay Jay likes it's a freakin' comic book or something. Delightful, and also serves as a wonderful image of hope and joy post-Endgame.

What a fuckin’ ride. Here’s to the next... seventy six? Seventy seven?

wait did I leave any out

[kdtheghostwriter]

SNK 116: V Has Come To

Alexa: play “Roundabout”

When I first saw the Kanji that represents “rumbling,” my first two thoughts, in immediate succession where as follows: “Oh, shit, is it already happening” and “Oh, no, wait it’s just like JoJo.” (Fun fact about that ED, since Ded Memes live here. The little To Be Continued arrow always flies in before the drums hit. Like everything it gets adjusted for the purposes I suppose. Anyway!) Honestly, every chapter in this volume has ended like the episode of an anime, including this one with its hero/villain stare down and triumphant proclamation from the narrator. More on how those tables have turned later.

 I want to spend most of this essay talking about Eren, since I spent most of the last one talking about his older brother. I’m not so much surprised at the direction his character has taken after so many years of pain and abuse. What does take me aback is how so many people are apparently sympathetic to Zeke while hating Eren, especially considering how Eren had a comparatively awful upbringing while spending a lot less time being shitty to people.

But maybe I shouldn’t be too shocked. Even as the main character, he’s always been controversial. Whether by people who want him to be paired with one character or another, or those who just plain don’t like him. Even in-story, good will has been hard to come by. One minute they’re honoring you and your friends in front of the Queen. A few years later, you’re locked underground as a fugitive of the military-controlled government.

It was the Chapter 112 recap where I broke down the nuance of a pro wrestling storyline – specifically in regards to their character-driven nature. I used performers like Shawn Michaels and Brett “The Hitman” Hart to outline the natural progression of a character from fan favorite to hated ne’er-do-well. Now, I’ll be using an example much more relevant to the story. The Rise then Fall then Return then “Turn” of Daniel Bryan.

Most important thing to note about Daniel Bryan is that he’s not supposed to be in the ring at all. A series of concussions and other injuries forced him to retire from active in-ring competition. This was directly after a year-long saga of him trying to prove himself as a main event player. After what seemed like endless waves of red tape and front office hurdles, he achieved the absolute pinnacle of the business. Winning in the main event of the year’s biggest show, WrestleMania, and becoming the World Heavyweight Champion. It was always going to be downhill from that point. What couldn’t have been predicted was the suddenness of it.

Three years pass and Daniel Bryan announces his imminent return to active competition. His first match back is yet again at the Showcase of the Immortals. He receives a hero’s welcome and for several months is riding a familiar high as the most popular superstar in all of wrestling. And then, he fights AJ Styles and something changes.

I must note here briefly that at this point in the latter part of 2018, AJ Styles himself is enjoying a year-long run as champion of the world’s largest federation. He and Daniel Bryan were scheduled to have a match at the Crown Jewel event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Yes, the same Saudi Arabia that allegedly orchestrated the murder of Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi. Daniel Bryan, along with other members of the roster, refused to make the trip. As such, his WWE Championship match was pushed up a week to be contested on TV. Bryan lost this match, but that would not be the last time they faced. In fact, the very next time the two squared off, Bryan captured the title, albeit via some nefarious means. It was after this match (followed by a match with former UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar) that something broke within Daniel Bryan.

The WWE’s relentless media schedules as well as the punishment of months of fighting on the road finally broke him down mentally as well as physically, and he decided that enough was too much. Daniel Bryan utilized his newfound platform as champion and killed the movement that catapulted him to worldwide fame. In its place, a message of repentance. He replaced the leather strap of his title belt with one made of hemp and naturally fallen oak. He railed against the paying fans for their unchecked consumerism and even admonished his boss, billionaire Chairman of World Wrestling Entertainment Vince McMahon, for exploiting their more reductive tendencies.

This is going to sound weird because, honestly, these things change month-to-month but, yes, Daniel Bryan is supposed to be the bad guy here. And for a segment of the audience he absolutely is. Live crowds across the country (excluding his home state of Washington) hate Bryan with a fiery passion. Meanwhile, all of Twitter asked all at once, “Wait, you want us to…boo him?” It’s the most famous Heel Turn in recent memory due in part to the circumstances and the performer involved. This was the most popular wrestler in the world not six months prior. But even though the crowd still loved him, they were not clamoring for him like they had been. The magic of the Yes Movement was largely gone.

In Shingeki no Kyojin, I’ve witnessed this cycle ad nauseum. It’s the ebb and flow of fandom. I’ve been reading this series long enough to recall a time when Eren was seen as a useless, whiny geek as opposed to the badass world-beater he is now. There was a time, believe it or not, where Reiner was as polarized and hated as Eren is now. Before that even! Reiner was little more than the cute, air-headed jock before he and Bertholt revealed themselves as spies. Isayama reveals him as his favorite character and he’s been the darling of the fandom ever since. Second perhaps only to Commander Handsome himself who is even more popular in death. Annie still has her fans, despite only being in maybe fifteen percent of this manga.

My point is the same that Isayama has been getting at for the past three volumes or so. (Maybe more than that if we accept Kruger’s monologue as the first example.) Your notion of how the world works has been fucked from the start. Good and evil; right and wrong; Marley and Paradis. Reality is only as good as your perspective. The author was not content with just stating this, though. To prove his point, he deconstructed his own carefully planned narrative, rebuilt it backwards, then flipped it upside down so that now, we’ve come back ‘round to this.

Funny thing, life is. When your idols become your rivals. Eren once confided in Reiner for support in his darkest moments. Now, it’s very likely he’s going to try and kill him. Simply for getting in his way. This is more of the framing I’ve talked about before from Isayama. This looks like any other match card from an actual title bout. To show you what I mean, I’m going to line up several examples.

Seeing it now? Classic promoter tactics. Building up the hype. People rib on the Dragon Ball series for doing this sometimes – in the case of Z – to a comical extent. But really, this method can be seen elsewhere in stuff like JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, One Piece, Yu Yu Hakusho, Lupin the Third; I really could just name twelve more titles.

This is a rematch four years in the making. Yes, they met in Liberio but I don’t count that as a fight, considering Eren won long before anyone even transformed and Reiner was literally begging for his death. In present day, the Warriors have caught The Usurper off guard and they have much needed backup. This conflict has been set up like the apex of any Marvel movie. The mismatched group of heroes converging on one point, because the only hope they have of defeating the super villain is if they do it together.

This is why Pieck didn’t pull the trigger when she had the chance and also why Eren didn’t transform and splatter her and Gabi against the dungeon walls. Pieck is part of a team. A team with a plan. Part of that plan involved getting Eren Jaeger out in the open where he would be exposed to an all-out attack. Eren had prior knowledge of the Warrior Unit’s arrival and knew his best option was to track their location and cut them off. Pieck was likely dead whether she cooperated or not. What Eren didn’t account for was Porco, who was actually in plain sight amongst the other Jaegerists, but in a world where photography has just recently been introduced, one could not expect them to recognize him out of his Titan.

 Pieck trusted her friends, and now they are all dropping in to Shiganshina to aid in her rescue. Eren did not trust his friends, and now they are all dead, mutilated or locked in a cell and they won’t be coming to his rescue. In another manga, this would be the turning point of the story where the Big Bad got his comeuppance and learned the ultimate lesson about the Power of Friendship and the series would end with the two brothers embracing in a pile of rubble. This is not any manga. Eren has three Titan powers at his disposal. (Four if he can get his hands on Porco again.) Unless there is a legit airstrike of some sort or some other secondary offensive, Reiner has no chance of winning this. Maybe he doesn’t have to, depending on what the plan is.

We still don’t know what Eren’s plan is either! That’s probably the biggest difference between him and Daniel Bryan. The Daniel Bryan character was developed weekly on television over many months and his motivations up to this point have been fully fleshed out. Eren’s motivations are a mystery to everyone except Eren. Even his brother Zeke doesn’t know what he’s up to. Zeke who, by the way, can magically appear in this upcoming battle as well. No, I don’t think Eren is the final “bad guy” of this story. I just wish he was, because he’s damn good at doing it.

I do not know how this ends. I am, however, sure of one thing.

  Stray Thoughts

- I wouldn’t say either Eren or Pieck had the other fooled at any point. They were at an impasse and Eren decided to move the plot along.

- Eren isn’t the classic mwahaha villain (yet) but wow is he angry. And not the violent, explosive anger we know him for. Cold, cunning, calculated. I genuinely feared for Pieck’s life despite her holding the gun.

- I know we’ve been conditioned by this story to search for subtext, even when it’s not there, but I wouldn’t read too much into certain…stuff that happened with the 104th. The point here was to re-establish what we already know about the crew. Jean is a very perceptive lad and almost certainly the next Commander if anyone survives this story. Armin is…having a moment.

- I have to wonder how good Magath’s intel is for this op. Does he know that Shiganshina is deserted? Has he accounted for Zeke’s appearance? Does he know the God of Destruction is nearby?

- Yelena has been a favorite of mine since her debut, when everyone thought Connie grew three times his size. I won’t call it a Heel Turn because it doesn’t count if you weren’t wearing the White Hat to begin with.

[synkiller82]

Collapse Into Me Chapter 16 - Stitch

“What do you think, Tikki?” Marinette asked as she walked around the dress form one more time.  She had just finished Alya’s dress for the Winter Formal—a floor-length jade silk A-line gown with an off-the-shoulder surplice neckline.  Alya had picked the fabric herself a year ago while on a shopping trip with Marinette, knowing the designer would make something fabulous with it.

“It’s beautiful, Marinette!” Tikki confirmed, twirling in the air.  “I can’t believe you finished it so quickly!”

Marinette had only been working on completing the gown for about two weeks, but the pattern was done months ago.  All that was left was the final fitting and the second of three outfits would be complete.  Nino already had his outfit—a white single-breasted suit and a white dress shirt with a tie and vest set that were made from the same fabric as Alya’s dress.  She took the dress off the form, placed it in a garment bag, and hung it up before proceeding to start on the third, and possibly final, outfit she had to make for the dance.  She hadn’t had been able to talk to Adrien about making his suit before he was sent on a surprise trip to Milan.  

She sighed heavily at the thought of his impromptu trip.  It had been four days since she last saw Adrien in person and she was beginning to have withdrawals.  She didn’t notice how much time she had been spending with Adrien until he wasn’t there.  Sure, they face-timed every night, but it wasn’t the same.  She couldn’t wait until tomorrow when she would see him at school again.

Marinette had been so lost in her own thoughts, she didn’t notice Tikki dashing to her hiding place or the hatch to her room opening.  She jumped and fell into her dress form as she was startled by the voice of the very person she had been thinking of.

“Marinette,” Adrien called as he ascended the stairs into her room and ran over when he saw her fall.  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“What—Why—How—” Marinette sputtered as she stared wide-eyed at the boy in front of her.  “I thought you were in Milan until tomorrow.”

Adrien shrugged and offered a hand to help her up.  “Nathalie told me last night we were leaving early this morning.  I didn’t want to say anything in case it was changed again.”  He used her hand to pull her into his arms, wrapping them tightly around her as he buried his face in her neck.  “I missed you so much.”

Marinette returned the gesture quickly and with just as much fervor.  “I missed you too.”  She reveled in the warmth of his embrace until he slowly let her go.  She turned to pick up her dress form.  “So, how was the trip?  You were really vague all week.”

Adrien again shrugged as he helped her steady the form.  “Wow, Marinette.  What is this for?”  He asked, holding a piece of the ice-blue brocade fabric hanging off the form.

“I’m working on my dress for the dance,” she answered, worried that he had changed the subject, but didn’t push.  “My sketchbook is open to it if you want to see what it’ll look like when it’s done.”

Adrien walked over to her desk and took a seat in the desk chair.  He looked over the open page of her pad and marveled at the outfits she had designed.  He could see each one was drawn with not only the person’s silhouette, but also their taste and personality in mind.  The first two were Alya’s simple green dress and Nino’s white suit.  Below those was her dress -- an ice blue brocade v-neck dress with a low v in the back and a thick ice-blue snowflake-patterned organza border.  The organza also came up the front of the skirt, which had a slight hi-low hem that would show off whatever shoes were worn.  A thin silver belt completed her design.

“Who’s this one for?” Adrien inquired as he pointed to the suit beside Marinette’s dress.

“Oh, that.  It’s ahh--” Marinette stammered when she saw where he was pointing.  “It was just an idea for a suit to match my dress.  I guess I got carried away while I was sketching.”

“Do you have time to make it?” Adrien implored as he looked at her hopefully.  “I would much rather wear something you designed and made than something Father did.”

Marinette stood there blinking her wide eyes at him, completely stunned.  “Are you sure you can?”  

Adrien nodded.  “I’ll talk to Nathalie about it, but I’m sure Father would be interested to see your work, and I would love to wear a Marinette Dupain-Cheng original.”

“If you think it would be okay, then yeah, I have the time.  I mean, I already finished Alya and Nino’s, so that only leaves mine.”  She walked over to look through her fabric.  “I will have to go get the fabric, since I wasn’t really planning on making it--”

“Then let’s go,” Adrien exclaimed as he jumped out of Marinette’s desk chair and grabbed her hand.  “Your mom said you’ve been up here every minute you haven’t been at school this week and you need a break.”

Marinette followed Adrien downstairs and to his waiting car to head out in search of the perfect fabrics.  She picked out a beautiful wool silk blend fabric in a light grey that had the slight shimmer she was looking for, a light grey bemberg fabric for lining the suit, more fabric for the button-down shirt and all the assorted threads and buttons she would need.  She started to argue when he insisted he pay for her purchases, but quickly gave in when she saw how happy it made him.

---

After having dinner with her parents, Marinette and Adrien went back up to her room.  It was too late for her to continue working on her dress, so she settled for making sure the measurements she had for Adrien were correct.  It concerned her that his numbers had gone down by about half an inch, as he was already pretty thin when she took his measurements for last year’s school play about six months ago.  She decided to not say anything, however, as she knew it was a touchy subject for him.

“So, what do you want to do?  We only have about three hours before you have to go,” Marinette inquired as they sat on the chaise.

“Do you mind if we just watch a movie?  I don’t really want to think right now.”  Adrien stated quietly.  

Marinette nodded and stood to get her laptop.  She returned and Adrien curled up with her, his arms a little tighter than normal.  She snuggled in and set the laptop to play Lilo and Stitch.

“Adrien, is everything okay?” Marinette whispered as the opening credits played, gently running a hand through his hair.  

He sighed and shook his head.  He should’ve known he wouldn’t be able to play it off with her.  “I’m just upset about having to go to Milan, as well as stressed about fashion week.”  He pulled her closer and nuzzled into her shoulder.  “I didn’t really do anything on the trip I couldn’t have done here.  That was annoying enough, but Father gets overly critical of everything right now, including me.”  He sighed and linked his hand in hers.  “Up until now, I haven’t had anyone I could confide in about the stress and fear of letting Father down.  Knowing that you are here for me has made things easier this year.”  He paused to look up at her.  “So I asked Father if I could invite you to the opening gala for Fashion Week and he agreed.  He was actually going to offer the invitation anyway.”

Marinette’s mind short-circuited for the third time that day.  Gabriel wants her to attend the opening gala to Fashion Week?  Was this a good thing?  It would be a great boost to her career, being able to talk to all the big names in fashion, but what about her statement to Gabriel about not riding the coattails of his family? She had meant it when she said it at dinner, so would this count?

“I don’t know, Adrien,” Marinette started hesitantly.  “I meant what I said about not wanting to use you to get into the fashion world and --”

“Marinette,” Adrien called softly as he stopped her with a finger placed gently against her mouth.  “You would be doing no such thing.  I want you there, as my date.  It would make everything much more bearable to have you with me all night.”

Marinette’s resolve crumbled at his words and the soft expression he was giving her.  “Alright,” she conceded.  “But what would I wear?  I don’t have anything worthy and nowhere near enough time to put something together.”

Adrien grinned, “Father designed something specifically for you.  He asked that I bring you by tomorrow for a fitting.”

Marinette didn’t know if she wanted to laugh or cry.  This night just kept getting better.  She was going to the fashion event of the season, on the arm of the most handsome boy in the world, wearing a Gabriel original?  She could die happy now.

“That sounds great,” she whispered, giving him a kiss on his forehead.  They settled back in and watched the movie, content in each other’s company.

---

Marinette sat in the car the next afternoon, nervous about their destination.  Adrien reached over and placed his hand on hers, trying to help calm her as they pulled into Gabriel headquarters.  She was here to be fitted in the dress she would wear to her first official appearance with Adrien.

They entered the building and were led to two separate rooms by Nathalie.  Marinette timidly stepped into the room and her world stopped.  On the form in front of her was a scarlet ball gown with a sweetheart neckline.  The bodice was covered in crystals that stopped at the waistline, and placed sparsely around the skirt.  It was absolutely gorgeous, and Marinette was at a loss of words.

“Ah, you must be Marinette,” a woman called from behind the form.  Her brown hair was pulled into a French twist and her brown eyes hid behind glasses.  “I’m Monique and I will be fitting you today.”

“Hello,” Marinette answered shyly as she made her way over, still afraid to get close to the dress.  “Did you make this?”

“Mr. Agreste designed it, but I sewed it together,” Monique answered as she took the dress off the form and led Marinette to a dressing room.  “You can change here.  I’ll be right outside if you need anything.”

After taking a moment to timidly run her hand over the dress, Marinette changed and returned to the main room.  Monique was standing by a raised platform in front of a three-way mirror.  Marinette kept her eyes on the floor until she made it to the dias.

“Please put these on, darling.  We need to make sure the hem will work,” Monique instructed as she handed Marinette a pair of red four-inch stilettos with the same crystals at the toes and heel, a thin strap going across the top of her foot to secure them.

Marinette slipped the shoes on and stepped onto the platform, still refusing to look at herself in the mirror.  She wasn’t ready to look, to believe that this was happening.

“You look exquisite, my dear,” Monique cooed as she moved around the dress, pulling and adjusting.  “It fits like a dream already.  Just a quick adjustment to the hem and it will be perfect.”

Marinette finally looked up and gasped.  She couldn’t believe the person staring back at her was Marinette Dupain-Cheng.  The dress was fit for a princess, and the shoes were some of the most comfortable she had ever worn.  She slowly turned, watching the way the dress moved and caught the light.  It was gorgeous.

“Alright, my star.  Time to change so I can get the adjustments made.” Monique stated, moving Marinette toward the changing room and noting her slower movements.  “I’m guessing you’re not used to heels.”

Marinette shook her head.  “I’m honestly a klutz, so I stay in flats with maybe the occasional low heel.”

Monique nodded her understanding.  “We’ve all been there, my star.  I will find another pair similar to these so you can practice at home.  You will be walking like a princess in no time.”

Marinette changed back into her clothes and handed the dress back to Monique, still in awe that she was allowed to wear it.  True to her word, Monique had found a pair of black shoes identical to the red ones, minus the stones.  Marinette shrugged and put them on instead of her ballet flats.  She was just standing up when the door opened and Adrien entered, followed by Nathalie.

“Hey, Marinette,” Adrien greeted as he closed the distance and took her hand.  “How was the fitting?”

“It was wonderful.  Monique was great and the dress is gorgeous,” Marinette remarked as they made their way out.  She turned and waved, “Thank you again, Monique.”

The door closed and the pair followed Nathalie toward the entrance.  As they rode the elevator back to the main floor, Adrien leaned over and placed his head on Marinette’s shoulder, humming a little in content.  Marinette smiled as she felt him relax a bit more at the extra contact.  She decided she would master walking in high heels, noting it would be difficult with her klutz record, but it didn’t matter.  She knew without a doubt in her mind that Adrien would be there if she fell, ready to catch her as she was always ready to catch him.

[arjyles]

i originally meant to accompany this w an art piece but i forgot to finish it so heres the fic for now

wrote this for @taylorearhardts for trimberlydwarves secret santa-- MERRY CHRISM MY DUDE!!!! HOPE U LIKE IT!!! BC I LOVE KIMZACK NOW 

-

They really couldn’t be friends without constantly pushing each others’ boundaries.

Kim 4:42pm: zack i need ur eyes and opinion

Zack 4:43pm: im not giving u fashion advice unless it’s for lingerie

Kim 4:43pm: ik ur joking but that’s deadass what i was gonna ask

Kim 4:44pm: don’t make it weird

Zack 4:44pm: no hetero right babe ;p

She rolls her eyes at his choice of words, and snaps the picture anyway. Scrolling down her list of best friends on Snapchat, she captions the photo, “no hetero x,” before selecting Zack’s name and hitting send, no pause or hesitation needed. It’s just Zack, after all.

Immediately after it’s sent, the red triangle turns white, indicating that he opens it right away. After all, there are basically no boundaries in their friendship, and if there are, they’re quickly broken, since the two of them run the reckless impulse decision kingdom.

Zack 4:49pm: it’s hot but why pink. why not black ;(

Kim 4:49pm: it’s my fav colour ok. this is lingerie for me not u

Zack 4:50pm: fine

Zack 4:50pm: is there a v-shape version of the bra tho. ur tiddies look flat in that

She grins and shakes her head at his honesty. There are about 8 more pink bras she needs his opinion on, anyway.

-

“Anyone seen Kim yet?”

“Nah, T. She wasn’t in bio?”

Trini glares at Zack’s question. “Of course not. Why else would I be asking?”

“Jeez,” Zack says, raising his hands in surrender. Trini was very protective of Kim, for some odd reason. With Kim not there, she’s especially more cranky. “Relax, dude. We can check on her. Who’s free?”

Trini’s about to volunteer, until Jason puts his hand on her shoulder, “you can’t, dude. We’ve got that math test next period,” she sighs, and Jason turns to Billy and Zack, “can one of you?”

Before Billy can say anything, Zack speaks out, “I guess I will!” he says enthusiastically, saving Billy from having to ruin his perfect attendance, “I was already gonna skip, anyway.”

“Are you sure you can?” Billy asks, looking conflicted between wanting to be a good friend and wanting to be a good student, “is it really a good idea for you to skip more classes?”

Zack waves him off, relieving the others of worrying about his grades, “yeah, it’s fine. I’ve got a spare third period anyway, and we’re only watching a movie in fourth.”

Then, he gets up from their shared lunch table to make his way to Kim’s house, leaving Billy to tutor Jason and Trini in the last bits of trig they need help with.

-

Normally, she wasn’t one to take days off like this, but her mother called her last night reminding her how she was no longer living up to her parents’ standards, and now she can’t really bring herself to leave her house.

Instead, it’s nearing 1pm and she’s still in bed, listening to her Depression Playlist™ on repeat, while watching her ceiling fan rotate over and over. She can’t tell if it’s making her dizzy, or if her head just hurt from oversleeping.

Just before she can transition from humming along to belting out the bridge of Hands Down, Chris Carrabba’s voice is interrupted by her phone ringing.

Groaning, she rolls over to check her caller ID, and is only mildly surprised to see Zack’s face grinning at her before she hits the answer button.

“What,” Kim says into her phone, sounding irritated.

“Well, hello to-” he grunts, “you too.”

Kim raises a brow at that. “Why do you sound constipated? Did you call me while you were on the shitter?”

He laughs, but it sounds slightly strained, “no. I’m scaling a building, actually.”

Kim tsks, showing her mild disapproval at his risqué antics. “Don’t scale the fucking school, Zack,” she scolds him, “you’re gonna get yourself expelled and Zordon’s gonna murder your ass for taking advantage of your powers.”

There’s a brief pause on the phone, like he’s readjusting his stance to a more ergonomically proper way of climbing, “who said I was scaling the school?”

“What building are you scaling?” She asks, slightly worried that he might be putting himself in danger. Well, as much danger as a ranger can face. “Zack, what the fuck.”

He giggles again, sounding like a giddy school girl, “here’s a hint,” he says, and she can basically see the grin on his face through the phone, “open your window to find out. NOT CLICKBAIT.”

And then it clicks. (ha ha get it) She looks over to her window only to see one set of fingers on the outside sill, where Zack must’ve been dangling from.

“Why haven’t you at least pulled yourself up?”

“Because-” he grunts again, probably shifting his hand a little bit so he can get more comfortable, “my booty is poppin’ way too hard to fit onto the ledge. Let me in, Kim!”

She sighs exasperatedly before pulling the covers off herself to make her way towards the window. Once there, she glances down at the boy still hanging on with one arm, a phone in his other.

He waves at her with the phone-hand, before putting his phone back to his mouth, “so are you gonna let me in, or nah?”

She grins at him and shrugs, “I wish I could, but I have a screen on my window.”

His face drops. “Are you serious?”

“No, I just wanted to see how long you could hang onto that.”

“Probably forever-- I’m that buff,” he says, winking at her, “but someone might see me.”

She reaches over to open the window, but pauses, “to be fair, you’re in my backyard.”

“Kim,” he pleads with her, his voice cracking. “C’mon.”

“Fine,” she relents, but not before dramatically sighing and hanging up, as if all of this was physically taxing on her.

She unlocks the window and pushes it open, watching as Zack pockets his phone and pulls himself up, landing ungracefully onto her floor face first. Despite the fall, he still comes back up smiling.

“So, what’s up, Kimmy? You good?” He asks, while toeing his shoes off before Kim can give him shit for it. He was really the only one of her friends who did that automatically, the other rangers being absolute heathens, wearing shoes indoors. “Why’d you stay in?”

“Honestly,” she sighs, grabbing his hand and leading him to her bed and he lies next to her, like it’s routine, “I’m not feeling the best right now.”

He hums, and she can feel the vibrations from his chest. Then she feels his hand come up to her forehead, and he presses it there for a minute.

“You seem okay, though. Is it a different kind of sickness?”

She purses her lips. They never really hide anything from each other. If they didn’t know something about each other, it’s probably because they just forgot to tell the other.

This time, though, Kim feels a little bit of hesitance.

“Yeah, kind of,” she says instead.

He doesn’t say anything. He’s waiting for her to elaborate.

“Just, y’know…” She clears her throat, trying to decide if this is something she can share with him. “Good ol’ depression, hittin’ me up.”

He’s silent again. Kim feels like she’s finally found the boundary between them that she shouldn’t have crossed.

“Depression?” He finally questions, and Kim holds her breath still for whatever he’s about to say next, “isn’t that just a fancy word for feeling ‘bummed out?’”

Relieved, she feels her heartbeat relax, and grins against his shoulder. “Dwight, you ignorant slut.”

He chuckles at that, and waits a minute before asking, “so, do you want me to go, or can I stay?”

“You can stay, but only if I can paint your nails.”

“Do you have Vantablack?”

-

“Sorry I wasn’t there yesterday. I really wanted to be.”

“It’s okay, I get it,” Kim says, and she really means it. She runs through the combination on her lock again-- it’s a little rusty, “Zack was more than enough.”

Trini nods, and Kim takes that as her cue to accept that they’re done with the topic, and takes her textbooks out of their shared locker to shove them haphazardly into her backpack.

She’s about to ask Trini how her math test went yesterday, when Zack’s familiar voice greets the two of them.

“Hey, Trini,” he says, ruffling her hair, then, “hey Kimmy.”

But before Kim can even get a ‘hey’ out, Zack is ducking quickly and throwing Kim over his shoulder so she’s squealing loudly as he tickles her sides.

It isn’t anything new, the two of them were the most physical and touchy people on the team, but with how loud and obnoxious they’re being, it’s almost similar to how the couples Kim rolls her eyes at in the hallway act when they do major PDA.

Regardless, she can’t care less about her reputation.

“Put me down, Zack!” She giggles, her bag on the floor, now forgotten.

“I will, if I get this one thing wrong,” he promises, and there’s suddenly a mischievous undertone to his voice that worries Kim only slightly.

“What is it?” She asks, despite herself.

He pokes at her side once more so she’s laughing again, “you’re wearing that pink bralette you sent me, aren’t you?”

“Oh my God,” Kim laughs, and hopes Trini isn’t still there to hear that, “fuck you.”

Then the bell rings, but Zack doesn’t even drop Kim-- he just picks up her backpack off the floor and slings it over his shoulder, continuing to carry her to Trini and Kim’s bio class.

She feels a slight pleasure at the confused looks some people give her on the way— the question, ‘are you two together?’ written on their faces.

It’s just Zack, she reminds herself, trying not to think about why she gets a warm feeling from the thought of her and Zack being together.

-

They’re on their way to the quarry, Kim sandwiched between Billy and Trini, while Jason drives, and Zack sits in shotgun.

Kim originally intends to sit next to Zack, who unintentionally ruins that plan by calling shotgun before anybody else can.

She’s perfectly content with getting to sit next to Trini, however, even though she’s recently had a sudden wave of warm appreciation for the black ranger.

After that first period in the morning, Zack had carried Kim from every class so that her feet had basically never touched the halls of their school that day because ‘princesses should be treated as such.’

They were both not shy about touching, but it was the first time Zack had been that extra about their physicality, and Kim found herself grinning wide from how grateful she was that he was trying so hard to cheer her up after her day off the day before.

Finally, Jason pulls up to the quarry, and before she can even get her seatbelt off, Zack says, “last one there has to finally wear black underwear!”

Jesus Christ. What is it with that boy and underwear?

Meanwhile, the other three rangers aren’t phased by this comment, instead moving at a speed that showed no indication they felt threatened by this challenge.

Kim tries to be patient, she really does, but Billy and Trini were moving so slow, and knowing Trini would mind  less  about the sudden contact, she unbuckles her belt quickly, not even bothering to wait for Trini to exit the car so she can climb over the smaller girl in an attempt to beat Zack to the pit. It’s pretty clear the race is only meant to be between the two of them.

She catches up quickly, the taller boy having tripped earlier on the mud.

“So if I win, what do I get?”

“Me in pink underwear,” he smirks, and trips Kim before running ahead.

-

Zack wins, but only because he had a head start and cheated. Or at least, that’s what Kim tells herself as she wrings the water out of her hair while glaring at the cheater.

“You did me dirty, Taylor,” she says, attempting to unstick her wet shirt from her body.

He grins. “How else am I going to do you, Hart?”

She narrows her eyes at him, and he only shrugs.

They make their way over to the ship, all the while side eying each other, another unspoken race in the midst.

“I win,” Zack says, and then smugly adds on, “again.”

“Um,” she starts, trying to imitate her lawyer mother’s tone in court, “we didn’t even say that was a race,” she points out, knowing full well if she beat him she would’ve said the same thing.

He scoffs, “whatever. Potato, poh-tah-to.”

But Kim is already stripping quickly, trying to change before Zack can. Everything is always a competition between the two of them.

Zack, only now noticing what she’s doing, quickly throws his shirt over his head and makes a grab for his dry shirt.

Kim stops him before he can reach it, though. “Wait, hold up,” she says, only having one leg through her pants, “I think I like you better shirtless.”

If he thinks her flirtatious behaviour is weird, he doesn’t show it. Instead, he flexes his pecs back and forth, “is it because I have better nipples than you?”

Kim rolls her eyes at him, finally finished dressing herself, “no, actually, it’s because I win.”

“Touché, Kimmy,” he remarks, looking slightly impressed.

Then there are sounds of splashing coming through, indicating the others have finally caught up.

“You lost earlier, though,” he reminds her, throwing a shirt on, ineffectively covering his nipples, since it’s so cold down there anyway, “so this Friday? You and me. Black underwear shopping. Don’t forget.”

Kim watches him walk away to greet the others, and is unable to fight the grin that forms on her face.

-

“Can we take a break?” Zack asks, answering Kim’s question about the deeper meaning of Ophelia’s death, “my brain is fried and my stomach would also like something fried.”

“I’d tell your stomach to eat your brain, but honestly, I am so sick of Shakespeare right now,” Kim agrees, cracking her back as she stands up from her bed to stretch.

“Thanks for your help, though,” Zack is sure to say again. Without Kim, it was unlikely he’d even be passing this class, let alone getting a 72.

She chuckles at his hourly need to thank her for helping him, “no problem. But what do you want? You wanna order a pizza or go to Krispy Kreme?”

“I’m not really feeling Krispy Kreme tonight,” he admits, now sick of all the donuts from there. Why the team had adopted that restaurant as their go-to, he’d never know. He didn’t even like donuts that much. “What about Burger King?”

“That’s like, on the other side of town,” she points out.

He shrugs, “yeah, but you got wheels.”

“Well, yes,” she agrees hesitantly, “but I don’t really feel like driving. We can go, but you have to drive.”

“I don’t know how to drive,” he says, and looks at her as if this should be obvious information.

Her brows furrow in shock and confusion. “What?”

“I don’t know how to drive, Kim,” he repeats, “it’s gay culture!”

“Dude, what. I can drive?”

He brushes her off. “Whatever, dude. I just never learned how. Like, how would I?” He questions, “I don’t even have a car.”

There’s a brief pause as Kim lets that sink in. Logically, it makes sense. They’re only 17, which means that they only had two years to have learned how to drive, and between taking care of his mother, and not having a car, it really should’ve been obvious.

“Okay, c’mon,” she says, finally breaking the silence to pull him up from her bed.

“Are we going to Burger King?” He asks, as he follows her to her car.

She doesn’t answer him until they’re in the car. “Yes, but I’m also gonna teach you how to drive.”

“Kim,” he starts, as he buckles in his seatbelt, “you saw me driving my Zord. Are you sure your BMW’s gonna be okay?”

She waves him off while backing out of her driveway, “shut up. You’re gonna make me not want to teach you. Let’s just see how this goes.”

-

Their bellies are full and they’ve just finished their share of mozzarella sticks and King Burger meals and are now in their empty school’s parking lot.

“Okay, so first, you probably wanna adjust the mirror to your height,” she says, the last bit of fries in her mouth, “Jesus, why are you so tall?”

He discards his burger box into the takeout bag. “Maybe you’re just short.”

“Ex-squeeze me, bitch, I’m 5’5,” she states, her hand on her chest in mock offence, “that’s the national average.”

“Whatever,” he says, and he adjusts the mirror so that he can see his rear, “there. It’s fixed.”

“Okay, good. Now start driving.”

“Wh- you didn’t even teach me how to,” he says, looking over at her in bewilderment.

Her voice is calm, and soothing, like a yoga instructors’, “just do what feels right. That’s what I do on a daily basis, if I’m honest.”

“How the fuck do you have a license?”

“I stop at stop signs-- isn’t that enough?”

He shrugs and pushes down on the pedal but the car remains still. “Why isn’t it moving?”

“Babe, you’re still on park,” she chuckles, “switch to drive.”

He looks around at all the buttons on the BMW. There are probably more in there than in his Zord. “What?” He asks, looking to her for some guidance.

“On the PRNDL.”

“The PRNDL- oh!” He exclaims, now understanding that episode of The Suite Life, “the PRNDL! I know some of these words!”

“Yes,” Kim smiles patiently at his childish antics, “now switch to ‘D.’”

“I’m always on D,” he winks.

She pauses, trying to think of a reply to that. “I’m gonna ignore that,” she says, instead, “just start slow.”

He follows her instructions, switching the function to ‘D,’ and presses lightly on the pedal. They’re only moving at 5mph.

“Good shit, good shit,” Kim says, appreciatively, “now try a little faster.”

Zack nods, and he practically stomps on the gas pedal, switching from 5mph to 90mph.

“Okay, wait, not like that, hit the brake!”

But Zack isn’t sure which pedal is the brake— there are at least three pedals, and they’re nearing the school’s dumpster.

“Which one’s the brake?” He asks, trying to decide between the 50/50.

“BITCH-!” Kim exclaims, and then she’s ducking down and hitting the brakes for him.

The car screeches to a halt, just about an inch or two away from hitting the science lab.

“Wow, good save, Kimmy,” Zack laughs, still thrilled from the close call, “but if you wanted to get on my lap you could just ask.”

She glares at him from her compromising position on his lap. “Oh my God, shut up.”

Somehow, Zack convinces her to let him try again, and by the end of the night, they’re blasting One Direction songs and singing at the top of their lungs, while drifting in their high school parking lot.

-

Kim never really lets herself think too much about something before doing it, but for some reason, when it comes to Trini, she’s always second guessing herself.

Needing a little push to help her decide whether or not this decision is a good idea or not, she quickly runs through her friends to decide who would be best at talking her through this.

Her first thought is Jason, but she quickly pushes that thought away. Things were still a little tense between them since they made out at his house that night, even though they talked about it, so asking him for his opinion on this would just ruin everything.

Billy is a sweetheart, but also a definite no. She isn’t sure if she should run the risk of making him uncomfortable.

Then there’s Zack, who… Would make total sense to ask.

Kim 9:52pm: zack can u rate my nudes idk if they’re good enough to send to tr*ni

She throws her phone back on her bed as she waits for him to text back, digging through her closet to find her cutest lacy bra, before throwing it on. It’s her most trusty piece of lingerie, always guaranteed to make the viewer drool at the sight of it.

Her text tone goes off, and she practically dives onto her bed to read it. Zack 9:55pm: only if u finally got lingerie that isn’t fuckin pink

She looks down at her current attire, and then sits up again to look back at her closet. Without having realized it, she’d slowly sifted out the other colours of lingerie she had, and now only owned pink. It isn’t like all her bras are pink, but all the cute ones are.

Kim 9:55pm: fuck

Groaning, she lies back down onto the bed dramatically, trying to figure out a solution. She needs to send these nudes tonight , or her impulse would run short and she’d have too much time to think about it for the next time. Kim 9:56pm: k wait what if there was no lingerie

His reply comes almost immediately after that.

Zack 9:56pm: .... SEND i needed these nudes like yesterday

Grinning, she strips her bra off and makes her way to the bathroom, flipping her Snapchat camera over to regular instead of selfie mode.

She dims the light slightly so it’s less bright, and uses her arms to cover her nipples, while pushing her boobs together, in the way that she knows drives her conquests to call her a ‘fuckin’ tease.’

Once satisfied with how it looks, she snaps the photo, and captions it “will this pic make trini understand im tryna get it?”

As usual, he opens it immediately, but it takes a minute for him to reply.

He snaps her back, and it’s a photo of him losing his shit, captioned “kIM NO ONE WAS READY FOR THAT HOLY SHIT!!!”

She chuckles at his reaction, and he texts her while the snap is still opened.

Zack 10:01pm: Kim holy shit ur hot

Zack 10:01pm: send that shit to trini bitch will nut on the spot!!!

Zack 10:01pm: biitcchhhh god has BLESSEDT my eyes

She throws her shirt back on, and shuts the bathroom light off, all the while still texting Zack.

Trini remains forgotten, and Kim doesn’t end up sending any more nudes that night.

-

It’s finally Friday, or the day that Zack has come to collect his winnings from Kim.

“Kim, are you ready?” He asks, as he balances precariously on her window sill, his butt not quite fitting on it.

Kim turns as he taps on the window again, and she covers herself up out of reflex, scolding him, “Zack, do I look like I’m ready?” She asks, throwing a shirt at the window to scare him.

“Let me in,” he insists, still tapping on the glass.

“No, I’m not done getting dressed,” she says, and turns her back toward him in an attempt to stay decent in front of him while changing her shirt.

“It’s not like it’s anything I haven’t seen before.”

She rolls her eyes at him, but still lets him in anyway, even though her shirt isn’t on yet.

“Thank you,” he says, smiling smugly, and he rubs his backside slightly. The ledge really was too small for his butt.

Finally, she gets her shirt on, and makes her way to her desk where she knows her keys are, only to find that they’re missing.

“Okay, let’s go,” Zack says, redirecting her attention to his hands as he jingles the keys, so that it’s evident that she hadn’t misplaced them. “I’m driving.”

Kim’s grinning, but shaking her head as she follows him to her car, “I knew it was a bad idea to teach you.”

“It’s for a fun surprise, okay?”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” she mutters, locking the door behind her.

-

The ‘fun surprise’ turns out to just be the Victoria’s Secret at the local mall. Kim figures he was just excited to use his newfound skill of driving.

As soon as they enter the store though, Zack’s already grabbing all kinds of black bras from every section, making Kim wonder if he’d ever done this before.

“There you go,” he says, handing her at least 12 bras with their matching underwear before pushing her into the fitting room.

She glances at the first bra he’d handed her, and is surprised. He hadn’t even needed to ask for her size, but he’d grabbed the correct one for all of them.

Throwing on the first bra, she admires herself quickly in the mirror. It’s a lacy black push up bra, with a scallop cut at the bottom of it, so it accentuates her abs perfectly. She probably wouldn’t say it out loud, but Zack definitely had an eye for good lingerie.

She takes one last glance at herself to ensure everything’s in the right place, before stepping out of the dressing stall, now dressed in the complete set of underwear he’d handed her.

“If I send Trini nudes in this, do you think I could finally get it?” She asks, as soon as Zack sees her.

His jaw drops, but then he closes it and nods quickly to agree, “holy shit babe, black is your colour,” he says, still slightly dazed, “you look like such a thirst trap.”

She flushes slightly from his comment, before remembering it’s Zack. “Honestly, it’s everybody’s colour,” she says, trying to brush off the blush on her face, “black is the colour you wear when you wanna get laid-- at least, that’s what it’s like according to 10 Things I Hate About You.”

“What’s good?” he winks, gesturing to his all black outfit.  Then his face turns serious again, “if you don’t cop that shit, I’m buying it for you.”

Kim grins, delighted, “hang on, dude, there are like, a million more bras I still need to try.”

Zack sits back down, trying to relax how hyped up he was for Kim, while giving her a thumbs up, letting her know he was ready for her to continue on with the show.

She closes the door behind her once back in the stall, looking at all the equally cute sets he’d chosen, if not cuter.

It was pretty clear for Kim that she could never go underwear shopping ever again without the tall boy.

-

Kim’s in the middle of Beyoncé’s Partition when she’s suddenly reminded that she never sent Trini those nudes the other night.

Without thinking, she gets up immediately to open her bags from Victoria’s Secret, grabbing the matching set that Zack said made her a tease, because of how sheer it is.

She throws on the set— but before she can snap a picture, she texts Zack first for his approval.

Kim 9:23pm: k dude im boutta to send trini nudes in the shit we bought today lms if its a bad idea

Zack 9:24pm: nudes from u r always a good idea tf flaunt what u have while u still have it get it sis!!!!!

Zack 9:24pm: but also. i have eyes so dont forget to send them to me too ;p

Kim laughs at his response. Of course she will. It’s not even a question at this point. But she quickly gets back to business.

She lies back down onto her bed and covers the lower half of her body with her blanket, just slightly above her bellybutton. Her right arm extends as she flips her Snapchat camera over to selfie mode, and she’s sure to crop out her face from the shot, using her left index finger to push down on her lower lip as she smirks at the camera. She adjusts her bralette once more to ensure her nipples are on optimal display before snapping the photo and captioning it, “translucent nipples bc u don’t deserve to see the real thing yet.”

She selects Zack’s name, then hesitantly adds on Trini’s, and hits send before she can overthink it.

Zack opens his immediately, while Trini’s is still left unread.

Zack 9:31: holy shit

Zack 9:31pm: ur such a fuckin tease

Zack 9:32pm: ur nipples still remain a mystery but at least now i know they exist

Kim 9:33pm: just take my word for it dude my nipples are perfect

Zack 9:33pm: ill believe it when i see it

Zack 9:33pm: anyway what did tr*ni say

She flips back over from her texts to Snapchat, only to see that it’s still unread.

Kim 9:34pm: idk she hasn’t opened it yet tf

Kim 9:35pm: pls keep talkin to me though i can’t keep thinking about it or im gonna get nervous

Zack 9:36pm: dont be nervous tf!! bitch is gonna nut to that pic but if she doesn’t hey baby what’s good

Kim smiles at that, despite the vulgarity of the sentence. He’s always been good at distracting her.

Kim 9:36pm: thx so much ily wtf

Kim 9:36pm: bitch still hasn’t replied yet!! tf is she doin it’s been 5 mins

Zack 9:37pm: ik ilyt x

She tries to ignore the fluttering in her stomach after that text. It’s probably just nerves building up about Trini.

Zack 9:37pm: wow i can’t believe T is rly out there having a life

Kim 9:38pm: jks she just opened it lmao im not freaking out

Zack 9:39pm: omg ok dw it’s just trini

Kim sighs. Right. Just Trini. There’s nothing to be nervous about.

She paces around her room for a bit, trying not to think too hard about what Trini’s reply might be, before she decides to abandon her phone for a bit while she goes to pick up a glass of water from her kitchen.

Trying not to rush back, she takes her time going back up the steps to her room.

All this is pointless, though, because once she crosses the threshold in her room, she’s diving onto her bed to check her Snapchat.

Opened 5 minutes ago, it reads, under Trini’s name. Kim feels her heart sink.

Kim 9:43pm: trini isn’t replying i don’t think she was ready for the nudes

Zack 9:44pm: wtf T.., i thought she had eyes

Zack 9:44pm: mayb she’s busy tho

Zack 9:45pm: lmAo can u imagine if u sent her nudes while she was babysitting that would suck haHa

Kim breathes a sigh of relief at that. Right. Maybe Trini’s just not in a position to reply to a picture like that.

Kim 9:46pm: omfg do u think i did., rip

Zack 9:46pm: how inconsiderate

Kim 9:46pm: fuck man im emo why can’t she take the hint

Zack 9:47pm: just let it marinate she’s the kind of person u need to b direct to

She frowns at that. Kim is used to playing games— it was basically cheerleading code, back in her day.

Figuring Zack is right, though, Kim accepts it, quickly getting a vague idea on how to be more straightforward.

Kim 9:48pm: tru I’ll tell her on monday i wanna have her babies

Zack 9:49pm: sounds good

-

It’s third turning fourth period on Monday, and Kim has a spare last period, but she tells Ms. Appleby that there’s a cheerleading meeting to get her out of third period early.

She’s been out of the squad for months, but it’s pretty clear the teacher has other things to worry about than high school drama, since she lets Kim out anyway.

Now, she’s pacing outside of Trini and Jason’s math class, watching the clock on her phone as the period comes to an end.

She only has to wait about two minutes after the bell rings for Trini and Jason to walk out together, the two still talking about whatever lesson they’d just shared.

“Hey, T,” Kim says, not even caring that she’s interrupting Jason’s questions about trinomials, “can I talk to you?”

Trini gives her a weird look, but nods anyway, “what’s… up?” She asks, looking confused by how much of a psycho Kim probably looks like right now.

Kim side eyes Jason for a second, before turning back to the smaller ranger, “privately?”

The yellow ranger shifts her questioning gaze to Jason, who only shrugs at her. “Um, okay,” she agrees hesitantly, letting Jason take her books to their next shared class together.

“Great,” Kim smiles, before grabbing her hand and leading her to the parking lot.

She doesn’t have a game plan yet, but her car seems like a private enough place to have this conversation.

-

The doors to her BMW slam shut, and the two girls sit in silence for a good five minutes.

“So…” Kim starts, finally breaking the silence, “how’s it going?”

“What?” Trini says, flatly, so that it doesn’t sound like a question.

Kim doesn’t notice, though. She’s too nervous. “Like what’s up? The weather is nice, isn’t it?”

It isn’t. It looks like it’s about to rain.

“Um, I guess,” Trini says, and wanting to cut to the chase, she asks, “Kim, what were you gonna talk to me about?”

The taller girl breathes slowly, trying to calm herself down. “Just,” Inhale.“ Gimme a second,” exhale. “I need to hype myself up.”

“... For what?”

“Um,” Kim chuckles nervously, shifting her body slightly so she’s fully facing Trini, “I thought I’d be way smoother about this.”

She’s by no means a patient person, but Kim is being uncharacteristically jittery, so whatever she has to say has to be big. “What is it?”

Kim doesn’t answer her, instead choosing to lean over the console and cup Trini’s cheek.

But before she can come any closer, Trini stops her, “what are you doing?”

“What…” Kim trails off, face redder than she ever lets herself be in public, “I’m sorry, I thought-“

“-it’s okay,” Trini interrupts, seeming to take pity on the usually confident girl stumbling over herself, “you didn’t think wrong.”

Kim is even more confused. “Oh. Then why-?”

“-because I don’t think you do.”

“What?”

Trini laughs, but there’s no humour in it. “Listen, Kim, I like you a lot and everything, but I don’t think you know what you want.”

“... what?” Trini isn’t making sense anymore. It’s like the more she tries to explain herself, the more confused Kim gets.

“If you still feel this way in a week, we can try again, but, I’m sorry, dude, I’m not one of your impulsive decisions.”

And with that last sentence, the shotgun door is slamming, and Kim’s watching Trini head back to class.  

She sits in alone in the car for at least twenty minutes, before finally turning on the ignition, still trying to figure out what the fuck all that meant.

-

She spends a good few hours at her personal pool at the mines before heading home to shower, trying to clear her mind of how she was just rejected.

But the therapy doesn’t do much, and she’s dying to talk about it.

Figuring he’s settled himself at home comfortably by now, Kim texts Zack.

Kim 6:55pm: i told trini at school today that I liked her and then she told me i didnt know what i wanted

Zack 6:57pm: what’d u say

Kim 6:58pm: ok well tbh I didn’t say anything I just tried to kiss her

Zack 6:58pm: lol wtf she ain’t got the clue still??  

Kim 6:59pm: ya idk.., she said she didnt wanna be one of my impulsive decisions so is that a rejection

It’s a genuine question. The tiny girl did say she could try again next week.

Zack 7:00pm: idk what that means dude. cant relate

Kim frowns. She hoped he’d have an answer for her or something.

Zack 7:00pm: everything i do is just bc i felt like doin it at that exact moment. T kinda thinks things out more

She nods along to that. She’s the same.

Briefly, she thinks about how Trini rejecting her made her feel today, and types in a few paragraphs before erasing each one.

Finally, she settles on her last paragraph, figuring Zack will understand what she means. He always does, anyway, even when she doesn’t have the words to explain.

Kim 7:05pm: tru.,, is it bad that i dont feel that sad about her rejecting me. I just mainly feel emo about how i couldn’t make out with her today.

Zack 7:06pm: ngl thats kinda fuckt but relatable

Kim 7:07pm: I just haven’t done it in so long im dying., my lips are like “where is another. i need to be moisturized by somebody else’s saliva”

Zack 7:08pm: Honestly S A ME

Kim 7:08pm: wait that gives me an idea

-

Anyone else would be nervous, but Zack isn’t really worried about the possibility of Kim showing up on his doorstep to make out with him. It’s not like he hasn’t thought about it or anything, but the two of them run on impulse. He isn’t really one to overthink. It’s just Kim.

He’s in the middle of a game of 2048 when there’s a knocking on his door.

“Hey, Kim-“ he greets her as he opens his door, but before he can even finish his sentence, the girl in question jumps him, and he stumbles backward slightly, not quite registering what’s happening.

She wraps her legs around his waist, her arms coming around his neck, and it takes him a little while to register that Kimberly Hart is kissing him, and he still hasn’t made any move to kiss her back.

He quickly remedies this dilemma by shutting the door with his foot and placing his hands on her ass, trying to support some of her weight for her. Once sure of her comfortability, he lets himself melt into the kiss, and Kim responds enthusiastically, her tongue slipping into his mouth.

They stay that way for a few seconds, until he feels her grind slightly on his abs, and he sets her down onto the counter so he can kiss her neck.

“Is this okay?” Kim asks once her mouth is free, and he almost laughs at how belated the question seems— she’s already sporting a dark purple hickey on her neck.

“I don’t know,” he grins, and she frowns at him, “what underwear are you wearing?”

She rolls her eyes at him playfully before leaning in to whisper in his ear.

“Take my shirt off to find out. Not clickbait.”

[daleisgreat]

Batman: Dark Knight Rises

I picked up the BluRay for today’s film, 2012’s Batman: Dark Knight Rises (trailer), shortly after it hit video way back in 2012. I have neglected it to the backlog for so long because by the time I saw it in theaters I overdid it on the caped crusader’s films and needed a break. I say this because to get hyped for director Christopher Nolan’s final Batman film I watched the four Batman films from Burton & Shumacher in the weeks leading up to Dark Knight Rises and our local theater was doing a release day special to watch all three of the Christopher Nolan Batman films in a row which a friend and I did after I got done helping him move earlier in the day. It made for a long day, and while it was an unforgettable experience, it was still spending nearly half a day in the theater and I kind of associated the Nolan films with that memory for a period of time and so I needed a break from them for a bit. Nolan was riding high after the critical and commercial success of his previous two Batman films, so expectations were through the roof for Dark Knight Rises. This picks up in the aftermath of The Dark Knight’s ending where Batman indirectly killed a rogue Harvey Dent, but him and Commissioner Gordon decided to cover-up Dent’s darker half and celebrate Dent as a fallen hero that Gotham needed to absolve its crime dilemma. It is now eight years later and both Batman and Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) have disappeared from the public eye. The first act helps establish a new evil is on the rise going by Bane (Tom Hardy), who quickly accumulates power and establishes a base in Gotham’s sewers that prompts Wayne and Batman both to return to Gotham and meet his biggest foe yet.

Dark Knight Rises introduces a few other new players to Nolan’s films with the biggest standout being anti-hero master thief, Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman (Anne Hathaway). This was my first major exposure to her and she is flawless as Batman’s off-and-on ally. Officer Blake (Joseph-Gordon Levitt) is an up-and-comer for Gotham PD, and is one of the more proactive members of the force to react to the Bane threat and quickly gains trust from both Batman and Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman). Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard) is trying to become a player in Gotham by establishing a future clean energy source. Upon this re-watch I was flabbergasted I completely forgot about Detective Foley (Matthew Modine) who is an incompetent cop who wants to bust Batman. It would be criminal if they were absent, but Nolan knew it would not be a Batman film from him without the returning affable Batman allies in tech-man Luscious Fox (Morgan Freeman) and his loyal butler Alfred (Michael Caine). I loved the first two acts of Dark Knight Rises. Nolan does a great job at establishing the new characters with Selina taking advantage of her stealth and cunning to keep me guessing which side she is really on and Bane gradually amassing resources and power to become a legitimate threat to Gotham. I loved how it plays off the consequences from the aftermath of The Dark Knight in a big way to set up the present-day Gotham. There is a fine balance of action and exposition sequences that constantly kept me glued in for the next big set-piece sequence. There is the nice gradual build in pacing in the first two hours when there is this sudden shift into overdrive I was never fully able to settle in with to the film’s detriment.

A nice side-effect from holding off nearly eight years to re-watch Dark Knight Rises is that I recall some negative press from critics on how Nolan’s trilogy wrapped up and I wanted to distance myself from it to go into this again with a fresh set of eyes. The chief criticism I recall was there being not a lot of fans for the voice used for Bane. The Elephant Man-esque voice has been the butt of many Internet jokes in the years since. I will admit, it does not sound all that menacing, but it grew on me throughout the film and that combined with Tom Hardy’s excellent use of body language resulted in it not coming off as a hindrance all these years later. A qualm I vaguely remembered is that even though Dark Knight Rises is two hours and forty-five minutes long, it flies by because it tries to crunch in about four hours’ worth of cinema into that timeframe. This is not knew from Nolan, and as a matter of fact he is usually pretty good at this type of filmmaking and making longer films breeze by with his brisk cinematography in mind-benders like Inception and The Prestige. However, I do not know whether if it was due to a poor script, clashes with corporate officials, budget or filming restraints, but something happened with the filmmaking here that results in many ‘straighten-your-tie’ moments. Minor-yet-pivotal points of the plot happened in a blink-of-an-eye, and there were several points where I found myself rewinding to pick up on some of these little details. This mostly breaks down in the final act where a lot happens in terms of events and time passing by. Bane pulls off a power grab at a football game in a big trailer-pleasing moment (featuring one completely unaware of his surroundings Heinz Ward) while Batman is banished to a mysterious pit. A lot of time goes by while Gotham succumbs to martial law, but the way it all plays out seems haphazard and confusing to keep up with. It felt like Nolan was told he had a half hour to forty-five minutes of cuts to make to keep the film under three hours and he chose the all-important final act to take the brunt of the cuts.

The last stretch of action also comes off clumsy and rushed. It requires a lot of suspension of disbelief where the seemingly unstoppable Bane established in the first three quarters of the film all of a sudden comes off as easy pickings for Batman and Catwoman. I get the whole ‘Batman does not kill’ edict from DC comics, but this once again leads to Nolan having to find another way for Batman to indirectly kill off a major villain for the third film in a row, but it comes off incredibly weak on-screen. Finally, there are convenient lines of dialogue thrown out for Batman somehow surviving a severe stabbing and escaping a six mile nuclear bomb blast radius…..sorry Bats, but I simply could not buy it. The BluRay has a bonus disc that has nearly three hour of bonus features on it. Far and away the marquee extra is The Batmobile. It is an hour long, in-depth look at the history of the Batmobile from its humble beginnings in the comics and early TV serials, until it started to really pop in the Adam West 60s TV show and evolved into the elaborate designs from the last several movies from Burton, Shumacher and Nolan. They interviewed designers of the cars from nearly all eras, have a great showcase of all the Batmobiles next to each other at a vintage drive-in and it wraps up with a touching tribute by bringing the Batmobile to a children’s hospital. Definitely do not skip past The Batmobile.

The rest of the extras are divided up into three areas: Ending the Knight, Gotham’s Reckoning and Reflections. Ending the Knight is comprised of about a dozen smaller features mostly highlighting an individual action sequence or set-piece moment and how the production team pulled it off. Gotham’s Reckoning is character profiles of Batman, Bane and Catwoman and is where we see the most interview time of Bale, Hardy and Hathaway. Reflections is only a couple quick features touching on the crews memories from making three films together and putting a bow on their trilogy. I am a sucker for these, and a lot of these are well made and do not come off as quasi-trailers like a lot of other shorter, thrown together behind-the-scenes pieces on other home video releases. From this two hour lot of extras I would say the half hour of character profiles and the Gameday feature detailing the football game bomb sequence stood out to me the most. A superb collection of extra features all around; I would have been bummed with the lack of a Nolan commentary, but he is featured prominently throughout these extra feature interviews so much that it more than makes up for it. I know it sounds like I bagged on a lot of the film, but it is mostly the last act of Batman: The Dark Knight Rises where things fall apart. Again, this is purely speculation on my part, but it mostly boils down to feeling like Nolan being told he had to cut a half hour out of the film and he decided to sacrifice a good chunk of the last act. The strong first two acts combine to make this a quality comic book movie and despite being a couple notches down from Nolan’s previous two Batman films, I would still rank it in the top third of comic book movies all things considered. Other Random Backlog Movie Blogs 3 12 Angry Men (1957) 12 Rounds 3: Lockdown 21 Jump Street The Accountant Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie Atari: Game Over The Avengers: Age of Ultron The Avengers: Infinity War Batman: The Killing Joke Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Bounty Hunters Cabin in the Woods Captain America: Civil War Captain America: The First Avenger Captain America: The Winter Soldier Christmas Eve Clash of the Titans (1981) Clint Eastwood 11-pack Special The Condemned 2 Countdown Creed Deck the Halls Detroit Rock City Die Hard Dredd The Eliminators The Equalizer Dirty Work Faster Fast and Furious I-VIII Field of Dreams Fight Club The Fighter For Love of the Game Good Will Hunting Gravity Guardians of the Galaxy Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 Hercules: Reborn Hitman Indiana Jones 1-4 Ink The Interrogation Interstellar Jobs Joy Ride 1-3 Major League Man of Steel Man on the Moon Man vs Snake Marine 3-6 Merry Friggin Christmas Metallica: Some Kind of Monster Mortal Kombat National Treasure National Treasure: Book of Secrets Pulp Fiction The Replacements Reservoir Dogs Rocky I-VII Running Films Part 1 Running Films Part 2 San Andreas ScoobyDoo Wrestlemania Mystery The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Shoot em Up Slacker Skyscraper Small Town Santa Steve Jobs Source Code Star Trek I-XIII Sully Take Me Home Tonight TMNT The Tooth Fairy 1 & 2 UHF Veronica Mars Vision Quest The War Wild Wonder Woman The Wrestler (2008) X-Men: Apocalypse X-Men: Days of Future Past

[jenniferstolzer]

Wonder Woman Review

Boy was that a dumb movie. I loved it. Spoiler-free review below!

To break down the points, the first two thirds were pretty good! Extra points for Wonder Woman herself, who was believable as a woman, an amazon, and a super hero. She wore her traditional Wonder Woman uniform but never once did the camera ogle her like a fancy lamp. The first two acts concerned themselves more with Diana as a character and her presence and motivation and I VERY much appreciated that! I knew little about Wonder Woman before going in and I was a fan of the character coming out. Good job!

The set and costume design was believable and rooted in history. The movie is a WWI period piece -- also a brilliant move. In a modern age positively obsessed with WWII and WWII iconography, seeing the preceding War to End All Wars portrayed at a Super Hero Movie budget was engaging and offered an opportunity to learn instead of retreading the same surface-level historical treatment I was used to seeing from “war” movies. Themyscira was reminiscent of ancient Greece and Rome (and Asgard) while having its own personal flair. The costumes were grounded when they needed to be grounded and outlandish when they needed to be outlandish with very few exceptions and a whole lot of fun. I want to give special praise to Wonder Woman's costume, which managed to capture the iconic look of the comic books while still communicating the look and feel of an armored suit. Perhaps she doesn't have a lot of protection in the neck and shoulders area, but I was convinced she could take a gut punch without kidney damage or her boobs falling out which added to the realistic grit of the WWI setting.

The supporting cast was interesting. Wish there were more ladies in the majority of the film... but we started with an island of Amazons, it's more of a dismissive sigh than a hard critique. The actors they picked for the other characters were great for their roles, but unfortunately the movie didn’t give us a lot of time to get to know them more than some surface details and general per-actor charisma. That said, they were distinct from each other and although I can’t remember any of their names, I can recall lines and attitudes so I’ll give them another plus.

Coupled with this was the kinda flimsy love story. Diana and Steve (hence foward Chris Pine) had lovely chemistry and the two characters were well rounded as much as they could be, but considering Diana was from an immortal Amazon race and knew Chris Pine for all of a week before making out, the romance felt rather one-sided and more cute than epic. This left it falling flat near the end when it really counted. Not a damnable offense... I had similar issue with the end of Guardians of the Galaxy 2. They did the legwork but it didn’t resonate with me personally, and I can certainly respect the effort while still giving them critique notes. A lot of the twists were really predictable, and it taking place in the past castrates a lot of the emotional stakes b/c we know where Wonder Woman ends up thanks to Batman v Superman (which she was also the best part of.)

Pacing wise, it could lose an easy 30 (perhaps 45) minutes and be significantly improved. This would come at the expense of some plot elements – aspects of the love story and a sizable chunk of the final act would be my suggestion. The issue I mentioned with the supporting cast would be improved by trimming a little fat on the front and back. The fight scenes are another place time could be salvaged. Wonder Woman would lose an easy 15 of those suggested 30 minutes just by playing some of the slow-motion action scenes in real time. Women were flipping and tumbling through the air performing circus-quality and frequently computer-assisted acrobatics and while some of it was awesome, the effect was gratuitous and after the initial “Whoa Cool” it started getting old with repeated visits. They could always bring it back for certain moves (usually following a flurry of high-speed punches and kicks or being propelled into a building maybe) but as it is there was too much of it and that cheapened the experience over all. The final fight scene was so masturbatory with this stylistic choice that it stretched ten minutes of film into what felt like an eternity, which brings me to...

The final act -- specifically the final fight scene. To be fair, the film had a lot of themes and stories to tie up in the last third of itself: Diana’s personal story, the love story, the WWI story, the olympian god story, and the editorially mandated “awesome punch out.” (and the framing device b/c there was one of those for no good reason.) Still, the conflict with the villain lacked impact. It was drawn out and ridiculous. The affects had visual spectacle but felt hollow and was frankly laughable as far as I’m concerned. Wonder Woman went from a good movie to a so-bad-its-good movie in the last 15-20 minutes and I’m pretty confident that’s not what it was going for on the page... but gave me a good time! I won’t share specific scenes that ‘lol’ed at for spoiler’s sake but for example -- at some point at the near end of the movie someone screamed “No” so hard they literally exploded, which was HILARIOUS.  If you like big fights and spectacle you’ll dig it.

When I left the theater I gave the film a 6/10 based entirely on the last 30 minutes, but after sleeping on it and reflecting on the first two acts, I think I’m upping the movie to a solid 8. Wonder Woman, the film, is a classic example of doing everything right and still falling a little short. It had all the moving parts but needed just a little more tinkering to stand up to the likes of the first Iron Man movie, which has a lot of the same elements with a tighter overall package. I'd definitely place Wonder Woman on the same tier as Guardians 2 or Captain America: The First Avenger (which also shares a lot the same elements) and considering DC's recent failures, that's an excellent score!

If you as a viewer are less bothered by the goofy visual effects or kinda hackneyed film shorthand in places (mostly the end) then I'm sure you'll love Wonder Woman! If you ARE like me, take this as a recommendation to see it knowing it's okay to laugh at. It's still a super hero movie :) But its a super hero movie with a kickass main character, proper female representation, great designs, and strong theme. Just have a good time! And come back and talk about how stupid it gets with me and we'll both laugh.  

[therummesoccupied]

A Swing and a Hit - A Review of Spider-Man: Homecoming

           Many say that the superhero movie genre is getting tired, that the market’s oversaturated and that we’ve been flooded with too many context-dependant “cinematic universes.” To a degree, this is true. It’s astounding how much you needed to know about the universes and lore behind DC Comics before seeing Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice in order to even begin to understand the movie, let alone the information provided by the context set up in Man of Steel. Legendary Pictures is now gearing up for the third installment of their “MonsterVerse,” all leading up to a climactic standoff between monster film icons Godzilla and King Kong, and Universal Studios has been trying for years to re-establish its own movie monster universe, most recently with the apparent blunder that was The Mummy. However, one cannot have the conversation about the cinematic universe craze without discussing Marvel’s own “Marvel Cinematic Universe,” or as we have all come to know it, the MCU. The MCU is set apart from its competitors however, by a number of factors. One of which is history – the fact that the MCU was built from a single superhero movie, and has been introducing new characters and elements piece-by-piece organically since 2008. Another factor is the varying “flavors” of the movies. While each story certainly feels like it shares a world with the rest, the vast majority of the films are noticeably different from the others, making each stand out well enough to make watching any one of them on its own an enjoyable experience without feeling the need to marathon them all. The last characteristic factor of the MCU is organization, with Marvel splitting its stories up into “Phases,” or groups that all build up to climactic crossovers like The Avengers, sort of like seasons of a television show; this, I have found, is the most enjoyable way to look at these films. No one gets upset about needing the context from past episodes to fully understand the season finale of their favorite prime-time sitcom, and I honestly think to continue to apply that formula in the world of film is a daring and profitable move on Marvel’s part.

           Now, the latest installment in Marvel’s “cinematic television series” is Spider-Man: Homecoming, a solo flick centering around Marvel’s main posterboy, the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Many fans feel this piece has been a long time coming, with Spidey’s movie rights being held on lockdown for several years by Fox. After working out a deal on the rights, however, the web-slinger was able to join the party, first appearing in Captain America: Civil War. While Civil War’s context plays directly into Homecoming, the movie is not strictly required reading in order to get the general jist of the film’s plot. Peter Parker is given a new and improved spider-suit by Tony Stark and shipped back to New York City to continue his street-level super-heroics, but feels the need to prove himself capable of being a fully fledged Avenger. Tom Holland returns as Parker, bringing with him an energy that is a breath of truly fresh air to the MCU. Up until now, every hero we’ve seen has been unswervingly mature or noble or cocky or smart or something. Whatever a hero in the MCU is, they’re supremely confident and grounded in their character, making them seem always sure of whatever they’re saying or doing. Holland’s Spider-Man is able to bring a believable uncertainty to his character, always questioning his next move or the words that leave his mouth. Peter Parker is a teenager, and he’s going through a turbulent time in his life. On top of his typical puberty-ridden crises, he’s also got superheroing to worry about. Honestly, neither Toby MacGuire nor Andrew Garfield were able to bring this youthful conflict to the character, and when they did, it came off as the moans of a worker who simply didn’t like their job, because, simply put, Toby was too old and Andrew was too cool. Tom Holland has an astoundingly pretty face for 21, and has no trouble passing for a 15 year old, and he’s simply too adorable to be the cool guy. Sorry, Tom. Whatever the case, “conflicted geek kid” seemed to fit Holland like a glove. Holland’s performance was supplemented by the rest of Parker’s high-school crew, namely Jacob Batalon and Zendaya, who portray characters Ned and Michelle respectively. Neither of them are quite present enough to overtake the film, but both are able to contribute to Parker’s youthful energy enough to remind us that Peter is, in fact, a real high schooler. Part of the problem with past Spider-Man films is the lack of many school elements in Parker’s life. His relationship with others is usually limited to Aunt May and an obligatory love interest. We were never shown that Peter had a real boy’s life away from the red tights, and the simple act of giving him some friends was more than enough to ground this film in the hormone ridden halls of late childhood.

           Peter is also helped along by his mentor figure, Tony Stark, continuing to be played by acclaimed actor and MCU icon, Robert Downey Jr. Before the film was released, I heard a lot of talk about from folks worrying that RDJ might steal the show. Rest assured, fellow viewers, the Armored Avenger hardly occupies the screen for ten minutes of this entire movie. I’d thank the people upstairs, too, as there is something… off… about RDJ’s performance. He comes off as a bit more calm and mature than usual, almost dad-like, which I suppose might be the angle they were going for, but it doesn’t seem to suit Stark well. In the past, Stark takes every opportunity he can to be snide and mean-spirited unless an issue is serious enough to truly upset him. Giving Peter his “son, I’m disappointed in you” talk while neither making an inappropriate joke nor raising his voice just seems very out of character for him. It seemed like Downey was given a choice to be either too hard or too soft on Peter, but chose to fall somewhere in the middle, which, while a suitable choice, didn’t seem to be quite the right one.

           Speaking of old superheroes, Michael Keaton, popular within the genre for Tim Burton’s Batman and the odd commentary, Birdman, takes another center-stage role as the film’s main antagonist, Adrian Toomes, who fans will recognize as classic Spider-Man villain: The Vulture. Keaton manages to bring one of the first genuinely intimidating auras to the MCU I’ve seen. The character’s motivations are ones I’m sure we’ve all seen before, aging labor worker gets ripped off by rich folks and takes matters into his own hands by undergoing criminal activity to support his family, truly and dangerously believing he’s in the right the whole time. The difference comes once the plot twist concerning the character is shown, which I won’t spoil, but I’ll say it makes him seem all the more real as a person, somehow making him much, much scarier.

           Visually, the film is largely standard MCU fare. Vibrant, bright colors, over-the-top action scenes, and interesting spins on the more mundane scenes so they never get to be boring. I suppose that there’s no need to fix what isn’t broken. One of the things that sets this movie apart from other MCU flicks is the way it does motion. Being a Spider-Man film, a great emphasis is placed on the way Spider-Man moves – fluid, not-quite erratic flips, and clever use of momentum give this film’s action scenes a very unique visual flavor. Unfortunately, not much of this is ground that hasn’t been covered in Spider-Man films made in the past. What this one does that the others did not, however, is give us a view of New York City we don’t see in a whole lot of movies. The joke is often made among comic enthusiasts, “how would Spider-Man get around if there weren’t tall buildings for him to swing around on?” Honestly, neither TV Show, comic book, nor movie have really addressed this query up till now. This film seems to make a point of showing Spider-Man in places that are not Times Square. We see Spider Man in the back alleys, and in the suburbs where we are welcomed by the familiar sights of grass, trees, and even the occasional wooden fence. Getting to see Spidey operate somewhere other than the crowded city streets was a welcome surprise.

           In addition to settings, I adored the look of the outfits, especially the spider-suit. When it was first announced that Spider-Man would be joining the MCU, I was skeptical – I had been disillusioned with Spider-Man for years (which just goes to show how well Tom Holland did to bring me back). As soon as I saw the spider-suit, though, my doubts almost completely washed away. The classic look, the bright colors, the expressive eyes, everything about it was quintessentially the great Spider-Man I remembered from my childhood – with a few touches of modern flair that only helped to make the suit look even better. We also got a much better look at Peter’s old spider-suit from when he was introduced in Civil War, and I’m just as in love with it - a clever visual reference to the Scarlet Spider design from the comics that manages to be both fun to look at and functional. A third spider-suit shortly appears in the film - an ugly, armored contraption reminiscent of DC’s mislead New 52 designs that I’m so, so glad doesn’t get used. As I said before, don’t fix what isn’t broken.

           The movie’s story and themes, while easy to follow, lead to a couple confusing conclusions. There is not a single reference to Uncle Ben or the line “With great power comes great responsibility” in the entire film, and while I’m glad I didn’t have to sit through Spider-Man’s origin story again, I’m a little disappointed that the very core of Spider-Man’s character was never brought up in Spidey’s first solo step into the MCU. Still, the concept of responsibility is one of the central themes of the movie… I think. The movie spends a lot of time emphasizing that Peter isn’t ready to become an Avenger because he steps outside of his boundaries and tries to solve problems that aren’t his to handle, and at the end of the film, he redeems himself by… beating the bad guy he’s been told several times not to take on? I suppose one could interpret the movie’s core message as “to achieve greatness, one must be great.” Spidey must grow as a hero to accomplish the task before him and save the day, and by acting recklessly before he was ready, he screws up pretty bad. It’s only once he’s accepted the risk and responsibility that comes with being a hero that he can show how great he truly is. It’s a simple enough conclusion to understand, I guess, but it takes some effort to get there that the movie could have easily lessened with a bit of dialogue change or shift in focus.

           Still, the movie manages to tell a strong and effective story with the most relatable Spider-Man to date. I couldn’t tell you whether Spider-Man: Homecoming is the best Spider-Man film out there, but its performers certainly bring a unique and youthful presence to it and its visuals manage to meld old and new together to create an impressively fitting and engaging look at the world of everyone’s favorite webhead. With effective characters and a compelling setting, the challenge and fun of the story fall right into place – giving the movie a fantastic tone that falls somewhere between the excitement and adventure of The Avengers and the endearingly comedic romp that is Guardians of the Galaxy. Spider-Man has found himself fitting right in with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and I’m glad to see my friendly neighborhood hero come home.

[somanysoundtracks]

“Justice League” thoughts

It’s all right. It’s better than “Man of Steel” and “Batman v Superman”, but those are admittedly low bars. It is not better than “Wonder Woman”. Spoilage below because... well... there’s a thing that’s not REALLY a spoiler but it really sort of is and it’s hard to talk about a good chunk of the film without talking about it?

The Plot: It felt like the film was split into three major acts: set-up, gathering the team/Superman, and the final battle. The third act is where most of the good stuff at least feels like it is. Like I felt genuinely entertained by that point. The best parts are where everyone is gathered together, rather than the solo moments, or even the one on one moments, by and large... at least the ones where Batman is one of the one on ones. And it’s not really Ben Affleck’s fault (unless he was creatively involved there), although his delivery at times felt a bit... wooden? All the actors did a pretty great job in this film. I think they just had bad dialogue. And if you can sell me on the ‘these people work well as a team and I like watching them be a team’, I think the goal of the ‘team movie’ has been accomplished. I came out of this movie thinking ‘okay, I would like to see these characters do more things together’. That is not how I came out of “Man of Steel” or “Batman v Superman”.

Just add more women to the team. Seriously.

My best synopsis of the film is that it is riddled with relatively tiny plot holes, but overall works as a team building story. The problem is when you look at the plot holes. For instance: a big place this story falls apart is the ‘Superman was so awesome and now the world is mourning him and his death makes everything bad now.’ We did get to see some slomo Supes saving people in BvS, but it still felt like the movie was telling more than showing us that Supes was some kind of messiah whom everyone most a lot of people loved, and there really was no reckoning for all the terrible stuff that happened in “Man of Steel” to offset that. So the people REALLY loving Supes: ...sure, okay, we’ll let that one pass for now. Lots of people mourning him. Okay, sure. One follows the other.

It’s the ‘Superman is dead and now everything is bad as a result’ thing that really brings this train to a halt. There’s a montage of ‘bad stuff happening’ and the only part I remember is what is very likely supposed to be a hate crime, with the implication/narration that this is another example of ‘What happens now that Superman isn’t here’. And it’s like... no. Uh... that’s racism. Like, Superman did not end crime. I don’t recall one point in “Man of Steel” or BvS where he was giving any talks on tolerance or teaching classes on cross-cultural relationships or dealing with America’s prison overpopulation issues or hunger or poverty or gang warfare or attempted genocides or sex trafficking or corrupt government officials in America or very many other forms of crime. Saying ‘we live in a more violent/angry/dangerous world’ is meaningless without anything to compare it to. When this continuity’s Superman was alive, the world was not so improved that his absence suddenly meant that things were a heck of a lot worse. Are they at least somewhat worse? Sure. Superman did stuff when he was around. Is it doomsday now that he’s gone? No.

This wouldn’t be such a problem if another plot thread that probably got dropped was that the/a mother box(?) activated when Superman died. I believe that Steppenwolf calls Superman ‘Kryptonian’ during the end battle. Putting aside the fact that this makes no sense because Steppenwolf hasn’t been on Earth in around 5000 years and therefore should have no idea who or what Superman is and Superman’s powers are because he’s on Earth, so Steppenwolf has no reason to believe that this is how Kryptonians who have never been on Earth or exposed to a yellow sun are so how he knows Superman is Kryptonian unless he’s very familiar with Kryptonian symbology is... ennn. My point is: why would the Mother Box know or care that Superman is gone? The world was not a paradise with Superman in it. It is not a hellscape without Superman. I get that you need to answer the question of why the magic creation boxes activated now rather than any other time, but ‘Because Superman is dead’ is a really stupid reason and is never explained. You just have to believe that Superman is so important that the Mother Boxes only activated when he was dead. I guess.

I mean you could have had them activate because Cyborg’s dad was using one of them to experiment and save his son’s life, which used their creative powers and had it send a signal to the other two. Just sayin. I’m not sure why they summoned Steppenwolf, if that’s what happened. I’m not sure what he’s doing or where he’s hanging out when the Mother Box on Themyscira activates. Maybe he’s just floating in space in his giant spaceship with his fleet? A better creative team might have had Steppenwolf on some dung detail mission assigned by Darkseid as part of his 5000-year punishment for getting kicked off of Earth when they detect the Mother Box activation, then teleport to the spot to deal with it. Although if Steppenwolf knows where Earth is, and he had access to his army, and a teleportation device (which is apparently not the Mother Box now)... why didn’t he just go back to Earth to look for the Mother Boxes 5000 years ago (or however long ago)? Has he been spending all that time recovering? I mean the idea of him being on some low-level detail and detecting the activation still sort of works, if that’s the case, but I don’t understand why Darkseid didn’t come in with more forces to take over the Earth himself where Steppenwolf failed all those centuries ago. Or send one of his other lackeys. The point is: Steppenwolf + army of parademons failing to take Earth over and the Mother Boxes being taken doesn’t seem like enough to stop Apokalips from trying again (particularly if the magic world-destruction/domination boxes were lost/taken). Or a couple more times. That was just one of Apokalips’ warriors and one army. They’re a whole planet of fighters, who basically just like fighting and conquering.

Why does Steppenwolf call Earth ‘home’? He wasn’t born there. He never lived there, as far as I can tell, although he seems to have led a war campaign there some time ago? He doesn’t even want to stay there and wants to go back to Apokalips, which sounds far more like a ‘home’ he misses than Earth.

A better plot might have been that a coalition of Earth’s fighters fought back against Steppenwolf’s invasion, kicking them off of Earth, and that coalition was so powerful that Steppenwolf and Darkseid and everyone else decided to just go focus on New Genesis or somewhere else for the time being. However, one of Steppenwolf’s soldiers maybe leaves behind a Mother Box on accident. Which gets discovered centuries later and used by Dr. Stone to help his son. The newly activated Mother Box scans its environment and sends a distress signal to the nearest Apokalips ship - which happens to be one of Steppenwolf’s fleet ships. Steppenwolf reads the data from the Mother Box, and notes that the Earth is even more pathetic than it used to be. It’s no longer an Age of Heroes, but an age of infighting and weakness, and one of their best champions was just killed. Maybe it’s time to go back and give it another shot. Maybe he asks Darkseid for another chance to take it over. Maybe he just goes on his own volition. So he shows up, maybe fights and overpowers the Amazons and the Atlanteans, and thinks ‘Yeah, this is way easier. I’m finishing what I started.’

BUT ANYWAY... hey, remember that bonfire that Hippolyta set? That Diana had to learn about on television at least several hours after it was set? I get it, Hippolyta knows next to nothing about the outside world, still. But why is she so sure that Diana would see it? Because she just... believes? Because the gods would make sure? Why not just ask one of the gods to deliver a message to Diana –cough-Hermes-cough-? For that matter, why does the bonfire signal ‘invasion’? Who were they signaling beforehand for ‘invasion’? Shouldn’t it just mean ‘trouble’, ‘send help’? Did Diana let the Amazons know that she dealt with the problem post-the climax? Or are the Amazons still like GEE I SURE HOPE THAT LITTLE OLD INVASION ISSUE GOT DEALT WITH! Maybe one of the gods popped by to say ‘Hello! So, this team dealt with Steppenwolf and now he’s not an issue :D’ Yeah the gods are like... mostly dead or something but... I just kept wondering. Plus, the gods might be gone or just not talking, btu surely some of their servants stuck around? No one’s got a pair of flying sandals or magic parchment or something to send to Diana saying YO, THE EVIL MAGIC BOX TURNED ON AND A GIANT CGI DUDE SHOWED UP WITH AN INVADING PARADEMON ARMY? No? Okay.

Jason Momoa as Aquaman...

Oh, right I need to say something, don’t I. I mean he was great. He was funny. And... very pretty. Like, this is underwater royalty? Heck yeah, I believe that. He’s got the muscles and the charisma and attitude to prove it. It also really reminded me of “Stargate: Atlantis”. He really channeled his old Ronan Dex. Sigh. Am I ever forgetting almost every single piece of coverage for him as Aquaman ignoring that time he was literally on a show called “Stargate: Atlantis” for four seasons where he played one of the main cast members and had far more lines and screentime than he did on certain other shows about thrones? No. Not yet.

There was a mini plothole where Aquaman saves a sailor during a bad storm and finds some weird green substance on his hands afterward. We never learn if this is blood or related to the parademons or something. He just goes back to Atlantis for no apparent reason. I thought he was going to ask about the green stuff but that didn’t happen. Or investigate the ship. Or something. I also really liked Mera. Her powers were cool. I wish she more involved in the film. I would really like to see an Aquaman-centered film, now, though. Mera’s boobhole costume was stupid. But, well. I really liked the other Atlantian armor, though.

Wonder Woman was great. She had a lot of badass moments (except for that shot of her standing on a statue in platform heels… sigh…). Except for her introduction, which was a cool fight scene and her saving people, she spent a lot of time trying to talk through problems and help the team come together. Although that disappeared when Clark was revived and I kept thinking ‘So Diana, you going to start telling him what happened, or explain what’s going on? Maybe say that Martha and Lois are safe and the world needs him and everything’s going to be fine? No? Just gonna stand there with three weirdly-dressed strangers and stare at him while he’s shirtless. All right then.’ I also liked the Amazons by and large (except for the stupid costumes). The scene where they were on horseback with the Mother Box was pretty badass. Also, remember that time Cyborg was talking to Diana via computer and Diana was like ‘If wanted to attack you, I would have done it at the lake’ and I was just like yeeeeeeeeees.

(Photoshop by @jarmainedesign of a panel from “Trinity #6″ by Francis Manapul)

Ezra Miller was great. I really liked Flash’s story. Yeah, he had a lot of quippy, sometimes overly awkward dialogue, but he was funny. He was fun to watch. You really wanted him to succeed. And his interactions with his dad were very good. I like that he was trying to make friends with everyone. Unfortunately I don’t have a ton to say about him... He actually has one of the only one-on-one with Batman moments I like, which is when they first fight Steppenwolf. “Just save one”. That was a really nice little scene there. Clark spotting Barry while he was running was... so creepy. And so drawn out. I kept thinking RUN BARRY RUN! I’m not really a fan of all the slomo, but I feel like it was used well during that scene (save for Clark’s creepy eye tricks), because you were really invested in the outcome and Barry surviving it.

Total tangent, but I find it oddly comical that no one has repaired the Superman statue yet. All these giant Superman memorials and naw, we’re just gonna leave his severed head on the ground. Cause.

Ray Fisher was great. He sold the role. I loved every scene he was in. I really would have loved more of him, and I like that Diana and Barry were Cyborg’s stronger connections. The design of his whole metal body was a bit odd. I’m used to the “Teen Titans” cartoon version, where he’s bulkier, not the sort of odd-looking CGI metal skeleton. Every time he wasn’t in a sweatshirt and sweatpants was a bit eh for a bit until other heroes showed up so his CGI wasn’t so cringy.

Also I’m not sure why Barry and Victor were assigned literal graveyard detail. What was Diana doing? What was Aquaman doing? Bruce is literally just sitting on somewhere, I guess investigating. It was a nice one-on-one friendship forming moment, but... really? The two college/high school(?) heroes? You assign them to unbury a body?

By and large I liked Superman. Henry Cavill was great, probably because this time around he wasn’t giving overly dramatic monologues or dealing with overly dramatized issues. Mostly he was just fighting or interacting with lots of people, or saving people, which worked. I was prepared for the badly CGI’d mustache. It actually wasn’t that big of a deal. There are only like... 2-3 scenes where it’s sort of an issue? But they’re not THAT long. This Superman cracked jokes that weren’t really problematic (although the ‘okay I’d rather be dead’ one was... eh...) and felt... like Superman. Even if he did have a tendency to randomly go and deal with other things at the worst times. (Although where did Lois find that shirt when they went back to the house? They didn’t have a car and presumably Martha took all the stuff with her when she left. And the house hasn’t been sold yet, so… Also, do those cops know Clark’s secret identity now? Admittedly they’d have to know who Lois Lane is or do a really solid Google search for ‘Clark’ but…)

And now we come back to the ‘Superman dying is why things are so bad now’ problem because... Batman. The reason for Bats starting a fight with Supes in BvS is really stupid. And yeah, maybe Bruce in this continuity did make Superman a lot weaker during the Doomsday fight because of that stupid fight they had beforehand. But in no way, shape, or form, did Bruce bring about Supes’ death. Some guilt getting in the way of that makes sense because... Bruce. But... not to the extent it does in the film. This is why the scene where Diana calls out Bruce’s guilt complex re: Superman dying didn’t really work for me. It felt like a long time running around the point that Bruce eventually gets to, which boils down to: we’re facing an opponent we haven’t been able to defeat. Superman could really help us defeat this opponent, and that is why we need to bring him back. Dealing with Bruce’s guilt is a secondary concern. A better scene would have been ‘hey, we need more people, and we could bring Superman back. Why not do that to help deal with Steppenwolf’ and Diana stepping in quietly and saying, ‘This is ridiculous. And you need to tell me that this crazy scheme isn’t just you feeling guilty for killing him.’ Or her just stepping aside and saying ‘It’s good to bring him back to help, but Bruce… how are you dealing with things, emotionally?’ (I don’t know, I’m not a script writer paid by Warner Bros. and DC). It would keep up this weird dramatic tension they had without being kind of random.

I also don’t understand how Batman knew that the parademons fed on fear at the beginning of the film. Spinning off of that... why do the parademons explode when caught? And why do they leave burn marks of three squares to refer to the Mother Boxes? Did Steppenwolf’s power come from the Mother Boxes? Is that some sort of signature? Why is there a mural of the mother boxes in a random shack in some random fishing village somewhere? Wouldn’t that make the fisherfolk a target?

This is probably the most trusting version of Bruce Wayne I have ever seen. He is very casual about sharing his secret identity, to the point where he doesn’t give a shit if Aquaman calls him ‘Batman’ while wandering through a relatively busy town (maybe they have no Internet/phone service there). He reveals himself to Barry, brings everyone back to his batcave... isn’t bothered that Cyborg can hack into his system...

The fight in the sewer was pretty good. The group wandering around, helping each other, Cyborg taking over the Nightcrawler… That was all good. What happened to Barry’s leg after the fight in the Gotham sewer? He’s injured. We see it. He shouts in pain. It doesn’t look good. I thought we were going to get some mini plot thread about him turning into a parademon or something, or Bruce and Diana fussing over him or… I don’t know. But the next time we see him after this, he’s fine. There’s no mention of it. Even him saying ‘I heal fast’ or ‘I guess that wasn’t poisonous’ would work. Nope. We don’t even see him repairing his costume. Or Alfred or Bruce or Cyborg repairing his costume. And how did Aquaman know to show up there? Understanding water and all that is one thing, but there’s a lot of water on the planet. He seems to not know all that much about Batman, let alone anyone else on the team, so him guessing that Bruce would be in Gotham, somewhere, at that particular time, particularly in that particular spot, seems a bit much. I suppose he might have somehow managed to track Steppenwolf. But we never get that explanation. Yeah, it’s badass that he showed up to help… a little… at that moment, and then joined the team, but… why? Also he didn’t seem to be doing much. Like the water was held back slightly, but not all that much? I mean it looked cool but just seemed ineffective.

So between the time Steppenwolf teleports away from Metropolis with the Mother Box to the time the team locates and then arrives on scene… Steppenwolf really didn’t just… finish Armageddon? Really? Unity didn’t just… happen? How long did it take him to teleport to that random village, plug the third box in, and start the process? We also never see Steppenwolf turn people into parademons. None of the Amazons in the beginning of the invasion. None of the Atlantians. None of the people he captures for questioning. None of the people in that village he was occupying. Nope. Not that I wanted it. The film just made a sort of big deal about where parademons come from and then… nothing ever came of it? I think maybe the story we got about the parademons was between so many hands that none of them ultimately every agreed about it. Because they apparently form from really terrified enemies of Steppenwolf, but then they for whatever reason, with no apparent signal, explode, and leave burn marks in the shape of three boxes. Why? Who knows.

The end fight was pretty good. It was enjoyable to watch. Seeing everyone come together was cool. I’m not sure why everyone was talking about moving quickly when they arrived on scene, and then they just watched Batman go, and kept watching and not doing anything, even just like… going after Steppenwolf and the Unity. But whatever. I could definitely watch Aquaman skysurfing a parademon more often. That was cool. Superman showing up was good (although that Alfred scene in the trailer was cut), but it was really weird when he randomly disappeared to go help the escapees. I’m conflicted on that because it’s one of the few moments in the film outside of Diana’s introduction and the sewer fight where the heroes worry about civilians. And I like that they are worried about actually saving people. But it felt like they had Clark leave because Henry Cavill had some other obligation to deal with and all the other actors had already shot the rest of the scene. Or this was just a scene added later because one of the creatives said ‘Hey, we want more Superman, more quips, and maybe we should have the heroes actually saving people during the climax?’

Also, why did the failed Unity stuff make grass and flowers grow? Sure, it’s a pretty CGI moment from someone writing their resume to work on “Avatar”, but it doesn’t make any sense? I’d ask “why is what Steppenwolf doing bad, if it does that” when you realize that he’d have to destroy and kill everyone on Earth for that to happen. And if Unity is supposed to make Earth like Apokalips, why does it result in that? I actually kept expecting the little girl and her family to keel over and die from like… alien fumes and poisons from the foreign plants. Because Apokalips infecting Earth or something and these are foreign flora. But no. Even a minute of Cyborg saying he reprogrammed it somehow when he was overloading it would have been nice. Is this an avenue he’s going to pursue with his dad, now, and whatever lab is funding them? Bringing life back to areas devastated by human/natural disasters?

For that matter, sure, the heroes are happy to look at it, but maybe go and search for survivors? Make sure the escapees are all right? See if anyone got trapped or needs medical attention? Contact the local authorities so they know what’s going on? At least four of you are American citizens illegally in Russian territory and another one of you is a Greek/British/French(?) citizen illegally in Russian territory so that’s… a problem, to say the least.

And then there’s that corny Lois Lane monologue at the end of the film. I really like that Lois closed out the film. I’m not used to women narrating the ends of films, so it’s a nice change. Makes me remember the badass Maria Hill ending that was cut from “The Avengers”. Unfortunately, the monologue here was really poorly written and vague, about darkness and light. I think it would have been more badass for Lois to be writing about a new case she was working on or something. I basically just tuned her out while watching the stuff on-screen and that’s not great for an end-movie narration.

The race scene between Barry and Clark is cute. And the end credits scene with Luthor and Deathstroke wasn’t bad, either. Deathstroke looks really good. His costume, his make-up, his hair. It looks great.

Overall it was all right. For all the plot holes and non-logic and non-explanation and randomness, I would watch it again, and I’ve only said that about “Wonder Woman” when it comes to live-action DC movies.

[lorrainecparker]

Matt MacDonald: How I created a film using a video game

Since its launch, the video game Grand Theft Auto V has been the base for cinematographers exploring its potential to create narratives. The 12 minutes of Not Normal are the most recent example of the game’s potential.

If there is one thing that video games have in common with movies is that both tell stories. For a long time now, especially since graphic engines reached a point allowing them to recreate reality, multiple games have offered users the option to use the graphic engine to capture animated sequences, viewing them afterwards from multiple angles, in a pure cinematic experience.

Grand Theft Auto V, a very popular action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games in 2013 for PS3 and Xbox 360 and early 2014 for PC (Windows), took things a bit further, offering on a re-released PC version, from April 2015 a unique tool for budding cinematographers: the Rockstar Editor, which lets players capture and edit gameplay videos. What’s more, the PC version runs at 60FPS in 1080p, with the ability to display visuals in 4K resolution. The Rockstar Editor was introduced in versions of GTA V for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One later that year.

Rockstar editor, a cinematographer’s dream

The game, considered by specialist magazine Edge a “remarkable achievement” in open world design and storytelling, while Tom Hoggins, from The Daily Telegraph, declared it a “colossal feat of technical engineering”, was both a tremendous success to Rockstar, and the bit of a headache, exactly because of the possibilities the Rockstar Editor opened.

What is the Rockstar Editor? Well, according to Rockstar, it is a program which provides a robust suite of recording and editing tools allowing users to build a library of captured footage. Users can record gameplay footage while on or off mission. Use Manual Recording mode for start and stop recording with the push of a button, or save your most recently played footage with the Action Replay feature. Rockstar invites users to edit their projects and share the final footage online.

The Rockstar Editor went further than that, though. Its Director Mode allows users to stage scenes and create custom moments. Users can select from hundreds of GTAV Story Mode characters and citizens across Los Santos (a condensed version of Los Angeles) and Blaine County (an amalgamation of several Southern Californian counties) to play as in the game world, including animals.  Users can set locations, time of day, weather and much more. The dream of any cinematographer…

Rockstar versus community

The success of the Rockstar Editor led to something else; the creation, by the community, of multiple mods that allow to fine tune aspects of the movie creation inside the video game. Soon users were creating their first shorts, even recreating segments of popular movies, from Godfather to Terminator or TV series like Twin Peaks. And the exploration of mods continued, with more and more sophisticated tools appearing. One example? Scene Director, released by author elsewhat, a mod for GTA V specifically aimed at recording Machinima. In many ways it’s an extension to Director Mode and Rockstar Editor. The 3.4 release included a major functionality: stage lights, allowing users to light scene as in a real movie. Version 3.4.1 took things a little further: you can add complex move, rotate and flicker effects to stage lights.

The extended changes introduced by the community through mods, not only for cinematography, but also for single player options, led to some friction, in recent months, between the community and Rockstar, and Take-Two, the company distributing the title. Apparently, the problems are sorted out, and an official note published on Rockstar’s website indicates that “Rockstar Games believes in reasonable fan creativity, and, in particular, wants creators to showcase their passion for our games. After discussions with Take-Two, Take-Two has agreed that it generally will not take legal action against third-party projects involving Rockstar’s PC games that are single-player, non-commercial, and respect the intellectual property (IP) rights of third parties.”

Not Normal, the film

It’s within the context of this “battle” that a new film created inside GTA V saw the light of day: Not Normal. Created by Matt MacDonald, the short movie – which at almost 12 minutes is longer than many other shorts created with GTA V – is the most recent in a series of shorts created by the author. An accomplished voice-over actor and nationally published author, Matt received his MFA in Film & Television Production from the prestigious USC School of Cinematic Arts. As a writer, director, and editor, Matt has worked with Microsoft, Playboy, Activision/Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Warner Bros. Digital, and many others. His most recent directing credits include a 60-second spot for Nestlé’s DiGiorno pizza and a pair of animated short films for Ubisoft’s blockbuster game franchise Assassin’s Creed.

With a track record like this, why is Matt MacDonald exploring a video game to create movies? I asked the question to myself and thought readers would also like to know the answer, especially because the short movie No Normal, “shot in Anamorphic 21:9 and edited in Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2017” is the result of a collaboration including all the fields of which real movies are made: written and directed by Matt MacDonald, it has original music by Simon Stevens, sound mix by Eric Marks, editing, VFX and sound design by Mat MacDonald and a voice cast with the names of Jon Bailey, Anthony Falleroni, Matt MacDonald, Tamar Meyouhas and Paige Williams. All this makes Not Normal, a story of a time of anarchy and forgotten morals and the one man who obsesses over the way to fix it, a short to watch.

Matt MacDonald didn’t just create and publish the movie, he took the time to create a complete Behind The Scenes video, 13 minutes long, which is a lesson in both modding GTA V and cinematography. And a unique voyage of discovery if you think that video games and cinema are worlds apart: they are not! But I was eager to know more, so I decided to get in touch with Matt MacDonald and ask him a few questions. His answers are here for you to read. It’s difficult not to get touched by Matt’s enthusiasm.  It might well explain why he mentions, in his website, that his dad frequently tells him to “keep up the good work.”

The Interview

ProVideo Coalition  – You’ve done multiple projects in the area of video games, but this is a first. Why did you decide to go ahead with the project?

Matt MacDonald –  The amazing thing about video games (and Grand Theft Auto in particular) is how realistic they’re becoming. Every once in awhile, you look at one and — for just a brief moment — aren’t really sure if it’s real life or a game. So, I thought I’d try and capitalize on that by making a really slick, expensive-looking film using the most life-like medium I could. And since I’m already pretty familiar with video games, I knew I would be able to pull off way more this way than I ever could for no budget on a real shoot. Like, the car chase? Zero chance most indy filmmakers could afford to do something like that on their own. Why not use something like a video game to show off your directing abilities for no money and hopefully convince someone to let you do it for real one day?

PVC – Why did you choose GTA V? Do you play games?

MM – I don’t play as many games as I’d like because adulthood sucks, but I’ve been a huge fan of the GTA series since I was a kid and diligently played through GTAV when it was first released. The great thing about these games is that they’re so massive, they really allow a lot of flexibility in what the player can do. Want to rob a bank? Go for it. Want to get a lap dance? You bet. Want to chase down and murder people in a spat of vigilante justice? Of course you can! Because of that flexibility, it really allows us filmmakers to tell a wide range of stories and I think that’s the most you could ever hope for from a machinima.

PVC – Is it harder to create a movie like this, using machinima, than with real actors and scenes? Why?

MM – I think every kind of filmmaking is going to have its challenges, so it’s just a matter of figuring out the best ways to get around them. The tricky part about making a machinima, like you said, is you aren’t working with real actors in front of a camera, so you have to completely re-think your writing and how you shoot a scene. You can’t rely on witty dialogue to get you through because the lip sync will never match. You can’t rely on a lot of close ups because the characters in the game aren’t acting and will just stare blankly. Scenes you would maybe shoot one way in a live action shoot have to be rethought because the textures fall apart if you get too close or the game doesn’t have a proper animation for the scene you’re thinking up. It’s quite challenging. On the flip side, it can be quite liberating. You can move your camera virtually anywhere, without limitation. You can get endless coverage for the same take without having to reshoot. I don’t think machinima filmmaking is going to replace anything any time soon, but it certainly teaches a lot you can bring to your live action projects.

PVC – This was a completely new experience for you. When it comes to filming, what do you usually work on? What interests you most?

MM – This was definitely a new experience for me, but my approach was no different than when I’m directing a live action film. I genuinely love intelligent, large-scale stories, both independent and from the studio, and this kind of dark thriller / action piece is very appealing to me. I was also surprised to discover the facets I enjoyed the most making a film this way are the same ones you’d encounter on a traditional set. I really enjoyed blocking out the scenes — looking around the location I had selected, working out with the action the characters would perform. I really enjoyed lighting the scenes just like a cinematographer, finding ways to make these iconic GTA settings look unique and more cinematic. I enjoyed doing the camerawork, emulating big crane moves and moving picture cars. The aspects I found the most frustrating were the nitty gritty tedious tasks — finding the right animation for the character model to perform, troubleshooting technical glitches and crashes, finding different ways to “cheat” simple actions no one would think twice about on a live action shoot.

PVC – The short was shot in Anamorphic 21:9. Why did you go that way? To completely emulate the idea of a real film using a different perspective?

MM – I really love the anamorphic look. Seriously, I’ll go on Vimeo and just watch anamorphic lens tests because I get such nerd joy from it. I think it’s a really unique and visually interesting format. So, because I wanted to try and make this as cinematic as possible, I knew pretty early on I wanted to replicate that look as best I could. I was able to capture all my footage in a way that gave it a slight squeeze and then in post I added a vignette and some slight lens artifacting. Plus, having the 21:9 monitor on my PC gave a lot more flexibility for framing shots.

PVC – You mention potential future problems with Take 2 and Rockstar because of the way people have used their IP? Which problems? Does this not promote the interest for the game?

MM – There’s been some controversy lately because GTA parent company Take-Two came down hard on a handful of fan-made game mods, which are essential to creating these kinds of machinima films. They sent some cease-and-desist orders and the GTA community reacted very strongly, arguing the corporate overlords were going too far. In recent days, there’s been some resolution, as Take-Two and Rockstar have backtracked a little and it seems they will allow some of these mods to continue, but it’s a touchy topic. If you’re the companies, you’re trying to protect this very valuable IP that generates a lot of profit for you, so the idea of people modding and changing the game and potentially ruining the experience of what you intended is very alarming. On the other hand, most players using these mods just want to do so harmlessly, allowing them to tell stories like this one and spread their creative wings. It’s an interesting topic to think about as games and technology move forward — once a game releases, does it belong to the fans or is it the responsibility of the developer / publisher to protect their original vision? I’m not sure of the answer.

PVC – Notwithstanding the outcome of this experience, do you plan on creating more shorts using video game engines?

MM – I don’t know that I’ll ever make a film using GTAV again. I feel like I challenged myself to create something I’ve never done before, making a statement on the world using this particular tool and I accomplished that, so there’s not much left for me to do. I’m certainly open to trying other engines though. Things like the Unreal Engine, Unity, CryEngine are all turning out incredible visuals and there’s a lot to be explored there. That said, my first love will always be traditional live action. Computer graphics and animation and photorealism will continue to improve, but there’s just no replacement to seeing a real person on screen and my personal goal is to move into making features. That said, one interesting idea filmmakers should consider is using a game engine like GTA to help with their pre-visualizations. I could definitely see myself firing up GTAV to work out the logistics of a car chase or create an animatic for the crew on how we plan to shoot a scene. There’s no need to turn to some expensive post-house to do a pre-viz for you when anyone with a passing knowledge of video games and a computer can make something equally good, if not better. In that sense, it’s pretty amazing times we live in.

To find more about the work of Matt MacDonald visit his website.

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