#robert b. weide

[haveyouseenthisromcom]

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Giver (2014)

While I didn't enjoy this film, that doesn't mean you won't. No matter what I say, the people involved in this project did it: they actually made a movie. That's something to be applauded. With that established...

For the bulk of its running time, The Giver straddles the line between good and bad. It’s going through the same territory as Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” (or 2002’s Equilibrium if you’re looking for something less cerebral) but that’s fine. Then, the ending hits and it’s such a misfire it shatters all of your goodwill toward like a vase that's fallen out of an airplane.

In the future, humanity has largely forsaken emotion, resulting in a utopia that does not know war, greed or poverty. Even the concept of death is only vaguely understood. Information about our history has been scrubbed. The only one with access to information about mankind’s past is “The Giver” (Jeff Bridges), who advises the community elders when they do not know how to proceed. 16-year-old Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) is chosen to be next in line for this role but will he choose to keep the civilization as is, or will the memories of the past convince him to make changes?

An easy flaw with this film and with others like it is the way their society is portrayed. Despite the film’s best efforts we are never truly convinced that this world presented here has any true merit whatsoever. Sure they may not have wars, poverty, racism, sexism or virtually any crime but you immediately recognize that giving up all emotion and even the ability to see color is too steep a burden to pay. As Jonas receives one memory after another and explores both the good and the bad of our world, he begins reaching the same conclusion we did just a few minutes in. If he believed in this world it’d be different. There would be an actual conflict. What if he were Black and saw images of lynchings? What if the protagonist was a girl wth only the vaguest idea of what sex was like before experiencing the memories of someone who was raped? Might have been a tough sell for a film aimed at young teens but this is precisely the problem. The violence we see is never horrific enough to convince us the sacrifices the society has made to avoid it ever happening again are worth it .

In many ways, the story’s problems are compounded by the plot. You’re not going to hear this often but… this film didn’t NEED a plot. It should’ve simply been an exploration. Two characters in a room experiencing the past and a final question at the end. “What would you rather choose?” Instead, “The Giver” embarks on the lazy man’s path. We’re introduced to a villain (Meryl Streep) and a solution to the problem which is so easy, so convenient my only hope was that it would be a lie; a trap to lead unworthy receivers to their doom so they would be unable to single-handedly alter the course of human civilization. You may call this a pet peeve but it’s also frustrating to see the same kind of flashbacks we always do. We’re told Earth was devastated by “The Ruin”, a single event that propelled us toward this new society. Where’s that footage? Why are we seeing the same news clips and nature channel material we always see?

As a whole, The Giver is well directed. The cinematography is nice and attention was paid during the construction of its society. The passion is apparent. Unfortunately, it collapses in the end. I’m not even sure the last few shots make any sense. It might be due to its rushed final act but actually, the sad truth is that some books just don’t translate well to the visual medium. Either way, The Giver is destined to be forgotten. (On Blu-ray, March 7, 2019)

[gameofthunder66]

-watched 2/22/2023- 3 stars- on DVD

HOW TO LOSE FRIENDS & ALIENATE PEOPLE

03/10/2008

Summary: A British writer struggles to fit in at a high-profile magazine in New York City.

Genre: Biography | Comedy | Drama

Director: Robert B. Weide

Starring: Simon Pegg, Megan Fox, Gillian Anderson

[artsyaprilmr]

And this one is morbidly hilarious. EU buys russian gas through Az//rbaijan thus continuing murdering ukranians and NOW armenians too, while staying warm and cozy ☺️ if you have the time I urge you to send them a complaint about president of European Commission dear Mrs. Von der Leyen circumventing sanctions and endangering both ukranian and armenian populations, making fascist petro-dictatorships only stronger with every single passing day which results in deterioration of human rights situation both in Rus/sia and Az//rbaijan. Go ham, friends!

[asktoyokoakemi]

"Huh? What's that you got th- OH MY GO-"

•cue directed by Rober B. Weide meme•

[ninjago-but]

Ninjago AU where everything is the same but the ninja die in the pilots.

[mulhollanddriver]

La parola d'ordine è una sòla.

[aimindflayer]

[ladiesblr]

MEGAN FOX as SOPHIE MAES How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008) dir. Robert B. Weide

[partrin]

rin is a cuddler.

haru is a fetus position-sleeping dork that would rather die than to admit he likes being the little spoon.

both figure this out about each other when they accidentally wake up nestled in the sheets after a night of getting uncharacteristically black out drunk thanks to one hazuki nagisa.

haru threatens rin with castration if he were to ever tell anyone else about this.

rin is forced not to admit that was the best sleep he has ever had in his life, or that he wants to experience it again and not because he has a crush on his long-time friend. because he does not...

...have a crush, that is.

he just always thought haru was a little cute. just a little. totally did not contribute to his gay awakening. more an annoying shithead of a rival, but two things can exist at once.

but how can he convince haru to sleep with him again... but not like that. god, haru cannot think he wants to sleep with him like that!

unless...?

no, what the fuck, rin?! rin thinks. and now that the thought has been planted, it just won't go away.

[cue "directed by robert b. weide" theme]

(if i had the energy to write this, i would)

[heinzpilsner]

Okaaay, I'm still alive, and this is the almost-last part of my 'Overanalyzing beach Maiko' series. Hooray.

(Ugh, this "little psychological exercise" transformed into some kind of gigantic fire-breathing monster eventually. Good news is that soon I can move on to analyzing something much more pleasant. ... Probably.)

Anyway, let's finish this beast, shall we?

In the last part, great detective Azula found out that the culprit responsible for the imaginary flagrant oppression of Mai's self-expression was Mai's mother, and now it's time for Mai to react.

Mai: "You want me to express myself? Leave me alone!!"

Well, that was... a little bit too overdramatic.

I suspect the writer's implied message here was something like: "Look, if Mai reacted like this to Azula's words, it means that what Azula said is bound to be truth!"

But while possible thoughts in the writer's head are as good as all others, let me be a judge of what I see with my own eyes.

And apart from Mai's forced yelling (as if she expresses her real annoyance, but in an exaggerated way which doesn't come natural to her) and her desire to close the topic... I have no idea what it was about. The exact reasons behind her reaction could be numerous.

Maybe she just got fed up with all this "you can't express yourself" bullshit. I mean, when you express yourself all the time, but everyone around for some reason keeps saying you don't, it really can become pretty vexing, lol.

Zuko: "I like it when you express yourself."

Here we go again. I must to admit though, given Zuko's psychological cluelesness, in the light of the bullshit information he just received it was a nice gesture of support*.

But... Is it actually truth?

(*Quite an egocentrical one nonetheless. I wonder what in Mai's behavior made Zuko think she'll appreciate any of his opinions at this point. I guess he took Mai's story as a food for "she behaves like she doesn't care about me just because of her childhood trauma" rationalization, and this encouraged him.)

What exactly Zuko likes about Mai's "self-expression", anyway? Is forced out-of-character yelling his kink or something?

(... In russian dub they actually translated his line as "I like you like this much more!", lol. It made it so much worse.)

Either he's being very hopeful and patient in his "she can change" delusions, or his tastes turned out to be quite peculiar.

But okay, it's not my place to judge.

Mai: "Don't touch me! I'm still mad at you."

Okay, now her anger looks more natural. Congratulations, Zuko. Although you don't seem so happy about her self-expression this time.

Zuko: "My life hasn't been that easy either, Mai." Mai: "Whatever!"

Directed by Robert B. Weide

Mai: "That doesn't excuse the way you've been acting."

Weeell... technically, it's truth (depending on how you define "excuse" and which actions and life events we are talking about exactly), but...

Firstly - you don't need to excuse person's behavior to try and understand the reasons behind it. And secondly...

How would you know it, Mai?

Last time Zuko tried to talk with you about his life you just yawned at him and told him to stop worrying.

And just now, you denied him a chance to explain himself and shut him down again (right after he listened to your sob story and expressed readiness to support you about your imaginary childhood trauma, by the way).

Of course, Mai didn't ask for Zuko's support in the first place. And I'm not gonna say that his behavior in this scene was perfect, because it clearly wasn't.

Mai doesn't owe Zuko understanding, or anything, really. She isn't obligated to care about what happened to him or to be more considerate about his life tragedy. And yes, people say all sorts of stupid things when they are angry.

But... ugh. Do I really need to spell it out?

Good news is what while Mai is definitely an unlikable self-centred brat, she's still not a heartless monster.

Apparently, it just sincerely didn't occur to her without a direct reminder that when your father deliberately burns half of your face off and banishes you out of the country with an impossible mission, the state of your psyche may be a little bit imperfect after your return home.

Well, that's just one of those things what egocentrism does even to smart people, I guess.

Anyway, when Mai was finally forced to listen about what happened between Zuko and Ozai from his own mouth, she couldn't just close her eyes and dismiss it like she did previously.

(By the way, I wonder if Zuko would ever mention it if not for Ty Lee "skin" blunder. ... And now I wonder whether it really was a blunder or a deliberate manipulation. /paranoid noises/)

Congratulations, boy - your life story is so disturbing it managed to burst even angry Mai's egocentrical bubble. A truly remarkable accomplishment, if you ask me.

But I guess it's never too late to open your eyes and notice other people's pain. Even if for a little while. Even if it's just one specific person you're physically attracted to.

Mai: "Who are you angry at, Zuko?"

Yep, she finally got interested!

Something definitely shifted in her head.

(This whole scene is so overdramatic it makes me cringe though. I wonder if there is a ghost of an Ember Island's actor on the beach as well. They are friends with the ghost of the amateur psychoanalyst, actually. The actor pretends to be different people, and the psychoanalyst dissects all their imaginary childhood traumas, and they have a great fun together in their beach after-life. Aww.)

Zuko: "I'm angry at myself! Because I'm confused. Because I'm not sure I know the difference between right and wrong anymore." Mai: "I know one thing I care about. I care about you".

Well guys, remember: if your girlfriend just broke up with you because of your unexplainable anger problems, just yell at some fire, say "I'm angry at myself and I can't tell what is right and what is wrong", and it immediately brings her back to you!

(Okay, maybe you'll also have to remind her that you're a victim of child abuse for it to work)

Seriously though, I can't say now what Mai's change of attitude doesn't make any sense (like I did previously). In between "Mai acts like she doesn't care" and "Mai acts like she cares" situations there was a noticeable factor - Zuko talking about his scar and his relationship with Ozai. I guess all he said after this didn't really make much difference for Mai - her empathy already woke up from its coma and said to her what this boy needs some care.

So, Mai declares she still wants Zuko despite everything, and they are back to shoving tongues into each other's mouths. Hooray?..

The only problem is... All the other problems what are still here, goddamit!

Perhaps Zuko will try and stop to lash out at other people in the near future (especially physically), but his anger problems are not gonna cure themselves magically just because the source of his anger is more clear to him now.

(Also, the massive complex of problems connected to Zuko's jealousy behavior was simply forgotten as if it meant nothing.

The fact that his general personality settings - such as locus of control and feeling of personal boundaries, for starters, - really could use some improvement was totally ignored as well.)

He is still in the middle of the inner crisis, and he's not going to discuss it with this 'new caring version of Mai' in more details (until she suddenly finds herself alone with his "by the way, I betrayed my country" break-up letter).

What Zuko learned about Mai's "childhood trauma" can help him to become more tolerant to her natural temperament, but since he's delusional about the true situation (in my opinion) and tends to use it as food for rationalization, it can have some problematic consequences.

And while brief awakening of Mai's empathy towards Zuko was an important improvement, her general egocentrism and lack of interests in life are not gonna be cured just by the "power of love". There's clearly some serious personal growth for her to do, and this beach psychoanalysis session did nothing to give her a clue of how to approach it efficiently.

Well, this all doesn't matter, apparently, because now Mai cares about Zuko enough to try and save him from being boiled alive on her eyes in the later episodes.

(Still not enough to deny herself a pleasure of purposefully taking his break-up letter with her on their meeting in prison to throw it on his head)

And I guess this is the result of their beach interactions.

Yay, power of love!

Pheeeew.

I guess it's over. There are still a couple of things to add in the epilogue post though.

Honestly, by the end of this series I just feel exhausted. Maiko is a very problematic ship, especially for an endgame, but this was obvious without any dissection.

There were a couple of discoveries I find quite curious, but for such a big complex material it wasn't nearly enough. And I feel like my psychological competence clearly could use some improvement.

Anyway, thanks for your attention. I hope my messy analysis gave at least a little bit of food for your own toughts.

As usual, I ignore all my notifications.

P.S.: In the end, when I think about it... Perhaps I don't like Mai because I actually see in her an exaggerated reflection of my own problems. What a twist. Perhaps I should try and be less judgemental about her in the future?

... Naaah. Where is a fun in it?

R.I.P., all the victims of Crocus City Hall attack. It actually happened in my neighborhood. Feels weird.

[homesuz]

Havva: adem elmayı yiyelim mi?

Adem: hayır

Directed by ROBERT B. WEİDE

[thesiouxzy]

Curb Your Enthusiasm director Robert B Weide’s obituary for his wife, Linda

[figsae]

are you alright babe I saw you were rereading robert b. weide’s obituary for his wife linda again

[heavierthanlaila]

Dude it’s literally 00:20!! Tuesday has only started 20 mins ago and it’s already kicking my ass. What’s going on?? Tell why I was just chatting with my friend to comfort her and ended up reliving one of the most difficult moments of my pre-teen life and crying my eyes out with her??? Like full on body shaking, cheeks burning, tears-jerking experience as if I’m reliving it all over again. I thought I was over it like it didn’t mean anything anymore but my brain literally said directed by Robert b Weide lol. Healing truly comes in waves. Up and down. At least for I’m finally processing the pain properly you know.

[oraclesees]

Big Brain idea: Rottmnt x batfam crossover

(Big thanks to @clanofjones for letting me bounce ideas off them 🥰)