#same for joaquin phoenix and all the actors

[anundyingfidelity]

i'm ok with people not liking joker folie à deux, but like actually give me proper reasons. real reasons on why you didn't like it. this is about personal criteria, not misogynist or incel arguments.

[trashpoppaea]

Review of Napoleon (2023)

So I saw Napoleon (2023).

eyes glaze over

collapses and melts into a puddle

This is possibly the most soporifically boring, relentlessly mediocre so-called "epic" I have had the misfortune to see.

Plotless, pointless, and devoid of anything approaching characterization, the movie can be best described as reenacted scenes from a wikipedia article about Napoleon as written by the Anti-Jacobin.

The whole thing is suffused with British reactionary propaganda circa 1815. The characterizations are all courtesy of the Anti-Jacobin and Rowlandson’s cartoons. Robespierre is a tyrant, Napoleon is a buffoonish loutish thug, and Josephine is a slut. There’s nothing there. There’s no character arcs, no development. Sure, it’s pretty enough, but it's boring. So, so, so boring.

While watching it, I was frequently in a fugue state, floating over my body, wondering, "what is a movie? is this what they're like now? with no drama, no characters, no arcs, no interest?"

In fact, I didn't watch it: I endured it.

Joaquin Phoenix is awful. He is completely miscast on every conceivable level. Mumbling, monotone, and charmless-- I never for one moment thought I was watching Napoleon-- it only felt like Phoenix's cosplay. He and Vanessa Kirby have so little chemistry they might as well be appearing in different movies. They supposedly have this grand obsession/love story, but this amounts to sitting in the same room staring off in boredom. There's the occasional ridiculous sex scene which is always doggie style with clothes on. But for the most part, Josephine just stands in the rain or stares off into the mist.

Oh yeah there's the occasional battle. Eh…

Napoleon’s life was filled with colorful characters like the foppish, extravagant and brave Murat, the bold and foul-mouthed Lannes, the scheming, irrepressible Fouche, and the bubbly nymphomaniac Pauline, none of whom are here, and you have a bunch of interchangeable extras standing around rooms or battlefields. The only character who makes any impression whatsoever is Edouard Philipponnat as Czar Alexander, and I would have rather had a movie starring this actor. Alas, that's not what we got.

A lot of money was spent on this movie. A lot of choices were made. The result was a bland, forgettable dud that immediately fell into a memory hole as soon I departed the theatre.

As Napoleon himself would say, BAH!

PS. @microcosme11 and I didn't watch the entire thing, because it is 2 hours and 40 minutes long. As all the restaurants in the neighborhood were closing at 10, we left half an hour early, right before Waterloo and after Josephine died of pneumonia, so we could have burgers and a richly deserved beer.

PPS. Feel free to ask me for specifics!

@thiswaycomessomethingwicked @lordansketil @joachimnapoleon @usergreenpixel @twice-told-tales @josefavomjaaga @bunniesandbeheadings @jefflion

[kabuki-draws]

I watched Ridley Scott's NAPOLEON yesterday and it was a complete Waterloo.

Yes, I am a big history nerd with a giant heart for movie adaptation of historical topics. But when I watched NAPOLEON I sat there... and tried not to laugh. It was not only so historical inaccurate, that I wanted to cry, at the same time it was filled with cringe dialogues, red flags and terrible color grading. This whole movie made me so sad yet so angry, that I HAVE to write this review:

(Disclaimer: This review is based on my own opinion. If you enjoyed the movie, it's completely fine. Btw. in that case or if you agree with me, feel free to tell me your opinion. I would love to know!)

First of all: Don't get me wrong, the medium film has its own rules and you can't put as much historical accuracy into a big scale movie as you would into a documentary - sometimes the story needs to be altered to be a good movie. And that is fine. Even if Gladiator is a complete fictional story set in the Roman Empire, I can still enjoy this movie for what it is: A good-written story with great characters, a beautiful score and iconic scenes. With Kingdom of Heaven it's kind of the same - and while the movie cut was very inconsistent, I still kind of liked it. But then the Directors Cut made it a a masterpiece for me.

Funny enough, both of these movies are made by the same person: Ridley Scott. So naturally I thought: Well, Napoleon won't be a historical accurate film, but I surely will enjoy it anyways. Well, ...no. It is not only historical incorrect, it's also a bad movie overall.

To start it short: NAPOLEON clearly lost itself in all the various topics it wanted to tell within a runtime of two and a half hours. It made the whole storytelling very weird and inconsistent, causing the problem, that the audience even loses itself in the questions of when and where. Where is that scene located? When did that happen? And then comes the question: Why is this even happening?

Ridley Scott wants to depict Napoleon as a lover, a military genius, a big political figure, a revolutionary and more. But in the end he tells all of this in the most shallow way possible, which waters down Napoleons personality traits and achievements to a series of small scenes. You never get a glimpse of the "true" Napoleon, who was described as a highly intelligent and charismatic man. In fact, you never really feel ANYTHING about him except that he was a cringe red flag in front of his wife. He just stands there, stares and has very limited dialogue scenes to get a picture of that man. What are his overall motivations? Only Josephine? If so, why is this motivation only vaguely explored?

The whole love story between him and Josephine feels so unnatural and got to the brink of being disgusting. This is particularly sad because I deeply respect Vanessa Kirby and Joaquin Phoenix, they're both stunning actors. I don't know if they just couldn't fit the role or if it was rather a problem of the script (the last one is my guess). Yet whenever I saw Josephine and Napoleon on screen, I felt like acted very stiff and forced. Napoleon seemed more obsessed with her than actual love and that can be a character trait, but there wasn't a chance to explore that deeper. Before the movie entered the cinema, the lovestory between these two was marketed as intense, obsessive, deeper than you could imagine. What the audience got was a few scenes without real conversation, much staring and a bunch of cringeworthy s-scenes. And seriously, these "sexy" scene were the worst. I was so disgusted by them because they were SO DAMN WEIRD. There are no scenes that undermine ANY deep love between Josephine and Napoleon. It felt therefore so off, when they still longed for each other after their divorce.

And let's not start to ramble about the fact that they depicted Josephine ONLY in a somehow sexual way. Yeah, there is that scene where she says to Napoleon, that he is nothing without her. BUT SHOW, DON´T TELL! You never see her doing something instead of sitting there, talking with others or when the plot needs her to have sexy time with someone (not only Napoleon). As a woman myself this makes me so freaking furious, you have no idea. I don't need a marvel-coded super-strong woman with unlimited talents - I just need a female character that is written GOOD and plausible! Make me CARE for her plot and for the plot of Napoleon! Both of them don't even feel like normal human beings because they're like blank pieces of paper with their names written on it!

And don´t make me start to talk about the historical inaccuracies. At first I didn't want to draw that card. Actually, I don't need a historical movie to present 100% facts. If the movie is still enjoyable, it's okey. But even if many people say that the war scenes were awesome, I can only partly agree. Yeah, we have that cool ice-lake Austerlitz battle, but it took me a couple of minutes and a better look on the uniforms to know that Napoleon is now at war with Austria! You get nearly ZERO context to Napoleons battles. Yeah, nice, the scenes look cool - but there is nothing more to it? Is that all you need to show for the audience to care? For me at least, I just didn't care at all and I was very happy when I got out of the cinema. Overall this movie is full of messy non-sense choices that don't contribute to the story. Many moments just confused me and it left me with the question why Scott couldn't simply hire some historians to put together a consistent story. Everyone who read about Napoleons life knows that there are so much cinema worthy moments in his career that would've been so much better than what we now got.

I could ramble about that movie for hours if I´m honest, but I hope this little TED talk was enough to make my statement clear.

In the end, it just makes me sad. I wanted to like this movie, I wanted it to be good. For months I hyped myself up to this, read books about Napoleon, watched the trailer all over and over and talked with friends about how great this movie will be. Now I am just disappointed and frustrated. Oppenheimer was such a great biopic of a historical person that became a great success at the box office - even without great battle scenes. I hoped that Napoleon would push a cinema revolution, that shows people want big scaled films about historical personalities and history topics. But now I just want to forget this Napoleon movie to be honest.

[venussaidso]

Rahu Dominant Themes — 𝐍𝐚𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐚 𝐎𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 (part 1 of) 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟕

warning ⚠️: movie spoilers

Lord Rudra is an angry manifestation of Shiva who is the god that destroys the universe in order to re-create it. Rudra is the version which emphasizes the destruction of illusions, imperfections, diseases etc. before change can take place. Rudra means "one who eradicates problems from their roots", which rules Ardra, where we see the shadow planet Rahu being at it's potent height. Rahu is always dissatisfied and filled with illusions. With Rudra here, we see the strong conviction to break all things illusory, that are a stain or disease. Ardra, being Gemini and Rahu together, chooses to face the cold, harsh truth by deconstructing it (Mercury). There comes an intense anger and urge to destroy the root of all problems.

The best piece of media by far to embody the potency of Ardra, especially Rudra, is MR. ROBOT.

Ardra is quite contradictory, as it aims to expose truth by ruthlessly shining light on it ("control is an illusion") and therefore breaking the illusion, despite literally being ruled by the most illusory planet, Rahu. Rami Malek is an Ardra Ascendent and in the series Mr. Robot, he plays a cybersecurity engineer who uses his rare intelligence (Gemini/Mercury) to take down an evil conglomerate that controls the world & gets away with terrible world crimes that are swept under the rug. The Ardra character is already established as not a truth seeker, but someone who is already aware of everything and has been long disillusioned. The other important main characters also seem to be played by Rudra influenced actors which I found so incredible. These key characters show different dysfunctional aspects of society, almost critiquing them. Though Rudra is more potent through Ardra, Rudra has incarnated in different forms. Aja Ekapanda, Ahir Bhudhanya - Purva Bhadrapada, Uttara Bhadrapada. And Goddess Kali has associations with Rudra, and it rules the nakshatra Mula - which forms the axis with Ardra (being Sagittarius-Gemini). All the Rudra nakshatras are scattered across the main cast of Mr. Robot.

Another similar piece of media that is linked with Ardra and anarchist/political themes that expose heavy truths of society and elite powers of the world is the film V FOR VENDETTA, which leans more into anti-fascism. Starring an Ardra native.

Ardra faces the reality of things that is usually harsh and too overwhelming for others to bare, the kind of truth that is often not thought of. The series The Boys shows what would realistically happen if superheroes were a thing — none of that Marvel sugarcoating shit. Just like Rami Malek's character in Mr. Robot, the character Billy Butcher played by Karl Urban is already established as one who knows the harsh reality of superheroes (being monsters and corporate puppets) and is portrayed as an angry, disgruntled, dissatisfied person. And of course there is Rahu/Ardra influence.

Ardra is not always about dethroning corrupt powers. It can simply manifest into meaningless chaos, purposeless anarchy as seen in Heath Ledger's Joker who only makes chaos to prove the hypocrisy in people and society. This critical nature is always within Ardra, no matter how chaotic and senseless it manifests.

Yes he's an Ardra Moon.

It's always interesting how nakshatras with the same planetary rulership can share the same themes, despite the differences in their ruling deities. The film, Joker (2019), criticizes how society treats its ostracized members. And the character Arthur Fleck, being played by Swati Sun Joaquin Phoenix, unintentionally (and unknowingly) drives pure anarchy in the streets. Becoming the face of a movement spawned around him, called 'Jokerism'. And these masks, just like in MR. ROBOT (fsociety), V For VENDETTA, make the symbol of the movement.

I also find it interesting that Zoro is a masked vigilante who fights against the injustice and victimization of the lower class and indigenous people. Shatabhisha can act as a saviour in this case, more than what is seen from Ardra and Swati.

The character Hobie Brown being voiced by Shatabhisha Sun Daniel Kaluuya in the new Spiderverse film. Interesting enough, Shatabhisha being Aquarius can also have chaotic, rebellious and even anarchist tendencies. Aquarius emphasizes individualism, roots for the underdog and can absolutely despise authority – especially the corrupt kind (but mostly it's fuck all authority).

The nakshatra also being co-ruled by Rahu, they can see through illusions and have a simple yet realistic approach to things (Saturn). There is defiance there in Shatabhisha, but rarely ever as erratic or angry as Ardra. In fact, Shatabhisha is more on what's morally right and wrong compared to Ardra where a dualistic nature is conveyed. Shatabhisha has a tougher framework, can be very virtuous.

Shatabhisha is ruled by the deity Lord Varuna who is the personification of divine authority and moral law. The theme of authority can manifest in several ways for Shatabhisha. Rebellion against authority can go to the extreme ends of violence and unlawfulness. Or it can go into activism. Critiquing the many issues in the world that are glaringly wrong and unfair (what the modern internet now calls 'wokeism'). Themes of rebellion or exposure in a political and societal context can be linked with Swati. This can somewhat be seen in the following medias:

𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗨𝗘𝗗 𝗜𝗡 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝗧𝗪𝗢:

[supernovafics]

series masterlist | last part — next part

pairing: modern!actor!steve harrington x fem!reader

word count: 3.2k words

warnings: asshole!steve, explicit language

summary: you're hoping for the best, perhaps even some sort of miracle, but from the first phone call to the first meeting, it's pretty clear that everything that has been said about him is oh so true

CHAPTER ONE | ❝𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉❞

Steve Harrington’s Newest Film Wins Big at Golden Globes but Actor nowhere to be found at the Awards Show… Partying in Vegas Instead? Full story here!

YouTuber calls Steve Harrington a “Jerk” and “Extremely rude” in podcast documenting her time working with him on the 2020 film “When the World Ends”

Steve Harrington: Another Pretentious Actor or Misunderstood Recluse?

Watch this video of Steve Harrington flipping off Paparazzi in NYC

You’d gone down somewhat of a rabbit hole.

And at first it was supposed to help you. 

There was no problem you couldn’t solve, and this Steve Harrington problem was just another thing to check off of your never ending list. You were in search of any piece of information that would tell you that the next three months being his assistant would not be the absolute worst. Anything that said that he was at least somewhat of a good guy, that the narrative of him being an asshole wasn’t actually the only narrative out there.  

However, you’d ended up feeling even more worried than how you initially felt when Jessie told you everything hours earlier. It seemed as if every article about him included something bad, and the only good thing they would say about him was how great of an actor he was— how he was close to being the next Leo DiCaprio, Joaquin Phoenix, etc etc— which you already knew and didn’t care that much about because that information wouldn’t help solve your problem. Him being a good actor didn’t mean that he had a good personality, and every single article seemed to tell you exactly that; except the paparazzi thing because that sounded completely justified since paparazzi sucked. 

In the end, when you forced yourself out of the hole because it was nearing midnight and you had to wake up early, you convinced yourself that maybe all of those articles weren’t even completely true. It wouldn’t be the first time that celebrity news outlets exaggerated their stories to make them more interesting; maybe his reputation as an insanely rude person was actually not as true as it was portrayed to be. And you let that hopeful, and potentially delusional, thought put you to sleep. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Jessie: Here’s Steve’s number

Jessie: Once again, thank you for doing this!

You’d forgotten that you asked her for his phone number last night during your deep dive of him. 

You simply stared at it for a moment before texting Jessie back a quick “Thank you” and moving on to look at the other notifications that were taking over your phone; the slew of emails that came through in the middle of the night and early morning along with voicemails from calls you’d already missed because even though it was early for you, on the east coast it was already almost ten. It probably wasn’t healthy to wake up and immediately throw yourself into your work, but it felt like second nature at this point.

When there was somewhat of a lull in your day and you were sitting on your couch after enduring an hour-long Zoom call with the Executive Producers of the movie along with the heads of every department to make sure that everyone was on the same page for filming, you decided to finally call Steve. It felt slightly weird having to call him instead of a secondary person to talk about what you needed to, but you didn’t want to call his actual assistant who was probably not supposed to be thinking about her job right now.

You honestly didn’t expect him to answer, and you thought you’d have to leave a voicemail and hope that he’d get back to you sooner rather than later, but he answered on the fourth ring with a quick, “Hello?” 

“Hey,” You responded and then tried to mask the surprise in your voice by letting out a small cough. “I got your number from Jessie Robbins. I’m going to be your assistant during the filming of Fear of Lonesome. My name is–”

“Doesn’t matter,” He interrupted you. “You said you’re going to be my new assistant?”

You still told him your name anyway and then answered his question. “Yes, just for the three months of filming. I wanted to call before it starts in a week. Just to get any numbers that are important, or if there’s any specific information I should know.” 

He sighed as if he was completely annoyed by your voice and the fact that you were calling him right then. “My other assistant has all of that information. I’ll text you her number.” 

“Um, okay, thanks. But–”

He hung up before you could finish your statement and you stared at your phone for a moment before dropping it next to you on the couch. That short interaction with him was more than enough to let you know that those articles you read last night were all so very true. 

You let out a sigh in frustration and then another one when your phone pinged with a text message from him with the number of his real assistant. According to the text, her name was Sheila. 

There was no way that you were going to call a pregnant woman that was on bedrest due to stress; stress that you quickly concluded was probably caused by this job and having to deal with Steve Harrington on a daily basis. 

Therefore, you instead decided to text her, asking the same stuff that you’d just asked Steve, but barely five minutes from the moment you hit send, she called you. 

“Hello?”

“Hi, I would’ve texted you back, but all of this felt like way too much to type,” She began and then immediately continued. “I sent Steve all of the information that the new assistant would need, and why I am not at all surprised that he didn’t give it to you. Text me your email and I’ll send you the folder. It has the numbers for everyone else on his team, and there’s also a calendar with all of his commitments and stuff for the next few months. It’s pretty empty because of filming, and he likes to fully prioritize that, but his publicist might throw something in here and there because he likes to force him to do some public events even though Steve despises them. So, I’d say just check it every now and again.” 

That folder sounded like the holy grail. You could feel your frustrations slowly easing away. “Yes, thank you so much.”

“No problem. I hope that will make things a bit easier for you. Steve can be pretty intense most of the time,” Sheila said, and that made you further imagine what these three months would be like; signs were still pointing to bad. 

“Can I ask you something?” 

“Yeah, of course.”

“Why is he…” You trailed off unsure of the best way to finish your question.

“An asshole?” Sheila concluded for you, and it was hard to bite back your laugh.

“I was gonna be slightly nice and just say rude, but yours works too.” You said, letting out another small laugh. “Why is he like that?” 

“He’s just really serious. Never does much else but work. I swear I don’t remember the last time he did anything fun.” 

Hearing that answer surprised you. It also meant that the Vegas article was definitely a stretch. You couldn’t help but wonder what the truth was, but you decided not to ask. 

“How do you deal with him?” 

Sheila was quiet for a moment, as if she was really thinking about her answer. “Eventually he’ll grow on you. Kinda like a fungus? Sorry, that was probably a horrible analogy.” 

“No, that sounds like it’ll be accurate,” You said and then silently prayed that these months would fly by.

“If you’re ever confused or need anything, or just want to rant about him, don’t hesitate to call or text me. I’ll be stuck in the same place until this baby’s out of me.” 

Sheila was really nice, and you could tell that she genuinely meant her words, but you didn’t want to have to bother her again; she deserved a break from all of this.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

You’d woken up at five thirty in the morning on the first day of filming with a text from Steve. 

It was his coffee and breakfast order and the name of the place that he wanted you to get it from.

Seeing that text from him almost made you want to laugh given that the last message you’d sent him was you thanking him for Sheila’s number which went unanswered.

There were a bunch of things that were already being thrown at you when you got onto set that morning, but you decidedly avoided it all to first head to Steve’s trailer. 

You were determined to make the day go well; hoping that it would set a precedent for what the next few months would be like. And giving him his stupid coffee and breakfast order sounded like the best first thing to do to make sure that everything went well with you two. 

When he opened the door after you gave it three quick knocks, you greeted him with a smile. 

“Hey, good morning,” You said as you handed him the coffee and the bag with his breakfast sandwich. You then pulled out the folded piece of paper that had been in your back pocket, giving that to him as well. “The shooting schedule for today.”

“Mhm,” Steve said, placing the paper and bag down somewhere next to him. He took a sip of his coffee before pulling out his phone and focusing his attention on that. He glanced up at you for a brief moment and his eyebrows slightly furrowed as if he was surprised you were still standing there. “I’ll call or text you if I need anything.”

Before you could say anything in response to that, he shut the door. 

This was your life now. 

In hindsight, maybe it was dumb of you to think that you’d have some sort of an actual introduction with him— especially with how the last, which had also been the first, time you talked to him went— but still, a small part of you had been hoping that you’d be proven wrong. 

You were kind of over hoping for that now, though. Because at this point, it was pretty clear to you what he was like, and it would definitely be dumb of you to continue to hope for something different. 

You’d dealt with an insane amount of rude people in Hollywood— actors, actresses, directors, pretty much anyone that at some point had some sort of seniority over you— and some of them had actually been worse than Steve. But there was something about this interaction that took the cake for you. 

Maybe it was because those past moments had been one-offs. Yes, some random actor or Hollywood exec had been a dick to you, but it would be a rarity if you had to talk to them again. However, with Steve Harrington, you’d have to deal with him for the next three months. 

You started walking away from his trailer and somehow almost immediately ran into Jessie. 

She started to smile at you until she noticed the look on your face. “Oh no, you look mad. What’s happened already?”

You plastered on a fake smile. “Oh, everything’s going fine. I gave him his coffee and stupid breakfast sandwich, he said he’ll call or text if he needs anything, and then he closed the door in my face before I could say anything.” You dropped the smile and gave her a deadpan look. “I honestly don’t even think he knows my name.”

She grimaced before giving you a hopeful smile. “I’m so grateful for you. These months will speed by, I promise.”

“Ninety days and counting,” You said, trying to match her hopeful smile but it still felt too fake. 

She opened her mouth to say something else, but your name being called on the small walkie talkie hanging from your back pocket interrupted her. 

“I’ll see you later, okay?” Jessie told you as she started heading in a different direction, and you nodded before grabbing your walkie talkie.

“Yeah, I’m here,” You responded, making your voice sound as light as possible. “What’s up?”

Darryl, who was the head of the art department, proceeded to tell you that an important part of the set had yet to be delivered and they couldn’t finish preparing the set that would be used in today’s scenes without it. 

You let out a sigh as you took a quick glance at your watch; 7:30am. “I talked to the delivery company yesterday and they said they’d have it here by 7. I’ll call them again right now, and I’m headed to you now too.”

Even with the immediate stress you felt from this situation that you now needed to fix, it somehow still felt easier than having to deal with Steve. For the time being, you could focus fully on your actual job and keep your mind far away from him. Until he ultimately needed you for something, and the thought of that made you inwardly roll your eyes. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

When your phone pinged with a notification you expected it to be something from Steve. Even though you’d given him the lunch he requested barely an hour ago, you wouldn’t have been surprised if he wanted something else. Instead, it was a notification that his calendar had been updated. 

His publicist, whose name you learned as Tom, put an interview on the schedule for today; an interview that Steve would need to get to in three hours. Sheila was very right when she said that he’d just randomly add things to the calendar. 

Filming for the day wasn’t over yet and was still supposed to go on for a while, but you were already thinking of ways to somehow make this work. And as you headed to Steve’s trailer that was the only thing on your mind.

Your knuckles rapped on the door a few times and you could hear his voice through the door yell out a loud,“Yeah?”

You took that as your cue to enter instead of waiting for him to open the door, which you assumed would never happen. 

He was sitting on the small couch that took up the farthest part of the trailer with headphones in his ears and a script in his hand that had his full attention. He pulled one headphone out and looked at you. 

��Tom set up this interview thing with BuzzFeed for today. It’s in about three hours. I can tell Jessie that we have to end filming a bit earlier today, which should be fine if we–”

“No,” He interrupted you with a shake of his head, and you fought the urge to roll your eyes because of how often that was happening. “Tell Tom I’m not gonna do that.” 

You looked at him, confused. “What? Is that allowed?” 

Steve shrugged. “He’ll deal with it.”

You almost asked him why he was refusing the interview, but you had a feeling that he wouldn’t give you an answer and he’d probably just get annoyed at you.

“Alright then,” You said instead as you started opening the door. “I’ll call him now.” 

Steve simply nodded at you before putting his headphone back in and turning his attention to the script again.

The phone only rang a few times before you were met with a British voice saying, “Hello?”

“Hi, yes, I’m Steve’s assistant for the time being,” You said, quickly introducing yourself because you wanted to get to the point of the call as fast as possible. “He said he’s not gonna do the interview that you set up for today. Um, sorry.” 

You weren’t entirely sure why you were saying sorry, but it felt awkward having to do this, especially since Steve gave you no reasoning as to why he said no. 

“Of course he did,” Tom said with a scoff. “I swear to God this kid is gonna drive me to start smoking again, and my husband would kill me if I did. Fucking hell.” You were unsure if he was talking more to you or himself. “Are you with Steve right now?”

It was easy to tell that that question was directed at you.

“No, not anymore, but I can relay any message you’d like me to give to him, if you want?” 

“Yes, tell him that this is the last time he’s gonna pull this shit. No more fucking back out of things that are meant to help his career. We are not having another fucking Golden Globes incident,” He said, and with the amount of irritation behind his words, it almost felt as if it was you that was being scolded by this British man. 

“Got it, I’ll tell him that,” You responded, although you knew when you gave the message you’d probably make it sound a bit less profane and angry. 

Hearing him mention the Golden Globes made you think of something. You knew that Steve had ditched the awards show, but the actual reasoning why was still a mystery to you. And you had to admit, you were a bit curious; just like the rest of the film world. “Can I ask what the whole Golden Globes thing was about?” 

Tom let out the longest sigh in the world before saying, “He didn’t want to go. He wanted to stay home.”

You laughed at that because you assumed that he was joking, but when you were met with nothing but silence you stopped. “Oh, you’re serious.”

“Sadly so serious,” He told you and then sighed again. “And just like you barely believed that, of course no news outlets would think that was the reason either, so they pulled any story out of their asses. Like, he’d actually go to Vegas? Jesus Christ.” He muttered something else under his breath that was too hard for you to make out. “And it was hard to play the sick angle because no one would believe that unless he was actually hospitalized, and doing that felt a bit too dramatic.” 

All of that information was a lot to take in, but you still nodded even though Tom couldn’t see you. 

“Wow, that’s, um, really… Wow.” You ultimately settled on saying, which was barely even a real sentence and you mentally kicked yourself for being at such a loss for words right then. 

“Yeah, that was definitely the best twenty-four hours of my life,” He said and you could easily hear the sarcasm dripping from every one of his words. “Actually, disregard giving that other message to him, I’ll just yell at him later. When is filming done for the day?” 

You looked at your watch and then let out your own sigh. “In four hours.”

“Okay, got it,” Tom responded, and you assumed the conversation was going to end there, but then he continued. “How’s he been to you so far?” 

Surprisingly, the question actually felt genuine and it made you feel as if you didn’t need to lie and make things sound better than how they actually had been. “He looks at me as if he hates me, so it’s been fun having to endure that for the past seven hours.”

“Don’t worry, that’s just his face. He probably doesn’t actually hate you.”

There was something about Tom’s response that made you laugh. “Okay, so when should I know for sure? If he throws his coffee in my face or if he murders me? Well, I guess if he murdered me I’d be finding out a little too late, but at least I’d be able to haunt him.”

“You’re funny,” He said with a chuckle. “I wish we could keep you around longer.”

“Do not put that out into the universe.”

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

next part!

[womanexile]

Do y’all believe in reincarnation? This is Harry & River Phoenix at the same age!! HS was born almost exactly 3 months after River passed away. They definitely share the same scowl lol

For all you gen z River was an actor/musician and brother to Joaquin Phoenix.

I’m only half serious about the reincarnation. Was just looking at pics of River the other day & all I could see was LHH

[themovieblogonline]

7 Movies To Watch If You Loved “The Idea of You”

The Idea of You has left everyone in a sizzling, satisfying heap on the floor. If you’re still not over the musical and equally emotional rom-com, then here are 7 movies that will get you through that slump.  Purple Hearts Nicholas Galitzine is back, but this time, as Luke, sporting a military badge. The muse is Cassie, played by Sofia Carson and she’s a struggling singer, trying to make it big. When these strangers cross paths and make a fake marriage pact, things start to get real. Cassie’s music career soars and Luke’s image is refined. Will it stay the same? The fact that Sofia and Nick’s insane chemistry raised the movie to a number 1 rank on Netflix competing against big-budget movies like The Red Notice will always stay iconic to me. Catch them in the emotional and romantic Purple Hearts.  A Star Is Born Ally (Lady Gaga) is a gifted singer, but struggling to make her name. When she meets successful and “perfect” Jackson (Bradley Cooper), they fall in love and he helps Ally reach the stars. However, in the process, Jackson starts to succumb to his inner demons. A Star Is Born is brimmed with emotion, relatable feelings of being in the limelight, and lovers pursuing the same dream. Even thinking about it plays the Academy-winning soundtrack “Shallow” in my head and the world is suddenly dim-lit. Begin Again Breakups are hard, but songwriter Greta (Keira Knightley) seems to be drowning in sorrow. However, she regains that spark back, when Dan (Mark Ruffalo) takes note of her talent and vows to make her the star of his record label. Begin Again deals with finding the love for life again, after getting slammed down emotionally. The hassle of art portrayed by all-time favorites, just trust these two to make you feel something exceptional. Walk the Line Walk the Line chronicles the famous and whirlwind romance of Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix) and June Carter (Reese Witherspoon). As June power-walks towards success in country music, Johnny’s drug abuse questions their early relationship. Walk the Line is every bit emotional and shows the dark side of fame. Though not as lively as The Idea of You, this flick promises to grant you your desired dose of music and romance. The Greatest Hits Music is a melodic escape for a lot of people and Harriet (Lucy Boynton) is no exception. Devastated by her boyfriend’s death, Harriet uncovers a mysterious ability to travel back in time through music. However, the present might just surprise her even more. This movie serves to be a great example of how a little experiment with the typical romance/music genre wouldn't hurt anyone. Once Once is bittersweet, pulls at your heartstrings, and makes your soul sing. Two small musicians (Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová) have a chance encounter in Dublin and their love for music pulls them closer and closer. Once is a musical film that will spew melody in your ears, with a thick layer of slow burn, tension, and pining. Watching characters falling in love over music? You need to watch it. Yesterday What if a singer making ends meet goes through an accident and wakes up to remember nothing but The Beatles songs? Well, this is exactly what happened to Jack (Himesh Patel) in Yesterday. With this newfound and fantastical knack, Jack paves his way to musical success. A little less romance and more music-related plot fuel an unforgettable attempt at portraying a nuanced storyline. Even though The Idea of You has come and gone, you can relive the moments with these flicks. These movies have all the feels, with a generous side of addicting tunes and some of the best actors of Stardom City.  Read the full article

[lindszeppelin]

I read a previous anon, and I'm curious about something. It's been a long time since I've been in a fandom space, and I've never really followed an actor's career on social media. Is it common for people to tie things back to the person's partner, or is this just a Kaia Gerber thing? Like commenting 'Kaia's man!' on promo videos for the Bikeriders (I haven't seen it personally, but i believe it). It seems like such a weird thing to do. Is this a thing I don't know about?

I think it is somewhat common in most fandom spaces, but in this situation with these two it's just for the shippers to be annoying and tie everything back to her on purpose. Most fandoms I don't think are this divided on either disliking or loving the actor's partner. So they just wanna be annoying and tie everything he does to Kaia. And it is a very weird thing to do lol. That just dwindles the actor down to nothing more than a person's personal trophy. That would be like calling Joaquin Phoenix "Mara Rooney's man" whenever news about him came out. If the roles were reversed, for example, and it was Blake Lively and the fans were like "omg, Ryan Reynold's woman" that would be shut down immediately, because woke political correctness and all that modern age feminism. Men have that same right as women do. We shouldn't reduce either gender to their partner's plaything. Like, put respect on Austin's name, thank you!

[thelonesomequeen]

Is CE an A list actor? I would say no because he is not an award winning actor, he isn’t someone you would go to for character acting. To me he is B list or a popcorn actor. Someone who can or used to pull in audiences for Captain America or his looks as on screen eye candy. Now both are becoming distant memories he does not have the acting strength to fall back on to take on competition from other actors in his age bracket. His recent films were luke warm at best and were not taxing on his acting ability. If you look at all his fellow MARVEL actors they have all had Emmy/Oscar/Golden Globe nods and wins. CE has not even had a nomination in any of these. I see his career going the same as John Travolta or Nicolas Cage making easy money films to fund his retirement and life style.

There are definitely plenty of stars who spend their entire careers making the entertaining popcorn flicks over the critically acclaimed roles. Which is better? I think that’s up for debate. Some people love those popcorn movies, while others prefer the artistic approach of something that’s going to gain awards attention. I don’t think either is right or wrong. It’s personal preference. It’s also rare that we see an actor weave both concepts together so well. The best examples of that, to me, would be Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight and Joaquin Phoenix for Joker. (Oddly enough, for performances as the same character!) I’m sure there’s a few other examples, but those are the first that come to mind when it comes to having both theatrical/audience success and critical/award success. I think as long as an actor is following the career path they most want for themself, that’s all that matters. I’ve never gotten the impression Chris went into acting for the awards, although I’m sure he’d find that awesome, but instead went into it for the joy of the craft. I don’t think he ever set out to chase Oscars, but in his own words, he also never wanted to be the big huge star with the type of fame and attention Marvel brought upon him 🦎

[homestuckrichard]

"Beau is afraid" is so strange movie. Unfortunately in the wrong way.

I went to see this movie not knowing what I really expected from it. I absolutely didn't like the poster but the concept was interesting, the trailer doesnt tell me much but again the reviewers I watch love this movie. Unfortunately, quite nice feelings turned negative after the first hour. Beau is pretentious. And it's a flaw in this film that strongly influences why I didn't like it.

The mix of comedy, drama and horror do not work here. When the jokes that were in the less serious moments, at which it was possible to laugh because they focused on a form of slapstick, end halfway through the film and are replaced by jokes mixed with the drama of the main character, focused on his mental problems and somehow tormenting him, we begin to wonder if it is moral to laugh. The problem is that the film doesn't try to make us think about it. Until the very end, the jokes are meant to make us laugh, all the horrible things that happen to Beau are written as at least half jokes. And of course, everything we see is filtered through a person with fear issues and most things are Joaquin Phoenix's visions and paranoia, which allows for unrealistic situations. The problem is that in dramas with elements of comedy (and in this case also horror), because let's not kid ourselves, that's mainly what BIA is, it's good to give "tasty" comedy, not fucking CGI monster-penis. This is not Evil Dead in which we can indulge in one-liners, Asha fighting with his hand and strapping a chainsaw to his arm.

When comedy doesn't work, it pushes out of the screening and often disgusts, drama as well as horror also come out poorly. All the acting display of all the actors is wasted, all the beautiful cinematography and the wonderful segment with the theatrical performance stop resonating, because a few minutes earlier we were supposed to laugh at the strange family and the ptsd guy who acts like a dog. I'd like to cry at the scene where Beau remarks that because of his fear, he's wasted his whole life, but why give some lame joke in the same segment. Not to mention how this movie doesn't know how to end.

This film is three full hours long. And it could have been much shorter, after few plot changes and cutting unnecessarily slow moments. What kind (bad) of pacing this film has is a secondary concern, however, because if the film had ended with the "first" ending, I would have been satisfied, a film that is tedious and often tactless with some really good elements, 6/10. Unfortunately, the existence of a "first" ending implies that there are more.

And the rest is much worse. From a dumb plot twist, unfunny sexual humor and information pulled out of nowhere, to an "artistic" metaphor with a court. It's sucks that by the end I don't really even care about Beau because everything, literally everything, is ridiculous.

Don't go to this movie. There are better movies in theaters.

[whileiamdying]

I’m Still Here review – loving family negotiates the horror of Brazil’s military rule Walter Salles’s first drama feature since 2012 tells the story of the Paivas, whose sunny 70s existence is wrecked by the arrest and disappearance of their father

I'm Still Here. Photograph: Alile Onawale

The Paivas are a liberal middle-class household in sun-splashed Rio de Janeiro, generally joyous in the way of all happy families. They like laughing and dancing and playing volleyball by the sea. But it’s the early 1970s; Brazil is under military rule and anyone deemed a threat risks immediate arrest. When the Paivas (mum, dad, five kids) huddle together for a photo on the beach it’s a safe bet that what they are recording is the end of an era.

Possibly director Walter Salles makes a little too much of the family’s good cheer, emphasising the sunshine so that we feel more acutely the cold rain when it falls. The Brazilian film-maker knew the Paivas as a child and therefore his fact-based account of their plight is understandably compromised and prone to a streak of sentimentality. Nonetheless, I’m Still Here (which is emphatically not to be confused with the spoof Joaquin Phoenix documentary of the same name) remains a sombre, heartfelt drama about the nation’s disappeared. Incredibly, it’s Salles’s first dramatic feature since 2012’s On the Road. The man has been missed, although not as much as some others.

Brazilian actor Selton Mello initially takes centre stage as Rubens Paiva, a former Labour Party congressman who is active in the underground opposition, organising safe houses and briefing foreign journalists. In the grand scheme of things his crimes aren’t so great, but the country runs on fear and everyone is a suspect. The Paivas discuss getting out, but that’s a big step, and to what end? Most likely, says Rubens, this particular storm will blow through.

The central abduction scene superbly shows the way in which eternal horror can invade every domesticity - not bursting upon it like a B-movie monster but sidling in with a faintly apologetic air. The oblivious children continue clumping up and down the stairs, while three goons loiter in the kitchen, not quite sure where to put themselves. They explain that Rubens is needed for a few hours at most. Rubens’ wife Eunice (Fernanda Torres) asks them if they’ve had any lunch.

Once Rubens has been whisked away for questioning, it is Eunice’s turn to step to the front. Torres gives a terrific, layered performance as the Paivas’ Mother Courage, straining to keep the household ticking over and constantly fighting for her husband’s return – or, failing that, official acknowledgement of his death. It’s not Torres’s fault that the drama loses some of its shape and velocity in the second half, because it’s hard to sustain the suspense around an absence and difficult to tell a tale that has no decisive resolution. Yet it is here perhaps that Salles’s closeness to the Paivas pays off. He cares for these people and makes us care for them, too.

Based on the book by Rubens and Eunice’s son Marcelo, I’m Still Here opens to the sight of checkpoints and army lorries and from there proceeds to follow its ill-starred family down the years, all the way to a lovely, moving coda in 2014. The Paivas continue to gather for photos and try to find enjoyment where they can. When a visiting news photographer asks them to look sad for the camera, they not only refuse, they can barely contain their amusement. Salles’s imperfect, hobbled film tells us that hope springs eternal and that joy is a given and that most happy families will find a way to survive.

I’m Still Here screened at the Venice film festival.

[qnewsau]

Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal get sweaty in Gladiator II trailer

New Post has been published on https://qnews.com.au/paul-mescal-and-pedro-pascal-get-sweaty-in-gladiator-ii-trailer/

Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal get sweaty in Gladiator II trailer

Actors Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal get sweaty – and bloody – in the new trailer for Gladiator II.

A sequel to 2000’s Gladiator, which starred Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix, the new film introduces a new cast of heroes and villians.

It’s set years after the events of the first film, and Lucius Verus (Mescal), the son of Maximus (Russell Crowe’s character) and Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), who follows in his dad’s footsteps of coliseum fighting.

The synopsis reads, “Years after witnessing the death of the revered hero Maximus at the hands of his uncle, Lucius is forced to enter the Colosseum after his home is conquered by the tyrannical Emperors who now lead Rome with an iron fist. With rage in his heart and the future of the Empire at stake, Lucius must look to his past to find strength and honour to return the glory of Rome to its people.”

A new trailer for Gladiator II dropped overnight, before the film comes out on November 22.

Gladiator

That’s the same day as the release of highly-anticipated musical adaptation Wicked, meaning it’s going to be a big day for the gays, girls and theys. Are we going to see Gladicked, the 2024 version of Barbenheimer later this year?

Gladiator II is also a big one because it comes after Paul Mescal captivated us all in gay drama All of Us Strangers with Andrew Scott last year. Pedro Pascal also played a gay cowboy in the short film A Strange Way of Life.

For the Gladiator II role, Paul has seriously beefed up, leading Pedro Pascal to give him the nickname “Brick Wall Paul” on set.

“He got so strong. I would rather be thrown from a building than have to fight him again,” Pedro told Vanity Fair.

“To go up against somebody that fit and that talented and that much younger, it’s brutal, man.”

For the latest LGBTIQA+ Sister Girl and Brother Boy news, entertainment, community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Check out our latest magazines or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

[dead-dog-dont-eat]

hcs for guns n sharks? If you have any, no presh :]

-📼 anon

yep! I do!

-since neither all three of them spoke in the exes and oohs episode, I decided to give them VAs: Depressed Boyfriend/Drew is voiced by Gerard Way (aka the leader sing of My Chemical Romance), Giancarlo is voiced by Joaquin Phoenix (the actor who plays Arthur Fleck in "Joker"; side note, I did this for shits and giggles and also as a reference since Giancarlo, as I mentioned before, looks EXACTLY like Mister J himself lmao), and Stu is voiced by Aaron Paul (whom you may know most commonly as Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad)

*fun fact: Giancarlo's second choice of having a headcanon VA would've been Giancarlo Esposito, who plays Gus Fring in the Breaking Bad series as well, since they both share the same first name--but I stuck with Joaquin cuz I liked it. And trying to find a voice-claim for Stu took the longest b/c it was kind of pretty hard. Side note: I shared the VA idea of Giancarlo being voiced by Joaquin to my partner, along with seeing some fanart on Twitter depicting Giancarlo in the Jack Nicholson version of the Joker's costume (glad im not the only one who thinks that way, lmao), and she thought it was creative

-Drew has two lesbian moms--one of them is a nonbinary trans woman and he is biologically related to both of them. His mom who is cis is a shortfin mako shark while his trans mom is blacktip reef shark; both of them are greed shark demons but grew up in different rings, his cis mom grew up in the Sloth Ring while his trans mom grew up in the Envy Ring, but Drew was born and raised in Greed. His shortfin mako mom is named Michelle and his blacktip reef mom is named Dani--Michelle has a bright and bubbly personality who works at her own flower shop while Dani is somewhat like Dorothy Zbornak who is a businesswoman as a CEO manager.

*Dani was originally going to be a copper shark at first, but after doing some research on shark species I came across the blacktip reef shark and chose it over the other one because I noticed how Drew's back fin was similar to that of a blacktip shark--and I thought it would be fun to have a bit of a similar feature to that of his mom. Same as how Chaz's tail was inspired off of Thresher sharks.

-Stu is a hybrid of a Greed shark and a succubus/incubus, as both shown in the episode and his model sheet of Crim's gang, his father is a Greed Shark (specifically a Great White/Oceanic Whitetip mix) and his mom was a succubus. His mom died when he was three due to a terminal disease and it broke his father's heart very much, and it was also a bit traumatic and a huge loss considering he lost his wife and mother of his child and is now a widower. Stu's dad is similar to Big Bob from Bob's Burgers minus being bossy and overly critical at his son along with the past heavy drinking, but he mostly came from a generation/era where talking about feelings weren't encouraged and toxically stigmatized that men opening up and showing feelings weren't masculine and "too feminine", so he often may sound blunt--but he tries to open up more and he also deeply cares. Stu's dad also shares the same VA as Big Bob, which is currently Eric Bauza.

*Side note: nothing important, but I do wanna brag that Stu's father is a WAY better father than Crimson :). Oh, and Stu's father is named also Bob because why not?

-Giancarlo's parents were...not really involved in his life. They weren't abusive or very overly strict, but they were mostly absent in his life, and acted as though he never really existed. So, in a turn of events, his maternal uncle and his wife (who is also his aunt) mostly took him in to raise him--so he was pretty happy to have ACTUAL role-models in his life other than his parents; not only this, but his grandparents, mostly coming from his dad's side since his mom's side of grandparents were also uninvolved and absent, took in the extra hand to help raise Giancarlo and become more involved in his life. However, the subject of his parents when brought up were a bit touchy, especially since he went NC (no contact) with them after his uncle and aunt took him in and he doesn't really care about 'em (his parents)

*For extra info and clarification--his aunt is his mother's sister-in-law. She isn't a Greed Shark unlike his family and is actually a Envy Possessor/Sloth Goat hybrid that grew up in the Greed Ring, and she also is a bit like Celia Mae from Monsters Inc along with having the same VA (Jennifer Tilly). She is also asexual

-Drew came out as trans when he was thirteen, and he took his mom, Dani's, old AGAB deadname because he liked it and his mom was happy that her deadname was put to good use since she didn't want it anymore (she also liked to joke that her old name was like giving her son hand-me-downs). Plus having and knowing someone trans growing up was like a HUGE support for Drew and someone to relate to in a way. He got his top surgery at 19 and had his name legally changed at 16. Plus he figured out that he was gay at 15--which, ironically, was the same age that his moms figured out that they were lesbians.

*Also, I came to find out that Depressed Boyfriend's fanon name given to him was Quint, but I still love to call him Drew because it fits him

-Stu was at the beginning of his 20's when he figured out he was gay; while Giancarlo recognized himself as bisexual in his mid-20's

-Stu has a succubus tattoo on his lower belly that is in memory of his mother because she also has that exact same tattoo in the exact same spot; Drew got his skeletal hands and tail from a pregnancy and birth defect that caused his tissue and skin to not form properly which left his bones exposed; Giancarlo got blinded in his right eye from a heist job gone wrong and so he is half blind

-They all live in an apartment together in Greed and sleep in the same three-person bed

-Michelle, upon meeting Giancarlo and Stu, already took them in and treated them like they were her own sons and adore them; Stu's dad, Bob, is pretty supportive of his son's polyam relationship and is pretty much like an older dad figure to Drew and Giancarlo; Giancarlo's uncle and aunt pretty much like Drew and Stu and so do his grandparents and treat them like family

phew! That's all I have! Thx 4 askin' :D

[mattnben-bennmatt]

Ben and Casey Affleck's interview w/ The Washington Post (17 October 2007)

Bond of Brothers

By William Booth

-

LOS ANGELES -- Ben Affleck. Ben Affleck. Unfortunately, backward reels the mind. That lonesome whistle blows. The tracks. The train. The wreck.

Capt. Rafe in "Pearl Harbor." A role which will live in infamy. Then "Gigli." Stop. It hurts. Then "Surviving Christmas." And they say we don't torture people. One of his last movies, "Man About Town," wasn't even released in theaters. Can you imagine?

So it is with genuine human feeling, and a sense of -- what? Exhaustion? Relief? -- that we can announce that Ben Affleck has successfully directed his first movie, starring his very own brother, and . . . people are respecting it.

"A thoughtful, deeply poignant, splendidly executed film," says the Hollywood Reporter. Variety praised the movie's crisp acting and moral complexity, and said, essentially, it's all going to be okay.

Were it a pileup, you would have to avert your eyes. But it is good. Or at least good enough. And here comes director Ben Affleck now, ambling down the hallway of the hotel with his brother, the actor Casey Affleck, by his side. Casey, who works hard — beside Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris — in the gritty Boston detective thriller about a missing child, "Gone Baby Gone," which opens nationwide Friday (while Casey simultaneously appears opposite Brad Pitt in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford").

The brothers take up their positions on a couch.

Ben is dressed in a fantastically starched shirt. With his studio-white teeth and the manicured blue shadow of beard, he appears almost airbrushed, if not for the fact that his fly is open, which totally works. He looks adult, alert, suspicious.

As opposed to Casey, who is a furniture sprawler. He's married to Joaquin Phoenix's sister Summer. He's a PETA vegan. He looks as if he had just tumbled out of a laundry basket, canvas blazer over rumpled white shirt, which is how successful young Hollywood actors look. They wear sneakers. They put their sneakers up on the coffee table.

The brothers on the couch are three years apart — Ben 35 and Casey 32 — so Casey was a freshman when Ben was a senior at Cambridge Rindge & Latin School, the school for smart kids in Boston. "Growing up, we spent a lot of time together, same circle, same gang," Casey says. That gang included their friends Matt Damon and Aaron Stockard, who wrote the adapted screenplay for "Gone Baby Gone" with Ben.

"Tag, football in the street, Little League, basketball," Ben says. Message: normalcy. "We ran around and we rode our bikes. Our mom was a teacher, teaches fifth grade, still teaches; she's retiring next year. Same school. Our dad moved out. So we were a single-parent situation, single income, whatever you call it, and we went to public school and we had a fairly typical Boston kid life."

They lived in Central Square, which is just one stop on the T but a world away from Harvard, where their father worked as a janitor for a while. He had a drinking problem. All these well-worn worry beads of the Affleck family biography were widely disseminated 10 years ago during the successful Oscar campaign for "Good Will Hunting," which won the Academy Award for screenwriting for Ben and Matt, though people forget that Casey also appeared in the film as Morgan O'Mally, the foul-mouthed little mook.

"Our mother's best friend in town was a local casting director," Casey says. That would be Patty Collins. "We would get brought in to be extras or go on local commercials. That was my introduction to it. That's how I first remember knowing what an actor was. I played baseball until I was 15, but I wasn't good enough, really, so it was more appealing to go do summer musical that year, which was me and 19 girls. That was the first time I did theater. We had this amazing theater teacher who inspired everyone, and people fell in love with him, and anybody who had him wanted to be an actor. I dunno. Maybe it was same for Ben and Matt, too."

The drama teacher was Gerry Speca. Ben thanked him from the stage on Oscar night in 1998. He also put him in a scene at the end of "Gone Baby Gone," which is based on a novel by Dennis Lehane, the same guy who wrote "Mystic River," which also became a movie, directed by Clint Eastwood, which won Academy Awards for Sean Penn and Tim Robbins, which is obviously going to put the Affleck brothers in a position of comparison.

Ben remembers he read "Gone Baby Gone" in 2002 or 2003. That would be back in the Jennifer Lopez time, when things got a little weird. Ben thought the book might be adapted into a movie for him to act in. He began to very slowly write the screenplay with his high school friend Aaron, who would sometimes stay at his place, like Casey.

"Then I thought I might direct it, and if I directed it, I definitely didn't want to be in it," says Ben. "I was looking at the story and something was bothering me." The private eye in Dorchester, the tough-guy character Patrick Kenzie, was 40 years old in the script. "I didn't like the age he was. I couldn't find anybody to do the movie. What if he was younger? It made the movie better because it gave the guy some stakes."

Meaning stakes how?

"When something bad happens to you when you're 40, you get scarred," says Ben. "When something bad happens to you when you're 30, it changes your life. And as soon as I made the guy 30, I knew, like, this amazing actor who knew Boston, who I could get to, get a script to, who I could reach, and all of a sudden, things came into view. This is it. It's got to be Casey. This is the best person to play this part. By far. And I just happen to be lucky enough to know that because other people didn't understand that, because other people weren't exposed to him and his work the way I was."

Or as the review in New York magazine puts it: "Casey Affleck has never had a pedestal like the one his brother provides him, and he earns it." Because people might forget that Casey and Ben have appeared together in not only "Good Will Hunting" but "Chasing Amy" and "200 Cigarettes," and that Casey and Damon have been together in the "Ocean's" franchise, in numbers 11 through 13.

Did the studio, did the money people ever say, ummm, Ben, you're a rookie director, we don't think it's such a genius idea to cast your brother, who's never been a leading man, in your first movie? Casey is sitting there, politely, listening to this. Ben is nodding. "Yeah," he says, "I figured they're going to say to me, oh, he's your brother and there would be eye-rolling. Because I know Casey is so talented, but he's been having that Catch-22 problem. That he's not a star because he can't be a star if he can't get the job to be a star. I know he's had that struggle. But they trusted me, so I didn't even have to give my speech."

And what was it like to work with your brother as the director? "One of the things Ben does as a director is listen to other people's ideas and take the best and leave the rest. He's not territorial, a mistake I've seen other directors make, I guess, because they feel insecure about their position. Ben let them try their ideas, which makes them feel like their ideas are on the line. They invest more. But he's pretty discerning. Including some of my bad ideas, where he would go, like, I'm not going to do that."

Ben interrupts. "In terms of directing Casey it was just providing him with the best opportunity he could to succeed." Here he accelerates. "Doing whatever that took, creating that environment for Casey and whatever that meant, and keeping out whatever I had to keep out . . . " He's talking even faster. " . . . and allowing Casey to make whatever choices he wanted to make and, if he had an idea or instinct or experiment he wanted to try, doing what I could to let him try that, even if that meant holding off 10 other people who were going, 'What? No! We're not doing that!' That to me is directing."

Casey says this directing gig is harder than it looks. "It seems like a job of corralling," he says. "Where you have all these stubborn dumb cows, whatever, and you got to get them all in the same place." He moos. The Affleck brothers laugh. "But he's managed to corral some pretty big cows."

[anothersebastianblog]

The fact that ALL the movies which seem to have best actor contenders have to come out yet makes me think that there's the chance that things won't turn as we want. Damn 🥲 tbh I think that Paul Mescal, Joaquin Phoenix and Colman Domingo have their nom secured. Idk about Daniel Craig, Andrew Garfield and Jesse Plemons, (especially for the last one, I feel like Kinds of kindness didn't have the same impact as Poor things...). Sorry if I'm being a little bit dramatic haha but I really want Seb's talent to be recognised.

I won’t say my eaaaaaarly predictions to not jinx it, will wait at least till sept 20 then after gladiator and joker release

[maximuswolf]

Why cant the most prolific artists be represented appropriately in film?

Why can’t the most prolific artists be represented appropriately in film? As money hungry as studios are, we haven’t seen a movie about any of the 60s greats. But also, what got me thinking about this, was I saw “all eyez on me”, and the poor kid was just not up to it. Remembering that actors are performers first and foremost, how could we possibly find the one that can “play the part” in the case of all of these mammoth characters? In the case of Tupac, it’s more than just replicating singing and reciting lyrics. But then, why should we expect society could reproduce his creative energy, personality and essence? It couldn’t. He was a truly singular being, molded from his upbringing and circumstances, “the last of the g’s”. A unique poet, fiery, his ability demonstrated in every song where he just let loose a steady stream of freethinking and visionary lyrics - his tenacious firebrand intimidating to so many who came in contact. So why did we think this poor kid could do it?Joaquin phoenix was no different - he did an excellent job - but it’s easier to portray single rockers then capture the essence of a band. Even the excellent bohemian rhapsody truly focused on its lead, although the parts were played exceedingly well. I am curious to see what happens with this new Bob Dylan biopic. Generally I love these “music movies”. But again, these are all single focuses (not all done successfully). I just picture the studio bosses salivating at lucrative openings but being unable to fathom how to put together the same energy as led zeppelin in 1967 with Bradley cooper and Leo dicap. LOL. Who would play Peter Grant? Studios could never reproduce these bands, and that’s kind of the point. And that’s why we haven’t seen it Submitted June 06, 2024 at 03:28AM by beatlesatmidnight86 https://ift.tt/CyPtjn9 via /r/Music