#saw nosferatu yesterday

[drmazel]

he nos on my feratu until i [spoiler redacted]

[vulcanette]

robert eggers to the nosferatu crew:

welcome, babies. to the fruity pebbles castle of torment: a scary castle with two thousand rats

[xenobites]

Idgaf about nothing today except for the snow!!!!

[vampireepoet]

me when bro tries to flirt with a girl and DOESN’T speak in the tongue of his forefathers and tell her that she will succumb to her within three nights.

[vanessarama]

I’m having low key anxiety but also yearning loneliness today, resulting in a sort of wretched restlessness of the soul. I think I just need a nap tbh

[neoj00kyo]

babe that disfigured and decomposing body of yours totally mesmerized me

[espadita]

rip friedrich harding you would have loved r/AITA and r/AmIOverreacting

[lesbiansforkevinday]

I miss them so much I’m going to combust

[spookebee]

The grip these characters have on me is insane, dear saucy did such an excellent job on all of them

sire sheets are finally completed 🥀

— when I was in the drawing room making these characters, i wanted them to be pretty dramatic foils for each other (Henry and 5 especially). Thematically, they're very similar, but their time as kindred shaped the way they cope with situations. The main theme they explore in TBONY is love especially the love they have for their childer.

I've grown really attatched to them lol. My favourite one I've made was 5 (Vasiliki)! She's super old and powerful and her backstory goes hard haha. I love her beef with the Prince of Athens.

[joannerowling]

I saw The Brutalist yesterday, and after digesting it, the one thought i keep coming to (perhaps unfairly; it is a great movie) is that i find the amount of sexual violence is films nowadays very disturbing. Not that it's not a theme worth exploring, or one that can't ever be brought up in a meaningful and respectful way, but this over representation suggests that society at large is becoming more accustomed to it. I really do think we owe it to the generalisation of porn. By my account, in 2024 alone, we had sexual violence, outright rape and/or sexual exploitation appear in (spoilers):

The Brutalist

Anora

Joker 2

The Apprentice

Dune 2

The Count of Monte Cristo (2024)

Nosferatu

Alien: Romulus (for those who haven't seen it, yes, it's exactly as bad as you imagine ie: not a metaphor)

The Bikeriders

Love Lies Bleeding

It Ends With Us

Megalopolis (sort of)

Babygirl

Better Man

That's just at the top of my head.

Even in films which don't involve explicit rape, sexual scenes are often violent or imply violence, either physical or psychological. Violence to others, AND violence to the self. Like the sex scene in The Substance between Sue and her no-name boyfriend, in which she is very dominant and aggressive (which is not depicted as a good thing because this sexual power she gained from a new young body is just an illusion of power). Better Man shows the casual exploitation of young men including at least one minor in a very sexual setting (gay clubs) to make their producer money. In Babygirl, the main character's professional career and personal life are threatened by her "submissive/dominant" "role play" affair. etc. etc.

There is also a recurring theme of wanting to escape one's body or transform it (Emilia Perez, Nightbitch, The Substance, Conclave, A Different Man, even Better Man to an extent are all examples of this), which seems connected, especially when body horror is involved.

I don't know, maybe i'm exaggerating, but it really feels like there is this constant anxiety surrounding sex which permeates all art forms because it's a real societal concern, and i truly believe the ubiquity of violent pornography is to blame. I can't think of a single scene of genuine, loving sex. Or even a genuine romance in general.

It's concerning and no media outlet is really bringing it up (because it's uncomfortable to think about, probably, but still).

[leucoratia]

"I am an appetite, nothing more"

Saw Nosferatu 2024 yesterday and obviously proceeded to go absolutely batshit insane. Red version under cut!

[susandsnell]

i saw wicked today too and loved it! what did you think? (was i the only one who went "oh shit" out loud in the theater when That Cameo happened?)

well i may or may not have just gotten out of my second viewing of it in three days some fourish hours ago, so that should be some indication!

hiya bestie! sorry for the delays on this, things have been thinging and life has been lifing. I'll admit that as early as February I was not looking forward to this movie or its promised follow-up. Splitting it into parts confused me, I was dubious over some of the casting, the visuals, the lighting, and the use of CG, and was being a bit of a hater over the trailers. However, every hater worth their salt should eat crow when they're wrong, and wow was I ever wrong. I couldn't have been more wrong, actually, because I'll go so far as to say (though I have high high hopes for Nosferatu later this month)! that Wicked Part One was my favourite movie of 2024. Extended (gushing) quasi-organized thoughts under the cut, because like Elphaba, no I never stop talking.

Bit of background, I've been lucky enough to see the show live twice, plus countless bootlegs/the cast album being the soundtrack to my life since I was nine. I know the script, the score, and the lyrics back to front. So you can imagine how shocked/pleased I was to find that the movie retained just about everything! I know people are giving mixed reviews about the extended scenes/runtime, but honestly the Oz they gave us (which I'll get to momentarily) was so wonderful and the cast so wholly inhabiting of their roles that I could not get enough of the world and these characters. I also thought they fixed several plotholes/added depth and stakes to a lot of arcs from the musical with their changes, especially with respect to the villains.

Visually, the film is an absolute treat; the colour grading/lighting does have the unfortunate modern fantasy film vibe to it, but the sets, practical props/effects, and costumes more than make up for it. That rotating library portico set? Let me live there! The Wizard's invitation?? The choreography was fantastic and every dancing scene was shot so so beautifully. My only complaint really is the CGI; the animals looked really fakey and goofy, particularly poor Dr. Dillamond, to the point that my entire theater was cracking up when his little goat ears wilted at the blackboard scene during my first viewing. Which is...not really the reaction you want to go for with a scene that's supposed to be depicting a hate crime.

The costumes in particular were a standout; Paul Tazewell's work is so stunning (Morrible's gowns, the revised Popular dress, and Elphaba's little pirate academia number when she gets her Emerald City invite) that I feel comfortable saying with the exception of Glinda's Junon-takeoff bubble dress (because it's just so iconic), they vastly outdo the stage version's costumes. He needs an Oscar for this yesterday and I'm not kidding.

The performances!!! Oh my gosh! Everyone sounding great and there being good mixing?? in a musical movie made after 2007??? Who'd've thought!!! My only complaint musically was, unfortunately, during Defying Gravity. In the stage show there's like 2 pauses in the song for plot to happen (Morrible's call-out and making the broom fly), and through that iirc they keep the instrumental going. Today, at my second viewing, I counted like....6-7 pauses where the song just outright stops, including two instances where they play different sad piano music altogether and give Elphaba this big suit-up superhero moment because book cover nod I guess, and healing her inner child, and it was kind of a pain because part of what makes Defying Gravity such a memorable piece is its momentum and when you stop the song to do something else, the momentum really dies. With that said, all eight parts of Defying Gravity were, in each pocket, performed to perfection.

I had high hopes for Cynthia Erivo vocally, but was dubious about an apparently more earnest, innocent Act 1 Elphaba as opposed to the stage version which I'm more used to, where she's a lot more of a Daria type. However, I was so pleased to find that she deepened the aching tragedy of the character with this take, especially opposite a more sinister and insidious Wizard + Morrible, and her takes on these songs, her vocal choices, her runs...heavenly. Ariana Grande pleasantly surprised me as being much cuter and funnier than I expected, and her surprise option ups during Popular were an absolute treat. Jonathan Bailey was as charming and talented as any Fiyero worth his salt (also loved how casually they made him bisexual?), Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard killed me (especially since they played him as simultaneously more of a huckster conman and an Evil Walt Disney, and it worked), but the show-stealer was Michelle Yeoh as Morrible for my money.

From the moment Morrible swoops in to smoothly cover for Elphaba's power explosion, knowing what it would mean to her to be spared social ruin, I was on the edge of my seat with such a different take on what's usually just kind of a comic relief diva character. Michelle Yeoh's effortless grace and elegance command screen presence. But the slow creep of her goading Elphaba into intensifying her powers while playing the sympathetic ear/mother figure/mentor only to make the betrayal hit that much harder (I genuinely choked up during the cut to Elphie's face when she hears her saying that her skin is a manifestation of her twisted nature), to say nothing of dangling her approval over Glinda until becoming the shoulder for her to cry on at the end of Defying Gravity...my god. chills. Forget Gelphie, shoutout to all the teenage sapphics with something deeply, deeply wrong with them who are going to have an awakening over this chillingly manipulative milfy sorceress who presents herself as a twisted maternal figure and intellectual colleague.

On the note of Gelphie -- oh my god??? A homoerotic swordfight during What Is This Feeling - are you KIDDING???? They amped it up from the stage show if anything; the Ozdust sequence brought me to tears, and then ended with them joining hands and running off together and leaving Fiyero behind like???? The amount of times they fell over each other? Glinda's thousand-yard stare during No One Mourns The Wicked, Elphaba's longing/fond glances....the love note, are you kidding me. They were baby's first yuri for me so seeing them on the big screen played with such natural chemistry by Cynthia and Ariana warmed my heart and got me super emotional. Sidenote, okay, not to be the boss baby guy about Carrie, but with the changes/additions, Elphaba is kind of Carrie White now and I'm here for it? From the visions to the explosions to baby Elphie already having her powers in the flashbacks...and then you get to the Ozdust scene, and the extended cruelty towards her plays very much as Elphaba's They're All Gonna Laugh At You Moment...only for Glinda to swoop in and dance with her as the Sue Snell, so yeah, we now have fantasy CarrieSue in Oz. We won so hard.

Last bit, to address your point about the cameos -- I really was worried that I'd be cringing at all the lore tie-ins with the '39 Wizard of Oz or the Broadway cameos or any of the other fanservice, but it all tied in and flowed so smoothly at most I was rolling my eyes affectionately rather than in exasperation (the Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead tie-in to No One Mourns The Wicked was shockingly seamless). Stephen Schwartz being the one to invite them to see the wizard got me properly emotional!! Idina and Kristin were hilarious and 10/10 diva legends as always, and the extended Wiz-O-Mania propaganda play/Grimmerie Lore Dump is both a visual and auditory treat. The original Glinda showing up to tell Ari to shut the fuck up during her song got maybe the biggest laugh of the movie out of me, but then they had Idina doing her end of defying gravity 'aaaaaaah ah ahhhh' Elphaba War cry riff as a heehe gag just like...20ish minutes before Cynthia!Elphaba is going to do it for real. Which had me in stitches because it plays then as either subversion of the wizard's propaganda in finding her voice, or Elphaba's a theatre kid and said yeah that was a sick riff I heard 2 hours ago, I'm going to incorporate it into my political loudmouthing after nearly being assassinated 20 times. Fuck you, Oz man, I'm stealing your propaganda riff!

What an ending. What a movie. Can't wait for part 2.

Thanks for asking! <3 hope you're well.

[a-delicious-victorian-child]

saw nosferatu yesterday and I need a man (or vampire….) that yearns like count orlok <3

[ojamajoprincess]

I saw Nosferatu yesterday and any time a piece of clothing was on screen I was eating up with my eyes all the little historical details and lace and tucks and style lines. 1830’s are not an era I have done very much in, but they were beautiful in this film.

[walkawaymilkyway]

I saw Nosferatu yesterday and it was so good

[wunderflammer]

Yesterday, a dear friend and former colleague invited me out on a small sunset boat cruise. The whole thing felt like some cosmic test and was vaguely harrowing. Here are some things that happened. Chaos under the cut.

- After braving traffic to the public garage, I paused on my brisk walk to the boat docks only to be shit on SO SEVERELY by such a large bird that I had to buy an ugly tourist shirt from a stall and change, throwing the brand new cute shirt I was wearing in the trash because it was so fouled. The shirt I bought was ugly but not even ugly enough to be really fun. It almost bordered on earnest. Complete mortification.

- The boat was only a boat in the loosest of terms. It was an octagonal wood plank raft with a single outboard motor, a thatch roof, a cooler, and six unsecured bar stools.

- During the proposed two-hour cruise, we made it to the halfway point and the boat motor malfunctioned. We were dead in the water, extending our time out there as the captain called his boss trying to troubleshoot the problem. The captain eventually pootled us up to shore and said TIME FOR YOU TO GO. We all took off our shoes, rolled up our pants, and waded through knee-deep water on a sharp rocky beach up to a sea wall IN THE DARK.

- We emerged in a parking lot miles from where we set off and a security guard grilled us before taking pity and directing us to a "cool bar" across the way... Only for me to learn it's a bar I've strategically avoided for years because an unkind ex works there. Did not see the ex but was stressed the whole time my group was there drying off and making a plan to get back to our cars.

- I got us an uber that seated all six of us after much discussion within the group. It took us nearly forty minutes to get back to the garage due to lane closures.

- I had my lot ticket in my hand and it fucking DISAPPEARED. I chased down our sweetheart of an uber driver and he helped me look all through his car. I eventually gave up because I was cutting it fine in terms of time. My phone popsocket and lot ticket disappeared. I turned everything inside out once I got to my car and it was just gone, but I have a feeling it will turn back up - which is infuriating.

- I had to pay FIFTY DOLLARS as a "lost ticket fee" to leave the parking garage.

- Flew up the highway and just narrowly made it to my date with my s/o, a 10PM showing of Nosferatu. I arrived bedraggled, in an unfamiliar tourist t-shirt, stressed, and DAMP.

- I had a nice time with my friends. I was close with two of them, acquaintances with another two, and the fifth person I had only met once in passing. All told, GREAT GROUP TO BE STRANDED ON A BOAT WITH. Very chill, no arguing, 1000/10 great crew.

- I was able to give everyone a little tarot reading and make everyone a nice little cocktail with my homemade hibiscus syrup. Acts of service, baby.

- I won the silly hat contest. My prize? A small artwork that is essentially a squishy stress ball in the shape of a boiled shrimp. I will cherish it forever.

- Had a good rewatch of Nosferatu after (the first time we saw it together, the light balance was all off and Orlok was cloaked entirely in darkness throughout) and ate warm, comforting diner toast after.

- I made it back home to my dog in one piece with a wild story to tell. I lived, bitch.

Now it's time to replace my shirt and rehydrate. Wild day start to finish.