#shitty movie reviews by yours truly Tumblr posts

[cursedvida]

It's really crazy to me to see the hate Mae gets, like I was reading some reviews and I can understand not liking a character but as soon as they start with the name calling their opinion is invalid to me because they have no reason to be calling her a bitch, among other things, like it just reeks of mysogyny, (it's like they just want an excuse to call women names) and seeing it coming from other girls makes it worse like..

"Oh the girl was such a bitch why did she do that 🙄" ..is it really that hard to think for a moment about the circumstances in which mae was raised?? Do they need it spell it out for them?? Like, c'mon guys do you really think that the people trapped in a bunker for generations have anything nice to teach/say about the apes?? Wes Ball please give us Mae's backstory in the sequel!! Your audience needs it bc they are out there calling Mae the real villain and saying Proximus was right 💀 (when he was literally everything Caesar hated in an ape)

Look, I'm usually a polite person when expressing my opinions, but I'm fed up with the hate towards Mae, basically because the arguments people give seem incredibly basic to me, typical of people with little to no understanding. Sometimes I doubt if these people have watched the same movie as me or maybe they have some sort of cognitive dissonance, but seriously, I find them ridiculous. Either that, or they are basically the typical comments from misogynistic guys or women with internalized misogyny who can't stand morally gray and questionable female characters.

And well, having said that, I'm going to present my doctoral thesis on this topic:

One of the things I've seen the most is people saying that Mae is evil, the true villain, or an ungrateful traitor to Noa. This argument seems quite incomprehensible to me because, even though we don't have much data about her, I believe there's something very important that explains why she acts as she does: the Proximus apes killed the people in her group, including her mother. I mean: her damn mother. If we add to that the UNDERSTANDING (I mean, you have to be very short-minded not to assume something so obvious) that she has been raised in an environment where they've probably told her all her life that the apes are the reason for all the evils of humanity and the main reason why humans live in shitty conditions, I think anyone with half a brain has enough information to understand why she does what she does.

Yes, Noa is a good guy, but he's not helping her. Noa and Mae have a common goal and decide to ally themselves momentarily to achieve that goal, which is to reach Proximus. As much as they've formed a bond throughout the story, it's not yet strong enough for Mae to set aside what she has worked for so hard. Mae not only bears the weight of humanity on her shoulders but also emotionally carries the idea that she, as the sole survivor of her group, must complete the mission at all costs. Are those who criticize her telling me that if they truly thought that with certain actions they could not only save their species but also honor their loved ones who have been killed infront their eyes, they wouldn't do them? And that they wouldn't do them for someone they've just met, no matter how much they like them? That's just not realistic, it makes no sense. We would all do the same as Mae in her situation. I mean, I have no doubts.

Another thing I love is when they say she's the "true villain" as if it weren't clear enough that she feels bad every time since she forms a bond with Raka and Noa when she does something that she knows may harm them. She feels pain for Raka's death and clearly, you can also see the conflict and remorse when she detonates the bomb. It's not something she enjoys doing, but she HAS to do it. In the final scene, even though she's carrying a gun, you can also clearly see her in conflict with herself. Clearly, she doesn't want to kill him. Clearly, she has nothing against Noa, and this is evident when she finally accepts the necklace and they even shake hands. You can't tell me that's the attitude of a villain, narratively it's not presented as such, and seeing it that way is to have understood nothing.

Mae is a complex character whose life is based on survival, she's no different from the characters we're used to loving and idolizing in other post-apocalyptic series, the difference here for me is that she's human and humans have to be bad by default and also that she's a woman. Because female characters always have to be the support, the romantic interest, or the unconditional friends of heroic male characters, and Mae is none of that. Mae is a character with her own story and ambitions that go beyond Noa's plot. Mae has her own plot, and it seems that's something that bothers people a lot.

I'm sorry, but the hate towards Mae seems very similar to the one people had for Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones, which basically stemmed from people being misogynistic and hating complex and imperfect female characters, combined with how much they hate seeing protagonist characters with such human and real characteristics that they can't bear the idea of seeing themselves reflected in them.

But hey, for Sansa Stark, I would have killed, and now for Mae too. Mae haters basically DNI

[tennessoui]

Hey Kit!! This past year when the Acolyte came out, my heart broke and I decided to step away from Star Wars. It’s fine that others liked it but personally I didn’t; actually to be frank, I REALLY didn’t like it. Star Wars and Anakin got me through a lot, so watching Disney take an actual shit on his origin and then his redemption ark by half-assing the lore, felt like a punch to the gut, and I had to step away. (This is my personal opinion, if you or others liked it that’s great! I just didn’t). However, when I saw that u published the body politics au, I decided to sit down and catch up on all your fics (btw I love the Hanahaki one!), and it got me back into the fandom. I’m glad one shitty (imo) show didn’t push me away permanently and I have you to thank for that. I’ve met so many great people thru Star Wars and made a lot friends so it had really been kind of hard to turn away from it. I just really wanted to say thank you. your writing is, as always, too beautiful and inspiring to ignore. Star Wars means so much, and I’m so thankful that your work was able to help me look past all the stuff that made me unhappy with it. I hope you have a wonderful day!!

this is very kind to send to me and a very nice morning read! i admit, i actually have not watched the acolyte, though not for any particular reason. i've definitely heard mixed reviews about the show and its take on the jedi order and the sith, which have been sorta sad to read cause i do like the jedi (though i guess i never label myself as pro-jedi cause like? they're the good guys? you're not like. pro-percy jackson or something right? pro-katniss everdeen? you just sorta read the book and you're like oh yeah these are the good guys. might find aspects of a character annoying but i'm definitely not supposed to be rooting for the Capitol or smething right)

but i've also heard from other people that as a pew-pew show, it delivers on that front! lightsaber fights are cool and everyone has a funky haircut that they pull off somehow which does feel quintessentially star wars

my general view of the disney plus star wars shows is that i'll watch the ones that strike my fancy, and if one of them doesn't then i won't. the star wars disney execs produce a lot of content (and i truly mean content, i.e. material to be consumed - not necessarily art) and a lot of it i'm probably never going to watch. it wasn't made for me, and i definitely get the lurch and disappointment you may feel if you look forward to something for ages and then it's not what you wanted in a thousand small ways or a handful of big ways. i think that's especially hard to guard against nowadays when trailers for tv shows rely more on aesthetic and punchy one-liners and brief second cameos than they do explaining the actual story of the show

but you can be a fan without loving the direction some shows go in or the choices directors make!! if that looks like only watching shows that have been peer-reviewed, or if that looks like ignoring everything but a small corner/subset of a massive fandom, or if that looks like turning from the media itself and diving further into fanart and fanfiction and interacting with people online then that's what it looks like! especially now that the world of canon star wars media isn't just 6-9 movies + 2(?) non trilogy movies, you should absolutely go about watching star wars content with a you-first mindset 100%

you know how many people were disappointed in the obi-wan kenobi series?? soooo many because he was a sad little pathetic and broken man with greasy hair. but that's exactly how i like my obi-wan kenobis, so i was thrilled every episode lol but i'm sure other people hated it and boycotted and whatever. but i found my corner of the fandom who also enjoyed that and it's been wonderful <3

so anyway thankyou so much for your very kind words i hope none of that sounded too preachy i was mostly trying to agree with you that it's really great that one (shitty) show did not keep you away from the fandom forever and that you're back!!

welcome back :)

[cipheramnesia]

Today I am asking myself why do I like Terrifier and Terrifier 2. There doesn't have to be a reason for it, and I struggle to find any merit to them other than the dubious quality, inventiveness, and excess of the gore and violence. Maybe that's it, and probably that is literally all there is to the movies - fans all say as much. And if your only thoughts on Terrifier are "I hate that shitty movie," honestly that's fair, more than reasonable, but this post isn't for you so kindly skip along by.

But also the movies don't hit for me in the same way as a bloody rollercoaster ride movie does. For some reason I am unable to comprehend, my mind is insisting the movies are good on an artistic level - my brain insists there is artistic merit, although it steadfastly refuses to disclose what that might be. This isn't an endorsement, by the by, the Terrifier movies are extreme in a way apart from even the French Extremity movement or the whole torture trap Saw era from the USA.

Although in some ways that may be a part of what makes the movies something more than graphic violence alone. They are unpleasant in a way that is malicious - a naked cruelty which in a perverse way is a form of open honesty speaking to truth. There is no detachment from the violence, no easy way to disconnect from it as some sort of mechanical function or take it in as a part of a story. Art the Clown embodies such a totality of unrelenting and unchecked cruelty that it comes around as confusingly refreshing, because it is so rare for any media to be so graphically violent without attempting some framing of the harm - even if only as a plot point. It's masochistic to watch but in a more literal kink way. The Terrifier movies are a safe space to engage with senseless violence and cruelty, to experience the emotional impact of the idea of an uncaring world design only to cause pain, and then to be able to safely leave this mental space physically intact, better equipped for the real world which by nature is not nearly so malicious as Terrifier. Cathartic in the same way as it can be to get whipped or beaten, followed by care and caressing. Maybe.

All that under consideration, a throwaway line from a review has raised a second consideration for me: Are these movies camp? They are wildly exaggerated performances which incorporate large amounts of generally discarded pop culture on purpose. They deliberately incorporate the cheap aesthetics of low budget video nasties, grindhouse movies, and direct to video 80s horror. Everything about Art the Clown and his violent acts is severely over the top from his facial features to his makeup to his mannerisms which are those of a mime rather than a clown. I think it's arguable that the Terrifier movies go beyond simply utilizing a retro aesthetic into performing a kind of horror drag - dressing up in the clothes of the 70s-80s but elevating the content into a hyper-grotesque persona that's almost like everything the film censors and critics from that era thought such movies actually were. It's a movie that purposefully becomes the kind of monster conservatives always imagine about horror, just to throw that right in their face. It is, I think, very arguably camp in how much it is purposefully over the top and self-indulgent about what the vast majority of people would (often rightly) dismiss as artless trash.

Which leads me back around to asking myself if I truly believe what I've written, or if I'm merely trying to find an internal and artistic justification for liking violent and misogynistic horror flicks with nothing of else of substance.

[iliketalkingaboutmoviesandtv]

We're All Going to the World's Fair (2022, dir. Jane Schoenbrun) - A Review

You're wrapped up in bed, headphones on, playing with your laptop. It's 1am and you have school in the morning. You click on the next shitty creepypasta video, but then something happens. It's unnerving, strange, even somehow scary and now sleep is just not going to happen. Every lonely kid with unsupervised internet access has done it and that's what Jane Schoenbrun's We're All Going to the World's Fair feels like; the one creepypasta that was actually scary. The trans filmmaker draws on these formative online experiences for her incredibly strong directorial debut.

Casey (debuting actor Anna Cobb) is a teenager that seeks out distraction in a popular creepypasta "The World's Fair Challenge". After commencing the challenge with a filmed ritual that involves smearing blood on her laptop screen, she continues to create videos which contribute to a growing community and expanding lore claiming to document the challenge's sinister consequences. People say they're losing feeling in their bodies or turning into plastic. Casey is a horror movie fan and decides that it would be fun to live in one. You get the impression she'd like to live anywhere else. Cobb is immediately outstanding, pulling off her portrayal of being young, alone and too online with a similar intimate familiarity to Schoenbrun. The way she looks into the camera can only come from the eyes of someone who has seen a liveleak video.

We never see Casey with friends or family (although we hear her father once) and this loneliness is deeply felt throughout the runtime with us rarely leaving the perspective of a laptop or camera. Where else is an isolated teenager to look to other than the webcam? In the occasional bursts of an outside world for Casey, we see a generic snow covered woods and a barn where her father stores a rifle. The shots in these moments are cold and distant, filled with a general dislike and disassociation with the outside world. Schoenbrun likes their horror quiet and subdued, shots regularly hang still for uncomfortable and odd amounts of time accompanied by a droning and effective score from Alex G.

Like with any good online storytelling, the great tension is whether or not Casey's videos are real experiences and she's a mentally unwell adolescent putting herself at risk or is really an inventive online filmmaker. This is asked in the film by another World's Fair participant. The film also occasionally follows JLB (Michael J. Rogers), a middle aged man who begins messaging Casey, into a massive empty house with the seemingly sole lived in space being his office that couldn't feel further from the girl's bedroom.

I've never seen anything attempt to truly capture being a chronically online youth before, but it's hard to imagine anything doing it better. With it's truly unique and fresh take and style, We're All Going to the World's Fair is a must watch that you'll never forget. Jane Schoenbrun is an extremely unique and exciting voice and I very much look forward to seeing their future work.

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

“MaXXXine” movie review

Short review:

As a love letter to horror and B-movies, I can’t hate it. But still, I can’t deny that the script felt very uneven.

6.5/10 (okay, I’ll be nice and round it up to 7/10)

Long review:

I have a feeling that Ti West is a huge fucking horror/B-movie/grindhouse nerd. Because as someone who loves shitty horror movies (I say that affectionately), this felt like a love letter to the genre. It’s weird, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie about Hollywood that is centered around horror movies. Usually, if a movie is about glamorizing Hollywood, it’s about the more “refined” genres like musicals or dramas (La La Land comes to mind). So I really appreciate the movie’s focus into this side of Tinseltown.

While I’m on the topic, this whole movie feels nostalgic. Of course, it’s obviously trying to replicate the 1980s aesthetic. But as someone who grew up on horror, you can feel the love that the creators have for the genre. I mean, there’s literally a character who’s a horror nerd in the movie. So I can’t hate this film on principle. For all its shortcomings, I can’t hate it because of the passion behind it.

Now, I’m not saying this was a bad movie. It’s definitely entertaining and manages to hold your attention from beginning to end. It may not be a scary film, but it’s oddly mesmerizing to watch. The movie is so slick and stylish that it hooks you in, and the mystery behind the killer is enough to keep you engaged.

If I had to make a comparison…forgive me if this is too obscure, but it feels like the Phantasmagoria games. Those games may be cheap, cheesy, and not very well written, but they’re oddly engrossing because of the style. Same with MaXXXine, the style/direction is truly the highlight of the movie.

All that being said, I can’t lie. The movie does fall apart on one major aspect; the story. Even though the movie keeps you hooked in with its campiness and style, the story doesn’t really hold up. If I had to pinpoint what the main issue with the story was, it’d probably be the unevenness of the plot.

The movie has one theme that they repeat over and over; do whatever it takes to become a star. Maxine is a pornstar who wants to be an A-lister, so most of the movie is about her struggle to be taken seriously. And that’s completely fine as a premise! The problem is that when we get to the final act, the story abruptly shifts into a different theme. When we figure out who the villain is, the theme is suddenly about the evils of pornography, horror, and Hollywood. That Maxine is a corrupt soul who has turned her back on God, yadda yadda yadda.

Again, the morality angle is not a bad premise. In fact, I liked how the movie deconstructed this trope by setting up the villain as a Satanic serial killer, only to be revealed as a Christian fundamentalist cult. It’s a nice reversal of the evil cult trope. The problem is that it doesn’t work with the rest of the movie.

Let me explain it like this. When the movie revealed who the killer was, my reaction was, “Wait, did the story just change? We’re doing THIS now?” Before the villain reveal, I legitimately thought the killer was going to be some failed actress or the #1 actress trying to protect her spot. Yes, I know that’s too close to the previous movies, but still, that’s what it felt like the story was building up to. So the final act ends up being both the best and worst part of the movie. It’s the best since it’s the most exciting section of the story. It’s the worst since it highlights just how disconnected the climax is from the rest of the movie.

But even with the climax not being justified by the story, the rest of the movie still feels uneven. There’s not enough focus on the actual serial killer. There’s too much focus on the private investigator. The flashbacks to Pearl don’t really go anywhere, especially since the climax has nothing to do with Pearl. Maxine is sorta just reacting to the events that are happening around her, not really knowing what to prioritize. The Christian fundamentalist stuff, which was just background noise for most of the movie, is then suddenly the focus of the climax.

So yeah, the story needed a lot of editing. It’s too meandering and listless that by the time you get to the climax, it feels unearned. Which is a shame since the movie is well made. Anyways, I’d recommend at least seeing the movie once, especially if you’re a horror movie buff.

[itookyoudown]

for the ask game: top 5 justified episodes?

oh lordy this is so hard to choose. i'm not answering this with any thoughtfulness just going with gut instinct.

5: Full Commitment, season 2. this is my guilty pleasure and comfort episode because of how western it feels and how much tim gutterson we get :)

we even get raylan talking to dan!! i just love how all the pieces of the plot and characters come together in this episode. this also sets up and kicks off the finale of Bloody Harlan. really the last three episodes of this season feel like a mini movie to me, they all flow together brilliantly.

4: The Promise, season 6. this isn't my favorite season or even my favorite season finale, but it's one of my favorite episodes because of how bittersweet it is. it was the perfect wrap-up for a perfect show and the final scene is my favorite final scene in any show i've ever watched.

some characters survive, but nobody really wins and i love that. it feels like such a real true to life ending.

3: The Hunt, season 6. the episode that cinched boyd's characterization and showed us two flavors of domesticity horror (raylan and winona with willa's heart murmur reveal and trying to navigate co-parenting along with raylan's lackluster fathering VS boyd's abduction, terrorization, and assault of ava).

this is the most thriller-esque episode of justified to me and truly does verge into lowkey horror at some points. it shocked and numbed me the first time i watched it and the reality didn't really click until the second rewatch and by the third time it truly sunk in.

the fact boyd became the type of man his father and his brother were...utterly devastating and really changed my perspective on his character. and he chose it, he plotted it and organized it in a cold fashion. it's heartbreaking and at first you can't believe it but upon rewatches of the show it revealed to me that yeah...yeah. boyd was always capable of this and it's no surprise this is where he and ava ended up.

outlaw king and queen they never were and never would have been.

this episode is also fascinating because you can see critic response to it as a disturbing time capsule. look at reviews of this episode back when the show was airing...be prepared to be sickened by how often boyd assaulting ava is framed as "making love" or a reunification/rekindling of their relationship 🙃

this episode is always difficult for me to rewatch, but i still love it.

on a lighter note, i also delight in raylan being a fail dad and with city primeval fresh in my mind i love how it really does confirm his work over family priority from the get-go lol.

2: Outlaw, season 4. in general this is a solid af episode of justified in the best season of the show, but it ranks so high in my mind because it's the culmination of Arlo and Rayan's relationship. look, the truth is abuse is so rarely accurately portrayed in media. usually, it's revenge fantasy or feel-good simplification that reduces things down to evil monsters and pure perfect victims. and i get why that happens, i get it, most people find it healing and those stories do need to exist i'm not knocking them.

but justified has a complex and multilayered way of dealing with abusive relationships (they did it with boyd and ava too) that actually digs into how complicated and messy and painful they truly are.

the fact we get to see Raylan grieve Arlo in such an understated but devasting way...holy shit. one of the best moments in the show imo. because it doesn't matter if you hate your parent and they were shitty and abusive. you still loved them. you still love who they were in-between the abuse and maybe you don't grieve the person they were but you grieve what could have been and what you never had with them.

1: Decoy, season 4: all-time best episode of justified and top-tier episode of television everywhere. the episode is really the pinnacle of justified's genre (neo western). e v e r y t h i n g about this episode honors justified's storylines and honors characterization. heart and soul and brain all in one go.

it respects the lawmen and the outlaws in portrayal. the writing is tight, the dialogue is outstanding, and it comes with one of justified's most iconic and thematic shots (the stairwell scene).

[enchantingtrash]

Just got out of the Fnaf movie

heres my spoiler free review:

This movie fucking slaps, whether your new the the fandom or been around since the beginning its great, defiantly rewatchable

the animatronics really pay off. lack of cgi and real life aspects really helped the movie elevate its quality kudos to the Henson company they are truly amazing it really makes realise how shitty cgi gas become

Some mehs

The age rating being a 15 (in my country) has obviously effected the final cut, there were some moments where you just wanted more than what was shown

Some parts dragged and the final act felt a little bit rushed

but overall amazing movie 10/10 go watch it on the big screen

[dravenxivuk]

Hi!! Okay so Extinction, its fine. The "monsters" are really cheap looking to the point its funny. Its also a found footage type.

It is a more slower one. I kinda skimmed the last 30ish minutes. Acting in it is fine, Neil truly is a treat to see cause he reacts to the camera man, like he shoots dirty looks and its funny.

Its not horrible though, I have seen my fair share of shitty movies. I kinda had it on in the background cause there weren't any like high intense moments/jump scares til an hour in. I can tell they tried to take it more seriously then other B horror movies.

If you want spoilers then I can message you but I'm trying to be vague in case anyone does wanna go in blind to it.

Good news!

I told my Wife that I needed to add Extinction to our collection of monster movies, needed. She looked thoughtful for a few seconds, then rummaged through our inordinately large entirely reasonably sized collection of Bad Looking Monster Movies We Want to Watch, and we already own it! Hurrah!

Having re-read the synopsis and been provided with your helpful review, she doesn't seem very keen so I suspect it's one I picked up at some point, but no matter.

She's going away for the weekend, so I will watch it then. I'm going to get popcorn and everything. It's going to be great!

[lutawolf]

I Will Knock You Episode 11 D/s point outs

I write the Dominant element in this review, while @thequeenofsastiel writes the sub element. I'll be linking her portion of the review tomorrow. So please look forward to that. Hope you guys have been enjoying!

The first scene immediately shows the attachment that Thi has gained for Noey. He doesn't argue about missing him and just tells him to go. We then see his mom step out on the balcony. He knows how his parents will feel about Thi, and he just isn't willing to go there. This shows a growth in Thi because before, he would have just given Noey up.

Then they get to the school and Noey knows his man. He is questioning what is wrong and then excited to hear it's Thi's parents. His friends can clearly see how in love Thi is and aren't arguing but seem like, wth. Sweet Jezebel and that damn Phayu. I love that Thi despite how rude Noey is now, doesn't argue. He just lets Noey continue putting his stamps of ownership.

Aww, not my baby gang. Don't hurt me like this. I wanna hug him!

I love that we are seeing the sensitive side of Noey. Seeing what it does to him to lose a submissive friend. Because a Dom that gives a shit is always going to feel that. Being a Dom doesn't mean never being vulnerable. You'd be a crappy Dom if you didn't care. "I'm here with you. Right by your side. I'm not going anywhere" Thi has truly blossomed in his subby side.

Thi has really grown. OMG, I love seeing it. Then mom and dad come out, and I already don't like them. That little head nod when Noey is so respectful. Not cool.

See! I told you they sucked, and not in a good way! I've only talked to another parent like that when my kid got put in danger or when their kid tries to bully mine. As a mom to two brats, it's been a struggle on the bullying front, luckily the middle child has his demon sister. Anyway, while Noey is a hoodlum, he is a hoodlum with a heart and code, so I would say she's done pretty damn good as a mom.

Look at Thi, look how much strength he has gained from being a sub. His Dom is that important to him that he stands up to his parents, who he normally never would. The fact that he didn't fight harder on the necklace was very unsub like, though. A sub will fight for their ownership object. Look at the way he stares at it.

I love the sister. Oh fuck, if a Dom thinks they did a shitty job as a Dom. They will spiral bad. He'll go right back to his old life if he truly believes that he isn't a good Dom. There we go, he's decided to fight. Ha! He calls and proves to Thi he is still his Dom. See how he is talking to Thi. This is what I'm going to do, and you just need to worry about your studies. Very Dom and very commanding. See how he is telling him how it's going to be. Agh!

They are so fucking cute! Thi saying that he's always enjoyed Noey's cooking. OMG. They are trying to kill me with the sweetness. Thi is so in love. It's like it keeps smacking him in the head. Anybody else noticed that Thi has started carting that one strand of hair? At least in the one scene.

Noey sucks as basketball, and let's hope he learned a lesson. Fucking baby Dom. "How could you go watch a movie with him. Who told you that you could go!" Tell me that's not Dom. He put down the law, he's giving him ten minutes. Punishment will be him dragging Thi back. And by now he has proven to Thi time and again that he means what he says. Notice that he now carries a phone around? That way, he can always be in contact with his sub. The back and forth sleeping, so cute.

Ahh, everyone is so cute and happy for months! Which actually does a lot to fix the separation concern. They have had time to establish. Expectations and guidelines should be known by now. No contact would do some damage, but constant contact with lots of visits would be doable.

And Noey's stupid ass listened to Thi's parents. Let's just hope Thi knows what's going on because that's the only thing that's going to keep him from spiraling.

Love you guys! Hope you enjoy! 💜💜💜

[bymcr]

here is some honest advice that i truly believe helps shift mentalities. live your life empathetic; find the positive.

you work retail and just had a shitty customer. it’s so easy to have this situation and let it spiral. they didn’t treat you as a person, it’s not fair. that’s valid. but what you may not take into account is that persons emotional state. what happened to them earlier today? what happened to make the situation escalated? were they confused which may have made the situation more difficult? put yourself in their shoes. yes - they still treated you unfairly. but trying to understand their mindset helps you re-evaluate yours.

from there, what did you do well? focus on your behaviors and how you handled the situation. doesn’t matter what the outcome actually was: how do you view yourself?

this is the same for everything: movie reviews, getting bad service, having a hard conversation with a friend, disappointment in an upcoming event, etc.

if you focus on the negative and only the negative, it will eat you alive. you have to find good in the world. you have to be empathetic to the world.

[themosleyreview]

The Mosley Review: Worst Films of 2022

Well ladies and gentlemen, 2022 has come to an end. Luckily, this year of cinema hasn't had too many pitfalls in quality that infuriated me. Actually, I take that back. There was a few films that truly disappointed me, pissed me off and 1 film that I absolutely despised. That's right people, its time for my pick for the worst films of 2022. Now you may not agree with me on some of them and that's okay. All film is subjective and you can have your opinions, but these are mine. If you want a more detailed review of each film listed, then simply click the title of each film. So, lets get this over.

Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness: I wouldn't say this was the worst of the year, but more of a disappointment.  I happened to like that this was basically an Evil Dead version of the titular character, but I thought it was so inconsistent and lackluster in so many ways. If your gonna have a horror vibe then go all the way and get creepy with it. This film also introduced a new MCU character in the absolute worst way. America Chavez was absolutely useless for the majority of the film even though she has a decent backstory. The last fight in the film was just so bad and the story could've been over in 5 minutes with some simple logic. I wish this had tied into the animated series "What if?" in some sort of way. At least that Doctor Strange arc was more compelling than this.

Black Adam: I love DC. It is my comic book home over Marvel anyday and their heroes are just as important as their villains and anti heroes. When "Shazam!" was a success, it was only a matter of time before we were gonna get his darker counter part and I was excited until I saw the trailer. I knew something was off and I was right. I don't mind when a character's origin is altered a bit to fit with the times, but this was the most bland version ever. Dwayne Johnson can deliver a decent performance when he is challenged and he wasn't challenged at all in this film. This was one of his worst performances as he just delivers emotionless dialogue and floats around for the majority of the film with no sense of character development. The Justice Society of America was just slapped in for no reason and most of the team aside from Hawkman and Dr. Fate weren’t worthy of their names. Hey Black Adam, 2012 called. They want their villain plot and their shitty CGI back. It’s truly sad when the most memorable thing anyone will ever talk about is the post credit scene as being the best part of the film. You deserved better Henry Cavill.

Jurassic World: Dominion: Oh how this franchise has fallen so hard. It had a good, nostalgic and fun beginning that could've led to an amazing finale. What I was hoping to see is an actual world that's over run with dinosaurs. There was a short film released before the film called "Battle at Big Rock" and in that short you got a taste of what the film should’ve been. It had dinosaurs showing up in a camp site and wreaking havoc. It was tense and somewhat violent and everything that Dr. Ian Malcolm described it would be. What we got with this entry was a film about genetically enhanced locusts destroying crops. What the hell does that have to do with the dinosaurs you say? Nothing. How can you call yourself a Jurassic film when the dinosaurs aren't even the star of the film? Don't even get me started on legacy characters popping back up on screen just to have nothing to do but scream and get thrown around. What a disgrace to the franchise name.

Morbius: Do I need to really say anything about this dumpster fire of a movie? Visually the film was okay looking and I liked the ferocity of the character, but man was the rest of the film just horrible. This really didn't do anything to capture even the essence of the famous comic anti hero. This was just another day in the life of Jared Leto to be honest. The plot of the film was so bland, obvious and not even compelling enough to have a sense of fun. The only person I think was having fun as he just went for it in every scene, was Matt Smith. Listen Sony, I know you hold or have bought up all the rights to Spider-Man and all of his rogues, but for the love of all things holy, STOP making comic book movies like these. Outside of the Miles Morales animated films, you have consistently tainted each character with piss poor writing and god awful attempts to connect it to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. You even tried it here and it doesn't even make any sense! I hope you loose all the rights in the future so that the people over seeing the MCU can properly take care of these beloved characters. UGH!

And now we've come to it. The film that I consider to be the absolute worst of 2022 and the one film I hated the most is………..

Thor: Love and Thunder: If there's any character in the MCU that has had a full life experience and has become complete by Avengers: Endgame, its Thor. He is my favorite character of the MCU and it makes me so sick to my stomach to see what Kevin Feige and team have allowed Taika Waititi to do to him. Ragnarok was not the epic that it should've been, but it was tolerable once the Russo Brothers fixed the problems plaguing the character from that film. The character was ripped away from progress by Taika and tossed back into his "finding myself" story AGAIN when he already knew who he was! The constant usage of many OUTDATED memes including the stupid screaming goats, was so painful to witness. There was no sense of danger, no sense of compassion, no sense of urgency from any of the heroes. Jane Foster was given a story that could've been so heart wrenching, but it was met with god awful humor and didn't give the powerhouse dramatic actor that Natalie Portman is, anything to work with. Christian Bale was the best part of the film and he only got to shine in maybe 3 scenes that truly defined what this film should've been. This was an SNL sketch that was stretched too far and completely destroys any hope of saving the titular character for the future. When the news came that Taika wasn't gonna do anymore of these films, I rejoiced even though the massive damage had already been done. I truly and deeply hate this dog shit of a movie and in my opinion, it currently holds the number 1 spot of being the worst MCU film ever made.

And there it is ladies and gents! That is my list of the shiniest turds Hollywood crapped out in 2022. 2023 has already started and I hope that this year brings an even shorter list of stinkers. If you hated these films or liked my thoughts on them, let me know in the comments below. Thanks for reading!

[lozmastermm]

Review of Silent Hill 2 Remake

Play the original.

There's nothing here, it's just worse haha. This gameplay is shiiiiiiiit. Visuals and performance even worse, audiomixing doesn't even make sense. I just don't get why it's incapable of being playtested a bit before finalization. Dodging simply doesn't work because the enemies have wide ranges, randomly attack, and poorly communicate any timings for their attacks. Hitboxes broken, dodging is random in it's name, and enemies aren't fun to interact with.

Like...it's a survival horror and you don't have enough healing items or ammo to keep up with this shitty modern shooter gameplay going on here. I miss when you shot your gun and it would hit, and it wasn't yet another layer of skill you require to even use anything. The hit-reg/hit-boxes are simply broken, so often a shot is middle of the head or body and it doesn't register at all.

Melee combat is dreadful, where as in the original it was meant to encourage you not to combat as often as possible, SH2 throws enemies in your way so often that you have no choice but to interact with the pissy poor combat. It's rather incredible somebody said yes to this, you need to make movement work alongside your dumbass fast-paced dodge mechanic, not against it, you need to have enemies with readable attack patterns at readable paces with a limited scope for attack, when they just spam back to back wide swings or wide sprays? The fuck...are you doin' dawg? CMon this ain't hard! Playtest!!! Lord.

Because of this I can already tell it's just gonna be a draining, massive slog. It's not difficulty, it's just poor mechanics and testing, like they threw 2 enemies that both wide swung back to back knocking me uncontrollably into a corner, killing me instantly, it was an immediate knowing this was a gameover with no recovery. Boo. Playtest. It really isn't that hard, you play it, ya see it's bullshit and instantly makes a player no longer interested, and then ya fix it! Easy!!!

Much like the performance issues. Instead of relying on fuckin TAA/upscalers that make the entire visual experience quite literally unviewable, you could just reduce your fuckin' scope and thus budget and thus cost to consumer by using baked lighting and better culling! Yippee! Optimization! Or hell, just having Good Visuals that don't rely on thousands of dollars of hardwar- what the fuck is goin' on with the lighting dude? Oh my god that hair! Why!?

Another problem I have is they're clearly trying to write James as a psychopath of sorts, your "Trap" (The Movie by M Night Shimalymadingdong) character stereotype. Worked for that movie, not for an established character. The awkward acting of the original truly is a perfect execution of artistic intent and atmosphere, characterization and more. Where as this James just wants to kill. No like tell me he doesn't sound and look like a generic non-feeling double life murderer. Shit way to handle his characterization is all, it's either they failed their intention or their intention is just garbage interpretation of the original, or worse, a reimagination. To put it simply, this James is not broken due to his wife, he was born a psychopath who lived a double life of unfeeling murder and being an unfeeling good husband. She was just an excuse to his double life's existence, and it's a fuckawful interpretation of the character, intentional or not, it's incredibly not vague in it's poor direction, at least to me. Is it the modern models not able to be realistic in facial capturing whereas the original left it to interpretation through rather unambiguous facial animation technology of the time? Or is it the god awful redesigns of these characters that honestly ruin the purposeful bodies chosen explicitly for their roles. Idunno.

It's has moments of decency but it's falling apart the more I analyze and return to it. I've already booted up the Enhanced Edition I've had for a long while now and haven't played yet, in fact I haven't played the OG in a long while, I remember not liking it as much as SH3 or SH1, the combat was frustrating, but manageablely so since it was designed around the controls being the way they are, and thus the level design and enemy design too. Not so much in the remake, it's just kinda a mess and hopes shit works out and most the time won't.

Basically you're gonna have game overs at random and every combat encounter is going to feel like an absolute gankfest and they don't provide literally any alternative but hoping to god shit works out. It's really, really lame. Feels like they had blocking at one point and cut it out, not fixing stuff up from such a crutch of design.

Timing your dodges only gets you so far, directing them too, when an enemy locks onto you and wide angle attacks, you have no chance. If they don't do any wide angle attack, you can get away with no damage, if they spam it you're just straight fucked and in these small ass rooms where they've designed it around you constantly having to be behind them, and them 180 turn wide angle attacking, you've exhausted the direction that works best and cannot possibly get space most of the time, it's just not fun or interesting, it feels like they thought this was what survival horror was. Relentless assault where you have a broken ability to randomly avoid damage in frustratingly small rooms, not about getting good at movement and quickly or slowly adapting to level design (oh gee it's kinda like Dark Souls is one of few games to understand this aspect) Nahhh just throw 2 mannequinns in a thimble sized room after an hour of no more than 1 healing item.

Y'know, you can turn your flashlight off and walk by most of the enemies in the original...that uh, doesn't work here. It reduces visibility by a fraction of an inch. Yippee, another broken (feeling) feature...

Meh! That's really it. It's not given me shit to really look forward to pushing through, and it's refused to launch in the past. Idunno man, it's just a generic modern title with a compromised but good story on top of it. Like...I've played this game before but better? Why are they cloning Resident Evil? It feels...really...really pathetic. I don't say that insultingly I just mean like, wow, you really didn't have any idea other than copying them. Right down...to...the broken dodge mechanic of RE3RE! Oh wow! Wowee. That's extra pathetic because that shit is what ensured that game would never be regarded well. And they full-sale cloned it, head to toe, flaws and all.

Oh and Konami didn't want a PC version, because they haven't learned a damn thing. Overall I could just say this and it'd be all anyone needs:

Konami.

That basically settles it for me. I might come back if I'm feeling like wasting my precious moments of feeling okay on it again, but odds are high I'm just gonna go play the OG and have the 8/10 experience I had many years ago. Followed by the 9 that is SH3. Idunno man, it's just funner when the game's scope ensures quality and playtesting instead of advertisability and profitability. Sure, in reviews, people may say the god awful broken combat is intentional, but oho boy if those reviewers had a clue past the marketable visuals.

Gameplay matters, and all games being commodified into samey feeling behind the shoulder CSGO tier aiming (without the quality hit-reg) is starting to get grating. I was kinda willing to accept it for the RE Remakes but now that I've continually not been able to finish or start the remakes whilst having completed several of the OG's time and time again (I first played them in 2018), I'm starting to finally formulate what I think the issue is with modern gaming compared to retro:

Retro Gaming was not just a Visual and Movie-Like experience. it was a Game First and it knew that, down to Survival Horror Flavor Text, it was Gamey, the horror was In-Game and presented as such. Think Undertale without the self-awareness of it's existence. Flavor Text, little sequences, scripted events, the animations of characters, the environment, these were all Gamey, and it's difficult to describe, whilst Flavor Text is NOT my primary thing, it's one of those aspects that's considered "gamey" and thus removed, it's something to consider, what other small, seemingly forgettable aspects built up this unique sandcastle? That they then cut so it wouldn't be "immersion breaking"

Thus, they made Good Gameplay First, and then made a good story on top of it, (not literally) as the main audience at the time were still wanting to Play Good Games, this meant something like a Survival Horror would be running against Racing Games, Arcadey titles, a variety. Thus, it meant they had to have not only an identity, but an intrigue, something to pull you in on a personal, or emotional level. But even still, you're there to play games, they knew the deal. If there's action, that action needs to be designed in a way the player has control over, but only if they adapt and stay calm. (not just spam attack wide angles 360 no scope bullshit)

Now? It's movies. I don't want to play RE2RE because there's the section with the little girl in the orphanage, the Ada section, collecting the pieces to reach those points, that's all so very painful to get through to the point I legitimately don't remember anything after it anymore. Hardcore difficulty just feels like a waste of time, it's all meant to be Livestreamed, Let's Played, it's meant to be Second Hand Experienced at times it feels. Like you're here for the Cinematics, the Epic Scripted Sequences, you're not here for good gameplay, you're here for 'The Merit' of beating this obnoxiously difficult fuckawful difficulty mode.

Gameplay is such a small consideration of modern triple a gaming anymore, and you can Feel That with the RE Remakes and the SH2 Remake, it's shallow, the gameplay is obnoxious, the visuals are compromised as fuck and only look "good" after Youtube/Twitch compression, or on a couch far from a TV, which a PC player ain't doin' most of the time. Hell, the identity of Survival Horror has been boiled down to an action shooter again, it's Over The Shoulder, exceptional control and fast reaction gameplay. No longer is it a thinking game of location and timing your shots or reloads. It's no longer learning the puzzle of the situational gameplay the developer put forth with the mechanics they've made, it's a cinematic experience where you're almost held by the hand to ensure you don't become utterly lost due to not paying attention., no one is allowed to be dumb and be punished anymore, everyone is punished equally and the only way to progress is to just push through the monotony for Yet Another Cutscene.

Sure even in RE2 there's the (exceptionally boring) Ada/lil gorl section, but at the least I can say I prefer spending 1-3 minutes depending on if I'm emulating and speeding up, vs 10-15 on something desperately not in established genre, like golly gee, I really just do not care to have primary gameplay stopped for the 4th wheel.

Idunno, if someone enjoys it that's fine obviously like I'm not god (yet) and I forgive your sin regardless, but I miss when a game had identity and thus a strong intentional and passionate design, instead of this...rather amateur hour cinematic content that's banking on reviewers focusing on them not absolutely fucking it up, keeping up the infinitely rising scope standards with ever so dwindling returns and vastly VASTLY higher costs all around for sole sake of marketability, and that, by golly, it sure does resemble the thing it's mimicking poorly, and oh boy, it's got raytracing, and other technology, please ignore how little we write about gameplay anymore please please focus on What Performance Settings You Should Use!!! And so long as your favorite LiveStreamer isn't too critical it means it's perfection! And not another example of a dying genre that is Gaming for the thriving hell that is 6x pricier half-movies with long playable cutscenes.

I just miss when the gameplay felt completely in tandem with story and not the story railroading gameplay that's identity is compromised into something I just...don't fuckin' care for anymore man. I've done shooters all my life, It's the same, god damn thing everytime. Oldschool Survival Horror is fun because it's no longer "challenging my CSGO skills" it's challenging my ability to scan a room for safety, to fine-tune my movement skills, to manage resources and take risks. Not "can you dodge and that might not work anyways" meh.

Don't be offended if anything I imagine I'll come back to it and figure out what I'm doing wrong but so far I've exhausted what these controls have provided. It's just not good feeling, it looks good, I guess, but it's rather tedious and frustrating. I might just need to lower difficulty, or say fuck it and finally shoot a bullet despite feeling like 40's pretty damn low. I've only got 2 coins. Just gotta Push Through It, and Maybe It'll Get Good!

[akao-rion]

a study of kaatru veliyidai

kaatru veliyidai is a film that has gotten mixed reviews. the critics seem to shower praises for this movie whilst the general public almost ignore its existence. when talking about mani ratnams works the general public tend to always point out his past works, besides oh kadhal kanmani, when it comes to his best. the stories always feel close to home, the characters tend to feel like your next door neighbors, and the characters are very easy to understand. the more into mani ratnams career the more we see him find new ways to tell stories but yet staying somewhat true to his esque.

kaatru veliyidai however is quite hidden in the dark. the story revolves around our two main characters: VC acted by karthi and leela abraham acted by aditi rao hydari. the movie starts off normal, similar to previous mani ratnams works. the character meet and fall in love all choreographed with beautiful screenplay making the audience wish to be in their shoes. but a short while in you see the dichotomy of both characters. VC is misogynistic, chauvinistic, and arrogant while on the contrary leela is independent, grounded, and isnt having it with VC. quickly they both run into the “cant leave you cant live without you” trope and you see a different side of tamil cinema.

growing up watching tamil cinema you tend to see majority of the male characters similar to VC. but what makes them different is that the media makes them look justified. these characters hide behind the label of being in being “cool” and “manly” and you ignore their shitty behaviors because they (for example) saved a village. VC however is being criticized for his actions, though not verbally by someone else, he goes through a form of internal understanding that he is a horrible human being. VC feels different, and its what makes kaatru veliyidai so good and yet so underrated. in an era of film making where we see men doing bad things as normal we now have a male lead where his actions are seen in a bad light, hence letting the audience support the female protagonist.

the true core of the movie lies in the hands of aditi rao hydari. her acting is very delicate, you can see that shes a romantic, you can feel that romance. her actions feel like they are based off a novel or cinema. her character feels like a character within the universe of kaatru veliyidai, maybe a persona in which leela had chosen when growing up. aditi rao hydari does an amazing job with the cycle of abuse, showing truly how bad it is for her from her perspective. she isnt here to raise a moral outcry. her character isnt trying to save the world or make any changes to it. but instead you get to see an abuse relationship unfold while you make your own judgement of wether its progressive or not.

leelas character feels similar to that of another one from mani ratnam’s past films, tara from oh kadhal kanmani. despite both characters being different in terms of exposition or plot, they both arent there to be an idol of progressiveness. mani ratnams biggest strengths is to hold topics of modern day without pushing down a narrative. instead you see a beautiful piece of cinema but is able to take away an underlying meaning of maybe modernity or progression. both leela and tara are independent and grounded, they both make their own life choices and they both are alike but not.

so why didnt kaatru veliyidai work? the real answer may never be found but we could speculate. my biggest theory is that the general audience could not understand that karthi is acting as an abusive boyfriend. only up until now is there characters that aren’t always morally good. when we tend to think of a main male character we tend to only highlight the bright parts of him, the good parts that we want to show, never the bad ones. especially for the caliber of karthis characters i think the audience was not ready to see their beloved star in a negative light.

another speculation into which kaatru veliyidai might have failed is that its too cinematic for people to understand. kaatru veliyidai never directly tells you that “hey. vc is a dick and leela is being abused” but instead you spend the next 2 hours in the theater watching this unfold and it could be seen as slow of some.

either way, kaatru veliyidai isnt the perfect movie nor is it my favorite from mani ratnam. but if i where to put it at somewhere in top 3-5 i would. i just wish that more movies like this come out, i truly am tired of seeing a copy paste of male and female characters with just different universes

[kawaikith]

❃ // Rocky aur Rani ki prem kahaani (review)

[ includes spoilers‼️]

This movie was so unexpectedly good, from the beginning till the end, I know that Karan johar’s movies are good, but this one just touched the heart.

I loved rocky and Rani only in the movie, and rocky’s sister - Gayatri and her mother. Rani’s grandmother, too. Everyone else was pure annoyance. This movie potrays the extremely narrow thinking of how parents think, and then they’ll say —“यह आपके अपने भले के लिए है” (it’s for your own good) to cover up their slips ups and mistakes. Both of their families needed to think out of the box, and that’s why the idea of living with each other’s families was a great decision.

I really loved rani’s attitude, no, i’m not talking about ego. The way she carried herself throughout the movie, what a fucking queen! Suits her name. (Rani means queen)

She not only encourages gayatri’s mother to follow her passion that was left forgotten since she got married. Here i’m not saying that she’s wrong for choosing to get married and serve her husband, of course, she was happy, but it was one- sided and therefore doing that everyday did not make her feel happy. In fact, she followed her routine everyday like a robot, never saying anything, since her husband would shut her up, she was practically a door mat. And Rani saw that, she didn’t want her to stop being a doormat, she just wanted her to sing again, and be a wife at the same time. Choosing both does not make her less of a wife or a person.

Gayatri was really good at trading, but she never perceived it as her strength, because looking at her mother, she learnt that she has to hide her talents, because it will not be appreciated and accepted in the household, since tijori had all the saying in the house as the patriarch of the family. So, she didn’t have the courage to do it professionally. Rani knew about that, because she heard her doing it multiple times on the phone, so she encourages her to make a career out of it.

We also notice one more crucial thing that, Gayatri was a healthy woman, (not using words like fat, or obese, because they are usually meant to degrade someone) she never got to have a say in her marriage. Everything was decided by tijori and her grandmother. Also, she was called “golu” golu, golu, because of her weight, we don’t think before we say, but it can hurt people a lot, basically she was fat shamed in her own house, but she couldn’t say anything as if there was an unspoken rule that women should shut up.

Tijori had forgotten to be a good son, and hence he couldn’t be a good father too, to be a good son/ father, you have to know what being a bad father/son feels like, he couldn’t connect with his own father, because his mother had her own problems with his father. Dhanlaxmi had failed her son, as a mother, and tijori had failed Gayatri, as her father.

On the other hand, we see rani’s mother takes rocky for bra shopping, which makes him extremely uncomfortable, there’s a fine line between respect and shame. Rocky did not truly respect women, he was ashamed of shopping for undergarments with rani’s mother. It was humiliating for him as a man, because how can he?

He was ashamed, he had shame within himself. That was not respect, if he had respect in his heart, he won’t have felt ashamed like the way he did. Rani’s mother explains to him that when Indian women are washing their husband’s undergarments everyday without shame, then why can’t you? She explained to him that there was nothing to shame himself for, it was just another piece of clothing.

Rani’s father is a kathak dancer, at first, it makes rocky laugh, coming from his orthodox family with shitty morals, of course, he’ll think that. Men don’t dance, men don’t entertain, because that is what women do. That’s what some shitty motherfuckers think. (Men will be triggered & I love to see that, yes give your unnecessary opinions, because you can’t see yourself and you have to bash others, since that is all you’re good at)

Rani’s father was made fun of deliberately by dhanlaxmi, she wanted him to feel humiliated, and be laughed at. After that, rocky apologizes, because he understands that art does not have gender, rani’s father was the only male student in his class, and he was made fun of by his classmates, when everybody was choosing to be doctors, engineers, he chose to be a dancer, an entertainer. And men don’t do that. Men do manly things like putting women down, showing how much of a man they can be, boosting their ego every chance they get, lol. That’s what the definition of “being a man” is in the society.

Hearing rani’s father, rocky learns about a new perspective that he had not thought about. And, he is a good person, so he rectifies his mistakes, and starts learning kathak with other students.

Rani’s father does not resent him after that, and when things don’t go the way Rani wants to, she says that she wants to come back, because she thinks it’s not working, but he tells her to stay there.

He understands that he was wrong too, he laughed at rocky, didn’t like his way of living. The way he hugs everyone, talks a lot, does not know English, he understands that without all of these things too, Rocky is a man, it doesn’t make him less of a person. They both apologize to each other for their mistakes. And that scene is my favourite.

Rani is not someone who will stay a doormat, she’ll fight for her loved ones, and when tijori sees Rocky dancing on the stage with rani’s father (sorry, i forgot his name) both dhanlaxmi and tijori storm out of the hall. Rani and him have a disagreement, she does not actually uh, sorry for the lack of a better word. Tijori disrespects rani’s father, and that hurts her, so she fights with him, and that creates a big conflict between Rani and Rocky.

Rani hates it when her loved ones are disrespected, and hence she gets angry at her family too, because they tell her that she shouldn’t have slapped his hand away like she did. She had hurt not only rocky’s feelings but her families’s too.

Tijori understands that he failed as a son, husband, and father. When Gayatri tells him that they fatshamed her, and never actually gave her the respect she deserved.

Tijori forgot that her mother didn’t allow him to be a good son to his father, he loved his father, and wanted to bond with him, but he was never allowed to. That’s not his fault, he was a child, but he had a choice when he grew up, and he decided to do as his mother says, not knowing that his mother could be wrong.

Dhanlaxmi hated her husband because he cheated on her, that was wrong on his part, but they should have been honest with each other, all they did by being together was ruin each other’s lives, and their sons & daughter’s too. She could not see that she was hurting her son, she only saw her pain, and she used her son to get away from the pain in her life, not knowing that she’s hurting her son in the process.

In the end, she can’t face Rani because of her pride, so she writes a letter to Rani, saying that she’s passing the ladoo’s recipe to her, basically passing on her business to Rani. (Not her grandson, but her daughter - in - law) That’s the most nicest thing she’s done in the entire movie.

I loved how the little things are taken into consideration, this movie is pretty good, honestly a 1000/10 ⭐💕

[whatyourusherthinks]

The Color Purple Review

To cut this review extremely short, The Color Purple is excellent. It tells a very gripping story, the characters are engaging and you want to see them become happy, and the music and staging is excellent. Go see it if the movie piques your interest even slightly.

What's The Movie About?

The Color Purple tells the story of Celie, a black woman who is separated from her sister and forced to marry an abusive farmer by her abusive father, learning to stand up for herself and escape her truly shitty situation.

What I Like.

The first thing that jumps out at me is the music. Despite not being religious, I love spirituals and hymns, I find their energy infectious and the music extremely catchy. I also like blues, which is pretty much all the music in the movie. The spirituality of this movie was interesting as well, even though it was was being applied to me, a staunch non God-believer. I appreciate that the movie handles really intense topics, but in a way that doesn't make me want to turn my head. Also, I knew nothing about the story before watching this movie, so I was pleasantly surprised when suddenly lesbians happened. I also appreciate that the message is that forgiveness is good, but don't go back to your piece of shit ex-husband even if he has changed his ways. John Batiste from Stay Human was a surprise cameo and I liked that. Oh yeah, and all the acting is really good.

What I Didn't Like.

Uh... There was a scene where it looked like there was Coca-Cola cooler in the background which I think looked anachronistic. There's a bit where the drunk husband is telling Celie that she's too ugly to make it in Memphis and I'm just like "What the hell are you talking about? Everyone in this movie is gorgeous except your dad." I dunno this movie is really good.

Final Summation.

Like I said before, the Color Purple is an excellent movie, and tells a story which all would benefit to experience. My biggest criticism is that there wasn't any Wow Factor. If you've seen the trailer and know the story it's exactly what you expect, there's nothing crazy to excite you. But so what? There's nothing wrong with something that meet expectations the best it possibly can.

[blueberrynihilism]

My review of Juice Wrld's Rich and Blind.

Juice Wrld was and still is a really important artist to me, in that, he, like I do, had so much potential. However, he suffered from severe depression from a young age, which as much as it didn't impair his skills, meant that I only got to experiencing his craft for a few years. When he died in 2019, a year which was beyond disastrous to me, I had just begun to fall in love with his work. I'll never forget the day I watched Spider-man Into The Spider-Verse on the day he passed. "Hide" featuring Seezyn came on in the movie, and it just broke me. "Rich and Blind' is a song in which Jarad speaks about the internal conflict of having plenty in material possessions and the like, but simultaneously feeling a void from within, and not knowing why it's the case, when there are seemingly plenty of reasons to be happy. The first half of the song contains some really nihilistic lyrics,: "I know they lace pills, I bought them on purpose", a truly melancholic and borderline suicidal admittance of not holding one's life in decent regard anymore, as a coping mechanism from the discomfort. A lot of people have said, and rightfully so if I may add, that Juice Wrld's music, particularly those recorded near his death became a little monotonous in that they all revolved around substance abuse, depression and the difficulty of living with this reality. But honestly, I feel like that was probably the best depiction of living with this cloud of your head - after a few weeks, months or even years you begin to stop feeling shitty about feeling shitty. "I know I have a purpose, but I dont't see the purpose" is another scathing reflection on this lack of direction, and the sheer vulnerability that arises from knowing that even though you know you're here for something, you just can't find that drive, and the line along with a few others is delivered with such a casual cadence, again, emphasising this nihilistic view of life, or just not caring anymore.

However, this song has probably one of the best examples that of Jarad's ability to contrast pessimism with optimism in the space of a few verses, while also somehow seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, even when you're sure the light is merely a flashlight. One of my favourite lyrics from the song "This is dedicated to you if you felt the lowest of the low, I know how it feels, you don't wanna struggle anymore", and "Keep my eyes in the sky, 'cause that's where I'm moving", where his way of trying to motivating his fanbase who may have had similar experiences he's had, by letting them know that it gets better, even if it doesn't seem that way. It's hard for me to get out of bed, let alone find the energy to write this review, but I felt I had to at least get this done, because depression is like a malignant tumor; it just gives you the impression that nothing matters, even when that isn't the case, which can unfortunately deprive the world the light you have within. Even I find myself dealing with the existential crisis of knowing what I can bring to the world. People always tell me that they see great things in me, but I have to be honest, sometimes I struggle to see that myself. However, the reason I share this is because even if just one person reads this, someone who maybe has similar issues they're facing, maybe they can be reassured to keep moving forward, even when they don't feel like it. Regardless, always find a way to bring positivity in the world. Yes, life is really gross, you may have a voice or six that want you to cross the road without looking both ways, and we'll all have our hurdles, some that may as well be chronic, if not terminal. But what you can control is the output you put into the world. Jarad probably won't get to hear or see this, but regardless of his struggles he managed to inspire a generation that feels hopeless and scared of the future, and his legacy will live forever, or at least for as long as I'm alive.

I guess that's the point of this first review, in that, it's more about the power and importance music has in my life. Some days I'll feel bad, and like I hate myself, but regardless of that, I can at least try to make the lives of those around me a little less shitty, even if it's just as a cheerleader. This December will mark 4 years since he passed, and even though it still hurts a bit, his work helped me in ways I cannot contain in a few paragraphs, and I feel that deserves to be cherished not mourned. Out of 10, I'd give it a 7.5 - it's not the most groundbreaking song ever, but there are a few instances where that can take the backseat, seeing that the gravity of the subject matter is more important. It's a tough listen, but honestly, I feel like it's the best way to actually come to terms with the internal conflict someone in such circumstances wrestles with each day. I plan on using this platform as a means of spurring you on wherever in the world you are, because yes, it gets better, but you have to at least try, and I guess that just be my way of giving myself a reason to get out of bed each morning.

-alphadoradus