#so many people in the film industry are accused of being awful behind-the-scenes so that’s nice to know not everyone is secretly a monster

[lulu2992]

So I watched the Director’s Cut versions of Rebel Moon Part One & Two, respectively renamed Chalice of Blood and Curse of Forgiveness, exactly one week ago, the day they were released.

As a person who generally doesn’t enjoy the idea of watching films that are over 2.5 hours, really isn’t a fan of gore, and thinks sex scenes are uncomfortable and unnecessary 95% of the time, I was rather apprehensive, to say the least, since those three things are precisely what the two movies promised. Still, I managed to watch them on the same day even though the fact it was hot outside and consequently almost 30°C in my room probably didn’t help me not to feel unwell for a good portion of my viewing experience :’)

However, there’s a fourth thing the new version of the films promised, and this, on the contrary, is exactly what I love and probably what kept me going: more lore. I won’t go into too much detail so as not to spoil major plot points here, but I think Chalice of Blood and Curse of Forgiveness kept all their promises.

Some characters get a proper introduction (notably Aris and Nemesis), or more screen time so we understand them and what they do (mostly the Priests, Hawkshaws, and Jimmy), or a better, more satisfying, sometimes more emotional ending. We also get completely new scenes and characters, and that too greatly helps the narrative, whether it’s by adding more backstory, taking the time to explain someone’s motivations more clearly, revealing how some people reacted to certain events, or detailing how something works.

Also, some of the “mistakes” viewers complained about, for example the spaceship being powered with coal or somebody not missing any teeth after we clearly see them get knocked out, are fixed in the Director’s Cut. It turns out those things were not illogical, they were just censored for the PG-13 version…

As for the sex scenes, while they weren’t indispensable, I have to admit they do serve a purpose. The two “main” ones have a character in common, so we can see how different that person feels and acts with each of their two partners. The scenes need to exist together because they’re only really interesting when you compare them, but that’s how they tell a story. Never in my life had I been so happy to see someone successfully remove a bra, haha! There’s also, of course, the one that involves tentacles, which was–thankfully–milder than I thought it would be, and another unexpected one that happens off-screen but was a rather nice and cute surprise, in my opinion.

And, yes, aside from giving us more blood and more sex, we also get… more wheat! I really don’t mind, though. In fact, this is probably an unpopular opinion, but I’d watch one hour of the cast (actually) harvesting crops in slow motion over just one minute of heads exploding any day :’)

While they’re still not perfect, I think Chalice of Blood and Curse of Forgiveness are improved versions of A Child of Fire and The Scargiver. I still like Part Two better than Part One, but overall, as promised, we get more information about the world, the characters, and their stories in the Director’s Cut. Sometimes, it’s just a new line of dialog or a short interaction that’s added here and there, but it really does a service to the films and makes them, although they’re much longer (especially the first one), feel more coherent, more compelling, and less rushed.

At the end of the day, I think what I most appreciate about Rebel Moon is still that it was brought to life with a lot of care and passion. The two art books, Wolf: Ex Nihilo: Cosmology & Technology and Wurm: Ex Materia: Heroes & Monsters, confirm how painstakingly made and well-thought-out everything was, and I will always love and respect this about this project.

[strawberrybyers]

I read that squishmallows is being boycotted for funding AIPAC-the Israel lobby-and I’m just so baffled by why anyone would team up with them right now? It makes no sense from Netflix’s perspective. Why invite that much more controversy, after they only just managed to get Noah Schnapp to stop being loudly awful? The other cast and show as a whole-even the play’s promo-are already getting caught up in this now, and have had plenty of accusations of zionism for supporting Noah and Brett, without doing this deal as well. Everyone on twitter is calling it a zionist x zionist collab although I really don’t think the actors have that much say in the show’s brand deals.

oh wow i had no idea squishmallow was a part of the boycott! i will definitely not be purchasing from them if they are supporting israel.

i agree with you on that the actors don’t have much say. they’re all individuals with different views. it’s like any other workplace—you work with some shitty people but just because you work with them doesn’t mean you share the same views as them. i think too many people think every actor out there has some sort of “tom cruise level of power” and that’s soooooo not the case. actors are employees of production companies. they’re under the thumbs of those people and that was part of the reason for the strike last year. a lot of actors hate how production companies run things and what they support because it doesn’t align with the actor’s views and the actors are the face of it all. i am not sure why this collaboration would happen except for the fact they know lots of people are unaware of what companies support israel or how many will go out of their way to not care because at the end of the day it’s all about money for these people. there’s lots of of people behind the scenes of these things and it’s possible there was no awareness of squishmallows support of israel, or there was a knowing and they just didn’t care.

there’s a whole team for merchandising on behalf of netflix. the actors have literally zero to do with that so i definitely do not blame the actors for this collab. and i don’t blame them either for still filming the show. it is netflix’s fault, not the actors. they’re tied to a contract. tons of people that work in the film industry have discussed contracts and how difficult it is to get out of them, so i understand even if the actors wanted to no longer support netflix or be on the stranger things set—legally they can’t leave unless they want to do some sort of lawsuit battle (depending on how strict their contract is). i’m not making excuses for anyone, this is just the reality of the situation.

i do not agree with noah and brett’s comments. i think they’re dehumanizing and disgusting. i hope people don’t lose sight tho on what is efficient in helping palestinians vs what isn’t. boycotting, protests, donations, continuous conversations, calling/emailing politicians, etc are what’s effective. i will have to research the squishmallow stuff and i recommend others do too. if they are supporting israel then boycott. that means no purchasing products from their company. block all their socials. if you see an ad promoting their product—report the ad and block it. engaging with them even when you’re just sending hate really doesn’t do much because it only encourages engagement and more promotion of the products as that’s how algorithms work. do the same for every company that we need to boycott. remember, these people only care about money. when they see they’re not getting engagement in anyway or purchases and see they are losing money, that’s when things become effective.

anon, none of these were personal suggestions at you. just for anyone who decides to read this. you asked a good question that unfortunately i just don’t know what the answer could be except that sadly a lot of people don’t care.

[vanessakirbyfans]

Vanessa Kirby suggests we meet on the Mall, the central location for her on-screen triumph as the young Princess Margaret in The Crown. I’m standing outside the shuttered Institute of Contemporary Arts when she strides into view, a slender, leggy figure with bleached hair and brilliant blue eyes, clad in trademark black, but for her gleaming white Converse trainers.

"I haven’t been here since we were filming!" she marvels through her mask, gazing up the processional avenue towards Buckingham Palace. "I was whizzing up the road on a motorbike, holding onto the back of Matthew Goode [as Antony Armstrong-Jones] and feeling so exhilarated about what on Earth was happening to my life – being in a job I loved, playing someone I loved."

Her ebullient mood was dented when Margaret’s handbag, into which she’d put her own phone, was blown away from between her feet, and an opportunistic passer-by ran off with it. "By the time I could check Find My iPhone, it was already in Leicester Square," she says. "Of course, the costume department were furious because the bag was vintage and a one-off." We both laugh, rather ruefully, for such anecdotes already seem to belong to a more carefree time. This bright, crisp lunchtime in lockdown, the Mall is all but deserted –there would be no need for roadblocks or filming at dawn today – while the roles Kirby is here to discuss are light-years away from her embodiment of a pampered royal party girl.

The morning of our meeting, Pieces of a Woman has launched on Netflix to rapturous reviews and critical acclaim that has seen Kirby, in her first lead role, picked as a front-runner for the award season’s most coveted best-actress gongs.

It is not, however, an easy watch. Kirby plays Martha, a first-time mother whose baby dies moments after being born; the film follows Martha’s subsequent disintegration, alongside that of her close relationships. Her labour, which comes at the start of the film, is some 26 minutes of one unbroken take that manages to be simultaneously intimate and menacing as the camera swoops around the apartment and hovers beside the traumatised protagonists.

Kirby’s performance is astonishingly unselfconscious, which is the more surprising since she never went to drama school (turning down the offer of a place at Lamda in favour of stage roles at Bolton’s Octagon Theatre) and says she couldn't bring herself to dance in front of her friends. "I’m the one who sits in the corner and watches." She describes seeing herself on-screen as "disconcerting", and "not a very natural human experience", and indeed even finds making Zoom calls a trial. "There’s nothing to hide behind!"

For Pieces of a Woman, the director Kornel Mundruczo decided that the birth scene would be the first to be shot, she tells me, as we stroll around St James’s Park, conducting ourselves like a couple of spies in a Le Carré novel. "I knew I’d have to be naked, and literally open my legs and give birth in front of a group of strangers I’d only met that morning. I was actually quite thankful – I thought, the rest of it’s going to be a lot easier."

In fact, she says, she found herself swept away by the emotion of the story. "Normally, it’s so hard to forget there are machines in your face, but I had no idea that a camera was even there." Was it traumatic to act? "The first time we shot it, I was literally sobbing for 10 minutes afterwards. I couldn’t get out of it. My brain was telling me it wasn’t real, but my unconscious didn’t know the difference, especially with having a real baby in my arms.

"Kornel came over onto the bed and held me so tight. He didn’t let go of me for five minutes, and he said, 'Just remember this feeling.' That really helped me for the rest of the movie, when the character doesn’t express anything, but almost has to be doing the howling without speaking a word."

Kirby took her research seriously, even asking a mother-to-be –a total stranger – to allow her to be present in the delivery room at the birth of her son in a north-London hospital. "I remember every single second of it," the actress says emphatically. "I was there, glued to my seat, for seven hours, not even a loo break! I was just amazed, in awe. I saw a woman completely surrender and go on this spiritual journey, which involved indescribable pain, clearly, but also ecstasy. It gave me a whole new respect for women and how powerful they are, and a new empathy for men, because they feel so helpless. And obviously, seeing the baby come out was the most incredible thing in the world I’ve ever seen, by far. After he was born, all of the mother’s colour returned, she looked like an angel, she had a kind of holy glow." Bathetically, it was only then that the couple recognised Kirby. "They were going, 'Oh my God, it’s Princess Margaret! This is so weird!'"

The experience has given her a new philosophy on life, she says. "I was watching the mother go through these contractions, which were excruciating, and the pushing, and then there was a moment of calm, and of expansion. And so, when I’m going through things in my life, I say to myself, this is like a contraction, surrender to it, because there might be something born from it. Sometimes we don’t want that; when we’re feeling something horrible, we want it to pass as far as possible. I’m teaching myself to allow it to be there and not resist or push it away, and that’s because of that woman."

But her character’s storyline also demanded that Kirby understand the experience of stillbirth. A friend introduced her to a woman who had lost her baby Luciana under eerily similar circumstances to those in Martha’s narrative. "She shared everything with me." They have become close friends, and the film’s ending is dedicated to Luciana. Kirby continues to work with Sands, the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death charity, and is voluble in her admiration of the Duchess of Sussex and Chrissy Teigen, both of whom have recently spoken out about their own experiences of miscarriage.

"I feel so close to them and so proud of them for breaking that silence," she says. "Meghan is probably the last person who would feel comfortable sharing her very personal, intimate feelings. It’s that courage that I want to continue to honour. What they’re saying is, if you’ve been through it, we have too, we share your story. I think that makes you feel less lonely. But one in four pregnancies ends in miscarriage, which is far more than I knew about. Society finds it difficult to hold space for that kind of pain."

Her parents, to whom she is very close, have both seen the film and wept throughout, she says. As if on cue, her phone pings, and her eyes soften when she checks the message; it’s a childhood friend who herself miscarried, getting in touch to say how much the film has meant to her.

The integrity of Kirby’s performance has already netted her the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival. "It doesn’t seem real," she says. "I have it in its case – I wouldn’t have it on display, it looks like a football trophy – but occasionally I glance at it and think, 'Did that really happen? Or did I make it up in a weird dream?'" In a similar vein, she is reluctant to engage with the Oscar buzz surrounding her. "I don’t even know when they are," she admits. "My 13-year-old self would have a heart attack. It’s ridiculous, isn’t it!"

Kirby’s other film, The World to Come, is set in mid-19th-century America but touches on the same themes of bereavement and redemption. The central character Abigail, played by Katherine Waterston, has also lost her young daughter, and in her grief, turns away from her husband to have an affair with Tallie, her free-spirited, flame-haired neighbour. "I was glad I was playing Tallie rather than Abigail, because it might have been a bit too much," Kirby confesses – though without giving away spoilers, that role is pretty traumatic too...

The screenplay is taken from the short story of the same name by Jim Shepard, which was inspired by an entry he found in an antique diary: 'My best friend’s moved away, and I don’t know if I’ll ever see her again.' "It was one woman’s voice, like an echo from the past, and we’ll never know who she was," says Kirby. "The World to Come really educated me about what life was like for women not that long ago. They didn’t have a choice about anything they did with their time. You were owned by the house, and the man, and you had no freedom outside that. The best thing about doing this mad job sometimes is having your ignorance illuminated. I gravitate towards things that push beyond my experience, I want to go to places I don’t know, I’m not familiar with."

The experience of making both films has changed her profoundly. "I can’t do anything unless it means something to me now," she says. "It’s a better way to work, because you’re not focused on yourself at all. So maybe I’ll only work once every 10 years!"

To ensure that this is not the case, and in order to find more untold, female-led stories, her ambition is now to set up her own production company. "Even a few years ago, a film about a woman losing a baby would have been unthinkable. There are so many voiceless people, and I have a voice in this industry, and I want to make sure the tribe is represented properly."

It is undeniably awkward, therefore, that her male co-stars in the films, Shia LaBeouf and Casey Affleck, both of whom play violent, abusive husbands, have been called out for their treatment of women. In December, the British singer FKA Twigs filed a lawsuit against LaBeouf, her ex-partner, alleging that he "hurts women. He uses them. He abuses them, both physically and mentally". While LaBeouf largely denied the accusations, he admitted in a statement to The New York Times: "I have a history of hurting the people closest to me. I’m ashamed of that history and am sorry to those I hurt. There is nothing else I can really say."

Meanwhile, Affleck was sued by two female crew members working on his 2010 film I’m Still Here, one of whom accused him of sexual harassment. He denied the allegations, and the lawsuits were settled out of court, but he later told the Associated Press: "I behaved in a way, and I allowed others to behave in a way, that was really unprofessional, and I’m sorry."

Kirby is understandably reluctant to get into any of this. "I can’t comment on a legal case that’s going on in someone’s personal life," she says. "I feel really protective of Pieces, so that’s what I want to speak about. Because it came out at eight this morning, all I can think about is the mothers I spoke to, and wanting them to be my focus. I just know my job is to honour them."

Perhaps counter-intuitively, starring in Pieces has awakened in her the desire for a family of her own. "It’s definitely made me want a baby, for sure," she says; but she hasn’t currently got a partner, having split up from Callum Turner (Frank Churchill in last year’s Emma), whom she met when they co-starred in the 2014 film Queen & Country. "This year has made me think a lot about the home I want to create. I like the idea of inviting someone into a space that’s mine, preferably before I have kids."

In the near future, however, Kirby has nothing on her plate except for getting through a third lockdown. "I’m free as a bird! I’ve read a lot of stuff, and said no to a lot of stuff..." She currently shares a flat in Tooting, south London, with her sister Juliet, an assistant director, and two friends. "I was just about to move out to live on my own in north London – my God, I would have been so lonely! My sister saved me. It was so nice to have routines together. We were trying to take a bit of exercise, cooking together, watching films that made us feel better, drinking wine on Friday nights..."

By now, having circled St James’s Park several times, we are strolling back towards the Corinthia Hotel, where Kirby has a full programme of Zoom interviews lined up for the afternoon. "That’s why I’m so happy to have actually had the chance to go out and meet you in real life," she says enthusiastically. "It’s funny when everything in your life closes down, and you have to sit with yourself, and you suddenly notice all the things you have and you’re grateful for. I hope that feeling never goes away – I will never underestimate how lucky I am."

[rex-shadao]

On this day, Channel Awesome...

Is fundamentally unsalvageable and deader than disco.  A combination of non-apologies, screw-ups and unintentional revelations of bigger scandals (that has essentially sickened many people and shattered pristine images) in response to the document of grievance known as “Not So Awesome”.  As we wait for confirmation of the total demise of Channel Awesome, I would like to give out some thoughts:

Admittedly, I had been aware of their problems since around 2016 (or maybe even 2015, I can’t remember for sure) at least on the TV Tropes’ YMMV page of their anniversary movies, where new additions under Harsher in Hindsight and "Funny Aneurysm" Moment have made mention of grievance by many former CA producers, Phelous in particular.  After all the high praises and acclaim from fans (and TV Tropes pages) of what a cinematic masterpiece To Boldly Flee during the heyday of 2012, it is stunning to hear how the behind the scene production is the antithesis of what the movie was defining itself to be.  I had always thought that these projects were a collaborative effort and that the only trouble are the usual ordeals one might face in a professional film production.  But then again, I was young high schooler at the time and did not work for the film industry at all.

This was also the first time I heard about Mike Michaud and his unpleasant behavior, especially towards women.  Apparently, he was the boss managing things behind the scene of CA, and sounded like a very awful person (almost incomparable until I got back into US politics later that year).  Looking back at it, Michaud was always the perfect scapegoat to avoid confronting a unpleasant possibly: That Doug Walker was not what he made himself to be.  How much did Doug Walker know?  How much he didn’t know?  He was involved or was he kept in the dark?  The early accounts seem to depict to Doug as the least complicit of the head management (keyword: least), but his brother Rob Walker came off as rude and almost as bad as Michaud in regards to his attitude towards Obscura Lupa over mid rolls.  Given that even in videos, Rob seems to be a dominating personality, I was not surprised but disappointed nonetheless by this side of Rob.

However, by this point, I did not find myself as emotionally invested with the new Nostalgia Critic episodes as I had in the past (NC’s comedically over-the-top behavior works best when he’s usually the only person in the room).  Occasionally, I would watch an episode here and there, but only out of curiosity of what opinions he had on certain works (And what obscure works I have not encountered yet).  And while the recent allegations made the Nostalgia Critic videos feel a bit uncomfortable to watch, I was hoping (perhaps beyond hope) that this was all in the past and Channel Awesome had improved by then since I cannot imagine them lasting much longer if these allegations get bigger and the site had not addressed them immediately.

And sure enough, that’s what exactly happened.  Within two-three years, the allegations have exploded into revealing details of what was going on behind the scenes.  For me, it began when noticed one of my followed CA producers, Suede, was talking on Twitter about about Marzgurl and Obscura Lupa’s issues with Channel Awesome.  And then Linkara jumped and talked about in a more direct manner.  Though it started off small like any other Twitter feed chat, I cannot help feel this was going to snowball and land on CA’s face because the topic they are talking about is potentially brand tarnishing if not outright creator killer if got bigger attention.  I did not wish to see CA burn to the ground, so I hoped they know how to address (and apologize) for this scandal.  

But when I read the Twitter feed, it reminded me of how horrible Michaud was as CEO.  And that his personality is not the forgiving type and is unlikely to change.  Additionally, I learned that the Nostalgia Critic is actually owned by him, which means that Doug Walker, even if he wants to leave, can’t take the Nostalgia Critic with him.  And Michaud’s actions tells me he would stupidly destroy the Nostalgia Critic brand out of spite, so Doug threatening to walk out will not have as much of an impact as I would hope it will.  And again, that is if Doug Walker is an innocent performer oblivious to everything around him.  According to the tweets, he was apparently involved with some of the most crucial and cruel decisions made by CA. 

It reminded me of the situation regarding Walt Disney and Disney’s personal attorney, Gunther Lessing, during the Disney Strike.  For many of the Disney workers on strike, Lessing was the worst adversary.  He was an anti-unionist, made a phony in-company union to prevent workers from seeking outside unions, launched a smear campaign over the strikers, insisted that nothing was wrong and encouraged Walt Disney’s worst impulses at his own employees.  Yet despite that, Gunther Lessing was the man who helped Walt Disney (and his brother Roy) climb back on their feet after they lost Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and for that, Disney greatly trusts his attorney moreso than he did with his fellow employee animators.  It is surreal to see parallels between that old event and the current event unfolding faster than I can type.  If Gunther can offer us a lesson to this mess, it’s that CA would most likely dug into their heels, try to make amends (without them conceding anything major) and would eventually accuse the opponents as being greedy opportunists and liars, using the employees that remained as good “counter-argument,” before ever admitting defeat when the money finally comes to pinch them.  And Walt almost never recovered from this spectacle as the media talks about it like it was his downfall (and would have been permanent had Disney not made Cinderella).  This means that Channel Awesome would go into a fiery stage of anger and denial would inevitably backfire on them as it did with Walt.  It increases more attention towards the scandals and, if no recover backup plan is made, likely blacklist Doug and crew in the eyes of the fandom.

And that’s what happens.  Quite frankly, it is astonishing that they’ve ignored everyone’s advice and arrogantly post the replies they did.  It was the easiest and dumbest mistakes anyone amateur could made and they’ve blundered right into unironically.

I have more thoughts on CA, but I think I should wrap it up soon.  Overall, Channel Awesome had the chance to become known as a grand website that pioneered the early online video world and a place where critics and Internet reviewers from across the globe gather together and rise into stardom.  Instead, Channel Awesome shall be remember as a cautionary tale of letting greed, pride and incompetence rule your management, and an embarrassing Old Shame for those who had religiously watched their content in their nostalgia youth as well as the famous reviewers who had their careers started on the website once innocently called “That Guy With The Glasses.”