#style zorro

[murdrballad]

catherine

[vintage-tigre]

Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones in The Mask of Zorro (1998)

[aragarna]

Renata Notni and Miguel Bernardeau as Lolita Marquez and Diego de la Vega in Zorro (2024, 1x01)

requested by Anon.

[abuddyforeveryseason]

I dunno... talk about a small head.

Still, not bad, all things considered. I've been trying to draw stuff that looks more modern, with lighter penstrokes and a style that's a big closer to cartoon animation than to vintage comic and manga art.

I guess that stuff is more popular because comics and manga no longer have the limitations of printing technology that prevented the art from looking rougher and more dynamic - and avoided the "rubber stamp" look of thick lines and square panels.

But because so much of what I read is from that early era, I got used to it - or, even if it's a modern book, it's going for a nostalgic look like that.

But I'm tired of superheroes, anyway. This is the first summer in a long ass time I won't be watching any new Marvel movies. And, although it's understandable that people are sick of it, it's kind of a shame because it was interesting watching that type of worldbuilding evolvnig every year - and it was something that was carefully constructed, too.

Of course, in a way, what happened to Marvel movies is the same thing that happened to Marvel comics - they kept trying to keep things from stagnating and ended up with something that no longer had the charm of the early stuff.

And it doesn't help that a lot of older people were complaining about superhero franchises killing cinema. Although, really, the only real superhero franchise is the MCU. DC tried to copy the model with the Snyder movies, but those never really got a lot of traction, and the good DC movies were the ones that tossed the franchise idea out the window.

In many ways, the movies I'm excited about nowadays aren't so much part of a shared universe, but ones released by the same production companies - A24, Blumhouse, 2AM, Miramax, Focus and whatnot.

But, I still think that, 20 years from now, people will miss the Marvel model. It was fun going to the movies to see how the story developed, must've been what it was like to go watch Republic serials every month, like my grandpa used to do when he was a kid.

He was a big fan of Zorro Rides Again. They'd release one chapter a month, through the whole year, and kids would buy a ticket to "the movies" to check it out - meaning, they'd get a ticket to see five different things, running on a loop: A newsreel, a cartoon, an episode of the serial, an A-movie and a B-movie.

Must've made for quite an outing. It's hard to imagine, now, that anyone would have the time (or the patience) to be in a movie theater for like five freaking hours to see the whole thing. And it was really cheap, too.

But, lest I also turn into another of those old guys complaining about kids these days and their short attention spans, I'll just remind everyone that they can watch all those episodes at once, for free, thanks to the magic of Public Domain:

[nataliatan31]

Pls -w-??

[swordsovereign]

seofon vc idk why people dont flock to me i even have a cute accent?

[gnot-art]

Me: I’m going to draw all the different canids as anthro furries.

We all know I’m not going to get through all of them, but here is a short/small-eared dog/fox. :: Atelocynus microtis ::

FUN FACT

>> Short-eared dogs are partially equatic and have slightly webbed feet.

DId one like a ‘normal’ colour and the other more interesting.

[samuelroukin]

“aw izzy can be silly now too” did you guys not see the daddy scene. or “i’ve got some friends in there” abt the nose jar. or cutting up steve’s shirt zorro style. getting between ed’s legs to unsuccessfully help him down and then getting mad. when he got bonked with a sandwich??

[erzva]

⟡ how they kiss you ⸜⸜ luffy zorro sanji law ace

luffy

he’s very forceful, sudden and impatient. however still very passionate

a lot of cheek kisses

like he just loves kissing your cheek. he kisses your cheeks first before making out with you or kissing your lips. he often comes in to hug you from the side so your cheek is what’s facing him and since he wastes no time he kisses the first thing in sight. he also really likes the feeling of his lips digging into your soft plump cheeks

since he’s impulsive he often kisses you without a warning at random times. just whenever he feels like it really. which is often

sure he also knows how to time it properly and do it in fitting situations . but most of the time it’s very random bc he just gets the desire to make out with you a little

when he‘s bored he always goes to you to kill time. he‘ll start by clinging onto you and whining about how bored he is until he peppers your face with kisses before he takes your face into his hands to make out with you and feel your tongue against his. a lot of times he wants to take it even further and have sex so he‘ll drag you into his chambers after making out with you for a bit

he’s a very out of sight out of mind person so when he suddenly remembers that the two of you are together and that he has a s/o he gets excited and starts looking for you to kiss or hug you

zoro

he’s gentle slow and passionate

a lot of neck kisses

he never had a s/o and never really wanted one. his main goal is his swordsman rank. so he’s very inexperienced in the whole relationship field. you were his first everything and taught him all the things he wasn’t magically good at

he developed his own kissing style pretty quickly

he hates pda and only likes getting touchy in private

don’t expect him to have too high of a libido. he’s still very much focused on training and becoming the best

however he is really into foreplay. he likes getting all touchy and groping you when you’re in his chambers and

he’s a chronic cuddler and loves holding you captive during naps. when he’s sleepy and groggy after naps he always holds onto you and has to be touching you in some way. he doesn’t care if other ppl see in this instance. the rest of the crew has seen him slouching and holding onto your shirt with one arm while you’re leaving his chambers more than they can count

a/n : forgot this was about kissing and not hugging let me get back on track

his favorite thing to do is definitively making out. because you can decide when to stop and it doesn’t have to last too long. not as long as sex does. it’s perfect to him. it’s fun and sensual and nasty and it doesn’t take half an hour

when nobody’s looking or you’re kinda further away from the rest of the crew he’ll pull you into a kiss.

making out with him out in the open usually lasts a couple minutes

when you’re alone and he knows you’re probably not gonna get interrupted he makes out with you a lot longer

sanji

he’s passionate and forceful bc he just can’t get enough of you

a lot of forehead kisses

he loves pda. he loves showing you off and having other ppl see that you’re taken.

he often gives you little kisses throughout the day. like when he’s done making something delicious for you, after he hands you the plate he’ll kiss your forehead. or when you’re off somewhere with nami and robin and he passes by you, he comes up from behind and tilts your head back so he can kiss your forehead or lips.

also the type to kiss your hands a lot. like when you’re playing a card game with the crew for example and you’re sitting next to each other he’ll take your free hand and kiss it

or kissing your lower leg, not just during sex when you’re in your back and he’s taking off your panties but also during the day when you’re sunbathing for example. he’ll stand above you and lift your leg up to kiss it before he works his way up by kissing your stomach, chest and neck. he loves licking and kissing you when you’re sunbathing and sweating. he just loves your smell and taste

just constant displays of affection throughout the day

law

slow, gentle and shy

a lot of hand kisses

he has a thing for hands and he loves yours. loves kissing them, holding them, or having them around his dick. he prefers hand jobs over blow jobs

hates pda more than anything. don’t expect him to be all up on you when there’s ppl around or when there could be ppl around any second

he saves the clinginess for when you’re alone. then you can expect him to be all up on you. seriously when you’re in his chambers he doesn’t let go of you. clings to you like a panda. he’s just really touch and live starved and needs your attention all the time.

he loves having you sit on his lap or vice versa and switching between making out with you and hugging you

ace

fast and gentle yet forceful. it’s just the right pressure

a lot of neck kisses

loves pda more than anything. he’s very insecure about his worth so he needs other ppl to see that you’re with him. that he’s the one you love and chose to be with.

he’s often standing behind you with his head buried in your neck just pressing light butterfly kisses on your delicate skin. unless ofc he’s marking it up and bruising it. he doesn’t care if there’s another person talking to you or even him.

he loves seeing you covered in love bites in places where they’re visible to everyone. also in places where only he sees them

he’s a bit possessive..

…

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Gale Sondergaard (The Cat and the Canary, The Mark of Zorro)—She is so deliciously sinister in the Cat and the Canary it’s hilarious and ridiculous and she’s so gorgeous too! Incredible performance

Joan Crawford (Dancing Lady, Mildred Pierce, The Women)— God, where do I start!!! Her face is so UNIQUE and compelling and stands out so much. I love her thick brows and high cheekbones. She has a school-marmy hardness too her that makes her a little scary and therefore sexy. Her low thick voice also does it for me. Despite being an unusual looking woman with an unusual face, she never loses her glamour. Just a gorgeous talented actress, AND she was some sort of gay!!!

This is round 1 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Joan Crawford propaganda:

I just love women that are very mean.

she was a smoke show in every decade, from the 20s to the 60s.

The classic matronly beauty with amazing eyebrows

of course there's a space for MILF joan but i want to just take a second and say she was so cute in her early movies (like grand hotel and the women)! those parts often get forgotten but her stardom shines in them just as much as in her older #queen #icon roles

Misremembered for wire hanger hatred, this original screen queen mastered the art of the comeback and refused to let Hollywood toss her aside as she aged. The term “auteur” is usually revered for directors or writer-directors, but most critics have one actor they’ll give that title to as well: Crawford—anyone who knows classic movies already has a “Crawford picture” in their head. She knew how to style herself and promote herself. She made herself a star and kept herself fixated in the Hollywood firmament. What’s hotter than knowing just how hot you are?

(don’t think about Mommie Dearest right now) Joan was known for being super nice to all the like crew of the movies she worked on and she’d get everyone gifts. Joan would hold movie nights at her house and knit at the back of her home theater. Joan was sooo obsessed with other women including Greta Garbo, whos dressing room she would obsessively and purposefully walk by. She said that while working on Grand Hotel, Garbo grabbed her face and “if there ever was a time in my life where I would’ve been a lesbian, that was it.” But like Joan also probably did sleep with women including Barbara Stanwyck. Joan was so obsessed with Bette Davis, screening multiple movies of hers in a day at her watch party, constantly trying to spend time with her or do a movie together, insisting on the dressing room next to hers at Warners and sending her daily gifts… etc. Once Bette said that sex was gods joke to humanity and Joan said “I think the joke is on her.” Joan fucked a lot. Joan got caught publicly fucking a man and sent a letter to the woman who saw them basically saying “I bet it excited you” and the woman was like you know what. It did. Joan was best friends with a gay man. Joan was an actually genuinely good actress even though people mocked her a lot for being like cheap and stupid (partially because she never finished school because her family was broke). Joan was so insane and so cool that’s all.

[plantsjustwannahavefun]

The most hilarious thing to come out of S2 so far is rereading all of my favourite Izzy fics and realising how they got Izzy's motivations and character arc so right but literally everything else about him so wrong.

Fanon Izzy: "Poor little meow meow is so repressed, he has no social skills, doesn't know what fun is, has never relaxed a day in his life, probably doesn't even drink, has no clue just how hot the rest of the crew find him, and when he finds out he's gonna freak out, they'll have to slowly and gently teach him how to enjoy his sexuality and laugh a little (or give him some hardcore BDSM sex just so he can calm down a little), can't handle storms, also has IBS."

Canon Izzy: Struts around the ship like an absolute slut, slaps a man on the ass with a smile on his face, steals another man's cigarette and puts back to his lips, has numerous cool and fun hobbies like whittling and practicing artsy homoerotic candle swordplay while shirtless, sits with his feet up on the table (well, foot...sorry), recites ominous warnings for sheer fun even though he doesn't believe them, eats a raw fucking seagull, drinks several bottles of rum right after losing litres of blood and still stays conscious and somewhat coherent, probably does drugs too (just not right after massacring a wedding), carries out some masterful precision target shooting in the middle of a storm after having just almost died, not only knows what an 👌 is but unironically uses it too.

Tbf some of it was some rapid character growth that started in S2, but let's be honest, the roots have always been there, I mean this is the man who slashed his name into a man's shirt Zorro style to strategically rip it open. I love my fellow Izzy fans but we have all collectively underestimated what he's been capable of all along.

[gavalaa]

Sketches of all my redone designs for my Phantom Thieves from my AU, Icarus! Lots of info down below on the cut, so if you want to know more about the details and inspiration, feel free to keep reading!

This includes Akechi’s design for his Princely/Robin Hood attire, BEFORE his Icarus attire you might have seen from my other posts! Check out the Icarus AU tag for more info! Icarus has a main focus on Akechi and his relationship to the thieves, but the AU is actually an entire rewrite with new designs, 3rd semester and epilogue/strikers/tactica stories, hence Zenkichi and Sophia’s inclusion.

Read below for individual info:

I decided to include more motifs towards their persona’s and general vibes; and also just my own personal touches haha.

AKIRA - Not much has changed, I really like his design overall. I raised his boots to be like Arsene’s and changed his neck area.

MORGANA - I hate the OG pill shaped head, his new design is based heavily on the shape of Palico’s from Monster Hunter. Added a little more nod to Zorro/His persona motifs and also just made him cuter! Little hamburger headed cat.

RYUJI - I made him a little bulkier and gave some more weight to his outfit overall. I gave him heavier boots and a slightly buffer build to relate back more to his sporty style.

ANN - honestly was never too big on her latex outfit, I wanted to call back to a personal favorite female lead; Christine Daae, and used one of the versions of her Don Juan costume as inspiration. I remember seeing Phantom live and in many stage versions of her character, the Don Juan scene was a pure moment of female control, and she was truly working the Phantom and controlling every movement on the stage. Her presence is commanding, and I thought it was a very fitting tribute to Ann’s character as feminine strength. (I’m absolutely not referring to the movie iteration of Daae btw.)

YUSUKE - I referred to some historical art and legend of Goemon to add more elements of design to his outfit. When I color them, I want to add some really strong pops of color to his clothing to really drive the aesthetics and artistry home.

MAKOTO - Another totally redid outfit, I opted to give her a design which relates back to Popess Joan, and also Anat. I gave her a clawed hand on her right side and an uncovered hand on her left as both a nod to Anat’s hand raised in iconography of her from art history, but also to show the duality of Anat’s title as both a goddess of war, and of love. It also relates to the mythology of Joan and her nature as both a leader and a martyr. I changed her mask to a Venetian Commedia mask as well.

FUTABA - ok. I’ll be honest. I never liked her skin-tight outfit, it just doesn’t match her personality at all. Also, the high tech Egyptian feel never really sold me. I totally understand the tomb thing, but I truthfully think a dungeon/palace which was more like… tech/nerd themed would have been much more “futaba” the inspiration for this new outfit relates back to her persona, the Necromomicon, as well as her nerdy personality, and her affiliation as Alibaba (Ali Baba.) I wanted to go more lovecraftian, long sleeves and patterning designed to look more like lovecraftian tendrils, and big baggy pants and her classic shoes to match. The patterning on her undershirt will resemble a rib cage, both as a reference to her deathly “tomb” iconography, but also to Lovecraftian and Necronomicon lore. I think she matches the description of a nerdy, techie DND dungeon master more than the initial outfit, so that’s the route I took personally.

HARU - relating back to some fashions from 17th c France, where Milady’s story (the three musketeers) takes place, I kept her design relatively similar. I just gave her a little more iconography relating to the three musketeers and that general timeframe.

AKECHI - in his pre-Icarus outfit, I’ve given him a princely sort of outfit befitting of his two faced nature, and edited it to relate to Robin Hood a little more. I tried to keep it sleek and just generally very concealing and layered.

SUMIRE - i gave her some iconography relating back to one of her personas, who is an inference to Freya. I also included some more nods to classic Cinderella, with fantasy gown elements. Overall, relatively similar.

ZENKICHI - again, relatively similar, I really like his outfit. I just opened up the face some to show more personality and spiced up the outfit generally to keep it matching. honestly, les mis/Valjean was a hard one, but I also think his character could be heavily related back to Edmond Dante (Monte Cristo.) so I gave some nods to that as well.

SOPHIA - I turned her into a FINGIE!!!! I made her whole dress as a nod to her persona/to pandora’s tiles around her/the pillars. I wanted to make her small and almost unnatural since she’s an AI, and I thought having a little guy on the team would add some more variation.

[howtofightwrite]

Sorry if this has been answered before. Would it be possible to have a character who learns how to use a sword skillfully in less than a few years (if taught by an expert)? If not, what are some alternatives for a protagonist who needs to learn swordfighting for plot reasons?

Yes, but...

So, this is a little harder to answer than it initially sounds, because there's a few extra things to consider.

I'm going to spitball this, but I suspect you could get someone up to speed with a sword in a few months, probably less than that, depending on how much time they spent training, and how seriously they committed to it.

The issue is, combat training isn't (usually) about getting to baseline proficiency, it's about being more effective than your opponent. So, if your character spent a couple years learning to fight with a sword, and they're taking on soldiers or other characters who didn't spent that much time training, or learning, they'll probably have an advantage. If they're training to go after an enemy swordmaster who spent decades matching wits and blades with their expert mentor, their skills not going to be sufficient. (Though, to be fair, if someone spent most of those two years in intense training, their skills would be pretty formidable.)

One exception here is that soldiers are often trained to proficiency, and nothing further. It doesn't mean they're not dangerous, and their ability to work together can quickly turn them into an insurmountable threat for your character, but, you're not going to be finding a lot of swordmasters mixed in with the rank and file infantry, even if they've spent longer training.

Combat experience is (generally) more valuable than training. So, if your character's been practicing to use their skills, but never been in a real fight, that's going to hamper them. Now, it's likely that their mentor would be fully aware of that, and those years of training should probably include some practical experience of some variety.

It's also likely that if your characters is engaged in intense training for that long, there may be other skills getting mixed in, to give them a better combat base. It's hard to say exactly what those skills would be, though depending on the setting it may include things like armor, or the use of alternative weapons such as daggers and cloaks. (I realize, we haven't talked about this in a moment, but a heavy cloak can be an extremely effective parrying tool when dueling, particularly against light blades like the epee or rapier. Once the blade is wrapped in a heavy fabric or leather, it can take a bit of effort to get it free again. It's not a huge detriment, but it will leave the sword's owner without the use of their weapon for a few critical moments, which is the perfect time to end them.)

Of course, if you're training a Zorro style pseudo-superhero, then things like acrobatics and (anachronistic) parkour are also options.

Depending on the era you're going for (particularly 17th and 18th century) do not overlook the effectiveness of opening a fight by pumping a musket ball into your opponent. Early, smooth-bore, pistols weren't particularly accurate at range, and were downright anemic in comparison to modern bullets, but it will still seriously mess up an unarmored fighter. Similarly, in a situation like that, your character would have to be pretty careful about not getting shot. It certainly doesn't invalidate the sword (that would come later with repeating firearms), but it will make their life a lot more perilous. (Read: interesting.)

So, could someone take a couple years to train with a sword? Yeah, absolutely, and if they committed to it, and had a good instructor, they could come out the other side of that with some fairly significant skills, and as a legitimate threat.

-Starke

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[tossawary]

I've been thinking a lot about DCU stuff and Ace Attorney thoughts got mixed in by accident, because it's got a lot of the same themed, colorful character designs and silly pun names. So, of course, I started immediately daydreaming about a DCU-style Superhero AU for Ace Attorney. (I often do not fully control what I think about.)

And then I was like, "I think I just finally have to play Ace Attorney at this point, before I get stuck in a weird daydream loop because I don't know enough about the plot to worldbuild properly. I will let this be the final push to just start these games."

Based on my extremely limited knowledge (I have only actually played 2 episodes of the first game), here are my Superhero AU thoughts so far. I don't like 1-1 character role match-ups in general when I fuse worlds, so none of these AA characters are fully aligned with any particular DCU character.

Phoenix Wright would make a good speedster, I think. This is partially because of the spiky hair, but also because there's a terrible irony to being the fastest man in the world who keeps being too late to stop certain tragedies. It also suits the way he's apparently never properly prepared for anything but also quickly manages to pull through. He's probably still a defense attorney in his civilian identity. (In accordance with later games, he has to stop being a superhero for several years when he's framed for a crime.)

Besides Phoenix's mentor Mia, who is also both a superhero and a lawyer, ordinary civilian Larry Butz is the only person who initially knows that Phoenix has superpowers. He honestly hasn't told anyone Phoenix's secret identity! But Larry also somehow gets into more scrapes and "damsel in distress" situations than Lois Lane and he's not even an investigative reporter.

Mia Fey, Maya Fey, and Pearl Fey have a Shazam situation, I think, in which they transform into a "Mystic Champion" magically empowered by the ghosts of their ancestors. Like a Shazam & Danny Phantom fusion. Mia Fey was the first in her family to become a publicly known superhero. A lot of people don't know that it's not the original Mystic Champion (same face and same superpowered form as Mia, which breaks Phoenix's heart a little every time) until Maya or Pearl transforms back into a regular girl after the fight is over.

I think Miles Edgeworth is a Batman type hero, but one still partially ensnared by Manfred von Karma, who is his Ra's al Ghul. (This makes Franziska into Talia, but there is definitely nothing romantic there.) Maybe he does have superpowers of some kind, maybe not, and he could still potentially be a prosecutor. He doesn't have a Brucie persona, though. Phoenix is not impressed by Edgeworth's harsh and even cruel approach to vigilante work. (Steel Samurai was Miles' Gray Ghost or Zorro hero inspiration, I'm guessing.)

Gumshoe is Miles' Commissioner Gordon figure and doesn't know his secret identity yet. He's either going to learn in the middle of a really bad situation or he's just going to straight-up figure it out himself one day and scare the hell out of Miles.

I'm still thinking about characters like Kristoph and Klavier Gavin, Apollo Justice, and Trucy Wright, but I don't know enough about them to fully flesh these thoughts out yet. I think the Gavins would make good Kryptonian equivalents (a cold and calculating Superman and a rockstar Supergirl), Apollo might make a good Wonder Girl equivalent (his bracelet becomes a Lasso of Truth) as the lost son of an Amazon, and Trucy would obviously be fun as a Zatanna type of hero.

[thatscarletflycatcher]

Top 5 movies set in the present and top 5 period films :)

Hi!!! I got this ask and forgot every movie I have ever loved (and will probably remember them all as soon as I hit post). It also reminded me painfully of how inadequate my cinephile culture is; there are so many classics that I'm almost certain I will love if I watch them and that would deserve the spotlight so much!

So let's make these lists about interesting movies that I think are good as movies, and not think much if they are truly The BestTM. I'm also omitting Austen and other adaptations I already talk too much about.

"Contemporary films" (set in the present is a complicated concept. I'm picking them as "the narrative happens sometime contemporary to the movie's original release date"):

5. Music & Lyrics (2007):

This is technically a romantic comedy, but its strength relies on its love for music, its humor about the music industry, and a take on 80s nostalgia that is neither surrendered idealization nor complete mockery. It's one of the few movies where I actually like Hugh Grant, and the score is so well done! My one gripe really is that I think the movie would have been so much better if the leads have remained platonic? Sometimes I like to pretend they did.

4. Dead Man Walking (1995):

This is one of those serious, controversial movies professors pick for university discussions, in this case, the one about the death penalty. The movie tries (and I believe succeeds) to address without "solving" or dismissing the relationship between our horror at heinous crimes, justice for the victims and their pain, and the value of all human lives. Susan Sarandon is as always majestic in this one.

3. National Treasure (2004):

Tumblr loves National Treasure, but I love it specifically because to me it somehow captures the thrill, the exotic mystery (without gross Orientalization!) AND the nonsense of a classic Jules Verne novel -and Verne was one of the staples of my childhood- in a way that no Verne movie adaptation I have ever watched manages to capture.

2. State of Play (2009):

This one is mostly an excuse to cheat, because while the movie is a very solid political thriller (you know, one of those "you might enjoy even if you are not a fan of the genre), the original British TV series it is adapting is better. And both have great casts (Russell Crowe is probably more solid than Cal Macaffrey on the same role, but David Morrissey does a much better job than Ben Affleck. So, it goes both ways, you see).

Hot Fuzz (2007):

I have heard this one being called "the most intelligent stupid comedy ever made", and honestly, fitting description. I have joked before about this being my comfort movie and how funny that is because it is the gory story of a police officer being kicked out of his beloved job and sent into a town where everyone mocks and gaslights him and then the back end of the movie is a non-stop action sequence... but, listen, it is funny, it is, somehow, heart warming, you can tell everyone is having a ball, the editing is amazing, the pacing is just right, so many set ups and they all pay off, the story is satisfying, the characters -specially the main lead- are likeable, and their arcs also satisfying.

Period films:

5. Oscar (1991):

This is a very silly comedy set in the 30s, adapted from a play and you can tell, but it is a riot, and in my opinion one of the best Stallone roles ever. It makes me wish he had done more comedies in this style. It also has the always charming Marisa Tomei and the always welcome Tim Curry.

4. The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain (1995)

Another instance of a movie where Hugh Grant does not annoy me, it's basically what says in the tin and the right kind of thing if you enjoy the typical British period drama of beautiful landscape, small town shenanigans and restrained romance.

3. The Mask of Zorro (1998):

Much of what I said about National Treasure applies here, except that it is not at all silly, and it has many moments of great pathos besides being a really good adventure/superhero movie.

2. To Walk Invisible (2016):

This is a biopic of the Brontë sisters, just covering their peak years of authorial activity, to trace a portrait of their personalities and life situation. While my knowledge of Bronteana is not super extensive, from the little I have read of them in general, plus Elizabeth Gaskell's The Life of Charlotte Brontë, I feel like this was carefully and lovingly done, without heavy editorializing or overdramatization (I'm staring at you, Emily (2022)), or pitting the sisters against each other. There's a scene of Emily reciting her poetry to Anne in the moors that just got me in the feels.

Master and Commander: the Far Side of the World (2003)

There are few genres I'm as disinterested in as war epics, and few movies I love as much as I love Master and Commander.

It was harmed by coming out the same year as The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, but it is, and what I'm going to say will sound blasphemous to some, the better movie of the two. It is a war epic, and a slice of life film. It's the story of a friendship between two very different men and the tensions their personalities and job at sea bring. The cast is top notch, down to child actors. Some of the production details are insane. They made rope specifically for this film because the way modern rope is turned doesn't fit well with old rigging techniques. The cast spent many days together at sea learning the basics of how to manage the ship and work in their ranks and the way sailors and officers would relate to each other. The immersion this all creates is also insane. The sound design was marvelous as well, and the score truly inspired (I want to kiss the person who picked Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis as one of the main features of a 2000s movie adapting a 20th century novel about the Napoleonic Wars, the same way 19th-20th century Ralph Vaughan Williams picked up a tune by a 16th century composer to do his thing, to establish this thematic connection between past and present and the ways we look at and make History).

If you watch only one movie on this list, watch this one. It's worth it.

Ask me my top5/top10 anything!