#that is until i rewatch 2005 and become a mess

[dearausten]

just rewatched pride and prejudice 1995 and i loved it, even more than before! here are some thoughts:

- the best thing about this adaptation is, to me, the performance of jennifer ehle as elizabeth. honestly, she nails everything about her character, in my opinion. from lizzy’s wit and sense of humor to her firm resolution in rejecting darcy the first time and dealing with lady catherine, while also displaying all her conflictimg emotions not only during the whole wickham affair, but also when she found herself longing for darcy’s good opinion (who knows why!). she was absolutely charming and one can’t help but root for her.

- this might be obvious, but i love how it is pretty much the same as the book! it’s very clear that having six episodes worth of screen time instead of two hours as you get in movies played in their favor.

- i love the bennets! i love seeing the sisters interact! i love seeing them in their daily lives and watching their dynamics. i also think they got almost all of the characterizations perfectly. lydia, kitty, mary and mrs. bennet were all on point! however i do feel like they toned down mr. bennet’s flaws and only focused on the funny/sarcastic side of his character. other than that, i liked him too :)

- i’ve seen many people who don’t like this mr. collins but honestly i really enjoyed him. he was ridiculous and absurd, and he annoyed the fuck out of everyone, which is accurate lol. i do wish they’d made him age appropriate bc... that man is not 25 lol. anyways, i actually thought this collins was more accurate than 2005!collins.

- oh, caroline, you sneaky thing! i have nothing to say about her, really. i think she was portrayed very accurately as well. and they included the hursts!

- mr. bingley was good too! love me some golden retriever energy

- and, of course, how could i not talk about colin firth as darcy! he was DISGUSTED to be around common gentry people. he looked like he’d rather hang himself from the ceiling than be in those goddamn social gatherings for one more minute. he was so displeased with everyone and clearly thought they were nothing but a pain in his ass, and i love that lol.

- but OH MY he’s a simp! he can’t stop staring at elizabeth for the life of him. istg he is so fascinated by her. that scene at rosings when lizzy is talking to colonel fitzwilliam and darcy just stared at them while she roasts the fuck out of him????? top tier

- one thing i adored about his performance was just how miserable he looks when she isn’t around! and mind you, this is DARCY we’re talking about.

- the lake scene was great, but CAN WE TALK ABOUT THAT LOOK THEY GAVE EACH OTHER IN THAT ONE SCENE???? YES, THAT LOOK. YALL KNOW WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT. IT MAKES ME WEAKKK

- the ONLY note that i have is that i wish he smiled more, especially when they meet after the letter (but before that too)

- honestly the only bad thing i have to say about this adaptation is that the second proposal felt a little... underwhelming. it’s supposed to be this big emotional moment why do they look like they’re talking about the weather 😭

my conclusion: i’ve worshipped 2005 since the first time i watched but i feel like i’ve just become a 1995 stan, it was just so so good and so faithful to the book. and yes, i finished it two days ago. yes, i’ll be rewatching today.

[trash-bats]

Trash Bat Char's 2023 Spooky Season Movie Marathon

As is tradition for many around this time of year, I try to cram in as many seasonally-appropriate movies as I can starting around September and going til Thanksgiving (Halloween is a 3 month holiday in my mind, leave me alone). I try to mostly watch new-to-me films, with the occasional beloved rewatch thrown in. Movies will be a mix of classic horror, anything involving monsters & creatures of the night (especially vampires because I am nothing if not predictable), and some family-friendly Halloween & autumn romps.

I'll include my personal rating & some brief thoughts, but I'm so bad at rating things so please don't come at me if I give something a whack score, lol. I also track everything on my Letterboxd. I'm always open to suggestions to throw on my future lists!

(updated: 10/12/23)

1. Crimson Peak (2015)

-first-time watch, viewed on Sept. 6th

-70/100; this film was a visual treat, from the set design to the costumes. I craved a little bit more out of the ghosts of the house, but I also get what they were going for.

2. The Vampire Lovers (1970)

-first-time watch, viewed on Sept. 18th

-60/100; this is the third Hammer vampire film I've seen, with Dracula & Dracula A.D. 1972 being a part of last year's marathon. I was definitely invested in getting to see a classic piece of lesbian vampire media, but the plot pacing & the ending left me a bit disappointed. However, Ingrid Pitt was absolutely captivating.

2. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)

-first-time watch, viewed on Sept. 21st

-60/100; first off, loved the claymation. I've been aware of Wallace & Gromit's existence for a long while, but this was my first time actually watching them. There uh, sure were a lot of jokes about """melons"""! It was a pretty ok watch though, got a few chuckles out of me.

4. Blood & Donuts (1995)

-first-time watch, viewed on Sept. 24th

-60/100; the title and premise of this little vampire film intrigued me, but I'm not sure I would call it...good? I was entertained in some capacity. Maybe baffled by the acting & character choices of the cab driver, he was like a mix of Christopher Walken & Tommy Wiseau. A unique little vamp film though. Gains bonus points for usage of Concrete Blonde's "Bloodletting" in a graveyard scene.

5. The Thing (1982)

-first-time watch, viewed on Sept. 30th

-70/100; I know, I know, giving this acclaimed & beloved film only 3 1/2 stars is a crime. I certainly recognize why it's held in such high regard, but I also gotta rate things based on my own personal enjoyment, and I just wasn't super gripped or blown away. And maybe that's a me problem or can change in the future, but I did still like the film! The scene with the guy whose head disconnects from the body & becomes a spider and crawls away genuinely shocked me.

6. Scream (1996)

-first-time watch, viewed on Oct. 3rd

-90/100; This was a very fun watch, and I'm glad I waited until I've seen a lot more horror movies before watching it - a lot of it would have gone totally over my head if I had watched as a teen. I've gotten two Ghostface-related art commissions this month, so it felt only appropriate to watch it myself to "catch the vibe". I might try and watch the first sequel soon.

7. Monster High 2 (2023)

-first-time watch, viewed on Oct. 6th

-50/100; the first musical movie was a mix of being a mess & having fun, and this one was pretty similar. I still don't like the majority of the musical numbers, and I'm still not a fan of how generic the background students are. Live-action non-binary Frankie Stein is still an absolute delight though, and as "mid" as I've found these movies, I REALLY need them to make the third since the plot hook they left at the end of this one implies a Frankie-centric story next time.

8. Coraline (2009)

-re-watch, viewed on Oct. 9th

-90/100; damn it's been over a decade since I last watched this, but I was in love with it when it first came out. Laika stop-motion films are just so, so visually stunning to look at. The way they tackled the topic of emotional neglect & the escapism of wanting a different life than the one you have is just...oof!

9. It Follows (2014)

-re-watch, viewed on Oct. 10th

-80/100; I saw this one in the theaters when it came out, and I remember feeling so unsettled upon leaving the theater and riding with my friends down the dark, empty roads home. Watched it this time with a group of pals on Discord this time around, and I mostly knew what to expect, but the concept & execution still just leaves you feeling uneasy after!

---

Other films I hope to get to this season:

The Ring

The Exorcist

Ginger Snaps

An American Werewolf in London

We Are the Night

Happy Death Day 2 U

The Lost Boys (rewatch)

[yasmini24]

i’ve been thinking and rewatching F4 the way one does, and it’s fascinating how much i’ve missed purely because not a single scene is shot without a clear purpose. the way Thyme reacts when his mother warns him about “not being able to run a tight ship” and how those moments are crucial to his decision to mess with Gorya further, when just the night before he was angry about the methods they used on her.

he’s a fascinating character because on one hand he does what mommy says, but deep down there’s a moral compass that is screaming to be put to good use as we can see through the episodes.

it interests me because of the whole nature vs nurture, and i dare say that every human being has got a conscience, which Gorya taps into—like it’s been waiting to be put into better use.

so excited to see his arc. i have a feeling Thyme won’t play nice for a few episodes and the betrayal will play a big part in his decision to willingly participate in the arranged marriage thingy, that we got the whiff of in the teaser.

OOOOH ANON!!

you make very good points.

everything leads up to another. there are no useless scenes and I love that. whether it's for plot or characterization, it's never wasted time.

thyme is fascinating but his moral compass is crooked. he's aware that he's a jackass but doesn't really care until gorya decides that it was becoming too much. we then see his guilt in episode 2 makeover scene where gorya says he's only doing all of this because he's guilty and he tries to deny it.

if we compare the 1st episode to the 6th episode, thyme has changed (because of gorya) but he still has a long way to go. with the episode 7 trailer, he seems to take a step back from his development and that's because of the ren/gorya hug and drama.

in total, thyme's moral compass is there but it's dependent on others like gorya, HIS MOM and mj/kavin. at least, that's my opinion.

there's also the nature vs. nurture argument. thyme would've turned out completely different if he had been cared for and in a better environment.

actually we kinda see this. he's heavily influenced by his mother. someone who doesn't care about him or what he does in school or how he affects people. it only matters if he stays on top. the dinner scene in episode 1 really shows their dynamic. also, the red card idea comes from her and I truly believe thyme took this idea just to get validation from his mom. we see that part where mj tries to talk him out of gorya's red card and he's considering it but his mom flashes in his mind.

it's going to take a while for him to break free of her influence but when he does, it's gonna be amazing for his character.

yeah I agree with evil thyme coming back but I think it should be for 2 episodes max. I don't think it should be dragged out too long, especially since the show is 16 episodes. also, love triangle shenanigans should be closing at around episode 9 or 10. that also shouldn't be dragged too long but that's my opinion.

the arranged marriage plot...i mean, I don't think thyme would willing agree to it regardless of his status with gorya but i'm ready to cry. it is an important plotline but it's one of my least favorites tbh. I was thinking that the writers wouldn't do it because gorya and thyme are in high school but who am I kidding, it was done in Hana Yori Dango all the way back in 2005 and has been continued ever since. I think that if the writers do it, there would be a tiny timeskip since thyme would graduate first then arranged marriage plot. hopefully, it wouldn't be dragged out like it was in meteor garden 2018 (my detested).

also with all these plotlines that need to be solved or resolved, i'm crossing my fingers that the amnesia plot isn't happening. meteor garden 2018 mocked that plotline and it was honestly one of the better parts of that series.

OK WELL THIS WAS FUN. anon, have a good time reading all of this because i went overboard with my thoughts.

[obsessivedilettante]

20 in 10: A Drama Retrospective

Since I’ve been all quiet on the drama front this year because of life reasons, I thought it would be fun to go back and pick out 20 of the most memorable dramas of the last decade. Maybe not necessarily the best dramas or even my favorites (although some are!), but two dramas each year that were somehow notable moments in my drama-watching timeline.

2009: Gateway Drugs

Boys over Flowers (KBS)

This is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a good drama. It is not one I think I can ever really rewatch (although I will happily revisit the 2005 Japanese version, and I had a hellava fun time watching the latest Chinese version). But! It was the first kdrama I remember watching, and the first step on the slippery slope of eventually becoming a Drama Addict. I mostly remember it being crazy popular on places like mysoju (RIP), and so I checked it out due to curiosity, and the rest, as they say, is history. Or, should I say, almost paaaaradise!

You’re Beautiful (SBS)

This one I also watched because it became crazy-popular online, and curiosity got the better of me. I really didn’t know much about k-pop prior to dramas, so I had no idea until after this drama that k-pop was more about pretty people in crazy fashion, dancing in syncopation in bizarrely lit rooms, rather than playing instruments. Because it was thanks to this drama that I got my crash-course on k-pop as a phenomenon -- both the fandom side, and the crazy things that artists have to go through to claw their way into the public’s view (nevar 4get the glorious ramen dance). Since Angel was a group that played instruments, and Hongki and Yonghwa were also from groups that played instruments, I assumed that all kpop were groups that played instruments. Oh, sweet summer child...

But it did get me started on my k-pop journey, first falling in love with FT Island and CNBLUE, before falling into the rabbit hole of the other prominent groups of the day. (SNSD! The Wonder Girls! Super Junior! DBSK! SS501! Kara! 2PM! 2AM! Shinee! BEG! Epik High! U-KISS! All the debut groups, like 2NE1, MBLAQ, B2ST, 4Minute, f(x), T-ara, After School... basically 2009 was a magical year in k-pop.)

If I had just watched Boys Over Flowers, I don’t know that I would have become a Drama Addict. But You’re Beautiful pushed me closer to the edge, with the zany humor of the Hong Sisters (and the desire for a pig-bunny of my own!). It would really be Coffee Prince that would push me over the edge, but that aired in 2007 so it doesn’t count for this list. But I had to mention it anyway, because, well, it’s Coffee Prince and where my love for Handsome Oppa began.

2010: More Than Candy

The Woman Who Wants To Marry (MBC)

A lot of the dramas I watched at first had that typical “Candy” character, the poor-but-scrappy girl who would somehow be saved by the guy and become the Cinderella she never knew she wanted to be. So it was a delight when I encountered women who were not only older than high-school-age or early twenties, but in their thirties, with rich full lives! Plus, this was one of my earliest introductions to the concept of the “noona romance” (a concept that I’ve since heartily embraced, of course). I started it primarily because Kim Bum was my favorite of the Flower Boys, but I stuck with it because I fell in love with the women (and I still have a girl-crush on Bu-ki).

Harvest Villa (tvn)

This show is insane. But in the good way, the way that the writer intended, and not in the “are a bunch of monkeys typing this script?” train-wreck way. There was basically no buzz about this show, and I feel like I somehow accidentally stumbled over it, but it was love at first sight. I’ve never forgotten the late hours binging it, being so sucked into the story that I absolutely had to finish it as soon as I could, disappointed that there wasn’t more of it to enjoy when I finally finished, bleary-eyed and sleep-deprived, but satisfied.

I then later gobbled down this writer’s next drama, and her next drama, and the next, until everyone else finally realized thanks to Signal that Kim Eun-hee was as amazing a writer as I kept insisting to anyone who would listen (aka no one).

2011: To Binge or Not To Binge?

White Christmas (KBS)

I did not watch White Christmas in 2011. I actually watched it in 2013. I was always a steadfast binger, preferring to wait until the buzz about a show would sway me into spending my precious free-time watching something that would be worth my while (not that my drama choices were always good, but at least I tried to avoid the duds). I still prefer to binge, since waiting weeks for new episodes is vaguely frustrating when I want to know what happens next, right now! Plus, I’m very good at forgetting that I’m watching a show in the week-long wait for new episodes, and then just... never picking it back up again.

Despite watching White Christmas a couple years after it aired, it remains one of my favorites, and one I love to rewatch, even though I’ve already experienced  whodunnit cliff-hangers and psychological rollercoasters. It became a tradition of sorts here on tumblr for a bunch of us to rewatch it over the holiday season -- alas, I haven’t joined in that tradition for the past couple of years, but I hope that somewhere in this blue hell hole that there are a loyal few keeping the tradition alive.

At least we have this drama to thank for bringing us all the model-actors that were new and clueless in White Christmas, but would later go on to be leading men in their own right. Of course, some of them haven’t exactly made the best drama choices (*cough*SungJoon*cough*), but then there are others (*cough*SooHyuk*cough*) that I’m impatiently waiting for to pick up a new drama so I can see those post-army abs.

Tree With Deep Roots (SBS)

This is the first drama that I recall live-watching. I vaguely remember regretting it at the time, since it was agony waiting for new episodes, but it was also fun to have a week to speculate and ponder the show. And what a beautiful show to ponder! This was also one of the few sageuks I actually watched, being generally intimidated by anything longer than 16-20 episodes, and my historical knowledge was a little shaky (before embracing my inner nerd and diving into mundane historical stuff just so I could better understand whatever drama I was watching at the time).

I don’t think I intended to continue live-watching shows, preferring the ease of binging at my own pace and schedule. But that was when I was still a casual, innocent addict, and not someone who would eventually make dramas a huge part of her life.

2012: The Joy of Overthinking

Gaksital (KBS)

Having had a taste of live-watching, I started to live-watch enough dramas to the point where I began to make notes about the premiere weeks. It was only a couple at a time, and binging was still my preferred way to watch, but now I was delighting in being part of the fandom, sharing in speculation each week, posting my thoughts on dramas and analyzing them to my heart’s content -- even though I knew no one except me would read my ridiculous essays.

But I started to feel more comfortable sharing my opinion with the world, interacting with fandom and not merely content to be a consumer, but gradually becoming a producer as well.

Reply 1997 (tvN)

This is it. This is when I went full-on Drama Addict. This is the tipping point from casual fan who quietly kept to herself, to becoming someone who stood on the mountain top yelling about ALL THE DRAMAS ALL THE TIME. I began to interact with other fans! To swap theories and share squee-worthy moments! I even watched episodes RAW just because of how desperate I was to know what happened, and even though the Busan accent stumped me more than once, it made me realize that my casual study of Korean was something to take seriously since I understood more than I gave myself credit for.

It was also the first time any post I made got more than a handful of notes, since I’d mostly hovered in the “less than 10 notes per post” category at the time. I was so proud of myself back then!

(This drama also notably marks the start of my Hoya obsession, which continues to this day.)

2013: Tumblr Friends (and Foes)

Flower Boy Next Door (tvN)

Having made myself comfortable on tumblr as a Drama Addict, I then discovered some other dedicated fans -- many of which I still follow to this day and who are now just a permanent part of my dash, no matter what their current interests may be -- in the FBND squad.

But I also discovered Kim Seul-gi as the Webtoon Editor (who I still love and adore and continue to use as my avatar), and her adorable romance with Dong-hoon remains one of my forever OTPs. As much as I enjoyed the drama romances, I’d never fallen so deeply for one to be so obsessed by it as I was Webtoon Editor and Dong-hoon. And tbh I still am. They’re just so adorable and pragmatic and she buys him a bag. Ugh. I love her so much, you guys.

Heirs (SBS)

Ah, yes. This hot mess.

I don’t know what possessed me to live-blog each episode. But I did. With snarky commentary and terrible screencaps. And suddenly I went from maybe 200 followers to over a 1000. That was a total shock! I met a lot of people because of that (and made some friends, as well as a few enemies who didn’t appreciate my opinion of certain characters), and ensconced myself as part of the drama-blogging crew.

It was from this that someone suggested I apply to be a minion at Dramabeans. Back then, I had a lot more free time than I do now, and I was watching a lot of dramas that Dramabeans didn’t cover, and wished they did so I could read more opinions about those shows. So I thought, “Eh, why not? It can’t hurt to submit something because the worst that would happen is I’d waste their time making them read my take on episode 10 of Let’s Eat.”

I fully expected them to turn me down. No one was more surprised than I was when I found myself agreeing to dive into the world of recapping.

2014: It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times

Trot Lovers (KBS)

Recapping. It seems so easy when you’re reading the recaps. But actually creating them is a bitch. Hours out of my life were spent on this disaster of a trope-laden show with no plot. This was the third show I worked on for Dramabeans, and I hated it to the point where I seriously considered handing in my notice. (Immediately following up this show with the mediocre My Secret Hotel certainly didn’t help matters!)

However, it turns out that what I actually hated was being forced to watch a terrible rom-com and pretend to come up with insightful-or-at-least-neutral thoughts about it (since we were still new and couldn’t go full-on snark yet).

Misaeng (tvN)

This is what saved me. Being given the chance to immerse myself in such a unique, ponderous, thoughtful show restored my faith in dramas and the drama community. I loved spending hours on this show, soaking up all the little details, and then sharing that love with the world.

Misaeng made dramas magical again.

2015: Fight Me

Valid Love (tvN)

Realizing that I only seemed to enjoy rom-coms at arm-length, I discovered that my tastes often ran counter to the general drama-viewing public. Not all the drama-viewing public -- I’m not a “not like other fans” kind of fan -- but enough that I began to realize the whether a drama was popular or had good buzz was not necessarily the primary reason to watch it.

I began to have more faith in my own taste, based on past experiences with various writers and directors. Even if the premise (or first couple of episodes) seemed kind of weird and out-there, I at least wanted to give these artists the benefit of the doubt that I would enjoy their work, like I had previously.

So many people seemed to hate Valid Love, but I adored it. Still do (and still desperately wish Kim Do-woo would come out with a new drama -- it has been too long, writer-nim!). There were a lot of opinions about this show, even among people who seemed to enjoy it, but I vividly recall having to repeatedly insist that it wasn’t about the romance and argue that  the knee-jerk infidelity-is-BAD opinions should make space for something more nuanced.

Ho-gu’s Love (tvN)

DramaFever was a pretty great site. It brought together so many drama fans and gave them a place where they could legally (and without fear of downloading random viruses) watch dramas to their heart’s content. Yes, there may have been some lingering resentment that they were the primary reason that so many amazing other sites were shut down (RIP mysoju and daebaeksubs), but dramas were more accessible than ever!

Eventually, DramaFever started to sub shows themselves and upload them weekly (instead of just using fansubs and uploading older dramas), and while they weren’t the best translations, they were at least better than machine translations from the Chinese subs. As I became more and more familiar with Korean, I found myself more likely to migrate to Viki since I liked the extra detailed translations. I could get the gist of a show without any help -- I wanted to instead delve into the nitty-gritty of the language.

But I never really hated DramaFever or felt they were particularly awful. Until they mistranslated something so terribly that it changed the entire meaning of a scene and ruined people’s perception of a drama, forcing me to continually defend the true translation.

That was the molehill I died on that day, and never again did I touch DramaFever. I feel bad that it eventually got unceremoniously shuttered. But I don’t think I’ll ever forgive them for the “condom” incident.

2016: Free Solo

Dear My Friends (tvN)

For two years I’d been happily working on one episode a week, sharing a show with someone else, until I was asked if I’d like to tackle a show by myself. I wasn’t sure how I could handle it, but I had the time in my schedule so I said, “Sure, why not?”

I was originally going to recap Another Oh Hae-young, but there was a last-minute switcheroo, and I’m so incredibly glad because this is perhaps my favorite recapping experience of all time, even more so than Misaeng. There was something so special about the luxury of having an entire show to myself, especially one with such a fantastic cast of characters and thoughtful themes. I didn’t have to try and figure out if I agreed with another person’s take -- it could all be my opinion.

Is that arrogant? Perhaps. But it was also therapeutic, as it reminded me once again how incredible and amazing dramas could be, and the privilege I had to share such an exquisite and thought-provoking drama with the rest of the world.

The Good Wife (tvN)

Surprisingly, this was what I had really wanted to recap that year, and the true reason I got Dear My Friends, since it aired just prior in the same time-slot as The Good Wife. I was desperate to have this show, willing to do anything to get it because I needed to see Jeon Do-yeon back on the small screen, to see Yoo Ji-tae smolder, to know how Korea would adapt such an ambitious show.

And I wasn’t disappointed! This is, perhaps, my favorite adaption of another work of art that I’ve seen in dramaland. It remained true to Korean sensibilities, but it also properly felt like The Good Wife. The cast was phenomenal. The costumes were exquisite. I wished I could spend more time in that world.

But I was also thankful, because without The Good Wife, I would have never have had Dear My Friends. 

2017: Serial-Killers Are Cool

Voice (OCN)

I can’t remember how I got assigned to this. Maybe it was a scheduling thing. I do know that I really, really wanted it, since it would be Handsome Oppa’s first drama appearance in three years.

But it started me down a road of recapping a lot of serious and serial-killer-centric shows. Except for the times when I’d beg for a break and tackle something lighter, I was generally assigned the darker mystery shows with meaty plots, since apparently I had a knack for condensing complicated shows into something that made sense. (Also literally darker, and I eventually learned to automatically brighten every screencap I posted. You’re welcome.)

Not only did I love working on something with Handsome Oppa, I also had fun recapping the start of what would eventually become OCN’s stock-in-trade -- creepy serial killers. At the time, Voice shattered OCN’s viewer ratings (which would then be shattered again and again as more people would tune in to OCN shows). But Voice really helped put OCN on the viewership map -- as well as catapult Handsome Oppa into the public eye and lead him to a path of getting to choose whatever script he wanted to work on.

(Okay, maybe I made that last bit up, but he did begin to garner a larger following and remind everyone that just because he was gone from dramaland for so long, he hadn’t lost his acting chops -- or charisma -- or cheekbones.)

Black (OCN)

Oh, this show. It was basically my whole life while it was airing (well, the non-day-job part of my life). Each episode was over an hour long and jam-packed full of details that were pertinent to the story, and I had to somehow condense that all into 3000 words or less (I was not always, ah, successful...). It felt like I was back in recapping bootcamp, but the dial had been turned up to 11.

I’m weirdly proud of what I produced (although you’ll never get me to reread my old work). It was one of the most challenging shows to work on, but in the good way, not the Trot Lovers way.

Until the ending, that is. Sigh. That ending will live in infamy. I still, to this day, will get a few comments on the finale from people who watched it on Netflix, went searching online for an explanation of the end, and then discovered that they were not alone in being confused by the utter wtf-ery of the last twenty minutes.

2018: Fighting For My Love

Misty (JTBC)

So, Dramabeans kind of disappeared for a few months. Well, the site was still live. There were a handful of recaps. But... it basically just... stopped. 

Those of us on the other side know about as you do as to why that happened. Minions are kept in the dark just as much as anybody, it seems. All we knew is that we weren’t being assigned anything and we seriously wondered if the site was going under, since adsense has become worthless these days.

But Mary and I kept talking about how much we adored Misty and were sad that we couldn’t talk about it with the world (and convince them to watch it with us), so we pleaded and begged and got the go-ahead to do a kind of chatty “open thread” which has apparently been a spring-board format for other shows. We didn’t get paid for this, and we were totally fine with that. We just wanted to provide some kind of content (while swooning over Kim Nam-joo’s pantsuits!).

Let’s Eat 3 (tvN)

This was my first real assignment after the dead period, and I once again got to do full recaps (with pay!). I started watching, thinking I’d merely tolerate the show (since I loved the first season vastly more than the second season), but it turned out to be my favorite of the three. Plus it felt fortuitous that the series I had submitted my application would be a series I’d work on four years later.

Sometimes it’s nice to spend time with a character you met years ago, to see them grow, to see how they became what they became. Drama trends (and love interests) will come and go, but Goo Dae-young’s love of food (and love of explaining the proper way to eat food) will never change. It was a really comforting drama for me to spend my summer on, and I’ll remember it fondly, even if I’m forever sad that it had to suddenly wrap-up two episodes early.

2019: Ten Years Later

Item (MBC)

This was the Trot Lovers of 2019. It was a nonsensical disaster.

I also had the added chaos of my real-life job -- one very different from the one I had when I was working on Trot Lovers -- as it began to increase exponentially in responsibilities and in stress. I reached a breaking point where I began to hate opening my computer where I’d have to spend hours attempting to explain a show that I wanted nothing to do with. I was miserable and depressed and couldn’t do it anymore. I never before asked to be taken off a show because I hated it so much, but there’s a first for everything.

Her Private Life (tvN)

I actually haven’t finished this show -- I’ve yet to watch the last two episodes. But I’m including it because, well, I didn’t finish any other show in 2019 except for Item.

As some of you may know, this has been a difficult year. It started with the unexpected stress of my job, when we suddenly lost one of our directors who passed away, and another director was let go (in a complicated situation that is ongoing, but the important thing is that it was during our busiest time when we really couldn’t afford to lose anyone), and another director left for a different job and I was basically the one to pick up all the pieces she left behind. It was exhausting and we were all past the breaking point but somehow miraculously holding it together.

I was looking forward to finally getting a much-needed vacation in September, and then, well, you all know how that went: the first night, on our layover in New Zealand before what was supposed to be three weeks in Australia, my father was taken to the hospital, and then, two days later, he passed away. Life has gotten even more chaotic and stressful and bizarre since then.

So no, I haven’t finished this drama, but it was one of the most wonderful moments of the year for me, watching this fizzy rom-com with my favorite actor, where he got to be charming and handsome and charismatic and finally kiss the girl he loves and have her love him back (and not die or be dumped, as he had been in so many dramas that had gone before). Lion Oppa was everything my heart could desire, and living in his world helped me endure the insanity that I wish I’d known would seem so much more tolerable than what would eventually befall.

Her Private Life reminded me of when I first fell in love with dramas ten years ago, when I would giggle and be delighted by the charming nonsense on screen -- of beautiful people falling in love and fighting against the obstacles between them (some more ridiculous than others, perhaps, but there are always obstacles), and ending up happily ever after. Pure escapism, of the frothiest kind.

A Drama-filled Decade

So, after ten years of dramas, what is the takeaway? What have I learned?

I suppose I’ve learned to trust my instincts and put more faith in writers and directors than actors. That analyzing dramas is fun, and it’s even more fun sharing it with others, and sometimes even more fun if you get paid to do it -- but everyone eventually reaches a breaking point. That I’m too earnest and optimistic to embrace a life of snark. That I want every drama to be good but most of them aren’t, except sometimes they are. That I’m not even sure which genres are my favorite; I just know what I don’t like.

That dramas are best as escapism, and not as work.

I don’t know how many dramas I’ll watch in 2020. I haven’t paid any attention to what’s airing, and I’m okay with that. Perhaps I’m entering a new phase in my life, or perhaps I just don’t have the capacity to escape right now.

But I am pleased to have had dramas in my life, and to have eventually made them my hobby. I’ve met a lot of amazing people and made some genuine friends through a shared love of dramas (or, at times, a shared hatred). I’m honored that all of you are still here and following me, even during this period of fandom silence.

May 2020 treat us all better, and may Kim Do-woo finally write another script.

[watchingspn-blog]

spn rewatch | wendigo

I’m gonna be real upfront right now. This episode scared the piss out of me when I first saw it. I’m sorry but a crazy fast, perfect hunter who can move faster than you can blink and eats human flesh to survive and can mimic a person’s voice to lure you to them?! I WAS TERRIFIED! It didn’t help that I had just moved into our new house, which is on five acres of land with about four of those acres being nothing but woods. But, for real, I know some of the effects aren’t as good as they could be by today’s standards but I actually loved and was terrified of this episode the first time I saw it, which kind of amped up the scary factor from the pilot for me. 

Okay, here we go. 

So as if we needed to further cement that this is taking place in glorious 2005, you’ve got two guys playing games on their Nintendo DS’s (RIP pre-Glee Cory Monteith, the only person who could’ve competed with Jared vertically) and then Tommy recording a video on his Blackberry, somehow magically having it perfectly level with his face despite not being able to see the screen as he records. Like seriously that’s the supernatural activity they should be investigating.

Okay but so some of the wendio effects later in the episode are not so great but in this first scene, I think they made some pretty solid choices of just relying on the whole concept of “less is more” and giving mostly scary sounds and rustling trees and making you more afraid of what could be in the forest than creating a scary visual to throw at you right off the bat. Solid scary intro scene. 

The cemetery scene. Totally classic shoutout to Carrie. I had just gotten into Stephen King when I started watching Supernatural (honestly I was delving into all kinds of horror themed things at the time) and I’d seen Carrie for the first time not too long before this. Which means not only was I super scared by the jump scare (because I’m still jumpy as fuck to this day), I was also SUPER proud of myself for knowing what they were trying to reference there. I definitely thought I was cool for getting that one. Now, not so much. But the scene still makes me jump. 

I really do like the ways they’re kind of trying to establish how the brothers care for each other. Like you know right off the bat in the pilot that their relationship is rough at best and that there’s some pretty obvious toxic masculinity on Dean’s part at least but like you can still see that Dean’s concerned. He’s got his own way of showing it but he’s worried about his little brother. 

Side note: just remember that they both had a seriously messed up childhood and the fact that either of them are as close to normal as they are is impressive. Like I think all things considered, they’re pretty well adjusted. Kind of. 

This episode is kind of outside the norm compared to future episodes with how Sam and Dean both handle the case when they first get to town. The fact that Sam just wants to go straight to the coordinates John left them while Dean’s the one saying “maybe we should do a little research first” is bizarro. But it also kind of helps show just where Sam’s mind is at at this point. He’s not coming to this as a hunter taking on a case, he’s a man with a vendetta and the next step he needs to take is finding John. He’s fueled by anger and grief and guilt and that kind of reflects when he seems less concerned about what’s going on in the woods and more interested in just getting out there ASAP.

Okay, just like they couldn’t pass as US Marshals, the guys seriously do not look like park rangers at all. Like you guys aren’t even trying come on. And good on Haley for being suspicious even if she did seem to buy into their story for a bit. 

BABY HAN SOLO! 

I totally did not realize that was Alden Ehrenreich playing Ben until I saw his name on screen at the beginning of the episode. He looks so so so young in this ohmygod. Also think I’ll need to keep a list of like all the crazy celeb cameos of people who got famous after being on the show. Or were already famous but I totally forgot popped up. 

For our next super underrated guest star scene of the series, Shaw - the old man who’s parents were taken by a “grizzly” back when he was a kiddo in 1959. 

Like seriously, it’s one scene but Donnelly Rhodes (RIP) does an amazing job with the scene and like it kind of leaves me with chills whenever he says that whatever it was didn’t break down the door but unlocked it. Like that’s still hella spooky to me. Also, I still don’t totally understand why the wendigo left him behind. Like you’d think for a monster that is going to have a big ass meal before hibernation would want as much meat as possible. Like yeah a little kid wouldn’t much but he’d be something right?

Also that’s a gnarly scar like how did he survive that.

So Dean talks about it being possibly a skinwalker or a black dog but like looking into what those both actually are I honestly don’t understand why he would think that based on what they know about the attacks. Like black dogs are death omens and skinwalkers wouldn’t be able to do the kind of damage that’s being done considering everyone’s just like “oh it’s a grizzly”. So like I dunno, I guess this might’ve been the writers tossing out references to other creatures to make it sound like Dean knows a bunch but like neither of those would be my first guesses for this case.

Kind of just like “early installment weirdness” but whatever. It’s not a big deal, just me nitpicking.

Okay so Roy is kind of a jackass but like he knows what he’s doing for the most part and he totally doesn’t buy the guys story about beng park rangers for one minute. So like I can respect that. And like if it would’ve been an actual animal attacking people, he might’ve survived but oh well. 

I do like that Haley just goes ahead and calls bullshit on the park rangers story before they even go on their adventure but Dean’s whole “it's probably the most honest I've ever been with a woman...ever.” is just kind of cringey. 

So all the traipsing through the woods and the “I’m smarter than you” staredown between Roy and Sam is not super interesting but I do like that 1 - we get to see Sam being angry and being emotional in a more volatile way because that’s not often the case as the show goes on - and 2 - we get our iconic line of “saving people, hunting things, the family business” and the whole idea that they’re not supposed to meet up with John but do the jobs he doesn’t have time for while he’s hunting for the demon that killed Mary. 

I don’t think I really realized why John would leave them coordinates and the journal when he didn’t plan on actually meeting up with them when I watched this as a kid. I just kind of shrugged it off as like a necessary plot device for the show to progress, didn’t really see it as anything with a deeper meaning. And I think it’s fair that you can’t read too much into after an episode and a half because there’s so much that we don’t know yet about the boys and John and their story and all of that. But like looking at it with the knowledge of their lives and everything, it’s a lot heavier moment to me. Maybe I’m just reading too much into it. 

Okay so the rest of the episode is just encounter monster, piss off monster, get kidnapped by monster, track monster, kill monster. Kind of standard, not super exciting like there’s not a lot to talk about. Dean with his molotov cocktails is kind of fantastic. 

The trail of M&Ms is fun and yes better than breadcrumbs. Sam immediately becoming invested in killing the monster once Dean’s been taken gives me all kinds of feels because I love when these two go into protective brother mode. And Dean all banged up with bruises and cuts and dirt is a look I probably shouldn’t like as much as I do but that’s a conversation for another day. 

The wendigo does look a little cheesy when you get better glimpses of it because early 00s special effects so it’s definitely for the best they keep things pretty shadowy for the end of the episode. Not the worst looking monster of season one and still scary enough, to me at least. 

So this is the episode that seems to start the trend that if there’s a girl involved and her life gets saved by the Winchesters, one of them is going to flirt with her and get some kind of physical affection before they leave town. It doesn’t happen every episode but it happens enough that 26 year old me is rolling my eyes. 14 year old me had no issues with Sam and Dean getting smooches because look at them. But now I’m kind of like this seems a little unnecessary but whatever. It’s not the worst instance and all in all, I actually really liked Haley. I liked the whole Collins family. They were some solid guest characters and I feel like the scenes where Sam and Dean are interacting with them individually does a good job of kind of fleshing out their characters a bit more. It gives a chance for some necessary exposition without feeling too forced. 

All in all, solid episode. Scary monster, intensified my fear of the woods, gave some good scenes, iconic lines. Does it have some cheesy moments? Yes. Is it the best episode of the series? No. Does it still scare me when I watch it? 100%.

BODY COUNT: 3 humans (Brad, Gary, Roy); 1 wendigo (our first corporeal monster - also like I’m curious about who the wendigo was before it changed, like how long has it been in the wilderness, how did it wind up at Blackwater Ridge, how it wound up this far west)

RATING: 7.5/10 - yep, I’ll say it. I think this episode is better than the pilot. Not by much but the characters feel a little closer to who they become throughout season one and I feel like you get a better feel for them than we did in the pilot. Also the wendigo scares me more than Sarah Shahi in a sexy nightgown I’m just saying.  

[precuredaily]

Precure Day 067

Episode: Futari wa Precure Max Heart 17 - “What to do? A worried Honoka’s research presentation” Date watched: 19 August 2019 Original air date: 29 May 2005 Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/DnwGbk0

science!

Episode 15 was Hikari-centric, 16 was Nagisa-centric, now it’s time for a Honoka-centric episode! In my extremely biased opinion that makes it better by default. Even without my biases though, it’s a good episode. Let’s dig in!

Much like episode 13 of the first series, it’s about the science expo and while it makes it appear that it’s going to tread the same ground, it actually ends up going in a very different direction that shows us Honoka’s vulnerable side. She presents the science club with two choices of projects they can work on for the annual science competition: a continuation of their mini-Earth project from last year, or an all-new subject. Honoka really wants the club to pick something they’re passionate about, but in so doing she removes herself from the equation (no pun intended). The club members vote in favor of the mini Earth because that’s what won the previous year and they feel that they now have a reputation to uphold. However, nobody’s heart is in it, and Honoka is having difficulty rallying her club members to work on a project she isn’t very invested in either. Yuriko realizes before Honoka does that the club needs Honoka���s leadership and Honoka can’t lead if she doesn’t like the topic, so she suggests that they change it. Honoka is reluctant at first and starts to question why she even joined the science club, but after talking with Nagisa, Hikari, and Akane she realizes how much fun she has trying new things, so the next day she gives a speech to the club about changing the topic of their experiment. She’s met with some hesitation, but she reminds everybody that they’ve become so caught up in trying to win that they’ve lost sight of their own enjoyment and love for science. I love this a lot because while Honoka's lack of assertiveness and struggles with leadership have both come up before, we haven’t seen them combined in this way. Watching her realize how the process is more important than the outcome, with a little help from her friends, is extremely satisfying.

One key thing that fuels Honoka’s self-realization is a gadget she made for Akane’s stand, a handheld ordering device called the Handy.

Buy it now, only 3500 yen!

Okay so yes, it’s obviously a toy plug, kinda like the Rainbow Love Checker from last season, but they manage to make this slightly more relevant to the plot at least. Hikari brings it out to gush about it and it reminds Honoka of how much she loves just tinkering and making new discoveries, which is what convinces her to go with the Garbage and Us theme after all. They also come up with a good way to integrate it into the plot later on as well, Honoka mentions that it uses the same frequency as the remote control for their project. You can probably see where this is going. During a Zakenna attack, the remote gets destroyed. Honoka doesn’t realize this until it’s almost time for the club to make their presentation. Yuriko remembers that the Handy is on the same frequency and darts back to Akane’s shop via bicycle to borrow it, and she returns to the presentation hall with the Handy in the nick of time. The only hitch is that, somehow, the device projects pictures of the cafe’s menu items instead of whatever their slideshow is supposed to show, and an embarrassed Honoka has to toggle through a few slides of food to get to their presentation. How did they get there? Who cares, comedy!

Over in the dark mansion, Hikaru is just staring out the window. The butlers are worried about him and bring this up to Circulas, Uraganos, and Viblis. Since they don’t know what effect the stimulation of the outside world will have on his development, they say to keep him inside for now. Meanwhile Uraganos stomps off to mess with the Precures. At this point I should note his running gag: he’s kind of stupid, usually misinterprets the other warriors’ remarks as having to do with him, and always walks away mid-conversation (or mid-exposition). He ends up attacking Honoka and Yuriko with a trash Zakenna as they rush to get to their presentation. Yuriko passes out from shock, Nagisa and Hikari show up because their mascots told them something was up, they fight and win. I’m beginning to catch on to another trend: the girls scolding the villains for showing up at inopportune times. Which is most times. They’re bad guys, are they supposed to care about your personal lives? I mean yeah it sucks but at the same time, they always remark that it’s none of their business what the girls are doing, they want them eradicated anyway. I don’t want them eradicated but I do understand the sentiment.

Speaking of Yuriko, I just want to spotlight her appearing for the first time in a while. I like her, I wish she showed up more regularly. We know less about her than Shiho and Rina, which saddens me because Honoka’s friends deserve love too.

There’s some great use of background music in this episode for setting the mood. That piano instrumental of the ending theme plays while Honoka is feeling melancholy, that song is particularly good at these scenes. The last time I remember it standing out was in episode.... 8? The conclusion of Akane’s mysterious suitor storyline. It’s used for a slightly more sad effect here but it’s versatile.

I’m kind of struggling to think of things to say here I’ll admit, while I started writing this shortly after watching, it’s been on hold for a few days and I watched episodes 18 and 19 in the meantime to keep up. I’ve forgotten some details and don’t have time for a proper rewatch or a full skim. When I go back to collect screenshots I’ll probably add some more thoughts, and I’ll make a note of it on the status blog. Until/unless that happens, I’ll wrap it up here. Next time, camping!

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: uh.... taking a raincheck on this one.

[spryfilm]

“King Arthur: Legend of the Sword” (2017)

Action

Running Time: 126 minutes

Written & Directed by: Guy Ritchie

Featuring: Charlie Hunnam, Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey, Djimon Hounsou, Aidan Gillen, Jude Law and Eric Bana

King Arthur: “I’m not getting drawn into this mess! There’s an army of you, there’s only one of me! I’ll talk, I’m happy to talk. But there is NO WAY that I am fighting.”

Either Guy Ritchie is the perfect choice for yet another visit to the world of the Arthurian legend or he is the absolute worst – it really depends on which Ritchie shows up, and how well he treats the source material. I have never had a solid opinion on Ritchie’s work, he seems to either hit in a major way or completely miss the central idea of what he may have been after in any of his movies. This has widely chaotic results, he burst on the scene with the drug/heist film about four mates in “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” (1998), which not only launched Ritchie, but also became a calling card for the inimitable Jason Statham, producer (who can also direct) Matthew Vaughn, as well as re-launching Dexter Fletcher (who is also a hell of a director in his own right). From there he has hit the highs with “Snatch” (2000), “Sherlock Holmes” (2009 – 2011), as well the lows “Revolver” (2005) and the much maligned “Swept Away” (2002). His last movie “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” (2015) failed to make an impression but I thought it was very good with strength in the casting; something Ritchie has always been able to mange extremely well in every single one of his movies.

This movie begins with the young Arthur (Charlie Hunnam) who runs the back streets of Londinium with his crew, unaware of his royal lineage until he draws the sword Excalibur from the stone. Instantly confronted by the sword’s influence, Arthur is forced to decide when to become involved with his power. Throwing in with the Resistance and an enigmatic young woman (Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey), he must learn to master the sword, face down his demons, unite the people to defeat the tyrant Vortigern (Jude Law) — who murdered his parents and stole his crown — and become king.

This film has had a long trip to the big screen, it was delayed by at least a year, this being blamed on scheduling but I think it may have been because the tone was not found in its initial edit – something all of the trailers have yet to nail down. Was this going to be a blokey action movie or something more serious, akin to the legend we know? Was this going to be a departure from previous scattershot frenetically paced Ritchie films or more of a steady still camera action/drama? In my opinion it has a mixed tone which makes it very messy, the language is inconsistent, some of the actors are in a completely different film and the some of the huge special effects are messy and shaky to say the least.

The cast that has been assembled for this Arthurian outing is one you would expect to see in any Guy Ritchie movie with the addition of the American transplanted English television star (“Sons of Anarchy” (2008-2014)) Charlie Hunnam, who has yet to prove himself as a big screen presence. Hunnam you can tell really has given himself over to the role, which you have to if you are going to play a part that by its very nature is epic as well as having quite a large literary as well as cinematic history. What Ritchie has done is to give Hunnam some great supporting actors, starting with Eric Bana as his father, Uther Pendragon, who while not in the film much sets up the strong bloodline that Arthur has to follow. The antagonist of the movie is the always-underrated Jude Law as Vortigern who plays the usurper of the movie who wants to hold power and dominion over all. Rounding out the experienced cast is the reliable Djimon Hounsou playing one of the key figures, Bedivere, as well as “Game of Thrones” (2011 – present) actor Aidan Gillen as Bill – it is a shame Gillen has become primarily known for the role of Littlefinger as it disregards all the incredible work he has done over the past three decades. For me the highlight was relative newcomer Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey, as the Mage that help Arthur figure out who he is as well as training him to wield the sword, Excalibur.

With a film set that is set in medieval Britain the look was always going to be a key component and Ritchie has wisely utilized John Mathieson as his cinematographer fresh off working with the director on “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” (2015) remake. Mathieson also brings all of the experience of working with Ridley Scott for years, in particular the look of “Gladiator” (2000) is used n this film to illustrate the grit and grime of the time period. Unfortunately as i have said the entire film is let down by shoddy effects work as well as some uneven set work. Not only that i found some of the costuming to be baffling, Hunnam at times looked like a World War II pilot shot down over France – it was very odd.

The last time I watched an Arthurian movie was the widely panned Antoine Fuqua film “King Arthur” (2004), which I have grown to quite like, with its odd cast that have all become massive in their own right. That film was pre-legend and involved Romans as well as Vikings, which was as historically accurate as any of the similar movies made. The last time I actually loved an Arthurian tale was the always rewatchable “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” (1975) which serves as the ultimate touchstone to the legend – all the elements are there with some fine singing, dancing and ridiculous Frenchmen. If only this movie had some of the charm of those outings this would be a really enjoyable movie, but like Ritchie’s worse outings this one has very little charm so another missed opportunity for Arthur and his gang.

This was supposed to be the first of a few films but judging from the reaction and the box office that will not be happening, so we don’t have even half of the characters that should make an appearance, they were all apparently held back for possible sequels – which now just seems like poor decision making and planning on Ritchie and Warner’s part. The movie is full of the tropes you come to expect but this is added to with a ‘Lock Stock’ feel that seems out of place in what was to be an epic feel – Ritchie should have either made the ‘bloke who becomes King’ or a huge ‘Lord of the Rings’ type adventure, but not a mix of both.

If you like Hunnam or a blokey geezer film that looks like a cheap “Game of Thrones” rip off then this will be for you, otherwise maybe just watch “The Battle of the Bastards” again if you want a rough medieval feel.

“King Arthur: Legend of the Sword” is out now on DVD & Blu-ray.

DVD & Blu-ray review: “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword” (2017) “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword” (2017) Action Running Time: 126 minutes Written & Directed by: Guy Ritchie…

[spryfilm]

“King Arthur: Legend of the Sword” (2017)

Action

Running Time: 126 minutes

Written by: Guy Ritchie

Directed by: Guy Ritchie

Featuring: Charlie Hunnam, Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey, Djimon Hounsou, Aidan Gillen, Jude Law and Eric Bana

King Arthur: “I’m not getting drawn into this mess! There’s an army of you, there’s only one of me! I’ll talk, I’m happy to talk. But there is NO WAY that I am fighting.”

Either Guy Ritchie is the perfect choice for yet another visit to the world of the Arthurian legend or he is the absolute worst – it really depends on which Ritchie shows up, and how well he treats the source material. I have never had a solid opinion on Ritchie’s work, he seems to either hit in a major way or completely miss the central idea of what he may have been after in any of his movies. This has widely chaotic results, he burst on the scene with the drug/heist film about four mates in “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” (1998), which not only launched Ritchie, but also became a calling card for the inimitable Jason Statham, producer (who can also direct) Matthew Vaughn, as well as re-launching Dexter Fletcher (who is also a hell of a director in his own right). From there he has hit the highs with “Snatch” (2000), “Sherlock Holmes” (2009 – 2011), as well the lows “Revolver” (2005) and the much maligned “Swept Away” (2002). His last movie “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” (2015) failed to make an impression but I thought it was very good with strength in the casting; something Ritchie has always been able to mange extremely well in every single one of his movies.

This movie begins with the young Arthur (Charlie Hunnam) who runs the back streets of Londinium with his crew, unaware of his royal lineage until he draws the sword Excalibur from the stone. Instantly confronted by the sword’s influence, Arthur is forced to decide when to become involved with his power. Throwing in with the Resistance and an enigmatic young woman (Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey), he must learn to master the sword, face down his demons, unite the people to defeat the tyrant Vortigern (Jude Law) — who murdered his parents and stole his crown — and become king.

This film has had a long trip to the big screen, it was delayed by at least a year, this being blamed on scheduling but I think it may have been because the tone was not found in its initial edit – something all of the trailers have yet to nail down. Was this going to be a blokey action movie or something more serious, akin to the legend we know? Was this going to be a departure from previous scattershot frenetically paced Ritchie films or more of a steady still camera action/drama? In my opinion it has a mixed tone which makes it very messy, the language is inconsistent, some of the actors are in a completely different film and the some of the huge special effects are messy and shaky to say the least.

The cast that has been assembled for this Arthurian outing is one you would expect to see in any Guy Ritchie movie with the addition of the American transplanted English television star (“Sons of Anarchy” (2008-2014)) Charlie Hunnam, who has yet to prove himself as a big screen presence. Hunnam you can tell really has given himself over to the role, which you have to if you are going to play a part that by its very nature is epic as well as having quite a large literary as well as cinematic history. What Ritchie has done is to give Hunnam some great supporting actors, starting with Eric Bana as his father, Uther Pendragon, who while not in the film much sets up the strong bloodline that Arthur has to follow. The antagonist of the movie is the always-underrated Jude Law as Vortigern who plays the usurper of the movie who wants to hold power and dominion over all. Rounding out the experienced cast is the reliable Djimon Hounsou playing one of the key figures, Bedivere, as well as “Game of Thrones” (2011 – present) actor Aidan Gillen as Bill – it is a shame Gillen has become primarily known for the role of Littlefinger as it disregards all the incredible work he has done over the past three decades. For me the highlight was relative newcomer Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey, as the Mage that help Arthur figure out who he is as well as training him to wield the sword, Excalibur.

With a film set that is set in medieval Britain the look was always going to be a key component and Ritchie has wisely utilized John Mathieson as his cinematographer fresh off working with the director on “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” (2015) remake. Mathieson also brings all of the experience of working with Ridley Scott for years, in particular the look of “Gladiator” (2000) is used n this film to illustrate the grit and grime of the time period. Unfortunately as i have said the entire film is let down by shoddy effects work as well as some uneven set work. Not only that i found some of the costuming to be baffling, Hunnam at times looked like a World War II pilot shot down over France – it was very odd.

The last time I watched an Arthurian movie was the widely panned Antoine Fuqua film “King Arthur” (2004), which I have grown to quite like, with its odd cast that have all become massive in their own right. That film was pre-legend and involved Romans as well as Vikings, which was as historically accurate as any of the similar movies made. The last time I actually loved an Arthurian tale was the always rewatchable “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” (1975) which serves as the ultimate touchstone to the legend – all the elements are there with some fine singing, dancing and ridiculous Frenchmen. If only this movie had some of the charm of those outings this would be a really enjoyable movie, but like Ritchie’s worse outings this one has very little charm so another missed opportunity for Arthur and his gang.

This was supposed to be the first of a few films but judging from the reaction and the box office that will not be happening, so we don’t have even half of the characters that should make an appearance, they were all apparently held back for possible sequels – which now just seems like poor decision making and planning on Ritchie and Warner’s part. The movie is full of the tropes you come to expect but this is added to with a ‘Lock Stock’ feel that seems out of place in what was to be an epic feel – Ritchie should have either made the ‘bloke who becomes King’ or a huge ‘Lord of the Rings’ type adventure, but not a mix of both.

If you like Hunnam or a blokey geezer film that looks like a cheap “Game of Thrones” rip off then this will be for you, otherwise maybe just watch “The Battle of the Bastards” again if you want a rough medieval feel.

“King Arthur: Legend of the Sword” (2017) is out this week only in theatres.

Film review: “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword” (2017) “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword” (2017) Action Running Time: 126 minutes Written by: Guy Ritchie…