#the movie dialogue I used is a bit spoiler-y I guess? and maybe the scene that the drawing is possibly one | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

themand0lorian · 3 years ago

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BEHIND THE MASK // 3 // SOCIAL DISTANCING

Summary: You get to see a different side of Dieter Bravo.

Pairing: Dieter Bravo x F!Reader (no Y/N)

Rating: Teen

Words: ~5100 (AO3)

Tags: enemies to lovers, miscommunications, lots of Pandemic talk, Reader gets sick so lots of mention of illness/vomit/pills/doctors, the real Dieter Bravo™️

no movie spoilers (unless unintentional)

Notes: Had to make up some scenes/dialogue for Cliff Beasts as well as Dieter’s backstory, so assume none of it is real. But I used some lines from recent promos, see if you can spot them :)

Bravo does not show up back on set in ten. Or twenty, or thirty. By forty, Nick insists you go look for him, and you trudge back down dutifully, not quite ready to face him after your blow ups. You let yourself into his suite; he’s dressed and ready, and for once, not looking at his phone. He’s just staring at his hands in his lap, twiddling his thumbs, barely registering your presence.

“Mr. Bravo?” you ask gently, and he startles to attention. You can practically see his shift in demeanor, painting the douchebag picture once again as he stands, but it feels half-hearted.

“Sorry, sweetheart—I lost track of time.” You nod, watching as he gathers his things in silence and then making your way upstairs with him. The tension between you is thick, and you fight your better judgement to break the silence.

“I’m sorry I overstepped, Mr. Bravo.” “You didn’t,” he replies smally. “I needed to hear it.” You nod, not expecting an apology from him, and you don’t get one; but you still hold your breath when he turns to you to speak. “Sweetheart? If—if you want to leave, you can. I know this isn’t what you signed up for.” You look up at him, stopped on the stairs below entering the set.

“I don’t leave when things get hard, Mr. Bravo.” He nods, accepting the answer. You suppose it would be easier for him if you left, too, and you don’t want to give him the satisfaction.

“Maybe we could start over?”

“Okay, Mr. Bravo,” you agree tentatively, still awaiting an apology you know you won’t get.

“Would you call me Dieter?”

“Sure, Mr. Bravo. Whatever you want,” you sigh, appeasing him, and he only nods, masking his own disappointment as he turns to set. He promptly turns on the Dieter Bravo façade you’ve come to expect, schmoozing with the first woman he sees—a boom operator--while you deflate out of sight.

They end up finishing up relatively quickly, Hailey trying to communicate with wide eyes when Dieter approaches you where you sit with the other PAs, waiting quietly until you’re finished to lead him back downstairs. He trails behind you a bit, and you think you may have punched the wind out of his sails too much, but before you can even leave the floor, the boom operator from earlier is slipping into his room, and you leave with a roll of your eyes.

Hailey is waiting for you at your door, hands full of Pete’s cookies and mouth full of questions. What happened, what you said, what he said; you had never been fully forthcoming about your relationship with each other, or things he said to you, but they all spill out now, like some kind of reverent confession. By the end, you’re exhausted, sprawled horizontally on the bed and full of cookies. Hailey lays next to you, hand intertwined.

“He doesn’t know who he’s messing with, sweetie.” “I know,” you sigh. “I just—I don’t know.” Hailey waits quietly for you to expand. “Sometimes I get tired of being the bad guy, you know? The ‘ball buster.’” You can practically feel her roll her eyes. “It’s just—It would be nice to feel wanted. Appreciated. Cared about.”

“Well, I care about you,” Hailey interjects.

“I know. I just—it’s hard to explain I guess. I’ll never look like you. I’ll never be pretty enough, or smart enough, or good enough to him. And I don’t know why I care, I just—”

“It’s dehumanizing,” Hailey offers, and you nod solemnly, not making eye contact. “I guess now you know why so many of his PAs have quit.”

“I’m not going to do that,” you offer smally. “I just—I’ll suffer through it. I have so far, I can continue.”

“You don’t think he changed after today? He certainly looked pitiful.”

“He didn’t even say sorry, Hail. I apologized, and when it was his turn he just—gave me another demand. I’ll never be anything more to him than a servant.” She hums, but you both go quiet. The endless cookies you ate are starting to get to you, the heavy weight of all your issues making your head pound. You end up saying goodnight early, skipping crew dinner entirely to go to bed, hoping to turn off your brain.

Despite the extra sleep, you feel awful the next day. Your last virus test came back negative, so you figure it’s probably just the stress—and the diet of cookies and coffee—and soldier on, ready to start the day like usual. You’re surprised when you walk in to find Dieter’s quarters neatened up; not quite clean, but dishes are put in the sink, and there isn’t much for you to wipe down. You figure the maids had made it in before you today. You notice only one wine glass, but decide not to dwell on it, figuring you’ll see the boom operator sooner or later anyway. You pull the wardrobe for the day, pin the schedule up—then your eyes land on the tabletop. The script is open on top, some notes scribbled in the margins. Looking closer, it seems like the scenes are on deck for today. Maybe you did get to him.

When Dieter emerges from his cave, you’re almost surprised a woman isn’t following behind him. He’s still disheveled from sleep, but he wears normal glasses instead of his usual sunglasses, overall seeming a bit brighter and more clear-headed than usual. He actually greets you with a curt “good morning,” walking to the coffee pot, and you watch in awe.

“You okay?” You must have been spacing out too long, caught in your own thoughts, and you nod quickly.

“Yeah, yeah—tired I guess.” You quickly finish up what you were doing before heading for the door, the hair and makeup team on their way in; Dieter even greets them. “I’ll see you on set--”

“In 30?” He finishes.

“In 30,” you confirm, leaving him to his morning.

The boom operator gives Dieter a dirty look when he enters set, looking wholly and utterly—prepared. He smiles smally at people, sits in his chair with his name on it but faces it toward the poor guy who has to give the morning meetings, instead of gracing him with his broad back. He pays attention, he says his lines in that stupid fucking accent and the few times he messes up, it’s minor stuff. He even gives you a small wave, like a kid on his first day of kindergarten, when he catches your attention across set, which you return sheepishly. He’s not quite eager to make friends, but he is at least cordial, and you think you finally set his path straight.

One day, on an extended break, he sits running lines while you return a few emails on his phone. It’s quiet when you’re both immersed like this, though he’s been attempting to say the word “feathers” in that stupid accent, but it’s not all that unpleasant—the melodic repetition of “fey-ethers” almost like background music as you work. His normal voice makes you jolt from your concentration.

“What was your favorite consulting job you’ve ever done?” “What?”

“You said you were a consultant before. Did you have a favorite place you worked?” He…remembered that? Dieter Bravo remembered something about you…and now was asking you about it? You blinked at him, your original rules blaring like an alarm in your head, but you saw it for what it was—an olive branch.

“A florist.” So you took it.

“Why?” “Well, for one, they didn’t need to change much. The hired me before things got too bad. But, I don’t know—I guess being around flowers all day was nice. Better than an office.”

“You’re into flowers?” You give a more playful roll of your eyes. You can tell he’s done practicing lines, easily bored by the task. He never quite nailed his “feathers” pronunciation.

“Not really. Just—being surrounded by beautiful things all the time. It was nice to just get lost among them.” He nods, pinning you in his stare.

“I can relate to that.” You look away under his gaze, then decide to extend your proverbial olive branch back.

“I’m sure. You’re surrounded by beautiful people all the time. What’s your favorite role you’ve done?” When he doesn’t immediately answer, you add on. “It certainly can’t be this one.” That earns you a laugh, whole and pure, which makes you smile in return.

“Joe. In Sailing into Fire,” he admits. You quirk your brow.

“An indie film? That’s surprising.” “You know it?” He smiles, then frowns when he realizes what you said. “Why is that surprising?”

“Just—not as much pomp and circumstance as I expected.” He shrugs.

“I—I’m not so into that stuff as it may seem.” He looks to his fingers, toying with them. “It was my first leading role in a movie. It—it felt like I made it.”

“And look at you now,” you offer, only somewhat sarcastically. “Leading man in the Moondust trilogy, critically acclaimed for Hunger Strike--” “You watched them?”

“I told you, I do my research,” you reply. It’s well past five now, so you move to finish up for the day, but not before revealing your own admission.

“But I think Joe was my favorite, too. Even though his character was sad, you really brought him to life. You just seemed—passionate. Happy.” Dieter only nods, watching as you walk out the door for the night.

The next morning, he’s awake before you even get to his suite, coffee already brewed. He asks about your night, reads over the schedule you pin up. When he sees his later call time, he even starts to ask to run lines with you, which is comical, but you give it your all. Each character gets a different silly voice—Colt Rockwell gets a gruff, adventurey voice. Dr. Lacey gets a ditzy twang. Dr. Packard gets a gruff voice as well, though slightly deeper, the deepest you can go. Dolly gets just about the worst Southern accent you can manage, drawing on your experience with Hailey.

“Stay-tus up-dayte. We. Are. Fucked.” Dieter looks at you a long moment, composed, before breaking into raucous laughter. You’ve honestly never heard him laugh so hard; sound so genuine. But it still feels a little hurtful, and you roll your copy of the scene, whacking him with it.

“Hey! I’m trying here!” “No, no—I know. It was great.” He finishes laughing. “Please. Continue.” You scrunch your nose, then read the next few lines of the short monologue.

“Eet looks like this is eet. I’m sorry I couldn’t save ya’ll. I’m supposed to know all about these beasts, and they damn near snuck up on me.”

“Well—I have to tell you. I don’t know about any beasts. I don’t know about any cliffs. But I do know a beautiful woman when I see one, and I can’t—no, I won’t--let these creatures take you away from me.”

Dieter reads his own back to you, and for a moment, you’re entranced. You’re actually at the top of a cliff, there are actually beasts. It all sounds so ridiculous in that accent, but just watching him give the lines--despite the obvious writing flaws—with such emotion and depth really bring something out of him. A passion you think Dieter Bravo has learned to hide over the years. A humanizing element he brought to Joe coming back through.

A dream where maybe, Dieter Bravo is actually calling you beautiful.

You realize he’s done talking, looking at you expectantly, but you falter, closing the script as you glance at your watch.

“Sorry Mr. Bravo, looks like that’s all we have time for today, your call time is in fifteen—” “Oh, before you go, wait—” He stands with you, pulling a laptop out of his bag and typing something in. He turns the computer to show you a necklace with two gaudy, bejeweled hearts interlocked. The price almost makes you gag. “What do you think?” You grimace, then try to save face.

“It’s—it’s expensive,” you offer, trying to be truthful.

“What? Okay, but—what do you think? Tell me the truth,” he pleads gently. You swallow.

“Uh—well. In times like this, it’d be better if you supported a small business instead of a chain. I’m sure they’re struggling.” He nods thoughtfully. “And, uh, I obviously don’t know this person--but generally, women don’t like heart necklaces.” “Even if you want to show them you love them?” “Especially then,” you counter, and he nods like he’s never heard of this before. “They’re kind of tacky.”

“What do you recommend then?” You take the computer for him, typing a new website and clicking a few times before choosing something and handing it back. The necklace is similar; still gold, still more expensive than you’d ever spend. Instead of intertwining hearts, it has intertwining rings.

“Rings? I’m not trying to marry—” “I know,” you roll your eyes. “But it’s a metaphor. Unity. Wholeness.” He nods lightly. “Endless love that can’t be broken.” You click a new picture over his shoulder. “It can even be engraved on the inside—you can write a message only she will see.” He opens his mouth, but you cut him off. “That’s all you—I’m not coming up with that. But really just--something simple. Timeless. That's what women want.” With that, you begin to leave, the stylists making their way in, but his voice stops you.

“Sweetheart?” You turn to him. “Thanks. For everything.”

“Of course, Mr. Bravo.” He smiles, lips in a thin line, and you exit, trying not to think about the woman he’s buying jewelry for, or the fluttering his stupid accent as his stupid explorer with his stupid lines made you feel. None of this is real.

Dieter’s only scene that day is a solo monologue, so you don’t see much of anyone else on the sound stage; you’re thankful, since you’re starting to get drowsy with such a late start to the day. Dieter films his monologue in two takes, though they get a third just in case, and then you’re done for the day, parting at his door as always, though there feels like there’s some invisible string tethering you to him. You don’t know why, or when it started, but part of you is wont to let him go, and the rest of you tampers that feeling, deciding to file it away until you’re back in your shoebox apartment and out of Dieter Bravo’s path.

When you get to your floor, there’s a sign outside the kitchen announcing crew dinner is cancelled for the night, and that filming is paused for the weekend as the studio gets a “deep clean.” You grumble a bit, grabbing some of whatever you can find in the fridge, then head to your room, where a note from Nick is stuck to the door.

Filming’s cancelled over the weekend to clean the studio—you’re off the Bravo hook until Monday. Enjoy :)

You bring the sticky note in with you, exhaustion finally settling into your bones as you enter your own space. The food and drink you brought in suddenly seems less appetizing than before, and you store it away before falling into bed, hoping that a weekend away from Dieter Bravo will help lighten the load you’ve felt on your chest since your argument-though now, the load feels less like loathing and more like confusion. Your feelings are allowed to change—but have his? Or is this just the pinnacle of his acting career, fooling a smart, confident woman into believing he cares, only to get what he wants? You groan as you flip to the other side of the bed,

No one steps in Dieter’s path as he angrily stomps down the stairs Monday morning, and into the crew hallway. The housekeepers don’t bat an eye, and the crew—they’re all upstairs, filming newsreels and interviews and other small scenes while a few of the actors are down for the count—exactly where Dieter was supposed to be.

An hour ago.

But you hadn’t come to his room, pinned his schedule, made his coffee. His whole morning was off-kilter, and he missed his interview, and his agent had called seven times trying to figure out what happened to Hollywood superstar Dieter Bravo, and it all felt like too much and not enough and pressure and feelings and everything was culminating in the pound of his fist on your door, labelled smally with your last name. When there’s no answer, he tries again, a hand on the handle finding it unlocked, and takes it upon himself to take out his anger on the only other person he has—you.

He shouts your name angrily as he opens the door, still pounding on it. “Hey! Where have you been, I missed—” taking a moment to look around, he stops in his spot. He’s surprised at how small the room feels; barely room for the bed and the kitchenette. So where could you even be? He calls your name again, worry starting to lace his tone as he steps around the room.

It’s a mess, which seems unlike you, always quick to clean up his space. The bed is unmade and the sheets are thrown off the top, there are dishes and cups scattered around and half-full of liquid. The entire room feels stale and musty, and when he rounds the bed to glance into the bathroom, he understands why.

He finds you laying on the grimy tile floor, rushing up to you to kneel at your side, turning you until you’re flat on your back.

“Sweetheart?” His voice wavers, barely audible, but your eyes flicker open, some vague recognition behind them.

“M’Bravo—s’Monday?--the interview—phone—” He shushes you gently.

“Why are you on the floor?” “Cold. Tiles. Nice.” You groan a bit, trying to roll over again to press your cheek to it. He can see you’ve been throwing up, and your face is hot to the touch when he runs a hand over it. Still, you keen into him, mumbling. “Hands cold too.”

“How long have you been sick?” He coaxes gently, helping you to sit up and lean against the wall.

“Few days.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” “Was busy,” you murmur. “Interview. Beasts.” That seems to make something click for you. “M’Bravo, phone interview—” “Stop,” he pleads gently. “Don’t think about work. Just—c’mon.” You move with him as he stands with a groan.

“Old,” you mutter, and he releases a light chuckle, holding you to his side and placing your hand over his shoulder to guide you.

“And I thought you didn’t have a filter before.” You manage a weak roll of your eyes, which he appreciates all the more now, before he leads you out into the hall. No one is really around; everyone on set or in meetings or giving press tours. When you climb the stairs at Dieter’s behest, each one feels worse than the last, you practically pushing him over by the top of them, but he remains strong and steady, leading you by the hip as your head rests on his shoulder. You think about Cliff Beasts, if only for a moment—deciding this is your version of Mount Everest—which makes you snort, but Dieter’s not in on the joke, and he just grins quietly when you look at him with a stunted, delirious chuckle.

You’ve walked this path every day since you’ve been here, but you’re so out of it you don’t recognize it until you see the door labeled “Bravo.” When you try to turn away, thinking he led you astray, he gently guides you back, entering the room you’ve become well accustomed to, before bringing you to the interior door. He pulls keys as you sway next to him, unlocking it to let you in first.

The first, and only thing you register is bright. Windows are thrown open with gauzy curtains swaying in the light breeze, but the sunlight makes your head pound, and when you curl away from it, you end up curled into Dieter’s arms.

“S’Bright,” you moan, burying your face into his shoulder. He holds you cautiously, not quite encircling you.

“I know,” he coos. “Let’s get you into bed and I’ll close the blinds.” You whine lightly in response, but let him guide you through the room. It’s much larger than yours, with several doors you can’t figure out in your haze. The sheets are cool and plush, and you practically melt into them the second you hit the fluffy bed.

You come in and out of sleep over the next few minutes, eyes struggling to follow Dieter’s moves as he flits about. The blinds get closed, though fresh air still billows in. A glass of water appears, then a trash can, then some crackers. You can hear him talking, vaguely—in that voice you hate.

“I don’t care, get a doctor up here right fucking now—” You flip to the cool side of the bed, but get no relief. Suddenly, a hand appears on your face. “Yeah, she feels hot—fever, I don’t know, this is why we need the doctor—” When he tries to pull away, you grab his hand again, replacing it on your cheek in contentment.

“Feelsnice,” you murmur, leaning into it.

“And she’s delirious,” Dieter adds. “Get a doctor here, now, or I’m quitting the movie.” When you open your eyes again, he has his phone in his hand, but you hold his other to you still.

“A doctor will be here soon, sweetheart,” he assures you, his voice back to the tender version you prefer.

“Why?” you ask quietly.

“You’re really sick—”

“Nooo,” you whine, taking a drink of water when he offers it to you. He doesn’t even let you hold the cup, gently lifting it to your lips with one hand while the other cradles the back of your head. It lingers there after the cup has been brought back down “Why are you taking care of me?” He looks into your eyes, trying to communicate something without words, but instead pulls his hands away.

“They’ll be here soon. Get some rest.” You pout at his lack of answer, but fall back asleep by the time he reaches the door.

When you awake the next time, it’s to the doctor, though you don’t remember much. She did her normal tests, tsked at your temperature and lung function, you gagged a bit when she swabbed your throat. All this time, Dieter was nowhere to be found—and somehow, you missed his presence. Sure, he was an ass—but he also saved you from death-by-vomit, and this side of him, this tender, soft, human side, you wanted to see more of.

By the time the doctor diagnosed you with the “normal” flu—which had apparently been going around some of the other cast and crew, hence the cancelled weekend shoots—you were exhausted, eyes barely open, but you still startled to attention when Dieter opened the door, a mug and several pill bottles in his hands.

“Oh, lemme help you—” He stops you almost instantly from standing up, coming over with the items instead.

“I got it,” he hums, placing the pills in front of you as he sits on the edge of the bed. “I got your prescriptions—and some tea. Here.” You nod gratefully, letting him help you dose it out before taking the pills. He leaves the tea, standing up. “She said they might make you a little drowsy. Is there anything else you need? Blankets, pillows? Bathroom’s over there—it’s the only one so I’ll be in and out.” You nod, still barely coherent, drifting almost back to sleep as he leaves you to rest. “But I’ve got bad news for you sweetheart—we’re both gonna be stuck in here for quarantine together.”

“Why?” “Because you’re sick and I’ve been exposed—” “Noo,” you complain. “Why is that bad?” He looks at you a long moment, trying to figure out if you’re serious, if you’ll even remember this.

“You hate me,” he supplies smally. You roll your eyes again, but the action allows them to fall shut as you speak.

“I don’t hate you,” you murmur. “I hate Dieter Bravo.” He huffs.

“We’re one in the same.”

“Are you?” you question with a yawn, snuggling into a pillow. It smells vaguely of chocolate and sage and musk, but you revel in it, falling asleep too quickly to hear Dieter’s response.

“I’m not sure anymore.”

When he reenters a few hours later, you stir again, groaning as you see him. You had been restless all afternoon, sleeping in fits, but he has the next round of pills with him, and you’re thankful for the next cup of tea, taking it only somewhat greedily when he sits on the edge of the bed next to you.

“I’m sorry I took your bed,” you croak.

“It’s okay, sweetheart. I’m glad I’m here to help.” He takes the mug from you to put it on the nightstand.

“Why are you helping me?” you ask again, a moment of clarity before the next wave of sickness or medicine-induced sleepiness kicks in. He seems to think a moment before responding. “I don’t leave when things get hard,” he replies simply, quoting you. “And you’re certainly a tough nut to crack.” You grimace at him.

“M’sorry.” “Don’t be. That’s what I like about you.” You grin, and even reeking of sick and sleep, feeble, sweaty and disgusting, it blinds him with radiance.

“No one’s ever said that before.” “That you’re tough?” “That they like that about me,” you clarify sleepily.

“Well they should. You’re one of the strongest people I know—you deal with me.” That earns him a quiet giggle, which makes him smile too. “You’re not so bad,” you reply. “When you’re quiet.” That makes him bark a laugh.

“Bold for someone who’s lying sick in my bed.” With that, he stands. “Get some rest—” You stop him with a hand to his wrist, making him turn to face you.

“Thank you, Dieter. Really.” He swallows audibly, looking to your hand before back into your eyes.

“You’re welcome, sweetheart.”

You follow your regimen gratefully, allowing Dieter to bring you medicine at the assigned intervals, dozing and barely watching the large tv on the wall when you realize it’s been turned on over the next day or so. You barely acknowledge him when he enters, but he doesn’t press, accepting the little conversations and quips you give when you’re up to it. The doctor had told him not to worry when things got worse before they got better, the general course of the flu apparently ravaging the entire set almost set out in front of him, but he wasn’t quite ready to see you suffer more than you already are.

Dieter startles from his sleep to hear you retching in his room. He hadn’t slept much on the shitty couch anyway—more for decoration than comfort—but didn’t want to make you uncomfortable. That seems to go out the window when he walks into his room, finding you groaning over the toilet. Almost immediately, he’s at your side, rubbing your back as you whimper.

“Go away. I’m disgusting.”

“I’m not going to do that,” he replies gently, letting you glare at him from the other side of the toilet.

“I’m going to throw up on you.” “Then I’ll change.” “I’m gonna get you sick.”

“Then you’ll get a few days off.”

“I’m gonna—” “Sweetheart.” You look at him, earnestness over his face. “I’m not leaving.” You accept it, finally.

“Then distract me from how miserable I am.”

“How?” “I don’t know. Tell me a story from your fancy movie star life. Like why do you wear this?” You murmur, flicking his gold hoop earring. The small piece flies off his ear, clattering somewhere across the bathroom, and your eyes go wide as he suppresses a smile.

“I broke your ear,” you whisper in awe.

“It’s fake,” he admits quietly. You narrow your eyes at him, examining his ears, which move as he smiles more broadly. “Just—started as a joke. Kind of stuck.”

“Like it better like this,” you mutter, leaning to rest your head on the toilet, but he quickly steps in, leaning you backwards instead until your head rests on his shoulder. He straddles you in front of the toilet, your back warm against the undone buttons on his shirt as you wiggle to get them more comfortable. “Like you better like this.”

“Like what?”

“Human.” You seem to doze off a moment, but come back to him with a start when he blots your face with a cool washcloth. “M’Bravo?” “I told you to call me Dieter, sweetheart.”

“No,” you mumble. “This isn’t Dieter.” He looks at you for a long moment, and you continue to ramble. “This is the real you. You when no one is watching. Not Dieter.”

“Diego,” he offers, and you look up at him. “Dieter’s a stage name. My real name is Diego.”

“Fucking knew it," you mutter under your breath, but when he laughs, you come back to yourself. "I like it,” you run a hand across his coarse beard, each hair prickling your palm as he hums contentedly. “I’m glad I got to know you, Diego,” you murmur, holding hazy eye contact. “That I gave you—this--a chance.”

“I’m glad I get to know you,” he specifies, closing with your name; no sweetheart, no demands. Just your name, from his lips. The two of you stay embraced for a long moment, you cradled to him, holding his eyes with yours. He leans in for a moment, and your eyes close, hoping, hoping, but his plush lips press a gentle kiss to your forehead, off-target from where you expected.

“You’re gonna get sick,” you offer weakly, but he only shrugs, rinsing the washcloth in the water he brought over.

“That’s okay,” he hums. “I already am.” You get the feeling he isn’t talking about the flu.

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iamanartichoke · 6 years ago

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Someone on Reddit linked to a copy of Endgame streaming online, so I went ahead and watched it while I had the chance, so I could judge for myself. My thoughts, entirely about Thor and Loki, under the cut.

ENDGAME SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT.

My honest, unbiased opinion is that this is a fantastic movie ... for the general audience. This is a movie for the masses, for the average movie-goers who will pay their money to be entertained for three hours by visual effects, heroic music, some comic relief, and callbacks to earlier movies.

If you’re not invested, or if your fave character was treated right, then it’s easy to enjoy this movie without thinking too critically about it. I have no doubt that this movie will make a ton of money and people will enjoy it, which kind of takes some of the wind out of my schadenfreude sails, in regards to people finally seeing the Russos for the hacks they are, but whatever.

However.

First, Loki. It is very true that Loki has next to no screen time in the film, but there were a few little gems that I wasn’t expecting.

So here’s all the Loki we get: Current Tony Stark drops in right as Loki is delivering his “I’ll have that drink now” line. Then SHIELD swarms into Stark Tower to confiscate the scepter and take Loki into custody. Loki snarks at everyone and shapeshifts into Cap, and then back to himself, at which point Thor puts the muzzle over his mouth. I think he says “shut up” but I’m not sure (the audio wasn’t that great, I missed a lot of dialogue tbh).

They go down to the main floor and Thor, Loki, and Tony get stopped by Alexander Pierce, who insists that SHIELD take custody of Loki. Tony and Thor argue that Thor is taking him back to Asgard. Loki rolls his eyes rather dramatically at all the fuss.

Then, Tony’s ARC reactor starts acting up and he collapses. At the same time, Hulk bursts onto the scene. There’s a bit of chaos - Thor, Pierce, and some agents are trying to help Tony while a bunch of other people are running from Hulk. I think Current Tony, who was trying to get the Tesseract, is knocked aside or something - I can’t remember. Anyway, Loki sees his opportunity, grabs the Tesseract, and vanishes. Current Tony watches him do it. Thor starts yelling for Loki when he realizes Loki is gone, and then it cuts to Current Tony and that’s the last we see of the 2012 Brodinsons.

So, is the 2012 Loki alive somewhere? I’m not sure. The movie really left it ambiguous. It’s just as possible that Steve returned the stones and prevented any alternate timelines from occurring, meaning that Loki never steals the Tesseract, and Avengers - and TDW - play out as normal. I guess YMMV.

The only other Loki we see is the scene in TDW where Loki is laying in bed, tossing the little cup up in the air, and we see Thor sneak past his cell. It’s true, Thor doesn’t even look at Loki, or mention Loki at all in the present.

(New thought, but the fact that TDW still existed for Thor to go back to can imply that that movie’s events never changed and Loki did make it back to Asgard eventually. As the Avengers are going to their different time periods, the dates display on screen, and it’s clear that Tony goes back to 2012 and Thor goes back to 2013. So I think the timeline is intact? My brain hurts.)

Anyway, Loki isn’t shown or mentioned again.

So, Thor. The first 20 minutes of the film are great for Thor. He doesn’t really say much of anything, but it’s clear that he’s upset and guilty. When the Avengers track down Thanos and Thor kills him, someone says, “What did you do?” Thor replies, sounding absolutely wrecked, “I went for the head.” He turns and walks away.

if they had followed this portrayal of Thor’s guilt and depression throughout the film, it would have been much, much better.

They don’t, though. After that, I cringed every time Thor was on-screen. The secondhand embarrassment was so real. Thor was stumbling around drunk most of the time. It’s very obvious to everyone else that there’s something very wrong with him, but it’s hard for us to take this seriously because the narrative doesn’t take it seriously. It really is played up for comic relief.

When they ask Thor about the Aether, for example, he rambled on nonsensically about Jane and the Dark Elves, while everyone else gave each other these “what the actual fuck” looks. (Cue giggling from the audience.)

His weight gain and overall unkempt appearance was definitely played for laughs, which I thought was gross, especially at how his costumes and camera shots were done in such a way that it really focused on how much weight he’d gained. Several times the camera specifically focused on his stomach. It’s very much “haha Thor is fat now.” It’s very embarrassing and cringe-worthy and disappointing.

I will say, there were a few moments where Thor did well - when the narrative dropped the comic relief aspect and showed Thor’s PTSD. In his first scene after the time jump, Hulk mentions Thanos, and Thor gets very quiet and very angry and says, “Do not mention that name.” His entire demeanor changes. He withdraws, he looks like he’s on the verge of tears, and he says he isn’t going anywhere and he wants nothing to do with their plan.

Unfortunately, that part of the scene is undermined when Rocket says, “There’s beer on the ship,” and that makes Thor go with them.

His conversation with Frigga was okay. It didn’t have the emotional impact I thought it would, but to be fair, I missed a lot of what was said between them, because the audio wasn’t good.

She kind of talks some sense into him, though, and they get to hug and say they love each other. But he calls her “Mom,” which, o-kay, and the entire interaction was tinged with bitterness on my part because Loki is the one who should have gotten to have a talk and a hug and an “I love you” from Frigga.

Neither of them even mentioned Loki, from what I could hear anyway, which was just an extra slap in the face.

Once the final battle rolls around, Thor fights well. He seems more like his Ragnarok self and less like a drunken idiot by the time he gives Asgard to Valkyrie, and he was also Ragnarok-y when he and Peter Quill quibble over who’s in charge. Ragnarok Thor is still OOC, but is an improvement from Endgame Thor (or maybe it just seemed that way because he was sober).

So ... there we are. I won’t be paying money to see this in the theatre, but at least I did see it so that I could make a fair first-hand judgement. (Btw, if anyone else wants to watch it, I’m afraid to post the link bc copyright and whatnot, but it’s on a site called “Fmovies,” just Google it and it’ll pop up.)

This movie treated Loki terribly, in absentia. His 2012 self was fine, I suppose, but as far as our Loki goes, there was literally no payoff whatsoever when it comes to things like Loki disappearing for five minutes, saying “the sun will shine on us again,” or even being remembered by his brother (or Val, for that matter). That first scene in IW really was just full of plot holes and there was nothing more going on. This is such a bitter disappointment on so many levels, and I really, really hate it.

This movie treated Thor terribly, too, for all the aforementioned reasons.

I’m pretty much going to ignore this film’s canon, the same way I mostly ignore IW’s canon. I really do suspect that 2012 Loki’s escape will be addressed or followed in the TV show, but who really knows. I’m tired, I’m disappointed, and I just want Thor and Loki’s relationship to go back and reboot from TDW, where Loki doesn’t die and he and Thor reconcile and sort out their differences and understand one another. I guess that’s what fanfic is for.

Sorry for such a long, rambling post. To end this on a positive note, I will say that Valkyrie’s hair looked AMAZING and pretty much how I picture it in Sea. So there was that.

#endgame #endgame spoilers #charlotte bitches about endgame #avengers endgame spoilers #spoilers #loki spoilers #thor spoilers #there are massive spoilers in this post #i can't make that any more clear

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dramayeoja · 6 years ago

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Goblin ❣︎ 도깨비

Kim Shin, an undefeated war general, is ultimately killed by a jealous young king named Wang Yeo. After death, Shin is revived by the gods—but his revival is by no means miraculous. He becomes a 도깨비 (dokkaebi, goblin), and is cursed. He will have to pay for all the lives he took in battle by living alone in immortality, witnessing everyone he's ever loved, die. Remaining lodged in his chest is the very sword that killed him. There is only person who can see that sword, and draw from his heart so that he can finally rest in peace: his bride... whom he's yet to meet.

Things get spoilery under the cut—you've been warned! ;)

Chipper, yeah? Haha so, right off the bat, the premises of Goblin remind me of like, a much more morbid version of the legend of King Arthur. You know, a man draws a sword from stone to prove himself the greatest king in all of Britain? Yeah. Just to be clear: this is a good thing (imo). Like, I personally think this is just such a cool idea for a drama 😍

Let's jump right in. I'm gonna be honest and say that, at first, I felt a little turned off at the female lead, Eun Tak, being nineteen (in the beginning of the show), meanwhile the male lead, Shin, is 900+ years old (but physically looks to be in his thirties). It just... rubbed me weird. But hey, the Twilight series (both the books and the movies) is exactly the same—high school girl, century-old man, bananas yet somehow romantic storyline... And I loved me some Twilight as a young adult. So I mean, I have no right to judge, really. Plus, Eun Tak soon turns twenty anyway. So that's an improvement I guess 🤷🏻‍♀️ We follow her character into her late twenties, nearly thirty. So things are definitely fine by then haha! 👍

Don't let that previous bit make you think I didn't enjoy Goblin—I LOVED it. That detail is just a lil funky to me, is all. Back during my Twilight obsession days, I was nearly twenty myself, and the thought of being pursued by an older man was exciting. Hell, I mean, it still is! But now that I'm two years shy of my 30th Birthday, I feel differently sometimes. I think, LAWD get that girl away from that man, she too young for him LOL. I am definitely getting old... Enough about Twilight now, apologies! I'm only using it for the sake of conveying similarities seen in Goblin 🙏 Let's talk cast!

Kim Go Eun as Ji Eun Tak and Gong Yoo as Kim Shin

Eun Tak is a bubbly young woman with limitless energy! While still in her mother's womb, Mama Ji was involved in a hit-and-run incident which, sadly, took her life. During Mama Ji's dying moments, she prayed to anyone above that her child's life be spared. Sat on a rooftop from afar, beer in hand (lol), Shin hears her prayers, as he is a god of sorts. He appears before Mama Ji, and shows mercy to her unborn baby. Eun Tak grows up with the ability to see/speak to ghosts. Said ghosts tell her constantly that she is the goblin's bride. How do they know? A strange birthmark on the back of Eun Tak's neck tips them off. Eun Tak unfortunately was taken in by her abusive bitch of an aunt, who jabs Eun Tak every chance she gets. Her cousins are assholes. Eun Tak's aunt really only keeps her around in hopes of collecting Mama Ji's savings (intended for Eun Tak) one day. Sad, right? I mean, isn't Eun Tak being born without her mother enough as it is? Life can be so cruel 😔

Lee Dong Wook as Grim Reaper/Reaper/Wang Yeo

This is Grim Reaper (or Reaper for short), portrayed by the handsome Lee Dong Wook. His character is just this strange, not at all tech-savvy man with a constant deadpan facial expression. Said facial expression provokes so many giggles during funny moments, and drives home the longing and desperation during sad times. We learn quite a ways in that he, in his previous life (again, just in case: spoiler), was Wang Yeo G A S P ! The young king that is essentially responsible for Shin's death, as well as all the misdeeds that were done to Shin's family. Again, this is something I don't want to spoil. Well, more, anyway 😆 You gotta see it!

Yoo In Na as Kim Sun/Sunny

Kim Sun, or simply, Sunny (she loves to spell her name for people lol, S-U-N-N-Y!) is the second female lead. Yoo In Na is so gorgeous that one look at her makes you feel like such a potato hahhah. 🥔 This fact about her beauty bleeds over into the show itself—every time another character meets Sunny, the camera does this slow motion pan into her lmao. She really is that pretty! Sunny's personality comes across so odd at first... Having watched all of the episodes now, I feel the intention of Goblin's creators was to make her seem like a soul searching for something it has lost in a previous life. idk if that makes sense, but yeah. She has this way about her, like she's disconnected from others, and is sifting through the haziness to find this thing she feels she's lost.

Yook Sungjae (my BtoB bias 😍) as Yoo Deok Hwa

Sungjaeeee ahhhh 💘💘💘 I had to gush, sorry! Hehe. Meet Deok Hwa: unofficial nephew of Shin. Deok Hwa is a third-generation chaebol (heir to a family-owned corporation) and spoiled man-child, always seeking his credit card hahaha 🤣 But I love him so much. Between Gong Yoo, Lee Dong Wook, and BtoB Sungjae? Man, I'm dying over here! Deok Hwa's true identity is revealed later in the show, which if you haven't seen it yet, I won't spoil it. Just watch. But his ending sucked. Like where did he go? Everyone else's endings got tied up neatly except for his. What gives, man? 🤔 Edit: I was actually reading an online conversation about what happened to Deok Hwa online—someone jokingly said he was reincarnated as BtoB Sungjae LOL 💯

Other various comments

AMAZING OST 😍😍😍

Good pace, episodes drag at times. A little confusing in the beginning, but you get there eventually. Maybe this is just me though, viewers who are a little more keen than I will likely catch on sooner ;) My mom was a little confused as well, and actually said at one point, "This should be called the 'what-the-hell-is-going-on' show," hahaha. Like I said though, we quickly moved on from this, and loved all the things. There are actually, I think, three (?) specials that were made to aid viewers in making sure they understand the complex events and relationships clearly. I haven't watched them yet, but want to!

Quite repetitive tbh, as there are unnecessary flashbacks often. Probably for two reasons: the obvious of reminding you what's what, but also to create suspense. Typical duration of most tvN dramas seems to be about 16 episodes, so it's possible these flashbacks and things are, for lack of a better word, filler. I don't know how rigid or lax tvN is about having a drama set at 16 eps, but I get the idea this is their preference. Seeing as so many of their programs on average last that long, I feel this must be what they want. Such has the potential to affect the writing, either positively or negatively.

A continuation of the previous bullet: I think Goblin's creators oversimplified the plot at times. I'm unsure if this is due to possible pressures to meet a specific requirement(s), or what. I'd rather forgo ALL restrictions and let creativity flow, let the story be told without pressure to fill a specific amount of time, etc. but TV production is weird. And contracts are weird. tvN might not to blame for these issues, could simply be that storytelling isn't always easy, man. I'm a writer myself, it's hard! I'M being redundant now lmfao! Anyway, yeah ~

Absolutely LOVED all the scenes that were filmed on location in beautiful Québec City, Canada 🍁 Tall, romantic trees, the fall foliage, historic buildings... sigh. Now all I need is Gong Yoo chasing me and we're all set! ;D

In addition to Shin being revived, my crush on Gong Yoo has been revived as well LOL. He fine 🔥 A classic K drama crush, can't go wrong with GY👌

Gong Yoo is always stellar at doing kiseu (kiss) scenes, and in Goblin, he does not disappoint. He really goes at it 🙈 which is preferred vs. the typical person kissing a stone statue that you see so often. He even did a lift kiss with Kim Go Eun that was reminiscent of THEE Coffee Prince kiss he did with actress Yoon Eun Hye! 😍

I never saw it coming, how the sword would wind up being removed from Shin's chest. I worried what the writers were going to do, how would they approach this, and just wow. The way things turned out is such a relief. It also told me that Shin's love for Eun Tak is true. I mean, I didn't need that scene to occur for me to know that, rather it just adds extra oomph that yes, Shin really does love Eun Tak. He didn't want her to suffer knowing she was responsible for his "death," so he thought quick and used her hands WITH his hands asdfghjkl. How dumb (bc noooo now you're gonna die) and amazing he is at the same time 💜

I love how Shin made his way back to Eun Tak after passing away, it was such a powerful scene. I could really feel his struggle, and kept yelling at my TV for him to stand up lol!

Devastated that Eun Tak died 😭 I really thought as many times as she'd cheated death before, she would somehow continue cheating death again and again for the rest of her days. But no... What a selfless person, Ji Eun Tak. Her being reincarnated as Park So Min gave me some closure. Not the closure I wanted, but closure.

The relationship between Shin and Reaper is ADORABLE. Whenever they interact with each other, they just have this great dialogue. Shin pings, Reaper pongs, Reaper pings, Shin pongs. It's great 😄 I still laugh about the slow-mo scene of them returning from the market with green onions HAHAHA 😂

I love Sunny & Reaper ~ However, their history as Kim Sun & Wang Yeo in their past lives is so very sad. I don't even know where to start RE: my feelings on this 💔 imo, their ending kinda sucked. I just wasn't satisfied with them having had this complicated, tragic story, only to be reincarnated in this fashion that I ultimately found to be just... idk, disappointing 😩 Again, closure, but not the closure I wanted.

I thought Reaper, the other grim reapers, the name cards, the depiction of what happens immediately following death with the brewing of the tea, the afterlife, etc. was all very creative. We really don't know what awaits us when our time comes—it's interesting to wonder if it's anything like it is in Goblin 🍵

Can't stop thinking about Goblin, even though I'm now watching Thirty but Seventeen & Mr. Sunshine! I'm emotionally cheating lol halp.

Photo credits: tvN & AsianWiki

Yo yo! I'm sorry I took so long to watch + write up this review! It's been a long couple of weeks for me, I wasn't always able to watch when I wanted. It was maddening 😆 But I have finally watched, and feel like the most accomplished person on the planet hahaha. xoxo 💜

#goblin #도깨비 #asian dramas #korean dramas #tvn

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stainedglassmaiden · 4 years ago

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spoilers ahead - okay - so i just watched the siren on xfinitystream.

im so disappointed - or maybe ive just gotta think harder about it/watch the ending again - because it wasnt a common kind of style of a movie, and during most of it, i felt like it was going somewhere interesting . but thenn, at the end like in the last 5-10 minutes, idk, there were flashbacks or fantasies or something, i wasnt suree what was real or not, and it made the end confusing, and there be wayy less closure than i feel like there could have been!!! cause i feelll like maybee if they picked maybe onee of the confusing scenes/fantasies or something at the end, it could’ve made the closure and whole movie seem like 40% better and have more of a clear message. ughhh! they were soo close to having something interesting [and good+clear]!

some ppl had very negative reviews of it, because they didnt understand how the details related, but i think those were some of the most significant parts, and found how i thought they related, to explain and explore some themes in the story.

so the movies about a young man, whod never been in love and is mute and v christian, who is taking a break from his life in the church, to stay at a cabin on a lake. [although he had lost his voice in the first place when he was drowned type thing when he was young]. and his neighbor is a man whos lookin kinda rough, cause he lost his husband to what he thinks is a folklore of a monster in this lake, who drowned the husband. so now, this widower wants to find the monster and get revenge and kill the monster. and the background is, that the monster is supposed to be a woman based on like a siren [bc of the title] orr? -a slavic myth of a woman whos undead and haunts a body of water where she had drowned herself when she was unhappy with her husband/was heartbroken.

so! i thought it was unique bc it was a very simple set, and not much dialogue probs cause the man was mute, but that was alright with me! it wasnt uncomfortablyy quiet. it was fun for a rainy day, like a little melancholy and a little spooky and a little lovesick . idkk, it was a moodd, if youre in that mood lols, and want solidarity with a movie.

fun how they had diversity, with an asian woman playing the siren - you dont see much asian representation in western movies. and a gay man just casually thrown in there, not a big deal, which is also cool uncommon diversity representation a little bit . andd likee, ability-diversity with a mute character, and its not like a big deal, but maybe people like that would like to see people like their own selves reflected/represented in movies tooo, so they dont feel on the outsidee of the realm of “kinds of people who can be starred as kinds of movie characters” usually, you know? :).

some details that other people thought werent relevant and annoyingly random, were things that i thought weree very interesting and related to a message of the movie!

-like i thought the music was significant. it was this very like, etherial possibly what would you call it - like monk like, cathedral echo-y singing. you know how theres that kind of music like in cathedrals? etherial? -andd its like the kind of music that sirens are traditionally thought to sing. like echo-y and kinda haunting. so i thought that tied the siren and the religious mute characters together. andd they were falling in love anyway. andd it sounds haunting-y and theyre both kindaa haunted by stuff in the back of their minds, like she, by her curse and her lost love in the past or whatever, and she wishes she could come back to land and be normal, but this curse is keeping her in the water - and him, by whether he should return to his church or not - since he had gotten a phone message from them saying like, dont strayyy from the churchh and dont sinnn come back to us!

thenn, i dont think his mute-ness is random either. i think it signifies the theme of like, misunderstanding and miscommunication [and how that can be frustrating]. like how she is frustrated bc shes seen as a monster [and is one] but shes also, sometimes just a normal girl, when the curse isn’t taking a hold of her. and the widower thoughtt he misunderstood her, when he wasnt sure if she wass actually the monster, because sometimes, she just acts like a lady, and he felt sorry that he was blaming her, since he was like, “theres probs no such thing as monsters, shes probs justt a normal lady”.

thenn, i dont think him being gay was random either i guess . people were annoyed about all these random choices about the characters’ characteristics, because they seemed random and distractingly irrelevant. but i think its relevant because idk i thought maybe because sirens were originally supposed to lure menn to their graves. so it makes it easier for him maybe, and more believeable that he wouldnt be able to be more focused, to try to kill her, and not be lured. even if it wouldnt literallyy work, maybe its just supposed to be symbolicc for their repellant -rather than luring - relationship.

something lacking in love - is another theme i think it was cool how they explored it in different ways. like how the mute man had never been in love, and when talking about that, the neighbor was like, “i dont know if i should feel sorry about that or not. can you imagine that?!”. and even when he did nearly get love with the siren, they could never really comfortablyy be alll the way in each others’ worlds, either on land or in the water. -not on land, because she has to always have atleast part of her body in the water, so shes always just kinda soggily, uncomfortably, sitting on the edge of the dock. they cant comfortably be in the water either, because firstly, he doesn’t know how to swim/is afraid of getting in the water, since thats how hed lost his voice as a child - and, because i guess the curse starts to take control of her when shes near other people when theyre in the water, and she needs to drown them. and, how both the other couples had had love, but then i guess they either lost their partner, or it ended in heartbreak.

it made me sad but was moving in a good way, how when she wasnt feeling the siren curse, they did try their best to change to be able to hang out. like she triedd to resist the curse and climbb out of the water to join him on land (although it didnt work). and how since she couldnt come out, hed lie on the dock withh her so she could stilll put her foot in the water. that was cute and thoughtful.

v low lighting though. like, i know we’re trying to make it spooky and a bummer, but also, i can barely see what youre doing. ever heard of likee, idk, a gray or dark blue filter for the camera, so its like the illusionn of night time, but doesnt actuallyy make things too obscure to see things?!

the choices of casting were nice though. i feel like the mute man and siren had chemistry you can feel, evenn if they couldn’t even talk much!.

the ending couldvee been clever. i just didnt really understand. but there wass a flashback or fantasy where idk, i think it was the mute man ended up becoming a siren tooo! (you could tell because his eyes became as big and dark as herss when she was under the curse being a siren), and then that was cooll cause thenn they were shown just bothh being sirenss in her little cove in the waterr, so they couldd be happy and togetherr all the time actuallyy, in the water! thatd’ve been a nice ending. although they would have to explain why hes a siren now, cause they hadn’t. i guess hed have to drown himself or get drowned, with/from a broken heart, just like she did, to become one. but why would his heart be broken, cause theyre ablee to hang out pretty much, when shes nott a siren, and shes not dead ..

butt, they did just end the movie (spoiler!) with him deciding to leave the lake (i didnt understand why?), and when he leaves, she seen kinda swimming up in the distance, to/towards his empty cabin. maybe thats just saying, “and thenn, they were never ablee to be together anywayy, and itd alwayss be like this imagee for them - how it was in the first place, with him on just on land, and herr, only and forever just kinda stuck lurkingg in the distancee, in the waterr - tooo far away from him/remote/[misunderstood! -and cant fix that [monster part] about herself] - to ever really be with him for real. :(.

hm. so i think idk, either make it clearerr, which of these endings are just fantasies,/why, or just choose onee of them, and committ to thatt message. for the movie. lols. orr if you choose the ending where he becomes a siren too, you gotta explain why that happened better.

plus, (spoiler) when the widower got killed and joined his husband at the bottom of the lake, i feel like that couldve been used to say something significant or to bring something full circle or make a point of some kind. but it didnt, so.. i kind of dont understand why that was done. although i cant think of a better ending for that character, and cant think of how else his story could’ve played out - because either he has to get killed by the siren, he has to kill the siren, or he has to never be able to catch and kill the siren - but either way, idk howw youd make eitherr of these possible endings come to an interesting and satisfying solution, for the scheme of the rest of the movie’s story. i guessss its kindaa cool that atleastt he ended up with his husband againn.. [at the bottom of the lake..] which is kinda dark - but its like , ..so ? that wasnt even his/the goal..!

so yea. i like this movie. its quiet and oddly sweet and kinda moody, which sometimes youre actually in the mood to watch. just kinda chilly. and spooky and nostolgic. im just frustrating cause i felt like it was onto something brilliant, then the ending was kinda noncommital and a flop.

but it seemed kinda thoughtful and cool how it was somethingg about like - the themes of frustration, misunderstanding, things not quitee fitting together in life, longing. which are things that arent usuallyy the point of most movies, so it was cool to get to reflect on those things [in media], uncommonly/for once, through watching this one.

[maybe the point/message of this movie was: Sometimes, you just try your best to make things work out (from the various examples of this being tried throughout the movie), but its okay to be sad and bummed when it doesn’t work out how you wanted it too, because that is how it has to end up sometimes (likethe husbands wanted to be together - and they didnt quite get what they wanted cause they didd end up together - but it was when theyre Dead at the bottom of the lake, -or how the siren wantss to overcome her curse, by healing and moving on from her previously broken heart, by trying to overcome riskss to fall in love againn with a neww man, and defying the curse trying to climb out of the water - but (for some reason?) sometimes, i guess thats just a fantasy, like all their flashbacks. so now shes just gonna be soggy and dripping and uncomfortable (physically and emotionally) in her humans clothes (not like, traditionally fun and comfortable and alluring like how mermaids who weree made to originallyy belong in the water, look.), just watching her potential [future] lovers and things she thoughtt were opportunitiess to heal from the curse, pass her by on land - while she watches them from very far away in the water. [im not suree how the mute one fits in to this message perfectly - but i guess maybe hes just the accessory to the siren’s part of the message].

#movies #movie review #the siren #folklore #longing #misunderstanding #vulnerability

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murasaki-murasame · 7 years ago

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Danganronpa V3 Liveblog: Part 1 [Prologue]

So now that my several week-long adventure in trying to secure the necessary equipment to legally play this game has come to an end, I’ve finally gotten a hold of it and have begun playing it, so I’m going to start my liveblog!

For the sake of keeping my followers as spoiler-free as possible, I’m going to try and heavily tag these posts, and put about 99% of each post under a readmore. I’m also going to keep the labeling pretty vague for each post. My basic plan is to play each section of the game in one sitting [if we imagine each chapter being split into three sections of daily life, investigation, and trial] and then make one post for each of them. For now I’m going to label them with what part I played, for convenience, but I can’t help but be a little afraid about the possibility of there being some shift in structure later that might be spoiled via my labeling. We’ll see how it goes. If people want to completely avoid spoilers I guess they can just blacklist the tags and stuff, but I’m still going to try my best to avoid major spoilers, so the majority of these posts will be under read-mores.

This is going to be a pretty interesting experience for me, since even though I’m a huge fan of this series and have been following it for a few years now, I’ve only ever watched LPs of the game, so this is my first time actually playing one for myself.

Anyway I’m just gonna put my thoughts on the prologue under the cut since this is already getting long. [Fake edit: this got super long but mostly because half of it was me posting my initial reactions to characters and stuff, so with that out the way, maybe the rest of these posts will be shorter. We’ll see]

I don’t really wanna waste time talking too much about my history with this franchise and whatnot, so I’ll just get right into things and say that I have no goddamn clue what to expect from this game. I’ve almost completely managed to avoid spoilers on it, beyond what was shown in pre-release material. Well, mostly. There’s a few vague, context-less things I’m aware of, but I won’t say what those things are in case anyone is reading these posts without having played the entire game. [Though as a warning, I’m not gonna hold back on openly talking about every other part of the franchise that came before this]

I’ve heard that this game’s ending is ‘divisive and controversial’, but I have no idea how, and honestly that’s kinda been the trend with this series for better or worse, so it’s not really a surprise.

Thankfully I’ve also heard that this is maybe possibly the best game in the series so that’s cool! It’s not like I’m expecting greatness from it.

I’m really glad that I haven’t seen any LPs or anything besides the demo, because wow did things start off in a way that I wasn’t quite expecting. The whole beginning part was . . . bizarre. I got so thrown off by how everyone was wearing normal school uniforms. In general the whole way that things play out but then, like . . . loop back on themselves??? was really weird and unexpected. I feel like the game is already throwing out major hints about late-game twists, to the point where it all feels so ‘obvious’ that it’s probably some kind of misdirection. The whole shot we got of Kaede wearing some kind of science experiment helmet thing in particular felt like a ‘peeking behind the simulation’ moment, but DR2 already had a simulation twist, so the fact that they seem to be hinting at a similar thing feels like misdirection.

On the one hand I feel like I shouldn’t think too hard about it in case I guess the twist in advance, but on the other hand all of this signalling is so blatant and in your face that I feel like I may as well talk about it.

Even beyond the weird time-looping thing, there’s also a pretty heavy focus on the idea of amnesia and deja-vu [amnesia is pretty common for the series but the deja-vu element is interesting], and there’s some really interesting hints given out about the outside world, with references to stuff like the Ultimate Hunt, I think they called it, and how that apparently ties in with how everyone had forgotten their talents in the ‘first loop’, if I should call it that.

I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that this game is set in the Hope’s Peak Saga universe, since the first opening movie literally spells out that this game is a continuation of it, so it’s hard not to work with what the previous games set up story-wise to try and guess where the hell we’re at in this game.

I’ve always wondered how the whole concept of Ultimates would have been handled post-DR3, and how Hope’s Peak would function. It definitely seems like we’re hinting at the idea that something went pretty wrong down the line. It almost sounds like maybe the concept of being an Ultimate is, like, treated as a crime now, but it also feels like it might be another DR2-esque thing with how that game’s cast were all the Remnants of Despair who were in the simulation for rehab purposes. I don’t think it’ll be exactly the same sort of thing, though at the same time it’s also hard to believe that the whole Despair thing completely died out after DR3 so who knows.

It’s interesting to compare this with DR2, in how that game really started out as a legit rehab program of sorts that tried to hide the truth from everyone, while this game is upfront about the idea that this game’s cast are criminals who are being punished for something. So it’s kinda easy to guess that maybe they really are all criminals who’ve just been made to forget their crimes.

[Fake edit: I was just about to finish this post but I just realized that I forgot to point out how incredibly suspicious it is that the prologue is literally called ‘Ultimate Revival’, when we already had the weird time loop thing happen]

I’ll try not to think too much about the overarching plot until it becomes more relevant, but yeah to put it simply I’m already getting huge DR2 vibes from this set-up.

Anyway, enough talking about serious Speculation [tm] and Theorycrafting [tm], let’s talk about the stuff we’re all here for! AKA the characters and the flashy visuals and whatnot.

Just to get it out the way, I’m stuck with shitty dialogue audio quality because I had to import the US Vita version of the game because 1: I don’t own a Windows computer [and for some reason the Steam version is only on Windows even though the first two games are also on Mac], 2: I don’t own a PS4, and 3: I have an NZ PSN account but I literally cannot obtain an NZ Vita copy of the game because no online or retail distributors have it available, and because for some godawful reason the NZ PSN store only has the voice patches for it, and not, y’know, the game itself. So I’m stuck with the US version of the game since it was the only one available, and because the voice patch is treated as DLC, and DLC is region-locked, I can’t get the high-quality dialogue audio even if I wanted it. Which I do. It’s not THAT terrible, but it’s noticeably bad. Especially for certain characters, like Shuichi and Kaito. But I literally cannot do anything about it, so I’m stuck with it.

On the topic of voices, I still do like most of the voices, even if the audio quality isn’t great. A lot of the voices sound a lot more . . . plain, I guess, than I was expecting. I dunno how to explain it. I kinda like it. It makes them sound more like real people, though some of them sound like, well, middle-aged people trying to voice-act teenagers while barely bothering to try and sound like teenagers.

The music is still high-quality and sounds great. I still love this franchise’s music style. Most of the tracks in the prologue sound either similar to or the same as stuff from previous games, which is fine, but the Monokids track is . . . certainly something. Definitely in a similar vein as how weird Monomi’s track was in DR2, but this one’s less cute. Still good, though.

The game’s visuals are still on-point, though the image quality isn’t great at times. The colours are really vibrant, but things often seem really pixel-y when they’re even slightly far away. I think that’s just how the series looks in general though, and it’s just easier to forget since I’ve only ever watched LPs of them. I do really like the more dark and earthy sort of atmosphere and colour palete this game has compared to the other ones, though. The other games look great, but I like that they did something a bit different. I get what they meant by calling this game ‘psycho-cool’.

Getting to the characters, I like them already, though I obviously haven’t seen them in action much yet. Visually, I honestly think they’re one of my favourite casts in the entire series. It definitely feels like they had a bit more restraint in designing a lot of these characters, compared to earlier games, while still keeping the same DR character design charm. I don’t know how the hell this series’ character designer is still managing to churn out unique and interesting designs after so many franchise entries, but here we are.

Since there’s so many characters I think I’ll just address them one by one.

Kaede: First of all, it still makes me happy that we got a female protagonist for this game. It’s a nice detail. Secondly, I’m just gonna lay it out and say that I’m expecting some major plot twist relating to her identity. It’s not a difficult thing to assume after how DR2 [and DR0 I guess] had big plot twists relating to their protagonist’s identities, in different ways, but still, the writing’s kinda on the wall for this one. I don’t know if Kaede will end up having anything uniquely shocking about her compared to the rest of the cast, but still. The way the beginning scene played out, with the focus on her not knowing who she was, immediately made me suspect that she might not actually be ‘Kaede’, somehow. We’ll see. I honestly would not be surprised if she’s a ‘decoy protagonist’ and someone else is the real protagonist. Especially considering the fact that the first characters shown off were Maki, Kaito, and K1-B0, nearly a year before we saw Kaede, which makes me suspicious on many levels. Anyway, I really like her design. It’s been a favourite of mine since we first saw her. The yellow/white/pink-purple colour palette is really nice. And on a related note, the goddamn magical girl transformation she had when she got put into her main uniform was amazing and glorious and exactly the sort of bizarre thing I wanted to see out of this game. There’s not much to say about her personality thus far, but I like her. And I also like that she’s a pianist. It’s refreshing to get a DR protagonist who’s talent is something other than ‘hope’ or ‘literally nothing’. I guess you could count Ryouko and Chisa as DR protagonists with actual talents, though. But you get what I mean.

Shuichi: It really surprised me that he was immediately presented as being the secondary protagonist. Or, at least, the ‘helper’ character. I like how, in contrast to people like Kirigiri and Komaeda, he isn’t really doing this out of his own volition, and was literally just stuck in the same room as Kaede. Which is still kinda suspicious in and of itself, really. He’s really great, though. I was so worried that he’d be a complete copy of Kirigiri, but he’s really not, thus far. He’s honestly really adorable, with how humble and easily-flustered he is. I also really like his design, and how simple it is. I wonder how his role in the game will be, going forward. He’s definitely the helper/assistant/etc right now, but who knows if that’ll change. I hope he has a different role overall compared to Kirigiri, at least, to shake things up a bit. Oh, and before I forget, I’m already guessing in advance that he might actually be a girl, although that’s almost entirely based on him being voiced by Megumi Hayashibara in Japanese [and on that note, boy am I annoyed that on top of not being able to get the high-quality dialogue audio, I also can’t get the JP voice pack for the same reason :/]. He definitely sounds much more like a boy in English, so I’m inclined to think that maybe they weren’t trying to hint at anything by giving him a really feminine voice in Japanese.

Rantarou: I already adore this dude and I plan to immediately do all of his free-time events. OK fine I’ll do other people’s ones as well, but he’s the one I’m most interested in talking to. Partly because I’m really inclined to think that he might die relatively early on so I want to get to know him immediately. He at least comes across like the sort of character who might get killed off early as a big plot twist, to contrast with how mysterious and plot-important he seems right now. I don’t really know what to expect from his role in the story, but it’s hard not to get Komaeda vibes off of him, especially in the parts where he gets vaguely sinister. Thankfully his personality is already pretty notably different. He definitely seems like the character who’s probably most ‘plot-important’ other than Kaede and maybe K1-B0. It makes me wonder what his deal is, especially since he doesn’t remember his talent. I hope the inevitable reveal isn’t lame or anything. I also can’t help but wonder if maybe he’ll become some sort of love interest for Kaede, but I guess Shuichi would probably fit the mark better at this point. Who knows. I imagine that Kaede will have a love interest of some kind, since the other DR protagonists did. Anyway, I like his design as well. His outfit honestly seems like the sort of thing I could imagine a normal person wearing without it being weird at all. It’s neat. His hair looks mostly cool, like 90% of it does, but I can’t get over how weird those two upward-poking wavy bits at the top look. They’re so weird. Also, I’m still slightly thrown off by how deep and mellow his voice is, but it more or less fits his personality. I guess that in general his personality is a bit different than what I expected. I expected something a bit more fun and light-hearted.

K1-B0: OK first of all I might eventually just start calling him Keebo because it feels more natural than typing a name that has numbers and stuff in it. I still love his name, though. It never stops being the silliest thing ever to me, that his name is literally just a robot-y version of the Japanese word for hope. It’s great. I’m still kinda surprised that he didn’t end up being the game’s protagonist, given that he was front and center on the game’s first poster. He’s even the only character shown on the limited edition box design for the game. So who knows what’s up with him. Either way it’s hard not to see him as being potentially plot-important, with how immediately different he is to everyone else. We’ll see. His design is still kinda amazing and I love it. There’s a lot of places where V3′s character designs show restraint and realism, but hahaha not with this dude. In terms of his personality, I’m still really surprised that he’s mostly kinda nervous and defensive and high-strung, while also being pretty desperate to appear normal while being really unaware of normal things. Which is a fine way to write a robot character, and I prefer his ‘over-emotional’ portrayal over the more typical ‘emotionless robot’ characters we usually get. My main concern is that the game seems to be framing him as some sort of joke about “““SJWs”““, and it’s just bizarre and out of place. I also don’t know how the heck we’re even meant to view it thus far, since his whole ‘I’ll take you to court for your robophobic comments!’ attitude seems like it’s meant to be a joke, but at the same time his whole intro scene involves Kokichi literally questioning and denying his identity because he’s a robot, and being really inappropriate and invasive in general, so it’s kinda hard to view his defensiveness towards ‘robophobia’ as some sort of a joke we’re meant to laugh at. I guess we’ll see how it gets handled in the long run. Also let me just say that I’m REALLY happy they didn’t attempt to put some sort of obnoxious voice filter on him to make him seem more like a robot.

Maki: As I said above, I’m still suspicious about her prominent placing on that first poster we got. It’s even the reversible cover of the game, which is why I got reminded of it. I’m really curious to see what her deal is. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about her yet, since she’s mostly quiet and cold to people, which isn’t really a personality type I like seeing. I could see her potentially being a prominent part of trials, though, since she seems like she’d probably be calm and logical and whatnot. Also just to be blunt I kinda want her to be Kaede’s love interest, or at least one of them. I’ve kinda low-key shipped them since I first saw them. But do I really trust Kodaka to give me a healthy and mutually-alive same-sex ship after how DR3 ended? Not really, lol. I really like her design, though, even if her personality is a bit meh thus far. The red and black looks really nice, and it contrasts well with the brighter colours of Kaede’s design. Although there’s something weird about how her mouth is drawn. It looks a little wonky.

Kaito: I’m even more confused about what the hell this dude was doing on that promo poster, especially after seeing him in person. He basically seems like the Soda of this game, but thankfully way less weird and creepy. He seems like a really great dude all around, even if he’d be a bit too, uh, intense for me to enjoy being around in real life. I’m also still kinda amazed that he’s an astronaut, of all damn things. I remember that one coming out of nowhere. His whole conversation about how he illegally cheated to become an astronaut and when he got caught they just decided to keep him on board anyway was amazing. It’s a pretty hilarious way to address and basically gloss over the question of how a high-schooler could possibly be an astronaut. Also, his design is kinda hilarious. The simple white/purple theme works really well, but jesus christ his goddamn hair is amazing. I love it. It’s so silly. It’s like someone took a normal hairstyle and then messed with it in Photoshop. I wonder what it’d look like if they ever try and make figures of him. But I unironically love that the inner part of his jacket has a space design on it. That’s a nice detail, even if it’s hard to see normally. I can also tell that some of his expressions are going to be hilarious.

Kokichi: I can already tell that this dude’s gonna be a major player in this game, especially in trials. To the point where I’d be amazed if he doesn’t survive for at least four chapters or so. I feel like he’s going to be such a central part of the trial experience that cutting him out would leave a bit of a void. He’s obviously going to be sorta Komaeda-y in how he messes with people but he never actually kills anyone or anything. I’m just guessing, though. I’m also basing this on the demo I watched someone play, where that’s exactly how it went. [Though on the topic of trials, it’s still interesting to me that Rantarou and K1-B0 were specifically excluded from the demo trial]. I don’t know if I’m a huge fan of his overall personality, though. He just seems a bit annoying for the most part, even if he’ll probably be pretty compelling overall, partly in a ‘love to hate them’ sort of way. And obviously I disliked how incredibly shitty he was toward K1-B0. That was unpleasant. His design’s cool, though. I like how he seems to be wearing some sort of a loose straitjacket. His huge checker-print scarf is also pretty neat. Not sure how I feel about his hair-style. It’s a bit odd. I’m also curious to learn more about his talent, since it’s hard to imagine him genuinely being what he says he is. I wouldn’t be too surprised if he’s actually lying about his talent.

Gonta: I love him so much but he’s so obviously going to die because the baras always die. That’s not a spoiler though. I don’t actually know if he’ll die or not. I’m just assuming that he will because every character of his vague ‘type’ have died previously. He’s great, though. I love how much of a gentle giant he is. He just wants to be a gentleman and everyone’s just immediately intimidated by him instead. But then again he does get genuinely scary whenever someone insinuates that they dislike bugs. So that’s a thing. The fact that his whole talent is about how much he likes bugs is strangely endearing to me. It feels like such a gentle, delicate, and studious sort of field that it clashes with his design in a fun way. Also he has Harry Potter-y glasses and that’s adorable.

Miu: She’s kinda already turning into a problematic fave of mine. I totally get why she’d be too much for most people, and I’d hate her in real life, but as a character she’s really fun to watch, and adds a lot to the group dynamic. I’m not really expecting much from her in the long run though, since she’s obviously meant to be this game’s fanservice-y and kinda dumb character. I can’t help but wonder if she has some sort of connection to K1-B0 though, or if they might develop one, since her talent as an inventor who knows her way with machines seems sorta fishy in a game with a literal robot character in it. Her design’s also pretty nice, though the weird BDSM-y equipment she has is kinda hilarious and bizarre to look at. I love her aviator goggles, though.

Kirumi: I already like her a lot, though it’s sorta hard to pin down why. I think it’s mostly to do with me really liking her whole aesthetic. The spiderweb/broken glass pattern on her dress in particular is really cool. The only weird part is that it’s kinda weird how her eyelashes are drawn visibly through her hair. It just looks strange. There’s not much to say about her personality, though her whole ‘I’ll do what people tell me to do’ attitude is very worrying given, you know, the situation they’re all in. I don’t exactly expect her to survive. Also I’m still a bit confused what the difference in talent is between her being a maid and Chisa from DR3 being a housekeeper.

Tsumugi: She’s unexpectedly funny but I feel like she won’t last long, so that kinda sucks. Her overall design is still by far the plainest in the game, but I like how it’s an intentional choice that’s contrasted by her personality. I appreciate that she’s not, like, super wacky or anything, but she’s still pretty hilarious. Especially her realistically surprised reactions to stuff other characters say. It’s also a really neat detail how when she gets excited about something and clearly starts forgetting things like social boundaries, her sprite gets bigger and bigger like she’s entering your personal space. It’s also an interesting concept to have a cosplayer character who’s just wearing a really plain and boring school uniform, and cares mostly about the actual production of the costumes. I can’t help but wonder if her talent will end up leading to her being able to disguise herself as someone else. That’d be a really interesting thing to use in a murder case. Also I seriously hope there’s a scene in the game where she’s just cosplaying as Junko for no real reason, and you’re tricked into thinking for a moment that Junko’s genuinely back in this game. That’d be amazing.

Korekiyo: I have no idea what to make of this dude thus far. He didn’t really get many lines outside of his intro scene. He definitely seems like the most ‘creepy’ character. I kinda like him, though. The way that he talks about the beauty of humanity makes me really curious to see how he reacts to the killings as they happen. It’d be a bit amusing if he lives for the entire game and just keeps being really fucking weird about the whole thing while everyone just averts their eyes. His entire design is incredibly weird to me, and it’s kinda hard to tell what they’re going for beyond ‘this dude’s incredibly super chuuni’. It doesn’t seem to fit his actual personality much. You’d think he’d be way more, well, chuuni, I guess. It also kinda surprised me when I looked at his profile and saw that, at least relative to average Japanese heights, he’s actually really tall. It’s kinda difficult to tell people’s relative heights in VN-esque games like this. Also, I actually think it’s really cool that he’s an anthropologist. It’s cool to see an actual academic field like this in the franchise. There’s not too many characters with talents like that. I hope he gives out lots of random trivia about anthropology-related things.

Himiko: She’s not exactly my sort of character, but I like her. I mostly like the little ways in which she’s handled differently than how you’d expect her to be. Like how the only fanciful part of her design is her witch hat, which isn’t very fancy itself, and how she’s really chill and mellow but also a little childish. Even when she’s trying to be bombastic, it’s pretty chill. Also her whole ‘magic is real’ thing reminds me so much of Beatrice from Umineko, and that just makes me immediately like her, even if they’re [presumably] very different characters.

Angie: I keep mentally grouping her and Himiko into the ‘short, cute girl’ category for some reason, even though they’re very different. She’s definitely very . . . unique, that’s for sure. I’m still thrown off by her accent. I get what they’re going for, but for some reason it just sounds sorta French to me, so it feels like they told her VA ‘put on a foreign accent’ without telling her WHICH accent to put on. I don’t know if her accent is necessarily inaccurate for the part of the world she’s from, but ‘French’ is my first thought upon hearing it, so it feels odd. I like it, though. It’s a unique voice. Her design as a whole is definitely really cool. I love how bright and cheerful it is, colour-wise. I like her bright and bubbly personality a lot, though she can be a little creepy at times, like in the whole ‘blood sacrifice for Atua’ scene.

Ryoma: Thus far he’s immediately my favourite ‘cartoon-y and unrealistic-looking’ character, compared to ones like Hifumi and Teruteru. For one thing, he’s not a perverted creep, so that immediately puts him about fifty levels above those two. I also genuinely adore the way that he acts and talks like he came out of some kinda detective noir film, and has a Dark Backstory [tm] involving him murdering mafia members with a goddamn steel tennis ball. It’s so melodramatic and angsty but so incredibly hilarious because he’s like a three-foot tall teenage tennis player dramatically talking about how he used his tennis-playing talent to kill, and that he’s now just an empty shell of who he once was. I love him already. If he gets killed off, that’d be a real shame. But his character type also never survives, sadly. I don’t have much else to say about his design itself, but I think he has a chain around his ankle like a stereotypical ball and chain put on prisoners and that’s just the icing on the cake of how amazingly emo his design is.

Tenko: Not gonna lie, I almost forgot she existed and had to look at the cover of the game to figure out who I was missing. She’s probably my least favourite character thus far simply due to me liking everyone else more, and also due to me just not being a huge fan of her design. It’s mostly just the way that her uniform looks like it’s five sizes too small, but her giant green hair ribbons are also a bit weird, and so is the weird DNA helix-y way her hair is braided. It’s a bit of a bizarre design all around. But I absolutely adore her facial expressions so much. They’re fantastic. I love how unrepentantly weird and gross some of them are. That fucking smile-smirk-grimace-thing she does when she first talks about ‘degenerate males’ is one of the funniest things in this game thus far. Although on that note, her whole man-hating thing is already a little grating. It’s not terrible, but still. Although it looks like the game might do some funny things with it, like how in the demo she couldn’t say which guy walked into the cafeteria because she just hates men so goddamn much that she basically blocked him out of her vision and then couldn’t remember who it was later. That sorta thing is amusing.

Monokids: I almost forgot to comment on these guys, but I may as well, since they’re a noteworthy new aspect of the game. They’re definitely very fitting for the franchise, but it’s almost overwhelming having so many variations of Monokuma running around. It was also really weird how it felt like half of the script in the prologue was just them talking, and the actual main characters just responding to them sometimes. I hope they don’t hog the screen-time that much for the rest of the game. I’m pretty interested to see what the hell their deal is, though, since presumably someone is controlling them, but they seem to be operating independently from Monokuma. I guess they might just be actual autonomous robots though. But still.

I don’t think there’s really any point to me saying anything about Monokuma, since he’s not exactly a new character. But I can’t help but wonder who’s controlling him this time, if he’s not also an autonomous robot. Presumably it’d be an all-new character this time around, unless they somehow bring back an old character. But if it’s a new mastermind, will it be one of the main characters of this game? If so, how? If it’s not, then who would it be? I doubt that the mastermind would end up being a completely, entirely new character. I guess we’ll see.

Anyway that got really really long but oh well. I have a lot to say about this game already, lol. I’m really excited to finally be sitting down to play one of these games on my own terms, rather than just seeing someone else play it on Youtube. Even if it’s been a bit of a nightmare trying to get the necessary equipment to legally play it.

I’m very curious to see where my opinion falls in the long run, since this seems to be a very ‘love it or hate it’ kinda game. I don’t really have super high expectations though, at least after I disliked DR2′s ending, and I thought UDG was kinda weird, and I thought DR3 was a bit of a trainwreck. I love this franchise a lot, but it can also be kinda terrible at times, so I’m keeping my hopes in check for this one.

#murasaki rambles #danganronpa #danganronpa v3 #danganronpa v3 spoilers #that might be an unnecessary tag since anything spoilery will be under readmores but I'm playing it safe #if anyone has the spoiler tag blacklisted but wants to read my liveblog then I'll have individual links to each post on my blog

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reactingtosomething · 7 years ago

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Reacting to Love & Friendship

What Women Aren’t Supposed to Do

The Setup: We’re always excited to bring in another Guest Reactor, and today’s is a long time coming. Keely is a lawyer, professor, and award-winning screenwriter who for all that somehow doesn’t make the rest of us feel bad about ourselves, because she’s also the nicest. Happily for us (and for you), Keely told Marchae she wanted to react to something before we could work up the nerve to ask. Even more happily for Kris in particular, she is like him a big Kate Beckinsale fan, which meant she was game for Love & Friendship. The devilishly funny Jane Austen adaptation, written and directed by Whit Stillman, was possibly Kris’s favorite movie of 2016 (with Arrival being the main reason for the qualifier).

It’s also relatively short, and streaming on Amazon Prime, so you could even watch it right now and read this afterward. Just saying.

GIFs from here. A (very) few post-chat notes from Kris in italics.

KEELY: Ready when you are!

KRIS: Hey! I’m so glad this is happening

KEELY: I'm a slow typer on text, so bear with me. ;)

Me too!

Thanks for asking me to do this.

KRIS: No, seriously, you’re half the reason I first pitched having guest reactors months ago. But let’s dive in. Was Love and Friendship something on your radar at all when it came out?

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KEELY: Yes. I I think I see almost every romcom that comes out. I feel it's important to know what else is being made, what's finding success, what's not, as I try to create my own original modern romantic comedies.

Plus, Kate Beckinsale.

KRIS: YES to that. I’m not proud to have first become a Kate Beckinsale fan because I was in high school when Underworld came out, but then I also saw Serendipity and was glad to have good reasons to like her.

KEELY: Serendipity is what did it for me too. Fan for life.

[SPOILERS after the jump]

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KRIS: I’m not like an Austen expert or anything (actually haven’t seen most adaptations), but I was fond of what I read of hers in high school, and Matt Quinn [a professor we both had, though at different times] had recommended that I look at Whit Stillman for a feature rewrite, so this was definitely a lot of things I both wanted and needed. Did you like it/what’s your Austen history/can you imagine talking about a Jane Austen adaptation with Matt Quinn?

KEELY: I wouldn't say that I am an Austen aficionado, but I have seen most of the adaptations of her work over the years. In general, I enjoy epic love stories with extraordinary costuming and scenery. As to Austen in particular, I appreciate the strong female characters she was creating long before anyone else was. What I particularly liked about Love & Friendship, however, is that it was more light-hearted than Austen's other works. While it maintained her trademark strong-willed, independent female heroine, it included so much more comedy than typically present in her stories. I thought it was a lot of fun!

And, no, I can't imagine Matt being even remotely interested in Jane Austen!

But he's got a good eye. What Stillman did with this film was not typical Austen - it was a fresh new twist on the genre.

KRIS: (sorry for any delayed responses on this end, I think my computer is just getting your messages slowly)

The lightness definitely struck me too. I loved the portrait-y “title card” things, which were such a good way to telegraph the overall cheekiness of the movie that I assumed they were in the script, but I read somewhere that they only occurred to Stillman after the fact

KEELY: I read the script, and didn't notice them in there either. I liked it too. It added to the fun and comedy of the movie overall. It reminded me of the quirkiness of The Royal Tenenbaums.

I also read that Jane Austen's original novella was a series of letters, which makes Whitman's adaptation even more interesting.

KRIS: Right! And there are still hints of that not just in how dialogue-driven and seemingly “uncinematic” it is, but in how a fair amount of the action (like one of Susan’s arguments with Reginald) happens off-screen

Also, the elder Lady DeCourcy immediately became one of my favorite characters in that scene where Sir DeCourcy read Catherine’s letter to her

“My eyes have definitely cleared”

KEELY: I found that scene compelling as well. There was a sense of sweetness in marriage. My biggest criticism of the film is the lack of parity between the men and the women. The men in general are fairly dopey, manipulated by the women around them, as if pawns in a game.

KRIS: I get that, though I guess part of the reason it didn’t bother me is that everyone’s at least a little dopey, and out of their depth; even Susan sometimes seems to have massive blindspots

I also weirdly identify with Charles’s whole always-has-a-reason-to-say-yes thing

KEELY: Agreed. And that's part of the comedy - the complete disconnect between the characters at times. Part of Stillman's genius in the film is not taking Austen too seriously. However, I always hate to see a man empowered at the expense of a woman, and am equally adverse to seeing a woman empowered at the expense of a man. I prefer romcoms where both of the players learn from each other, where there is more parity. That, to me, is where the chemistry comes from.

Loved Charles. Dopey, but lovable. And that nugget – always doing the right thing at the right time - is very sweet. And, yet, where's the chemistry?! ;)

I guess I would say that Love & Friendship played fabulously as a comedy (Lady Susan, Sir James - laugh out loud funny!) but fell a bit short on romance for me.

KRIS: Definitely true that it isn’t really a chemistry-driven movie, and it’s interesting that Susan being this sort of force of nature ends up meaning she doesn’t get a Darcy-like sparring partner

I LOVED Sir James

Always looking up for some reason

KEELY: He's an absolute scene stealer! Tom Bennett could not play that part any better. Genius.

KRIS: I’m not sure if I’d say this felt underdeveloped, exactly, but I would have liked a better sense of Susan and Alicia’s history and friendship

Maybe because of most of my formative pop culture being superhero and action stuff that routinely fails the Bechdel Test, adult me is always fascinated by really well-drawn friendships between women

KEELY: I think the story overall was a little bit thin. I don't say that necessarily as a criticism, because again I think the story works best as a comedy. But I too would have liked just a bit more backstory on the characters. And, being a romcom writer, would've liked to have seen why the characters fell in love.

Much of the courting happens off screen or in montage scenes. To your comment about Darcy-like sparring, I think that, for me, was what was missing.

KRIS: I have So Many Questions about Lord Manwaring

KEELY: Good point regarding the Alicia and Susan friendship. Those scenes were so much fun to watch. They highlight what was truly great about this film - the idea of women trying to find an avenue of liberation in an oppressive, male-dominated society. Lady Susan is doing what women aren't supposed to do – manipulate her circumstances, sleep around, outsmart men, dictate her own future. When Sir James meets with Alicia in the end, he finds it laughable that women would cheat on men. And that's laughable to us! It's exactly what Lady Susan is doing. She's breaking the rules. This is groundbreaking for a heroine of her time. And it still plays today. Which makes it fun. I'm all like, "Yea, girl, don't let them slut shame you." ;)

KRIS: Yes, I was really, really struck by how there’s this surprising harshness built into the very premise of I guess really all of Austen’s matchmaking stories, but that I hadn’t thought much about before this: Susan’s literally trying to make sure she and Frederica have roofs over their head next week, and all of her (hilarious) cruelty comes from trying to make that happen

One of the movie’s shortest but best lines: “We don’t live, we visit.”

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KEELY: Lord Manwaring. Talk about an underdeveloped character! Although, I think this works so well for Lady Susan's character. For all of her scheming, planning and plotting, in the end she's just as susceptible to attraction and infatuation as all of the men infatuated with her.

By not knowing Lord Manwaring, it boils the relationship down to its essence - sex. Another rule Lady Susan is breaking. ;-)

And while we're on the subject of Lady Susan, can we just talk about the wicked dialogue?

KRIS: Absolutely

I planned to take notes on my rewatch, which Marchae is really good about, and I mostly just wrote down lines

You’ve touched on how there’s kind of a lack of Feeling in this movie that tilts it into a particular area of comedy, and there’s an interesting balancing act in reminding us that the stakes are kind of brutishly existential while having Susan float so high above it all. And I guess it’s exactly because the stakes are so high that the flippant-ness of Susan’s dialogue is so funny

KEELY: It's so hyper verbal. So many witty, ironic, multi-layered lines embedded to very even-keeled monologues. I was afraid to look away for even a second for fear of missing a line of incredible dialogue!

I love your reference to Lady Susan floating above it all. My favorite line: "I vastly prefer the generous spirit of a Manwaring who, deeply convinced of one's merit, is satisfied that whatever one does is right." On the surface, she's talking about a quality she likes in a man. Really, though, she's talking about herself. This is why I love her. Because she's honest with herself, and she approves of herself and the choices she's making. That's empowerment.

KRIS: Oh that line about Manwaring is a great catch. I also love that Susan gets to be all of those things you say, but also -- in what are some of her funniest lines -- totally unreasonable and hypocritical about some things, exactly because she never stops to question herself. Only Alicia ever manages to provoke introspection

“and as an element of friendship is involved, I’m sure the paying of wages would be offensive to us both”

“A worthy lover should assume one has unanswerable motives for all one does!”

And then there are times when she’s tooootally spot-on, even when her overall goal in the scene is to be manipulative, like when she defends James to Reginald -- “the incomprehension of the rich and easeful” and all that

Susan getting too real: “But any man, navigating the cascades of romantic courtship, and occasionally falling into those foaming waters, is apt not to appear at his best.”

KEELY: "Facts are horrid things!" 😂 As a lawyer, I could not love this line more. I think on some level Susan knows that she's being unreasonable, but believes that the ends justify the means. She says to Alicia - "we women of decision" - meaning she is in charge of her life. She is - like the line above – convinced of her own merit, therefore her decisions must be correct, even if the rationale is somewhat unreasonable.

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I’m glad Keely mentioned the “women of decision” line because this first scene is also one of my favorite bits in the movie

Lady Susan is certainly one of the meatier female lead roles I've seen in awhile. Kate Beckinsale must've had an absolute blast playing that part, which she does flawlessly. My only criticism, from a story standpoint, is that Lady Susan's character doesn't seem to evolve in any material way as a result of her journey. She begins the story as a manipulative egocentric, and alas she ends as she starts, with perhaps just a smidgen more affection for her daughter. She's a wonderfully fun character to watch but she learns virtually nothing, which is a bit unusual. Normally I would say this was unsatisfying, but in this case I love Lady Susan so much that I don't really want to see her change. ;) Did you feel this way at all?

KRIS: First, I totally agree with your point about her conviction and self-regard -- and even when she wrongs people on an individual level, it’s hard to fault her for the orientation toward life she’s chosen in the context of her society. (Totally different genre, but I also feel this way about Gone Girl.)

I think it’s true that she doesn’t have much of an arc

But I agree, she’s so fun to watch and Beckinsale just kills it, I’m not sure I’d want to see a different Susan. Definitely not one with softer edges.

I’m trying to pinpoint the act breaks to see if there’s more of an emotional arc that I’m missing, but I think the breaks are the arrivals of new characters who complicate Susan’s scheming

They’re consequences of her actions, but they’re consequences of actions that happen in “zero act” so they don’t have the same cause-and-effect feel that you’d “traditionally” want to see in a straightforward feature

(I thiiiink I’d say the break into two is when James arrives, but could see a case for Frederica. The break into three is triggered by Lucy Manwaring, yeah?)

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KEELY: I felt like the first act break was the arrival of Federica (which Susan clearly doesn't want, and complicates Susan's designs on Reginald), but agree that Lucy Manwaring was the second act break. The only small arc that I can see for Lady Susan is a growing affection for her daughter. It's small (if it even exists) - we only see just a hint of it in her final carriage ride with Alicia. Otherwise she seems to hold true to her convictions and her world view from beginning to end, no?

KRIS: I think that’s right. There’s a suggestion that her feelings about Frederica haven’t changed much when she tricks Catherine and Charles into thinking that moving Frederica back to Churchill is something she doesn’t want, but I think the best hints that their relationship has improved are in Frederica’s attitude toward the end

Although part of that is probably just relief about not having to marry James, and I guess it’s still not clear whether Frederica understands all the layers of Susan’s scheming

I did laugh out loud at the line “I’m not so self-indulgent as to want to wallow in the companionship of a child”

“even her tendency to extreme quiet I’ve grown to find rather soothing” was another favorite -- deeply honest in what I read as an otherwise manipulative conversation, and funny for how to Susan it’s a throwaway observation that she doesn’t realize says a lot about their relationship or her parenting

KEELY: Could there be an argument that her growth is that she becomes more "selfish"? Instead of trying to save Frederica's future by passing her off on Sir James, she takes Alicia's advice to be more "selfish" and takes Sir James for herself. This plays nicely into the tongue in cheek- ness of the film – the idea that Lady Susan has actually been incredibly unselfish for the entire film and only becomes selfish in the end when she decides to take Sir James as her own. Sounds like an argument Lady Susan herself would make. ;-)

KRIS: Oh I LOVE that

She does SO MUCH damage when she’s trying to do the best thing she knows how for Frederica, and everything just clicks together when she takes Alicia’s advice

That’s great

KEELY: It seems poetic.

KRIS: And it’s also illuminating of the Manwaring relationship, like you said -- she’s doing actually a very unpragmatic thing by holding out for a union with this guy she’s deeply in lust and love with

KEELY: I wish I lived in LA. This would be so much fun over wine.

KRIS: Yes, please reach out next time you visit, if you have time! I’m happy to stay on here as long as you like, but I also don’t want to keep you too long if your schedule for the rest of the day is tight. The last big thing I really want to say is that I enjoy how a lot of the first act involves learning about Susan through how other people talk about her when she’s not around. That’s a device I tend to like a lot, but I’m not yet very good at it myself -- it’s easy to make it too transparently expositional, but it works really well here, maybe because it’s being translated from an epistolary novella.

KEELY: I liked that too – in particular, the introductory scene between Lord and Lady Vernon. It efficiently and effectively demonstrates the difference between how men and women view Lady Susan, which is the heart of the conflict in the story.

KRIS: Right, there’s a little bit of a “catfight, maybe?” vibe that could be troubling in other contexts, but here part of the lesson -- though the text of the movie is never pedantic about this -- is that Susan is sometimes harmful to other women because patriarchy has sort of weaponized her talents. And because the movie loves Susan as much as we do, it doesn’t go into like “Madonna-Whore complex” territory.

And it also never makes, say, Catherine the butt of a joke. I liked that I could empathize with her even as I rooted for Susan to pull out a win somehow.

KEELY: I think, overall, it illuminates the superior intellect of the women too. In other words, the women are able to see through her deceit and manipulation whereas the men are not.

KRIS: Yeah!

The first scene with Catherine and Charles does a lot of work in hindsight. Catherine is absolutely in the right about the facts, but Charles also isn’t wrong in a broader sense about how women in Susan’s position are treated.

Reginald and Catherine’s father is interesting in this context -- he knows enough to think of Susan as dangerous, but isn’t smart enough to outmaneuver her and is maybe the closest thing the movie has to an unpleasant personality so our sympathies stay with Susan

KEELY: Agree. I particularly like Catherine as well, even though she points out Lady Susan's faults. I think it's because the film doesn't fall into the trap of making women dislike other women on the basis that they're attractive to other men. That's catty. Here, the women don't like her because she's manipulative (or a husband stealer). Which is fair. But we don't fault Lady Susan for her manipulation because what other choice does she have in her world?

The film walks a tightrope here, but comes out well-balanced I think.

KRIS: Yeah, the whole thing is such a fun and smart and delicate balancing act

Do you have any other overarching thoughts, or favorite moments/lines?

KEELY: I think it's a good illustration of how important comedy is to the success of this genre right now. I'm feeling inspired!!

KRIS: Keely, thanks so much for joining me to talk about this. And for being patient with the long waits between my replies!

Hopefully we’ll figure out a time to talk about Home Again with Kelly soon

KEELY: Thank you, Kris!! Your thoughts and insights are illuminating - it's been a lot of fun!!

And, YES, Home Again and Nancy Meyers are my jam. I'll make myself free!!

(Hope you’re reading, Kelly.)

#Love and Friendship #Lady Susan #Kate Beckinsale #Whit Stillman #Jane Austen #Kris #guest reactors #Keely #movies #reaction

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cabinboy100 · 7 years ago

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BABY DRIVER: Edgar Eggs!

Edgar Eggs—They're kind of like what people call Easter Eggs in other films, but with a quality that's distinctly Wrightian. Or perhaps forthWright? What follows is a collection of notes and details from the film—references, motifs, callbacks, and connections—narrative, filmmaking, and personal—inserted and/or found (or imagined by me =) in the perfectly timed rhythmic clockwork beauty that is BABY DRIVER.

Please note that my memory for quotes is tres imperfect these days. I may present some dialogue in quotes or screenplay-ish format, but it's best-of-my-recollection, and the result is likely paraphrased.

Now entering SPOILER CITY…

The Octane Shuffle

On his Octane run after the first heist, Baby musicals his way down the road to "Harlem Shuffle." As he roughly follows the song's instructions, the song is backed up by the city itself, its lyrics presented in graffiti art, spray paint, and signs in Baby's environment. And it's not just static. In at least one instance, the graffiti on his way back from Octane is different, added to, compared to the graffiti on his way to Octane. A piece of wall that echoes "Right" the first time, also tells him "Shake Shake" the second.

Also, on the way to Octane, along with Baby’s “Harlem Shuffle” track syncing with graffiti and posted words in the environment, we see Baby match poses with a mural of a guy looking up to the sky and play “air horn” in front of a show window featuring a trumpet.

Also also, on the way to Octane we overhear a guy on the phone telling someone that they're late. On the way back from Octane he passes the same guy dressing down the other guy in person about having to be on time.

Just before leaving Octane, a girl across the street catches his eye, right in front of a graffiti'd heart. It’s our Muse, Debora, but Baby doesn’t know that yet. By the time he exits the coffee shop, seconds later and heading in the same direction as her, she's mysteriously disappeared. On his way back to the Healey, he dodges a face-to-face with a policeman, two-steps around a sandwich board doomsayer telling him that he must save himself from sin, and when crossing the street, a police car just passes him by before turning on its siren. Signs and portents.

I wonder…Could the lyrics to “Harlem Shuffle” be a map to one of the getaway scenes? Or the acts and plot of the entire film…? Certainly can’t put it past Professor Wright =)

Baby makes another Octane run after the armored truck heist, considerably less joyful, and for us, abridged. Along with the change in the cover of "Harlem Shuffle" it's a great barometer of a downward, darkward, trend in Baby's crime-adjacent fortunes.

What's on the Telly?

When Baby flips thru channels at home w/Joe early on, I was hit with some deja view to the channel-hopping in SHAUN OF THE DEAD which connects clips from different shows to create a message about what's actually going on before our heroes quite suss it out. That's not quite what happens here, but the apparently random snippets of content do end up being (1) useful and (2) meaningful.

1. Useful?

If we pay attention, we learn that Baby doesn't just electronically remix (Kid Koala!) the samples of the people in his neighborhood that he records on his microcassette recorder. He also does it conversationally. When he finds himself at a loss for original words, he verbally samples/replays dialogue—from art and life—that he's stored on his personal hard drive. So, on the TV, we see Alfalfa of THE LITTLE RASCALS squeaking out "You Are So Beautiful." These are the words that seem to uncontrollably fall from his lips soon after meeting Debora. On the TV, we see John Krasinski holding Meryl Streep in some farewell moment in I-don't-know-the-movie, no-doubt-cheekily announcing, "They grow up so fast, don't they?" When casing the post office with Nephew Samm, that's what Baby says to cover up his flub of a guess at the boy's age…

TELLER: How old is he? BABY: Four. SAMM: I'm eight. BABY: They grow up so fast, don't they?

On the TV, we see Mike telling Sulley in MONSTERS, INC, "You and I are a team. Nothing is more important than our friendship." Later, this is what Baby tells Doc to reassure him of his loyalty and commitment to him. The clips are tools that Baby adds to his inventory for later use. They also serve as a Wrightian map of events to come.

It's not just media Baby remixes, tho. He pulls from life, too. In the elevator down after the first heist, he hears Darling approve of Buddy's post-heist celebration plan…"That's the finest wining and dining of all the wines and dines in town." And that's how he describes Bacchanalia when he suggests it to Debora for their first date. Of course, the suggestion itself is a Buddy sample.

I've gotta wonder if Edgar Wright is a fan of a particular sketch from THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW, with Alan Alda as guest. It was an immediate favorite when I saw it as a kid. Alda plays a fellow on a date who seems to be quite the charmer, saying all the right things. I forget if the date was at her place or maybe they show up there at the end of the night, but once she turns on the TV, we learn that most of what he's said to her have been lines from the movies. I think he denies it for a while, but when he finally breaks down into an emotional confession, a few seconds later, we hear that very same confession in the dialogue of a movie of the week. Genius.

It's probably very telling that that sketch should burn itself into my brain, eh? =)

2. Meaningful?

At the end of this series of channel flipping clips, we land on coverage of a bullfight. We see a matador stepping around a skewered but still strutting bull. We hear, and see via cc, the announcer…"The bull still stands.” In the moment, that seems to be a comment on the conversation between Baby and Joe. Baby has just told him, "One more job and I'm done." Joe tells him that he doesn't want anyone to get hurt, so Baby promises that he'll make sure nothing will happen to him. Joe explains that it's not himself he's worried about, a concern which somehow sails over his high-altitude head.

However, before we cut to the next scene, the bullfight announcer continues…"The bull still stands…Bloodied, but not defeated. Gaston could not finish him on horseback and now must try his luck on foot." To different degrees, this predicts what happens to Baby after the post office robbery and also in his finale duel with Buddy in the parking garage. Post-post office, after skewering Bats, Baby (and Buddy and Darling) have to abandon their steed and escape on foot.

By the way, the meaning behind the name "Gaston" can be stranger or guest.

Later, when it’s down to Baby and Debora vs. Buddy, they start car-v-car (the red Challenger and the police cruiser), but Baby tells Debora they have to get out of the car so that he can end this, and although he does that just to get into a different car, the final confrontation has all of the players on their feet. Well, y'know, until they’re not any more.

I think the second time we see Baby or Joe channel-hopping at home, Noel Fielding appears on screen for a few seconds. On my first screening, I thought it was a clip from THE MIGHTY BOOSH, but now I realize that it’s from the video for Mint Royale’s “Blue Song,” which Wright directed. It was sort of an early short form riff of his full-blown BABY DRIVER concept—a wheelman waiting on his crew to the sound—and duration—of a favorite song of the right length. A very fun watch and listen.

Speaking of Prophecy…

I covered this in my "BABY DRIVER: What's in a name?" post, but I think it's worth mentioning again for anyone who's going back for more. Pay attention to what Griff says about and tells Baby in his little tirade after the heist. I'm fairly certain every bit of it is true or will be proven true by the end of the film. Baby *does* think himself, if not better than, then outside and apart from, the crews that he works with. He can't be in crime and not be a little criminal. He will have blood on his hands.

His closing remark is something like…

GRIFF: Gotta hand it to ya, Totem Pole. I don't know if you're brave as shit or scared shitless, but you're gonna have to figure it out…Which one are you?

Courageous or cowardly? Baby himself doesn't know, partly because he probably hasn't thought about it, partly because he hasn't put himself in a place where that's truly been tested, but it will.

Actually, now that I think about it, on that matter, Griff is not right. It's not either-or, because Baby is both scared shitless *and* brave as shit. That’s kind of the point.

Bo's Diner and the Laundromat…

Thinking about Bo’s Diner's decor theme and wall art…The big long wall has a mural of a couple in a convertible heading down Route 66, apparently a replica of postcard art that Debora later sends to Baby while he's in jail.

Soon after Debora and Baby first speak at Bo's, she excuses herself and tells him to feel free to ask her any questions he might have. When he calls after her to do just that and ask about the "Baby" song she's singing, we see her turn back to look at him with that wall mural as the backdrop, a premix of the moment when they hit the road together, first in Baby's vision, then in reality, five years later.

How about the laundromat's decor theme and wall art? Space-y, featuring rockets and rows of laundry machines against a field of stars. Something fun to note: at whatever hour it is Debora and Baby hit the 'mat, everyone's drying their clothes in loads of red, blue, and yellow—popping primaries. A perfect musical film backdrop to their subliminal dance number. =)

Does Baby ever actually eat, drink, or order anything at Bo's?

Where is Bo’s Diner? If ever in the area, gotta go—gotta go!

I wonder if the decor in the diner and laundromat was redone for the movie, or was left as magically found?

We see Baby dial up Bo’s Diner before he leaves to take Joe to safety—555-1270. I think that was it. December 1970? Does that line up with a significant birthday or cinematic event?

What it *does* line up with is a car part—a Steeda Mustang Pedal Kit, Manual! =)

The Rainbow Connection…

POSTAL WORKER: Everybody wants happiness, nobody wants pain, but you can’t have a rainbow without a little rain.

This after saying she’s working “9 to 5, just like Dolly.”

It’s a sweet connect to the rain that falls the next day, the day of the post office heist, and the rainbow that appears five years later when Deb picks up Miles on his release from prison, ready to drive west on 20 in a car they can’t afford with a plan they don’t have.

I guess that’s romantic? Sounds like a lot of stress to me. =)

A slight stretch, but a little more “rain” falls during the parking garage duel, when the sprinklers kick in.

It may also be a callback to Debora's first anonymous and unacknowledged appearance in the film, during Baby's first "Harlem Shuffle" to Octane. A headphoned Debora (who's not yet looking like a zeb-o-ra) passes Octane on the other side of the street. When Baby spots her, she crosses directly in front of a graffiti'd heart sitting on rainbows, sync'd of course to a nice beat or sting in the music. I *think* they're rainbows below the heart. Something to look for on my next screening.

Also, kind of walking the long way around, a figurative-to-literal connection to Paul Williams!

Dolly Parton -> imparter of Rainbow wisdom -> “The Rainbow Connection” -> written by Paul Williams.

An Educated Guess From an Uneducated Man…

Bats at Bo’s does a "reading" of Buddy and Darling. He calls Buddy out as an ex-Wall Street schmuck who played harder than he worked, running up debt that would "make a white man blush." He left behind a wife and maybe kid to run off with his favorite stripper and crime it up in a world of "three things—money, sex, drugs, and action…Oh, shit! That's four."

When he boils it down, he explains that Buddy and Darling rob banks to support a drug habit. Bats does drugs to support a bank robbing habit. They’re on vacation; he’s at work.

The look on Buddy's face tells me that Bats is spot-on. BTW, Jon Hamm kills in this film! =)

Buddy's got nothing to say, so Darling takes this opp to respond for both of them, explaining that Bats may think he's the crazy one in the crew, the wild card, but he's never seen Buddy when he's been pushed. "When he sees red, you won't see anything but black…" Darling's explicit warning for Bats actually predicts Buddy's relentless pursuit of revenge on Baby for her death.

Walter Hill Connections…

Walter Hill is the director of the 1978 getaway driver flick, THE DRIVER (and THE WARRIORS and 48 HOURS). I've only just recently seen THE DRIVER for the first time and it is definitely the godfather of dozens of heist and chase films I've seen over the years. It's uncanny how I recognize it now in the DNA of the likes of HEAT, THE ITALIAN JOB, and DRIVE. Kind of a missing link between LE SAMOURAI and RONIN. Edgar Wright acknowledges the film's huge inspiration on him and his filmmaking and he pays his respects in a couple of sweet ways in BABY DRIVER.

If you sit through the credits (and you should—these people made the film you just watched!) you'll see that Walter Hill played the court ASL translator for Baby's foster dad, Joe. He does not appear on screen. We only hear his voice as Joe signs…

JOE: He's got a good heart. Always has. Always will.

A minute or so later, we learn that Baby's been sentenced to a minimum of 5 years in jail, and we see him serving his time as prisoner number 28071978. That's 28-07-1978, aka the 28th of July, 1978, the original release date of Walter Hill's THE DRIVER!

Note that I did not pull that out of my wazoo. Seeing that number on screen, knowing it’s Edgar Wright at the helm, I just had a feeling, so went googling for info about THE DRIVER to uncover that connection.

Falcon Driver?

Oh, man! Who is responsible for Baby’s wardrobe? For half if not most of the film, he is strategically yet uncannily decked out in duds that scream “Han Solo” to me. I’m talking A NEW HOPE—black vest over white shirt with dark pants.

(Baby’s taste in clothes—as well as his backstory and talents—inspired this BABY DRIVER: Nerf Herder mashup… =)

After the film, I was told that our Baby, Ansel Elgort, had been on the short list for the young Han Solo film. I honestly had no idea as I did and do my best to block that sort of “news” as much as possible when it comes to films I’m looking forward to.

Was this Wright, Elgort, or another member or members of the crew expressing their support for HANsel? I have no idea how the timelines of young Solo casting and BABY DRIVER shooting line up. But if the decision was made before shooting, maybe Ansel’s turn as Baby becomes a kind of what-could-have-been/what-you-missed strutting? =)

When I heard about the LEGO MOVIE directors being dismissed from the project, I thought that maybe they’d seen BABY DRIVER and realized that Edgar Wright had already made the movie—what’s the point now? =)

And in the Hollywood minute before Ron Howard was announced, I wondered if maybe BABY DRIVER might possibly be the perfect proof of capabilities for Wright as the new director. Alas—*sigh*—not to be.

I wonder just what the heck happened with Disney/Marvel/ANT-MAN and Wright.

Musicians in BABY DRIVER…

When Baby delivers his coupe de grace in the parking garage…

BABY: Fuck you, Buddy.

A perfect phrase and sentiment all on its own, but me being me, I do also wonder if he's paraphrasing Elvis—FYB vs TCB?

When Baby does speak more than a couple of syllables, his southern drawl definitely vibes Elvis for me. And although we don't hear his voice when he's lip syncing to the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion’s “Bellbottoms” in the opening heist, he’s definitely channeling Elvis hard in the moment. Or channeling Jon Spencer channeling Elvis. In any case, the impression is made, and it stays with me.

Who gives Baby his mail in jail? Whoever it is has a very unique look—maybe costumed in an ill-fitting uniform?—a Sam Elliot mustache, and a distinctive voice. In the in-order-of-appearance credits, I didn't see him, expecting to find "prison guard" at the end of the list, after "judge." Later, on the twitters, I saw a tweet asking Edgar Wright who Jon Spencer played, and a reply that explained he was the prison guard! Yeah, I do not know my music or musicians very well, so never could've called that on my own. What a perfect cameo, though, right?

I can thank the end credits for informing me that Doc likes to hang out at Bacchanalia with Big Boi and Killer Mike (of Run the Jewels), two artists who contributed "Chase Me" to the movie's soundtrack.

Note that a lot of the above appeared in earlier posts here and here, but this rambling above is the most developed crazy talk (so far).

I've got some more half—well, more like quarter—baked thoughts, but will let them cook a while yet before posting. Don’t wanna give anyone blog salmonella. After all, these *are* made with eggs.

*groan*

If you’re interested in seeing some BABY DRIVER fan art poster designs inspired by Edgar Eggs, click here. =)

All you need is one killer track…

Keep on keepin' on~

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